Patent ID: 8416483
Filing Date: 2013-04-09
Classification: B41J,G02B,G03G

Abstract:
1. An optical deflector including a rotary member supported by a bearing shaft and rotatively driven by a motor for deflecting a plurality of laser beams separated from each other in a rotational axis direction of the rotary member, the optical deflector comprising: a polygon mirror having four sides arranged about the rotational axis direction; each of the four sides is a plane of continuous material having a plurality of effective reflection areas separated from each other in the rotational axis direction by a non-reflective region; the plurality of laser beams incident on the polygon mirror are parallel, and the plurality of laser beams are perpendicular to a rotational axis of the polygon mirror; each of the four sides includes a first effective reflection area, a second effective reflection area, and a middle area, the middle area including the non-reflective region which does not deflect any of the plurality of laser beams; and a distance, in which the first effective reflection area and the second effective reflection area are separated, is substantially equivalent to a distance between an upper laser beam and a lower laser beam of the plurality of laser beams.