JPS6265057A - Synthetic image former - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to imaging systems used in electrophotographic reproduction devices and, more particularly, to imaging systems for use in electrophotographic reproduction devices, and more particularly to imaging systems in which additional information is added by an auxiliary imaging mechanism to create a composite image on a recording medium. The present invention relates to an image forming system configured to form an image.

It is often desirable for document reproduction to modify a manuscript, for example by adding supplementary textual or pictorial information to the manuscript. A typical example is inserting a company's name and address into each copy. Depending on the document, a number, ie, a page, may be required to identify the document.

Composite images are formed by existing methods using a variety of techniques. For example, U.S. Pat. , a technique is disclosed in which a modulated light beam input is directed along a second optical path to the surface of a multilayer stylus belt. The belt is positioned in close proximity to the photoreceptor and is operative to impart a charge pattern onto the previously formed latent image that corresponds to the information contained in the modulated laser beam.

The second method is disclosed in U.S. Pat.
．． No. 385,822. The method disclosed in this patent uses a magnetic recording medium to form a first magnetic latent image in one layer and a second magnetic latent image in a second layer. It is now possible to do so. The formation of the two images is synchronized and the composite latent image is then developed by a development device of specific construction.

The third method is 18M Technical Disclosure
Priten (IBM Technical Disclo
22, No. 12, May 1980, pages 5270-5271. In this technique, a light/lens optical device forms an electrostatic latent image corresponding to the document. Downstream, an ion writing station imparts a specific charge pattern to previously discharged portions of the electrostatic latent image. This charge pattern corresponds to the desired information to be added to the original document image.

These conventional techniques include various problems and have various drawbacks. Laser modulation systems are expensive and require a large amount of space to accommodate the various optical components.

Ion generators and electromagnetic techniques are costly and require precise alignment operations.

According to the present invention, a compact, low-level annotator device is provided that can modify an original document image by adding or replacing information. More specifically, in accordance with the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for forming a composite latent image on a photosensitive surface corresponding to informational areas contained in a document and information to be added to the document, the apparatus comprising: comprising illumination and imaging means for forming a latent image on a photosensitive recording medium and annotator means adjacent the recording material for applying a second latent image pattern within said first latent image area; The annotator means:
a light source partially surrounded by a light collimating reflector;
a two-dimensional lens array, a light modulation device disposed between the light source and the lens array and optically aligned, and a control means for periodically operating the light source and providing a modulation pattern to the modulation device. The modulated light pattern is reflected onto the recording medium by the lens array to form the second latent image information pattern.

FIG. 1 depicts a full-illuminated imaging system utilizing the annotator device of the present invention. It will be appreciated that the present invention may be utilized with a variety of other electrophotographic document reproduction systems, such as line scan systems. Figure 1 shows a three-dimensional optical cavity.
12 and a photoreceptor belt 14 (only a portion of which is shown). The cavity 12 is a completely closed housing having a generally rectangular shape and having a first mutually facing side wall 15.16 and a second mutually facing side wall 18.20. The earth wall or top wall is formed by placing the glass platen 22 within the hole 24. The lower or bottom wall 28 has an aperture 30 in which a circular lens 32 is disposed.

Mounted on the side wall 20 is a flash illumination lamp 34, which is, for example, a xenon gas lamp. The lamp is coupled to a pulse circuit (not shown) which, when activated, sends a pulse signal to the lamp;
This results in flash illumination for a period of time. The interior wall of the cavity has a diffusely reflective surface so that the flash light is reflected off the wall multiple times to provide uniform illumination of the underside of the platen 22. Blockers 36 and 38 prevent light from directly reaching platen 22 and lens 32.

When operating the machine shown in the figure, on the platen 22,
An original (not shown) to be copied is placed. When flash illumination is performed, the document is uniformly illuminated by light that is diffusely reflected from the walls of the cavity. The light beam is reflected from the platen, passes through the lens 32, and is irradiated onto the photoreceptor belt 14 as a light image of the document. The surface of the belt 14 is exposed to a corona generating device 42 at a point before the exposure station.
is charged to a uniform charge level by

When the optical image of the document hits the surface of the belt 14, the information area is discharged and an electrostatic latent image 44 corresponding to the image of the document is formed.

A light shield 50 is disposed on the projection optical path to prevent discharge in an area 52 included in the latent image area 44 of the original. Region 52 thus maintains the sufficient charge level provided by corona generating device 44 and also functions as a region to which auxiliary information is to be added, as will be discussed below.

As the belt moves in the direction shown, the annotator device 5
Pass under 4. This annotator device 54 is under the control of a control circuit 55, as will be described later with reference to FIG.
This pattern corresponds to the auxiliary information to be added. Thus, a composite latent image 44' is formed which is formed during optical lens projection and which partially overlaps the original image 44 corresponding to the document and the light pattern applied thereon. An annotation area (annotation sM area) 52' having a discharged charge pattern.

