JPH04294343A - Light irradiation device and electronic equipment using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain an optical scanning body which requires neither a mechanical rotary mirror nor a linear light source by irradiating a reflecting mirror body, where plural reflecting mirror groups are arranged, with laser light which is expanded into flat plate type parallel light, reflecting the laser light and generating plural parallel light beam groups, and installing light shield element which are electrically controllable in their optical paths. CONSTITUTION:The laser light beam is expanded by an optical shaping unit 8 into the flat plate type wide parallel light beam 5', which is reflected by the reflecting mirror body 6 where the reflecting mirror groups 10 are installed to generate the parallel light beam groups 5; and the optical shutter 15 wherein the electrically controllable light shield elements are incorporated is installed in their optical paths to locally control the irradiation parallel light 5. This light irradiation device is usable for an electronic equipment device such as an optical reader, an optical printer, a copying machine, a facsimile equipment, and an optical recorder.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a light irradiation device using a laser beam. More specifically, it relates to a light irradiation device that controls and irradiates a narrow and narrow area with a group of multiple minute light beams, or to electronic equipment that uses this, such as copying machines, optical reading devices, and light beams. It is used in electronic devices such as printers, facsimile machines, and optical memory devices.

0002

[Prior Art] Conventional light irradiation devices, for example those using cathodoluminescence light emission, simply place a filament such as a tungsten wire on an insulating substrate as an electron emitter in a vacuum, energize it, and heat it. Electrons are emitted and then accelerated using an electric field, causing them to collide with a light-emitting layer formed by coating a powdered phosphor, causing them to emit light, and passing through a light-transmitting plate, which is a transparent means for installing this light-emitting layer. The light was then taken out into the air, and multiple light blocking devices were installed along the way to control the emitted light.

[0003] In addition, in a device using a laser emitting device, a polygonal prism-shaped reflecting mirror, each side of which is a reflecting mirror, is mechanically rotated around the intersection of the diagonal lines on the bottom surface, and light is emitted from the laser emitting device. By reflecting the light rays from the side surface, the light irradiation surface was sequentially irradiated.

[0004] Therefore, conventional electronic devices such as copying machines, optical reading devices, optical printers, facsimile machines, and optical memory devices have used the above-mentioned light irradiation device.

[0005]

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the above-mentioned prior art, the light emitted through the light transmitting plate is scattered over a wide angle, so that it cannot be used as a light source for ordinary optical reading devices. However, there were technical issues such as the illuminance on the irradiated surface being reduced and the emitted light being not parallel light, making it impossible to completely block light.

Regarding the latter, a complicated rotation mechanism and rotation control device that require high precision are required to rotate the polygonal prism-shaped rotating mirror, and it is difficult to sequentially irradiate the reflected light beam onto the irradiated object. Another problem was that the lens had a complicated configuration requiring a large lens group to adjust the distance between them to a predetermined distance. Therefore, conventional electronic devices such as copying machines, optical reading devices, optical printers, facsimile machines, and optical memory devices also have a technical problem in that they have complicated configurations.

[0007] The present invention is intended to solve these technical problems, and its purpose is to make it possible to focus synchrotron radiation without dissipating it with a simple configuration without requiring any special rotation mechanism or rotation control mechanism. Another object of the present invention is to provide a light irradiation device that has a small decrease in illuminance on an irradiation surface and has good light shielding characteristics for each of a plurality of light irradiation points.

Another object of the present invention is to provide electronic equipment such as a copying machine, an optical reading device, an optical printer, a facsimile device, and an optical memory device, which use the light irradiation device and have a simple configuration.

[0009]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The light irradiation device of the present invention includes a laser beam emitter, a means for converting the laser beam emitted from the laser beam emitter into parallel light, and a plurality of steps installed to reflect the parallel light. and a light reflecting means that extends the laser beam in a direction including a line perpendicular to the light emission direction, and directs the elongated laser beam within the plane defined by the line perpendicular to the emission direction. After making the beam approximately parallel to the emission direction, the plurality of light beams are divided and reflected using the plurality of light reflecting means installed vertically within the plane to generate a plurality of light beams, and the plurality of light beams are The invention is characterized by comprising a group of light blocking elements for control, or further provided with a means for shaping, focusing or diffusing the laser beam, and further providing electromechanical conversion to the plurality of light blocking element groups. It is characterized by using an element.

[0010] Furthermore, an electronic device of the present invention is characterized in that it has one of the above-mentioned light irradiation devices.

[0011]

[Operation] According to the above structure of the present invention, since the laser beam can basically be treated as a point light source, the laser beam is made into parallel light using a lens or a reflecting mirror, and then a plurality of light reflecting means installed in a stepwise manner are used. A plurality of light beams can be formed by reflecting the light.

[0012] The plurality of light beams thus formed can be optically controlled by a group of light blocking elements, and at the same time, the plurality of light beams can be elongated and emitted at arbitrary intervals.

