Brother Kogyo Kabushiki-kaisha

Masaaki Terazawa

Michio Tsuchiya

Kazuhiro Kuwabara

Yutaka Nonomura

Ryohei Komiya

Shuji Otsuka

Kouichi Mino

Tatsuya Satou

Koji Takeyama

Koji Matsumura

A scanner device can be used in a facsimile machine or the like for reading a document on line basis. Each line of the document is read on pixel basis while irradiating a light onto the document. The scanner device includes an image sensor which receives a light reflected from the document and converts the light to an analog electrical signal. A controller controls the reading operation of the image sensor. A comparator translates the analog electric signal into a binary signal. The binary signal is stored in a shift register wherein the contents therein represents an image of a preceding line with respect to the present line being read by the image sensor. A threshold value applied to the comparator to read the present line image is varied depending upon the preceding line data stored in the shift register. As such, images on the document can be read with excellent fidelity, particularly when a fine line extending in a main scanning direction is present on the document.

Scanner device having a binary signal depending upon density level of

Disclosed herein is a thermal recording apparatus used, in facsimile machines, printers, etc., comprising a thermal head, a driving circuit and a temperature compensation circuit. The head has heating resistors which, driven by the driving circuit, generate heat by which to thermally record images, characters and other information on a recording medium. The temperature compensation circuit, detecting thermal head temperatures, has a charging-discharging circuit whose output charging-discharging signal varies with the temperature detected. The compensation circuit also comprises a reference signal generation circuit and an output circuit, the reference signal generation circuit outputs a reference signal to the output circuit based on information by which to control the head temperature suitably under various internal and external conditions affecting the head temperature inside and apparatus. The output circuit acquires information on actual head temperatures from the charging-discharging signal. The circuit obtains information from the reference signal on the status of the apparatus and any external factors affecting it. Based on these types of information, the output circuit outputs a temperature compensation signal. The driving circuit drives the heating resistors according to the compensation signal.

Head driving pulse generation circuit for thermal recording apparatus

A recording apparatus for recording images in the form of a multiplicity of dots, including a print head having a linear array of dot-forming elements for forming dots along a straight line, a supporting device for supporting a recording medium in facing relation with the print head, a feeding device for feeding the recording medium and the print head relative to each other in a feeding direction which intersects the straight line of dots, and a control device for controlling the dot-forming elements to effect a primary recording operation for recording a plurality of primary lines according to respective sets of primary line data, such that the primary lines are equally spaced from each other in the feeding direction. The control device controls the dot-forming elements to also effect a secondary or supplemental recording operation for recording at least one secondary line between adjacent two lines of the plurality of primary lines, according to secondary line data. The secondary line data is prepared based on at least one of the two sets of primary line data which represent the adjacent two primary lines, respectively, such that the secondary lines improve a quality of the images recorded on the recording medium.

Recording apparatus having linear array of dot-forming elements for

A thermal printer for printing on a planar recording medium, by heating and thereby coloring a thermally fusible material on the medium. The printer has a thermal print head having heat-generating elements each of which produces heat in contact with the surface of the recording medium, a feeding device for feeding the print head and the recording medium relative to each other, and an anti-sticking device for moving the print head and the recording medium relative to each other, to thereby prevent the print head and the surface of the recording medium from sticking to each other, when the heated thermally fusible material is solidified.

Thermal printer having control arrangement for protecting print head

Is disclosed a thermo-magnetic recording device in which a magnetized latent image is produced on a magnetic layer which is initialized through unidirectional magnetization thereof, in the process of locally heating the magnetic layer. The thermo-magnetic recording device includes: (a) a heat generating roller for heating a local portion of the magnetic layer, through contact of an outer surface of the roller with the local portion of the magnetic layer; and (b) a magnetic-field generating device for generating, at the local portion of the magnetic layer, a magnetic field which has the same N-S direction as that of the unidirectional magnetization, and thereby initializing the magnetic layer.

Growing community of inventors

Ichinomiya, Japan

Masaaki Terazawa