JPS61248743A - Phototypesetting method and device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates generally to phototypesetting, and more particularly to phototypesetting of full pages containing letterpress type characters and figures.

More particularly, the present invention relates to phototypesetting using a laser light source.

PRIOR ART AND ITS PROBLEMS A long-standing problem in phototypesetting has been to increase the speed of phototypesetting, especially with multifunctional or phototypesetting equipment without unduly reducing quality. The goal is to increase speed without compromising other beneficial properties. The use of laser light sources in phototypesetting ensures the capability of high speed typesetting without significantly reducing these beneficial properties. However, the benefits of this capability have not been fully realized with conventional devices and methods.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to increase the typesetting speed and resolution obtainable by laser phototypesetting apparatus and methods. In particular, the aim is to increase speed, resolution, without adversely affecting other operational parameters of the apparatus and method.

In conventional apparatus, another problem in phototypesetting arises from the need for a line spacing mechanism, ie, a mechanism that intermittently drives a moving mechanism. This not only slows down the capacity of the device but also causes a reduction in typesetting quality.

[Purpose and effect of the invention]

The object of the present invention is to improve the "broad brush" laser phototypesetting apparatus and method described in U.S. patent application Ser. In this apparatus and method, the photosensitive material is moved continuously rather than intermittently.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a relatively compact phototypesetting device and a simple typesetting method by improving the above-mentioned points, and to typeset relatively large area characters and figures relatively easily and efficiently. The purpose is to provide devices and methods that can.

To make it possible to typeset all pages of a newspaper or even twice as many pages quickly and easily and with high quality.

Furthermore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method that allows output to be switched relatively easily for different photosensitive surfaces.

According to the invention, the aforementioned objects are achieved by providing a phototypesetting apparatus and method in which a laser beam forming a 'brush' scans an imaged photosensitive surface, the laser beam and the photosensitive surface being moved relative to each other. The typesetting speed is maximized by continuous movement of the photoreceptor, and the positioning of the image on the photoreceptor surface is corrected to compensate for relative movement, thus producing a linear typesetting across the photoreceptor surface.

In one embodiment, the laser beam is created by a linear array of adjustable positions or "gates" to generate and direct the beam into the "brush" without using all the gates at once.

When the photosensitive surface moves, the position of the active gate changes, thereby changing the position of the final image formed by the optical device in order to maintain the straightness of the formed image.

In other embodiments, an optical micrometer is placed in the path of the laser beam. A micrometer is used to change the path of the laser beam as the photosensitive surface moves.

In other embodiments, an optical micrometer is placed in the path of the laser beam. A micrometer is used to change the path of the laser beam as the photosensitive surface moves.

In other embodiments, the laser beam is redirected by a rotatable mirror to apply the necessary correction. A rotatable mirror can also be used to direct the laser beam alternately between two photosensitive surfaces.

In other embodiments, a combination of the devices described above is used to apply correction. One type of correction constitutes a coarse correction, and the other type constitutes a finer or more precise correction.

An extremely high speed phototypesetting device is created by using a laser beam "brush" source in conjunction with a known rotating polygon mirror. Each scan created by the moving polygonal surface of the mirror grows multiple scan lines instead of one. It is necessary to correct rapid and continuous movements of the photosensitive surface. One or more correction methods, preferably gate shift methods, may be used to apply the necessary correction.

Another particularly advantageous embodiment of the invention is that a photosensitive surface, such as a flexible printing plate, is fixed to the drum in a wrap-around manner. The drum rotates continuously and the laser emitting device moves continuously or in steps. The character images are formed in circular rows or cylinders,
All pages are typesetting on one side of the drum surface using a laser emitting device.
It is completed in one traversal. The laser emitting device is extremely lightweight.

If the firing device is stepped to space the rows, a lightweight laser firing device is moved instead of a heavier photosensitive surface or drum. This increases typesetting speed without the need to correct continuous motion.

A further increase in typesetting speed is obtained by ensuring that the scans of the laser "brush" are of the same width and are always close together, regardless of where the boundaries of adjacent scan quantities occur. Therefore, all characters are created during one scan, whereas only part of the character is created during the next scan. The formation of letters or other images under these circumstances is
Processed by Rusk image processor, this is 1
feed all or some pages rather than one column at a time. Therefore, maximum typesetting is achieved during each scan and typesetting speed is increased.

Although the use of laser "brushes" is preferred, other types of laser light sources may also be used.

(Embodiment of the invention) The main components of phototypesetting are shown in FIG.
9 is similar to the invention described in the above-mentioned corresponding application shown in FIG.
The optical system includes an optical micrometer, shown in phantom 237 and rotatably mounted on axis 235, and an infinity "zoom" lens system 382. Other differences are explained in the following description.

FIG. 1 shows a helium-neon (1-1e-Ne) source 220 producing a narrow beam of polarized light 211, which is reflected by mirrors 222 and 223 before passing through cylindrical lenses 224, 226 and 234. Pass through a single-plane magnifying device that includes: In the description of the invention, the plane perpendicular to the axis of the cylindrical lens will be referred to as a vertical plane, and the perpendicular plane, ie, the plane containing the axis of the cylindrical lens, will be referred to as a horizontal plane.

Lenses 224, 226, and 234 form the cylindrical laser beam 221 into an elongated, narrow band beam 209 that impinges on a light gating array or conditioner 228 from which light is polarized as described below. 2
30 and cylindrical lens 232 . Beam 209 is represented by 229 after being conditioned by a light gate array. lenses 232 and 23
8 constitutes a magnifying glass shown in detail in FIGS. 4 and 5 of the above-mentioned corresponding application.

Beam 231 emerging from lens 232 is refracted by mirror 236 and folded back again by rotatable mirror 239, which can be rotated about axis 233 for correction purposes as explained below. is the first component of the optical device that is moved by. The beam reflected by mirror 233 is directed to an optical micrometer 237 which is also used for correction purposes. A parallel laser beam consisting of parallel rays is connected to the rail 24.
enters an aiming and focusing device consisting of a lens 242 and a mirror 244 mounted on a sliding carriage 246 supported by 8. Convergent beam 245 is in the shape of a narrow, elongated bundle of rays when it reaches film 250. Movement of the conveyor platform 246 along the rail is indicated by reference numeral 2.
The film is traversed or scanned to produce a narrow beam shown at 52.

