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[on:]

I'm interested in finding a cheap source of polygonal rotary mirrors, like one finds in laser printers.  I don't have a laser printer to salvage, however.  Anyone find a commercial source, or maybe knows of a salvage company to contact?

[Reply #1 on:]

Here's one . . .
http://www.goldmine-elec-products.com/prodinfo.asp?number=G17119

[Reply #2 on:]

Mm, sorry, BroHogan.  A scanning mirror is kind of like one slice of a disco ball:  a central axis through which an axle fits, and some number of mirror planes arranged in a circle around it.  If a laser is aimed at such a thing while it's spinning, the laser beam is deflected into a long line or plane outward from the axle.

[Reply #3 on:]

No problem - I thought you wanted to make one. I see a lot of the motorized mirrors in the barcode scanners we deal with - "slot scanners" - the big one's that go into the grocery store lane. You could check out your local people who service these things and see if they got any old ones. I was the "first kid on my block" with a gonzo laser that I pulled out of one of those in the '80's. ;D

[Reply #4 on:]

well,

http://shop.ebay.com/items/?_nkw=laser+printer+assembly+-fuser&_sacat=0&_trksid=p3286.m270.l1313&_odkw=laser+printer+assembly&_osacat=0

I was once on a project that required a HV source so we grabbed a couple laser printers from a local electronics recycler. I'd recommend that instead of ebay since I noticed the laser assemblies come in 3,5,6 sided types and some also have concave faces meant to focus the beamsweep at a fixed distance. they seem easy to interface with though - usually it's a 3 phase spindle motor with hall sensor feedback and you're set.

Anyhow, electronics disposal places are usually happy to help.

[Reply #5 on:]

I work in the AutoID industry. I specialize in machine vision now, but I worked with laser scanners before my current position.

I can sent you something gratis. I've got a box of them under my desk, various sizes with encoder wheels on them. Looking for anything specific?
Size, # of mirrors, speed?

I'm out of town this week, should be able to send something next week sometime.

[Reply #6 on:]

sethc, that's very generous.  I haven't even really thought about what kind of motor to be attached.  Maybe you have some motors still attached in that junk box?  I don't think I need any encoding.  I'm mostly just interested in spinning it in front of a laser to produce a clean laser plane, say, visible within a darkened room.  (Experimenting with simple photometric scanning.)  Something small and easy to drive would be ideal.

[Reply #7 on:]

All of the mirrors I have are already connected to the stepper motors used to drive them in the laser scanners. I have quite a selection. I'm trapped in Quebec right now on a job, I'll take some pictures and post some dimensions either on Friday or early next week.

[Reply #8 on:]

Alright - I've got some pics for you.

This is an example of the three sizes I have:

Bottoms:


Tops:


Fancy marketing shot:

[Reply #9 on:]

sethc, private message sent; see link at the top of your page.

Those are pretty sweet looking.  The board must come from a retail scanner or a laserprinter, I can't tell which.  These are surplus or scrap salvage from a project?  That big one must weigh a kilogram!  Only the middle one has visible zebra encoding marks, wonder why.

[Reply #10 on:]

These are from 3 different types of large fixed mount barcode scanners used in unattended scanning systems. Think: warehouses, courier services and other large cartons on conveyors.

[Reply #11 on:]

id go in a dumpster or a ham radio show lol.

[Reply #12 on:]

sethc:

Is those units available commercialy ?! how do you obtain them ?