← Back to Patent Explorer
US4925262A Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Method and apparatus for light beam scanning using a hologram

Assignee: Fujitsu Ltd
•
Filing: 1988-11-17
•
Granted: 1990-05-15
•
Expires: 2008-11-17
📄 Original PDF 🌐 Google Patents 🔄 Sync Now

Abstract

Abstract A method for constructing a hologram on a transparent disk which includes two steps. First, irradiating a reference wave light beam having a diverging spherical wave front from a first point light source located at a predetermined distance on a center axis of the transparent disk. Second, irradiating an object wave light beam having a diverging spherical wave front from a second point light source located at a predetermined distance on a normal line away from a predetermined distance from the center axis. The result is interference between the reference wave light beam irradiated by the first point light source and the object wave light beam irradiated by the second point light source on the transparent disk and the formation of interference fringes having an extreme value of a spatial frequency as a hologram in one embodiment, a reconstruction beam is irradiated to the position, or in the vicinity of the extreme value.

Inventors

  • 👤 Fumio Yamagishi
  • 👤 Shinya Hasegawa
  • 👤 Hiroyuki Ikeda

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-11-09 20:01
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06K; G06K15/00; G06K15/02; G06K15/12; G06K15/1285; G02; G02B; G02B26/00; G02B26/08; G02B26/10; G02B26/106

