Patent ID: 8441704

Claim:
A multibeam scanning device, comprising: a plurality of light source units configured to emit laser beams which are non-collimated light beams; a plurality of collimating lenses arranged to collimate the plurality of laser beams, respectively, optical axes of the plurality of collimating lenses intersecting with each other at a predetermined position spaced from each of the plurality of collimating lenses by a distance equal to a focal length of each of the plurality of collimating lenses; a first deflector which deflects the plurality of collimated laser beams so that the plurality of laser beams scan on a surface to be scanned in an auxiliary scanning direction; a relaying lens system arranged on a downstream side of the first deflector, an entrance pupil of the relaying lens system coinciding with the predetermined position at which the optical axes of the plurality of collimating lenses intersect; a second deflector which deflects the plurality of laser beams incident via the relaying lens system from the first deflector so that the plurality of laser beams scan on the surface to be scanned in a main scanning direction; and a beam position adjusting system configured to change an optical path of a laser beam emitted by at least one of the plurality of light source units in a manner that a beam spot formed by the laser beam is translated in the auxiliary scanning direction on the surface to be scanned.