Claims
- 1. A method for optically scanning a flat image, comprising a sequence of the following steps;
providing an optical sensor array; supporting a flat medium to be optically scanned by the sensor array during a scanning cycle; providing relative motion between the sensor array and the medium such that a spiral locus is defined by the sensor array relative to the media during an optical scanning cycle; and collecting sensor data representing the image during the optical scanning cycle.
- 2. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of providing relative motion is accomplished without causing the sensor array to stop and reverse its direction periodically during the scanning cycle.
- 3. The method of claim 1 wherein said sensor array is mounted on an arm which radiates from a center of coordinates, and wherein said step of providing relative motion includes moving the nozzle array outwardly on the arm from the center of coordinates while rotating the medium about the center of coordinates.
- 4. The method of claim 3 wherein the sensor array spans a first distance in a direction extending radially from the center of coordinates, and said step of providing relative motion includes moving the sensor array radially at a rate such that the sensor array is moved radially by a distance equal to the first distance for each complete rotation of the medium about the center of coordinates.
- 5. The method of claim 3 wherein the sensor array spans a first distance in a direction extending radially from the center of coordinates, and said step of providing relative motion includes moving the sensor array radially at a rate such that the sensor array is moved radially by a distance which is less than the first distance for each complete rotation of the medium about the center of coordinates.
- 6. The method of claim 3 wherein the sensor array includes a plurality of sensor elements including an outermost sensor relative to the center of coordinates, and the step of collecting sensor data includes sampling the sensor elements at a constant rate, and the step of providing relative motion includes varying the rotation rate of the medium to achieve a substantially constant tangential velocity of the outermost sensor element of the sensor array.
- 7. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of providing relative motion between the sensor array and the medium includes moving the sensor array radially at a rate selected to provide a partial overlap of the sensor array relative to the medium during the scanning cycle.
- 8. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of providing relative motion between the sensor array and the medium includes moving the sensor array radially at a rate selected to provide a partial underlap of the sensor array relative to the medium.
- 9. The method of claim 3 wherein the sensor array includes a plurality of optical sensor elements, and the step of collecting sensor data during a scanning cycle includes sampling the sensor elements at a varying sampling rate, and the step of providing relative motion includes varying the rotation rate of the medium to achieve a substantially constant tangential velocity of a given sensor element comprising the sensor array.
- 10. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of providing relative movement includes moving the sensor array radially by a distance which is large enough to provide swept coverage of the sensor array over the entire area of the medium.
- 11. An optical scanning system, comprising:
an optical sensor array comprising a plurality of sensor elements for collecting image data during an optical scanning cycle; a flat medium positioned relative to the sensor array to permit optical sensing of an image carried by the flat medium during an optical scanning cycle; apparatus for providing relative motion between the sensor array and the medium such that a spiral locus is defined by the sensor array relative to the media during an optical scanning cycle.
- 12. The scanning system of claim 11, wherein said apparatus for providing relative motion is adapted to provide said relative motion without causing the sensor array to stop and reverse its direction periodically during the scanning cycle.
- 13. The scanning system of claim 11 wherein said apparatus for providing relative motion between the sensor array and the medium is adapted to move the sensor array radially at a rate which provides a partial overlap of the sensor array relative to the medium during the scanning cycle.
- 14. The scanning system of claim 11 wherein said apparatus for providing relative motion between the sensor array and the medium is adapted to move the sensor array radially at a rate which provides a partial underlap of the sensor array relative to the medium.
- 15. The scanning system of claim 11 further comprising:
a carriage for holding the sensor array, said carriage mounted for movement along a carriage axis extending through an center of coordinates; and an arm structure for supporting the carriage for said movement along said carriage axis; and wherein said apparatus for providing relative motion includes a carriage drive apparatus for moving the optical sensor array outwardly on the arm from the center of coordinates and a turntable drive for rotating the medium about the center of coordinates.
