JPH05236206A - Reader - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To attain high speed access and low power consumption with respect to the reader reading information by an optical system from a recording medium. CONSTITUTION:A transparent recording medium 16 is placed on a light source array 12 in which minute cathode ray tube fluorescent elements 22 are arranged in a matrix as a light source. Then, the transmitted light through the recording medium 16 is received on a plane of a light guide plate 13 and the light is emitted from its side face and the light is received by a photodetector 15.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a reader for optically reading information from a recording medium.

In recent years, information devices for individuals such as personal computers have been spreading to general households due to low prices. In such a trend, the importance of portable devices is increasing, and low power consumption, small size and large capacity memory are required. In addition, an image scanner for inputting image information is also required to be inexpensive and easy to operate.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a magnetic disk (hard disk) device and a floppy disk device have been generally used as a memory device, and information recorded by a magnetic head is read from a disk rotated by a motor.

A ROM card is another memory device. The ROM card directly reads the recorded information signal, and has a small size and low power consumption. Also,
There is an optical card as a medium similar to a ROM card, which records and reproduces information on the same principle as an optical disc, and is expected to be popular because it is relatively inexpensive and has a large capacity.

On the other hand, an image scanner is one of the information reading devices. This image scanner generally scans and reads a one-dimensional sensor array.

[0006]

However, since the magnetic disk drive or the like consumes a large amount of power because the motor is driven,
OM cards are expensive. Further, in the case of an optical card, it is necessary to move the card to the head position when writing or reading information, high-speed access is difficult, and power consumption is large. Further, the image scanner has a problem in that it takes time because it mechanically scans, and has poor durability because it has a movable part.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a reading device which has high-speed access and low power consumption.

[0008]

Means for Solving the Problems The above-mentioned problems are as follows. Light sources are arranged in a matrix on a plane, and each light source is sequentially controlled to irradiate a transparent recording medium, and a transmission from the recording medium. An optical waveguide plate that guides light in a predetermined direction with respect to an incident direction, and a photodetector that sequentially receives transmitted light from the recording medium that is guided by the optical waveguide plate and reads information on the recording medium. It is solved by configuring.

[0009]

As described above, the transparent recording medium is positioned on the light source array in which the light sources are arranged in a matrix, and the respective light sources are sequentially controlled. At this time, the light receiving signals are sequentially obtained as time series signals from the photodetector corresponding to each light source.

That is, when the transmitted light according to the information of the recording medium is incident on the optical waveguide plate, the transmitted light is guided in a direction different from the incident direction, and the guided transmitted light is received by the photodetector, and the time series signal is received. Is to read the information on the recording medium.

As described above, the recording medium does not need to be mechanically moved only by being positioned on the light source array, which enables high-speed access and reduces power consumption.

[0012]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the first embodiment of the present invention. In FIGS. 1A and 1B, the reading device 11 is
An optical waveguide plate 13 is located above the light source array 12, and a single photodetector 14 is provided from one side surface of the optical waveguide plate 13 with a light guide section 14 having a light condensing function interposed as appropriate. Then, the transparent recording medium 16 is positioned between the light source array 12 and the optical waveguide plate 13.

The light source array 12 uses a micro-cathode fluorescent element 21 as a light source, which is arranged on a substrate 22 of 60 × 30 mm at a pitch of 10 μm. Then, the lighting control unit 23 sequentially lights the fluorescent elements 21. The lighting control unit 23 includes, for example, horizontal and vertical shift registers.

The recording medium 16 is transparent and is formed by punching disc information, for example. Further, it may be a transparent sheet on which figures, characters, etc. are recorded, or a paper which transmits a sufficient amount of light.

Here, FIG. 2 shows a diagram for explaining the optical waveguide plate of FIG. The optical waveguide plate 13 is, for example, a fluorescent waveguide plate and guides the light incident on the plane to the side surface. Figure 2
In the plastic resin 30, for example, a polycarbonate resin, in addition to the conventionally well-used perylene-based fluorescent dye 31, for example, BBOT (2.5-Bi
s [5'-tert-butylbenzoxazoy1] thiophene) fluorescent dye 32 (in addition to coumarin dye, imidazole dye) or a mixed dye thereof is added.

The BBOT fluorescent dye 32 has an absorption spectrum of about 400 nm and emits fluorescence at an emission wavelength of about 433 nm. On the other hand, the wavelength band of the absorption spectrum of the perylene-based fluorescent dye 31 is widened to around 420 nm on the low wavelength side, and partially overlaps with the wavelength band of the emission spectrum of the BBOT fluorescent dye 32.

Now, in the center of FIG. 2, that is, when the external incident light ray is incident on the BBOT fluorescent dye 32 from the plane and is absorbed, it emits fluorescence of 433 nm and the three ⊚ in the periphery, that is, the perylene system. It enters the fluorescent dye 31, is absorbed, and emits light. On the other hand, apart from that, the perylene-based fluorescent dye 31 directly receives and absorbs an external incident light ray to emit light. The light emitted from the perylene fluorescent dye 31 and the BBOT fluorescent element 32 is extracted as fluorescent light from the side surfaces 13a and 13b of the optical waveguide plate 13.

