Optical scanning device, image forming apparatus and liquid crystal device driving method

1. An optical scanning device comprising a laser-beam-phase-modulatable liquid crystal device, said liquid crystal device comprising:

stripe-like electrode patterns arranged in one direction; and

a voltage controller configured to change an effective value of a driving voltage separately for each of said stripe-like electrode patterns such that the driving voltage of each of said stripe-like electrode patterns is defined by a continuously changing function,

wherein the liquid crystal device is disposed on a light path extending between a light source and a polygon scanner, and, when the liquid crystal device is viewed from an entrance side, the plural strip-like electrode patterns are disposed within an effective area of the liquid crystal device, and a light beam applied to the liquid crystal device is deflected as a result of passing through the plural electrode patterns.

2. An optical scanning device comprising a laser-beam-phase-modulatable liquid crystal device, said liquid crystal device comprising:

stripe-like electrode patterns arranged in one direction; and

a voltage controller configured to change an effective value of a driving voltage of said stripe-like electrode patterns such that a refractive index distribution obtained from driving the liquid crystal device is not constant and the refractive index distribution is in proportion to a position (coordinate) in the direction of the arrangement of said stripe-like electrode patterns,

wherein the liquid crystal device is disposed on a light path extending between a light source and a polygon scanner, and, when the liquid crystal device is viewed from an entrance side, the plural strip-like electrode patterns are disposed within an effective area of the liquid crystal device, and a light beam applied to the liquid crystal device is deflected as a result of passing through the plural electrode patterns.

3. The optical scanning device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the effective value of the driving voltage is separately changed for each of the stripe-like electrode patterns in such a manner that a refractive index distribution obtained from driving said liquid crystal device is in proportion to a position (coordinate) in the direction of the arrangement of said stripe-like electrode patterns.

4. The optical scanning device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the effective value of the driving voltage is separately changed for each of the stripe-like electrode patterns in such a manner that a difference (PV within an entrance beam diameter) between a maximum value and a minimum value of a curve, obtained from removing a slope component from a curve, obtained from approximating, by a polynomial having a quadratic order or a higher order, a deviation between a transmitted wavefront aberration of transmitted light when the liquid crystal device is driven and the same when the liquid crystal device is not driven, is equal to or less than λ/4 (where λ denotes a laser beam wavelength).

5. The optical scanning device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the effective value of the driving voltage is separately changed for each of the stripe-like electrode patterns in such a manner that a refractive index curve with respect to a position (coordinate) in the direction of the arrangement of the stripe-like electrode patterns is one which at least can be approximated by a polynomial having a quadratic order or a higher order.

6. The optical scanning device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein an integrated circuit (IC) generating an electric signal driving said liquid crystal device is mounted on a substrate on which also an integrated circuit (IC) generating an electric signal driving a semiconductor laser emitting a laser beam is mounted.

7. The optical scanning device as claimed in claim 2 , wherein an integrated circuit (IC) generating an electric signal driving said liquid crystal device is mounted on a substrate on which also an integrated circuit (IC) generating an electric signal driving a semiconductor laser emitting a laser beam is mounted.

8. The optical scanning device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein an electric signal driving said liquid crystal device and an electric signal driving a semiconductor laser emitting a laser beam are generated by a common integrated circuit (IC).

9. The optical scanning device as claimed in claim 2 , wherein an electric signal driving said liquid crystal device and an electric signal driving a semiconductor laser emitting a laser beam are generated by a common integrated circuit (IC).

10. The optical scanning device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein a plurality of laser beams are used to scan a common to-be-scanned surface, and, by means of said liquid crystal device, a position of a beam spot of at least one laser beam can be changed.

11. The optical scanning device as claimed in claim 2 , wherein a plurality of laser beams are used to scan a common to-be-scanned surface, and, by means of said liquid crystal device, a position of a beam spot of at least one laser beam can be changed.

12. The optical scanning device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein a plurality of laser beams are used to scan different to-be-scanned surfaces, and, by means of said liquid crystal device, a position of a beam spot of at least a laser beam which scans one to-be-scanned surface can be changed.

13. The optical scanning device as claimed in claim 2 , wherein a plurality of laser beams are used to scan different to-be-scanned surfaces, and, by means of said liquid crystal device, a position of a beam spot of at least a laser beam which scans one to-be-scanned surface can be changed.

14. The optical scanning device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein by means of said liquid crystal device, a position (imaging position) of a beam waist of a laser beam in the vicinity of a to-be-scanned surface can be changed.

