JP2000137300A - Film magazine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide technique by which the linkage of a film housing body housing plural films with the print data of the film housed in the film housing body is surely maintained. SOLUTION: This magazine is constituted of a film housing unit for sequentially taking up and housing plural photographic films 1, a print data storage medium 90 for storing the print data of the housed photographic film, and a frame body for holding the film housing unit and the print data storage medium. A film ID is imparted to the photographic film, and the print data is stored in the print data storage medium by setting the film ID as a key. A PC card memory can be used as the print data storage medium.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a film magazine for storing photographic films so that they can be sequentially taken in and taken out.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a photographic film photographed by a camera is brought to a DPE shop and requested to be printed simultaneously. In a photo lab (lab), the photographic film is developed and the visualized image frames are printed on photographic paper. Simultaneously printed photographic paper and developed photographic film are handed over to the customer from the DPE shop. At that time, the negative film is cut in 4 or 6 frame units as a piece negative, and each piece negative is stored in a negative sheet and provided to the customer. Will be returned. At a later date, when additional printing is required, the customer enters the image frame to be reprinted and the number of additional printings in the order slip at the DPE shop, and hands over the negative sheet containing the piece negatives. ). In other words, in the photo printing process, long photographic film is treated in simultaneous printing, and short piece negative is treated in reprinting, but the term photographic film described in this specification includes long photographic film and Includes both short piece negatives.

For efficient printing, it is necessary to put together many orders. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Sho 56-42227 discloses a piece negative between long tapes wound on a reel. Are sequentially stored, a large number of piece negatives are sequentially stored, and a film storage body that supplies the piece negatives one by one in reverse order by rewinding this long tape is disclosed. The print data of the piece negative stored in the body is sequentially recorded on a separately provided magnetic tape. At the printer station, the print data of each piece negative can be obtained by reproducing this magnetic tape.However, since the piece negative container and the magnetic tape are separate, when the paper is transported from the reception station to the printer station, There was a risk that the film storage device could not be collated with the magnetic tape due to a trouble or the like.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a technique for reliably maintaining a film storage body for storing a plurality of films and a link between print data stored therein. It is.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, a film magazine according to the present invention comprises a film storage unit for sequentially winding and storing a plurality of photographic films, and storing print data of the stored photographic films. And a frame for holding the film storage unit and the print data storage medium.

In this configuration, when a print request is received,
Create print data while checking photographic film,
The photographic film is sequentially wound into a film storage unit, and print data for the wound photographic film is written to a print data storage medium. During the printing process, the photographic film is rewound one by one from the film storage unit and supplied to the exposure unit, and the print data is also transmitted to the controller of the printer. Here, the print data includes a print size, the number of prints, and, in the case of reprinting, the position of additional frames.

Therefore, since the photographic film and the print data for the photographic film are integrally stored in the film magazine, the photographic film and the print data are stored between the print request receiving process and the actual exposure process. It does not fall apart. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the photographic film is provided with a film ID, and the print data is stored in the print data storage medium using the film ID as a key. Since the photographic film drawn from the magazine and its print data can be always collated, print processing without errors can be performed.

A preferred embodiment of the print data storage medium incorporated in the film magazine includes a PC card memory. PC card memory is not only thin and compact and does not require much space. It is also relatively inexpensive in itself because it complies with global standards and is widely used, and a controller board for reading and writing is also available. There is an advantage that is easy to do.

As still another preferred embodiment of the print data storage medium, one having a communication function for contactless data transmission with the outside is proposed. For example, IrD
By combining an infrared communication function and a memory element conforming to A, printing can be performed with an external controller in a non-contact manner, so that a data transfer error or the like due to poor contact of a terminal can be prevented.

As a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a film storage unit is provided with a belt member for contacting and holding an outer peripheral surface of a roll obtained by winding a photographic film, and an external power for rotating the roll. It is proposed to comprise a power input for transmitting to the belt member. In this configuration, since the holding of the roll obtained by winding the photographic film and the rotation of the roll are performed by the belt member, even if the outer shape of the roll is not perfect circularity, the film can be stably stored in the magazine. Since the belt member drives the rotation of the roll member, the driving speed of the belt member is kept constant, so that the winding speed and the rewind speed of the photographic film are independent of the outer diameter of the roll member. To be constant. In addition, since the driving force for the belt member is obtained from the outside via the power input unit, the structure of the film magazine is compact.

