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.