JP2000275814A - Method for driving image recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for driving an image recorder capable of optimizing a developing processing speed and an exposing speed without making the developing and processing speed higher than needed and without providing a buffer part. SOLUTION: As to this method for driving the image recorder; when heat development is performed by heating a recording medium A on which a latent image has been already formed by a heat developing part 18, the feeding processing abilities of a latent image forming part and the part 18 are equal at an image exposing part 16 or the ratio of the feeding processing abilities is set within a specified range around 1.0.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for driving an image recording apparatus, and more particularly, to a method for recording a latent image on a sheet-like recording medium such as a photothermographic material to be conveyed, and heating the latent image-formed recording medium. The present invention relates to a method for driving an image recording apparatus in which heat development is performed by heating in a developing section.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Digital radiography systems,
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as an image recording apparatus for recording medical images such as CT and MR, a wet system for obtaining a reproduced image by performing wet processing after photographing or recording on a silver halide photographic photosensitive material has been used. On the other hand, in recent years, a recording apparatus using a dry system that does not include a wet process using a photothermographic material has attracted attention.

[0003] A thermal development type image recording apparatus using such a dry system will be briefly described. In the image recording apparatus of the thermal development type, first, for example, a laser light beam modulated by a laser modulator according to image data is applied to a recording medium (a film such as a photothermographic material) by an exposure unit.
(Scan) to form a latent image. Thereafter, the exposed photothermographic material (having the latent image formed thereon) is brought into contact with a heating means in a heat development section to perform heat development to obtain a development film on which a predetermined image is formed.

The image recording apparatus of the heat development type has the following features. It has better image quality consistency than conventional wet silver halide photography. (There is no change in developing conditions due to deterioration of the developing solution and fixing solution, temperature change, etc.) The operating cost is lower than in the conventional method. (It does not use a developing solution, a fixing solution, and water, does not need to have a stock of a developing solution and the like, does not generate a developing waste solution, and is easy to maintain.) The equipment cost is smaller than the conventional system. (There is no need for water piping, exhaust pipes, and dark rooms for equipment, and no silver collection device is required.) The burden on users and workers can be reduced. (Routine maintenance such as various liquid management such as a wet developing machine is unnecessary,
No pollution or odor. )

[0005]

As compared with a wet system, an image recording apparatus of a thermal development system using a dry system having the above-mentioned features is required to be further reduced in size and energy-saving. Here, when performing the series of thermal development processes, the photosensitive material is transported from a magazine mounted on the image recording apparatus to an exposure unit, and from the exposure unit to the thermal development unit via transport rollers and the like. With such a configuration, the processing capability of the image recording apparatus depends on the lower one of the processing capability including the transport speed of the latent image recording forming unit and the developing processing speed.

Therefore, if the development processing speed is too slow,
In order to allow the exposure processing speed, a buffer unit for temporarily holding the transport sheet is required, and there is a problem that the size of the apparatus is increased. On the other hand, if the development processing speed is higher, although a buffer unit is not required, there is a problem that power consumption is increased and energy efficiency is deteriorated, and efficiency is also lowered in terms of running cost.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and does not increase the developing processing speed more than necessary, does not provide a buffer unit, and optimizes the developing processing speed and the exposure speed. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of driving an image recording apparatus which can be implemented.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, an image recording apparatus driving method according to the present invention records a latent image on a sheet-like recording medium such as a photothermographic material, and forms the latent image on the recording medium. In the image recording apparatus driving method in which the recording medium is heated by the heat developing unit to perform development, the output processing power of the sheet-shaped recording medium in the latent image recording forming unit is equal to the output processing power in the developing unit. Alternatively, the ratio is set to a predetermined range with 1.0 interposed therebetween. Further, when the processing in both the latent image recording forming section and the developing section is performed during continuous conveyance of the sheet-shaped recording medium in each section, the output processing power in the latent image recording forming section and the developing section is reduced. It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which the ratio is set based on the transport speed at each location. Further, when the processing in both the latent image recording forming section and the developing section is performed during the continuous conveyance of the sheet-shaped recording medium in each section, the output processing power in the latent image recording forming section is a recording processing capacity. In addition, it is also possible to adopt a configuration in which the sending processing capacity in the developing unit is the developing processing capacity. Also,
The sending processing power in the latent image recording forming unit is a recording processing capability, the sending processing capability in the developing unit is a developing processing capability, and the latent image recording forming unit and / or the developing unit are used in the developing unit. When the processing is performed while the sheet-shaped recording medium is temporarily stopped in each section, the size of the sheet-shaped recording medium processed at the same time in the latent image recording forming unit and the developing unit is set to be the same. It is also possible. here,
The predetermined range of the ratio can be 0.8 to 1.2. Further, a configuration may be provided that includes setting means capable of changing the ratio. This recording medium can be made of a dry silver material.

