Multiple lenslet copier

Claim 2

A multiple lenslet copier comprising: copy storage means for storing copy paper; stationary support means for supporting a document to be copied; transport means for transporting copy paper from said copy paper storage means, said transport means comprising a belt driven by a plurality of pulleys, said belt being normally located beneath said copy paper storage means and movable beneath said stationary support means; optical means mounted in close proximity to said support means for projecting a slit image of a portion of said document to be copied, said optical means including a multiple lenslet optical objective comprising a plurality of pairs of lenslets; movement means for moving said transport means and said optical means with respect to said stationary support means, said transport means moving said copy paper as said movement means moves said optical means and said transport means so as to image succeeding slit images of said document onto said copy paper whereby a composite image of said document is formed on said copy paper; an electrostatic charging area located above said belt for electrostatically charging the copy paper moved by said belt; and, a developing region located beneath said belt for developing an image formed on said copy paper by said optical means.

Claim 3

A multiple lenslet copier as claimed in claim 1 including stripping means for stripping the sheet of copy paper from said belt aFter said sheet of copy paper has been developed by said developing means.

Claim 4

A multiple lenslet copier as claimed in claim 2 wherein said optical means also includes an illumination means for illuminating the slit image of said part of said document projected by said optical means.

Claim 5

A multiple lenslet copier as claimed in claim 3 wherein said plurality of pairs of lenslets have spherical optical surfaces and are arrayed along a common axis, each pair of lenslets comprising first and second lenslets separated by a narrow air gap, the adjacent optical surfaces of said first and second lenslets and said narrow gap forming a field lens for imaging light from the outer surface of said first lenslet to the outer surface of said second lenslet.

Claim 6

A multiple lenslet copier as claimed in claim 4 wherein said plurality of pairs of lenslets are mounted at right angles to one another so as to define an optical axis for each of said pairs of lenslets and including: an optical stop located between each of said pairs of lenslets; a mirror located at each of said optical stops for redirecting said projected image from one lenslet through the other lenslet of each of said plurality of pairs of lenslets; and, a baffle located along each optical axis defined by a pair of lenslets.

Claim 7

A multiple lenslet copier as claimed in claim 5 wherein all of said first lenslets are formed of acrylic plastic as a first unitary structure and wherein all of said second lenslets are formed of acrylic plastic as a second unitary structure.

Claim 8

A multiple lenslet copier as claimed in claim 6 wherein said lenslets are separated from one another by a predetermined distance.

Claim 9

A multiple lenslet copier comprising: copy paper storage means for storing copy paper; transport means for transporting copy from said copy paper storage means; support means for supporting a document to be copied; optical means mounted in close proximity to said support means for projecting a slit image of a portion of said document to be copied, said optical means including a multiple lenslet objective comprising a plurality of pairs of lenslets, each lenslet being formed of a uniform material having a refractive index different than the refractive index of air and having two spherical optical surfaces, all of the optical surfaces of each pair of lenslets being arrayed along a common axis so that one of said pherical optical surfaces of one of said pair of lenslets is separated from one of said spherical optical surfaces of the other of said pair of lenslets by a narrow air gap, the narrowly separated spherical optical surfaces and said narrow air gap forming a field lens for imaging light from the outer spherical optical surface of one of said lenslets to the outer spherical optical surface of the other of said lenslets, said optical means also including an illumination means for illuminating the slit image of the portion of said document projected by said optical means; and, movement means for moving at least one of said transport means, said support means, and said optical means with respect to said other of said means so as to image succeeding slit images of said document onto said copy paper whereby a composite image of said document is formed on said copy paper.

Claim 10

A multiple lenslet copier comprising: copy paper storage means for storing copy paper; transport means for transporting copy from said copy paper storage means; support means for supporting a document to be copied; optical means mounted in close proximity to said support means for projecting a slit image of a portion of said document to be copied, said optical means including a multiple lenslet objective comprising a plurality of pairs of lenslets, each lenslet being formed of a uniform material having a refractive index different than the refractive index of air and having two spherical optical surfaces, all of the optical surfaces of each pair of lenslets being arrayed along a common axis so that one of said pherical optical surfaces of one of said pair of lenslets is separated from one of said spherical optical surfaces of the other of said pair of lenslets by a narrow air gap, the narrowly separated spherical optical surfaces and said narrow air gap forming a field lens for imaging light from the outer spherical optical surface of one of said lenslets to the outer spherical optical surface of the other of said lenslets, said optical means also including an illumination means for illuminating the slit image of the portion of said document projected by said optical means; and, movement means for moving at least one of said transport means, said support means, and said optical means with respect to said other of said means so as to image succeeding slit images of said document onto said copy paper whereby a composite image of said document is formed on said copy paper.

Claim 11

A multiple lenslet copier as claimed in claim 8 wherein said plurality of pairs of lenslets are mounted at right angles to one another so as to define an optical axis for each of said pairs of lenslets and including: an optical stop located between each of said pair of lenslets; a mirror located at each of said optical stops for redirecting said projected image from one lenslet through the other lenslet of each of said plurality of pairs of lenslets; and, a baffle located along each optical axis defined by a pair of lenslets.

