EP0299455A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Method and apparatus for laser exposure in an image scanning/recording apparatus
Assignee: Dainippon Screen Manufacturing Co Ltd
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Filing: 1988-07-13
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2008-07-13
Abstract
Abstract A laser exposure apparatus of an image scanning recording apparatus comprises a single laser light source 2, a beamsplitter 3 for dividing a laser beam emitted from the single laser light source 2 into two laser beams, a modulator 7, 8 for modulating two laser beams in accordance with a recording signal, a half-wave retardation plate 9 for polarizing one of the beams in association with the other one of the beams so that the modulated laser beams constitute a pair of orthogonal polarization, a polarizing beamsplitter 10 for arranging two beams constituting a pair of orthogonal polarization with each other orthogonally in a line, and an optical system 11 for reducing the laser beams arranged in a line.
Inventors
- 👤 Masahide Okazaki
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-28 22:35
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04N; H04N1/00; H04N1/04; H04N1/06; H04N1/0671; B; B41; B41J; B41J2/00; B41J2/435; B41J2/47; B41J2/471; B41J2/473; G; G06; G06K; G06K15/00; G06K15/02; G06K15/12; G06K15/1238; G06K15/1257; H04N1/19; H04N1/191; H04N1/1911; H04N1/1916; H04N1/1917
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 41
Claim 1
Independent Claim
120 words
A laser exposure apparatus of an image scanning recording apparatus in which a plurality of laser recording beams irradiate an image recording surface to form a serial beam spot line, and the laser recording beams are moved to scan in a main scanning direction orthogonally intersecting said spot line to expose the recording medium, comprising: at least two laser beams which do not interfere with each other even if overlapped, each having a plurality of beam spot lines: beam modulating means for independently modulating said at least two laser beams; beam synthesizing means for synthesizing said at least two laser beams; and an optical system for projecting the laser beam synthesized by said beam synthesizing means on said recording medium.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
120 words
A laser exposure apparatus of an image scanning recording apparatus in which a plurality of laser recording beams irradiate an image recording surface to form a serial beam spot line, and the laser recording beams are moved to scan in a main scanning direction orthogonally intersecting said spot line to expose the recording medium, comprising: at least two laser beams which do not interfere with each other even if overlapped, each having a plurality of beam spot lines: beam modulating means for independently modulating said at least two laser beams; beam synthesizing means for synthesizing said at least two laser beams; and an optical system for projecting the laser beam synthesized by said beam synthesizing means on said recording medium.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
39 words
A laser exposure apparatus of an image scanning recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said beam synthesizing means comprises beam synthesizing means for synthesizing said at least two laser beams so that portions thereof overlap with each other.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
77 words
A laser exposure apparatus of an image scanning recording apparatus according to claim 2, which further comprises: means for preventing interference of laser beams for preparing said at least two laser beams which do not interfere with each other even if overlapped; a single laser light source for irradiating said at least two laser beams; and beams splitting means for splitting the laser beam irradiated from said single laser light source into at least two laser beams.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
33 words
A laser exposure apparatus of an image scanning recording apparatus, wherein said means for preventing interference of laser beams comprises polarizing means for generating two laser beams constituting a pair of orthogonal polarization.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
33 words
A laser exposure apparatus of an image scanning recording apparatus, wherein said means for preventing interference of laser beams comprises polarizing means for generating two laser beams constituting a pair of orthogonal polarization.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
35 words
A laser exposure apparatus of an image scanning recording apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said polarizing means comprises linear polarizing means for converting said two laser beams into a pair of linear linearly polarization.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
24 words
A laser exposure apparatus of an image scanning recording apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said linear polarizing means comprises a half-wave retardation plate.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