[0013] Therefore, the finally controlled light beam group can be irradiated and focused on a long and narrow area as a parallel light group, and the illuminance of a necessary part on the irradiation surface can be increased, and at the same time, it is possible to Since there is less stray light, simply by installing a plurality of light reflecting means in the optical path, it becomes possible to divide the parallel light and efficiently irradiate only the target portions of a plurality of minute regions.

Furthermore, since the plurality of light reflecting means can be installed at arbitrary intervals, the portions to be irradiated with light can be set at predetermined intervals and light irradiation can be individually controlled.

[0015] Furthermore, by shaping the beam shape of the laser beam, focusing it, and further diffusing it to a predetermined size, it is possible to efficiently control the irradiation of multiple minute areas with the desired size and shape. .

[0016] Therefore, electronic devices such as copying machines, optical reading devices, optical printers, facsimile devices, and optical memory devices that use such a light irradiation device do not require a mechanical rotation mechanism or its control mechanism. Therefore, it can be configured easily.

[0017]

Embodiment Embodiment 1 FIG. 1 is a main configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a light irradiation device of the present invention. FIG. 2 shows the main internal components of the light irradiation device of the present invention, particularly the reflecting mirror body 6 and the light shutter 15 that form a plurality of parallel light beam groups, and parts for explaining the trajectory of the light rays passing therethrough. It is a main configuration diagram depicting a cross section, (a) is a plan view, (b)
is a front view seen from direction 22 in FIG. 2(a).

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view for explaining the main components inside the light shaping unit 8 installed inside the light irradiation device of the present invention and the locus of the light beam passing through it.
) is a plan view, and (b) is a front view.

First, the structure and operation of the main components related to the present invention will be explained using FIGS. 1, 2, and 4.

Laser beam emitter 1 consisting of a semiconductor laser
The light emitted from the ray-shaping lens group 2 is elongated in a straight line perpendicular to the direction of emitted light.

[0021] At this time, when the elongated light is cut along a plane perpendicular to the light emission direction, the cross section becomes an elongated strip or an ellipse. Next, the concave lens group 3 is used to spread this light further into a thin and thin light, and its length in the longitudinal direction is set to be slightly longer than the required length. Finally, the convex lens group 4 is used to pass the light beam 5' which has been expanded in parallel into a long thin line through an optical shutter 15 that can block the light independently or simultaneously at a plurality of fine parts, and is extracted as parallel light 5. irradiate the surface of

In FIG. 4, the orthopedic lens group 2, the concave lens group 3, and the convex lens group 4 are represented by simplified figures to make it easier to understand their individual functions, but in reality, they are represented by several spherical surfaces. Alternatively, aspherical lens groups may be combined to satisfy individual functions.

As shown in FIGS. 4(a) and 4(b), when a semiconductor laser is used as the laser beam emitter 1, the emitted light has a cross section ( Hereinafter, this cross section will be referred to as the "cross section of the light ray"), which forms an oval shape. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4(b), the cross-sectional shape of the emitted light beam in the emission direction when viewed from the front view hardly changes after leaving the shaping lens group 2. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4(a), the emitted light beam seen from the plan view is gradually expanded as can be clearly seen by comparing it with the optical axis 7 in the light emission direction, and finally it is made almost parallel by the convex lens group 4 and the light shaping slit part 9. It is shaped into a light beam 5'.

As shown in FIG. 2, this parallel light beam 5' is branched into a plurality of parallel light beam groups 5 by a plurality of reflecting mirror groups 10 installed on a reflecting mirror body 6, and is divided into a plurality of parallel light beam groups 5 through a plurality of light transmitting windows. When passing through the light shutter 15 having a light shutter 17, the amount of light passing therethrough is controlled independently or simultaneously or according to a predetermined timing by a plurality of light blocking elements 16, each of which is an electrically controllable light blocking device. Irradiation object 22
irradiated onto the surface of

In addition to this, the light blocking element 16 may be a liquid crystal element, an electrochromic element, a photochromic element, or a solid element mainly composed of oxides of titanium, zircon, lanthanum, and lead.

The detailed operation of the light blocking element 16 will now be explained using FIG. 3.

In FIG. 3, parts other than the light blocking element 16 and its surroundings are omitted for clarity.

A light blocking element 16 is installed in the optical shutter 15 with electrical insulation as shown in the figure.

Here, FIG. 3(a) shows a state in which the parallel light beam group 5 does not pass, and FIG. 3(b) shows a state in which the parallel light beam group 5 passes.

The light blocking element 16 is composed of a plurality of laminated piezoelectric materials 20, each of which is provided with laminated electrodes 18 and 19 in a comb shape as shown in the figure. In this embodiment, the piezoelectric material 20 is laminated so as to be parallel to the bottom surface of the optical shutter 15 on which the light blocking element 16 is installed, and the number of laminated layers is 30 or more. However, in FIG. 3, the number of laminated layers is omitted and illustrated to make the structure easier to understand.

The laminated electrodes 18 and 19 are electrically connected to the control electrodes 14 and 13, respectively, which are also shown in FIG.
Although not shown in the figure, a voltage can be applied to the piezoelectric material 20 by applying a driving voltage to the control electrodes 13 and 14.

