Patent ID: 8004549

Claim:
An image forming method comprising: emitting lights from a first luminous element and a second luminous element which is arranged at different position from the first luminous element in a main scanning direction and a sub scanning direction; forming a first spot and a second spot on a latent image carrier in the main scanning direction by imaging lights from the first luminous element and the second luminous element through a first microlens that constitutes an inverting optical system; moving the latent image carrier in the sub scanning direction; emitting lights from a third luminous element and a fourth luminous element which is arranged at different position from the third luminous element in the main scanning direction and the sub scanning direction; forming a third spot and a fourth spot on the latent image carrier in the main scanning direction of the first spot and the second spot by imaging lights from the third luminous element and the fourth luminous element through a second microlens that constitutes an inverting optical system and which is located downstream of the first microlens in the sub scanning direction, wherein the second luminous element, that is located downstream of the first luminous element in the sub scanning direction, emits light before the first luminous element emits light, and the fourth luminous element, that is located downstream of the third luminous element in the sub scanning direction, emits light before the third luminous element emits light.