25 words
A laser exposure apparatus of an image scanning recording apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said beam modulating means comprises a multichannel type light modulator.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
33 words
A laser exposure apparatus of an image scanning recording apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said polarizing means comprises means for converting said two laser beams into a pair of circularly polarized lights.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
31 words
A laser exposure apparatus of an image scanning recording apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said means for converting into said pair of circularly polarized lights comprises a quarter-wave retardation plate.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
33 words
A laser exposure apparatus of an image scanning recording apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said polarizing means comprises means for converting said two laser beams to a pair of elliptically polarized lights.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
23 words
A laser exposure apparatus of an image scanning recording apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said beam synthesizing means comprises a polarizing beamsplitter.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
23 words
A laser exposure apparatus of an image scanning recording apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said polarizing means comprises a half-wave retardation plate.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
47 words
A laser exposure apparatus of an image scanning recording apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said means for preventing interference of the laser beam comprises means for changing optical path difference for setting the optical path difference between said two laser beams longer than a coherence length.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
26 words
A laser exposure apparatus of an image scanning recording apparatus according to claim 13, wherein said means for changing optical path difference comprises a right-angle prism.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
25 words
A laser exposure apparatus of an image scanning recording apparatus according to claim 13, wherein said means for changing optical path difference comprises a mirror.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
25 words
A laser exposure apparatus of an image scanning recording apparatus according to claim 2, comprising two laser light sources for irradiating said two laser beams.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
24 words
A laser exposure apparatus of an image scanning recording apparatus according to claim 16, wherein said two laser light sources comprise a laser diode.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
40 words
A laser exposure apparatus of an image scanning recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said beam synthesizing means synthesizes said at least two laser beams in a staggered arrangement, whereby said plurality of beam spot lines are arranged staggered.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
50 words
A laser exposure apparatus of an image scanning recording apparatus according to claim 18, wherein said at least two laser beams comprise a pair of a plurality of laser beams, and one and the other of said pair of laser beams irradiate said beam synthesizing means from different directions, respectively.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
23 words
A laser exposure apparatus of an image scanning recording apparatus according to claim 19, wherein said beam synthesizing means comprises a half mirror.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
22 words
A laser exposure apparatus of an image scanning recording apparatus according to claim 19, wherein said beam synthesizing means comprises a beamsplitter.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
23 words
A laser exposure apparatus of an image scanning recording apparatus according to claim 19, wherein said beam synthesizing means comprises a polarizing beamsplitter.
Claim 25
Independent Claim
121 words
A method for laser exposure of an image scanning recording apparatus in which a plurality of laser recording beams irradiate an image recording surface to form a serial beam spot line, and the laser recording beams scan in a main scanning direction orthogonally intersecting the direction of said spot line to expose the recording medium, said method comprising the steps of: preparing at least two laser beams which do not interfere with each other even if overlapped, each having a plurality of beam spot lines; independently modulating said at least two laser beams; arranging respective serial beam spot line of said at least two laser beams in said line direction; and exposing said recording medium using said aligned beam spot lines.
