Patent ID: 7075688

Claim:
A multibeam scan apparatus comprising: a light source having a semiconductor laser diode array of light-emitting sources, a coupling lens, and a base member that fixedly holds the semiconductor laser diode array and the coupling lens so as to form a unitary structure, the light-emitting sources being arranged in a main scan direction, and the base member being rotatable around an optical axis of the coupling lens so as to adjust a beam pitch; a convergent unit causing the light beams to converge in the main scan direction; a light beam restricting unit shaping the light beams so as to have a given spot size, the light beam restricting unit being positioned close to a position at which the light beams cross each other due to a function of the convergent unit; a polygonal mirror; and a scan lens causing the light beams reflected by the polygonal mirror to form images on a scanned surface.