High speed, high resolution raster output scanner

• Main Authors: ANTOS; RONALD L, YIP; KWOK-LEUNG, HERLOSKI; ROBERT P
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 11.08.1987
• Edition: 4
• Subjects: CALCULATING; COMPUTING; COUNTING; DEVICES OR ARRANGEMENTS, THE OPTICAL OPERATION OF WHICH ISMODIFIED BY CHANGING THE OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF THE MEDIUM OF THEDEVICES OR ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE CONTROL OF THE INTENSITY,COLOUR, PHASE, POLARISATION OR DIRECTION OF LIGHT, e.g.SWITCHING, GATING, MODULATING OR DEMODULATING; ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE; ELECTRICITY; FREQUENCY-CHANGING; HANDLING RECORD CARRIERS; NON-LINEAR OPTICS; OPTICAL ANALOGUE/DIGITAL CONVERTERS; OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS, OR APPARATUS; OPTICAL LOGIC ELEMENTS; OPTICS; PHYSICS; PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION; PRESENTATION OF DATA; RECOGNITION OF DATA; RECORD CARRIERS; TECHNIQUES OR PROCEDURES FOR THE OPERATION THEREOF

A high speed, high resolution raster output scanner having a single source beam; a beam splitter for separating the beam into at least two separate and parallel writing beams; an acousto-optic modulator having a substrate sized to provide a separate modulating channel for each writing beam to pass through without intruding into the other modulating channels; an rf transducer for each writing beam for generating separate acoustic waves in each modulating channel of the substrate; a control circuit for simultaneously intensity modulating the writing beams by the rf output of all transducers in accordance with separate lines of image signals; and optical means for simultaneously projecting the intensity modulated writing beams at points two lines apart on a recording member, the optical means including a polygon for scanning the writing beams across the recording member so as to write plural image lines at once.