Apparatus with light emitting element, microlens and gradient index lens characteristics for imaging continuous tone images
US5543830A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 3, 1993 |
| Grant date | Aug 6, 1996 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 3, 2013 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG02B3/0087
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
Method and apparatus for forming grey-scale images on a photosensitive imaging medium, the medium being capable of spatial resolution finer than pixel dimensions of the exposing apparatus. The medium is exposed to a pixellated array of exposure sources which may be liquid crystal shutters or light emitting diodes. A transmission density is developed in imaged areas that varies non-linearly with the exposure energy received by the imaged areas in which the exposure conditions are adjusted such that the variation in average transmission over a whole pixel area from image pixel to image pixel caused by spatial energy distribution variations is less than 5% for the same energy delivered to each pixel area. The pixellated array of energy sources may be two rows of exposure pixels in a parallel but staggered configuration and associated with a SELFOC lens array, each of the exposure pixels having a light-emitting area, in which light-emitting areas of one of the two rows are substantially the same size and shape as gaps between light-emitting areas of the other of the two rows. The pixellated array may also be a single row of exposure pixels associated with an array of microlenses and th…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.