To use the light blocking element 16, the piezoelectric material 20 is polarized in advance. By doing so, the height of the light blocking element 16 can be changed by applying a voltage to the control electrodes 13 and 14.

FIG. 3(a) shows a case where a voltage is applied to the control electrodes 13 and 14, and FIG. 3(b) shows a case where no voltage is applied and the charge applied to the piezoelectric material 20 is released.

In this way, by expanding and contracting the light blocking element 16 so as to block the optical axis 7 in the light emission direction, the passage state of the parallel light beam group 5 can be controlled.

In this embodiment, although not shown in the drawings, a slit or the like having a predetermined shape was inserted into the light beam, or a mask plate or the like having a plurality of fine holes formed therein was inserted. By doing so, it was possible to improve the cross-sectional shape of the light rays of the group of parallel light beams 5 taken out, and to arbitrarily set the irradiation distribution.

[0036] In the manner described above, it is possible to uniformly irradiate any elongated portion that requires light irradiation without causing the light to dissipate. In addition, since the light does not dissipate, it is not only possible to irradiate the target area with high-intensity light, but even if multiple light blocking elements 16 are installed in the optical path, their light blocking properties can be maintained completely. Because of this, it was possible to obtain good characteristics as a light irradiation device.

Furthermore, the parallel light beam group 5 taken out to the outside can be prevented from concentrating extremely sharply on the surface of the object 22 to be irradiated, and will not be dissipated. When the light irradiation device of the present invention is used for the purpose of installing the light irradiation device of the present invention, a large installation tolerance with respect to the object 22 to be irradiated can be obtained, and assembly is also very easy.

(Embodiment 2) FIG. 5 shows an example of another embodiment of the light irradiation device of the present invention.

As shown in the figure, a parallel light beam group 5 formed by a plurality of reflecting mirror groups 10 installed on a reflecting mirror body 6 is connected to a plurality of concave lens groups 12 and a convex lens group 12.
' to respectively diffuse and condense the light and separate the converged light 11
It is possible to form spot-like irradiation onto the object 22 to be irradiated in an arbitrary shape. The other configurations are the same as in the first embodiment.

[0040] Here, materials used for the constituent parts of the present invention will be shown.

As the laser beam emitter 1, in addition to a semiconductor laser, an argon and argon ion laser, a helium-cadmium laser, a high frequency driven excimer laser, etc. were used. Ordinary glass or plastic lenses were used for the orthopedic lens group 2. In addition, appropriate slits were combined with these lens groups and used to set the cross-sectional shape of the emitted and passing light to a predetermined shape. Concave lens group 3
and 12, convex lens groups 4 and 12' are made of glass or molded plastic. Other ceramics may be used as long as they are transparent to the light that passes through them.

The reflector body 6 may be precision-machined using metal such as aluminum or brass, glass, or ceramics, or a film of high reflectivity material such as aluminum may be placed in the portion of the plurality of reflector groups 10. It was formed as follows.

As the piezoelectric material 20, a material mainly using oxides of titanium, zirconium, and lead, a piezoelectric material mainly using strontium and an alkaline earth metal, etc. were used. Moreover, almost any piezoelectric material can be used as long as it has a large piezoelectric constant.

The laminated electrodes 18 and 19 are made of materials such as gold, silver, ruthenium oxide, nickel-chromium, etc., and are formed by thin film forming means such as vapor deposition and sputtering, printing, and baking.

(Embodiment 3) FIG. 6 is an embodiment showing a main configuration diagram of an optical reading device among the electronic equipment devices of the present invention using the light irradiation devices of the above-mentioned embodiments 1 and 2.

FIG. 6(a) is a perspective view schematically depicting the main parts of the optical reading device of the present invention, including the case 35.
is hypothetically drawn with two-dot chain lines so that the components inside can be clearly seen. Further, FIG. 6(b) is a sectional view thereof, and is for explaining the operation and function of the main components of the optical reading device.

The optical reading device of the present invention includes a light irradiation device 3
Two light detection devices 31 and 3 for detecting light at 0
1' is installed as shown in the figure, and the information written on the surface of the original 39 is read while moving the upper part of the original 39 in the direction 38 in contact or non-contact. Here, the moving mechanism of the light irradiation device 30 is not shown in the figure to make the figure easier to understand.

The light irradiation device 30 is equipped with a laser beam emitter 1, and inside the light irradiation device 30 there is a lens group that spreads the laser beam and converts it into parallel light as described above, and a plurality of parallel beams. A reflector is provided with a plurality of reflector groups that form a light beam, and a plurality of controllable light blocking devices are installed in the optical path of the reflector, and a plurality of electrical It is designed to irradiate parallel light that can be controlled.

Furthermore, the light irradiation device 30 is electrically coupled with a flexible wiring board 32 via a substrate 40, and even if the light irradiation device 30 is moved in the direction 38 by the moving mechanism as described above, stable electrical signals can be generated. It is now possible to communicate.

