EP0112518A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Photocomposing apparatus and method
Assignee: BEDFORD COMPUTER CORP
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Filing: 1983-12-01
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2003-12-01
Abstract
Abstract Apparatus and methods for photocomposing as, for example, phototypesetting utilize photographic film on a moving member such as a rotatable cylinder with an array of multitudinous light emitting diodes movable along the length of the cylinder to project to the film an image of graphic information to be recorded on the film. The array moves to scan the film with overlap between one scan and the next to merge images of one scan into images of the next scan with a minimum of discontinuity. Overlapping exposures from individual LEDs further increase sharpness of image and substantially eliminate variations from nonuniformities of the individual LEDs.
Inventors
- 👤 James A. Tidd
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-28 08:23
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04N; H04N1/00; H04N1/04; H04N1/06; H04N1/0671; B; B41; B41B; B41B19/00; G; G06; G06K; G06K15/00; G06K15/02; G06K15/12; G06K15/1238; G06K15/1242; G06K15/1247; G06K15/1295; G06K2215/00; G06K2215/111; H04N1/19; H04N1/191; H04N1/1911
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 12
Claim 1
Independent Claim
204 words
Apparatus for photcomposing comprising a rotatable cylinder having means to hold a photorecord member on its surface, drive means adapted to rotate said cylinder, sensing means to sense rotation of said cylinder and to generate signals corresponding to such rotation, computer means, means to convey to said computer means said signals corresponding to cylinder rotation, a slidable optical carriage mounted to move along the length of said cylinder, an array mounted on said carriage having a multiplicity of individually excitable solid light emitting devices, each having a control electrode exciting said light emitting devices in response to an input signal, optical means mounted on said carriage to focus on said cylinder surface an image of light as emitted by said light emitting devices, means to drive said carriage along said cylinder whereby said image is moved along the cylinder surface, means connecting said electrodes individually to said computer means, and means associated with said computer means to determine the rotational position of said cylinder and the position of said carriage along said cylinder and to direct to each of said light emitting devices signals coordinated with said rotational position and corresponding to a desired pattern to be recorded ona.photorecord member positioned on said cylinder.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
204 words
Apparatus for photcomposing comprising a rotatable cylinder having means to hold a photorecord member on its surface, drive means adapted to rotate said cylinder, sensing means to sense rotation of said cylinder and to generate signals corresponding to such rotation, computer means, means to convey to said computer means said signals corresponding to cylinder rotation, a slidable optical carriage mounted to move along the length of said cylinder, an array mounted on said carriage having a multiplicity of individually excitable solid light emitting devices, each having a control electrode exciting said light emitting devices in response to an input signal, optical means mounted on said carriage to focus on said cylinder surface an image of light as emitted by said light emitting devices, means to drive said carriage along said cylinder whereby said image is moved along the cylinder surface, means connecting said electrodes individually to said computer means, and means associated with said computer means to determine the rotational position of said cylinder and the position of said carriage along said cylinder and to direct to each of said light emitting devices signals coordinated with said rotational position and corresponding to a desired pattern to be recorded ona.photorecord member positioned on said cylinder.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
15 words
The apparatus of Claim 1, wherein said solid light emitting devices are light emitting diodes.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
18 words
The apparatus of Claim 1, wherein the means to drive said carriage along said cylinder comprises stepping means.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
29 words
The apparatus of Claim 1, wherein said solid light emitting devices are light emitting diodes and wherein said means to drive said carriage along said cylinder comprises stepping means.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
192 words
In a photocomposing apparatus, an array of light emitting devices arranged in a predetermined pattern of a plurality of rows, each row having a multiplicity of light emitting devices, a mask having a multiplicity of small apertures therein, each aperture being substantially smaller than the area of the face of a light emitting device, said apertures being arranged in a plurality of rows and having a multiplicity of apertures in each row corresponding in location to said predetermined pattern, said mask being fitted over said array to permit the center areas of said light emitting devices to be visible through said apertures, lens means to focus light images from said mask apertures in reduced size onto a photorecording member, computer means programmed to signal a predetermined pattern for photo-recording, individual electrodes on each light emitting device adapted to excite said light emitting device individually in response to an input signal to said electrode, and individual connecting means connecting each of said electrodes to said computer means, whereby said computer means is adapted to excite said individual light emitting devices to emit light in a pattern corresponding to said predetermined pattern for photocomposing.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
