Photocomposition

Claim 2

A photocomposing method for recording information on a photosensitive surface, comprising forming a light brush of individually modulatable parallel light beams and causing said brush to sweep said surface to trace parallel bands thereon while said surface is in continuous motion, and modulating said light beams to generate images in said bands.

Claim 3

A method according to claim 1, in which said photosensitive surface is provided on a continuously rotating drum and said light brush traces circumferential bands on the drum, the light brush being displaced in the direction of the length of the drum to position traced bands relatively to one another.

Claim 4

A method according to claim 2, wherein said light brush is continuously displaced in the direction of the length of the drum, and compensating for the respective motions of the photosensitive surface and the light brush to position images correctly on the photosensitive surface.

Claim 7

A method according to claim 2 or 3, wherein said images comprise characters disposed with their base-lines transverse to the rotational axis of the drum so that the rotation thereof spaces the characters from one another.

Claim 8

A method according to claim 2 or 3, or claim 5 or 6 when dependent thereon, wherein said photosensitive surface has dimensions corresponding with a standard newspaper page to permit composition of a complete page for one traverse of such surface by the light brush.

Claim 9

A photocomposing method for recording information on a photosensitive surface, comprising the steps of forming a thin, elongated polarized light beam, projecting said light beam to a light shutter unit comprising a column of coterminous, individually-controllable elementary areas located on a common substrate, and thence to an output polarizing filter, selectively blocking the passage of light through said unit by selective energization of said coterminous elementary areas, directing a light brush constituted by unaffected emerging light rays to a stationary collimating optical system, directing the collimated light rays emerging from said optical system to an imaging second optical system to make an image of said column, moving said second optical system along a straight path in a direction perpendicular to the illuminated linear area of said substrate and parallel to a photosensitive surface located on a continuously spinning drum at the focus of said optical system so that successive images can be projected by said system during its motion, and rotating said drum and moving said optical system in synchronism with one another so that bands of images are produced during each revolution of said drum.

Claim 10

A photocomposing method for recording information on a photosensitive surface, comprising the steps of forming a thin, elongated polarized light beam, projecting said light beam to a light shutter unit comprising a column of coterminous, individually-controllable elementary areas located on a common substrate, and thence to an output polarizing filter, selectively blocking the passage of light through said unit by selective energization of said coterminous elementary areas, directing a light brush constituted by unaffected emerging light rays to a stationary collimating optical system, directing the collimated light rays emerging from said optical system to an imaging second optical system to make an image of said column, moving said second optical system along a straight path in a direction perpendicular to the illuminated linear area of said substrate and parallel to a photosensitive surface located on a continuously spinning drum at the focus of said optical system so that successive images can be projected by said system during its motion, and rotating said drum and moving said optical system in synchronism with one another so that bands of images are produced during each revolution of said drum.

Claim 11

A photocomposing method for recording information on a photosensitive surface, comprising the steps of forming a thin, elongated polarized light beam from a single light emitter, projecting said light beam onto a light shutter unit comprising a column of coterminous, individually-controllable elementary areas arranged on a common substrate, utilizing a raster image processor to selectively block the passage of light through said unit by selective energization of said coterminous elementary areas to divide the impinging beam into a light brush constituted by a plurality of emerging individual beams, each beam corresponding to an elementary picture element, directing said emerging beams to a stationary collimating optical system, directing the collimated light rays emerging from said optical system to an imaging second optical system to project an image of a constant number of said elementary areas of said column, continuously moving said second optical system at a substantially constant speed along a straight path in a direction perpendicular to said column and parallel to a photosensitive surface so that the potential image of said column is caused to sweep transversely of said surface, and moving said surface in a direction parallel to said column by a fixed distance per sweep equal to the length of said column so that bands of images created by successive sweeps are contiguous.

Claim 12

A photocomposing method for recording information on a photosensitive surface, comprising the steps of forming a thin, elongated polarized light beam from a single light emitter, projecting said light beam onto a light shutter unit comprising a column of coterminous, individually-controllable elementary areas arranged on a common substrate, utilizing a raster image processor to selectively block the passage of light through said unit by selective energization of said coterminous elementary areas to divide the impinging beam into a light brush constituted by a plurality of emerging individual beams, each beam corresponding to an elementary picture element, directing said emerging beams to a stationary collimating optical system, directing the collimated light rays emerging from said optical system to an imaging second optical system to project an image of a constant number of said elementary areas of said column, continuously moving said second optical system at a substantially constant speed along a straight path in a direction perpendicular to said column and parallel to a photosensitive surface so that the potential image of said column is caused to sweep transversely of said surface, and moving said surface in a direction parallel to said column by a fixed distance per sweep equal to the length of said column so that bands of images created by successive sweeps are contiguous.

