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US 5,218,595 AGranted
Device for reading oblong segments of an advancing storage medium
AssigneeThomson-CSF
InventorsJean-Claude Lehureau, Sophie Neubert
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Abstract
A device for reading data from a multitrack magnetic tape or other storage media. The reading device includes an imaging device having a convex mirror and a concave mirror arranged to produce a magnification equal to -1. The device also includes a light source, a cylindrical lens and a detector device. The device is of compact dimensions, yet exhibits only slight aberrations and provides high resolution.
Claims7
A device for reading an oblong zone of an advancing storage medium, comprising:
- a polarized light source focused to illuminate the oblong zone to be read with an illumination beam;
- a transducer reflecting said illumination beam along a first axis back toward said light source as an information-carrying beam;
- a separating cube located along said first axis for separating said image-carrying beam from said incident beam and redirecting said information-carrying beam along a second axis;
- a catoptric imagery device with a concentric concave spherical mirror and a convex spherical mirror, said concave spherical mirror intercepting said information-carrying beam along said second axis and redirecting said information-carrying beam to said convex spherical mirror, said convex spherical mirror being located so as to direct said information-carrying beam back to said concave spherical mirror;
- and
- a detector device receiving said information-carrying beam from said concave spherical mirror and having a useful surface whose shape and dimensions are approximately the same as the shape and dimensions of the oblong zone to be read.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.