The image gradually formed by a series of adjacent wide brush scans is shown schematically in FIG. 217. Additional light gate 216
and 218 are provided for corrective purposes as explained below. Some or all of the characters in the image created by one wide brush scan are indicated at 210.

An example of a character or portion of a character formed by a single scan as shown in FIG.
11, and the complete lower case "a" and lower case "p" parts.

Therefore, the width of each scan is advantageously set without considering line spacing, character size, or other variables. Each scan is of the same width and abuts adjacent scans so as to accurately combine portions of characters and other images to form a complete image.

This increases typesetting speed compared to conventional devices where up to one full line of characters is made up in each scan, and in the present invention an additional portion of the full text is typesetting as well as when typesetting a full line. Ru.

Although a wide brush scan is preferred, the number of scan lines 217 in FIG. 2 may vary from 2 to 256 or more. The speed at which the image is created depends on the number of scan lines per scan (for the desired resolution) and on the speed of the displacement scanned over the film.

In existing laser printers using rotating polygon reflectors, the image is created by a continuous single line scanning raster in the manner shown in FIG.

In this case, the film (or more generally the phototypesetting drum) moves continuously in the direction indicated by arrow "F". Compensation for simultaneous beam and film displacements is unnecessary because of the considerable difference in scan and drum speeds and the extremely thin scan lines. For example, the third
In the figure, the thickness of the scan line is 0.025 m (0.001 inch) and is designated by the reference numeral 155. Because of the adjacent 1it (slightly overlapping lines), the film moves 0.025 mm (0.001 inch) or less as the spot of light crosses the film width. If the film were stationary, the trajectory left by the point of light would be a distance 154 away from the position line 155 at the end of the scan. Since this is a very small value, no compensation is necessary and the fact that the drum moves during each scan can be ignored.

When a wide brush is used, reference numeral 151. in FIG.
A line of text such as 153 is moved in the direction indicated by arrow "F" by a distance 158 representing the scan width 156 plus the line spacing. The usual procedure is to build a line of text on a stationary film and then move the film in the direction of arrow "F" an appropriate amount before the next scan. This procedure causes delays and inaccuracies due to the start-stop motion of the film and the film advance mechanism (or drum drive mechanism). To avoid such problems, it is desirable to move the film at a constant speed, synchronously with the firing and scanning device, or to adjust the film speed.

The appearance of successively fired large brush areas is shown at 160, 161 and 162 in FIG.

In this figure, the wide brush drive is in the shape of a multi-sided polygon as shown in FIG. In this case, the "brush" is moved in the same direction with each scan from left to right, as shown in FIG. It is assumed that the scan is arranged in such a way that it takes only the time required to generate a scan.

However, the speed at which the film moves in the “F” direction is the third
higher than the film speed of the conventional embodiment shown. therefore,
The film moves a distance 157 between multiple scan lines of the same width, and the scan area appears tilted. The distance 157 is different from the distance l1l11 in Fig. 3 because the moving speed of the film is extremely high.
It is considerably larger than 54.

FIG. 6 shows the appearance of scanning areas 160-162 when a carrier similar to carrier 246 of FIG. 1 is utilized to perform typesetting while moving in either forward or reverse direction. shows. The interval F1159 between successive zones is caused by the reversal time of the carriage at each wide one brush scanning end. The arrows in FIG. 6 indicate the direction of movement of the carriage.

A feature of the present invention in film is that continuous film movements are made such that continuous scans of a wide brush are adjacent with an accuracy that is normally extremely difficult unless the individual scans are able to be distinguished from each other. The solution is to have a simple device for compensation.

The graph of FIG. 9 illustrates the function and purpose of the correction or compensation mechanism. In FIG. 9, the Y coordinate represents the displacement of the moving carriage as a function of elapsed time, and the elapsed time is represented by the X coordinate. Starting at the zero point, the carriage begins its movement at a point 173 that does not exceed the limit 177 of the receiving area reached by the light beam carried by the carriage by a short distance 173 and accelerates to reach a constant "cruising" speed. The total distance traveled by the carriage while moving at constant speed is represented by distance 171, and the effective movement corresponding to the length of the receiving area across film 20 is represented by distance ff 1170.

The carriage moves the light beam such that at the point where the light beam passes a short distance beyond the opposite limit 173' of the receiving area of the curve, the carriage decelerates, stops, and accelerates to point 1 in the opposite direction.
It reaches a certain cruising speed at 73".The speed and direction are
Controlled by a precisely programmed computer. The total time to go back is represented by distance 176 and the distance traveled during this time is represented by distance 174.

The purpose of the compensator is to create an image receiving area "step" as the film moves. To compensate for the 'backward' time,
As explained below, the film speed is determined such that firing of the next adjacent block of images is not initiated before the carriage has reached its cruising speed and the compensation mechanism has returned to zero.

The compensation mechanism is continuously monitored by feedback information generated by a device that encodes reciprocating position and film position.

In embodiments in which the scanning mechanism is a rotating polygon as shown in FIG.
Each of these lines corresponds to the path of one reflective surface of the polygon. , the "dead time" between one scan and the next is denoted by 176' and corresponds to the reversal time of the transport platform mentioned above; Since the time lost is extremely short, it is extremely short compared to the reverse operation of the conveyor platform.

FIG. 7 shows four consecutive image areas or blocks 160 to 163 appearing on the film when the carriage emits light emerging from the highest and lowest of the available gates in the gate array. is shown by a solid line. As explained in detail in the discussion of the "gate shift" correction technique below, a substantial number of gates are left unused to compensate for distortions due to simultaneous continuous movement of the film and firing mechanism. The thin dotted lines, such as 181, indicate the trajectories left on the film by the highest and lowest gates, indicating the absence of any compensation. The direction of movement of the carriage is indicated by an arrow in each block. The compensation device is
The light is directed from the top active gate in synchronization with the film motion so that the light moves in a straight line perpendicular to the edge of the film from position 160'-1 (start of firing) to point 165 (end of firing). Reposition the gate to keep it enabled. If no compensation were made, point 165 would have the sign 160-
This is the second position. Compensation is “ON” during reversal of transport platform
If so, the curve traced by the light from the topmost active gate is designated 165'. The distance between points 160-2 and 165 represents the compensation value produced by the correction mechanism during the actual exposure of the image block, and the distance between points 160-2 and 164 represents the distance traveled by the film during the reversal time. represent. Point 164' represents the end point of the carriage's movement and corresponds to point 191 of the curve in FIG.

