Patent ID: 7679802

Claim:
An optical scanner comprising: a light source device; a deflecting device; a first optical system configured to guide an incident beam emitted from the light source device to the deflecting device; and a second optical system configured to guide a scanning beam deflected by the deflecting device to a surface to be scanned, the incident beam being a beam following a light path between the light source device and the deflecting device, and the scanning beam being a beam following a light path between the deflecting device and the surface to be scanned, wherein the second optical system includes at least one imaging optical element, wherein the incident beam passes through the at least one imaging optical element constituting the second optical system, and is obliquely incident on a deflecting surface of the deflecting device in a sub-scanning section, wherein both the principal ray of the incident beam and the principal ray of the scanning beam travels on the opposite side with each other with respect to the optical axis of all of the at least one imaging optical element constituting the second optical system through which the incident beam passes in a sub-scanning section, wherein both the entrance surface and the exit surface of all of the at least one imaging optical element constituting the second optical system through which the incident beam passes are concave toward the deflecting device in the sub-scanning section, and wherein all of the at least one imaging optical element constituting the second optical system through which the incident beam passes is tilted in the sub-scanning section, and a light blocking member is provided, the light blocking member configured to block a ghost beam passing between the incident beam and the scanning beam, the ghost beam being generated as the incident beam is reflected by the entrance surface or the exit surface of the imaging optical element when the incident beam passes through the imaging optical element in the sub-scanning section.