That is, according to the image recording apparatus driving method of the present invention, when the recording medium on which the latent image has been formed is heated by the thermal developing unit and the thermal development is performed, the latent image recording forming unit and the developing unit perform the development. Are equal or the ratio is 1.
Since it is set to a predetermined range across 0, wasteful energy consumption due to unnecessarily increasing the developing capacity as described above is prevented, and in addition, the developing processing is performed according to the processing capacity of the exposure unit. Therefore, it is possible to use the image recording apparatus driving method in the most efficient area (efficient in terms of energy consumption and processing performance).

Further, in the image recording apparatus driving method according to the present invention, by providing setting means capable of changing the specific value, for example, when the processing speed is changed due to the size of the recording medium or the processing amount, etc. Can be appropriately dealt with.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a thermal development recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. First, the configuration of the thermal development recording apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. Thermal development recording device 1
Reference numeral 0 denotes a laser light beam L using a photothermographic material (hereinafter, referred to as a recording medium A) which does not require a wet developing process.
Is a device that obtains a visible image by performing thermal development after forming a latent image by exposing the recording medium A imagewise by scanning exposure according to.

The heat development recording apparatus 10 basically includes, in the order of conveyance of the recording medium A, a recording medium supply section 12, a width shift section 14, an image exposure section 16 as a latent image recording forming section, and a heat development section. The recording medium A is transported by a transport roller indicated by a circle in the drawing.

The recording medium supply unit 12 has, for example, two tiers, and a recording medium A (for example, a B4 size and a half cut size) loaded in each tier through the magazine 100 in the insides 22 and 24 thereof. It can be used selectively. The recording medium A is a recording medium on which an image is recorded (exposed) by a laser beam L and then developed by heat to develop a color. In response to the print command, one sheet of the recording medium A of the magazine 100 selected by the suckers 26 and 28 of the sheet-feeding mechanism is taken out from the top while the cover of the magazine 100 is open, and a pair of supply rollers positioned downstream in the transport direction. 30,3
2, transport roller pairs 34, 36, transport guides 38, 40,
It is conveyed to the width adjustment unit 14 by being guided by the reference numeral 42.

The width shifter 14 adjusts the position of the recording medium A in a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction (hereinafter referred to as a radiation direction), so that the position of the recording medium A in the main scanning direction in the downstream image exposure unit 16 is adjusted. Then, the recording medium A is transported to the downstream image exposure unit 16 by the transport roller pair 44 after removing the so-called side resist. The image exposing unit 16 is for exposing the recording medium A imagewise with a light beam, and includes an exposing unit 46 and a sub-scanning conveyance unit 48.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an image exposure section of the image recording apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. The exposure unit 46 includes a light beam L modulated according to a recorded image.
Is deflected in the main scanning direction (the width direction of the sheet A), and is incident on a predetermined recording position X. A light source 50 for emitting the beam L, a recording control device 52 for driving the light source 50, and a polygon mirror 54 as an optical deflector
, Fθ lens 56, and falling mirror 58. In addition, the exposure unit 46 may be provided with a known light beam scanning device such as a collimator lens or beam expander for shaping the light beam L emitted from the light source, a surface tilt correction optical system, an optical path adjustment mirror, or the like. Various members to be arranged are arranged as needed.