The compensation device, which is an object of the present invention, is useful when the film moves continuously but the lines of characters are not continuous, as described in the corresponding application. FIG. 8 shows three such lines of non-consecutive characters 151.degree. 152.153. In this figure, numeral 166 represents the line length (distance between edges), numeral 159 represents the line spacing, and numeral 168 represents the height or point size of the ° character. The straightening mechanism operates as described above, except that the return of the carriage is delayed by a time that is a function of the desired line spacing. In this case it is clear that each scan must contain a complete character.

Three correction or compensation mechanisms are described with respect to FIGS. 8A, 10-17. Figures 10 and 11 schematically represent the optical gate array. FIG. 10 is similar to FIG. 9 of the corresponding application. Light beam 264 from the laser source and front optics passes through anti-reflective coating 263, enters lens 262, and is reflected to mirror 285 through PLZT water material 284 supported by substrate 288. This surface is separated from the front mirror surface by a suitable gel coating, indicated at 282. The incident light is at a slight angle 28 from the reflected light.
A different path, indicated by 265, is taken, shifted by 3. In reality, angle 283 is very small. In fact, the plane defined by lights 1!264 and 265 is perpendicular to the plane of the figure.

In FIG. 11, a PLZT water surface 28 such as an electrode 200 is shown.
The electrodes for u control on the individual drive bodies 202-1 to 202-2
02-11, with a single common ground electrode at 20
It is indicated by 1. When an electrode such as 200 is activated, the electric field between that electrode and the common electrode 201 is
changes the polarization of light passing through it. This allows light passing through area 203 to pass through polarizer 230 .

Thus, in effect, area 203 acts like an open "°gate". The electrode shown in FIG. 11 is considerably enlarged. Gates such as gate 203 have a width of 0.025 mm when the film is illuminated through suitable optical equipment.
The size is 0,001 inches.

Electrodes 201 are controlled by control circuits 296 and 297 as described in detail in the corresponding application.

The aperture plate 195 sets the gate width to the selected value 204 by υ1.
located adjacent to PLZT water to limit 11th
Hidden areas in the figure indicate apertures. Even thicker (the hidden part 206 is the drive body 202-5.202-6.20
2-7 and 202-8 represent areas through which light passes when activated, for example. In this case, four adjacent scan lines result in a line on the film that is 0.100 s (0.004 inch) thick. Of course, the opening time of each of these four gates can be individually controlled to produce a very small spot on the image area.

The seven-mirror example top and bottom electrodes 205-5 through 205-8 are useful for electrical "fine" compensation of film motion, which is a feature of currently commercially available spot-correction "laser printers" or typesetters. 12, which shows a schematic diagram of . In this particular case, in order to increase the performance of the printer with minimal changes in existing optical equipment, the optical brush is limited to a relatively small number of scan lines, e.g., as shown in FIG. The scan lines are identified by reference numeral 152. However, even with this extreme compensation, the scan line thickness is reduced to 0.025 am (0,0
An orthodontic device is utilized so that the length can be changed from 0.01 inch) to 0.050 foot (0.002 inch) or 0.0755 m+ (0.003 inch). Generally, the number of scan lines varies between 16 and 64 depending on the capabilities of the RIP (Rask Image Processor).

In FIG. 12, the laser source is at 310, the output beam (preferably polarized) is at 309, and the optical arrangement produces a narrow elongated beam 314 through the use of a PLZT spatial conditioning unit 304 of the type shown in FIG. ,
Each is indicated by reference numeral 312. Mirror 316 bends the conditioned beam of light, which beam is designated by 317. These are the polarizer 230 and its attached device 3
18, and from there the attached optical micrometer 237
pass through. Beam 32 emitted from this micrometer 237
8 is driven by a motor 321. The rotating polygon mirror 320 of the polyhedron is reached.

Beam 32 after being refracted by the mirror surface of the polygon
8 enters focusing optics 2322 and is then reflected by corrective mirror 323 before reaching film 250. The optical arrangement consists of closely spaced rays in which the beams 326, 327 are contained in a plane perpendicular to the film plane and parallel to its edges. As polygon 320 rotates, each scan line (not all shown) moves between two conventional detectors 324 and 325 at the ends of the scan line.

The speed at which the film moves is faster than conventional polygonal mirror devices, thus providing faster typesetting speeds. If the start of a new scan needs to be advanced in order for the film advance to follow the mirrors, machine operation can be delayed until one or more mirror surfaces have passed.

Gate Shift Correction This new configuration increases the speed and resolution of existing printers and typesetting machines.

Printer film (or drum) 2 shown in Figure 12
The compensation required by 50 continuous movements is accomplished in one of two ways.

A preferred arrangement is shown in FIG. 14, with the scan line utilized at the beginning of the scan indicated at 298. Code 299 and 2
Additional or "reverse" scan lines, indicated at 30, are selected to progressively replace the first line 298 by use of a shift register 301 controlled by a compensation circuit;
The compensation circuit maintains the scanning bundle position in synchronization with the film position. For example, assuming that the scan line 298 produced by the center gate is utilized at the beginning of the scan, the next gate in group 299 is used to replace the bottom gate in group 298 at a fraction of the scan length. The next top gate can then replace the new bottom gate, etc. In this method, 0.025 am (0,001
Incremental corrections in the range (inches) are periodically introduced to compensate for simultaneous movement of the image film.

