Patent · US Expired

color image-forming device

US6188419A · kind A · utility

32Cited by
4References
29Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateAug 17, 1998
Grant dateFeb 13, 2001
Priority date
Expiry dateAug 17, 2018

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04N1/506
  • WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

In conventional color digital copy machines, when copying in color mode, the polygon mirror of the laser beam scanner for black, which is driven at a higher speed than those of the other colors, is switched to a slower speed in conformity with the speed of the polygon mirrors for the other colors. However, a drawback of this structure is that, especially when switching from monochrome to color mode, the time required to obtain the first copy is lengthened, and the operating efficiency of copying is poor. In the present invention, when copying in color mode, the rotation speed of the polygon mirror of the laser scanner unit for black is not changed at all, but, by skipping certain mirror surfaces of the polygon mirror, and/or by skipping certain of a plurality of laser light sources, the scanning density of the laser scanner unit for black can be brought into conformity with that of the laser scanner units for the other colors.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.