JPS6285567A - Light beam scan device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce the overall size of an optical beam scan device and at the same time to simplify the optical system of the scan device, by fixing a scan sheet and also reflecting the light beam directly by a secondary scan mirror for secondary scan after the beam passed through an image forming lens for primary scan. CONSTITUTION:When a recording medium 5 is held by its holding means 11, a light beam 2 deflected by a rotary polyhedral mirror has the primary scan over the medium 5 toward an arrow B. While a secondary scan mirror 10 is turned to shift the beam 2 for execution of the secondary scan toward an arrow D. The means 11 has a recording medium detector 20 at the part where the tip of the medium 5 is set. The detector 20 is pushed by a recording medium feed plate 19 to detect the tip of the medium 5 reached its prescribed position and then delivers a signal to stop the drive of the plate 19. Thus the medium 5 is positioned in the primary scan direction with high accuracy. When the medium 5 is stopped at its prescribed position, a recording device starts the 2-dimensional scan by the beam 2. A photodetector 12 detects the beam 2 and delivers a record starting signal. Thus the recording action is started.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of the Invention) The present invention relates to a light beam scanning device that scans a light beam using an optical deflector. The present invention relates to a scanning device.

(Technical Background and Prior Art of the Invention) Conventionally, a light beam scanning device that deflects a light beam using an optical deflector and scans a scanning sheet relatively two-dimensionally has been used in various types of scanning recording scanning and scanning reading devices. It is widely used in etc. Two-dimensional scanning of the light beam in these light beam scanning devices involves deflecting the light beam with an optical deflector to cause it to main scan the scanning sheet, and also moving the light beam and the scanning sheet relative to each other in the main scanning direction. This is done by moving in the sub-scanning direction which is substantially perpendicular to.

However, in the conventional apparatus, various problems have arisen, such as the apparatus becoming larger due to the means for performing the "-2 sub-scanning" and the optical system becoming complicated and A-valued. below,
The problems of the conventional light beam scanning device will be explained with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7.

In the light beam scanning device shown in FIG.
A light beam 102 emitted from a light beam 101 enters a rotating polygon tA 103, which is an optical deflector, and is reflected and deflected as the rotating polygon tA 103 rotates in the direction of arrow A. The light beam 102 reflected by the rotating polygon 103 passes through an fθ lens 104, which is an imaging lens, provided on the optical path, and then main scans the scanning sheet 105 in the direction of arrow B. The scanning sheet 105 is rotated in the main scanning direction as the rotating drum 106 rotates while being held between a rotating drum 106 rotating in the direction of arrow C and a pair of rollers 107A and 1073 provided on the rotating drum 106. The sub-scanning is carried out by being conveyed in the direction of the arrow, which is substantially perpendicular to the arrow.

Therefore, the light beam 102 repeats main scanning in the direction of arrow B over the scanning sheet 105 that is conveyed (sub-scanned) in the direction of the arrow B, thereby increasing the scanning sheet 10.
5 is scanned two-dimensionally.

However, in the above-mentioned apparatus, sub-scanning is performed by moving the scanning sheet 105, but in order to suppress load fluctuations on the motor 108 during sub-scanning as much as possible to prevent sub-scanning unevenness, as shown in the figure. In front of the scanning position by the light beam, the scanning sheet 10
By arranging support stands 109 and 110 that support 5,
It is necessary to provide a space in which one scanning sheet can be placed in each case. Therefore, in the above device,
There is a problem in that a space having a length of two or more scanning sheets in the sub-scanning direction is required, resulting in an increase in the size of the entire apparatus. Also, a rotating drum 10 that conveys the scanning sheet.
G has a width larger than the width of the scanning sheet in order to stably convey the scanning sheet, and a motor 108 for rotating the rotating drum 10G is further provided in the width direction of the rotating drum. Therefore, the above-mentioned device is also large in the main scanning direction.

Furthermore, in order to perform highly accurate scanning on the scanning sheet while conveying the scanning sheet, it is necessary to strictly control the motor so that the scanning sheet can be conveyed with high precision in the correct direction at a constant speed. Since a high-precision motor capable of -F control is expensive, there is also the problem that the cost of the entire device increases significantly. In addition, in order to stably convey the scanning sheet, the roller 107A,
1073 is essential, but these rollers 107A
, 107B also causes the inconvenience that the image information in the sub-scanning direction of the scanning sheets 1 to 105 cannot be scanned.