For example, it is possible to stably receive power supply for laser beam oscillation from the drive circuit block 37, to supply drive power to the plurality of light cutoff devices, to receive signals from the detection devices 31 and 31', to supply power, etc. Can communicate.

The flexible wiring board 32 connects to the connector 3 fixedly installed in the case 35 of the optical reading device.
3, and this connector 33 is electrically connected to a drive circuit block 37 by a signal line group 36 via another connector 34 by a plurality of conductive signal terminals 42 installed therein.

The drive circuit block 37 is mainly equipped with the above-described power supply, a computer for signal processing, and a computer for interpreting detected signals.

In this embodiment, signals are exchanged between the drive circuit block 37 and the light irradiation device 30 mainly through electrical coupling, but this embodiment is not limited to this.
Signals may be transmitted optically using glass fibers, light emitting/receiving elements, etc., or magnetic coupling may be used.

Next, the operation of the optical reading device, which is one of the electronic devices of the present invention, will be explained. The plurality of parallel light beam groups 5 emitted in parallel as described above are irradiated onto the original 39 to be read.

However, since the parallel light beam group 5 can narrow down the irradiation area well, it is possible to selectively irradiate only the reading area, and therefore the light is reflected from the irradiated area. Detection devices 31, 31'
Since the reflected lights 41 and 41' incident on the scanner mainly contain information only about the irradiated portion, the original could be read very well.

[0056] Furthermore, by summing or subtracting each of the output signals from the light detection devices 31 and 31', the influence of unevenness on the document surface can be reduced, and information about the unevenness can be read out. You can

[0057] The optical reading device of the present invention is capable of high-speed reading because the irradiated light dissipates less than that of an ordinary optical reading device using a group of light emitting diodes or a lamp.
Furthermore, the shape of the read image was very well arranged, and when this was displayed on a display element, the boundaries of the image were clear and beautiful.

[0058] Also, compared to an ordinary optical reading device, which uses a polygonal prism rotating reflector to irradiate a focused laser beam onto a document to be read while optically scanning it, the irradiation rate is lower. The cross-sectional shape of the light beam is uniform, and the boundaries of the image are not only clear, but also the distance between the minute irradiation points that make up the image is equal, so the overall read image is uniform and beautiful from corner to corner. It had the characteristic of being readable.

Therefore, when compared with any of the above-mentioned ordinary light reading devices, when a high resolution reading device is used, there is a difference particularly in reading quality, and the image quality is improved.

(Embodiment 4) FIG. 7(a) is a perspective view schematically depicting the main parts of an optical printer, which is one of the electronic devices of the present invention. It is drawn with a two-dot chain line for easy understanding. Further, FIG. 7(b) is a sectional view thereof, and is for explaining the operation and function of the main components of the optical printer. In FIG. 7(b), the case 43 shown in FIG. 7(a) is omitted to simplify the illustration in order to make the explanation easier to understand.

First, while rotating the photosensitive drum 45 on which a photosensitive member made of an organic or inorganic semiconductor is coated on the cylinder 46 in the direction 47, the photosensitive drum 45 is charged by the charger 58.
5. Charge the surface uniformly. Next, using the light irradiator 30, the surface of the photosensitive drum 45 is irradiated with light in response to a print signal sent from the drive circuit block 37 via the flexible wiring board 32', and the light irradiated portion is neutralized.

The light irradiation device 30 is equipped with a laser beam emitter 1, and the light irradiation device 30 includes a group of lenses that spread the laser beam and then convert it into parallel light, as in the previous embodiment. A reflecting mirror body is provided with a plurality of reflecting mirror groups that form a plurality of parallel light beams, and a plurality of controllable light blocking devices are installed in the optical paths of the reflecting mirrors. A plurality of electrically controllable parallel light beam groups 5 can be irradiated.

In this case, a charged portion of the surface of the photosensitive drum 45 that has not been neutralized becomes an electrostatic latent image, and toner 49 is attached to the electrostatic latent image portion using a developing device 48 to form a toner image 50. do.

Next, using the transfer device 52, the toner image 50 is electrostatically transferred from the photosensitive drum 45 onto the printing paper 51 side, which is fed out in the direction 55 by the paper feed roller 59, thereby forming the printing image 5.
3 is formed and heat-fixed by the fixing roller 54 to finish printing. In this case, the printing paper 51 is stored in the paper storage section 44 in advance, and the humidity, temperature, and charging state are adjusted to be optimal for printing.

After completing the transfer, the photosensitive drum 45
Toner and dirt remaining on the surface of the photosensitive drum 45 are scraped off by a cleaner 56, and a static elimination lamp 57 is used to remove toner and dirt remaining on the surface of the photosensitive drum 45.
Removes static electricity from the surface and prepares for the next printing.

The optical printer of the present invention has less scattering of emitted light than an optical printer using a group of ordinary light emitting diodes, and the shape of the toner image and printed image is very uniform, and the boundaries of the image are also clear. It was beautiful. Also, compared to an ordinary optical printer, which prints by irradiating a photosensitive drum etc. with a narrowed laser beam using a polygonal prism rotating reflector while optically scanning, the shape of the toner image and printed image is Not only are the boundaries of the image well-defined and the boundaries of the image are clear, but the intervals between the minute dots that make up the image are equal, so the overall printed image is uniform and beautiful from corner to corner. .