15. The optical scanning device as claimed in claim 2 , wherein by means of said liquid crystal device, a position (imaging position) of a beam waist of a laser beam in the vicinity of a to-be-scanned surface can be changed.

16. The optical scanning device as claimed in claim 10 , further comprising:

a detecting part configured to detect a position of a beam spot of the laser beam and/or beam spot separation on the to-be-scanned surface,

wherein a beam spot position of at least one laser beam is corrected based on a detection result of said detecting part.

17. The optical scanning device as claimed in claim 11 , further comprising:

a detecting part configured to detect a position of a beam spot of the laser beam and/or beam spot separation on the to-be-scanned surface,

wherein a beam spot position of at least one laser beam is corrected based on a detection result of said detecting part.

18. The optical scanning device as claimed in claim 12 , further comprising:

a detecting part configured to detect a position of a beam spot of the laser beam and/or beam spot separation on the to-be-scanned surface,

wherein a beam spot position of at least one laser beam is corrected based on a detection result of said detecting part.

19. The optical scanning device as claimed in claim 13 , further comprising:

a detecting part configured to detect a position of a beam spot of the laser beam and/or beam spot separation on the to-be-scanned surface,

wherein a beam spot position of at least one laser beam is corrected based on a detection result of said detecting part.

20. The optical scanning device as claimed in claim 14 , further comprising:

a detecting part configured to detect a position (imaging position) of a beam waist of the laser beam in the vicinity of the to-be-scanned surface,

wherein based on a detection result of said detecting part, the position of the beam waist is corrected.

21. The optical scanning device as claimed in claim 15 , comprising:

a detecting part configured to detect a position (imaging position) of a beam waist of the laser beam in the vicinity of the to-be-scanned surface,

wherein based on a detection result of said detecting part, the position of the beam waist is corrected.

22. The optical scanning device as claimed in claim 10 , further comprising:

a temperature detecting part configured to detect a temperature inside of the device,

wherein based on a detection result of said temperature detecting part, at least one of a beam spot position on the to-be-scanned surface, beam spot separation and a beam waist position is corrected.

23. The optical scanning device as claimed in claim 11 , further comprising:

a temperature detecting part configured to detect a temperature inside of the device,

wherein based on a detection result of said temperature detecting part, at least one of a beam spot position on the to-be-scanned surface, beam spot separation and a beam waist position is corrected.

24. The optical scanning device as claimed in claim 12 , further comprising:

a temperature detecting part configured to detect a temperature inside of the device,

wherein based on a detection result of said temperature detecting part, at least one of a beam spot position on the to-be-scanned surface, beam spot separation and a beam waist position is corrected.

25. The optical scanning device as claimed in claim 13 , further comprising:

a temperature detecting part configured to detect a temperature inside of the device,

wherein based on a detection result of said temperature detecting part, at least one of a beam spot position on the to-be-scanned surface, beam spot separation and a beam waist position is corrected.

26. The optical scanning device as claimed in claim 14 , further comprising:

a temperature detecting part configured to detect a temperature inside of the device,

wherein based on a detection result of said temperature detecting part, at least one of a beam spot position on the to-be-scanned surface, beam spot separation and a beam waist position is corrected.

27. The optical scanning device as claimed in claim 15 , further comprising:

a temperature detecting part configured to detect a temperature inside of the device,

wherein based on a detection result of said temperature detecting part, at least one of a beam spot position on the to-be-scanned surface, beam spot separation and a beam waist position is corrected.

28. An image forming apparatus comprising:

an image carrying body having photoconductivity;

a charging part electrically charging said image carrying body;

an optical scanning device forming an electrostatic latent image by scanning the electrically charged image carrying body with a laser beam;

a developing part visualizing with toner the electrostatic latent image on said image carrying body; and

a transferring part transferring a thus-visualized toner image to a recording medium or to an intermediate transfer body,

wherein as said optical scanning device, the optical scanning device claimed in claim 1 is employed.

29. An image forming apparatus comprising:

an image carrying body having photoconductivity;

a charging part electrically charging said image carrying body;

an optical scanning device forming an electrostatic latent image by scanning the electrically charged image carrying body with a laser beam;

a developing part visualizing with toner the electrostatic latent image on said image carrying body; and

a transferring part transferring a thus-visualized toner image to a recording medium or to an intermediate transfer body,

wherein as said optical scanning device, the optical scanning device claimed in claim 2 is employed.

30. The image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 28 , wherein based on a detection result of a detecting part configured to detect at least one of a position of the toner image visualized by said developing part or an area of the toner image, at least one of a beam spot position on said image carrying body and a beam waist position is corrected.