Claim 13

A photocomposing method for recording information on a photosensitive surface, comprising the steps of forming a thin, elongated polarized light beam, projecting said light beam to a light shutter unit comprising a column of coterminous, individually-controllable elementary areas located on a common substrate, and thence to an output polarizing filter, selectively blocking the passage of light through said unit by selective energization of said coterminous elementary areas, directing unaffected emerging light rays to a stationary collimating optical system, directing the collimated light rays emerging from said optical system to an imaging second optical system to make an image of said column, continuously moving said optical system at a substantially constant speed along a straight path in a direction perpendicular to the illuminated linear area of said substrate and parallel to a photosensitive surface, so that the image of said column is caused to sweep across the width of said surface, continuously moving said photosensitive surface at a substantially constant speed in a direction perpendicular to said path, and changing the position of the image of the projected column on said photosensitive surface so that said image is moved lengthwise in synchronism with the displacement of said surface to compensate for its continuous motion so that the motion of said optical system, remain aligned lengthwise along a path perpendicular to the direction of motion of said surface.

Claim 14

A photocomposing method for recording information on a photosensitive surface, comprising the steps of forming a thin, elongated polarized light beam, projecting said light beam to a light shutter unit comprising a column of coterminous, individually-controllable elementary areas located on a common substrate, and thence to an output polarizing filter, selectively blocking the passage of light through said unit by selective energization of said coterminous elementary areas, directing unaffected emerging light rays to a stationary collimating optical system, directing the collimated light rays emerging from said optical system to an imaging second optical system to make an image of said column, continuously moving said optical system at a substantially constant speed along a straight path in a direction perpendicular to the illuminated linear area of said substrate and parallel to a photosensitive surface, so that the image of said column is caused to sweep across the width of said surface, continuously moving said photosensitive surface at a substantially constant speed in a direction perpendicular to said path, and changing the position of the image of the projected column on said photosensitive surface so that said image is moved lengthwise in synchronism with the displacement of said surface to compensate for its continuous motion so that the motion of said optical system, remain aligned lengthwise along a path perpendicular to the direction of motion of said surface.

Claim 15

II. A method according to any preceding claim, wherein said light brush comprises beams derived from a laser light source.

Claim 16

A photocomposing method for recording information on a photosensitive surface, comprising the steps of forming a thin, elongated light beam from a polarized laser source, projecting said light beam onto a light shutter unit comprising coterminous, individually-controllable elementary areas located in a column on a common substrate, and through an output polarizing filter, selectively blocking the passage of light through said unit by selective energization of said coterminous elementary areas to divide the impinging beam into a light brush constituted by a plurality of emerging individual beams, each beam corresponding to an elementary picture element, directing said emerging beams to a stationary light expanding and collimating system and thence to a rotating reflector in order to angularly and simultaneously displace said beams to produce multiple parallel scanning beams, directing said multiple beams through on imaging optical system positioned to simultaneously image a plurality of linearly arranged scan lines onto a photosensitive surface, and continuously moving said photosensitive surface in a direction perpendicular to said scan lines.

Claim 17

A photocomposing method for recording information on a photosensitive surface, comprising the steps of forming a thin, elongated light beam from a polarized laser source, projecting said light beam onto a light shutter unit comprising coterminous, individually-controllable elementary areas located in a column on a common substrate, and through an output polarizing filter, selectively blocking the passage of light through said unit by selective energization of said coterminous elementary areas to divide the impinging beam into a light brush constituted by a plurality of emerging individual beams, each beam corresponding to an elementary picture element, directing said emerging beams to a stationary light expanding and collimating system and thence to a rotating reflector in order to angularly and simultaneously displace said beams to produce multiple parallel scanning beams, directing said multiple beams through on imaging optical system positioned to simultaneously image a plurality of linearly arranged scan lines onto a photosensitive surface, and continuously moving said photosensitive surface in a direction perpendicular to said scan lines.

Claim 18

A method according to claim 12, including the step of changing the selection of said elementary linearly arranged areas during the course of scanning, whereby the multiple scan lines remain perpendicular to the edge of said photosensitive surface and thus compensate for the effect of the simultaneous motions of said surface and said rotating reflector.

Claim 19

A photocomposing machine comprising means for supporting a photosensitive surface and for moving such surface continually in one direction; means for forming a light brush of individually modulatable parallel light beams; means for causing said light brush to sweep said surface to trace parallel bands thereon; and means for modulating said individual light beams to generate images in said bands.

Claim 20

A photocomposing machine comprising means for supporting a photosensitive surface and for moving such surface continually in one direction; means for forming a light brush of individually modulatable parallel light beams; means for causing said light brush to sweep said surface to trace parallel bands thereon; and means for modulating said individual light beams to generate images in said bands.

Claim 21

A machine according to claim 14, wherein said support comprises a drum and means for continuously rotating said drum about its axis, the machine further comprising means for displacing said light brush in the direction of the length of the drum.

Claim 22

A machine according to claim 15, including means for displacing said light brush continuously in the direction of the length of the drum, and means compensating for the respective motions of the photosensitive surface and the light brush to position images correctly on said photosensitive surface.

