An image forming apparatus includes an image carrier, a charging device, an exposure device, a development device, and a development voltage power supply. The development device includes a development container storing a nonmagnetic one-component developer composed only of a toner, and a developer carrier on which a toner layer is formed on an outer circumferential surface thereof. The development voltage power supply applies a development voltage to the developer carrier. The image forming apparatus alternately forms white regions and exposed regions at a predetermined pitch repeatedly on a surface of the image carrier to form a solid image with an area ratio lower than 100%. Where V0 represents a white-region potential of the image carrier, VL represents an exposed-region potential of the image carrier, Vt represents a toner-layer potential, and Vd represents the development voltage, Vd0.5*(V0VL)+VLVt is fulfilled.

An image forming apparatus includes a photosensitive drum, an optical scanning device and a controller. The optical scanning device forms a latent image on the photosensitive drum by scanning laser light based on image data in a scanning direction. The controller corrects the image data. In the image forming apparatus, a scanning speed which is a speed of the laser light scanned on the photosensitive member is slower at a center portion than at an end portion. The controller corrects the image data according to a continuous pixel number which is a number of pixels, for forming the latent image, continued in the scanning direction and a pixel position which is a position within continuous pixels which are a plurality of pixels continued.

An image forming apparatus incudes a photosensitive member, a scanning optical unit and a control portion. The scanning optical unit is provided with a light source including a plurality of light emitting points and emitting laser lights form the plurality of light emitting points, respectively and a deflector deflecting each of the laser lights emitted from the plurality of light emitting points into a scanning direction. The scanning optical unit scans the photosensitive member with the plurality of laser lights deflected by the deflector and forms an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive member. The control portion controls the scanning optical unit. Based on information regarding a light emitting point pitch as an interval between the plurality of light emitting points, the control portion identifies the light emitting point pitch.

An optical scanning device includes a laser driver, an offset value determiner, a bias current setter, and a laser driver controller. The laser driver controls a laser light emitter to increase or decrease an excess of a current over a bias current in response to an input analog signal. The offset value determiner determines an offset value of the analog signal input to the laser driver based on a target light quantity of the laser light emitter. The bias current setter controls the bias current of the laser driver to a setting value in accordance with laser characteristics or lens transmittance of the laser light emitter. The laser driver controller controls a light emission quantity of the laser light emitter by inputting, to the laser driver, the analog signal offset based on a signal of the determined offset value.

An optical scanning device includes a light source, a deflector, and a first lens and a second lens. A light beam from the light source strikes a deflection surface on the deflector obliquely in the sub-scanning direction. For the first and second lenses, the shapes of their entrance and exit surfaces with respect to the light beam are defined by a main scanning direction shape formula and a sub-scanning direction shape formula that include different coefficients for one and the other sides with respect to the middle in the main scanning direction. The sub-scanning direction shape formula includes, as a variable, a sub-scanning direction curvature radius defined by a sub-scanning direction curvature radius definition formula. The sub-scanning direction curvature radius definition formula is given by a polynomial with a coordinate in the main scanning direction as a variable, and includes a first order term of the variable.

A light source module includes a first light source, a second light source, a beam combiner, a substrate, and an adjuster. The first light source emits a first light beam. The second light source emits a second light beam parallel to the first light beam. The beam combiner combines and emits the first light beam and the second light beam. The first light source and the second light source are mounted on the substrate. The adjuster adjusts a mounting height of at least one of the first light source or the second light source on the substrate to vary at least one of (a) a first optical path length of the first light beam or (b) a second optical path length of the second light beam.

Disclosed is an image forming apparatus including: a flexible flat cable configured to electrically connect a connector with a control circuit board; and an exposure support member configured to support the exposure head in a posture where the light emitting elements are disposed on an upper side and the connector is disposed on a lower side of the image forming apparatus in upward and downward directions of the image forming apparatus. The flexible flat cable has a contact point that is provided on one surface and is the electrically connected to the connector of the exposure head. The flexible flat cable is connected to the exposure head held by the exposure support member in the posture such that the contact point is disposed on a surface of a right side in leftward and rightward directions of the image forming apparatus.

An image forming apparatus includes an image bearing member, an exposure portion, a developing portion including a developer carrying member, a transfer portion, a development separation portion, a transfer separation portion, a storing portion, and a controller. Before a present image forming operation, the controller controls the transfer separation portion to put the image bearing member and the transfer portion in a separation state and controls the development separation portion to put the image bearing member and the developer carrying member in a separation state, and then the controller carries out control to determine whether or not pre-exposure for exposing the image bearing member to light by the exposure portion is executed, depending on a standing time from an end of a last image forming operation to a start of the present image forming operation and on information stored in the storing portion.

An image-forming apparatus employing an electrophotographic method that scans a surface of an image carrier with multi-beams emitted from a plurality of light emitting elements based on image data includes a density smoothing processor that performs a density smoothing process to smooth a density level difference of an image subjected to electronic bow correction, a density correction processor that performs density correction on the image subjected to the bow correction by light amount correction of a surface-crossing exposure segment, and a light emitting element driver controller that controls light emission of a plurality of light emitting elements of a light beam emitter based on the image data subjected to the density smoothing process and a control signal subjected to the density correction.

Focusing optics can include optical elements disposed and bonded in a linear arrangement (linear array) in at least two rows. A transparent bonding agent can secure alignment of the at least two rows of the optical elements. Scattering elements can also be disposed in the transparent polymer to cause light diffusion. Diffused or un-diffused light from a semiconductor laser array can then be caused to pass through the optical element and illuminate a target substrate such as an imaging member in a printing system.