JP2006051724A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus capable of transmitting image data at a high speed from an image processing board through a transmission means even to an exposure head for two-dimensionally scanning over a wide range having a size of 40 cm×40 cm or more. <P>SOLUTION: This image forming apparatus comprises the image processing board for applying predetermined image processing to image data, the exposure head which is constituted to be separated from the image processing board and performs multi-channel exposure on a surface of a recording medium according to the image data transmitted from the image processing board, and a transmission means for transmitting the image data in parallel from the image processing board to the exposure head. The transmission means has a plurality of optical transmitters that convert an electric signal of each bit data of the image data to an optical signal thereof to transmit it in a parallel light and a plurality of optical receivers that receive an optical signal of each of the bit data to convert the optical signal to an electric signal. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that forms an image on the surface of a recording medium by performing two-dimensional multi-channel scanning exposure on the recording medium.

Hereinafter, an image forming apparatus that forms an image on the surface of a printing plate (press plate) will be described as an example.
FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a conventional image forming apparatus, and FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating a connection state between an image processing substrate and an exposure head.

  The image forming apparatus 80 shown in these drawings forms an image on the surface of the printing plate 20 by two-dimensionally performing multi-channel scanning exposure on the printing plate 20 and serves as a mounting table for the printing plate 20. A flat base 12, an image processing substrate 14 (not shown in FIG. 6; see FIG. 7), an exposure head 16, and an image data transfer means 18 (omitted in FIG. 6 and see FIG. 7) are provided. . In these drawings, the moving means for moving the exposure head 16 so that the exposure head 16 scans the printing plate 20 is omitted.

  When the image forming apparatus 80 forms an image on the surface of the printing plate 20, the sheet-like printing plate 20 is placed and fixed at a predetermined position on the base 12.

  Subsequently, the image processing module 22 of the image processing board 14 reads out the image data stored in the memory 46 and performs predetermined image processing.

  The image data after the image processing is transferred to the exposure head 16 via the transfer means 18. That is, each bit data of the image data is transmitted as a differential signal by each of the plurality of differential drivers 82 provided inside the image processing board 14. Then, the light is received by each of a plurality of differential receivers 84 provided inside the exposure head 16 through each of a plurality of conductors 86 covered with shield wires of ground potential.

  In the exposure head 16, illumination light guided from a light source (not shown) by the optical fiber 30 is illuminated spatially and uniformly on the multi-channel spatial modulation element 26 through the lens 32. The spatial modulation element 26 is driven by the driver 24 according to the image data received from the image processing board 14 to turn on / off each channel, and the reflected light reflected by the channel in the on state passes through the lens 34 and is recorded light. The surface of the printing plate 20 that is the exposure surface is irradiated and exposed.

  Accordingly, as described above, the exposure head 16 repeatedly performs multi-channel exposure while moving the exposure head 16 so that the exposure head 16 scans the printing plate 20 two-dimensionally by the moving means. Thus, a desired image can be formed on the entire surface of the printing plate 20.

  Here, in the image forming apparatus 80, the size of the printing plate 20 is relatively large, for example, about 1 m × 1 m, and the exposure head 16 is moved so as to scan the printing plate 20 two-dimensionally. Since it is advantageous to separate the exposure head 16 in order to scan the printing plate 20 at a high speed, the image processing substrate 14 and the exposure head 16 are configured to be separated, and the image data is processed as described above. The light is transferred from the substrate 14 to the exposure head 16 through the transfer means 18.

  By the way, for high-speed recording, it is necessary to shorten the pixel recording time, and it is necessary to increase the transfer rate of image data. In addition, when the size of the recording medium increases, it is necessary to lengthen the transfer path connecting the image processing substrate 14 and the exposure head 16, and it becomes difficult to ensure the radiation / immunity characteristics in image data transfer. On the other hand, when a high-speed signal is transferred over a long distance, a differential signal such as LVDS (Low Voltage Differential Signal) is generally used.

