Abstract: A spatial light modulator has a plurality of grating elements. Each grating element can be switched between a diffracting state and a reflecting state, and only zeroth order light beams from the spatial light modulator are directed onto photosensitive material. An irradiation position on the photosensitive material is moved in a direction perpendicular to a width direction corresponding to an arrangement direction of the grating elements. The minimum line width on the photosensitive material corresponds to a width of a predetermined number of grating elements where the predetermined number is two or more. Each group of grating elements which are spatially continuously in the diffracting state or spatially continuously in the reflecting state consists of the predetermined number of grating elements or more while writing is performed. This makes it possible to appropriately record an image on the photosensitive material at high addressable resolution.

Abstract: A transmission apparatus of an all-terrain vehicle includes: a non-stage transmission; a forward and backward movement switching device capable of switching to a forward movement position, a neutral position, or a backward movement position; and a shift operation device of rotary type for switching forward and backward movement disposed on a handle bar at a position adjacent to a handle grip. The shift operation device includes a rotary member for a shift operation and a locking mechanism for locking the rotary member so as not to move toward at least a position for backward movement from a position for neutral. The locking mechanism is configured to be handled by a hand griping the handle grip to make the locking mechanism unlocked.

Abstract: A spatial light modulator has a plurality of grating elements. Each grating element can be switched between a diffracting state and a reflecting state, and only zeroth order light beams from the spatial light modulator are directed onto photosensitive material. An irradiation position on the photosensitive material is moved in a direction perpendicular to a width direction corresponding to an arrangement direction of the grating elements. The minimum line width on the photosensitive material corresponds to a width of a predetermined number of grating elements where the predetermined number is two or more. Each group of grating elements which are spatially continuously in the diffracting state or spatially continuously in the reflecting state consists of the predetermined number of grating elements or more while writing is performed. This makes it possible to appropriately record an image on the photosensitive material at high addressable resolution.

Abstract: An illumination lens applies a laser beam emitted from a laser light source onto a light valve. The laser beam divided into a number of beams and modulated in the light valve is reflected by a total internal reflection prism so that the optical path thereof is bent, and thereafter passes through a zoom lens to be focused on a recording medium mounted on the surface of a drum. At this time, an image of a single pixel is recorded with a plurality of adjacent laser beams in a subscanning direction (direction of arrangement of the laser beams). The image can be recorded on the recording medium with sufficient power density.

Abstract: A laser source emits a laser beam having a peak wavelength within the range from 800 nm to 820 nm. The laser beam emitted from the source passes through an illumination lens, and then impinges on a Grating Light Valve™. The light valve splits the laser beam into a multiplicity of light beams, modulates the multiplicity of light beams in response to image signals, and produces zero-order diffracted signal beams. The zero-order diffracted beams pass through an imaging lens, and are imaged on a recording medium wrapped on the surface of a drum.

Abstract: In an image recording apparatus 1 which records an image on a recording medium 9 by moving an optical head 10 while rotating the recording medium 9 held by a holding drum 7, a photodetector 2 having a plurality of photodetector elements 21 is provided in a range of movement of the optical head 10. In correcting beam intensity, the optical head 10 is positioned so precisely that the photodetector 2 can receive the signal light beams. This constitution makes it possible to detect signal light beams from the light modulator with high S/N ratio as compared with a conventional case where one photodetector element sequentially receives the signal light beams, and therefore possible to correct the beam intensities with high accuracy.

Abstract: An optical head 1 of an image recording apparatus 10 is provided with a light-source water-cooling jacket 41 for cooling a light source 11 and a device water-cooling jacket 42 for cooling the Grating Light Valve 12 and a light-shield water-cooling jacket 43. The optical head 10 is also provided with a mirror 31 for reflecting a light form the light source 11 in a non-recording status and mirrors 32, 33 for reflecting non-signal light beams from the light valve 12, and the lights from these mirrors are directed to the light-shield water-cooling jacket 43. Further, a refrigerant from a chiller unit goes through the light-source water-cooling jacket 41, the device water-cooling jacket 42 and the light-shield water-cooling jacket 43 in this order. With this constitution, it is possible to efficiently cool all the heat sources and in the optical head.

Abstract: A transmission apparatus of an all-terrain vehicle includes: a non-stage transmission; a forward and backward movement switching device capable of switching to a forward movement position, a neutral position, or a backward movement position; and a shift operation device of rotary type for switching forward and backward movement disposed on a handle bar at a position adjacent to a handle grip. The shift operation device includes a rotary member for a shift operation and a locking mechanism for locking the rotary member so as not to move toward at least a position for backward movement from a position for neutral. The locking mechanism is configured to be handled by a hand griping the handle grip to make the locking mechanism unlocked.

Abstract: An optical head 1 of an image recording apparatus 10 is provided with a light-source water-cooling jacket 41 for cooling a light source 11 and a device water-cooling jacket 42 for cooling the Grating Light Valve 12 and a light-shield water-cooling jacket 43. The optical head 10 is also provided with a mirror 31 for reflecting a light form the light source 11 in a non-recording status and mirrors 32, 33 for reflecting non-signal light beams from the light valve 12, and the lights from these mirrors are directed to the light-shield water-cooling jacket 43. Further, a refrigerant from a chiller unit goes through the light-source water-cooling jacket 41, the device water-cooling jacket 42 and the light-shield water-cooling jacket 43 in this order. With this constitution, it is possible to efficiently cool all the heat sources and in the optical head.