As described above, a light beam scanning device that performs sub-scanning by conveying a scanning sheet has various problems. In view of these problems, a device has been proposed that performs sub-scanning without moving the scanning sheet.Hereinafter, a light beam scanning device with a fixed scanning sheet will be described with reference to FIG. Note that the same parts as those in the apparatus shown in FIG. 6 are given the same numbers and their explanations will be omitted.

The apparatus shown in FIG. 7 includes a rotating polygon g11o3 that rotates in the direction of the arrow to reflect and deflect the light beam 102 and performs main scanning on the scanning sheet 111 in the direction of the arrow B, and a rotating polygon g11o3 that rotates in the direction of the arrow C at a low speed. A sub-scanning galvanometer mirror 112 is provided which rotates and reflects and deflects the light beam 102 so that the main scanning line moves in the direction of the arrow on the scanning sheet 111 which is fixed at a predetermined position. That is, the luvanometer mirror 112 for sub-scanning rotates once in the direction of arrow C at a low speed while scanning one scanning sheet, and the light beam 102 rotates once in the direction of arrow C. Mirror 103 and sub-scanning mirror 112
This allows the entire surface of the scanning sheet 111 to be scanned in two-dimensional directions. Luvanometer mirror 112 for sub-scanning is
When the scanning of one scanning sheet is completed, it returns to its original position and prepares for scanning the next scanning sheet. In addition, a sub-scanning galvanometer mirror 112 and a scanning sheet are also provided.
An fθ lens 113 that is an imaging lens is provided between the rotary polygon mirror 10 and the rotating polygon mirror 10.
A light beam 102 for scanning 3 and a1 is reflected and deflected at a constant angular velocity by a luvanometer mirror 112, and is caused to scan linearly at a constant velocity on the surface of a flat scanning sheet 105.

By the way, in the above device, in order to cause the light beam 102 that is deflected by the rotating polygon mirror 103 and takes a wide optical path to be incident on the reflecting surface of the relatively small sub-scanning galvanometer mirror 112, the optical path of the sunlight beam 102 is changed. A relay lens 114 is provided to adjust the optical path of the light beam 102 so that the light beam 102 is focused and, after passing through the focused position, reproduces the deflection by the rotating polygon mirror 103 and spreads again. The one-scanning galvanometer mirror 112 is arranged at a position where the optical path of the light beam 102 is focused by the relay lens 114, and the light beam 102 is transferred to the sub-scanning galvanometer mirror 1 by the relay lens 114.
12 and is deflected. After being reflected and deflected by the sub-scanning galvanometer mirror 112, the light beam 1
02 widens the optical path again at an angle corresponding to the deflection of the rotating polygon g1103, so that a main scanning line of the required length can be obtained on the scanning sheet 111.

However, in the v4 position shown in FIG. 7, the relay lens 114 is arranged in addition to the imaging lens 113 as described above, so the optical system becomes complicated and the device cannot be sufficiently miniaturized. Can not do it.

There is also the problem that the provision of the relay lens 114 increases the number of optical elements, increasing manufacturing costs.

(Object of the Invention) The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and it performs sub-scanning without moving the scanning sheet, and eliminates the problem of increasing the size of the device due to the movement of the scanning sheet. To provide a light beam scanning device that solves the problem and can further downsize the entire device and reduce manufacturing costs by performing scanning without using a complicated optical system equipped with octavalent optical elements. The purpose is to

(Structure of the Invention) The light beam scanning device of the present invention includes: a main scanning optical deflector that is installed on the optical path of a light beam emitted from a beam light source and deflects the light beam; and the main scanning optical deflector. an imaging lens provided on the optical path of the light beam deflected by the imaging lens; a mirror provided on the optical path of the light beam passing through the imaging lens for reflecting the cough light beam with a reflective surface; a sub-scanning mirror that rotates approximately around the entire line between a plane containing the optical path of the light beam passing through the imaging lens or a plane parallel to the plane and a plane perpendicular to the optical axis of the imaging lens, and A first feature of the present invention is that it includes a scanning sheet holding handle that holds the scanning sheet in an arcuate shape having a central axis that substantially coincides with the drive axis of the sub-scanning mirror.