Claim 23

A photocomposing machine comprising, in combination, a drum carrying a photosensitive surface and being rotatable about its longitudinal axis, a laser beam source, modulating means for modulating said laser beam source to form graphic images on said surface in bands extending circumferentially around said drum, a carriage movable longitudinally of said drum for directing the modulated laser beam to a desired position longitudinally along said drum, and carriage drive means for moving said carriage parallel to said drum in order to position said bands on said surface relative to one another.

Claim 24

A photocomposing machine comprising, in combination, a drum carrying a photosensitive surface and being rotatable about its longitudinal axis, a laser beam source, modulating means for modulating said laser beam source to form graphic images on said surface in bands extending circumferentially around said drum, a carriage movable longitudinally of said drum for directing the modulated laser beam to a desired position longitudinally along said drum, and carriage drive means for moving said carriage parallel to said drum in order to position said bands on said surface relative to one another.

Claim 25

A machine according to claim 17, wherein said modulating means comprises a linear array of light gates and means for selectively actuating said gates separately from one another to form a linear pattern of light spots on said surface, said pattern extending axially along said drum.

Claim 26

A machine according to claim 17 or 18, wherein said bands are contiguous and have substantially the same width, without regard to the location of any characters being composed.

Claim 27

A machine according to claim 17, 18 or 19, wherein said carriage bears a focusing lens for focusing light beams from said laser source on said photosensitive surface, and a reflector for reflecting said light beams through an angle of approximately ninety degrees, the machine further comprising collimating means for collimating said light beams from said laser source before they reach said lens.

Claim 28

A machine according to claim 20, including means for causing said beams to converge before reaching said lens.

Claim 29

A machine according to claim 21, in which said carriage has first and second extreme positions of travel corresponding respectively to the ends of the photosensitive surface on said drum, said beams converging to a point located approximately half-way between said extreme positions.

Claim 30

A machine according to any one of claims 17 to 22, in which said drum is adapted to rotate continuously, and said carriage drive means is adapted to move said carriage intermittently, said carriage being stationary during formation of any one of said bands and moving longitudinally to a position for forming the next band after one band has been completed.

Claim 31

A machine according to any one of claims 17 to 22, in which said drum is adapted to rotate continuously, and said carriage drive means is adapted to move said carriage continuously, the machine further comprising means for compensating for simultaneous continuous motion of said carriage and said photosensitive surface to maintain each of said bands at a constant position along said axis of the drum.

Claim 32

25 A phoiocomposing machine comprising, in combination, support means for supporting a photosensitive surface, a laser beam source, modulating means for modulating said laser beam source to form graphic images on said surface in bands, means for positioning said bonds sequentially on said surfc e with the bands being contiguous and of substantially equal width regardless of the positioning of character images relative to the junctions between adjacent bonds.

Claim 33

25 A phoiocomposing machine comprising, in combination, support means for supporting a photosensitive surface, a laser beam source, modulating means for modulating said laser beam source to form graphic images on said surface in bands, means for positioning said bonds sequentially on said surfc e with the bands being contiguous and of substantially equal width regardless of the positioning of character images relative to the junctions between adjacent bonds.

Claim 34

A photocomposing machine comprising, in combination, means for forming a laser brush capable of being moved relative to a photosensitive surface to form images thereon, means for creating continuous relative motion between said laser brush-forming means and said photosensitive surface in order to space arrays of images created by one pass of said brush over said surface from arrays of images created by another pass of said brush over said surface, and correcting means for correcting the skewing of images on said surface caused by the continuous simultaneous motion of said brush and said surface relative to one another.

Claim 35

A photocomposing machine comprising, in combination, means for forming a laser brush capable of being moved relative to a photosensitive surface to form images thereon, means for creating continuous relative motion between said laser brush-forming means and said photosensitive surface in order to space arrays of images created by one pass of said brush over said surface from arrays of images created by another pass of said brush over said surface, and correcting means for correcting the skewing of images on said surface caused by the continuous simultaneous motion of said brush and said surface relative to one another.

Claim 36

A photocomposing machine comprising, in combination, modulating means for modulating a laser beam to form a laser light brush and to form graphic images on a photosensitive surface, means for rotating a polygonal reflector so positioned that each facet of said reflector when rotated intercepts said laser light brush and sweeps said beams over said photosensitive surface, and means for moving said photosensitive surface continuously in a direction transverse to the direction in which said beams are swept over said surface.

Claim 37

A photocomposing machine comprising, in combination, modulating means for modulating a laser beam to form a laser light brush and to form graphic images on a photosensitive surface, means for rotating a polygonal reflector so positioned that each facet of said reflector when rotated intercepts said laser light brush and sweeps said beams over said photosensitive surface, and means for moving said photosensitive surface continuously in a direction transverse to the direction in which said beams are swept over said surface.