Brief explanation of matter:

Every Noritsu Laser unit includes three laser guns - 690 nm (RED), 532 nm (GREEN) and 473 nm (BLUE). RED gun is semiconductor laser, both GREEN and BLUE are DPSS. BLUE and GREEN guns for Type A produced by Shimadzu, BLUE and GREEN guns for Type B produced by Showa. Type FF is compromise between good GREEN Showa (as in Type B) and strong BLUE Shimadzu (as in Type A). RED guns are different depending of year of production, because the technology always changes.

There are three AOM (acousto-optical modulators) next to each laser gun (just two in B11 Type FF, there is no AOM next to RED gun). They are necessary to create the correct density of pixels used for exposure. The principle of AOMs is similar to an attenuator. They dim the laserlight according to the input signal and based on BIAS preset determined by Initial Setup. AOMs are connected to AOM drivers situated outside of the laser unit. They are high frequency amplifiers and get their signal from Image PCB. AOM system is absolutely separate and is not connected to Laser Power system.

A number of lens, mirrors and diaphragms are used to create a round spot of each laser beam and transfer them out of the unit, providing a good focus at the right distance after the exit window for sharp exposure.

The Polygon mirror is a stepper motor rotating a hexagonal mirror. Each facet transfers the continious line of pixels into a horizontal sweep. Six lines are printed for each rotation of Polygon mirror.

There are three synchronouos sensors in QSS 30 series and just one in all the other models. They used by the minilab software during initialisation to detect the presence of laser beams and to check polygon speed. Then during printing the same sensors look up for start marks of each line of horizontal exposure for every colour separately to synchronize polygon mirror and AOM Drivers.

Laser Temperature control is based outside of the Laser unit. There are only four passive elements in Laser unit which must be connected to the board - two heaters and two thermoresistors. One pair is for deck temperature control, the second one for RED gun.

List of known laser types together with their drivers:

• QSS 30, A29, Type A - Driver J390656
• QSS 30, A49, Type B - Driver J390727 or J390988
• QSS 31, A35, Type A - Driver J390656
• QSS 31, A77, Type B (Very rare) - Driver J390727 or J390988
• QSS 32, A87, Type A1 - Driver J390973 of J391160
• QSS 32, A70, Type B1 - Driver J390929 or J391231
• QSS 32, B21, Type FF - Drivers J391160 (Blue), J390929 or J391231 (Green)
• QSS 33, A82, Type A1 - Driver J390973 of J391160
• QSS 33, A83, Type B1 - Driver J390929 or J391231
• QSS 33, B20, Type FF - Drivers J391160 (Blue), J390929 or J391231 (Green)
• QSS 34, B21, Type FF - Drivers J391160 (Blue), J390929 or J391231 (Green)
• QSS 35, B11, Type FF (on the picture below) - Drivers J391160 (Blue), J390929 or J391231 (Green)

What we are doing:

Our technology is based on years of researches and experiments. Main problem we experienced is lack of parts due to discontinuing of such aged technologies as used in Noritsu Laser units. We considered many items, manufacturers and methods and now we have stock of ORIGINAL LASER DIODES used in both Types A and B. We have developed a number of solutions for every of major problem, up to producing our own custom-made laser guns, semiconductor Blue (450 nm) and SHG Green (532 nm). We prefer to repair existing customer's units but sometime it is not possible with existing methods and we are getting involved to new fascinating researches and experiments. Hundreds of Laser units were already repaired and some of them were the real victory of engineering mind and could be done exclusively because of patience and trust of some of our dear customers.

We do not have a wet minilabs, our laboratory is fully equiped by the test equipment and jigs to let us check every function of entire Laser unit. We are able to confirm its working condition without testing on the minilab. We give warranty 6 months, but restored units basically operate much longer. Of course we have a few percent's failure rate, and returned units are the best material to learn what went wrong through our total control and keep us motivated to continuous improving our technology. Almost all returns which have been made in few days after repair considered as have been improperly installed back into the minilab. Usually we can not determine any of problem with such units. Those returns, who came back under warranty bring the next problem or developed serious damage, which has been previously eliminated but grew again.

There are a dozens of scenarios, what we do with laser units. Below is just brief explanation of basic matter. Thus the standard repair consists of the following steps:

• External overview. Repair of slight damages, such as wires and connectors if any
• Internal overview. Checking positions and angles of mirrors. Inhaling of screws
• Diagnostics
• Blue gun refurbishment
• Testing program for renewed Blue gun. On-off cycles, warm-up/cool-down cycles, checking for stability, chasing for noise
• Green gun recalibration
• Red gun slightly adjustment
• AOM output inspection. Checking signal paths. Restoring the form of the beams
• AOM crystals re-positioning
• Clean Optics
• Mechanical alignment of the optics
• Inspection of each beam output in front of exit glass. Adjusting factory presets if necessary
• Polygon mirror inspection
• Synchrosensors mechanical checking/adjustment
• Beam Focusing (sharpening)
• Convergence checking/adjustment
• All three beams together test with polygon rotation and reading of synchrosignals
• Power-on at different output levels - Minimum, Normal, Maximum
• Measure and record all the data for further reference and statistic
• Next day full test anew
• Clean up and blow out the internal layout. Close cover

Now you have to understand why we do not accept for repair the separate laser guns. In 70% of cases the repaired gun is insufficient and entire device will not work reliably for a years. We are proud to offer our customers the last and final solution resulting back in stable business. The final stage, the running of newborn Blue before the unit will be shipped out is showed on the picture below: