| 摘要 |
PURPOSE: To collect an ablative substance to prevent contaminations of an optical equipment and a written recording material. CONSTITUTION: An ablation material collecting apparatus for a laser coloring material ablation printing step has a set of walls 16, 18 to define a vacuum chamber open toward a surface of a platen 12, and vacuum sources 30, 36 communicating with the chamber through an opening formed in the walls 16, 18. The opening formed at the walls 16, 18 is disposed on a crosstrack side of the chamber away from areas of a recording element already written and on an intrack side of the chamber downstream with respect to a direction of scanning. A heat source for the chamber inhibits adherence of ablative substance to surfaces of the chamber, and a solvent application prevents buildup of the substance on surfaces of the chamber. An electrostatic air cleaner 32 and a carbon filter 34 clean the discharge air. The wall sets 16, 18 define a semicylindrical end surface, which substantially conforms to the cylindrical shape of a platen surface to thereby form a close fit with the platen surface such that the platen surface forms a wall of the chamber. |