The recording control device 52 drives the light source 50 with pulse width modulation according to the recorded image, and emits a light beam L pulse-modulated according to the recorded image. The light beam L emitted from the light source 50 is polarized in the main scanning direction by the polygon mirror 54, is dimmed by the fθ lens 56 so that an image is formed at the recording position X, and the falling mirror 58.
As a result, the optical path is changed and the light enters the recording position X. In the illustrated example, the exposure unit 46 has only one light source 50 in a device for performing monochrome image recording. However, when the exposure unit 46 is used for recording a color image, for example, R (red) of a color photosensitive material, An exposure unit having three types of light sources that emit light beams having wavelengths according to the spectral sensitivity characteristics of G (green) and B (blue) is used.

On the other hand, the sub-scanning conveying means 48
A pair of transport rollers 60 arranged with the (scanning line) interposed therebetween
While holding the sheet A at the recording position X by the conveying roller pairs 60 and 62,
A sub-scanning direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction (arrow a in FIG. 22)
Direction). Here, as described above, since the light beam L pulse-modulated according to the recording image is deflected in the main scanning direction, the sheet A is two-dimensionally scanned and exposed by the light beam, and the latent image is formed. Be recorded.

The recording medium A on which the latent image has been recorded in the image exposure section 16 is then transported to a pair of transport rollers 64, 66, 13
2 and is conveyed to the thermal developing unit 18. The heat developing section 18 is a part where a latent image is made visible by heating the recording medium A by performing heat development, and a plate heater 320 inside has a heating element such as a nichrome wire inside the plate heater 320 in a planar shape. A plate-shaped heating member laid and accommodated, and is maintained at the developing temperature of the recording medium A.

Further, as shown in FIG.
Is convex upward, and the recording medium A is
Supply roller 3 as transfer means for moving relatively to plate heater 320 while being in contact with the surface of
26 and a pressing roller 322 for heat transfer from the plate heater 320 to the recording medium A is disposed on the lower surface side of the plate heater 320. Further, a heat retaining cover 325 for keeping the temperature is provided on the side of the pressing roller 322 opposite to the plate heater 320.

With such a configuration, the recording medium A passes between the pressing roller 322 and the plate heater 320 by the drive and transfer of the pair of rollers 326, and is thermally developed by heat treatment to form a latent image recorded by exposure. It becomes a visual image. At this time, the recording medium A is conveyed so as to be pressed against the plate heater 320, so that buckling of the recording medium A can be prevented.

Although the above description has been made with respect to an apparatus using a plate heater, the present invention is not limited to this, and may employ another type of heat development, for example, a heat drum + belt type. Needless to say, this may be done. The recording medium A discharged from the thermal developing unit 18 is guided to the guide plate 142 by the pair of conveying rollers 140, and collected and delivered to the tray 146 from the pair of discharging rollers 144.

The operation of the present invention will be described below. In the image forming apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 1, the recording medium A on which the latent image has been formed is heated by the heat developing unit 18 to perform heat development. As the overall processing speed at this time, the ratio of the output processing power of the recording medium A in the image exposure unit 16 to the output processing power of the thermal developing unit 18 is determined by determining whether the recording medium A on which the latent image has been formed The value is set to a specific value that cannot be used in, or is configured freely. As a first embodiment, the conveying speed is set as a reference to the ratio of the sending processing power, and the speed of the image exposure unit 16 (the speed at which the recording medium is conveyed) and the speed of the thermal developing unit 18 (the recording medium is The speed (conveying speed) is set in advance when both speeds are fixed.

On the other hand, when the ratio is variable, the ratio can be set using an appropriate setting means provided at an appropriate position of the image recording apparatus 10. For example, in FIG. 1, for example, a control panel 17, which is a setting unit capable of changing the development time, is disposed on the upper surface of the apparatus 10. The setting of the developing time can be performed by controlling the speed of the transport roller of the heat developing section 18 (developing area).

