Patent
Single polygon scanner for multiple laser printer
| العنوان: | Single polygon scanner for multiple laser printer |
|---|---|
| Patent Number: | 6,307,584 |
| تاريخ النشر: | October 23, 2001 |
| Appl. No: | 09/377,893 |
| Application Filed: | August 19, 1999 |
| مستخلص: | A color laser printer includes a photoconductor section having photoconductive material configured to be exposed to receive a plurality of color toners in a selective manner representative of a color image to be printed. The printer further includes a scanning section having a plurality of lasers, preferably four lasers, each of the lasers being configured to generate pulsed beams of laser energy to be directed to the photoconductor section to selectively expose the photoconductive material. The scanning section also includes a single, rotating, polygonal-sided mirror having at least four reflective facets corresponding to selected sides of the polygon. The polygonal-sided mirror is positioned relative to the lasers and the photoconductor section such that the pulsed beams of laser energy from each of the lasers are reflected by the reflective facets of the polygonal-sided mirror to a predetermined lineal position on the photoconductive material. Each predetermined lineal position is associated with a selected laser. As the polygonal-sided mirror rotates, the reflective facets are moved along a curved path to cause the beams of laser energy from each laser to be variably reflected from the reflective facets and thereby move along their corresponding predetermined lineal positions to selectively expose lines on the photoconductive material. Preferably, the scanning section, including the lasers, rotating mirror, and any accompanying optical elements, are contained in a single housing for securing the components of the scanning section in fixed, relative position to one another and to the photoconductor section. |
| Inventors: | Hirst, B. Mark (Boise, ID); Christensen, K. Trent (Boise, ID) |
| Assignees: | Hewlett-Packard Company (Palo Alto, CA) |
| Claim: | We claim |
| Claim: | 1. An inline color laser printer, comprising |
| Claim: | a photoconductor section comprising photoconductive material configured to be exposed to receive at least three distinct color toners in a selective manner representative of a color image to be printed; and |
| Claim: | a scanning section comprising |
| Claim: | at least three lasers, each said laser configured to generate pulsed beams of laser energy to be directed to the photoconductor section to selectively expose the photoconductive material; and |
| Claim: | a single rotatable, polygonal-sided mirror having a plurality of discrete reflective facets corresponding to selected sides of the polygon, the polygonal-sided mirror being positioned relative to the at least three lasers and the photoconductor section such that the pulsed beams of laser energy from each said laser are reflected by an associated one of the discrete reflective facets of the polygonal-sided mirror to a predetermined relative lineal position on the photoconductive material, each predetermined relative lineal position being associated with a selected laser, and further such that as the polygonal-sided mirror rotates, the reflective facets are moved along a curved path to cause the beams of laser energy from each said laser to be variably reflected from the reflective facets and thereby move along their corresponding predetermined relative lineal positions on the photoconductive material to thereby selectively expose lines on the photoconductive material. |
| Claim: | 2. The color laser printer of claim 1 further comprising an optical focusing element positioned and configured to focus beams of laser energy generated by selected ones of the lasers onto the photoconductive material. |
| Claim: | 3. The color laser printer of claim 1 further comprising an optical alignment element positioned and configured to align beams of laser energy generated by selected ones of the lasers and reflected by the reflective facets of the polygonal-sided mirror to the predetermined relative lineal positions associated with the selected ones of the lasers. |
| Claim: | 4. The color laser printer of claim 1 wherein each said laser is positioned relative to the rotatable polygonal-sided mirror and to each other laser such that laser beams from each laser do not intersect one another. |
| Claim: | 5. The color laser printer of claim 1 wherein the lasers and the rotatable polygonal-sided mirror are mounted in a single housing. |
| Claim: | 6. The color laser printer of claim 5 wherein the single housing comprises a precision casting. |
| Claim: | 7. The color laser printer of claim 1, and wherein each said pulsed beam of laser energy defines a respective focal length for each said laser between the laser and the photoconductive material, and further wherein the focal length of each laser is approximately equal in distance. |
| Claim: | 8. The color laser printer of claim 7 further comprising a plurality of deflecting mirrors positioned and configured to direct the laser beams reflected from the reflective facets to the predetermined relative lineal positions on the photoconductive material, and to produce the approximately equidistant focal lengths. |
| Claim: | 9. The color laser printer of claim 8 further comprising |
| Claim: | an optical focusing element positioned and configured to focus beams of laser energy generated by selected ones of the lasers onto the photoconductive material; |
| Claim: | an optical alignment element positioned and configured to align beams of laser energy generated by selected ones of the lasers and reflected by the reflective facets of the polygonal-sided mirror to the predetermined lineal positions associated with the selected ones of the lasers; and |
| Claim: | a single housing for securing the lasers, the rotatable polygon-sided mirror, the optical focusing element, the optical alignment element, and the deflecting mirrors in fixed, relative position to one another and to the photoconductor section. |
| Claim: | 10. The color laser printer of claim 1 wherein the photoconductor section comprises |