As the heald continues to move, the belt passes through a development station (not shown) where the composite latent image is developed by being coated with an electrostatically attractable fine powder called toner. . A toner image is thus formed in which the optical image of the original to be copied is modified with the information added by the annotator device 54. Generally,
The developed image is then transferred to a suitable transfer material (for example, porcelain) to fix the cough image. Although the mechanism related to image transfer and fixing after development is not shown in this specification,
Well known in the art, for example, 198
No. 4,318,610 (Brace), issued March 9, 2013, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

Referring now to FIG. 2, an enlarged view of an annotator device 54 is shown, in which several optical elements form a compact sandwich configuration. This sandwich structure is combined with a light source 60, which is preferably a xenon flash lamp.

The lamp is also maintained at a constant flash reserve power value by a power source (not shown). Furthermore, the lamp includes a highly efficient parabolic (i.e. parabolic) reflector 6.
It is located at the center below near the focal point of No. 2. The lamp envelope is also coated with a translucent Teflon layer 64, which acts as a Lambertian emitter and reduces illumination non-uniformities caused by the glass walls of the lamp. The sleeve also acts as an electrical insulator to prevent voltages during lamp starting from shorting to adjacent metal pieces. Below the lamp is a conductive flexible closed path 67 and a zebras (IJ) tube made of an elastic body.
8 are arranged, and together they apply a driving voltage to the light modulator 68. Light from lamp 64 is partially collimated by reflector 62 and impinges on light modulator 68 . The light modulator here is preferably a liquid crystal device. Inputs from control circuit 70 determine the light transmission state of device 69, which light transmission state represents the image information desired to be added to the original document. The light modulator 69 is disposed above a two-dimensional lens array 72, which is preferably an applied optics journal.
rnal) August 18, 1985, 2520-25
This is a thick lens array of the type described on page 25, and this magazine is also cited for reference in this specification. Lens 72 is fixed within lens stand 73 and provides an image corresponding to information electrically formed on light modulator 68 to a region formed within latent image frame 44 . The lens array is constructed to provide good resolution and uniformity of illumination over the desired short total illumination.

Thus, as can be seen from the foregoing description, the annotator device of the present invention can be easily assembled along a centerline and does not require, or at least does not require alignment operations like conventional devices. Reduce unnecessary alignment operations. The elements of the machine are formed in a compact space, typically 1
If a lens array with a total conjugate of 0 mm is used, the height would be 17 mm.

When operating the machine described above, as can be understood by referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the latent image 4 that has already been formed
4, a region 52 (this region is still sufficiently charged due to the action of the light shield 50) is connected to the annotator device 5.
Proceed in the direction shown in the diagram until you pass below No. 4. A control circuit 55 receives the held pitch signal and an input signal representing annotator information. Belt 14 connects lens arrays 72 and 7
2, bringing region 52 into alignment below circuit 55
provides an annotator input signal to LCD array 69 via strip 67 and provides a start signal to lamp 60, causing the lamp to flash.

The lamp is small and its human energy requirements are low (typically 0.3 Joules/flash).

When a lamp flashes, light is emitted from the lamp both directly and indirectly through reflection from a parabolic reflector. This reflector is designed so that the illumination of the modulator 68 has a suitable divergence. The divergence is
Low enough to give high contrast to the annotator, but high enough to maximize lens array throughput.

To further explain the operation, light from lamp 60 is partially collimated by reflector 62 and directed onto the surface of modulator 69. Inputs from control circuit 55 cause the modulator to electrically form an information pattern such that certain discrete areas remain opaque while other areas become transparent. Thus, the information is contained in the transparent part; the partially collimated light is
The surface of region 52 is imaged by lens 72 through the SJ (region 52). Thus, the charged surface of region 52 is discharged in response to the information pattern created by the electrical input, and the surface of region 52 is discharged to form an annotator region 52' and a composite potential. An image 44' is produced. This composite image is developed and transferred to an output copy sheet.

Liquid crystal device 69 is designed to maximize contrast ratio and minimize transient response time. In a preferred embodiment, an optimized Hitachi LMO18 display is used. Further, the lens array 72 is connected to the device 6
9, so that it has an acceptance angle that effectively limits the divergence angle of light passing through the
Device 69 is designed to have high contrast and fast transient speed.

The operation described above is for the case where light from a single flash is incident on a modulator having a complete electrically applied information pattern.

According to the principles of the present invention, it is also possible to form composite information such that line information is formed little by little along the travel path of the photoreceptor. In such a variation, the speed of the additional or modified information pattern formed by the modulator and the speed of the photoreceptor would be synchronized to sequentially energize the flash lamps. In this way, the information portion of the area 52 is corrected little by little from the leading end to the trailing end.

