Patent 7593152 was granted and assigned to Seiko Epson on September, 2009 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
An optical device includes a movable portion having a light reflection portion formed thereon, a drive mechanism operable to pivot the movable portion so as to scan light reflected from the light reflection portion on an object, and a cooler configured to cool the movable portion. The movable portion is pivotable about an axis. With this arrangement, it is possible to prevent the movable portion from being increased in temperature. As a result, the optical device according to the present invention can operate stably.