In one preferred embodiment of the present invention, the photographic film is guided from the outside onto the roll by rotating the roll in one direction, and the photographic film is rotated by rotating the roll in the other direction. There is provided a film entrance for drawing out the photographic film from the body to the outside, and the power input unit is connected to the power output unit of the photographic processing station so as to transmit power when the photographic film is mounted on the magazine mounting unit of the photographic processing station. The film entrance is connected to a film transport line of the photographic processing station so that the film can be transported. According to this configuration, for example, at a photographic processing station such as a reception station or a print station, simply mounting the film magazine on a predetermined mounting portion, the formation of a photographic film transport line, and the transfer from an external power source to the belt member. Since the formation of the power transmission line is completed, the handling of the film magazine becomes easy.

According to the present invention, the print data storage medium is connected to a controller of the photo processing station so that data can be transmitted when the photo magazine is mounted on a magazine mounting portion of the photo processing station. It is proposed to be configured to
The connection capable of data transmission here means a contact form such as insertion connection between a card terminal and a card socket, or Ir connection.
It includes both non-contact types such as facing a DA-compliant infrared port. Other features and advantages according to the present invention will become apparent from the following description of embodiments with reference to the drawings.

[0013]

FIG. 1 is an external view showing an example of a printing system using a film magazine according to the present invention.
And a printing station 300 for sequentially storing photographic films received at the reception station 200 and
Negative magazine 1
00 is adopted. Here, the role of the film magazine in the reprinting process in the printing system will be described. Hereinafter, the photographic film will be referred to as the piece negative 1 and the film magazine will be referred to as the negative magazine 100. However, the present invention is not limited to this. It is not. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the reception station 200 includes a controller 1 that controls the entire operation.
0 and the keyboard 1 connected to the controller 10
1, a monitor 12, an identification medium issuing machine (hereinafter referred to as a sealing machine) 13 for issuing an ID seal 2 as an identification medium and affixing it to the piece negative 1, a viewer 14 for observing a frame image of the piece negative 1, and a piece negative 1 The negative magazine 100 includes a negative transport line 15 for transporting, and a magazine mounting section 16 for mounting the negative magazine 100.

As a reprint order, when the DP bag 3 containing the piece negative 1 and containing reprint information such as the target frame number, the number of prints, and the print size is brought into the reception station 200, the operator enters the DP bag 3 The user takes out the piece negatives 1 from the printer, checks them one by one with the viewer 14, operates the keyboard 11, and inputs various reprint data to the controller 10 while viewing the reprint information specified by the customer. At that time, the controller 10 issues an order ID, here a 5-digit number, in order units, that is, in order units. In other words, 1 order is 1 in the case of reprint using piece negative 1.
This is an order for additional copies for a piece negative set consisting of piece negatives 1 contained in one negative sheet. For ordering each piece negative 1 in a piece negative set of one order, a piece negative ID, here a two-digit number, is assigned. In inputting the reprint data, the rightmost frame image of the piece negative 1 of the piece negative ID "01" of the order ID "00022" is printed with the printing size "service version".
Are performed, and these data can be confirmed by the monitor 12. For this reason, the controller 10 includes the reprint data management unit 1
0a and the ID issuing unit 10b are constructed by hardware and software.

Since the piece negative 1 is specified by the order ID and the piece negative ID, this is used as the film ID. That is, the film ID is an ID for specifying a piece negative. The reprint data management unit 10a creates reprint data as shown in FIG. 3 from the reprint information input using the film ID as a key.
It has the order ID as the top layer, the negative piece ID,
It has a hierarchical data structure following the print frame position, print size, and number of prints. The print frame position, print size, number of prints, and the like are actual reprint data for reprint processing in the print station 300. These pieces of reprint data are not linked to the piece negative IDs that are not to be reprinted. Although not shown here, the order ID
Can be linked to customer data.