In other words, in the light beam scanning device of the present invention, since the scanning sheet is fixed by the scanning sheet holding means, it is possible to carry out sub-scanning by conveying the scanning sheet.
There is no need to make the device larger in the sub-scanning direction,
The entire device can be made compact. In addition, the light beam reflected by the main scanning optical deflector passes through the main scanning imaging lens and is directly reflected by the sub scanning mirror for sub scanning, so there is no need to provide a relay lens etc.
The optical system becomes simple and inexpensive. Note that the light beam whose optical path has been widened by being deflected by the main scanning optical deflector is incident on the sub-scanning mirror, so due to the design of the optical system, it must be a long mirror that extends in the main scanning direction. preferable.

Furthermore, in the apparatus of the present invention, the scanning sheet is held by the scanning sheet holding means as described above, and the light beam is
The scanning sheet stopped on the scanning sheet holding surface of the scanning sheet holding means is two-dimensionally scanned. Therefore, the light beam can start the actual scanning for reading or recording on the scanning sheet from a desired position in the sub-scanning direction, such as the edge in the sub-scanning direction. It is necessary that the light beam be positioned at a predetermined position on the holding surface and controlled so that the light beam starts substantially scanning from a predetermined position in the 01 scanning direction of the positioned scanning sheet. Therefore, the device of the present invention
scanning sheet positioning means for transporting the scanning sheet onto a scanning sheet holding surface of the scanning sheet holding means and stopping the scanning sheet at a predetermined position on the holding surface; and scanning sheet stopped at the predetermined position on the holding surface. A second feature includes a photodetector that is located near an edge in the sub-scanning direction and detects the light beam before reaching the scanning sheet in the n1 scanning direction and outputs a reading or recording start signal. It is something.

(Embodiment) Hereinafter, embodiment S of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an outline of a light beam recording device which is an embodiment of the light beam scanning device of the present invention.

A light beam 2 emitted from a laser light source 1 enters a modulator X1m6 which is modulated by a modulator drive circuit 7 based on a signal emitted from an image signal output circuit 8 that outputs an image signal, and then is modulated. The light enters the rotating polygon 13, which is a main scanning optical deflector, and is deflected. As the laser light source 1, in addition to an l-1e-Ne laser, an Ar laser, etc., a laser light source formed by combining a semiconductor laser and a beam shaping optical system is used. In addition, when using a laser light source capable of direct modulation such as a semiconductor laser, the modulator 6 is not particularly provided in the optical path of the light beam 2, and the laser light source 1 is directly controlled to modulate the light beam 2. You can also do this. In addition to the rotating polygon mirror described above, other types of optical deflectors such as a galvanometer mirror and an acousto-optic optical deflector (AOD) may be used as the main scanning optical deflector.

The light beam 2 deflected by the rotating polygon &f13 passes through an imaging lens 4 such as an fθ lens provided on the optical path, and then is driven by a motor 9 to rotate at a low speed in the direction of arrow C. The light is incident on the reflective surface 10a of the long 91 scanning mirror 10 extending in the scanning direction and is reflected. Further, below the sub-scanning mirror 10, on the optical path of the light beam 2 reflected by the sub-scanning mirror 10, a sheet-like recording material (scanning sheet) 5 such as a photographic film or photographic paper is placed. The recording medium is held in an arcuate shape by a recording medium holding stage 11 having an arcuate holding surface 11a. This holding means 11 is
For example, it is formed by bending a plate-like object or integrally molding it using synthetic resin or the like. Further, the central axis of the circular arc surface formed by the recording body 5 substantially coincides with the rotation axis of the sub-scanning mirror 10.

When the recording medium 5 is held on the recording medium holding means 11 as described above, the light beam 2 is deflected by the rotating polygon mirror 3.
performs main scanning on the recording medium 5 in the direction of arrow B. The imaging lens 4 converges the light beam 2 onto the recording medium 5-[, and also deflects the light beam 2 deflected at approximately constant angular velocity by the rotating polygon R3 onto the recording medium 5 which is flat in the main scanning direction. This is a lens that allows you to scan at high speed. Further, the sub-scanning mirror 10 substantially rotates the intersection of a plane containing the optical path of the light beam 2 that has passed through the imaging lens 4 or a plane parallel to the plane and a plane perpendicular to the optical axis of the imaging lens 4. It rotates at a low speed in the direction of arrow C as a moving axis, and preferably the reflective surface 1
The reflection position of the light beam 2 on 0a coincides with the rotation axis. Note that the rotation axis of the sub-scanning mirror 10 may be located at a position slightly shifted from the above-mentioned reflection position within a range that does not pose a problem in terms of scanning accuracy of the light beam 2, such as the center position in the thickness direction of the mirror.