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 20
Claim 1
Independent Claim 237 words
A method for producing a scanning light beam, comprising the steps of: (a) forming a hologram on a rotatable disk having a rotation axis by: (a1) irradiating a reference wave light beam from a first point light source located on the rotation axis at a first predetermined distance from the rotatable disk to provide a construction wave light beam having a diverging spherical wave front; (a2) irradiating an object wave light beam from a second point light source, located at a second predetermined distance from the rotatable disk and a third predetermined distance from the rotation axis thereof, to produce another construction wave light beam having a diverging spherical wave front and a first wavelength; and (a3) causing interference between the reference and object wave light beams to produce interference fringes having a spatial variation of spatial frequency, the spatial variation including a minimum rate of change of the spatial frequency; (b) rotating the rotatable disk after forming the hologram therein; and (c) directing a reconstruction beam onto the rotatable disk simultaneously with said rotating in step (b) to produce the scanning light beam, the reconstruction beam having a second wavelength longer than the first wavelength and enabling the scanning light beam as output from the rotatable disk to be directly usable in straight-line scanning, the reconstruction beam being incident on the rotatable disk in the vicinity of the minimum rate of change of the spatial frequency.
Claim 2
Independent Claim 237 words
A method for producing a scanning light beam, comprising the steps of: (a) forming a hologram on a rotatable disk having a rotation axis by: (a1) irradiating a reference wave light beam from a first point light source located on the rotation axis at a first predetermined distance from the rotatable disk to provide a construction wave light beam having a diverging spherical wave front; (a2) irradiating an object wave light beam from a second point light source, located at a second predetermined distance from the rotatable disk and a third predetermined distance from the rotation axis thereof, to produce another construction wave light beam having a diverging spherical wave front and a first wavelength; and (a3) causing interference between the reference and object wave light beams to produce interference fringes having a spatial variation of spatial frequency, the spatial variation including a minimum rate of change of the spatial frequency; (b) rotating the rotatable disk after forming the hologram therein; and (c) directing a reconstruction beam onto the rotatable disk simultaneously with said rotating in step (b) to produce the scanning light beam, the reconstruction beam having a second wavelength longer than the first wavelength and enabling the scanning light beam as output from the rotatable disk to be directly usable in straight-line scanning, the reconstruction beam being incident on the rotatable disk in the vicinity of the minimum rate of change of the spatial frequency.
Claim 3
Independent Claim 217 words
An apparatus for producing a scanning light beam, comprising: a rotatable disk having a rotation axis and containing a hologram obtained by interference of a reference wave light beam and an object wave light beam, each of the reference and object wave light beams having a diverging spherical wave front, the reference wave light beam having been produced by a first point light source located on the rotation axis at a first predetermined distance from the rotatable disk and the object wave light having been produced with a first wavelength by a second point light source located at a second predetermined distance from the rotatable disk and a third predetermined distance from the rotation axis thereof, the hologram having interference fringes having spatial variation of spatial frequency, the spatial variation including a minimum rate of change of the spatial frequency; a light beam source operable to generate a reconstruction beam for irradiating said hologram, the reconstruction beam having a second wavelength longer than the first wavelength and being incident on said rotatable disk in the vicinity of the minimum rate of change of the spatial frequency of the interference fringes of the hologram; and rotating means for rotating said rotatable disk to shift the hologram and obtain a scanning light beam directly usable in straight line scanning.
Claim 4
Independent Claim 217 words
An apparatus for producing a scanning light beam, comprising: a rotatable disk having a rotation axis and containing a hologram obtained by interference of a reference wave light beam and an object wave light beam, each of the reference and object wave light beams having a diverging spherical wave front, the reference wave light beam having been produced by a first point light source located on the rotation axis at a first predetermined distance from the rotatable disk and the object wave light having been produced with a first wavelength by a second point light source located at a second predetermined distance from the rotatable disk and a third predetermined distance from the rotation axis thereof, the hologram having interference fringes having spatial variation of spatial frequency, the spatial variation including a minimum rate of change of the spatial frequency; a light beam source operable to generate a reconstruction beam for irradiating said hologram, the reconstruction beam having a second wavelength longer than the first wavelength and being incident on said rotatable disk in the vicinity of the minimum rate of change of the spatial frequency of the interference fringes of the hologram; and rotating means for rotating said rotatable disk to shift the hologram and obtain a scanning light beam directly usable in straight line scanning.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 56 words
A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first and second predetermined distances are substantially equal, and wherein step (a2) comprises positioning the second point light source along a first line parallel to the rotation axis at the third predetermined distance therefrom, the hologram being substantially equidistant from the rotation axis and the first line.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 54 words
An apparatus as recited in claim 2, wherein the first and second predetermined distances are substantially equal and the first and second point light sources are arranged symmetrically with respect to a normal line perpendicular to the rotatable disk and passing through the minimum rate of change of the spatial frequency of the hologram.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 116 words
An apparatus as recited in claim 4, wherein the said light beam source is operable to direct the reconstruction beam, independently of the object wave light beam and the reference wave light beam, to form an angle of incidence (θ i ) of the reconstruction beam on the rotatable disk and an angle of diffraction (θ d ) meeting the following equations: ##EQU7## where λ 1 is the first wavelength, λ 2 is the second wavelength, r is a distance from the rotation axis to a point of incidence of the reconstruction wave light beam, f A is the first predetermined distance, f B is the second predetermined distance and R is the third predetermined distance.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 35 words
An apparatus as recited in claim 5, wherein at least one of the reference and object wave light beams are produced by an argon laser, and wherein said light beam source comprises a semiconductor laser.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 19 words
An apparatus as recited in claim 6, further comprising means for producing printed output using the scanning light beam.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim 19 words
An apparatus as recited in claim 5, further comprising means for producing printed output using the scanning light beam.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim 74 words
A method as claimed in claim 8, further comprising the steps of: (d) providing a transparent disk having a center axis to form the hologram therein; (e) positioning the first point light source substantially along the center axis of the transparent disk and positioning the second point light source along a first line perpendicular to the plane of the transparent disk, the hologram being substantially equidistant from the center axis and the first line.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim 19 words
An apparatus as recited in claim 9, further comprising means for producing printed output using the scanning light beam.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim 19 words
An apparatus as recited in claim 4, further comprising means for producing printed output using the scanning light beam.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim 116 words
An apparatus as recited in claim 2, wherein the said light beam source is operable to direct the reconstruction beam, independently of the object wave light beam and the reference wave light beam, to form an angle of incidence (θ i ) of the reconstruction beam on the rotatable disk and an angle of diffraction (θ d ) meeting the following equations: ##EQU8## where λ 1 is the first wavelength, λ 2 is the second wavelength, r is a distance from the rotation axis to a point of incidence of the reconstruction wave light beam, f A is the first predetermined distance, f B is the second predetermined distance and R is the third predetermined distance.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim 35 words
An apparatus as recited in claim 12, wherein at least one of the reference and object wave light beams are produced by an argon laser, and wherein said light beam source comprises a semiconductor laser.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim 19 words
An apparatus as recited in claim 13, further comprising means for producing printed output using the scanning light beam.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim 19 words
An apparatus as recited in claim 12, further comprising means for producing printed output using the scanning light beam.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim 35 words
An apparatus as recited in claim 2, wherein at least one of the reference and object wave light beams are produced by an argon laser, and wherein said light beam source comprises a semiconductor laser.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim 19 words
An apparatus as recited in claim 16, further comprising means for producing printed output using the scanning light beam.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim 19 words
An apparatus as recited in claim 2, further comprising means for producing printed output using the scanning light beam.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

JPS512018A Cited
US4239326A Cited
JPS5410484A Cited
GB2024449A Cited
JPS5647019A Cited
EP0041845A1 Cited
US4639071A Cited

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 1993-05-14 1993-11-13 1994-05-15 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 1997-05-14 1997-11-13 1998-05-15 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 2001-05-14 2001-11-13 2002-05-15 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

Assigned Categories & Tags

No categories assigned to this patent yet.

Assign Category Tag