Electronic printer or scanner using a fiber optic bundle

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION FIG.
1 shows an optical subsystem 10 in accordance with the principle of this invention.
The subsystem includes a fiber optic bundle 11 having the fiber ends at a first face of the bundle organized along a line 12.
The fiber ends at the opposite end of the bundle are organized in a ring or annulus in an area or second face 14.
The subsystem also includes a linear array of light sources 15.
A lens system (two lens l.
sub.
1, and l.
sub.
2 typically) images the array of light sources through a prism 16 onto the annular face.
Prism 16 bends the collimated light through it to cause the image of the light source array to "rotate" through a sequence of rectilinear segments of the annulus.
FIG.
2 shows the annular area face 14 of the fiber optic bundle with the images of linear and rectilinear segments, corresponding to the array of light sources, designated 20 and 21 respectively.
Light source controller 22, of FIG.
1, is operative to control the on-off states of the light sources of array 15.
Specifically, print video data signals are applied to an input to controller 22.
Start-stop signals are applied to a second input to controller 22.
The output of controller 22 is connected to input to array 15.
Thus, data representative of stored images in memory are determinative of the states of the light sources in array 15 during "on" periods corresponding to ones of consecutive linear (or rectilinear) segments (20) of the annulus.
For a printer implementation, the linear face 12 of the fiber optic bundle is imaged onto a linear segment of, for example, an electrostatic belt represented by block 25 designated "photoresponsive medium" in the figure.
In order to selectively discharge a linear segment of an electrostatic belt, properly, all the pixels in face 12 have to be present.
In order for all those pixels to be present, linear image 20 has to be moved through a succession of positions about annulus 14 and controller 22 operates on array 15 to provide the subset of on-off states (video data) for each such linear segment position