Patent ID: 11924941
Assignee: ROHM CO., LTD.
Field: Electrical machinery, apparatus, energy (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H  B  F | IPC B  F  H

Claim 11:
12. A light emission control device comprising:
a controller configured to be able to perform control whereby to light or extinguish individually a plurality of light-emitting elements included in a light-emitting element array;
a clock generator configured to be able to generate a clock signal with a variable characteristic; and
a clock terminal,
the light emission control device operating in either a first mode or a second mode,
wherein the controller and the clock generator are configured such that,
in the first mode, in which the clock signal generated by the clock generator is fed to the clock terminal,
the controller, when triggered by fulfillment of a predetermined condition, performs a first driving sequence in which the controller sequentially switches between lit and extinguished states of the light-emitting elements in the light-emitting element array synchronously with the clock signal, and
the clock generator, at a particular time point after a start of the first driving sequence, changes a characteristic of the clock signal from a predetermined first characteristic to a predetermined second characteristic, and

in the second mode, in which the clock generator ceases to feed the clock signal to the clock terminal and another clock signal generated by another light emission control device is received at the clock terminal,
the controller, after a characteristic of the another clock signal received at the clock terminal is changed from the first characteristic to the second characteristic, performs a second driving sequence in which the controller sequentially switches between lit and extinguished states of the light-emitting elements in the light-emitting element array synchronously with the another clock signal, and
determines a time point at which to start the second driving sequence with reference to a time point at which the characteristic of the another clock signal received at the clock terminal is changed.