1 to 11 When any text is typeset by a device that produces adjacent brushstrokes for which no compensation is necessary (for example, when the film advance is intermittent instead of continuous so that the film is stationary for each scan) In a typical device), gating instructions are stored in the computer's random access memory (RAM) used to control the phototypesetting device, such as a plurality of n-bit words. Here "n" is the number of active gates in the gate array. If there are 256 gates in the array, then each word consists of 256 isolation instructions for the gates. For each full scan, there are X separate words, where "X" is the total number of vertical lines of points within the scan. For example, if a resolution of 1280 lines per inch is chosen for a 10-inch long scan, then 12.800 256-
Bit instructions are stored in RAM. Then 1. As the carriage moves across the film, each word is successively read from memory and the desired word is read out from memory to form the character or portion of a character or other graphic to be formed during that scan. Instructs to open the optical gate shift with continuity.

FIG. 8A shows, as an example, the text of two lines constructed according to the structure of FIG. It has a diagram of one embodiment of a continuously rotating drum to be described. In either structure, each scan always starts at the left edge 160a, spaced so that the scan exactly combines with the previous scan.

With reference to FIG. 8A, in the first scan where the left and right edges 160a, 161a and points 8!
ick brown fox jumped” is created excluding the descender or the bottom of the letters “dan” and “j”. The instruction stored for the next scan defined by dotted lines 166a, 167a is the entire character “0ver th
e 1azy do! II” is the descender or character “
y" and the lower part of "dan" and the descender of the first row are constructed during that scan. Then, for the third scan defined by dotted lines 167a and 169a, the storage is The only indication given was the character “2”
for the descender, and it is the only character part built during the third scan.

When gate shifting devices and methods are used to compensate for diagonal motion due to simultaneous continuous motion of both the film and the irradiation transport, the width of the scan is also reduced by the multiple light gates, and the film is Move around. For example, if the film is 12 of 256 light gates,
If you move the distance corresponding to 8 gates, it will be 1/2 of the gate.
The scan requires only 128 gates in width since it must be used in the shifting process to compensate for motion.

The shift register 301 shown in FIG. 14 above moves the active gate column down one gate per m vertical lines, where "m" is equal to "X" and 'X' is the vertical line in one scan. is the total number of gates, which is the film movement during scanning divided by the number of gates. In the above example x-12,8
00, m-x/128 and m-100. Therefore, the active gate column moves down by one gate for every 100 vertical lines.

The selected correction method is performed entirely by software.

The same result as the gate shift method can be achieved in software by simply shifting the address in memory from the address where the gate operation instruction is retrieved during each scan without reducing the number of active gates. In the above example, the instructions are retrieved from the address and the address is shifted by one for each 10011 lines in the scan. By this means, the character portion between solid lines 170a and 171a is created during the first scan 162a, the character portion between lines 171a and 172a is created during the second scan, and the character portion between solid lines 170a and 173a is created during the second scan.
The intervening character portions are created during the third scan 164a.

It should be noted that when scanning is performed with the film stationary, the first scan T62a begins one scan width before the first scan 162a begins.

Nevertheless, this method requires only three scans, each with all gates useful for use,
This allows each scan to be of maximum width while still compensating for motion. This contributes to maximizing typesetting speed.

Another way to achieve the same result is line 170a.

The gate operation instructions are encoded and stored in the memory in the same pattern, such as 171a, in which there are character parts between diagonal lines. This change requires no shifting of addresses within memory. For example, the letters “b” and “f”
The top of 19, and “fox” and “jumped”
The instructions for creating the upper part of the character are stored during the first scan 162a, the remainder of the character, etc. are stored during the second scan.

An optical micrometer correction selective correction device is shown in FIG. It consists of a known optical micrometer consisting of a glass plate 237, said glass plate 237 being supported and suspended about a pivot shaft 235. A relatively large rotation of the glass plate results in a relatively small displacement 24 of the light beam 231 as it exits the micrometer.
It becomes 3.

The displacement depends on the thickness of the glass plate 237, the rotation angle 241, and the refractive index of the glass. In the figure, a relatively large rotation of the optical micrometer from position 237 to position 1!240 is shown at sign 2 due to the relatively thin micrometer glass plate.
This results in a small parallel displacement of the illumination beam represented by 43. Optical micrometers can be used as a "coarse" correction means in conjunction with the gate shift device described above, or used alone.

The arrangement of FIG. 15 illustrates another "coarse" orthodontic device. The light beam irradiated from the transport table 246? 11 is reflected by the mirror surface 213 of the rotating mirror structure.

The typesetting surface is located on a drum 192 that is continuously rotated by a drive motor 193. The conveyance table 246 is the drum 1
92 (toward or away from one direction as shown in FIG. 15). The mirror is aligned with axis 21 to maintain the illuminated image within a straight line perpendicular to the film green.
It is rotated around 5. The maximum rotation angle of the image of the widest block caused by the large light brush is represented by corner 219.

A highly accurate encoder 214 is used to continuously input the mirror position and therefore the position of the reflected beam of light to the control circuit.

The mirror structure is also rotated 90 degrees to transfer the light beam 211 from the drum 192 to a different phototypesetting surface. For example, light beam 211 is redirected from supply cassette 178 via idler roller 183 to output cassette 180 to film 184 which is continuously driven by roller 182 . The dual force set is mounted on a common plate 185 that is removably attached to the frame 189 of the machine. 2
The or more rollers are preferably integral with a decoder, shown schematically at 376, to provide accurate information to the compensation circuitry as to the movement and position of the film 184 at all times. The transport platform 246 includes a member 206, and the member 2
06 is a diffraction grating 190 attached to the frame of the machine
It has a groove for accommodating it. A generator 186 is attached to one side of the groove and two phototypesetting members 18 are attached to the other side.
7 and 188 are attached. Light-emitting devices (e.g.
The light emitting diode) emits light through the diffraction grating 190 toward the phototypesetting members 187 and 188. As shown in FIG. 17, the diffraction grating has closely spaced marks 197.
and widely spaced marks 198. Photoreceptor 1
88 cooperates with marks 197 on the grating 190 to generate pulses at 8 small incremental displacements of the carrier (at least 0
．． Generating one pulse at each increment on the order of 0.025 mg + (0,001 inches). Photoreceptor 187 is used to generate a pulse at the end or beginning of each scan. It cooperates with the marks 198 of the diffraction grating. The "fine" adjustment optical micrometer is indicated by the hidden line @237.