Therefore, when compared with any of the above-mentioned normal printers, there was a difference in print quality especially when high-resolution printing was performed, and the image quality was improved.

Although an electrophotographic optical printer has been described in the electronic equipment device of this embodiment, this embodiment is not limited to this, and other optical printers using the light irradiation device of the present invention can also be used. It worked.

(Embodiment 5) FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of an optical copying apparatus which is one of other electronic devices of the present invention.
This is for explaining the operation and function of the main components of the optical copying apparatus. The optical copying apparatus of the present invention is constructed by combining a device similar to the optical reading device of the third embodiment and a device similar to the optical printer of the fourth embodiment.

First, the structure and operation of the document reading portion of the optical copying apparatus of the present invention will be explained.

Two light detection devices 31 and 31' for detecting light were installed in the light irradiation device 30 as shown in FIG. Next, the surface of the original 39 to be copied is brought into contact with the transparent plate 60, and while the light irradiation device 30 is moved in the direction 38, the information drawn on the surface of the original 39 can be read.

Here, in order to simplify the drawing, the moving mechanism of the light irradiation device 30 is not shown in the drawing.

The light irradiation device 30 is equipped with a laser beam emitter 1, and inside the light irradiation device 30 there is a lens group that spreads the laser beam and then converts it into parallel light, as described above, and a plurality of parallel beams. A reflector is provided with a plurality of reflector groups that form a light beam, and a plurality of controllable light blocking devices are installed in the optical path of the reflector, and a plurality of electrical A group of parallel light beams 5 that can be controlled in a controlled manner can be irradiated.

Furthermore, the light irradiation device 30 is electrically coupled with a flexible wiring board 32 via a substrate 40, and even if the light irradiation device 30 is moved in the direction 38 by the moving mechanism as described above, a stable electric signal is generated. It is now possible to exchange information.

For example, it is possible to stably receive power supply for laser beam oscillation from the drive circuit block 37, to supply drive power to the plurality of light cutoff devices, to receive signals from the detection devices 31 and 31', to supply power, etc. Can communicate.

The flexible wiring board 32 is connected to a connector 33 fixedly installed in the case 35 of the optical copying apparatus, and this connector 33 is connected to a signal line via another connector 34 connected thereto. The group 36 is electrically connected to the drive circuit block 37.

The drive circuit block 37 includes a power source for supplying the power described above, a computer for signal processing, a computer for interpreting detected signals, and a computer for signal processing and driving of the printing device section, which will be described later. It is mainly equipped with a group of electronic circuit boards.

As described above, the light irradiation device 30 is attached to the original 3.
While moving under the surface of the paper 9 as shown in the figure, the surface of the document was read while irradiating light, and the information was input into the computer in the drive circuit block 37 for calculation and conversion into information for the next printing process.

In this embodiment, signals are exchanged between the drive circuit block 37 and the light irradiation device 30 mainly by electrical coupling, but this embodiment is not limited to this.
Signals may be transmitted optically using glass fibers, light emitting/receiving elements, etc., or magnetic coupling may be used.

A feature of the document reading section of the optical copying apparatus of the present invention is that the group of parallel light beams 5 can irradiate the irradiated area in a well-focused manner, so that only the reading area can be selectively irradiated with light. Therefore, the reflected light 41, 41' that is reflected from the irradiated area and enters the light detection device 31, 31' mainly contains only the information of the irradiated area, so that the document can be read very well. I was able to do this.

Next, the structure and operation of the printing section of the optical copying apparatus of the present invention will be explained.

First, while rotating the photosensitive drum 45 on which a photosensitive member made of an organic or inorganic semiconductor is coated on the cylinder 46 in the direction 47, the photosensitive drum 45 is charged by the charger 58.
5. Charge the surface uniformly. Next, the printing process information formed as described above is sent from the drive circuit block 37 via the following flexible wiring board 32', and the surface of the photosensitive drum 45 is illuminated using the light irradiator 30'. A plurality of parallel light beam groups 5' corresponding to printing process information
' to remove static electricity from the light irradiated area.

The light irradiation device 30' includes a laser beam emitter 1.
is installed, and inside the light irradiation device 30' there are a lens group that spreads the laser beam and then converts it into parallel light as in the previous embodiment, and a plurality of reflecting mirrors that form a plurality of parallel light beams. A group of reflective mirror bodies and a plurality of controllable light blocking devices are installed in their optical paths, and a plurality of electrically controllable parallel lights can be irradiated onto the surface of the photosensitive drum 45. It's like this.

In this case, a charged portion of the surface of the photosensitive drum 45 that has not been neutralized becomes an electrostatic latent image, and toner 49 is attached to the electrostatic latent image portion using a developing device 48 to form a toner image 50. do.