This DI scanning mirror 10 records image information on one recording medium 5 in the direction of the arrow C between f =
The recording medium 5 rotates by a predetermined angle sufficient for the light beam 2 to scan the recording medium 5, and the rotation of the sub-scanning mirror 10 causes the light beam 2 to form a main beam on the recording medium 5. The scanning line is gradually moved in the direction of the arrow to perform m) scanning. Therefore, the light beam 2 is caused to two-dimensionally scan the entire surface of the recording medium by the rotating polygon mirror 3 and the sub-scanning mirror 10.

As described above, when the sub-scanning mirror 10 rotates by a predetermined angle at a predetermined speed and the necessary image information is recorded over the entire surface of the recording medium, the sub-scanning mirror 10 rotates in the rotation direction. The recording medium is rotated in the opposite direction, or further rotated in the rotational direction to complete one rotation, and returned to the initial position in preparation for recording on the next recording medium.

As described above, in the apparatus of the present invention, sub-scanning is performed by fixing the recording medium 5 and moving the light beam 2 by rotating the n1 scanning mirror 10. Therefore, when moving the recording medium side, The size of the device in the sub-scanning direction can be reduced to about half compared to the conventional method. Further, even in the case where the sub-scanning mirror 10 is a long one extending in the main scanning direction as in the actual m embodiment, the length of the sub-scanning mirror 10 in the main scanning direction is the same as that of the light beam 2. It is sufficient that the length is sufficient to allow the incident light, and it is sufficient that it is shorter than the length of the main scanning line on the recording medium 5. Therefore, even if the sub-scanning mirror 10 and the motor 9 are combined, the recording medium It is sufficiently possible to make the length shorter than the length of the holding means 11 in the main scanning direction, and the apparatus of the present invention is also compact in the main scanning direction. Note that the sub-scanning mirror 10 does not necessarily have to be long if it can be placed sufficiently close to the main-scanning optical deflector, and its shape can also be rotated around the above-mentioned rotation axis. It may have any shape as long as it moves and allows the light beam 2 to be incident without fail.

Furthermore, since the motor 9 that drives the sub-scanning mirror 10 does not undergo load fluctuations, it is easy to control, and a relatively inexpensive motor can be used. Note that depending on the type of recording body, the recording body 5 may be attached to the holding surface 11a of the recording body holding means 11.
If it is difficult to maintain the recording medium 5 in an arcuate shape, a suction means may be provided in the recording medium holding means 11 to suction the recording medium 5 onto the holding surface 11a.

Furthermore, in the apparatus of the present invention, as described above, the sub-scanning mirror 10 is provided which allows all of the light beam 2 deflected by the main-scanning optical deflector 3 to enter, so that the optical path of the light beam 2 is adjusted. There is no need to provide a relay lens or the like, which simplifies the optical system, making the device more compact and reducing its manufacturing cost.

By the way, in the apparatus of this embodiment as described above, since the recording medium 5 is scanned by the light beam 2 while being held on the holding surface 11a of the recording medium holding means 11, the recording medium 5 is scanned in the sub-scanning direction. It is possible to perform recording with the light beam 2 from a desired position in one scanning direction of the edge of the recording medium. However, in order to always perform accurate recording from the edge of the recording medium 5, for example, scanning by the light beam 2 modulated by the modulator 6 is required at the position where the light beam 2 is incident on the edge of the recording medium 5. Substantive recording must begin strictly. Therefore, the apparatus of the above embodiment includes a recording body positioning means for carrying the recording body 5 onto the holding surface 11a, and for reliably stopping the recording body 5 at a predetermined position on the holding surface 11a, and an edge of the recording body 5 at the predetermined position. A photodetector is provided that detects the light beam 2 approaching the edge and outputs a recording start signal. Hereinafter, examples of the positioning means and photodetector and their functions will be described with reference to the drawings from FIG. 1 onwards.