After the reprint data has been input, the piece negative 1 is conveyed to the sealing machine 13 by the negative conveying line 15, where the ID seal 2 as shown in FIG. 4 is attached. This ID sticker 2
The order ID 2a and the piece negative ID 2b are recorded.
Both are printed in the form of numbers and barcodes. The sealing machine 13 and the negative transfer line 15 are controlled by a sealing machine control unit 10c and a negative transfer control unit 10d, which are constructed by hardware and software in the controller 10, respectively.

At the end of the negative transport line 15, a magazine mounting section 1 for mounting a negative magazine 100 shown in FIG.
6 are provided. The negative piece 1 to which the ID seal 2 has been attached is further transported, and is sequentially taken up by the negative magazine 100 mounted on the magazine mounting section 16. The negative magazine 100 has a built-in PC card memory 90. When the negative magazine 100 is mounted on the magazine mounting section 16, the terminal section 91 of the PC card memory 90 is connected to the PC card slot provided in the magazine mounting section 16. 17 and connected to the controller 10. The PC card slot 17 is connected to a bus line of a CPU as a core member of the controller 10, and the external memory controller 10e operates the PC card slot 17 with the controller 10.
Data can be exchanged with the C card memory 90, and the reprint data linked to the film ID is transferred from the reprint data management unit 10a to the PC card memory 90. In other words, the reprint data described with reference to FIG. 3 is held by the negative magazine 100 that stores the negative piece 1 to be reprinted.

The PC card memory 90 referred to here is P
It includes not only PC card memory according to the CMCIA expansion standard, but also card memory according to the conventional PCMCIA standard, miniature cards and smart media according to other standards, and is used as a general term for various card-type recording media. Usually, a flash EEPROM is used as these memory elements.

Next, the structure of the negative magazine 100 will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 to 9; the external appearance of the negative magazine 100 is covered by a housing 101 made of translucent plastic as shown in FIG. And its housing 10
1, a terminal section 91 of the PC card memory 90 and a film guide 1 as an entrance / exit of a negative piece 1 described in detail later.
45 and an input gear 107 for obtaining rotational power from the outside protrude.

The main body of the negative magazine 100 is shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, a pair of metal case members 104 such as stainless steel having an inner surface with high smoothness is provided. That is, the housing 101 and the case member 10
Reference numeral 4 functions as a frame of the negative magazine 100, and a film storage unit that winds and stores a number of negative pieces 1 described below is supported on the frame.

The structure of the film storage unit will be described below. First, a gap having a width slightly larger than that of the negative piece 1 is formed between the case members 104, and the gap is formed by an external rotational driving force. A timing pulley 106 as a drive roller that can be rotated, and timing pulleys 108, 110a, and 1 with a rotation axis fixed in a horizontal direction.
10b, 110c, 110d, 110e, and 110f are rotatably supported in sets of two each. Further, a cylindrical core 140 made of resin is accommodated between the case members 104 so as to be rotatable, movable around the axis, and can be taken out of the case members 104.

A pair of endless timing belts 130 made of rubber are provided in the case member 104, and a part of the endless timing belt 130 is wound around the core 140 so as to cover the outer periphery of the core 140. After passing between the timing pulleys 106 and 108, the portion has a timing pulley 110 a with its axis fixed to the case member 104,
It is wound around the outer periphery of 110b, 110c, 110d, 110e, 110f. Since tension pulleys 116 and 117 for applying a predetermined tension to the timing belt 130 are provided in the case member 104, the core 140 is always moved to the timing pulleys 106 and 108 by the timing belt 130. I'm attracted. In other words, the timing pulley 106,
Reference numeral 108 denotes a rotation mechanism that rotates the core 140 (more precisely, a roll of the piece negative 1 formed on the core 140 in a manner described later) while holding the core 140 via the timing belt 130. Regardless of the amount of the piece negative 1 wound on the core 140, the core 140 or the roll body can always be stably rotated and held in the case member 104. At that time, the timing belt 130
Has a width corresponding to the edge 1a of the piece negative 1,
The belts 130 are each at the edge 1a of the piece negative 1.
Hold down.