31. The image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 29 , wherein based on a detection result of a detecting part configured to detect at least one of a position of the toner image visualized by said developing part or an area of the toner image, at least one of a beam spot position on said image carrying body and a beam waist position is corrected.

32. An image forming apparatus comprising:

a plurality of image carrying bodies provided side by side, each having photoconductivity;

a charging part electrically charging each image carrying body;

an optical scanning device forming an electrostatic latent image by scanning each electrically charged image carrying body with a laser beam;

a developing part visualizing with toner of a respective color the electrostatic latent image on each image carrying body; and

a transferring part transferring a thus-visualized toner image of the respective color to a recording medium or to an intermediate transfer body on each other in a superposing manner in sequence,

wherein as said optical scanning device, the optical scanning device claimed in claim 1 is employed.

33. An image forming apparatus comprising:

a plurality of image carrying bodies provided side by side, each having photoconductivity;

a charging part electrically charging each image carrying body;

an optical scanning device forming an electrostatic latent image by scanning each electrically charged image carrying body with a laser beam;

a developing part visualizing with toner of a respective color the electrostatic latent image on each image carrying body; and

a transferring part transferring a thus-visualized toner image of the respective color to a recording medium or to an intermediate transfer body on each other in a superposing manner in sequence,

wherein as said optical scanning device, the optical scanning device claimed in claim 2 is employed.

34. The image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 32 , wherein based on a detection result of a detecting part configured to detect at least one of a position of the toner image of each color visualized by said developing part or an area of the toner image, at least one of a beam spot position on each image carrying body and a beam waist position is corrected.

35. The image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 33 , wherein based on a detection result of a detecting part configured to detect at least one of a position of the toner image of each color visualized by said developing part or an area of the toner image, at least one of a beam spot position on each image carrying body and a beam waist position is corrected.

36. A method of driving a liquid crystal device in an optical scanning device provided with a laser-beam-phase-modulatable liquid crystal device, wherein said liquid crystal device has stripe-like electrode patterns arranged in one direction, said method comprising:

disposing the liquid crystal device on a light path extending between a light source and a polygon scanner;

disposing the plural strip-like electrode patterns within an effective area of the liquid crystal device when the liquid crystal device is viewed from an entrance side;

changing an effective value of a driving voltage separately for each of said stripe-like electrode patterns such that the driving voltage of each of said stripe-like electrode patterns is defined by a continuously changing function; and

deflecting a light beam applied to the liquid crystal device as a result of passing through the plural electrode patterns.

37. A method of driving a liquid crystal device in an optical scanning device provided with a laser-beam-phase-modulatable liquid crystal device, wherein said liquid crystal device has stripe-like electrode patterns arranged in one direction, comprising:

disposing the liquid crystal device on a light path extending between a light source and a polygon scanner;

disposing the plural strip-like electrode patterns within an effective area of the liquid crystal device when the liquid crystal device is viewed from an entrance side;

driving the voltage of each of said stripe-like electrode patterns in the liquid crystal device such that a refractive index distribution is not constant and the refractive index distribution is in proportion to a position (coordinate) in the direction of the arrangement of said stripe-like electrode patterns; and

deflecting a light beam applied to the liquid crystal device as a result of passing through the plural electrode patterns.

38. The method of driving the liquid crystal device as claimed in claim 36 , further comprising:

separately changing the effective value of the driving voltage for each of the stripe-like electrode patterns in such a manner that a refractive index distribution obtained from thus driving said liquid crystal device is in proportion to a position (coordinate) in the direction of the arrangement of said stripe-like electrode patterns.

39. The method of driving the liquid crystal device as claimed in claim 36 , further comprising:

separately changing the effective value of the driving voltage for each of the stripe-like electrode patterns in such a manner that a difference (PV within an entrance beam diameter) between a maximum value and a minimum value of a curve, obtained from removing a slope component from a curve, obtained from approximating, by a polynomial having a quadratic order or a higher order, a deviation between a transmitted wavefront aberration of transmitted light when the liquid crystal device is driven and the same when the liquid crystal device is not driven is equal to or less than λ/4 (where λ denotes a laser beam wavelength).

40. The method of driving the liquid crystal device as claimed in claim 36 , further comprising:

separately changing the effective value of the driving voltage for each of the stripe-like electrode patterns in such a manner that a refractive index curve with respect to a position (coordinate) in the direction of the arrangement of the stripe-like electrode patterns is one which at least can be approximated by a polynomial having a quadratic order or a higher order.

41. The optical scanning device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the continuously changing function is a straight line having a non-zero slope.

42. The optical scanning device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the continuously changing function is a quadratic polynomial.