Patent ID: 8736654

Claim:
An optical scanning apparatus comprising: a reflecting mechanism that reflects a light beam such that an irradiation point of the light beam moves in a predetermined scanning direction; a light receiving element that is arranged in a movement plane defined by the light beam reflected by the reflecting mechanism, and that outputs a light reception signal for adjusting an irradiation timing of the light beam in accordance with reception of the light beam reflected by the reflecting mechanism; a restricting mechanism that positions the light receiving element relative to the movement plane; a light source that emits the light beam; and a control board that controls the light source in accordance with the light reception signal, wherein the restricting mechanism includes a holding plate, the holding plate having a holding portion that holds the light source, and a first notch face that defines a first notch portion that crosses the movement plane, the light receiving element is mounted to the control board, the control board is connected to the holding plate such that the light receiving element comes into contact with the first notch face, a through hole is formed in the control board, the holding plate includes a boss that is inserted into the through hole formed in the control board, and the first notch portion is formed such that the light receiving element is inserted into the first notch portion when the control board is rotated about the boss.