A pair of carry-in rollers 13A and 13B for carrying in the record body 5 are provided near one end of the record body holding means 11. These carry-in rollers 13A, 13B are used to carry out recording bodies 5 after the recording bodies 5 are sucked one by one by the suction means 16 from the magazine 14 in which a plurality of recording bodies 5 are stored, as shown in FIG. 2(a). , grips the recording medium 5 that falls while being guided by the guide plate 15, and rotates in the direction of the arrow to release the recording medium 5.
is carried in along the holding surface 11a.

The carry-in rollers 13Δ, 133 feed the recording medium 5 in the direction of the arrow F1 by their respective rotations, and hold the recording medium 5 on the holding surface Ha as shown in FIG. 2(b). Convey to the front of the specified position.

The recording medium 5 thus conveyed to the front of the predetermined position is
The recording medium holding means 11 is moved to a predetermined position by a recording medium sending plate 19 which is provided near one end and is fixed to a rotary member @18 which is rotationally driven by a motor 17 as shown in FIG. That is, as shown in FIG. 2(a), when the recording medium 5 is being carried onto the holding surface tla by the carry-in rollers 13A and 13B, the recording medium sending-out plate 19 is moved back from above the holding surface 11a. However, the recording medium 5 is held on the holding surface 11 by the carry-in rollers 13A and 13B.
When it is carried in to a position just before a predetermined position on a, it rotates in the direction of arrow E1 and moves to a position where it comes into contact with the rear end of the recording medium, as shown in FIG. 2(b). Next, this 1z recording body delivery plate 19
further rotates in the direction of arrow E2 as shown in FIG.
direction to the specified position.

The recording body holding means 11 is provided with a recording body detector 20 such as a reflective photointerrupter or a limit switch at a portion where the leading end of the recording body 5 is located at the predetermined position. The leading edge of the recording medium 5 pushed by the recording medium delivery plate 19 to a predetermined position is detected and a detection signal is generated. In this embodiment, the carry-in roller 13A.

The 13B1 recording medium delivery plate 19 and the recording medium detector 20 constitute a recording medium positioning means.

The detection signal emitted from the record body detector 20 is transmitted to the drive member of the record body feed-out plate 19, and the rotation of the record body feed-out plate 19 in the direction of arrow E2 is stopped. When the recording medium 5 is placed at a predetermined position on the holding surface 11a, the recording medium feeding plate 19 is moved as shown in FIG. 2(d).
retreats slightly in the direction of arrow E3 and prepares for scanning by light beam 2. Note that the position where the record body detector 20 is provided is not limited to the above-mentioned position.
3. A detector is installed at the part where the rear end of the recording body 5 is located ().
, the rear end of the recording medium 5 placed at a predetermined position may be detected. Also, the recording medium 5 is stopped at a predetermined position.

Is positioning necessarily performed using the recording body detector 20? For example, the operation time of the motor 17 that drives the recording medium sending-out plate 19 may be determined appropriately, and the recording medium sending-out plate 19 may be stopped at a position where the recording medium 5 is moved to a predetermined position. It's okay. In this case, if a pulse motor is used as the motor 17, υ control can be easily performed. Furthermore, the means for moving the recording body 5 is not limited to the recording body sending-out plate 19, but is capable of controlling the movement of the recording body 5 on the holding surface 11a and stopping at a predetermined position. If so, any means can be used. Note that, as shown in FIG. 1, when the recording medium 5 is placed at a predetermined recording position,
If the guide plate 22 provided at the side end of the recording medium 1 is provided with a width shifting plate 23 that rotates in the direction of the arrow and presses the recording medium 5, the positioning of the recording medium 5 in the main scanning direction can also be performed at a height of v1. can.