Here, in the image recording apparatus 10, the recording method is a laser or a light emitting diode, the conveying speed at the time of recording is about 1 to 4 cm / sec, and the distance between the image exposing section 16 and the heat developing section 18 is 20 mm. When the distance is about 60 cm, the ratio between the speed of the image exposure unit 16 (image recording speed or the speed at which the recording medium is conveyed) and the speed of the heat developing unit 18 (the speed at which the recording medium is conveyed) is It is desirable to set in the range of 0.8 to 1.2. As a basis for this, even if the processing speed of about 20% of the apparatus is lowered, the performance of the apparatus as a whole does not decrease to such a degree. In particular,
When the ratio is set to 1.0, that is, the speed at which the recording medium of the image exposure unit 16 is conveyed is the same as the speed at which the recording medium of the thermal developing unit 18 is conveyed. No stagnation of the recording medium occurs between the image exposure section 16 and the heat development section 18. In the case where the transport speed is used as a reference for the ratio of the output processing power, the processing speed of the image exposure unit 16 and the thermal developing unit 18 differs from the transport speed in accordance with the size of the recording medium. There is a need to.

On the other hand, in the above-described embodiment, the transport speed is set as a reference for the ratio of the transmission processing power. However, as a second embodiment, the recording processing capacity is applied as the transmission processing power in the image exposure unit 16. The development processing capacity can be applied as the transmission processing capacity in the heat development unit 18. Although not shown,
Also in this case, as in the first embodiment, the ratio is set to 0.8 to
It is desirable to set it in the range of 1.2. In the case of this embodiment, even when the size of the recording medium is changed, the ratio of the respective processing capacities is determined, so that the recording medium does not stay between the image exposure unit 16 and the heat development unit 18.

Next, as a third embodiment, there is a case where the processing in one or both of the image exposure section and the heat development section is carried out while the conveyance of the recording medium in each section is temporarily stopped. The recording processing capacity is applied as the sending processing power in the exposure unit 16, the developing processing capacity is applied as the sending processing capacity in the thermal developing unit, and the ratio of each processing is set in the range of 0.8 to 1.2. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent a problem such as stagnation of the recording medium between the image exposure unit and the heat development unit. In this case, in this embodiment, a condition that the size of the recording medium is the same is further required.

As an example of a specific configuration, the image exposure section 16 of the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1 similarly performs recording in the transport state, and the thermal development section 18 stops transport when the entire recording medium is taken in. Executing the heat source image processing for a predetermined time is a basic processing. Then, assuming that a recording medium of the same size is used in each processing unit, the recording processing capability is applied as the sending processing capability in the image exposure unit 16, and the developing processing capability is applied as the sending processing capability in the thermal developing unit. The ratio of each process is set as described above.

As another configuration example, an image recording section 70 for recording an image in the image exposure section 16 of the image recording apparatus shown in FIG. 1 in a state where the recording medium is stopped has the exposure section configuration shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing a main part of an image exposure section of an image recording apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention. Laser light source 10
1 is modulated by a modulator driving circuit 107 based on a signal emitted from an image signal output circuit 108 for outputting an image signal.
And is modulated, and then enters a rotary polygon mirror 103, which is a main scanning optical deflector rotating in the direction of arrow E, and is deflected.

The light beam deflected by the rotary polygon mirror 103 is applied to an imaging lens 1 such as an fθ lens provided on the optical path.
After passing through 04, the light is incident on the reflecting surface 110a of a long sub-scanning reflecting mirror 110 that is driven by the motor 109 and extends in the main scanning direction that rotates in the direction of arrow C at a low speed and is reflected. A sheet-shaped recording medium A such as a photographic photosensitive film or photographic paper is held below the sub-scanning reflection mirror 110 on the optical path of the light beam reflected by the sub-scanning reflection mirror 110. It is held in a circular arc shape by a recording medium holding means 111 having a surface 111a. The central axis of the arc surface formed by the recording medium A substantially coincides with the rotation axis of the sub-scanning reflection mirror 110.