The optical waveguide plate 13 can obtain high brightness due to the superposition effect of the light emission by the direct absorption of light as described above and the light emission after the BBOT absorption and light emission processes.

The operation of the reading device 11 shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B will be described. First, when the recording medium 16 is inserted between the light source array 12 and the optical waveguide plate 13, the fluorescent element 22 corresponding to each bit of the light source array 12 is sequentially driven by the lighting control unit 23. Light emitted from the fluorescent elements 22 that are sequentially turned on is applied to the recording medium 16 and is transmitted according to information.

The transmitted light transmitted through the recording medium 16 is incident on the lower plane of the optical waveguide plate 13, and fluorescence corresponding to the incident light appears on the side surface. This is received by the photodetector 15 via the light guide section 14. Then, by making the photodetector 15 correspond to each fluorescent element 22 of the light source array 12 and taking out an output,
Signals of "1" and "0" corresponding to the information recorded in each bit of the recording medium 16 are obtained as time series signals.

For example, when the light source array 12 is used in the above size, about 2 Mbytes of information can be recorded on the recording medium 16, and this information can be read at high speed. Further, since it is not necessary to move the recording medium 16 with a motor or the like, power consumption can be reduced, and durability is improved because there is no movable portion. Further, the recording medium 16 can be accessed at high speed without using a semiconductor memory such as an IC card, and the cost can be reduced.

Next, FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of a second embodiment of the present invention. The reading device 11 of FIG.
The microlens array 41 is interposed between the recording medium 16 and the recording medium 16, and other configurations are the same as those in FIG.

The microlens 41 is made of glass or plastic resin, and a condenser lens corresponding to each light source (fluorescent element 22) of the light source array 12 is arranged.
In this case, the condensing ratio and the like are set so that the focal position of each condensing lens is on the surface of the recording medium 16.

As a result, the efficiency of light collection on the surface of the recording medium 16 is improved and crosstalk can be prevented.

In the above-mentioned first and second embodiments,
Although the case where the micro-cathode fluorescent element 22 is used as the light source of the light source array 12 is shown, although not shown, a light emitting diode, a surface emitting laser diode or the like can also be used to obtain the same effect.

Next, FIG. 4 shows a block diagram of a third embodiment of the present invention. The reading device 11 of FIG.
Is composed of a liquid crystal shutter array 51 and a flat light source 52, and is otherwise similar to FIG.

The liquid crystal shutter array 51 has liquid crystal shutters for transmitting and blocking light arranged in a matrix at a pitch of 100 μm, and is driven sequentially by a driver 53. The driver 53 is composed of, for example, horizontal and vertical shift registers. The flat light source 52 is arranged behind the liquid crystal shutter array 51 and irradiates uniform illumination light.

In the reading device 11 in FIG. 4, a recording medium (not shown) is inserted and positioned between the liquid crystal shutter array 51 and the optical waveguide plate 13, and the liquid crystal shutter array 51 is positioned.
The driver 53 sequentially transmits light. The operation principle of reading information from the recording medium is similar to that of FIG. 1 and has the same effect.

In the above description, the case where the recording medium is positioned between the liquid crystal shutter array 51 and the optical waveguide plate 13 has been shown, but the recording medium is positioned between the liquid crystal shutter array 51 and the flat light source 52. Even if it is located, it has the same effect.

[0030]

As described above, according to the present invention, the light transmitted from the recording medium by the light source array is guided in a predetermined direction by the optical waveguide plate and sequentially received by the photodetector, so that the light can be accessed at low cost and at high speed. While you can
Since no moving mechanism is required, power consumption can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the optical waveguide plate of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of reference numerals] 11 reader 12 light source array 13 optical waveguide plate 14 light guide section 15 photodetector 16 recording medium 41 microlens array 51 liquid crystal shutter array 52 plane light source

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A light source array (12) in which light sources (22) are arranged in a matrix on a plane, and each light source (22) is sequentially controlled to irradiate a transparent recording medium (16), and the recording. An optical waveguide plate (13) that guides the transmitted light from the medium (16) in a predetermined direction with respect to the incident direction, and a transmitted light from the recording medium (16) that is guided by the optical waveguide plate (13) are sequentially received. And a photodetector (15) for reading information from the recording medium (16). 2. The light from each light source (22) of the light source array (12) is condensed on the surface of the recording medium (16) between the light source array (12) and the recording medium (16). 2. A reading device according to claim 1, characterized in that the lens array (41) is located. 3. The reading device according to claim 1, wherein each light source of the light source array (12) is composed of a micro-cathode fluorescent element (22). 4. The light source of the light source array (12) is constituted by a light emitting diode.
Or the reading device according to item 2. 5. The reader according to claim 1, wherein each light source of the light source array (12) is constituted by a surface emitting laser diode. 6. The reading device according to claim 1, wherein the light source array (12) comprises a flat light source (52) and a liquid crystal shutter array (51). 7. The reading device according to claim 6, wherein the recording medium (16) is positioned between the flat light source (52) and the liquid crystal shutter array (51).