  However, since the shield wire is hard and poor in flexibility, even if it is not suitable for the movement of the exposure head 16 for two-dimensional scanning exposure or can be used temporarily, the mesh wire provided in the shield wire is immediately This causes a problem that the shielding effect is reduced.

  On the other hand, using a type of electric wire called a robot cable can ensure durability against bending, but it is not suitable for high-speed signal transfer because it has no shielding effect and generally does not guarantee characteristic impedance. .

  In addition, by using a flexible substrate as a transmission line for image data, it is excellent in flexibility and characteristic impedance can be suppressed to a certain range. However, since the maximum size of the flexible substrate that can be manufactured is generally as small as about 40 cm × 40 cm, the exposure head that scans a range of about 1 m × 1 m as in the case of a printing plate image forming apparatus is 1 Data cannot be transferred with a flexible board of books.

  On the other hand, it is also conceivable to form a transmission line by connecting a plurality of flexible substrates. However, impedance mismatching at the connector connecting the substrates becomes a problem, and it is not suitable for high-speed signal transfer.

  Examples of conventional techniques related to the image forming apparatus of the present invention include Patent Documents 1 and 2. In each of Patent Documents 1 and 2, a recording medium is two-dimensionally scanned and exposed with a laser beam. As disclosed in these Patent Documents 1 and 2, in the conventional image forming apparatus, the portion corresponding to the image processing substrate 14 and the exposure head 16 is generally connected by a conducting wire.

  Patent Documents 3 to 5 disclose that image data is transferred using an optical transfer technique. However, each of Patent Documents 3 to 5 relates to a technique for transferring image data to a remote location via a network or the like, and is an image obtained by two-dimensionally scanning exposure on a recording medium targeted by the present invention. In the image forming apparatus that forms the image data, the image data is not optically transferred from the image processing substrate to the exposure head.

JP 2002-268309 A JP 2002-311513 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-163587 JP 2003-215761 A JP 2004-40268 A

  The object of the present invention is to solve the problems based on the above prior art, and to perform image data at high speed even for an exposure head that two-dimensionally scans a wide area of 40 cm × 40 cm or more from the image processing substrate through the transfer means. Is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of transferring the image.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an image forming apparatus for forming an image on the surface of a recording medium by two-dimensionally performing multi-channel scanning exposure on the recording medium,
The flat base serving as a mounting base for the recording medium, an image processing board for performing predetermined image processing on image data composed of a plurality of bit data, and the image processing board are configured separately, and the image processing An exposure head that performs multi-channel exposure on the surface of the recording medium placed on the base in accordance with image data transferred from the substrate, and the exposure head scans the recording medium two-dimensionally. Moving means for moving the exposure head, and transfer means for transferring the image data from the image processing substrate to the exposure head in parallel.
The transfer means receives a plurality of optical transmitters that convert each bit data of the image data from an electric signal to an optical signal and transmits the parallel light, and an optical signal of each bit data of the image data. An image forming apparatus comprising: a plurality of optical receivers that convert the optical signal into an electrical signal.

The present invention is also an image forming apparatus for forming an image on the surface of the recording medium by two-dimensionally scanning exposure on the recording medium in a two-dimensional manner.
The flat base serving as a mounting base for the recording medium, an image processing board for performing predetermined image processing on image data composed of a plurality of bit data, and the image processing board are configured separately, and the image processing An exposure head that performs multi-channel exposure on the surface of the recording medium placed on the base in accordance with image data transferred from the substrate, and the exposure head scans the recording medium two-dimensionally. Moving means for moving the exposure head, and transfer means for serially transferring the image data from the image processing substrate to the exposure head,
The image processing board comprises means for converting the image data to be transmitted to the exposure head from parallel data to serial data,
The exposure head comprises means for converting the image data received from the image processing substrate from serial data to parallel data;
The transfer means receives one optical transmitter that converts image data converted into serial data from an electrical signal into an optical signal and transmits the parallel signal, and an optical signal of the image data converted into the serial data. And an optical receiver that converts the optical signal into an electrical signal.

