Recording apparatus

Claim 1

A recording apparatus for linewise recording information on a moving photoreceptor, said apparatus comprising a recording head with a multiplicity of individually addressable and energisable point-like radiation sources arranged in staggered parallel rows for irradiating points across a photoreceptor during movement thereof relative to and in a direction normal to said rows and driver circuits for simultaneously energising the radiation sources of each row responsive to respective data-bit input signals serially applied to said driver circuits during an information line period, there being delay means for delaying energisation of the radiation sources of a first said row relative to the energisation of the sources of a second said row thereby to compensate for the distance between such rows, characterised in that the driver circuits for the different rows of radiation sources are provided by identical chips each of which incorporates a shift register for serially reading in data-bit signals, said drivers for said plurality of the radiation sources and said delay means located between said shift register and said drivers for holding data-bit signals transferred from said shift register for a delay period before such signals are transmitted to said drivers; each said chip is formed so that it is capable of operating in different modes in one of which said delay means is operative and in the other of which such delay means is inoperative and the mode in which it operates depends on which of different voltage input points provided on each said chip being selected for the reception of a mode control voltage; and only the chips providing the driver circuits for the radiation sources requiring the delayed energisation are connected into said mode control voltage so as to operate in the delay-operative mode.