Electric discharge recording system having a dual scanning and recording head

Claim 2

In an electric discharge recording system, the improvement comprising in combination: a. a housing having means disposed therein at a copying station for displaying an image of an original to be recorded; b. means disposed opposite said displaying means at said copying station for supporting a recording medium on which the image of the original is to be recorded; c. at least one scanning head interposable between said displaying means and said recording medium and comprising: i. an optical scanning system on one side of said scanning head opposite said displaying means for optically scanning the image of the original and focusing said image, ii. a photoelectric effect element upon which the image scanned by said optical scanning system is focused and which transduces the intensity of said image into an indicative electric current, and iii. a discharge electrode on the other side of said head opposite said recording medium for producing a discharge between said discharge electrode and the recording medium in accordance with said indicative electric current from said photoelectric effect element; d. a rotary holder for supporting said scanning head for rotation through said copying station between said displaying means and said recording medium; and e. means in said housing for rotatably supporting said rotAry holder with respect to said displaying means and said recording medium such that during rotation of said scanning head through said copying station the optical scanning system of said scanning head will scan the original image similtaneously with the recording of the image by the discharge electrode of said scanning head on said recording medium.

Claim 3

The improvement as in claim 1 wherein said discharge electrode is radially displacable on said scanning head whereby the magnification of a copy reproduced on the recording medium may be varied.

Claim 4

a photoelectric effect element upon which is incident the light image scanned by said optical scanning system and which transduces the intensity of said light image into an indicative electric current, and

Claim 5

a photoelectric effect element upon which is incident the light image scanned by said optical scanning system and which transduces the intensity of said light image into an indicative electric current, and

Claim 6

a discharge electrode disposed during head rotation through said copying station in spaced-apart relation with the recording medium by a predetermined distance for producing a discharge between said discharge electrode and the recording medium under the control of said photoelectric effect element; f. a rotary holder upon which are disposed said plurality of scanning heads in equiangularly spaced-apart relation with each other; and g. means in said housing for rotatably supporting said rotary holder with respect to said original image displaying member and said recording medium such that during rotation of said scanning heads through said copying station, the optical scanning systems of said scanning heads will scan the original image simultaneously with the recording of the image by the discharge electrodes of said scanning heads on said recording medium.

Claim 7

a discharge electrode disposed during head rotation through said copying station in spaced-apart relation with the recording medium by a predetermined distance for producing a discharge between said discharge electrode and the recording medium under the control of said photoelectric effect element; f. a rotary holder upon which are disposed said plurality of scanning heads in equiangularly spaced-apart relation with each other; and g. means in said housing for rotatably supporting said rotary holder with respect to said original image displaying member and said recording medium such that during rotation of said scanning heads through said copying station, the optical scanning systems of said scanning heads will scan the original image simultaneously with the recording of the image by the discharge electrodes of said scanning heads on said recording medium.

Claim 8

The improvement as in claim 1 further comprising illumination means incorporated in said scanning head such that the light projected thereby is reflected by the original to be incident upon said optical scanning system.

Claim 9

In an electric discharge recording system the improvement comprising in combination: a. a housing having a transparent screen therein at a copying station for displaying an image of an original to be recorded; b. an original holder for supporting an original above said housing; an optical scanning projection means for projecting a scanned light image of an original placed upon said original holder upon said screen, said optical scanning projection means comprising: i. a projection lens disposed between said screen and said original holder, ii. a first movable reflecting mirror having its reflecting surface inclined at 45* to the plane of said original holder, iii. a second movable reflecting mirror having its reflecting surface perpendicular to the plane of said original holder and cooperating with said first movable reflecting mirror to direct the scanned light image to said projection lens, iv. a plurality of fixed reflecting mirrors for directing the scanned light image from said projection lens onto said screen at said copying station, said first and second movable reflecting mirrors being movable with resepct to each other and said original holder for scanning said original in such manner that the length of the optical path between said projection lens and said original is maintained equal to the length of the optical path between said projection lens and said screen; d. means for supporting a recording medium on which the image of the original is to be recorded opposite said screen at said copying station; e. a plurality of rotatable scanning heads each rotatable through said copying station during a portion of its rotation and each of said heads comprising:

Claim 10

In an electric discharge recording system the improvement comprising in combination: a. a housing having a transparent screen therein at a copying station for displaying an image of an original to be recorded; b. an original holder for supporting an original above said housing; an optical scanning projection means for projecting a scanned light image of an original placed upon said original holder upon said screen, said optical scanning projection means comprising: i. a projection lens disposed between said screen and said original holder, ii. a first movable reflecting mirror having its reflecting surface inclined at 45* to the plane of said original holder, iii. a second movable reflecting mirror having its reflecting surface perpendicular to the plane of said original holder and cooperating with said first movable reflecting mirror to direct the scanned light image to said projection lens, iv. a plurality of fixed reflecting mirrors for directing the scanned light image from said projection lens onto said screen at said copying station, said first and second movable reflecting mirrors being movable with resepct to each other and said original holder for scanning said original in such manner that the length of the optical path between said projection lens and said original is maintained equal to the length of the optical path between said projection lens and said screen; d. means for supporting a recording medium on which the image of the original is to be recorded opposite said screen at said copying station; e. a plurality of rotatable scanning heads each rotatable through said copying station during a portion of its rotation and each of said heads comprising:

Claim 11

The improvement as in claim 4 wherein said projection lens in said optical projection system is a zoom lens.

Claim 12

The improvement as in claim 4 wherein the speed ratio between the movement of said First movable reflecting mirror and said second movable reflecting mirror is 2 to 1.

Claim 13

The improvement as in claim 4 wherein said means for supporting said recording medium transports said recording medium at a speed of 1/M with respect to the speed of movement of said first movable reflecting mirror, where M is the desired magnification.

Claim 14

The improvement as in claim 4 wherein each of said discharge electrodes is radially displaceable on each of said scanning heads whereby the magnification of a copy reproduced on the recording medium may be varied.