As described above, when the recording medium A is held by the recording medium holding means 111, the light beam 102 deflected by the rotary polygon mirror 103 scans the recording medium A in the direction of arrow B in the main direction. The imaging lens 104 transmits the light beam 2 to the recording medium A
A lens that converges upward and scans the light beam deflected by the rotary polygon mirror 103 at a substantially constant angular velocity at a substantially constant speed on the recording medium A that is flat in the main scanning direction. The reflection mirror 110 for sub-scanning uses a plane including the optical path of the light beam that has passed through the imaging lens 104 or a plane parallel to this plane, and an intersection line of a plane perpendicular to the optical axis of the imaging lens 104 as a rotation axis. It rotates at a low speed in the direction of arrow C,
Desirably, the light beam 102 on the reflection surface 110a has a reflection position and a rotation axis that match. The rotation axis of the sub-scanning reflection mirror 110 may be a position slightly deviated from the above-described reflection position, such as a center position in the thickness direction of the mirror, in a range in which there is no problem in light beam scanning accuracy.

Before recording image information on one recording medium, the sub-scanning reflection mirror 110 has an arrow C
In addition, the rotation of the sub-scanning reflection mirror 110 causes the light beam 102 to form on the recording medium A by the main scanning. The line is gradually moved in the direction of arrow D to perform sub-scanning. Therefore, the light beam 102 is two-dimensionally scanned over the entire surface of the recording medium by the rotating polygon mirror 103 and the sub-scanning reflection mirror 110.

When driving the image forming apparatus according to the third embodiment by the image recording section 70 of FIG. 3, the conveyance of the recording medium A in the image recording section 70 is temporarily stopped. The thermal developing section 18 may perform the thermal development in a state where the conveyance is stopped when the entire recording medium is taken in or in a state where the conveyance is continued. At this time, assuming that a recording medium of the same size is used in each processing unit, the recording processing capability is applied as the transmission processing capability in the image exposure unit 70, and the development processing capability is applied as the transmission processing capability in the thermal developing unit 18. Then, the ratio of each process is set in the same manner as in the first embodiment.

By adopting the configuration of each of the above-described embodiments, it is possible to prevent unnecessary energy consumption due to unnecessarily increasing the developing capacity while promoting the miniaturization of the entire image recording apparatus. Since the developing process is performed according to the processing capability of the exposure unit, the image recording apparatus driving method can be used in the most efficient area in terms of energy consumption and processing performance.

In the case where a setting means capable of changing the specific value (ratio) is provided, it is possible to appropriately cope with a case where the processing speed changes due to, for example, the size of the recording medium.

Hereinafter, a photothermographic material that is a dry silver material used as the recording medium A will be described.
The photothermographic material is a PC which is a surface protective layer for protecting the image forming layer and preventing adhesion from the laser beam incident side.
Which is an emulsion layer for forming an image
Layer, a support layer, usually a PET layer using PET, a back (BC) layer (optionally an antihalation A
An H layer is provided. ) And

The Em layer is an image forming layer in which at least 50% of the binder is composed of latex on the side of the support layer where the laser beam L is incident, and contains a reducing agent of an organic silver salt. When the image forming layer is exposed by the incidence of the laser beam L, a photocatalyst such as photosensitive silver halide forms a latent image nucleus, and when heated, the silver of the organic silver salt ionized by the action of the reducing agent is formed. Move to combine with the photosensitive silver halide to form crystalline silver, forming an image. Examples of the organic silver salt include a silver salt of an organic acid, preferably a silver salt of a long-chain fatty carboxylic acid having 10 to 30 carbon atoms, and an organic or silver ligand having a complex stability constant of 4.0 to 10.0. Examples of inorganic silver salt complexes include, specifically, silver behenate, silver arachidate, silver stearate, silver oleate, silver laurate, silver caproate, silver myristate, silver palmitate, silver maleate, and silver maleate.
Examples thereof include silver fumarate, silver tartrate, silver linoleate, silver butyrate, and silver camphorate. The image forming layer of the recording medium contains a substance that becomes a photocatalyst upon exposure, for example, photosensitive silver halide (hereinafter, referred to as silver halide).

