1. An optical scanner for scanning an image carrier comprising:
an illuminant part emitting an optical beam;
a deflecting part deflecting the optical beam;
an image forming part focusing the deflected optical beam on the image carrier; and
an optical axis adjustment part adjusting an optical axis of the optical beam with respect to a sub-scanning direction during an image writing operation of image data,
the optical axis adjustment part comprising a prism for adjustment of a scanning position or a beam spot position of the optical beam on the image carrier with respect to a sub-scanning direction during the writing of image data by rotating the prism on an optical axis of the optical beam to deflect the incoming optical beam within a maximum deflection angle \u03a6, the maximum deflection angle \u03a6 being defined in a formula \u03a6=(n\u22121)\xd7\u03b1 in which n is a refractive index of the prism and \u03b1 is an apex angle of the prism, and the apex angle \u03b1 of the prism satisfies:
0.1<\u03b2\xd7tan(n\u22121)\xd7\u03b1<1.0
in which \u03b2 is a lateral magnification of all optical systems with respect to the sub-scanning direction, to compensate for misalignment of the scanning position or beam spot position due to fluctuation in rotation of the image carrier.
2. The optical scanner as claimed in claim 1, wherein the optical axis adjustment part further adjusts a writing start position on the image carrier.
3. The optical scanner as claimed in claim 2, further comprising:
a beam position detection part detecting a beam position of the optical beam.
4. The optical scanner as claimed in claim 3, further comprising:
a housing integrally accommodating the illuminant part, the deflecting part, the image forming part, the optical axis adjustment part, and the beam position detection part.
5. The optical scanner as claimed in claim 4, wherein the beam position detected by the beam position detection part is allowed to conduct free expansion relative to a location of the beam position detection part within the housing.
6. The optical scanner as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a rotation adjusting mechanism configured to adjust a rotational angle of the prism based on a detected amount of the misalignment of the scanning position beam spot position.
7. An image forming apparatus, comprising:
a plurality of image carriers; and
an optical scanner scanning the plurality of image carriers, the optical scanner comprising: an illuminant part emitting one or more optical beams; a deflecting part deflecting the optical beams; an image forming part focusing the deflected optical beams on the plurality of image carriers; and an optical axis adjustment part comprising a prism for adjustment of scanning positions or beam spot positions of the optical beams on the plurality of image carriers with respect to a sub-scanning direction during an image writing operation by rotating the prism on optical axes of the optical beams to deflect the incoming optical beam within a maximum deflection angle \u03a6, the maximum deflection angle \u03a6 being defined in a formula \u03a6=(n\u22121)\xd7\u03b1 in which n is a refractive index of the prism and \u03b1 is an apex angle of the prism, and the apex angle \u03b1 of the prism satisfies:
0.1<\u03b2\xd7tan(n\u22121)\xd7\u03b1<1.0
in which \u03b2 is a lateral magnification of all optical systems with respect to the sub-scanning direction, to compensate for misalignment of the scanning positions or beam spot positions due to fluctuation in rotation of the image carriers.
8. The image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 7, wherein the optical axis adjustment part further adjusts writing start positions on the plurality of image carriers.
9. The image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 8, further comprising:
a resist difference detection part detecting a resist difference between writing start positions on the plurality of image carriers.
10. The image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 9, wherein the optical axis adjustment part adjusts the writing start positions on the plurality of image carriers based on the resist difference detected by the resist difference detection part.
11. The image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 9, wherein a distance between an image transferred position onto a transferred member of the image forming apparatus and a resist position detected by the resist difference detection part is set to be an approximately integer multiple of a circumferential length of a driving roller for driving the transferred member.
12. The image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 8, further comprising:
a beam spot position detection part detecting beam spot positions on the plurality of image carriers.
13. The image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 12, wherein the optical axis adjustment part adjusts scanning positions on the plurality of image carriers based on misplacement of the beam spot positions detected by the beam spot position detection part.
14. The image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 7, further comprising a rotation adjusting mechanism configured to adjust a rotational angle of the prism based on a detected amount of the misalignment of the scanning position beam spot position.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A system, comprising:
a server including an information application, said information application being in communication with an information database, said information database comprising a plurality of marketplaces, each marketplace being associated with a classification, and a plurality of listings respectively classified within said plurality of marketplaces;
wherein said plurality of marketplaces comprise pre-defined marketplaces and user-defined marketplaces distinct from said pre-defined marketplaces, at least one of said user-defined marketplaces being classified in a classification within at least one of said pre-defined marketplaces; and
wherein at least one of said user-defined marketplaces is associated with a categorical classification defining at least one listing topic, and at least a subset of said at least one listing topic defined by said categorical classification is inherited and created within said marketplace.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein said information application is selectively accessible by users and said user-defined marketplaces are selectively created by a subset of the users.
3. The system of claim 1, wherein said information database forms at least a portion of a computing device and said information application is a software application executed by said computing device.
4. The system of claim 1, wherein each of said plurality of listings comprises listing attribute data, said listing attribute data comprising at least one of a classification attribute, a geographic attribute, a contact information attribute, a fee-type attribute, and a position adjustment attribute.
5. The system of claim 1, wherein a fee-type attribute is assigned to each of said user-defined marketplaces.
6. The system of claim 1, wherein said plurality of listings and said user-defined marketplaces are created based at least in part on data supplied by an access device in communication with said information application.
7. The system of claim 6, wherein approval from administrators of said system is required prior to creation of at least a subset of said user-defined marketplaces.
8. The system of claim 6, wherein said information application is configured to generate and transmit a response to said access device based upon a request transmitted from said access device, said request comprising at least one search term and said response comprising at least one of said plurality of listings responsive to said request.
9. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of said user-defined marketplaces is classified within at least one other user-defined marketplaces.
10. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of said user-defined marketplaces is associated with a geographic classification stored in said information database.
11. The system of claim 10, wherein said geographic classification is user-defined.
12. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of said user-defined marketplaces is linked with at least one other user-defined marketplace.
13. The system of claim 12, wherein one of said user-defined marketplaces linked to another marketplace inherits listing topics defined within the marketplace to which it is linked.
14. The system of claim 1, wherein access to said user-defined marketplace is restricted based on a set of user-defined access rights.
15. The system of claim 14, wherein said user-defined access rights limit access to said user-defined marketplace to registered users of said user-defined marketplace and registered users of marketplaces that are linked to said user-defined marketplace.
16. The system of claim 1, wherein a user-defined marketplace includes user-defined listing topics.