Here, the image processing board includes means for converting the image data to be transmitted to the exposure head from parallel data to a plurality of sets of serial data,
The exposure head comprises means for converting the image data received from the image processing substrate from a plurality of sets of serial data to parallel data;
The transfer unit preferably includes a plurality of sets of the optical transmitter and the optical receiver corresponding to each of the plurality of sets of serial data.

  Preferably, the image processing board includes means for compressing image data to be transmitted to the exposure head, and the exposure head includes means for expanding image data received from the image processing board. As a result, it is possible to realize a configuration in which the cost is minimized according to the device specifications.

  The exposure head includes a buffer memory for storing image data received from the image processing substrate, and the image data is transferred from the image processing substrate to the exposure head during a period when the exposure head is not exposing the recording medium. Is preferably transferred and stored in the buffer memory.

  The exposure head preferably includes a micro mirror array as a spatial modulation element for performing multichannel exposure on the surface of the recording medium.

  In addition, it is preferable that the transfer unit includes at least one mirror that reflects the optical signal and changes a traveling direction between the optical transmitter and the optical receiver.

  The optical receiver includes a corner cube that reflects the optical signal in an incident direction of the optical signal, and receives the optical signal reflected by the corner cube and converts the optical signal into an electrical signal. preferable.

  The distance between the image processing substrate and the exposure head is preferably 40 cm or more during exposure of the recording medium by the exposure head.

  The printing plate is preferably exposed as the recording medium.

  According to the present invention, since the image data is optically transferred, even if the distance between the image processing substrate and the exposure head becomes long or the image data is transferred at high speed, the image data to be transferred It is relatively easy to ensure radiation / immunity characteristics. In addition, since no optical fiber is used, there is no need to worry about routing, and there is an effect that the load of moving the exposure head is reduced.

  Also, by converting image data to serial data and transferring it, it is only necessary to provide one optical transmitter and one optical receiver, so that the configuration of the transfer means can be simplified and the cost can be reduced. Can do. Further, by compressing and transferring the image data, the data amount of the image data can be reduced and the transfer rate can be kept low.

  Further, during the period when the exposure head is not exposing the recording medium, the exposure head exposes the image processing substrate by transferring the image data to be used in the next exposure, for example, in advance and storing it in the buffer memory. The transfer rate of image data inside can be kept low. Further, by using the corner cube, the influence of the tilt of the exposure head can be suppressed.

  Hereinafter, an image forming apparatus of the present invention will be described in detail based on preferred embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.

Here, an example of an image forming apparatus that forms an image on the surface of a printing plate will be described in order to facilitate comparison with the conventional image forming apparatus 80 shown in FIGS. 6 and 7.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an overall configuration of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an embodiment of a connection state between an image processing substrate and an exposure head in the image forming apparatus illustrated in FIG. It is.

  An image forming apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 1 forms an image on the surface of a printing plate 20 by two-dimensionally scanning exposure on the printing plate 20 that is a recording medium. A flat base 12 serving as a mounting table, an image processing substrate 14, an exposure head 16, a moving means 17 for the exposure head 16, and an image data transfer means 18 are provided.

  Here, the image processing board 14 performs predetermined image processing on the image data, and includes an image processing module 22 as shown in FIG. Note that the image data is parallel data composed of a plurality of bit data.

  The exposure head 16 is configured so as to be separated from the image processing substrate 14, and the surface of the printing plate 20 placed on the base 12 is subjected to multi-channel exposure according to image data transferred from the image processing substrate 14. As shown in FIG. 2, a driver 24, a multi-channel spatial modulation element 26, and an optical system member 28 are provided. The optical system member 28 includes a light source (not shown), an optical fiber 30, lenses 32 and 34, and the like.