Next, using the transfer device 52, the toner image 50 is electrostatically transferred from the photosensitive drum 45 onto the printing paper 51 side, which is fed out in the direction 55 by the paper feed roller 59, thereby forming the printing image 5.
3 is formed and heat-fixed by the fixing roller 54 to finish printing.

In the case of the optical copying apparatus of this embodiment, the printing paper 5
1 is inserted from the paper inlet and stored in the paper storage section 66 in advance, and the humidity, temperature, and charging state are adjusted to be optimal for printing. During printing, a spring 64 pushes up a support base 65 on which paper is stored, and at the same time, the printing paper 51 is pressed while being pressed by a paper presser 63 equipped with a paper feed roller connected to a drive device. The printing paper 51 is fed through the sleeve 62 each time.

After completing the transfer, the photosensitive drum 45
The toner and dust remaining on the surface of the photosensitive drum 45 are scraped off by a cleaner 56' equipped with a rotating brush, and the static electricity on the surface of the photosensitive drum 45 is eliminated by a static elimination lamp 57 in preparation for the next printing.

Furthermore, by installing a heat reflecting plate 61 for blocking radiant heat from the fixing roller 54, which operates at a high temperature, onto the photosensitive drum 45, the reliability of the apparatus could be improved. The optical copying apparatus of the present invention has less dissipation of emitted light than the document reading part of a normal optical copying machine using a group of light emitting diodes or lamps, or the printing part of a normal optical copying machine using a group of light emitting diodes. It was possible to read at high speed, and the shapes of the read and printed images were very well arranged, and the boundaries of the images were clear and beautiful.

[0089] In addition, in the original reading part and printing part used in ordinary optical copying machines, a polygonal prism rotating reflector is used to optically scan a narrowed laser beam.
Compared to the original reading part, which is irradiated onto a document to be read, and the printing part, which is irradiated onto a photosensitive drum and printed, the cross-sectional shape of the irradiated light beam is uniform, and the boundaries of the image are clear. Not only are the microscopic irradiation points that make up the image evenly spaced, so the overall read and printed images are uniform and beautiful from corner to corner.

[0090] Therefore, even when compared with a normal copying machine,
When the electronic device of this example was used as a high-resolution copying device, a difference was observed in reading quality in particular, and the image quality was improved.

(Embodiment 6) FIG. 9 is a sectional view of an embodiment of a facsimile machine, which is one of other electronic devices of the present invention, and is a cross-sectional view for explaining the operation and function of the main components of the facsimile machine. It is something.

First, the structure and operation of the document reading portion of the facsimile apparatus of the present invention will be explained.

Two light detection devices 31 and 31' for detecting light were installed in the light irradiation device 30 as shown in the figure. Next, place the original 39 in the sleeve 68 with the surface to be read facing the light irradiation device 30, feed the original in the direction 83 using the original introduction roller 69, and irradiate the original with light while contacting the back plate 70. A device 30 irradiates light so that information written on the surface of a document 39 can be read.

The light irradiation device 30 is equipped with a laser beam emitter 1, and inside the light irradiation device 30 there is a lens group that spreads the laser beam and converts it into parallel light, as described above, and a plurality of parallel beams. A reflector is provided with a plurality of reflector groups that form a light beam, and a plurality of controllable light blocking devices are installed in the optical path of the reflector, and a plurality of electrical A group of parallel light beams 5 that can be controlled in a controlled manner can be irradiated.

The light irradiation device 30 is electrically connected to the drive circuit block 37 by a flexible wiring board 32 that is electrically connected via the substrate 40, so that electrical signals can be exchanged. . For example, it is possible to stably receive power supply for laser beam oscillation from the drive circuit block 37, to supply drive power to the plurality of light cutoff devices, and to exchange signals and power supply from the detection devices 31 and 31'. It is set as.

The drive circuit block 37 includes a power source for supplying the power described above, a computer for signal processing, a computer for interpreting detected signals, and a computer for signal processing and driving of the printing device section, which will be described later. It is mainly equipped with a group of electronic circuit boards.

As described above and shown in FIG.
9 on the light irradiation device 30.
The document surface is read with light irradiation, and the information is input to a computer in the drive circuit block 37 for calculation and converted into information that can be transmitted via communication. Although not shown in the figure, the information that can be communicated can be transmitted to other facsimile machines via an appropriate line by a communication device installed in this facsimile machine.

The read original 39 was pulled out from the original discharge port by the original take-out roller 71 and moved to the table 72.

[0099] Also, information such as images or characters transmitted from other facsimile machines, or information about the converted printing process, is similarly transmitted by the communication device installed in this facsimile machine, although this is not shown in Fig. 8. It is received and put into the computer in the drive circuit block 37 to perform calculations.
Convert to printable information.

[0100] This printable information is transmitted to the print head 78 via the flexible wiring board 79 and printed on the printing paper 80. In this facsimile device, a thermal head is used as the printing head 78, but a printing head such as an inkjet head or an impact type head may also be used.

