Patent ID: 6262825
Filing Date: 2001-07-17
Classification: G02B,G03F,H04N

Abstract:
An apparatus for the enhanced imagewise exposure of a photosensitive material, the apparatus comprising:an internal drum or flat bed having a rotational axis associated therewith and capable of receiving the photosensitive material;a laser source operatively associated with the internal drum or flat bed and capable of emitting electromagnetic energy in the spectral range to which the photosensitive material is reactive, wherein the electromagnetic energy is capable of operating as an imaging beam to write image data onto the photosensitive material;a spinning deflection assembly operatively associated with the internal drum or flat bed and said laser source, wherein said spinning deflection assembly is capable of directing at least a portion of the electromagnetic energy emitted by said laser source to contact said internal drum or flat bed and to move across said internal drum or flat bed simultaneously or sequentially across an arc segment of the internal drum or flat bed and across a line segment perpendicular to the arc segment and parallel to the rotational axis;a supplemental optical component operatively associated with the spinning deflection assembly, wherein the supplemental optical component is capable of receiving at least a portion of the electromagnetic energy directed by the spinning deflection assembly to contact the supplemental optical component during at least a part of the time when the electromagnetic energy is not being utilized as the imaging beam, and wherein the supplemental optical component is further capable of directing the portion as a backscan beam capable of contacting the photosensitive material at a time interval in advance of the imaging beam; anda control mechanism, operatively associated with the laser source, the spinning deflection assembly and the supplemental optical component, wherein said control mechanism is capable of controlling the characteristics of the electromagnetic energy and the location and the orientation of the spinning deflection assembly and of the supplemental optical component relative to one another and relative to the internal drum or flat bed.