Claim 12

A multiple lenslet copier as claimed in claim 9 wherein all of said first lenslets are formed of acrylic plastic as a first unitary structure and wherein all of said second lenslets are formed of acrylic plastic as a second unitary structure.

Claim 13

A multiple lenslet copier as claimed in claim 10 wherein said lenslets are separated from one another by a predetermined distance.

Claim 14

A multiple lenslet copier as claimed in claim 8 wherein each lenslet of said plurality of pairs of lenslets has the same dimensions and spherical curvatures, each lenslet of said pairs of lenslets having two optical surfaces aligned along an optical axis; and, further including a mask having apertures, said mask being mounted in the narrow gap between said lenslets with one of said apertures being aligned along each of the optical axes defined by said plurality of pairs of lenslets.

Claim 15

A multiple lenslet copier as claimed in claim 12 wherein said mask is Z-shaped in cross section and said lenslets are generally T-shaped with the legs of the T''s facing one another, said optical surfaces projecting outwardly from the tops of the T''s and from the legs of the T''s; and further including bands mounted between the arms of said T''s for maintaining said lenslets and said mask in predetermined positions.

Claim 16

A multiple lenslet copier as claimed in claim 13 wherein said first and second lenslets of said plurality of lenslets are each formed as unitary structures of acrylic plastic.

Claim 17

A multiple lenslet copier as claimed in claim 14 wherein said lenslets are separated from one another along said common axis by a predetermined distance.

Claim 18

A multiple lenslet copier as claimed in claim 15 including a baffle located along each optical axis defined by a pair of lenslets.

Claim 19

A multiple lenslet copier as claimed in claim 16 including a Dove prism located along each optical axis defined by a pair of lenslets.

Claim 20

A multiple lenslet copier as claimed in claim 16 including a reflecting means located along each optical axis defined by a pair of lenslets.

Claim 21

A multiple lenslet copier comprising: copy paper storage means for storing copy paper; support means for supporting a document to be copied; transport means for transporting inverted copy paper to a position beneath said support means, said transport means comprising: a paper feed roller for feeding copy paper from said copy paper storage means; a pair of pickup rollers for picking up and moving said copy paper after it is fed by said paper feed roller; a belt driven by pulleys for receiving copy paper from said pair of pickup rollers and moving said copy paper to said position beneath said support means; and, a curved track for directing said copy paper from said pair of pickup rollers to said belt; optical means mounted in close proximity to said support means for projecting a slit image of a portion of said document to be copied, said optical means including a multiple lenslet optical objective comprising a plurality of pairs of lenslets; and, moving means for moving said optical means with respect to said support means and said transport means so as to image succeeding slit images of said document onto said copy paper whereby a composite of said document is formed on said copy paper.

Claim 22

A multiple lenslet copier comprising: copy paper storage means for storing copy paper; support means for supporting a document to be copied; transport means for transporting inverted copy paper to a position beneath said support means, said transport means comprising: a paper feed roller for feeding copy paper from said copy paper storage means; a pair of pickup rollers for picking up and moving said copy paper after it is fed by said paper feed roller; a belt driven by pulleys for receiving copy paper from said pair of pickup rollers and moving said copy paper to said position beneath said support means; and, a curved track for directing said copy paper from said pair of pickup rollers to said belt; optical means mounted in close proximity to said support means for projecting a slit image of a portion of said document to be copied, said optical means including a multiple lenslet optical objective comprising a plurality of pairs of lenslets; and, moving means for moving said optical means with respect to said support means and said transport means so as to image succeeding slit images of said document onto said copy paper whereby a composite of said document is formed on said copy paper.

Claim 23

A multiple lenslet copier as claimed in claim 19 including: an electrostatic charging area located at one end of said belt between said belt and said curved track for placing an electrostatic charge on said copy paper as said copy paper passes from said curved track to said belt; an electrostatic developing region located at the other end of said belt for developing said copy paper after an image has been formed thereon by said optical means; and, said transport means further including a pair of ejection rollers located on the other side of said developing region from said belt for ejecting said copy paper after it has been developed.

Claim 24

A multiple lenslet copier as claimed in claim 20 wherein said optical means includes an illumination means for illuminating the slit image of said part of said document projected by said optical means.

Claim 25

A multiple lenSlet copier as claimed in claim 21 wherein said illuminating means comprises a pair of tubular lamps, each lamp being surrounded by a light directing housing, one of said lamps and housings being located on one side of said plurality of multiple lenslets and the other lamp and housing being located on the other side.

Claim 26

A multiple lenslet copier as claimed in claim 22 wherein said plurality of pairs of lenslets have spherical optical surfaces and are arrayed along a common axis, each pair of lenslets comprising first and second lenslets separated by a narrow air gap, the adjacent optical surfaces of said first and second lenslets and said narrow gap forming a field lens for imaging light from the outer surface of said first lenslet to the outer surface of said second lenslet.