Claim 26
Independent Claim
121 words
A method for laser exposure of an image scanning recording apparatus in which a plurality of laser recording beams irradiate an image recording surface to form a serial beam spot line, and the laser recording beams scan in a main scanning direction orthogonally intersecting the direction of said spot line to expose the recording medium, said method comprising the steps of: preparing at least two laser beams which do not interfere with each other even if overlapped, each having a plurality of beam spot lines; independently modulating said at least two laser beams; arranging respective serial beam spot line of said at least two laser beams in said line direction; and exposing said recording medium using said aligned beam spot lines.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
64 words
A method for laser exposure of a laser exposure apparatus of an image scanning recording apparatus according to claim 23, wherein said step of aligning respective serial beam spot lines of said at least two laser beams in said line direction comprises the step of aligning said respective serial beam spot lines so that portions thereof overlap with each other in said line direction.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
76 words
A method for laser exposure of a laser exposure apparatus of an image scanning recording apparatus according to claim 24, wherein said step of preparing at least two laser beams which do not interfere with each other even if overlapped, each having a plurality of beam spot lines comprises the steps of: preparing a single laser light source; and splitting a laser beam irradiated from said single laser light source into at least two laser beams.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
54 words
A method for laser exposure of a laser exposure apparatus of an image scanning recording apparatus according to claim 25, wherein said step of preparing two laser beams which do not interfere with each other even if overlapped comprises the step of preparing laser beams constituting a pair of orthogonal polarization with each other.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
84 words
A method for laser exposure of a laser exposure apparatus of an image scanning recording apparatus according to claim 26, wherein said laser beams constituting a pair of orthogonal polarization with each other have their directions of progress intersecting orthogonally with each other; and said step of aligning said serial beam spot lines so that portion thereof overlap with each other in said line direction comprises the step of aligning by a beamsplitter provided on the directions of progress intersecting orthogonally with each other.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
41 words
A method for laser exposure of a laser exposure apparatus of an image scanning recording apparatus according to claim 27, wherein said step of modulating said two laser beams comprises the step of modulating beams by a multichannel type light modulator.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
47 words
A method for laser exposure of a laser exposure apparatus in an image scanning recording apparatus according to claim 26, wherein said step of preparing laser beams constituting a pair of orthogonal polarization comprises the step of preparing laser beams constituting a pair of linearly polarized lights.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
47 words
A method for laser exposure of a laser exposure apparatus of an image scanning recording apparatus according to claim 26, wherein said step of preparing laser beams constituting a pair of orthogonal polarization comprises the step of preparing laser beams constituting a pair of circularly polarized lights.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
47 words
A method for laser exposure of a laser exposure apparatus of an image scanning recording apparatus according to claim 26, wherein said step of preparing laser beams constituting a pair of orthogonal polarization comprises the step of preparing laser beams constituting a pair of elliptically polarized lights.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
64 words
A method for laser exposure of a laser exposure of a laser exposureapparatus of an image scanning recording apparatus according to claim 25, wherein said step of preparing at least two laser beams which do not interfere with each other even if overlapped comprises the step of setting an optical path difference between said at least two laser beams longer than a coherence length.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
66 words
A method for laser exposure of a laser exposure apparatus of an image scanning recording apparatus according to claim 32, wherein said step of setting the optical path difference of said at least two laser beams longer than a coherence length comprises the step of setting the difference longer than the coherence length by passing one of said at least two laser beams through a prism.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
68 words
A method for laser exposure of a laser exposure apparatus of an image scanning recording apparatus according to claim 32, wherein said step of setting the optical path difference of said two laser beams longer than a coherence length comprises the step of setting the path difference longer than the coherence length by making one of said two laser beams go by a detour by a mirror M9.
Claim 38
Dependent Claim
37 words
A method for laser exposure of a laser exposure apparatus of an image scanning recording apparatus according to claim 24, wherein said step of preparing two laser beams comprises the step of preparing two laser light sources.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim
39 words
A method for laser exposure of a laser exposure apparatus of an image scanning recording apparatus according to claim 35, wherein said step of preparing two laser light sources comprises the step of preparing two laser diode light sources.
Claim 40
Dependent Claim
63 words
A method for laser exposure of a laser exposure apparatus of an image scanning recording apparatus according to claim 23, wherein said step of aligning respective serial beam spot lines of said at least two laser beams in said line direction comprises the step of aligning the respective serial beam spot lines of said at least two laser beams in a staggered manner.
Claim 41
Dependent Claim
97 words
A method for laser exposure of a laser exposure apparatus of an image scanning recording apparatus according to claim 37, wherein said at least two laser beams comprise a pair of plurality of laser beams, and said step of arranging beam spot lines of said at least two laser beams in a staggered manner comprises the steps of, emitting one of said pair of laser beams in one direction and emitting the other laser beam in a direction different from the said one direction, and reflecting said one and the other laser beams in the same direction.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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