Apparatus and method for extending laser life by discontinuous operation

A method for operating a system including a laser, a scanning device, an activity timer, a motor for driving the scanning device, a sensor coupled to the motor for detecting revolutions thereof, and a video pulse counter, comprising the following steps;

• a) turning on the laser;
• b) performing a scan operation to determine the presence or absence of activity in the area being scanned;
• c) if activity is present, restarting an activity timer;
• d) determining whether the activity timer times out to indicate a lack of activity in the area being scanned;
• e) when the activity timer times out, determining the state of the sensor coupled to the motor;
• f) when the sensor output is in one of two states, turning the laser on and resetting the video pulse counter;
• g) following step (f), when the sensor output is in the other of the two states, turning the laser off and getting a video pulse count;
• h) determining whether the video pulse count indicates activity in the area being scanned;
• i) if activity is indicated, restarting the activity timer and returning to step (a);
• j) if no activity is indicated, repeating the steps of turning on and off of the laser, obtaining a pulse count, and determining activity, until activity is indicated.

A method for operating a system including a laser, a scanning device, an activity timer, a motor for driving the scanning device, a sensor coupled to the motor for detecting revolutions thereof, and a video pulse counter, comprising the following steps:

• a) turning on the laser;
• b) performing a scan operation to determine the presence or absence of activity in the area being scanned;
• c) if activity is present, restarting the activity timer;
• d) determining whether the activity timer times out to indicate a lack of activity in the area being scanned;
• e) when the activity timer times out, determining the state of the sensor coupled to the motor;
• f) if the sensor output is in a first state, waiting until it assumes a second state;
• g) when the sensor output is in a second state, turning the laser on and resetting the video pulse counters;
• h) determining the state of the sensor coupled to the motor;
• i) when the sensor output is in said first state, turning the laser off and getting a video pulse count;
• j) determining whether the video pulse count indicates activity in the area being scanned;
• k) if activity is indicated, restarting the activity timer and returning to step (a);
• 1) if activity is not indicated, determining whether the sensor output is in said second state, and if not, waiting until the sensor output is in said second state;
• m) following step (1), determining whether the sensor output is in said first state, and if not, waiting until said sensor output is in said first state;
• and
• n) after step (m), repeating steps (e), (f), (g), (h), (i), (j), (1) and (m) continuously until activity is indicated in step (j).