For the purpose of improving the optical density, an additive known as a toning agent is preferably added to the image forming layer of the recording medium or another layer on the same surface as the image forming layer, preferably in an amount of 0.1% per mol of silver. About 1 mol% to 50 mol% may be contained. Note that the color tone agent may be a precursor that is derivatized so as to have a function effectively only during development. As the color tone agent, various known colorants used for recording media can be used, and specifically, phthalimide compounds such as phthalimide and N-hydroxyphthalimide; cyclic imides such as succinimide and pyrazolin-5-one; Naphthalimides such as -hydroxy-1,8-naphthalimide;
Cobalt complexes such as cobalt hexamine trifluoroacetate; mercaptans such as 3-mercapto-1,2,4-triazole and 2,4-dimercaptopyrimidine; phthalazinone derivatives such as 4- (1-naphthyl) phthalazinone and metal salts thereof Are added to the coating solution as a solution, powder, or solid fine particle dispersion.

As the sensitizing dye, any dye can be used as long as it can spectrally sensitize silver halide grains in a desired wavelength region when adsorbed on silver halide grains. To add sensitizing dyes to the silver halide emulsion, they may be dispersed directly in the emulsion, or may be dispersed in water, methanol,
Ethanol, N, N-dimethylformamide or the like may be added to the emulsion alone or in a mixed solution.

The surface protective PC layer is formed of an anti-adhesion material, and includes, for example, wax, silica particles, styrene-5 elastomeric block copolymer (styrene-butadiene-styrene, etc.), cellulose acetate, cellulose acetate butyrate, cellulose propionate. Etc. are used.

When an antihalation dye is used, the dye has a desired absorption in the wavelength range, has a sufficiently low absorption in the visible region after treatment, and has an antihalation A
Any compound may be used as long as a preferable absorbance spectrum shape of the H layer can be obtained. For example, the following are disclosed, but the invention is not limited thereto. As a single dye, JP-A Nos. 7-11432 and 7-132 can be used.
Compounds disclosed in each publication of No. 95 are exemplified,
JP-A-52-139136 discloses a dye which is decolorized by the treatment.
And the compounds disclosed in JP-A-7-199409. This recording medium preferably has an image forming layer on one side of the support and a back layer on the other side.

A matting agent may be added to the back BC layer to improve transportability. The matting agent is generally fine particles of an organic or inorganic compound insoluble in water. Preferred examples of the organic compound include polymethyl acrylate, methyl cellulose, carboxy starch, and carboxynitrophenyl starch as examples of the water-dispersible vinyl polymer. Examples of the inorganic compound include silicon dioxide, titanium dioxide, magnesium dioxide, and aluminum oxide. Barium sulfate and the like are preferably exemplified.

As the binder for forming the back layer,
Preferably, various colorless, transparent or translucent resins can be used, and examples thereof include gelatin, gum arabic, polyvinyl alcohol, hydroxyethylcellulose, cellulose acetate, cellulose acetate butylate, casein, starch, and poly (meth). Acrylic acid, polymethyl methacrylic acid, polyvinyl chloride and the like are exemplified. The back layer preferably has a maximum absorption of 0.3 to 2 in a desired wavelength range. If necessary, an antihalation dye used in the antihalation layer may be added.

As for the recording material sheet A, the present invention includes, in addition to the configuration shown in the above-described embodiment, the following method and an example of a recording material used in the dry developing method. (1) An image corresponding to the latent image formed on the photosensitive material by the exposure is formed on the image receiving material by superposing the imagewise exposed photosensitive material on the image receiving material and heating (and pressing if necessary). Transfer method (for example, see JP-A-5-11
3629, JP-A-9-258404, JP-A-9-6
1978, JP-A-8-62803, JP-A-10-7
No. 1740, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-152705, Japanese Patent Application No.
90181, Japanese Patent Application No. 10-13326, Japanese Patent Application No. 10
-18172).