Its purpose is to correct the tiny bends handled by mirror 213.

The "fine" straighteners described above are used in "start-stop" situations of photoreceptors to correct very small deflections of the photoreceptor from the desired position caused by machine inaccuracies. It is utilized to create closely spaced adjacent thin lines for the creation of horizontal fiducials of varying thickness on a static film.

If the structure of FIG. 15 is not used and the light emitted from the carrier is directly received by the photoreceptor, an optical micrometer with a relatively thick glass plate, as shown in FIG. It is used as a "coarse" correction device that controls the direction of the mirror 239 around the mirror 233.

The glass plate 237 of the optical micrometer is parallel light and does not require any special optical correction.

Of course, for "fine" correction, the "gate shift" correction device described above is preferred.

Control Electrical Circuit The components of the control electrical circuit shown in block diagram form in FIG. 16 are used to control the compensation mechanism described above. At least one portion of the page to be typeset is at least as wide as the wide brush width and is stored in memory unit 3 as in the prior art.
30 is assumed to be stored in rask form. This unit transfers on demand all the information necessary to produce the desired edge strip for each successive wide brush scan to the photographic unit controller's CPU and its bit storage unit. Unit 3 by data storage ji11330
Some of the information that goes into 32 is the line length (if individual character lines are made or the length of each wide brush block), the film speed (by line length), the transport speed, by each scan. Includes the width of each "wide brush" in number of resulting scan lines, and the line spacing or leading value.

Before the beginning of the first scan, the controller
42 stores a value representing the desired line length expressed in carriage movement increments. It also informs the transport motor control circuit 340 of the selected transport speed and starts the film advance mechanism 344. After the necessary parameters have been selected, a start pulse sent to line 331 enters unit 334 to start a new scan start routine. From this moment on, the movement of the transport platform will be in memory unit 3.
From the zero point under the command of the program stored in 49, approximately the beginning of the curve of FIG. 9 is followed.

When carriage 246 reaches its cruising speed, detector 187
Upon issuing a "start new scan" signal via the (FIG. 15), the continuous train of pulses produced by photoreceptor 188 and diffraction grating 190 is sent to carriage position register 336 along with counter 342 to the wide brush block. Decrease the previously stored value representing the total number of carriage pulses included in the total length of .

As the film moves continuously at a predetermined speed under the control of unit 344, the incremental movements of the film advance roller are entered into the film position register represented by unit 337.

Unit 339 contains a correction spreadsheet whose purpose is to maintain a "minimum" gap 207 at the zero point to create a straight line or other image of the character on the film. The information necessary to compensate for film movement is provided in unit 33.
9 to unit 346, which unit 34
6 comprises the necessary circuitry to control either the "coarse" mirror compensation mechanism 348 or the optical micrometer unit 350 or the optical gate unit 352 of the compensation optical gate shift circuit.

When the carriage moves, the information necessary for the gate to open (depending on the carriage position) is transferred from storage j1347 to gate circuit 3.
51 to the optical gate control unit 352.

At the end of the scan, when counter 342 reaches zero, a pulse is sent by reference 342 to delay circuit 338 and end of row circuit 349. The delay circuit is primarily used to introduce the desired line spacing in the spaced scan mode (see FIGS. 4 and 8), and the unit 349 is used via the "lead" line 335 to introduce the desired line spacing in the scan amount. A command is received from the controller 332 to slow the return operation of the carriage to allow movement of the necessary a-film to obtain the blank area. The end of scan routine also zeroes the compensator return.

Although the above circuit has been described as being used with a film and its drive mechanism, it may also be applied to an electrophotographic drum or any drum supporting a photosensitive surface and containing printing plate material, and to a tilting mirror or rotating polygon. Applies to polygons with square faces. In the latter case, the pulses are generated by a mechanism utilized to rotate the polygon at a constant speed in order to instruct the compensation mechanism of the instantaneous position of the scanning beam of light.

Another embodiment of the present invention based on the circuit is shown in FIGS. 18-1 to 20-2. The embodiment shown in FIG. 18-2 will be described first.

The optical device of FIG. 18-2 is similar to the optical device of FIG. 18-2 except that in the embodiment of FIG. is similar to the structure of FIG. 1 of the corresponding application, while the rotation of drum 380 focuses a single row of spots of light on the characters and spaces the characters from each other. In other words, the functions of each of the moving carriages and the aforementioned photosensitive surfaces are reversed in position.

One of the main advantages of this embodiment is that the carriage traverses the effective surface of the photoreceptor only once per page. The optical arrangement of FIG. 18-2 is such that the divergence of the bundle of rays 247 emerging from the aiming lens 238 is extremely small. This allows the carriage 246 to be moved along a relatively long path, e.g. up to 4 feet, with the converging light beam exiting the regulator 228 and the lens 23 as described in the corresponding application.
Transport platform 24 without losing bundles 247 of rays with convergent-divergent cross-sectional gate shifts at distances increasing from 8
6 can be moved along a long path. Transport platform 24
The distance covered by the movement of 6 can exceed, for example, the entire length of a newspaper page or approximately 23 inches (580 tuts). The effective size of a film or printed page located on drum 380, as measured in circumference of the drum, is:
It corresponds to the full width of a newspaper page, for example 108 bykers (15 inches or 457 jw). The diameter of the drum is therefore 203srs, taking into account the edges and some "dead" zones.

Also shown in Figure 18-2, the drum rotates about its axis 391 during full page typesetting.

A page may include text and graphics.

An encoder 381 mounted on the drum continuously provides information to the drum position control circuit, and in particular maintains the synchronization between the drum rotation and the movement of the carriage. The speed of the drum is 1 with a resolution of 1.100 horizontal and vertical points per inch.
Two revolutions per second to produce a full newspaper page of 15 inches or 23 inches per minute.

The fundamentally new research of this embodiment is generally represented in Figure 18-1. This figure shows that the device is not limited to the use of the PLZTII rectifier described above. block 45
4 shows a device capable of creating a multiplicity of substantially parallel and individually controllable light beams. The example is the 18th
- LED array and acoustics similar to the optical device shown in Figure 2 -
It is a light cell.

