Minolta Camera Kabushiki Kaisha

Kouichi Shingaki

Ken Matsubara

Tomohiko Masuda

Itaru Saito

Hirohisa Kitano

Kenichi Wada

Tsukasa Yagi

Atsushi Fujita

Yuji Enoguchi

Koji Wakamiya

Hiroshisa Kitano

An optical shutter device for use, e.g., in an optical printer includes a plurality of electrooptic chips each having a plurality of very small segments for optical modulation. The optical shutter device has a voltage adjusting circuit which individually supplies the driving voltage to the chips depending on the light transmitting characteristics intrinsic to the chips. Thus, even when the chips have different light transmitting characteristics, the image produced by the chips will have a uniform intensity.

Optical shutter device

A method of and a device for driving a light shutter having an electrooptical effect to polarize an incident light by applying an electric field to the light shutter. When the light shutter is made activate, an excessive electric field in addition to a half-wave electric field which is a specific one to polarize an incident light at 90.degree. in the static characteristics of the light shutter is applied to the light shutter initially, and subsequently, the half-wave electric field only is applied to the light shutter. To discharge the electric charge accumulated in the light shutter, no voltage is applied to electrodes each of which is provided on the wall of the light shutter so as to oppose each other subsequent to the application of the electric field until the next application thereof.

Method and device for driving electrooptical light shutter

A method of driving an electro-optical light shutter for use in a recording apparatus. According to the method, an electric field of a predetermined direction is applied to the light shutter during a recording period and a further electric field having a direction opposite to the predetermined direction is applied to the light shutter during a waiting period.

Method of driving electro-optical light shutter for use in recording

A system for recognizing a detachable article attached to an apparatus, and judging whether the article as mounted in position is genuine. The article can be identified by the predetermined device, whereas the apparatus includes a detector for detecting the device. The apparatus is driven according to a result obtained by the detector. The system of the present invention is particularly suited for a toner bottle, PC unit and so on attached to a copier, printer or other image-forming apparatus.

System for recognizing interchangeable articles

A display apparatus comprising a modulator sandwiched between two polarizers. The modulator includes a plurality of light transmitting windows arranged in a matrix on a substrate having an electrooptical effect. Each window is associated with an electrode pair for forming an electric field across the window. One scanning line electrically interconnects first electrodes in the electrode pairs of the windows arranged in a row. One signal line electrically interconnects second electrodes in the electrode pairs of the windows arranged in a column. A scanning circuit sequentially and individually electrifies the scanning lines. A signal circuit is operable in response to a synchronizing signal received from the scanning circuit and display information for electrifying one of the signal lines connected to the electrode pair of a selected window for forming an electric field. An electric field control circuit provides zero potential difference in the electrode pairs of the other windows than the selected window.

Display apparatus

A light shutter means with a plurality of shutter elements formed of an electro-optical material, the elements being defined independently and three-dimensionally on an upper face of a substantially polyhedral chip and aligned in at least two arrays. Each shutter element has a shutter window for selective light transmission therethrough. A common electrode for the shutter elements extends over opposing faces of the shutter element arrays and to at least one side face of the chip. Each opposing pair of the elements in the one array and in the other array are disposed such that their shutter windows are overlapped with each other as viewed from a direction normal to the direction of element array extension on the chip's upper face.

Light shutter arrays for forming images

A recording apparatus comprising a copying system for projecting the image of an original document onto a photosensitive member to form an electrostatic latent image thereon, and a printing system for forming an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive member in response to image information received from a data processing machine. This recording apparatus is operable in a printing mode and a copying mode. In the printing mode, recording paper carrying an image printed in accordance with the image information is either discharged outwardly of the recording apparatus or forwarded to an automatic document feeder to serve as an original document or documents. In the copying mode, the or each original document is copied a selected number of times as in any conventional copying machine.

Recording apparatus

A driving device for a light shutter array having a plurality of serially aligned shutter elements each having an electro-optical effect to polarize an incident light by applying an electric field thereto. The device includes a plurality of individual electrodes each provided on a wall of a shutter element and a common electrode provided on an opposed wall of the shutter element. A driving pulse voltage is applied to the individual electrodes to activate the same according to recording data for turning ON/OFF the respective shutter elements in a first recording period and according to inverted recording data in a subsequent second recording period. The common electrode is grounded in the first recording period. A pulse voltage same as the driving pulse voltage is applied to the common electrode in the second recording period.

Method and device for driving electro-optical light shutter array

The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus which comprises an optical shutter array having a plurality of optical shutters constructed of material possessing electro-optical effects, polarizing member provided on the entering light side of the optical shutter array, analyzing member provided on the exiting light side of the optical shutter array, actuation voltage impression means for applying an actuation voltage to the optical shutter array based on image signals, a photosensitive member on which an electrostatic latent image is formed by exposure to light transmitted through the optical shutter array, detecting means for detecting a decayed surface potential of the photosensitive member induced by light exposure, compensating means, when the detected value by the detecting means is greater than a predetermined reference value, for changing the actuation voltage applied to the optical shutters until said detected value is less than the reference value, control means, upon detection of the detected value to be less than said reference value, for setting the compensated voltage as a compensated actuation voltage to be applied to the optical shutter array, and which applies the compensated actuation voltage to optical shutters in accordance with the type of light generated by the light source and the spectral sensitivity of the photosensitive member.

Image forming apparatus

An electrooptical light shutter device for use in an optical printer apparatus, comprising a number of shutter elements arrange in the form of at least one linear array, each of the shutter elements having an electrooptical effect, a polarizer disposed on a light-incoming side of the array of the shutter elements, and an analyzer disposed on a light-outgoing side of the array of the shutter elements, wherein the shutter elements have respective shutter windows through which light is to be passed selectively and the shutter windows are arranged to be overlapped by one another in a direction substantially perpendicular to the direction in which the shutter elements are arranged.

Electrooptical light shutter device and printer apparatus using same

An electro-optical light shutter device for use in electrophotographic printers or the like including an elongated plate having an electro-optical effect, a polarizer and an analyzer disposed on the light incident and emergent side of the plate, respectively. The plate is formed with a first groove extending longitudinally thereof, a second groove parallel to the first groove with a predetermined distance having a smaller depth than the first groove and a plurality of third grooves extending in a direction across the first and second grooves having a smaller depth than the first groove but a larger depth than the second groove, and provided with a plurality of projections aligned longitudinally thereof which are divided by the forming of the first, second and third grooves. A common electrode for the plurality of projections in common and individual electrodes corresponding to the respective projections individually are respectively provided in the first and second groove and connected to a drive circuit for selectively applying an electric field to the projections.

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Osaka, Japan

Kouichi Shingaki