According to a second aspect of the invention, instead of forming the annotator area 52 by blocking a portion of the projected light, it is also possible to first perform a discharge and then recharge the desired annotator area. That is, as understood from FIGS. 1 and 3, the light emitter 52 is removed from the optical path, and the area 52 shown in FIG. 1 is discharged according to the content of the original document. As shown in FIG. 3, the operation of the corona generating device 74 is controlled by a control circuit 55.
controlled by Corona generator 74 at appropriate intervals
By activating the annotator to uniformly charge a specific annotator region, the region is restored to a sufficiently charged state. As the belt advances along the direction shown, region 52 passes through the region of annotator 54 and is marked with information as described above.

In the two embodiments described above, a latent image is first formed and then an additional image is added. However, according to the third aspect of the present invention, a composite latent image can also be formed at the same time. This method requires that the photoreceptor belt 14 be optically transparent; an example of a belt for this purpose is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,265,990, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Quoted in As shown in FIG. 4, in this case the annotator device 54 is located below the surface of the transparent belt 14. Operation of the device 54 is synchronized with the activation of the flashlamp 34. As in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, a light emitter 50 prevents the light from the lamp 34 from impinging on an area 52; this area is discharged by the annotator 52 in accordance with the information area already formed. . In this embodiment, the power required for annotator lamp 60 would increase to compensate for the light attenuation by belt 14.

In the case shown in the above figures, the annotator device is assumed to have a rectangular shape. According to the principles of the present invention, information S of various widths can be obtained using objects of other shapes and sizes.
It is also possible to give M range. In other words, the size of the information to be added to the original image is limited only by the size of the annotator. The length of the additional information can be as long as desired and is only limited by the successive flash times of the illumination lamps.

Other modifications and variations may be made in accordance with the invention. For example, a scanning nostem could be added to the original original image forming system to scan the original in small increments to form a continuous image on the photoreceptor. As another example, instead of using a Teflon sleeve on the lamp, the desired Lambertian emission could be achieved by fronting the lamp envelope.

As yet another example, instead of using a parabolic reflector, partial collimation (of light) can be performed using a parallel lens.

In summary, in accordance with the present invention, a composite imaging system is provided in which the annotation device is extremely compact and easily aligned.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view of an image forming system showing a first embodiment of an annotation apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the annotate device shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 shows a means for preserving the space of the annotate device within the original latent image. FIG. 4 shows still another example of the present invention, in which components of a composite image are formed simultaneously. 14... Photoreceptor held, 34... Illumination lamp, 50
... Light shielding body, 54 ... Anotheque device, 62 ...
Reflector, 68... Light modulator. IG 2 FI6.3 F/G, 4

Claims (10)

[Claims] (1) In a device that forms a latent image of a composite image corresponding to an information area included in a document and information to be added to the document on a photosensitive surface, a first latent image from the document is transferred to a photosensitive recording medium. illumination and imaging means for forming a second latent image pattern thereon; and annotator means for applying a second latent image pattern within the first latent image area; and a light modulation device disposed between and optically aligned with the lens array; and control means for periodically activating the light source and providing a modulation pattern to the modulation device. The second latent image information pattern is formed by projecting a modulated light pattern by the lens array onto a part of the first latent image on the recording medium. Synthetic image forming device. (2) According to claim (1), wherein a light shield is placed in the optical path during the formation of the first latent image, so that the area under the light shield is maintained at the initial charge level. The device described. (3) An apparatus according to claim (2), wherein annotator means is located downstream of said first latent image forming station. (4) The photosensitive recording medium is transparent, the annotator means is disposed below the medium, and the control means is adapted to simultaneously operate the first latent image illumination means and the light source of the annotator means. A device according to claim (2). (5) A charging mechanism is disposed downstream of the first latent image forming station, and the charging mechanism is controlled by the control means to generate a latent image corresponding to an area to be included in the second latent image forming pattern. The device according to claim 1, wherein a portion of the device is adapted to be charged with an electric charge. (6) The device according to claim (1), wherein the light modulation device is a liquid crystal array. (7) The device according to claim (1), wherein the light source is partially surrounded by a light collimating reflector. (8) An annotator device for forming an image on a photosensitive surface arranged centrally in the optical path; the transparent state is achieved by applying an electrical input to a lamp located near the focal point of a parabolic reflector; a light modulator having a density portion whose density can be changed; a two-dimensional lens array disposed on the modulator and the photosensitive medium; and an electrical connection to the modulator that controls operation of the lamp; An annotator device comprising: a control circuit for controlling a signal; and activating a lamp such that a light pattern passing through the modulator is focused onto a photosensitive surface by the lens array. (9) The annotator device according to claim (8), wherein the Teflon lamp enclosure is coated with Teflon. (10) The annotator device according to claim (8), wherein the parabolic reflector partially collimates the light entering the lens array.