The tension pulleys 116 and 117 are provided independently for each of the two timing belts 130. A tension arm 112 as a support member that supports the tension pulleys 116 and 117 so that the position can be changed is also provided independently for each of the two timing belts 130. The tension arm 112 is formed of a rigid material such as stainless steel.

Each tension arm 112 is provided on the case member 104 so as to be swingable around an axis 112a, and the free end of the tension arm 112 always approaches the respective timing pulleys 106 and 108 by an urging mechanism. It is biased to the posture to do. The urging mechanism includes a pulley 124 rotatably provided outside the case member 104 but immovable in the axial position, and a tension arm 112 at one end.
A wire rope 125 fixed to a pin 112 b provided at an intermediate position between the wire rope 125 and the other end of the wire rope 125 is connected to timing pulleys 106 and 108.
One end of the case member 1 to pull it away from
The coil spring 126 is fixed on the coil spring 126.

As described above, since the tension mechanisms capable of adjusting the biasing force are provided independently for each of the two timing belts 130, one of the timing belts 130 may be extended for some reason. Even if there is a certain length difference between the timing belts 130, a predetermined amount of tension is maintained on the timing belts 130.

As shown in FIG. 7, a timing pulley 106 as a driving roller is provided so as to rotate integrally with an input gear 107 supported concentrically with the timing pulley 106. As schematically shown in FIG. 2, the output gear 18 of the step motor M <b> 1 is also provided on the mounting section 16 of the reception station 200, and by mounting the negative magazine 100 on the mounting section 16, the negative magazine 100 input gear 107 and output gear 18 mesh. The step motor M1 is controlled by a motor control unit 10f constructed of hardware and software in the controller 10. The rotation of the step motor M1 is transmitted to the timing pulley 106 via the output gear 18 and the input gear 107, and when the timing pulley 106 is rotated, the timing belt 130 and the core 140 inscribed in a part of the timing belt 130 Will also rotate.

A pair of film guides 145 having a smooth surface is provided between the pair of timing pulleys 106 and 108.
Are provided horizontally as film entrances. When the piece negative 1 is inserted from the film guide 145 toward the timing pulley 106 while rotating the timing pulley 106 clockwise in FIG. 6, the tip of the piece negative 1
First, while being held between the core 140 and the timing pulley 106, the timing pulley 106 and the core 140 are drawn in a tangential direction,
Next, the whole of the piece negative 1 is wound around the outer periphery of the core 140, in other words, the outer peripheral surface of the core 140 and the timing belt 1 wound around the core 140.
It is stored between 30.

Further, when the piece negatives 1 are inserted one after another following the wound piece negatives 1, all of them are similarly sequentially stored between the core 140 and the timing belt 130. At this time, the leading end of the succeeding piece negative 1 is slightly overlapped with the trailing end of the preceding piece negative 1 and wound. By the above operation, (the timing pulley 10
6 rotates the core 140 and the timing belt 1.
The roll body sandwiched between the 30 and the timing belt 13
However, a roll body composed of a large number of piece negatives 1 is formed in the roll body. However, in this roll body, the first inserted piece negative 1 (which is located at the innermost side of the roll body and Starting at the end, and the last inserted piece negative 1 (located on the outermost side of the roll,
(In contact with the timing belt 130), the order of insertion is maintained. Therefore, when the timing pulley 106 is reversed (counterclockwise in FIG. 6), the piece negatives 1 can be supplied one by one in a first-in first-out procedure.