When the recording medium 5 is stopped at a predetermined position on the holding surface 11a as described above, the recording apparatus starts two-dimensional scanning with the light beam 2. As described above, the scanning position of the light beam in the sub-scanning direction changes depending on the direction of the reflective surface 10a of the sub-scanning mirror 10, but in this device, as shown in FIG. 3(a), the scanning position of the light beam The initial position of the sub-scanning mirror 10 is set so that scanning starts from the outer edge of the recording medium 5 in the sub-scanning direction, which is placed at a predetermined position, and the light beam 2 is modulated as described above. without being modulated by instrument 6,
It is moved in the sub-scanning direction toward the recording medium 5 by rotating the sub-scanning mirror 10 while main-scanning on the holding surface 11a. On the other hand, a portion of the recording body holding means 11 where the edge of the recording body 5 is located at the predetermined position, that is, a portion substantially aligned with the recording body detector 20 in the main scanning direction is provided with a light beam for detecting the light beam. A detector 12 is provided. As shown in FIG. 3(l), this photodetector 12 moves in the sub-scanning direction according to the rotation of the sub-scanning mirror 10, detects the incident light beam 2, and issues a recording start signal S. This recording start signal S is sent to the image signal output circuit 8, and the image signal output circuit receives the recording start signal @S.
Start outputting image signals. In this way, almost at the same time that the light beam 2 reaches the edge of the recording medium 5, the image signal output circuit 8
Since the light beam 2 is modulated by the modulator 6 driven by the modulator drive circuit 7 based on the signal emitted from the A record will be made. According to the recording apparatus equipped with the recording body positioning means and the photodetector as described above, in addition to being able to perform recording from the edge of the recording body 5 without waste as described above, the light beam by the photodetector 12 can be 2
A certain time difference is set between the detection of the image signal output circuit 8 and the drive of the image signal output circuit 8, and an edge of a predetermined width is formed by scanning the unmodulated light beam 2 at the edge of the recording medium 5. It is also possible to subsequently carry out recording with the modulated light beam 2. Furthermore, the position of the photodetector 12 is not necessarily limited to the part where the leading edge of the recording medium is located at a predetermined position, but as shown in FIG. It may be any position as long as it can detect the light beam 2 outside the predetermined position and in front of the recording medium 5 in the sub-scanning direction. In this case, after the light beam 2 is detected by the photodetector, the light beam 2 is transferred to the recording medium 5.
The time required for the light beam 2 to be incident on the light beam 2 may be measured in advance, and the modulation of the light beam 2 may be started after the measured time has elapsed since the photodetector detects the light beam 2.

In the recording apparatus equipped with the photodetector 12, in addition to the procedure described above, the procedure for controlling the actual recording start is to scan the light beam 2 without modulating it before loading the recording medium 5. No. 15 is detected by the photodetector 12 and stops the rotation of the sub-scanning mirror 10 at this detection position, and is sent to the control means of the motor 9 of the sub-scanning mirror 10 to determine the position of the sub-scanning mirror 10; - After stopping the emission of the tip beam 2, the recording medium 5 is carried in and positioned, and then the beam light source 1 and the image signal output circuit 8 are simultaneously driven, and the light beam modulated by the modulator 6 is used to In either case, in the apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to accurately start the actual recording from a desired position such as the edge of the recording medium 5. Therefore, it is possible to produce 1q images on the recording medium 5 with no waste and with high positional accuracy.

As mentioned above, when the recording by the light beam is completed, the second
As shown in Figure (C), the recording medium feeding plate 19 is
It rotates in four directions and pushes the leading end of the recording body 5 to move the recording body 5 to the other end side of the recording body holding means 11. Near the other end of the recording medium holding means 11, a pair of conveyance rollers 21A and 21B are installed as means for conveying the recording medium 5.
The recording medium sending-out plate 19 has these delivery rollers 21A, 21
The rear end of the recording medium 5 is pushed and moved until the leading end of the recording medium 5 is gripped by the lever B. In this way, the unloading roller 21A
, 21B, the recording medium 5 is transferred to the conveyance roller 2.
By the rotation of 1A and 21B, it is moved in the direction of arrow F3 and carried out to the outside of the recording apparatus. Note that the recording body 5 carried out from the device is carried into, for example, a self-blocking WA machine or a receiving magazine, but even if the carrying-out rollers 21A and 213 serve as the entrance rollers of an automatic machine, it is not necessary to good.

When the recording medium 5 is carried out of the apparatus in this way, the recording medium feeding plate 19 moves in the direction of the arrow E5, which is the opposite direction to the arrow E4 direction.
direction and return to the position shown in FIG. 2(a) to allow loading of a new recording medium.

Further, the positioning of the recording medium in the sub-scanning direction on the holding surface tIa can also be performed using a member other than the aforementioned recording medium feeding plate 19. For example, as shown in FIG. a first position extending in the scanning direction, the top end of which is on the holding surface; and a second position, the top end of which is retracted from the holding surface.
It is also possible to provide a recording body feed roller 25 having a position of 1, and to position the recording body 5 using this feed roller 25.