The printing paper 80 used was thermal paper that colored when heated. The printing paper 80 was taken out from the take-up reel 73 by the take-out roller 75 while the direction was stably determined by the paper guide 74, passed through the sleeve 76, and inserted between the print head 78 and the print roller 77. The print roller 77 is connected to the print head 7 at least during printing.
The printing paper 80 rotates while being pressurized by the paper 80.
The paper can be moved to the take-out table 82 by applying appropriate pressure to the paper and pulling it out in the direction 81 .

[0102] The facsimile device of the present invention can perform high-speed reading because the irradiated light dissipates less than the document reading portion of a normal facsimile device that uses a group of light emitting diodes or lamps, and the light irradiation image of the reading portion The shape of the image was very well organized, and the boundaries of the image were clear and beautiful reading was possible.

[0103] It is also a document reading section used in a normal facsimile machine, which uses a polygonal prism rotating reflector to scan a narrowed laser beam while irradiating it onto the document to be read. Even when compared to the original reading area, the cross-sectional shape of the irradiated light beam is uniform, and not only the boundaries of the image are clear, but also the intervals between the minute irradiation points that make up the image are equal, so the overall The read image was characterized by being uniform and beautiful from corner to corner.

[0104] Therefore, even when compared with a normal facsimile device, when the electronic equipment device of this embodiment is made into a high-resolution reading facsimile device, it is not only possible to read at high speed but also improves the reading quality in particular. There is a difference,
It was found that the image quality improved.

(Embodiment 7) FIG. 10 is a front view showing the main components of an embodiment of an optical storage device which is one of other electronic devices of the present invention, and shows the operation of the main components of the optical storage device. This is to explain the function.

First, the structure and operation of the optical storage device of the present invention will be explained.

The optical storage device of the present invention is composed of a light irradiation device 30' for writing information on an optical recording material, and a light irradiation device 30 for reading information recorded on the optical recording material.

The light irradiation devices 30, 30' are installed in the vicinity of the optical recording material 83 traveling in the direction 87, in contact or in a non-contact manner, as shown in the figure, and emit a plurality of parallel lights irradiated from these devices. The beam groups 5 and 5'' are arranged so that the direction 87 is not the same as the direction in which the parallel light beam groups are arranged. Here, in order to simplify the drawing, the light irradiation devices 30, 30' are installed perpendicular to the direction 87.

[0109] The light irradiation device 30 has two
The basic photodetectors 31 and 31' are installed as shown in the figure to read information written on the surface of the optical recording material 83.

Laser beam emitters 1 and 1' are installed in the light irradiation devices 30 and 30', respectively, and the laser beams are spread in the light irradiation devices 30 and 30' as described above and then parallelized. A reflector body equipped with a lens group that converts light into light and a plurality of reflector groups that form multiple parallel light beams.
and a plurality of controllable light blocking devices installed in their optical paths, so that a plurality of electrically controllable parallel beams can be irradiated onto the surface of the optical recording material 83.

The light irradiation devices 30 and 30' are shown in FIG.
Although not shown in Figure 0, it is electrically connected to the computer using a flexible wiring board or the like via an appropriate connector, so that electrical signals can be exchanged.

For example, it is possible to stably receive power supply for laser beam oscillation from a computer, supply drive power to the plurality of light cutoff devices, and exchange signals and power supply from the detection devices 31 and 31'.

In this embodiment, the computer and the light irradiation device 3
Although the exchange of signals with 0 and 30' was mainly performed by electrical coupling, this example is not limited to this.
Signals may be transmitted optically using glass fibers, light emitting/receiving elements, etc., or magnetic coupling may be used.

Next, the operation of the optical reading device, which is one of the electronic devices of the present invention, will be explained. The plurality of parallel light beam groups 5'' emitted in parallel as described above are irradiated onto the optical recording material 83 to be written.

The optical recording material 83 used here is mainly composed of a pendant type polymer compound of a derivative of an azobenzene compound whose optical properties change upon irradiation with a specific light, and other materials such as a spectral sensitizer and an energy transfer agent. These materials may be applied alone or in sheets of appropriate thickness.

When the writing light is irradiated, the optical characteristics of the irradiated portion of the optical recording material 83 change to become the irradiated portion 84, and the non-irradiated portion 85 changes, thus making it possible to record information.

FIG. 11 shows an example of the absorbance spectral characteristics of the optical recording material used in this example.

Writing and reading of optical information to and from the optical recording material 83 are performed using different wavelengths, or when using the same wavelength, electrical bias is applied. Furthermore, in order to stabilize writing and reading, an electrical bias may be applied even when writing and reading are performed at a different wavelength. Further, a reflective layer 86 is formed on the side that is not irradiated with light, so that optical writing and reading can be performed efficiently. Furthermore, the reflective layer 8
6 may be placed in the middle of the optical recording material.

However, since the parallel light beam group 5' can narrow down the irradiation area well, it is possible to selectively irradiate only the area with a uniform cross-sectional shape with very high precision. The surface of the optical recording material 83 in the irradiated portion 84 has a very high precision and regular shape, and optical properties such as light absorption coefficient can be changed. In the case of reading, a plurality of parallel beams 5 emitted in parallel as described above are irradiated onto the optical recording material 83 to be read.

