Patent
Optical writing control device, image forming apparatus, and method of controlling optical writing device
| العنوان: | Optical writing control device, image forming apparatus, and method of controlling optical writing device |
|---|---|
| Patent Number: | 9,618,875 |
| تاريخ النشر: | April 11, 2017 |
| Appl. No: | 14/856216 |
| Application Filed: | September 16, 2015 |
| مستخلص: | An optical writing control device and method are provided, for controlling light emission of a plurality of light sources to form an electrostatic latent image on a photosensitive element, the light sources including a plurality of light emitting elements disposed in a line and classified into a plurality of groups, including frequency converter circuitry configured to acquire image information to be formed as the electrostatic latent image; and a light source controller configured to control the plurality of light sources based on pixel information generated from the acquired image information, wherein the light source controller is further configured to control the light emission of the plurality of light sources by classifying the light emitting elements into the plurality of groups, and shifting a timing of light emission from one group of the plurality of groups to a next group of the plurality of groups, and determine a common illuminating period for the light emitting elements of at least one light source of the plurality of light sources based on the shifted timing of light emission among the plurality of groups. |
| Inventors: | Yamaguchi, Akinori (Ikeda, JP); Hayashi, Masayuki (Toyonaka, JP); Kawanabe, Motohiro (Osaka, JP); Shirasaki, Yoshinori (Toyonaka, JP); Kohri, Yuusuke (Ikeda, JP); Murakami, Masatoshi (Ikeda, JP) |
| Assignees: | RICOH COMPANY, LTD. (Tokyo, JP) |
| Claim: | 1. An optical writing control device that controls light emission of a plurality of exposure heads to form an electrostatic latent image on multiple photosensitive elements, each of the exposure heads including a plurality of light emitting elements disposed in a line and classified into a plurality of groups, comprising: frequency converter circuitry configured to acquire image information to be formed as the electrostatic latent image; and a head controller configured to control the plurality of exposure heads based on pixel information generated from the acquired image information, wherein the head controller is further configured to: control the light emission of the plurality of exposure heads by: classifying the light emitting elements into the plurality of groups, and shifting a timing of light emission from one group of the plurality of groups to a next group of the plurality of groups, and determine a common illuminating period for the light emitting elements of the plurality of exposure heads based on the shifted timing of light emission among the plurality of groups. |
| Claim: | 2. The optical writing control device according to claim 1 , wherein the head controller includes a determination circuit configured to: determine the common illuminating period by acquiring each illuminating period for the light emitting elements of the exposure heads, and determine the common illuminating period as a longest illuminating period value acquired among minimum illuminating period values acquired for said each illuminating period. |
| Claim: | 3. The optical writing control device according to claim 2 , wherein the plurality of exposure heads correspond to a main scanning line. |
| Claim: | 4. The optical writing control device according to claim 3 , wherein the plurality of exposure heads are configured to form a full-color image. |
| Claim: | 5. An optical writing control method for controlling light emission of a plurality of exposure heads to form an electrostatic latent image on multiple photosensitive elements, each of the exposure heads including a plurality of light emitting elements disposed in a main scanning line and classified into a plurality of groups, the method comprising: acquiring, using frequency converter circuitry, image information to be formed as the electrostatic latent image; and controlling the plurality of exposure heads based on pixel information generated from the acquired image information, by controlling the light emitting elements in every group of the plurality of groups in turn, thereby exposing the multiple photosensitive elements in a sub-scanning line of the main scanning line, and by determining a common illuminating period for the light emitting elements of the plurality of exposure heads based on a shifted timing of light emission among the plurality of groups. |
| Claim: | 6. The optical writing control method according to claim 5 , wherein the determining further comprises: determining the common illuminating period by acquiring each illuminating period for the light emitting elements of the exposure heads, and determining the common illuminating period as a longest illuminating period value acquired among minimum illuminating period values acquired for said each illuminating period. |
| Claim: | 7. The optical writing control method according to claim 5 , wherein the plurality of exposure heads correspond to the main scanning line. |
| Claim: | 8. The optical writing control method according to claim 5 , further comprising forming a full-color image from the plurality of exposure heads illuminated during the common illuminating period. |
| Patent References Cited: | 7999837 August 2011 Tsujino 9104127 August 2015 Yamaguchi et al. 2007/0210997 September 2007 Kasai 2011/0064431 March 2011 Kohri et al. 2011/0228438 September 2011 Kohri et al. 2011/0292418 December 2011 Hashimoto 2012/0057889 March 2012 Yamaguchi et al. 2013/0063130 March 2013 Kohri 2013/0242318 September 2013 Yamaguchi et al. 2014/0035367 February 2014 Kohri 2014/0139607 May 2014 Hayashi 2015/0125167 May 2015 Yamaguchi et al. 9-174937 July 1997 11-58814 March 1999 2009-113204 May 2009 2010-173226 August 2010 2013-109295 June 2013 |
| Assistant Examiner: | Giampaolo, II, Thomas |
| Primary Examiner: | Gray, David |
| Attorney, Agent or Firm: | Oblon, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt, L.L.P. |
| رقم الانضمام: | edspgr.09618875 |
| قاعدة البيانات: | USPTO Patent Grants |
| الوصف غير متاح. |