  Various elements can be used as the spatial modulation element 26, and a preferable example is a micro mirror array such as a digital micro mirror device (DMD) (registered trademark).

  The moving means 17 moves the exposure head 16 so that the exposure head 16 scans the printing plate 20 two-dimensionally. As shown in FIG. Guide members 60 and 62 provided on the left and right sides of the base 12 in the drawing, and driving means (not shown) for moving the exposure head 16 in the main scanning direction (left and right in the drawing) along the support shaft 58; Drive means (not shown) for moving the support shaft 58 in the sub-scanning direction (vertical direction in the figure) along the guide members 60 and 62 is provided.

  The transfer means 18 optically transfers the image data from the image processing board 14 to the exposure head 16, and as shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of optical transmitters provided corresponding to each bit data of the image data. 36 and a plurality of optical receivers 38. Each optical transmitter 36 includes a laser driver 64, a laser 66, and a collimating lens 68, and each optical receiver 38 includes a condenser lens 70, an optical sensor 72, and an amplifier / binarization circuit 74. Yes. The optical transmitter 36 is provided inside the image processing substrate 14, and the optical receiver 38 is provided inside the exposure head 16.

  In the case of this embodiment, the transfer means 18 is transmitted from the image processing board 14 disposed at the lower right in the drawing between the optical transmitter 36 and the optical receiver 38 as shown in FIG. The optical signal is reflected by 90 ° to the left side, and a mirror 76 is provided to direct the traveling direction toward the exposure head 16. It should be noted that this mirror 76 can be provided with one or more mirrors so that the optical signal transmitted from the optical transmitter 36 is changed and the optical signal is finally received by the optical receiver 38. Good.

  As shown in FIG. 3A, the optical receiver 38 includes a corner cube 78 that reflects the optical signal in the incident direction of the optical signal. The optical signal reflected by the light is preferably received by the optical sensor 72 through the condenser lens 70 and converted from the optical signal to an electrical signal.

  For example, as described in Iwanami Physical and Chemical Dictionary, the corner cube 78 has three right-angled isosceles triangles, as shown in FIG. These prisms or mirrors are combined so that their surfaces are perpendicular to each other. The optical signal transmitted from the optical transmitter 36 enters the corner cube 78 from the BCD surface, is reflected once by each of the three surfaces, and then exits from the BCD surface in parallel to the incident optical signal. Is done. That is, the optical signal transmitted from the optical transmitter 36 is reflected by the corner cube 78 in the incident direction.

  By arranging the corner cube 78, the influence of the tilt of the exposure head 16 can be suppressed, so that the optical signal transmitted from the optical transmitter 36 can always be received by the optical receiver 38 with high quality.

  Next, the operation of the image forming apparatus 10 will be described.

  In the image forming apparatus 10, when an image is formed on the surface of the printing plate 20, the sheet-like printing plate 20 is placed at a predetermined position on the base 12, and is fixed on the base 12 by fixing means (not shown). Fixed to.

  Subsequently, the image processing module 22 of the image processing board 14 reads out the image data stored in the memory 46 and performs predetermined image processing.

  The image data after the image processing is optically transferred from the image processing substrate 14 to the exposure head 16 through the transfer means 18. That is, the image data is supplied from the image processing module 22 to the plurality of optical transmitters 36, and each bit data is optically transmitted in parallel from each of the plurality of optical transmitters 36 to each of the plurality of optical receivers 38. Transferred.

  In each optical transmitter 36, the laser 66 is driven by the laser driver 69 in accordance with the bit data of the image data given from the image processing module 22, and the on / off thereof is controlled. Then, an optical signal emitted from the laser in the on state is transmitted in parallel as collimated light (collimated light) through the collimating lens 68. That is, the image data is converted from an electrical signal to an optical signal and transmitted.

