Apparatus for optically writing information

Claim 1

An apparatus for optically writing information comprising: at least one row of LED array chips (5), each array chip including a plurality of light emitting diodes (L1-L64) constantly spaced along said row to provide luminescent dots; a photosensitive surface (3) arranged in facing relation to said row of LED array chips in parallel thereto; and a lens system (4) disposed between said photosensitive surface and said row of LED array chips; characterized in that; said LED array chips (5) are spaced from each other along said row; and said lens system (4) includes a row of convex lens elements (8, 13a, 14a) arranged in corresponding relation to said row of LED array chips, the distance between said row of convex lens elements and said row of LED array chips being larger than the focal length (f) of each lens element but less than double the focal length so that magnified images of the luminescent dots of each LED array chip are formed on said photosensitive surface (3) in an inverted arragement, the magnification of the respective convex lens elements being such that all of the dot images on said photosensitive surface are constantly spaced without image overlapping.

Claim 2

An apparatus for optically writing information comprising: at least one row of LED array chips (5), each array chip including a plurality of light emitting diodes (L1-L64) constantly spaced along said row to provide luminescent dots; a photosensitive surface (3) arranged in facing relation to said row of LED array chips in parallel thereto; and a lens system (4) disposed between said photosensitive surface and said row of LED array chips; characterized in that; said LED array chips (5) are spaced from each other along said row; and said lens system (4) includes a row of convex lens elements (8, 13a, 14a) arranged in corresponding relation to said row of LED array chips, the distance between said row of convex lens elements and said row of LED array chips being larger than the focal length (f) of each lens element but less than double the focal length so that magnified images of the luminescent dots of each LED array chip are formed on said photosensitive surface (3) in an inverted arragement, the magnification of the respective convex lens elements being such that all of the dot images on said photosensitive surface are constantly spaced without image overlapping.

Claim 8

The apparatus as defined in any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein said row of LED array chips (5) is mounted on a common cathode strip (22) which is formed at each end with a terminal lead (22a) for grounding, said cathode strip being further formed with an auxiliary cathode lead (22b) extending from at least one of the spacings between said LED array chips.

Claim 9

The apparatus as defined in any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein said row of LED array chips (5) is mounted on a common cathode strip (22) which is formed at each end with a terminal lead (22a) for grounding, said cathode strip being further formed with an auxiliary cathode lead (22b) extending from each of the spacings between said LED array chips.

Claim 10

The apparatus as defined in any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the respective LED array chips (5) are driven by separate control circuits (IC) respectively incorporating shift registers (SR) to which corresponding series of data are feed in succession, the respective shift registers being oriented so that the data shifting direction within each shift register is opposite to the data transmitting direction between the shift registers.

Claim 11

The apparatus as defined in any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the respective LED array chips (5) are driven by separate control circuits (IC) each incorporating a plurality of drive transistors (TR1-TR64) for driving the respective light emitting diodes (L1-L64) of a corresponding LED array chip, each control circuit further incorporating a gate voltage setting circuit (27) which applies an adjustable gate voltage (VG) to the respective drive transistors, said gate voltage setting circuit providing gate voltage adjustment simply by selecting combination among a plurality of voltage dividing resistors (R1-R7) which are incorporated in advance into said gate voltage setting circuit.

Claim 13

The apparatus as defined in any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the respective LED array chips (5) are mounted individually on separate cathode strips (22′) spaced from each other along said row of LED array chips, all of the LED array chips being controlled by a single control circuit (IC) on the basis of time division.

Claim 15

An apparatus for optically detecting information comprising: at least one row of sensor array chips (5′), each array chip including a plurality of light receiving elements constantly spaced along said row; an image surface (3′) arranged in facing relation to said row of sensor array chips in parallel thereto, said image surface providing an overall effective width (W) divided into unit array width portions (D2′) which correspond in number to said sensor array chips and are constantly spaced from each other, each unit width portion containing picture element width portions which are arranged at a constant pitch (Y) and correspond in number to the light receiving elements of the corresponding sensor array chip, said pitch being equal to the spacing (X) between said unit width portions; and a lens system (4′) disposed between said image surface and said row of sensor array chips; characterized in that: said sensor array chips (5′) are spaced from each other along said row; and said lens system (4′) includes a row of convex lens elements (8′) arranged in corresponding relation to said row of sensor array chips (5′), the distance between said row of convex lens elements and said row of sensor array chips being larger than the focal length (f) of each lens element but less than double the focal length, each lens element functioning to provide image reduction and inversion so that the distance between the farthest picture element width portions within the corresponding unit array width portion (D2′) exactly corresponds to the distance (D2) between the farthest light receiving elements within the corresponding sensor array chip.

Claim 16

An apparatus for optically detecting information comprising: at least one row of sensor array chips (5′), each array chip including a plurality of light receiving elements constantly spaced along said row; an image surface (3′) arranged in facing relation to said row of sensor array chips in parallel thereto, said image surface providing an overall effective width (W) divided into unit array width portions (D2′) which correspond in number to said sensor array chips and are constantly spaced from each other, each unit width portion containing picture element width portions which are arranged at a constant pitch (Y) and correspond in number to the light receiving elements of the corresponding sensor array chip, said pitch being equal to the spacing (X) between said unit width portions; and a lens system (4′) disposed between said image surface and said row of sensor array chips; characterized in that: said sensor array chips (5′) are spaced from each other along said row; and said lens system (4′) includes a row of convex lens elements (8′) arranged in corresponding relation to said row of sensor array chips (5′), the distance between said row of convex lens elements and said row of sensor array chips being larger than the focal length (f) of each lens element but less than double the focal length, each lens element functioning to provide image reduction and inversion so that the distance between the farthest picture element width portions within the corresponding unit array width portion (D2′) exactly corresponds to the distance (D2) between the farthest light receiving elements within the corresponding sensor array chip.