Unit 425 includes an adjustable image rotator, such as a rotatable pure prism, for adjusting the image orientation of a light section, such as 205, launched along line 245 with respect to the photosensitive surface of the drum. including.

Unit 452 can include an adjustable zoom device that can change the resolution of the machine as required.

Imaging optics mounted on carriage 246 move in the direction of arrow 425, which is parallel to axis 391 of drum 380 during page typesetting.

The carriage may be moved continuously at a substantially uniform speed, as described below, or it may be moved in steps at the end of each scan. Drum 380 is mounted on a shaft 373 mounted on bearings (not shown). The drum is continuously rotated by a motor (not shown) via gear 375. The drum encoder 381 generates a code for the rotating drum position, and at the same time the transport platform 246 generates a code for the position of the rotating drum.
15 and 17 to generate a carriage position code as described in connection with FIGS. 15 and 17.

In the embodiment of Figure 18-1, each "wide brush"
The scans are designated 315-1 through 315-6. To further illustrate the operation, groups of words are represented in each scan area or strip.

For example, scan 315-1 includes one line of words along with two lines of smaller characters. Obi 315-2 to 315-3
, various words are shown.

Large characters requiring different resolutions of the drum to complete are shown in bands 315-4 through 315-6. 1st
In the example shown in Figure 8-1, band 315-4 and band 3
15-4 is exposed to the imaging optics as indicated by the position of the carriage 246. The next swath receives a character image during the next revolution of the drum to complete the word "LARGE PO... PA', which requires three consecutive revolutions.

In FIG. 21, the photosensitive material, film or plate is designated by the numeral 389. by angle 385 (and the first
The spacing or gap shown in Figure 8-1 by area 303) is utilized to facilitate the mounting of photosensitive material on the drum, and also to prevent steps during successive drum rotations.
This is used to provide sufficient time to move the carriage 246 in stop mode.

This aspect of the invention is utilized in conjunction with an optical and character generator that is slightly modified from the corresponding application as shown in Figure 18-2. This figure differs from FIG. 1 in the following points, namely, the moving lens 24? The ribbon of light entering the beam is oriented so that its width is more in the horizontal plane than in the vertical direction.
Rotated 0°. This variation can be achieved by a variety of different devices. In FIG. 18-2, the elongated ribbon-like bundle of light is formed by cylindrical lenses 224', 226' rotated 90' around the axis 209 or 229.

Rotated 90 degrees by 234' and 232'. The crossed polarizers 27' and 230' are also rotated 90°. The reference numbers of all components so rotated are treated as the same by a prime sign to distinguish them from similar components of FIG. Regulator 228' is also rotated 90 degrees compared to regulator 228 of FIG. 1, as shown in FIG. 18-2. For these changes, therefore, the cylindrical adjustment beam emitting arrangement is indicated schematically at 205' in the orthogonal position indicated at 205 in FIG. The vertical image of the basic light control zone column is now the horizontal image.

In FIGS. 18-1 and 18-2, the operation of mechanical parts having the same components is the same.

As shown in FIG. 18-2, a "broad brush" scan of the image is created during each rotation of drum 380.

These scans or bands should be parallel, perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the drum, and should be closely spaced with high accuracy to avoid undesirable gaps or overlaps between successive bands.

If it is a continuous movement or a blank area 303 (
18-1) or by stepping the carriage precisely during the passage of angle 385 (Fig. 21), by synchronizing the rotation of the drum and the movement of the carriage. It will be done.

The position detector of the carriage is accurate enough to transfer to the control circuit very small deflections from the desired position in the operating mode, caused, for example, by vibrations in which the carriage is stepped. In this case, some gates remain to be utilized to correct any temporary errors in the position of the carriage. This converts the horizontal image of the gate row into 2
Obtained by moving left and right in 0 micron increments.

Figure 20-2 illustrates this mode of operation.

A high degree of accuracy in the position of the carriage is obtained with the structure shown in FIGS. 22 and 23. These figures show a light source 52 operating with a unique light cell 500 and grating bands 428.
, and the use of the gate to accurately detect the position of the carriage and send this information to gate selection electronics 504 .

In FIG. 20-2, the different swaths scanned during each revolution of drum 380 are designated 315-1 through 315-3, and the "clear" zone is designated 303.

At the beginning of the page, the carriage mirror 244 is in position 307-1 and the first illumination scan occurs as soon as the zone 303 intersects the illumination area (indicated by line 245 in FIG. 1).

As soon as the zoom 303 leaves the projection area, at the end of the first active rotation during which the character image is being projected, the carriage moves to 1.
The mirror on the carrier is stepped by the width of the band [307
-2 to prepare to start scanning the second scan image.

1li (represented by a series of vertical lines) as shown
continues to gradually fill the second zone at 307-2, while the mirror remains stationary at 307-2. Then zone 30
3 crosses the irradiation area again, the carriage mirror moves to position 307-3, such as in preparation for the third scan.

In other operating modes, the carriage can
Each successive line or scan is parallel to each other and perpendicular to the drum axis by operation of a "gate shift" compensator.

For example, a schematic representation of the formation of consecutive rows is shown in Figures 19 and 20-1. At the beginning of page typesetting, the conveyor table mirror 244 (Fig. 1, Fig. 18-1 and Fig. 1
8-2) is located at position 305. mirror 244
is indicated by arrow 390 in Figure 20-1 while the drum is rotating.
It is moving continuously in the direction indicated by. At the very beginning of the row, the gate image in the "active" position is illuminated by area 386 of the mirror. As the mirror moves “downward” in the direction of arrow 390, at the end of the first scan, portion 386 represents an inactive gate, while portion 388
The active gate is progressively shifted to mirror position 388 such that 388 represents the mirror surface used for illumination of the last image of this first scan.