  The optical signal transmitted from each optical transmitter 36 passes through the air and is received by each optical receiver 38. In each optical receiver 38, the optical signal of the bit data of the image data is received by the optical sensor 72 through the condenser lens 70, and converted from the optical signal to the original electrical signal. Then, the amplifier / binarization circuit 74 performs current / voltage conversion of the electric signal, and the converted voltage value is compared with a predetermined threshold value and binarized to obtain image data.

  In the exposure head 16, the illumination light guided from the light source by the optical fiber 30 of the optical system member 28 is illuminated spatially and uniformly on the multi-channel spatial modulation element 26 through the lens 32. The spatial modulation element 26 is driven by a driver 24 in accordance with image data received from the image processing board 14 to turn on / off each channel, and reflected light reflected by the channel in the on state passes through the lens 34 as recording light. The surface of the printing plate 20 that is the exposure surface is irradiated and exposed.

  Further, the exposure head 16 is moved in the main scanning direction along the support shaft 58 by the moving means 17, and the support shaft 58 is moved in the sub-scanning direction along the guide members 60 and 62. It is moved two-dimensionally in the scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction. At this time, the optical signal transmitted from the image processing board 14 is reflected by 90 ° to the left side in FIG. 1 by the mirror 76, the traveling direction thereof is directed toward the exposure head 16, and transmitted from the optical transmitter 36. Light is always received by the optical receiver 38.

  Therefore, as described above, multi-channel exposure is repeatedly performed by the exposure head 16 while moving the exposure head 16 so that the exposure head 16 scans the printing plate 20 two-dimensionally by the moving means 17. Thus, a desired image can be formed on the entire surface of the printing plate 20.

  In the image forming apparatus 10 of this embodiment, the transfer unit 18 optically transfers the image data. That is, the image data is transferred as an optical signal instead of an electrical signal. For this reason, even if the transfer distance (the distance between the image processing substrate 14 and the exposure head 16) becomes long or the image data is transferred at a very high speed, the radiation / immunity of the transferred image data. There is an advantage that it is relatively easy to ensure the characteristics.

  In other words, the image forming apparatus 10 of the present embodiment can increase the transfer distance even when compared to the case where a flexible substrate is used as the image data transfer means. As described above, the transfer distance of a flexible substrate is limited to about 40 cm. However, if it is optical transfer, image data can be transferred with high quality without any problem even if the transfer distance is 1 m or more. Can do.

  Further, as compared with the case where an optical fiber is used as the transfer means 18, a member for guiding the optical fiber is unnecessary, and it is not necessary to worry about the routing, and the load when the exposure head 16 moves. There is also an advantage that becomes lighter.

  Next, the image forming apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to another embodiment shown in FIG.

  The image processing board 14 shown in FIG. 4 includes a parallel-to-serial conversion circuit 48 that converts image data to be transmitted to the exposure head 16 from parallel data to serial data. The exposure head 16 receives the image data received from the image processing board 14. Is converted from serial data to parallel data. The transfer unit 18 includes only one optical transmitter 36 provided inside the image processing substrate 14 and one optical receiver 38 provided inside the exposure head 16.

  Since the configuration other than the above is the same as that of the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted.

  In the case of the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the image data output from the image processing module 22 is converted from parallel data to serial data by a parallel-to-serial conversion circuit 48, and an optical signal is converted from an electrical signal to an optical signal by one optical transmitter 36. It is converted to and sent. The optical signal transmitted from one optical transmitter 36 passes through the air and is received by one optical receiver 38, converted from the optical signal to the original electrical signal, and converted by the serial-to-parallel conversion circuit 50. The serial data is converted into the original parallel data.

  As in the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, it is only necessary to provide one optical transmitter 36 and one optical receiver 38 by converting image data from parallel data to serial data and transferring them. For this reason, the structure of the transfer means 18 can be simplified and the cost can be reduced.

  The image processing board 14 includes means for converting image data to be transmitted to the exposure head 16 from parallel data into a plurality of sets of serial data. The exposure head 16 receives a plurality of sets of image data received from the image processing board 14. Means for converting serial data into parallel data may be provided, and the transfer means 18 may include a plurality of sets of optical transmitters 36 and optical receivers 38 corresponding to each of the plurality of sets of serial data.