| Claim: | a continuous rotatable belt supporting the photoconductive material; and |
| Claim: | a plurality of developing stations, each developing station being fixedly positioned proximate to the rotatable belt and adjacent to a corresponding one of the predetermined relative lineal positions on the photoconductive material associated with the selected ones of the lasers, each developing station being configured to selectively attract color toner to the selectively exposed lines on the photoconductive material at the adjacent corresponding predetermined relative lineal position. |
| Claim: | 11. The color laser printer of claim 1 wherein the photoconductor section comprises |
| Claim: | a continuous, rotatable transfer belt; |
| Claim: | a plurality of expose-develop stations, each expose-develop station comprising a rotatable drum supporting a portion of the photoconductive material, each expose-develop station being fixedly positioned proximate to the transfer belt at positions corresponding to the predetermined relative lineal positions on the photoconductive material associated with the selected ones of the lasers, each expose-develop station being configured to selectively attract color toner to the selectively exposed lines on the photoconductive material at the corresponding predetermined relative lineal position and subsequently transfer the selectively attracted color toner to the transfer belt. |
| Claim: | 12. The color laser printer of claim 1 wherein the photoconductor section comprises |
| Claim: | a continuous rotatable drum supporting the photoconductive material; and |
| Claim: | a plurality of developing stations, each developing station being fixedly positioned proximate to the rotatable drum and adjacent to a corresponding one of the predetermined relative lineal positions on the photoconductive material associated with the selected ones of the lasers, each developing station being configured to selectively attract color toner to the selectively exposed lines on the photoconductive material at the adjacent corresponding predetermined relative lineal position. |
| Claim: | 13. The color laser printer of claim 12 further comprising a housing for securing the plurality of lasers and the rotatable, polygonal-sided in fixed relative position to one another and to the photoconductor section, the housing being contoured to be positioned in close proximity to the plurality of developer stations. |
| Claim: | 14. A color laser printer, comprising |
| Claim: | a photoconductor section comprising photoconductive material configured to be exposed to receive a plurality of color toners in a selective manner representative of a color image to be printed; and |
| Claim: | a plurality of lasers, each said laser configured to generate pulsed beams of laser energy to be directed to the photoconductor section to selectively expose the photoconductive material; and |
| Claim: | a rotatable, polygonal-sided mirror having a plurality of reflective facets corresponding to selected sides of the polygon, the polygonal-sided mirror being positioned relative to the plurality of lasers and the photoconductor section such that the pulsed beams of laser energy from each said laser are reflected by the reflective facets of the polygonal-sided mirror to a predetermined relative lineal position on the photoconductive material, each predetermined relative lineal position being associated with a selected laser, and further such that as the polygonal-sided mirror rotates, the reflective facets are moved along a curved path to cause the beams of laser energy from each said laser to be variably reflected from the reflective facets and thereby move along their corresponding predetermined relative lineal positions on the photoconductive material to thereby selectively expose lines on the photoconductive material; and |
| Claim: | wherein a first laser is positioned with respect to the rotatable polygon-sided mirror and the photoconductor section such that a beam of laser energy from the first laser is in optical contact with one of the reflective facets throughout a predetermined angle of rotation of the rotatable polygon-sided mirror, and that during the first half of the rotation through the predetermined angle of rotation, the beam of laser energy is reflected by the reflective facet to a first predetermined relative lineal position on the photoconductive material, and during the second half of the rotation through the predetermined angle of rotation, the beam of laser energy is reflected to a second predetermined relative lineal position on the photoconductive material. |
| Claim: | 15. A method for scanning a composite color image onto photoconductive material, comprising |
| Claim: | providing photoconductive material configured to be selectively configured with electrical charges to attract a plurality of color toners; |
| Claim: | providing at least a first, a second, and a third laser, each laser configured to generate a pulsed laser beam to selectively configure the photoconductive material with electrical charges; |
| Claim: | providing a single rotatable, polygonal-sided mirror having a plurality of reflective facets corresponding to selected sides of the polygon; |
| Claim: | generating a first pulsed laser beam with the first laser, a second pulsed laser beam with the second laser, and a third pulsed laser beam with the third laser; |
| Claim: | directing the first pulsed laser beam to a first reflective facet of the polygonal-sided mirror to cause the first pulsed laser beam to be reflected to a first predetermined relative lineal position on the photoconductive material; |
| Claim: | directing the second pulsed laser beam to a second reflective facet of the polygonal-sided mirror to cause the second pulsed laser beam to be reflected to a second predetermined relative lineal position on the photoconductive material; |
| Claim: | directing the third pulsed laser beam to a third reflective facet of the polygonal-sided mirror to cause the third pulsed laser beam to be reflected to a third predetermined relative lineal position on the photoconductive material; and |
