Method and device for driving electro-optical light shutter array

A driving device for a light shutter array having a plurality of light shutter elements aligned in line, each of the light shutter elements having an electro-optical effect to polarize an incident light by applying an electric field thereto, the device comprising:

• a plurality of individual electrodes each of which is provided on the wall of the respective light shutter elements;
• a common electrode which is provided on the opposite walls of the light shutter elements electrically in common so as to oppose said individual electrodes;
• a first control circuit to which said individual electrodes are connected individually for applying a first pulse voltage thereto at a periodical timing according to data for turning ON/OFF said respective light shutter elements;
• and
• a second control circuit connected to said common electrode for applying a second pulse voltage of the same polarity as that of said first pulse voltage thereto in synchronism with completion of application of said first pulse voltage by said first control circuit.

A driving device for a light shutter array having a plurality of light shutter elements aligned in line, each of the light shutter elements having an electro-optical effect to polarize an incident light by applying an electric field thereto, the light shutter array modulating the incident light according to recording data and transmitting the modulated light to a photosensitive member, the device comprising:

• a plurality of individual electrodes each of which is provided on the wall of the respective light shutter elements;
• a common electrode which is provided on the opposite walls of the light shutter elements electrically in common so as to oppose the individual electrodes;
• recording means for applying a driving pulse voltage to the individual electrode to be activated according to the recording data for turning ON/OFF the respective light shutter element in a recording operation;
• an alternating voltage source;
• and
• switching means for connecting said common electrode with ground in the recording operation of the recording means and with said alternating voltage source after the recording operation.

A method of driving a light shutter array having a plurality of light shutter elements aligned in line, each of the light shutter elements having an electro-optical effect to polarize an incident light by applying an electric field thereto, the light shutter array modulating the incident light according to recording data and transmitting the modulated light to a photosensitive member and including a plurality of individual electrodes each of which is provided on the wall of the respective light shutter element and a common electrode provided on the opposite walls of the light shutter elements electrically in common so as to oppose the individual electrodes, the method comprising:

• a first step of applying a driving voltage with a pulse shape to the individual electrodes of the light shutter elements to be activated according to the recording data for turning ON/OFF the respective light shutter elements while grounding the common electrode;
• and
• a second step of applying the driving voltage with a pulse shape to the individual electrodes of the light shutter elements to be activated according to the inverted data of the recording data while applying a same voltage as the driving voltage to the common electrode;
• wherein said first and second steps are alternately repeated.

A driving device for a light shutter array having a plurality of light shutter elements aligned in line, each of the light shutter elements having an electro-optical effect to polarize an incident light by applying an electric field thereto, the device comprising:

• a plurality of individual electrodes each of which is provided on the wall of the respective light shutter element;
• a common electrode which is provided on the opposite walls of the light shutter elements electrically in common so as to oppose to the individual electrodes;
• means for applying a driving voltage with a pulse shape to the individual electrodes of the light shutter elements to be activated according to the recording data for turning ON/OFF the respective light shutter elements in a first recording period and according to the inverted data of the recording data in a second recording period following the first recording period;
• and
• means for grounding the common electrode in the first recording period and for applying a same voltage as the driving voltage to the common electrode in the second recording period.