Abstract: In an image recording apparatus 1 which records an image on a recording medium 9 by moving an optical head 10 while rotating the recording medium 9 held by a holding drum 7, a photodetector 2 having a plurality of photodetector elements 21 is provided in a range of movement of the optical head 10. In correcting beam intensity, the optical head 10 is positioned so precisely that the photodetector 2 can receive the signal light beams. This constitution makes it possible to detect signal light beams from the light modulator with high S/N ratio as compared with a conventional case where one photodetector element sequentially receives the signal light beams, and therefore possible to correct the beam intensities with high accuracy.

Abstract: Optical fibers are arranged into staggered matrix. Spacer substrates are inserted between rows of the staggered matrix and cover substrates are attached on the top and bottom of the staggered matrix. All fibers are arranged at a constant pitch P/N in a subscanning direction Y without any overlapping therebetween, where the number P is the pitch of the optical fibers in each row and is the number of the staggered matrix. Photo-beams modulated in response to image signals are emitted from light-emitting ends of the optical fibers onto an objective surface. The spacer substrates reduce the arrangement pitch of the optical fibers in the direction Y, facilitating fine image recording.

Abstract: An illumination lens applies a laser beam emitted from a laser light source onto a light valve. The laser beam divided into a number of beams and modulated in the light valve is reflected by a total internal reflection prism so that the optical path thereof is bent, and thereafter passes through a zoom lens to be focused on a recording medium mounted on the surface of a drum. At this time, an image of a single pixel is recorded with a plurality of adjacent laser beams in a subscanning direction (direction of arrangement of the laser beams). The image can be recorded on the recording medium with sufficient power density.

Abstract: A laser source emits a laser beam having a peak wavelength within the range from 800 nm to 820 nm. The laser beam emitted from the source passes through an illumination lens, and then impinges on a Grating Light Valve™. The light valve splits the laser beam into a multiplicity of light beams, modulates the multiplicity of light beams in response to image signals, and produces zero-order diffracted signal beams. The zero-order diffracted beams pass through an imaging lens, and are imaged on a recording medium wrapped on the surface of a drum.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a method of producing a recrystallized-material-member by melting a given zone of a crystalline-material-member and moving the molten zone continuously along the crystalline-material-member to recrystallize a desired region of the crystalline-material-member, wherein dimension of the molten zone of the crystalline-material-member is controlled to be constant and/or quality of crystal of the recrystallized-material-member is controlled to be uniform.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a method of producing a recrystallized-material-member by melting a given zone of a crystalline-material-member and moving the molten zone continuously along the crystalline-material-member to recrystallize a desired region of the crystalline-material-member, wherein dimension of the molten zone of the crystalline-material-member is controlled to be constant and/or quality of crystal of the recrystallized-material-member is controlled to be uniform.

Abstract: An optical beam scanning system for scanning photosensitive material (1) comprises a laser (201), a beam splitter (204) for producing multibeams (LB.sub.a, LB.sub.b), AOM's (207a, 207b), a multibeam adjuster (300) for turning the multibeams to intersect each other at a prescribed point (P.sub.C), a horizontal expander (211), an AOD (213), a vertical expander (214), a deflection direction adjuster (400) for rotating a deflection direction of the multibeams, and a variable focusing mechanism (500) comprising a plurality of object lenses (501-504). A pixel pitch and a spot diameter on the photosensitive material can be changed separately from each other by exchanging the object lenses and by adjusting an angle of intersection of multibeams (B.sub.a, B.sub.b) by means of the multibeam adjuster. Cylindrical lenses of the horizontal and vertical expanders are so positioned that they compensate a cylindrical lensing effect of the AOD.

Abstract: An AOD driver (27) generates a driving signal of an AOD (11), whose frequency varies in response to a sweep signal and whose amplitude varies in accordance with an amplitude control signal. In an initial stage, a constant signal level is stored in a memory (29) and is supplied to the AOD driver. A laser beam is deflected by the AOD and the light intensity thereof is detected by a photo-sensor (14). A signal representing the light intensity is given to a CPU (33) and a corrected amplitude control signal is generated, which is stored in the memory in place of the original amplitude control signal to control the AOD driver.

Abstract: A laser exposure system for use in scanning and recording images, the system comprising subdividing the laser beam from the laser source into several parallel traces of laser beams; modulating the laser beams individually in response to the image signals be means of a multi-channel optical modulator; directing the modulated laser beams through a first mirror and a second mirror so as to enable the laser beams from the second mirror to be in parallel with the reference plane with respect to the sub-scanning direction; varying the distance between the modulator and the first mirror; and adjusting the angles of the first and second mirrors to the reference plane so that a possible decline of the laser beams in the sub-scanning direction is compensated.

Abstract: A laser exposure system for use in scanning and recording images, the system comprising subdividing the laser beam from the laser source into several parallel traces of laser beams; modulating the laser beams individually in response to the image signals by means of a multi-channel optical modulator; directing the modulated laser beams through a first mirror and a second mirror so as to enable the laser beams from the second mirror to be in parallel with the reference plane with respect to the sub-scanning direction; varying the distance between the modulator and the first mirror; and adjusting the angles of the first and second mirrors to the reference plane so that a possible decline of the laser beams in the subscanning direction is compensated.