Patent ID: 6424368
Filing Date: 2002-07-23
Classification: G03F

Abstract:
A system for transferring an image between a computer and a photosensitive image support material, said system comprising:an active flat plate having a plurality of holes therein; a counter-plate parallel to said active flat plate, said counter-plate having a plurality of holes therein, wherein said pluralities of holes in said active flat plate and said counter-plate are operable to suspend the photosensitive image support material between said active flat plate and said counter-plate when air flows through said pluralities of holes; a plurality of image transferring devices of one of illuminable sources of punctiform exposure and detectors, said image transferring devices being located at said active flat plate and being operable to connect to the computer, each of said image transferring devices being operable to illuminate and expose one point corresponding to one pixel on the photosensitive image support material at a time if said image transferring devices are said illuminable sources or being operable to scan one point corresponding to one pixel on the photosensitive image support material at a time if said image transferring devices are said detectors, wherein each of said image transferring devices is located at said active flat plate such that each of said image transferring devices is operable to illuminate, if said image transferring devices are illuminable sources, or operable to scan, if said image transferring devices are detectors, each of a plurality of points in a respective square of a raster of squares which covers the image as a whole, each of the respective squares including a plurality of points of the image, so that a total number of points of the image equals a number of the plurality of points included in each of the respective squares of the raster of squares multiplied by a total number of squares in the raster of squares; a clamp operable to hold the photosensitive image support material; and a biaxial movement system operable to move at least one of said active flat plate and the photosensitive image support material with respect to each other according to digitized coordinates corresponding to the image, wherein said image transferring devices are movable with respect to the photosensitive image support material such that each of said image transferring devices selectively illuminates and exposes, if said image transferring devices are illuminable sources, or scans, if image transferring devices are said detectors, each of the plurality of points in the respective square of the raster of squares successively, so that the image as a whole is addressed on the photosensitive image support material.