192 words
In a photocomposing apparatus, an array of light emitting devices arranged in a predetermined pattern of a plurality of rows, each row having a multiplicity of light emitting devices, a mask having a multiplicity of small apertures therein, each aperture being substantially smaller than the area of the face of a light emitting device, said apertures being arranged in a plurality of rows and having a multiplicity of apertures in each row corresponding in location to said predetermined pattern, said mask being fitted over said array to permit the center areas of said light emitting devices to be visible through said apertures, lens means to focus light images from said mask apertures in reduced size onto a photorecording member, computer means programmed to signal a predetermined pattern for photo-recording, individual electrodes on each light emitting device adapted to excite said light emitting device individually in response to an input signal to said electrode, and individual connecting means connecting each of said electrodes to said computer means, whereby said computer means is adapted to excite said individual light emitting devices to emit light in a pattern corresponding to said predetermined pattern for photocomposing.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
91 words
Apparatus according to Claim 5 wherein said array of light emitting devices is adapted to scanning in a direction substantially perpendicular to the direction of said rows, having said rows substantially offset, each row from the row preceding it in the scanning direction, to provide at each end of said rows edge areas having substantially decreased quantity of light emitting devices within said edge areas, whereby said edge areas are adapted to overlap during successive scans to provide cumulatively substantially uniform quantity of emission capability as a consequence of such overlap.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
120 words
In photocomposing, a method in forming a minute character dot of a size sufficient to be detected by the unaided human eye on a photorecording member, comprising as a first step, exposing a first segment of a character dot to a projected image of an activated light emitting device in a first location within a character dot area, as a second step, exposing a second segment of a character dot to a projected image of an activated light emitting device in a second location within said character dot overlappling with said first segment, and repeating said first and second steps a multiplicity of times within said character dot area for a multiplicity of partially overlappping segments within said character dot.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
120 words
In photocomposing, a method in forming a minute character dot of a size sufficient to be detected by the unaided human eye on a photorecording member, comprising as a first step, exposing a first segment of a character dot to a projected image of an activated light emitting device in a first location within a character dot area, as a second step, exposing a second segment of a character dot to a projected image of an activated light emitting device in a second location within said character dot overlappling with said first segment, and repeating said first and second steps a multiplicity of times within said character dot area for a multiplicity of partially overlappping segments within said character dot.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
167 words
In a photocomposing system wherein an array of light emitting devices is repeatedly scanned across a pattern area, the steps comprising providing an array of light emitting devices having substantially uniform light emitting capability in a central area of said array and decreased light emitting capability along the edges thereof, scanning said array in a first band on an area of a pattern in a direction to form a band having band edges of substantially reduced exposure density, stepping said array to a second, adjacent and partially overlapping band area, and scanning said array in a second band parallel with said first band wherein the decreased band edges overlap one with another, and repeating said scanning and stepping a multiplicity of times to form a pattern area comprising a multiplicity of overlapping bands, whereby the light emitting quantities in adjacent overlapping edges cumulatively reinforce each other to substantially the light emitting quantities of the central band areas to form substantially uniform exposure capability throughout the pattern area.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
167 words
In a photocomposing system wherein an array of light emitting devices is repeatedly scanned across a pattern area, the steps comprising providing an array of light emitting devices having substantially uniform light emitting capability in a central area of said array and decreased light emitting capability along the edges thereof, scanning said array in a first band on an area of a pattern in a direction to form a band having band edges of substantially reduced exposure density, stepping said array to a second, adjacent and partially overlapping band area, and scanning said array in a second band parallel with said first band wherein the decreased band edges overlap one with another, and repeating said scanning and stepping a multiplicity of times to form a pattern area comprising a multiplicity of overlapping bands, whereby the light emitting quantities in adjacent overlapping edges cumulatively reinforce each other to substantially the light emitting quantities of the central band areas to form substantially uniform exposure capability throughout the pattern area.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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