After the gap 303 intersects the "irradiation line" (designated 245 in FIG. 21), the second row of irradiation begins. At this point, the same gate as the beginning of a row in the gate array is selected,
Also illuminated by the same area 386 of the mirror, then location 306 is illuminated. Again, as the drum rotates and the carriage moves, the movement of the moving member moving simultaneously is compensated for by progressively moving the active gate so that at the end of the second line, it is the mirror that is used until the beginning of the third line. area 388, and the third line has the mirror at position 30.
Occurs after reaching 7, at which time the active plane (corresponding to the active gate) moves again from area 388 to area 386.
...Finally, all pages (or the planned portion of - pages) are projected, and at this time the conveyor table 246 (Fig. 18-1) is returned to its original position, and the plate material is changed or else (selenium ) The side of the drum is used as a new page. A different line or broad brush scan is shown at 311 in Figure 20-1.
-1.311-2 and 311-3.

Correction is accomplished by the software embodiment of the present invention shown and described in FIG. 8A.

FIG. 19 shows the operation of this embodiment. Images of adjacent elementary light gate arrays are shown at 384 at the beginning of the scan and at 384' at the end of the scan. The active light control member is designated at 386 at the beginning of the scan and at 388 at the end of the scan. Column 384
consists of 256 members, of which less than one group is utilized during one scan. The other one, those located on the left-hand side at 386, shows compensating members that become increasingly active as the drum rotates, as shown in FIG. The group on the right side is used for backward operations. Arrow 392 indicates the direction of carriage displacement and arrow 390 indicates the direction of drum rotation. The letters a and b, the letter "A", etc. indicate the formation of an image in a single scan. Another embodiment in which the optical carriage moves continuously, as illustrated in Figure 20-1, requires the use of one of the compensation devices described above. However, the method just described requires a reduction in the number of active light members, but ensures smoother operation.

A partially advantageous embodiment is shown in FIG. 20-3, in which the carriage 246 is
Board for the printing of a whole page of a newspaper built with a single displacement of 3
89 is shown.

In the embodiment of FIG. 20-3, for example, drum 380
Its diameter is two-inch and its length is about 23 inches. Newspaper pages (for example, “Wall 5treet
Journal" page 1) is approximately 15 inches wide (including the edges) and 22.5 inches long. The gap 385 between the edges of the latter is only about 75 grams or 2.5 ounces, thus Can be started and stopped quickly.The gate array has 256 gates and approximately 1,200 gates per inch.
Book line resolution is selected.

The carriage 246 is driven by a servo motor having a drive mechanism of the type disclosed in the corresponding application in a start-stop mode to provide precise positioning for successive bands of characters and graphics on the drum. The carriage 246 requires approximately 30 to 50 milliseconds (including decision time) to move from one swath forming position to the next.

The drum 380 has a speed of 3.5 revolutions per second (21OR
, P, H), the gap 385 provides approximately 90 milliseconds of time during which the carriage can change its position, thereby allowing sufficient time for displacement.

This structure consists of 600 newspaper lines of 8 points, 1 per minute.
It has the ability to typeset 1 bika of text or 300 characters per second. Everyone in the newspaper can typeset in less than a minute.

The optical device is capable of handling extremely long distances, such as a drum length of 23 inches, since the carrier moves in converging the collimated light beam created in the manner described in the corresponding application. It is.

The optics are set so that the beam converges at a point approximately halfway between the ends of the drum. This makes blurring and large moving distances practical or eliminates other problems.

The lightweight nature of the carriage 246 allows the typesetting machine to operate at such high speeds. Moreover, due to the high resolution provided by the machine, it is possible to recreate photographs and graphics using the same strokes that were used to typeset the text.

In other embodiments, the drum diameter is increased to 14 inches;
The drum speed is 1.75R,P,S (105R,P,
H). Therefore, it is possible to typeset twice as many pages in one pass of the conveyor table.

Twice as many pages are folded back to form two pages of the newspaper. When printed on both sides, it forms a four-page newspaper.

Printing plate 289 attached to drum 380 can be a zinc oxide coated plate or a photographic graphic film or paper used to make metal printing plates.

It is clear from the foregoing that the continuously rotating drum configuration of the present invention has various advantages. By using a lightweight transport 246 for swath spacing, the need to move larger films or drums is avoided, thus allowing stop-start operation without significant reduction in typesetting speed. Moreover, this is accomplished using relatively low drum speeds, thus avoiding high speed balancing and other problems. In fact, due to electrical circuit limitations, the drum speed can be significantly increased, thus further increasing the typesetting speed.

All embodiments of the invention allow rapid changes in fonts. For example, four or more fonts may be stored in RAM at one time, and twenty or more on floppy disk.

200 or more are stored on a 10 megabyte Winchester disk. Each font contains up to 256 characters and/or signals.

In the alternative embodiment shown in Figures 18-3 and 19', the character image created by the parallel horizontal "ribbon" of light rays is compared to the optical rotation of Figure 18-1. Rotated 90 degrees by electronic technology of formation. The length of drum 380 is the width of the page and the outer edge of the drum, which in this example is the length of the page, plus the "dead" zone 385 of FIG.
represents.

Each annular band created by the wide brush during one revolution of the drum contains characters belonging to a different line of text.

Continuous rotation of the drum is used to space the letters according to their height, as well as to write the text between the lines.

However, as in the previous embodiment of Figure 18-1, the carriage traverses the drum length only once per page.

As previously mentioned, the movement of the carriage may be continuous or stepwise, with each step generally equal to the width of a swath or broad brush.

Another embodiment of the invention is that it is possible to reduce the drum length (at the expense of its diameter) and thus reduce the total moving bed of the carriage, but with an electric storage mother and At the expense of manipulation.

In the foregoing, the word "film" includes any photoreceptor, such as silver halide paper or film, zinc oxide paper or board, selenium-coated materials, and the like. “scan line”
is 0.0251R1R to 0.050R - 0,001
A very thin line, from 0.002 inch to 0.002 inch, is meant that scans across the film from one edge to the other, or across the beginning of a column of text or a graphic from one edge to the other. ``Text line'' means a line of text, usually consisting of alphanumeric characters. ``Multiple scan lines'' means a line of text, usually consisting of alphanumeric characters. Concerning a large number of individual scan lines that are fired at approximately the same time and traverse the film in a single scan. Depending on the number of individual scan lines, the scan can also be a "narrow brush" or a "wide brush."