As can be understood from the above, the pair of timing pulleys 106 and 108 have a function of always holding a roll body obtained by winding a photographic film near the film guide 145 and simultaneously rotating the roll body. Play. Also, since the roll body is always pressed against the pair of timing pulleys 106 and 108, in other words, the pair of timing pulleys 106 and 1
08 indicates that the core 140 or the roll body can be held in a posture in which the direction of the tangent line formed by the timing pulley 106 and the core 140 or the tangent line formed by the timing pulley 106 and the roll body almost coincides with the guide direction of the film guide 145. it can. Therefore, even if the outer diameter of the roll body changes according to the total length of the film to be stored, the posture of the piece negative 1 at the film entrance and exit of the magazine, that is, the angle at which the film enters from the film guide 145 and the film is discharged to the film guide 145. The angle does not change, and smooth insertion and removal of the negative piece 1 is ensured.

Further, the core 140 and the timing belt 1
Regardless of the outer diameter of the film roll, which varies according to the total length of the film to be stored, and even when the outer shape of the roll is low in roundness, the film roll sandwiched between the 30 Since the film is constantly pressed centrifugally by the timing belt 130, the film can be stably held in the magazine, and can be directly pressed down by a roller member or the like in order to maintain the shape of the formed film roll. Since there is no film, there is little possibility that friction occurs between the film magazine side and the film when the film is taken in and out of the magazine.

Next, the configuration of the print station 300 will be described with reference to FIG.
Reference numeral 00 denotes a printer processor to which the above-described negative magazine 100 is mounted, and which can perform a reprint process using the piece negative 1 supplied from the negative magazine.

In the printer processor, a long film obtained by elongating a large number of negative films with a splice tape and winding them on a reel is used at the time of simultaneous print processing, and four or six image frames from the negative film are used at the reorder processing. Piece negative 1 cut to have
Here, a state in which the piece negative 1 is processed is shown. The main components shown are a mounting part 30 for receiving the negative magazine 100 described above, a piece negative supply device 100 for feeding out a large number of stored piece negatives 2 one by one, and a piece negative 1 pulled out from the negative magazine 100. A negative supply line 40 to be conveyed, an exposure unit 50 for projecting and exposing the frame image of the piece negative 1 on the photographic paper 4, and a developing processing unit 60 for developing the exposed photographic paper 4
And a controller 70 for controlling the operation of each component.

The mounting section 30 has substantially the same configuration as the mounting section 16 of the reception station 200, and is connected to the terminal section 91 of the PC card memory 90 of the negative magazine 100 when the negative magazine 100 is mounted. An output gear 32 meshing with the PC card slot 31 and the input gear 107 of the negative magazine 100 is provided. The output gear 32 is rotated by the stepping motor M2. In the negative supply line 40, the ID attached to the piece negative 1
A bar code reader 20 for reading the order ID 2a and the piece negative ID 2b in the form of a bar code printed on a sticker is arranged. The bar code reader 20, the stepping motor M2 and the PC card slot 31 are connected to the controller 7
0, and are connected to a reprint data management unit 70a, a motor control unit 70b, and an external memory control unit 70c, which are constructed by hardware and software in the controller 70, respectively. The controller 70 is further connected with a console 71 for inputting various control instructions and a monitor 72 for displaying an image of the piece negative 1 read by the scanner 80.

In the reprinting process, first, the controller 70 uses the order ID 2a and the piece negative ID 2b read by the bar code reader 20 as a key to send the reprint data from the reprint data management unit 70a storing the reprint data read from the PC card memory 90. The corresponding reprint data, the position of a reprint frame, the number of reprints, and the like are extracted. If the sent piece negative 2 is the piece negative 1 to be printed, the image of the piece to be printed of the piece negative 2 is read by the scanner 80, and the image information is sent to the controller 70. The controller 70 determines an exposure condition based on the obtained image information. Then, an image that would be obtained when the photographic paper 4 is projected and exposed is simulated based on the determined exposure conditions and displayed on the monitor 72. When the sent piece negative 2 is not a printing target, the piece negative 2 is passed through the exposure unit 50.
In any case, the piece negative 1 that has passed through the exposure unit 50
Are stored in a negative sheet by a negative inserter (not shown) in order units.

