Method and apparatus for interleaving raster scan lines in a multi-beam laser imaging device
US5691759A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Jan 5, 1996 |
| Grant date | Nov 25, 1997 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jan 5, 2016 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04N1/12
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A laser printer produces a raster image of plural scan lines of image pixels, each raster scan line separated from an adjacent raster scan line by a pitch distance p. The printer includes a movable photoreceptor and n laser sources, where n.ltoreq.2. The laser sources produce n optical beams, separated by a distance of (n+1)p in a direction of movement of the photoreceptor. A scanner scans the n optical beams in parallel paths across the photoreceptor as they are modulated in accordance with pixel data provided from an image buffer. Control circuitry modulates the n optical beams, respectively, with pixel values from one set of n raster scan lines. The n raster scan lines of the set are separated from each other by a distance of (n+1)p. At the completion of each scan, the photoreceptor is moved by a distance (n.times.p). The n optical beams are again modulated with pixel values from another set of n raster scan lines that are respectively, (n+1)p distant from the n raster scan lines of the first set. In such manner, an interleaving of the scan lines is achieved, using plural optical beams from a laser diode chip to produce the n laser beams.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.