The word "beam" means a bundle of light rays.

In all embodiments of the invention, the film and carrier 2
46 is moved at the start of typesetting, and the movements occur simultaneously. This is accomplished through the use of a servo motor and control circuitry that continuously compares the two positions during typesetting and makes appropriate corrections to the position of the carriage.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial schematic diagram of an output unit of a phototypesetting apparatus according to the present invention; FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the gradual formation of a graphic portion created by a number of adjacent rask lines; 3 shows the fist formation of a known single scan line photographic graphics printer; FIG. 4 shows two lines of text illuminated on a stationary photosensitive means; and FIG. 5 shows a continuously rotating printer. Figure 6 shows three successive "broad brush" scans created by continuously moving the photoreceptor from a polygonal mirror without compensating its movement; A view similar to FIG. 5 except for the scan launched from the carrier, FIG. 7 showing the scan of FIG. 6 using the compensator according to the invention, and FIG. 8 with the launcher moved continuously. A diagram showing three separation lines of characters obtained by continuously moving the photoconductor, FIG. 8A is a diagram showing another correction device, and FIG. 9 is for scanning the width by continuously moving the photoconductor. FIG. 10 is a partially cutaway view of the laser adjuster, FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of the adjustment electrode of the adjuster in FIG. 10, and FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the displacement graph of the firing unit used in FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating the operation of an optical micrometer used in another embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram illustrating another feature of the invention; FIG. 15 is another embodiment of the invention that compensates for continuous transport and movement of the film from one photosensitive surface to another. FIG. 16 is a block diagram of the electrical operation device of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 17 is a portion of the diffraction grating used to detect the position of the image position carrier in the preferred embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 18-1゜18-2. Fig. 18-3 shows a book in which the photosensitive surface is located on the drum and the optical device is moved continuously across the length of the drum only once for multi-page typesetting. Schematic perspective view of another embodiment of the invention, Figures 19.19-1.9d and 20-1.20-2.20-3.
2.18-3 is a schematic diagram showing the method of forming an image or line in the embodiment of FIG. 18-1.18-2.18-3, and FIG. Schematic diagram shown, second
2 and 23 are schematic diagrams of compensating devices of previous embodiments of the invention. 20...Film, 52...Light source, 159...Gap, 160-162...Scanning area, 178.180
...Cassette, 182.183...Roller, 184.
... Film, 185 ... Plate, 186 ... Generator, 187.188 ... Phototypesetting member, 190 ... Diffraction grating, 192 ... Drum, 193 ... Motor, 1
95...Aperture plate, 200.201...Electrode,
213.222, 223, 236, 239°244.2
85,316,320,323°326.327...
Mirror, 214...Encoder, 216.218...
・Light gate, 224,226°232.234,238
, 242, 262...lens, 228...adjuster,
230...Polarizer, 237...Optical micrometer, 246...Transportation platform, 248...Rail, 250...
... Drum, 288 ... Substrate, 301 ... Shift register, 310 ... Laser source, 321 ... Motor, 322 ... Focusing device, 324° 325 ... Detector, 344 ... - Film feeding mechanism, 380... drum, 381... encoder. Engraving of drawings (no change in content) FIG 3 FIG mu FIG 7 FIG BA FIG 9 ＼j FIG +3 FIG 16 FIG 17 FIo 21 FIG 23 Procedural amendment intermediary type) % type %) 1. Indication of case 1986 patent Application No. 37149 2. Name of the invention: Phototypesetting method and device 36 Relationship with the Uramasa case Patent applicant Lewis, M., Moirud (and 1 other person) 4. Agent (zip code 100) Showa 61 March 31, 2018 (Shipping date: April 22, 1986) 6. Power of attorney subject to amendment, Drawing 7, Contents of amendment (1) As attached.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A drum having a photosensitive surface rotatable about its longitudinal axis, a drive device for rotating the drum about the axis, a laser beam source, and an outer periphery of the drum. an adjusting device for adjusting the laser beam source to form a graphic image on the surface in a band extending into the drum; and adjusting the adjusted laser beam to a desired longitudinal position along the drum. a carriage movable in the longitudinal direction of the drum for directing the laser beam, and a carriage drive for moving the carriage parallel to the drum for positioning the strips relative to each other on the surface. A phototypesetting device characterized by: 2. continuously rotating a drum having a photosensitive surface; providing a laser beam source and a movable carrier for irradiating said surface with a laser beam; and said steps for forming a graphic image on said surface. A method of photosetting comprising the steps of adjusting the laser beam to a strip extending around the drum circumference and moving the carrier parallel to the drum to position the strips relative to each other on the surface. 3. an apparatus for forming a laser brush movable relative to a photographic photosensitive surface for forming an image on the photosensitive surface, and an array of images produced by a single pass of said brush over said surface; , to create continuous relative movement between the laser brush forming device and the photosensitive surface to space it from an array of images created by another pass of the brush over the surface. and a correction device for correcting image distortion on the surface caused by continuous and simultaneous movement of the brush and the surface relative to each other. 4. A light shutter unit consisting of forming a thin and elongated light beam, directing said beam through an input polarizer, and individually controllable elementary areas located on a common basis with adjacent columns; irradiating said light beam onto an output polarizing filter unit; selectively blocking passage of light through said unit by selective activation of said adjacent elemental areas; and emerging unaffected light rays. directing a focused beam of light from the aiming optic to a second imaging optic to produce an image of the column; and directing a focused beam of light from the aiming optic to a second imaging optic to produce an image of the column; a second optical beam at a substantially constant speed along a linear path in a direction perpendicular to the illuminated linear area of said foundation and parallel to the photosensitive surface, as caused by being scanned across its width; continuously moving the device; continuously moving the photosensitive surface at a substantially constant speed in a direction perpendicular to the path; and synchronizing the image with the surface to compensate for the continuous movement. repositioning the images of the column illuminated on the photosensitive surface such that the images of the column are moved vertically in a state such that movement of the optical device causes successive adjacent images of the column to be moved vertically on the surface. A phototypesetting method for writing down information on a photoreceptor, characterized by a vertical straight line along a path perpendicular to the edges.