Photon Awarded Patent for Beam Profiling Instrument

Photon’s Platen Profiler, which laser printer manufacturers use to build laser printers and printing engines, has officially been awarded Patent No. US 7,366,382. Laser printer optics are designed to produce uniform beams over the printed page, and thus, the correct alignment of the laser printer optics is critical to the clarity of the printed image. These measurements are usually performed in a static situation, where the printing engine is off, and the beam analysis is performed manually. The Platen Profiler analyzes the beam of a laser printer at multiple locations simultaneously, while the laser printing engine is activated, and provides real-time information on laser printer optical performance. In addition to performing the measurements much faster than manual methods, it replaces several separate beam profiler systems used manually with one integrated instrument. The Platen Profiler measures beam profile parameters such as beam diameter, centroid, and beam power at up to sixteen locations. From these multiple locations, laser printing metrics such as scan jitter, scan bow, linearity, polygonal mirror facet-to-facet tilt are obtained. Photon is located in San Jose, California, and is a supplier of beam profiling solutions.