The light beam scanning device of the present invention has been described above using a light beam recording device as an example. Information recording and reproducing system〈JP-A-55-1
No. 2429, No. 56-11395.

5G-11397, etc.), and can also be applied to various light beam reading devices such as the radiation image information reading device used in In this case, the reading means for scanning the scanning sheet may be moved opposite to the scanning line in conjunction with the rotation of the sub-scanning mirror.

In addition, the signal emitted from the photodetector becomes a reading start signal and is sent to a photodetector such as a photomultiplier that constitutes a part of the reading means, and this reading start signal starts the operation of the photodetector. Thus, the start of reading the image information may be controlled.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above in detail, according to the light beam scanning device of the present invention, by fixing the scanning sheet and performing DI constant scanning, the entire device can be downsized, especially in the sub-scanning direction. can. Furthermore, by performing sub-scanning using a sub-scanning reflective mirror and by making the scanning sheet arc-shaped, the optical system inside the device can be simplified, making it possible to further downsize the entire device. Become. Furthermore, the number of optical elements used can be reduced, the need for expensive optical elements can be eliminated, and the sub-scanning motor can be made inexpensive, so the manufacturing cost of the apparatus can be significantly reduced.

Furthermore, the apparatus of the present invention is equipped with a scanning sheet positioning means and a photodetector that detects the light beam and issues a reading or recording start signal. Accurately position 1tilI
t2Il, and the positional accuracy of scanning on the scanning sheet can be increased, such as by being able to perform substantial scanning from the edge of the scanning sheet.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an outline of a light beam recording device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 2(a) to (e) illustrate an example of loading, unloading, and positioning of a recording medium into the 5A position. 3(a) to 3(C) are schematic diagrams illustrating the function of the photodetector of the above device; FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the position of the light display device in another embodiment; This figure is a plan view showing a recording medium holding means provided with a recording medium feeding roller, and FIGS. 6 and 7 are perspective views showing an outline of a conventional light beam scanning device. 1... Beam light source 2... Light beam 3...
Rotating polygon mirror 4... Imaging lens 5... Recording body 10... D1 scanning mirror 11... Recording body holding means 12... Photodetectors 13A, 13B
... Carrying-in roller 19 ... Recording body delivery plate 20 ... Recording body detector Figure 3, Figure 4 Reason? Figure 5

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1) A light beam emitted from a beam light source is caused to scan a scanning sheet in a main scanning direction, and the light beam and the scanning sheet are moved relatively to each other in a sub-scanning direction substantially orthogonal to the main scanning direction. In a light beam scanning device that performs reading or recording by scanning the light beam two-dimensionally on the scanning sheet by moving in a scanning direction, the light beam scanning device is provided on the optical path of the light beam emitted from the beam light source, and is provided on the optical path of the light beam emitted from the beam source. a main-scanning optical deflector that deflects a light beam; an imaging lens provided on the optical path of the light beam deflected by the main-scanning optical deflector; and an imaging lens provided on the optical path of the light beam that has passed through the imaging lens. a plane that includes the optical path of the light beam that has passed through the imaging lens, or a plane that is parallel to the plane, and a plane that is perpendicular to the optical axis of the imaging lens; a sub-scanning mirror that rotates about an intersection line with the rotation axis, and a scanning sheet holding means that holds the scanning sheet in an arcuate shape having a central axis that substantially coincides with the rotation axis of the sub-scanning mirror. scanning sheet positioning means for transporting the scanning sheet onto the scanning sheet holding surface of the scanning sheet holding means and stopping the scanning sheet at a predetermined position on the holding surface; A photodetector is provided near an edge of the stopped scanning sheet in the sub-scanning direction and detects the light beam before reaching the scanning sheet in the sub-scanning direction and outputs a reading or recording start signal. A light beam scanning device. 2) The scanning sheet positioning means carries in the scanning sheet to a position in front of the predetermined position on the holding surface in the sub-scanning direction, and sub-scans the scanning sheet carried in by the carrying-in means toward the predetermined position. a scanning sheet detector that detects the leading edge of the scanning sheet moved to the predetermined position, issues a detection signal, and stops driving the sheet moving means; A light beam scanning device according to claim 1.