  Next, the image forming apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to still another embodiment shown in FIG.

  The image processing board 14 shown in FIG. 5 includes a compression / parallel → serial conversion circuit 52 that compresses image data to be transmitted to the exposure head 16 and converts the parallel data into serial data. The exposure head 16 also includes a serial-to-parallel conversion / expansion circuit 54 that expands image data received from the image processing board 14 from serial data to parallel data, and then expands, and a memory 56. Various image data compression / decompression algorithms can be used.

  Since the configuration other than the above is the same as that of the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted.

  In the case of the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the image data output from the image processing module 22 is compressed by the compression / parallel → serial conversion circuit 52 and converted from parallel data to serial data, and then one optical transmitter 36. Is converted from an electrical signal into an optical signal and transmitted. The optical signal transmitted by one optical transmitter 36 is received by one optical receiver 38 through the air, converted from the optical signal to the original electrical signal, and further converted from a serial to parallel conversion / expansion circuit. After being converted from serial data to original parallel data by 54, it is decompressed and stored in the memory 56. The image data stored in the memory 56 is read out by the driver 24 and used to drive the spatial modulation element 26 during exposure as described above.

  As in the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the amount of image data to be transferred can be reduced by compressing and transferring the image data. For this reason, the transfer rate of image data can be kept low. Also, by providing image data compression / decompression means, it is possible to realize a configuration that minimizes the cost according to the device specifications.

  Note that the method of compressing and transferring image data shown in FIG. 5 is an example applied in the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, but can also be applied to the embodiment shown in FIG. In the above embodiment, the compression / parallel → serial conversion circuit 52 and the serial → parallel conversion / expansion circuit 54 are used. However, the compression circuit and the parallel → serial conversion circuit may be configured separately. Similarly, the serial-to-parallel conversion circuit and the expansion circuit may be configured separately.

  The exposure head 16 preferably includes a buffer memory (for example, a first-in first-out (FIFO) memory) that stores image data received from the image processing board 14. It is possible to use the memory 56 described above. During a period when the exposure head 16 is not exposing the printing plate 20, for example, image data used in the next exposure is transferred from the image processing substrate 14 to the exposure head 16 in advance and stored in the buffer memory. As a result, the transfer rate of image data during exposure of the exposure head 16 can be kept low.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case of a printed material has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a recording medium other than a printing plate. The present invention can be applied to any number of distances between the image processing substrate and the exposure head at the time of exposure of the recording medium, but the size of the recording medium is the maximum size that can be produced for a flexible substrate. This is particularly effective when it is 40 cm × 40 cm or more, that is, when the distance between the image processing substrate and the exposure head during exposure of the recording medium is 40 cm or more.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the laser 66 is used as a light source of the transfer means 18 which performs optical transfer, this is not limited and various light sources can be utilized. Further, the optical transmitter 36 may be provided outside the image processing substrate 14, and the optical receiver 38 may be provided outside the exposure head 16.

The present invention is basically as described above.
The image forming apparatus of the present invention has been described in detail above. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications and changes may be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. is there.

1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an overall configuration of an image forming apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment illustrating a connection state between an image processing substrate and an exposure head in the image forming apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1. (A) And (b) is the schematic showing the arrangement | positioning state of the corner cube provided in the inside of an exposure head. FIG. 10 is a schematic view of another embodiment showing a connection state between an image processing substrate and an exposure head in the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 10 is a schematic view of another embodiment showing a connection state between an image processing substrate and an exposure head in the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a conventional image forming apparatus. It is the schematic showing the connection state between an image processing board | substrate and an exposure head.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10,80 Image forming apparatus 12 Base 14 Image processing board 16 Exposure head 18 Transfer means 20 Printing plate 22 Image processing module 24 Driver 26 Spatial modulation element 28 Optical system member 30, 40 Optical fiber 32, 34 Lens 36 Optical transmitter 38 Optical receiver 46, 56 Memory 48 Parallel → serial conversion circuit 50 Serial → parallel conversion circuit 52 Compression / parallel → serial conversion circuit 54 Serial → parallel conversion / expansion circuit 58 Support shaft 60, 62 Guide member 64 Laser driver 66 Laser 68 Collimator Lens 70 Condensing lens 72 Optical sensor 74 Amplifier / binarization circuit 76 Mirror 78 Corner cube 82 Differential driver 84 Differential receiver 86 Conductor