Claim 27

A multiple lenslet copier as claimed in claim 23 wherein each lenslet of said plurality of pairs of lenslets has the same dimensions and spherical curvatures, each lenslet of said pairs of lenslets having two optical surfaces aligned along an optical axis; and, further including a mask having apertures, said mask being mounted in the narrow gap between said lenslets with one of said apertures being aligned along each of the optical axes defined by said plurality of pairs of lenslets.

Claim 28

A multiple lenslet copier as claimed in claim 24 wherein said mask is Z-shaped in cross section and said lenslets are generally T-shaped with the legs of the T''s facing one another, said optical surfaces projecting outwardly from the tops of the T''s and from the legs of the T''s; and further including bands mounted between the arms of said T''s for maintaining said lenslets and said mask in predetermined positions.

Claim 29

A multiple lenslet copier as claimed in claim 25 wherein said first and second lenslets of said plurality of lenslets are each formed as unitary structures of acrylic plastic.

Claim 30

A multiple lenslet copier as claimed in claim 26 wherein said lenslets are separated from one another along said common axis by a predetermined distance.

Claim 31

A multiple lenslet copier as claimed in claim 27 including a baffle located along each optical axis defined by said pairs of lenslets.

Claim 32

A strip lens optical objective comprising a plurality of pairs of adjacent lenslet, each lenslet being formed of a uniform optical material having a refractive index different than the refractive index of air, each pair of lenslets defining a common optical axis, the common optical axes defined by the pairs of lenslets being parallel, each pair of lenslets comprising first and second lenslets having first and second spherical optical surfaces designated I and II for said first lenslet and III and IV for said second lenslet, the surfaces II and III of said first and second lenslets being separated by a narrow air gap, surfaces II and III of said first and second lenslets and said narrow air gap forming a field lens for imaging light from surface I of said first lenslet to surface IV of said second lenslet.

Claim 33

A strip lens optical objective comprising a plurality of pairs of adjacent lenslet, each lenslet being formed of a uniform optical material having a refractive index different than the refractive index of air, each pair of lenslets defining a common optical axis, the common optical axes defined by the pairs of lenslets being parallel, each pair of lenslets comprising first and second lenslets having first and second spherical optical surfaces designated I and II for said first lenslet and III and IV for said second lenslet, the surfaces II and III of said first and second lenslets being separated by a narrow air gap, surfaces II and III of said first and second lenslets and said narrow air gap forming a field lens for imaging light from surface I of said first lenslet to surface IV of said second lenslet.

Claim 34

An optical objective as claimed in claim 29 including an optical stop located in the narrow air gap between each pair of lenslets for limiting the size of the image projected by each pair of lenslets.

Claim 35

An optical objective as claimed in claim 30 wherein said pairs of lenslets are mounted at right angles to one another and including a mirror located at said optical stop between said pairs of lenslets for redirecting the image projected by each pair of lenslets.

Claim 36

An optical objective as claimed in claim 31 wherein all of said first lenslets are formed of acrylic plastic as a first unitary structure and wherein all of said second lenslets are formed of acrylic plastic as a second unitary structure.

Claim 37

An optical objective as claimed in claim 32 wherein said pairs of lenslets are separated along said common axis by a predetermined distance.

Claim 38

An optical objective as claimed in claim 33 wherein the outer ends of said pairs of lenslets are undercut and the inNer ends are cut in a generally triangular cross-sectional configuration.

Claim 39

An optical objective as claimed in claim 34 including a baffle located along each optical axis defined by a pair of lenslets.

Claim 40

An optical objective as claimed in claim 30 wherein said optical stop is formed in a generally Z-shaped mask mounted between said pairs of lenslets.

Claim 41

An optical objective as claimed in claim 36 wherein said plurality of lenslets are formed in two generally T-shaped acrylic plastic structures, each of said structures including one of said pairs of lenslets.

Claim 42

An optical objective as claimed in claim 37 wherein the legs of the T-shaped structures face one another, the optical surfaces of the said T-shaped structures projecting outwardly from the bottom of the legs of the T-shaped structures and from the top of the T-shaped structures along an optical axis.

Claim 43

An optical objective as claimed in claim 38 including bands mounted between the arms of said T-shaped structures so as to hold said structures in a fixed, spaced relationship whereby said narrow air gap is provided between the inner optical surfaces of said pairs of lenslets.

Claim 44

An optical objective as claimed in claim 39 wherein said pairs of lenslets are separated along said common axis by a predetermined distance.

Claim 45

An optical objective as claimed in claim 40 including a baffle located along each optical axis defined by a pair of lenslets.

Claim 46

An optical objective as claimed in claim 41 including a Dove prism located along each optical axis defined by a pair of lenslets.

Claim 47

An optical objective as claimed in claim 41 including a reflecting means located along each optical axis defined by a pair of lenslets.

Claim 48

An optical objective as claimed in claim 29 including a baffle located along each optical axis defined by a pair of lenslets. 45.. An optical objective as claimed in claim 44 including a Dove prism located along each optical axis defined by a pair of lenslets.

Claim 49

An optical objective as claimed in claim 44 including a reflecting means located along each optical axis defined by a pair of lenslets.