- 16. The scanning system of claim 15 wherein the sensor array spans a first distance in a direction extending radially from the center of coordinates, and said carriage drive apparatus is adapted to move the sensor array radially at a rate such that the sensor array is moved radially by a distance equal to the first distance for each complete rotation of the medium about the center of coordinates.
- 17. The scanning system of claim 15 wherein the nozzle array spans a first distance in a direction extending radially from the center of coordinates, and said carriage drive apparatus is adapted to move the sensor array radially at a rate such that the sensor array is moved radially by a distance which is less than the first distance for each complete rotation of the medium about the center of coordinates.
- 18. The sensor system of claim 11 further comprising a controller for generating sampling commands to cause said sensor array to sample pixels from a given sensor element comprising the sensor array at a constant rate for the scanning cycle, and the apparatus for rotating the medium is adapted to vary the rotation rate of the medium to achieve a substantially constant tangential velocity of the given sensor element.
- 19. The scanning system of claim 11 further comprising a controller for generating sampling commands to cause said sensor array to sample image pixels at a varying rate for the scanning cycle.
- 20. The scanning system of claim 11 wherein the apparatus for providing relative movement is adapted to move the sensor array radially by a distance which is large enough to provide swept coverage of the sensor array over the entire area of the medium.
- 21. A multi-function scanner/printer system, comprising:
an optical sensor array comprising a plurality of sensor elements for collecting image data during an optical scanning cycle; a flat medium positioned relative to the sensor array to permit optical sensing of an image carried by the flat medium during an ink jet printing cycle; apparatus for providing relative motion between the sensor array and the medium such that a spiral locus is defined by the sensor array relative to the media during an optical scanning cycle; a memory for storing image data collected by the optical sensor array during said optical scanning cycle; an ink jet pen having a nozzle array; apparatus for providing relative motion between the nozzle array and the medium such that a spiral locus is defined by the nozzle array relative to a flat print medium during an ink jet printing cycle.
- 22. The system of claim 21 further comprising a controller adapted to control said ink jet pen during a printing cycle using image data collected during said scanning cycle to produce a copy of said scanned image.
- 23. The system of claim 21, wherein said apparatus for providing relative motion to said sensor array is adapted to provide said relative motion without causing the sensor array to stop and reverse its direction periodically during the scanning cycle.
- 24. The system of claim 21 further comprising:
a carriage for holding the sensor array and said ink jet pen, said carriage mounted for movement along a carriage axis extending through an center of coordinates; and an arm structure for supporting the carriage for said movement along said carriage axis; and wherein said apparatus for providing relative motion includes a carriage drive apparatus for moving the optical sensor array outwardly on the arm from the center of coordinates and a turntable drive for rotating the medium about the center of coordinates.
- 25. The system of claim 24 wherein the sensor array spans a first distance in a direction extending radially from the center of coordinates, and said carriage drive apparatus is adapted to move the sensor array radially at a rate such that the sensor array is moved radially by a distance equal to the first distance for each complete rotation of the medium about the center of coordinates.
- 26. The sensor system of claim 24 wherein said sensor array is adapted to sample image pixels at a constant rate for the scanning cycle, and the apparatus for rotating the medium is adapted to vary the rotation rate of the medium to achieve a substantially constant tangential velocity of the sensor array.
- 27. The sensor system of claim 21 further comprising a controller adapted to control the ink jet pen and the apparatus for providing relative motion between the nozzle array and the print medium to provide a print mode wherein ink droplets are ejected by the pen at predetermined pixel positions on the print medium, and said controller is further adapted to control the sensor array and the apparatus for providing relative motion between the sensor array and the medium carrying the image to provide a scan mode wherein the image data collected during an optical scanning cycle correspond in position to said predetermined pixel positions employed during said print mode.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application is related to co-pending application Ser. No. ______, entitled “TECHNIQUE FOR MEDIA COVERAGE USING INK JET WRITING TECHNOLOGY,” attorney docket 10971883-1, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by this reference.