Claims (10)

An image forming apparatus that forms an image on the surface of a recording medium by two-dimensionally scanning exposure on the recording medium in a two-dimensional manner,
The flat base serving as a mounting base for the recording medium, an image processing board for performing predetermined image processing on image data composed of a plurality of bit data, and the image processing board are configured separately, and the image processing An exposure head that performs multi-channel exposure on the surface of the recording medium placed on the base in accordance with image data transferred from the substrate, and the exposure head scans the recording medium two-dimensionally. Moving means for moving the exposure head, and transfer means for transferring the image data from the image processing substrate to the exposure head in parallel.
The transfer means receives a plurality of optical transmitters that convert each bit data of the image data from an electric signal to an optical signal and transmits the parallel light, and an optical signal of each bit data of the image data. An image forming apparatus comprising: a plurality of optical receivers that convert the optical signal into an electrical signal. An image forming apparatus that forms an image on the surface of a recording medium by two-dimensionally scanning exposure on the recording medium in a two-dimensional manner,
The flat base serving as a mounting base for the recording medium, an image processing board for performing predetermined image processing on image data composed of a plurality of bit data, and the image processing board are configured separately, and the image processing An exposure head that performs multi-channel exposure on the surface of the recording medium placed on the base in accordance with image data transferred from the substrate, and the exposure head scans the recording medium two-dimensionally. Moving means for moving the exposure head, and transfer means for serially transferring the image data from the image processing substrate to the exposure head,
The image processing board comprises means for converting the image data to be transmitted to the exposure head from parallel data to serial data,
The exposure head comprises means for converting the image data received from the image processing substrate from serial data to parallel data;
The transfer means receives one optical transmitter that converts image data converted into serial data from an electrical signal into an optical signal and transmits the parallel signal, and an optical signal of the image data converted into the serial data. And an optical receiver for converting the optical signal into an electrical signal. The image processing board comprises means for converting the image data to be transmitted to the exposure head from parallel data into a plurality of sets of serial data,
The exposure head comprises means for converting the image data received from the image processing substrate from a plurality of sets of serial data to parallel data;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the transfer unit includes a plurality of sets of the optical transmitter and the optical receiver corresponding to each of the plurality of sets of serial data.   The image processing board includes means for compressing image data to be transmitted to the exposure head, and the exposure head includes means for decompressing image data received from the image processing board. The image forming apparatus described.   The exposure head includes a buffer memory for storing image data received from the image processing substrate, and transfers the image data from the image processing substrate to the exposure head during a period when the exposure head is not exposing the recording medium. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is stored in the buffer memory.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the exposure head includes a micro mirror array as a spatial modulation element that performs multi-channel exposure on the surface of the recording medium.   The image according to claim 1, wherein the transfer unit includes at least one mirror that reflects the optical signal and changes a traveling direction between the optical transmitter and the optical receiver. Forming equipment.   The said optical receiver is provided with the corner cube which reflects the said optical signal in the incident direction of the said optical signal, The optical signal reflected by this corner cube is received, The said optical signal is converted into an electrical signal. The image forming apparatus according to claim 7.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a distance between the image processing substrate and the exposure head is 40 cm or more during exposure of the recording medium by the exposure head.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a printing plate is exposed as the recording medium.

Images