Abstract

The IBM 3800 printer combines laser optical and electrophotographic technologies to produce high quality nonimpact printing at speeds of 25,000–45,000 characters/sec. The 3800 operates by exposing a photosensitive drum with an acoustooptically modulated laser beam which is scanned parallel to the drum axis. For each sweep of the laser beam, the continuously rotating photosensitive drum advances one raster line. Characters are exposed in a matrix form similar to the television raster technique giving the printer system flexibility for software selection of character font, character pitch, and number of lines per inch. Laser produced data can be merged on the drum with an optically exposed forms overlay.

© 1976 Optical Society of America