(19)
(11) EP 0 342 607 A3

(12) EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION

(88) Date of publication A3:
03.04.1991 Bulletin 1991/14

(43) Date of publication A2:
23.11.1989 Bulletin 1989/47

(21) Application number: 89108780.1

(22) Date of filing: 16.05.1989
(51) International Patent Classification (IPC)4: G03B 27/54, H01J 61/10, H01J 61/78, H01J 61/54, H01J 61/56
(84) Designated Contracting States:
DE FR GB

(30) Priority: 16.05.1988 JP 118704/88
17.03.1989 JP 65029/89

(71) Applicant: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
Shinjuku-ku Tokyo-to (JP)

(72) Inventor:
  • Ichinose, Shuichi
    Suwa-shi Nagano-ken (JP)

(74) Representative: Hoffmann, Eckart, Dipl.-Ing. et al
Patentanwalt, Bahnhofstrasse 103
82166 Gräfelfing
82166 Gräfelfing (DE)


(56) References cited: : 
   
       


    (54) COLOR IMAGE INPUT UNIT HAVING A RARE GAS CATHODE DISCHARGE TUBE


    (57) A rare gas cold cathode discharge tube (1) is provided with a conductive member (15) nearby a main electrode (13-a), allowing to stabilize the quantity of emitted light even when an intermittent lighting with a period of several mil­liseconds is carried out. The use of such rare gas cold cathode discharge tube as lighting apparatus allows an ima­ge input unit to be realized which is moderate in cost and less space-consuming, still ensuring a color correction function to enhance the color reproducibility of a printing output of the read image and a light adjusting function of the lighting apparatus to enhance the S/N ratio of the read image.







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