| Claim: | rotating the polygonal-sided mirror to cause the first, the second, and the third pulsed laser beams to move across the photoconductive material along their respective first, second and third predetermined relative lineal positions on the photoconductive material and thereby selectively configure the photoconductive material along the respective relative lineal positions with electrical charges to thereby expose the photoconductive material to attract respective first, second and third color toners as part of the composite color image. |
| Claim: | 16. The method of claim 15, and further comprising |
| Claim: | advancing the photoconductive material with respect to the respective first and second predetermined relative lineal positions; |
| Claim: | generating subsequent pulsed laser beams with the first, second and third lasers; |
| Claim: | directing the subsequent pulsed laser beams to discrete reflective facets of the polygonal-sided mirror to cause subsequent pulsed laser beams to be reflected to discrete lineal positions on the photoconductive material; and |
| Claim: | rotating the polygonal-sided mirror to cause the subsequent pulsed laser beams to move across the photoconductive material along their respective discrete lineal positions on the photoconductive material and thereby selectively configure the photoconductive material along the respective discrete lineal positions with electrical charges to thereby expose the photoconductive material to attract respective first, second and third color toners as part of the composite color image. |
| Claim: | 17. The method of claim 15, and further comprising |
| Claim: | providing a fourth laser configured to generate a pulsed laser beam to selectively configure the photoconductive material with electrical charges; |
| Claim: | generating a fourth pulsed laser beam with the fourth laser; |
| Claim: | directing the fourth pulsed laser beam to a fourth reflective facet of the polygonal-sided mirror to cause the fourth pulsed laser beam to be reflected to a fourth predetermined relative lineal position on the photoconductive material; and |
| Claim: | wherein the rotating of the polygonal-sided mirror causes the fourth pulsed laser beam to move across the photoconductive material along its respective fourth predetermined relative lineal position on the photoconductive material and thereby selectively configure the photoconductive material along the respective relative lineal position with electrical charges to thereby expose the photoconductive material to attract a fourth color toner as part of the composite color image. |
| Claim: | 18. The method of claim 15 further comprising focusing the laser beams prior to directing them to the photoconductive material. |
| Claim: | 19. A color laser printer, comprising |
| Claim: | a plurality of lasers, each said laser configured to generate pulsed beams of laser energy to be directed to the photoconductor section to selectively expose the photoconductive material; |
| Claim: | a rotatable, essentially flat reflective surface mounted at an angle to, and configured to intercept, the pulsed beams of laser energy from the plurality of lasers, the rotatable mirror being rotatable about an axis parallel to the pulsed beams of laser energy such that beams of laser energy from the lasers are in optical contact with the reflective surface as the flat surface is rotated, and that during the first half of a rotation the beams of laser energy from the lasers are reflected by the reflective surface to an equal number of first predetermined relative lineal positions on the photoconductive material to thereby expose the photoconductor to receive at least first and second color toners as part of a composite color image, and during the second half of the rotation, the beams of laser energy are reflected an equal number of second predetermined relative lineal position on the photoconductive material to thereby expose the photoconductor to receive at least third and fourth color toners as part of the composite color image. |
| Claim: | 20. The printer of claim 19 further comprising a first and a second optical alignment element, the first optical alignment element being positioned and configured to align beams of laser energy during the first half of a rotation of the flat, reflective surface, and the second optical alignment element being positioned and configured to align beams of laser energy during the second half of a rotation of the flat, reflective surface. |
| Claim: | 21. A scanning section for exposing photoconductive material in an inline color laser printer, comprising |
| Claim: | at least three lasers, each said laser configured to generate pulsed beams of laser energy to be directed to the photoconductive material to selectively expose the photoconductive material, each said laser associated with a distinct color of toner to be applied to the photoconductive material; and |
| Claim: | a single rotatable, polygonal-sided mirror having a plurality of discrete reflective facets corresponding to selected sides of the polygon, the polygonal sided mirror being positioned relative to the at least three lasers and the photoconductive material such that as the polygonal-sided mirror is rotated, the pulsed beams of laser energy from each said laser are reflected by an associated one of the discrete reflective facets of the polygonal-sided mirror and thereby caused to scan across the photoconductive material and thereby selectively expose lines on the photoconductive material. |
| Current U.S. Class: | 347/243; 347/259 |
| Current International Class: | B41J 2700 |
| Patent References Cited: | 5018805 May 1991 Kessler 5218413 June 1993 Kanai 5251055 October 1993 Koide 5291223 March 1994 Ogane et al. 5497252 March 1996 Ben-David 5627579 May 1997 Fisli 5739940 April 1998 Kondo 5861904 January 1999 Kamir et al. 6046835 April 2000 Yamakawi et al. |
| Primary Examiner: | Le, N. |
| Assistant Examiner: | Pham, Hai C. |
| رقم الانضمام: | edspgr.06307584 |
| قاعدة البيانات: | USPTO Patent Grants |
| الوصف غير متاح. |