Agfa-gevaert Ag

Michael Resch

Josef Pfeifer

Rudolf Paulus

Walter Gutmann

An image is formed on a recording medium by illuminating a multitude of points on the surface of the recording medium to form lines of image points. Relative movement is effected between the recording medium and a plurality of light-emitting diodes. The light-emitting diodes are arranged in a plurality of rows. Each row extends parallel to the direction in which a line of image points to be formed upon the recording medium extends. The rows are arranged successively in the direction of relative movement. A plurality of projector lenses is operative for projecting reduced-scale images of the light emitted by the light-emitting elements of the plurality of rows onto a portion of the recording medium on which a single line of image points is to be formed. The projector lenses are arranged in a plurality of lens rows, each of which extends parallel to the direction of the line of image points to be formed. The lenses of each row project the light emitted by the elements of only a single respective one of the rows of light-emitting elements. Successive lenses within each lens row project onto the recording-medium line images of the light emitted by successive respective groups of the light-emitting elements of the associated row of light-emitting elements.

Recording device

An image consisting of a multitude of image points is formed by effecting relative transport between a plurality of light-emitting diodes and a recording medium. The diodes are arranged in rows. The rows are arranged successively in the transport direction. The rows extend at an angle relative to the transport direction. The diodes of each single row are offset relative to those of the other row, in direction transverse to the transport direction, by an amount equal to the distance between adjoining diodes in a single row divided by the number of rows, and/or multiples of that amount. Each diode is provided with an optical unit which projects onto the recording medium a reduced image of the light emitted by the diode. The diode-control signals corresponding to a single line of image points of the image to be formed are applied to the individual diodes with different respective time delays dependent upon the rate of transport and corresponding to the different distances among the rows as measured in the transport direction.

Recorder

Relative movement is effected between a recording medium and a row of light-emitting diodes (LED's). The row of LED's extends parallel to the direction in which the line of image points to be formed extends, and transverse to the direction of relative movement. Reduced-scale images of the LED's are projected onto the line on the recording medium on which the line of image points is to be formed. The LED's and/or the optical units forming the reduced-scale images are oscillated in a direction parallel to the direction in which the line of image points to be formed extends. Each image of an LED sweeps a straight linear region on the recording-medium line at least equal in length to the distance between adjoining LED's of the LED-row. During each n.sup.th half-period of oscillation, a succession of control signals is applied to each LED, determining a succession of adjoining image points which the respective LED forms upon the recording-medium line in question; n is an integer. The resultant line of image points contains a number of image points equal to an integral multiple of the number of LED's in the row of LED's.

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Munich, Germany

Michael Resch