The exposure unit 50 includes an exposure light source 51 and a dimming filter 52 for adjusting the color balance of the light emitted from the exposure light source 51 by the yellow, magenta, and cyan filters coming and going in the exposure optical path. , Mirror tunnel 5 that uniformly mixes light whose color balance has been adjusted by dimming filter 52
3. A printing lens 54 for forming an image of a frame to be printed on the photographic paper 4, a shutter 55, and an auto-negative mask 56 for positioning the piece negative 1 at an exposure point are provided. The auto-negative mask 56 has the scanner 80 described above.
In addition, a negative detection sensor 21 is also incorporated. The photographic paper 4 is drawn out of the photographic paper magazine 4a by a driving roller 61 constituting a photographic paper transport line, and is sent to a developing processing unit 60 after exposure processing.

In the exposure processing, the position of each filter of the light control filter 52 and the opening time of the shutter 55, that is, the exposure time, are controlled in accordance with the exposure condition determined by the controller 70. When the operator of the printer processor looks at the display on the monitor 72 and finds that an appropriate image has not been obtained, the operator can input a correction instruction for the determined exposure condition from the console 71, and the controller 70 sets the exposure condition based on the correction instruction. Is corrected to determine final exposure conditions. Then, based on the determined exposure conditions, the exposure unit 5
By controlling the operation of each of the components 0, the image of the frame to be printed of the piece negative 1 is projected and exposed on the printing paper 4 pulled out from the printing paper magazine 4a.

In the above embodiment, the PC card memory is used as the print data storage medium. However, another storage medium, for example, a magnetic storage medium such as a magnetic sheet may be used. Furthermore, by providing an optical communication port capable of infrared communication based on IrDA in the negative magazine 100 and the mounting portions 16 and 30 of the processing station, the controllers 10 and 70 can contact the storage elements of the negative magazine 100 in a non-contact manner. The exchange of print data becomes possible.

Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment of the negative magazine 100, the tension pulleys 116 and 117 for the two timing belts 130 are supported by the respective tension arms 112 and can move independently. However, to simplify the structure, instead of this configuration,
The tension pulley 1 is also used as the tension arm 112.
16, 117 may be the same movement.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing an example of a reprint system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a reception station.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a data structure of print data.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a part of a piece negative with an ID sticker attached thereto.

FIG. 5 is an external view of a negative magazine.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a negative magazine.

FIG. 7 is a side view of a negative magazine.

FIG. 8 is a rear view of the negative magazine.

FIG. 9 is a plan view of a negative magazine.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a print station.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 photographic film (piece negative) 2 ID sticker 2a order ID 2b piece negative ID 4 photographic paper 16 receiving station mounting section 30 print station mounting section 90 print data storage medium (PC card memory) 100 film magazine (negative magazine) 200 receiving station 300 print station

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) G03C 3/00 555 G03C 3/00 555H

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A film storage unit for sequentially winding and storing a plurality of photographic films, a print data storage medium for storing print data of the stored photographic film, and a film storage unit and the print data storage medium. A film magazine consisting of a holding frame. 2. The film magazine according to claim 1, wherein a film ID is assigned to the photographic film, and the print data is stored in the print data storage medium using the film ID as a key. 3. The film magazine according to claim 1, wherein the print data storage medium is a PC card memory. 4. The print data storage medium has a communication function for contactless data transmission with the outside.
Or the film magazine according to 2. 5. A film storage unit comprising: a belt member for abutting and holding an outer peripheral surface of a roll obtained by winding the photographic film; and an external power for rotating the roll is transmitted to the belt member. The film magazine according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising a power input unit that performs the operation. 6. A photographic film is guided from the outside onto the roll by rotating the roll in one direction,
A film entrance for drawing out the photographic film from the roll body to the outside by rotating the roll body in the other direction is provided, and the power input unit is connected to the photo processing station when the photo processing station is mounted on a magazine mounting unit. 6. The film magazine according to claim 5, wherein the film output port is communicably connected to the motive power output section, and the film entrance and exit are connected to the photographic processing station film transport line so that the film can be transported. 7. The film magazine according to claim 6, wherein the print data storage medium is connected to the controller of the photo processing station so that data can be transmitted when the photo processing station is mounted on the magazine mounting portion.