However, since the parallel light beam group 5 can narrow down the irradiation area well, it is possible to selectively irradiate only the reading area, and therefore the light is reflected from the irradiated area. Detection devices 31, 31'
Since the reflected light beams 41 and 41' incident thereon mainly contained only the information of the irradiated portion, it was possible to read the optically recorded information very well.

On the other hand, if the irradiation area of the parallel light beam group 5 is set to be different from the irradiation area of the parallel light beam group 5'', the installation tolerance of the light irradiation devices 30, 30' can be increased. The effect was that assembly became extremely easy.

[0122] Furthermore, by summing or subtracting each of the output signals from the light detection devices 31 and 31', the influence of unevenness on the document surface can be reduced, and information about the unevenness can be read out. You can

[0123] The optical reading device of the present invention can perform high-speed reading because the dissipation of the emitted light is smaller than that of an ordinary optical reading device using a group of light emitting diodes or a lamp.

[0124] Furthermore, the shape of the cross section of the parallel light irradiated to the reading area is very well arranged, and the boundary between the reading area and the non-reading area is also clear, allowing reading with an extremely high S/N ratio. I was able to do it.

[0125] Also, compared to an ordinary optical reading device, which uses a polygonal prism rotating reflector to perform writing or reading while optically scanning a narrowed laser beam, the irradiated light beam is The cross-sectional shape of the image is uniform, and not only the boundaries of the image are clear, but also the intervals between the minute irradiation points that make up the image are equal, so the overall recorded information and S/N ratio during reading are consistent from the corner to the corner. It was found that writing and reading could be performed uniformly and well even to the corners.

[0126] Therefore, when compared with any of the above-mentioned normal optical recording devices, when a high-density optical recording device is used, there is a difference in writing and reading quality, and the reliability is improved. It was done.

[0127]

Effects of the Invention As described above, since the light irradiation device of the present invention shapes the irradiation light into parallel light, the light does not dissipate and can be uniformly selected around the target area. It has the effect of being able to perform high-intensity light irradiation, and uniformly irradiating any elongated portion that requires light irradiation with no light dissipation.

Furthermore, since the irradiated light is shaped into parallel light,
It is possible to improve the cross-sectional shape of the parallel light 5 by inserting a slit or the like with a predetermined shape into the light beam, or to arbitrarily control the irradiation distribution by inserting a mask plate or the like with multiple fine holes formed therein. It also has the effect of being able to be set.

Furthermore, since the light does not dissipate, not only can high-intensity light irradiation be performed, but even if multiple light blocking devices consisting of light blocking elements are installed in the optical path, they will not be able to reach the target area. The structure is simple because it does not require a rotating polygonal reflector, its rotation mechanism, or rotation control mechanism to sequentially scan the light beam to specific irradiated areas. Not only does this have the effect of making the device more compact, but it also has the effect of simplifying the structure of an electronic device using the device.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing main components of a light irradiation device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram including a partial cross section explaining the functions of the main components of the light irradiation device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a light blocking device used in the light irradiation device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view for explaining the main components inside the light shaping unit 8 installed inside the light irradiation device of the present invention and the locus of the light beam passing through it.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram including a partial cross section explaining the functions of main components of another light irradiation device of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing the main components of an electronic device using the light irradiation device of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing main components of another electronic device using the light irradiation device of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing main components of another electronic device using the light irradiation device of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing main components of another electronic device using the light irradiation device of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing the main components of another electronic device using the light irradiation device of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing the spectral absorption characteristics of the optical recording material used in the electronic device of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Laser beam emitter 2 Orthopedic lens group 3,12 Concave lens group 4,12’ convex lens group 5' Parallel light beam 5,5'' Parallel light beam group 6 Reflector 7 Optical axis (in the direction of light emission) 8. Light shaping unit 9. Light shaping slit part 10 Reflector group 11 Focused light 15 Optical shutter 16 Light blocking element 17 Light transmission window

Claims (5)

[Claims] [Claim 1] The laser beam emitter is mainly composed of a laser beam emitter, a means for converting the laser beam emitted from the laser beam emitter into parallel light, and a plurality of light reflecting means arranged in a stepwise manner for reflecting the parallel light. , stretching the laser beam in a direction including a line perpendicular to the light emission direction, and making the stretched laser beam substantially parallel to the emission direction in a plane defined by the emission direction and the perpendicular line; A light irradiation device characterized in that a plurality of light beams are generated by dividing and reflecting the plurality of light beams using the plurality of light reflection means installed so as to stand within a plane, A light irradiation device characterized by comprising a group of light blocking elements for control. 2. The light irradiation device according to claim 1, further comprising means for shaping the laser beam. 3. The light irradiation device according to claim 2, further comprising means for condensing or diffusing the divided laser beams. 4. The light irradiation device according to claim 1, wherein an electromechanical conversion element is used as the light blocking element. 5. An electronic device comprising the light irradiation device according to claim 1, 2, 3, or 4.