A new addition to the intelligent opto sensors (IOS) Linear Array Family, the TSL218 is a 512 charge mode pixel array. The TSL218 expands the family of linear sensors currently available from Texas Instruments, which includes the TSL213 (64X1) and TSL215 (128X1) linear arrays. All these offer a simple and economic alternative to CCD imagers in line scanning applications.
Operating from a single 5 V power supply and requiring only a CLOCK and SI pulse, the device is very simple to use. Each pixel measures 120 µm X 70 µm with a 125 µm center to center spacing (200 DPI pitch), with a maximum clock frequency of 500 kHz.
The TSL218 is designed for contact imaging thus eliminating the need for costly optics, and therefore reducing the total system cost. A simple SELFOC® lens array between the TSL218 and the object being viewed will present a crisp image to the charge mode pixels and the resulting voltage is shifted onto the analog output line serially. The value of the analog output voltage is a product of the light level and the integration time. Sixteen gray scales provide enough resolution to scan black and white documents.
Because the length of the TSL218 linear array is almost 3 inches (7.5 cm), it provides a single unbroken scan of information without needing to stagger and integrate information from several shorter arrays. The TSL218 is ideal for applications such as paper currency scanning, lottery ticket readers, and business card scanners. In addition to scanning applications, the TSL218 is ideal for level sensing.
Vol 13, September, 1995
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