(2) A method in which an image corresponding to a latent image formed on the photosensitive material by exposure is formed on the photosensitive material by superposing the imagewise exposed photosensitive material on the processing material and heating the material (for example, Systems described in JP-A-9-274295 and Japanese Patent Application No. 10-17192).

(3) A photosensitive material having a photosensitive layer in which a silver halide acting as a photocatalyst, a silver salt acting as an image forming substance, a reducing agent for silver ions, and the like are dispersed in a binder, is imagewise exposed. A method of visualizing a latent image formed by exposure by heating to a predetermined temperature (for example, "Thermally Processed Silver System" by B. Shely
s) "(Imaging Processes and Materials Neblette 8th edition, Sturge, V. Walwort
h), A. Edited by Shepp, page 2, 1996
Year), Research Disclosure 17029 (1978), EP
803764A1, EP803765A1, and a method described in JP-A-8-211151).

(4) A method using a light- and heat-sensitive recording material, wherein the light- and heat-sensitive recording layer is the same as the electron-donating colorless dye encapsulated in the thermo-responsive microcapsules, and the same molecule in addition to the microcapsules. A method using a recording material containing a compound having an electron-accepting portion and a polymerizable vinyl monomer portion and a photopolymerization initiator (for example, a method described in JP-A-4-249251) or a photosensitive and heat-sensitive recording layer, A system using a recording material containing an electron-donating colorless dye encapsulated in a thermoresponsive microcapsule and an electron-accepting compound, a polymerizable vinyl monomer and a photopolymerization initiator in addition to the microcapsule (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. No. 4-211252).

In this specification, photosensitive materials or recording materials used in these dry developing systems are collectively referred to as "heat-developable photosensitive materials". In the dry development methods (1) and (2), a small amount of water may be used to promote development or image formation.

[0048]

As described above, the method for driving an image recording apparatus according to the present invention can be applied to a case where a recording medium on which a latent image has been formed is heated by a heat developing section to perform thermal development. The configuration is such that the ratio between the image recording processing capacity including the forming conveyance speed and the developing processing capacity in the developing unit is equal, or the ratio is set within a predetermined range with 1.0 interposed therebetween. Therefore, it is compact without a buffer section for the sheet in front of the developing section, and further prevents unnecessary energy consumption due to an unnecessarily large developing processing capacity. Since the developing process is performed, the image recording apparatus driving method can be used in the most efficient area. Further, in the image recording apparatus driving method according to the present invention, by providing the setting unit capable of changing the specific value, the image processing apparatus can cope with the processing speed even when the exposure speed and the developing speed can be changed. Can be provided. As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to optimize the development processing speed and the exposure speed without increasing the development processing speed more than necessary, providing a buffer unit, and optimizing the development processing speed and the exposure speed. It becomes possible to provide a method.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an image recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an image exposure unit of the image recording apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a main part of an image exposure unit of an image recording apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Thermal developing device 12 Recording medium supply part 14 Width adjustment part 16, 70 Exposure part 18 Thermal development part 132 Dust roller 140 Transport roller 144 Discharge roller 320 Plate heater 322 Pressing roller A Thermal developing photosensitive material (recording medium) L Laser light

Claims (7)

[Claims] An image recording apparatus driving method in which a latent image is recorded and formed on a sheet-shaped recording medium such as a photothermographic material, and the recording medium on which the latent image has been formed is heated and developed by a heat developing unit. The output processing power of the sheet-shaped recording medium in the latent image recording forming section is equal to the output processing power of the developing section, or the ratio thereof is set to a predetermined range with 1.0 interposed therebetween. Driving method for an image recording apparatus. 2. When the processing in both the latent image recording forming unit and the developing unit is performed during continuous conveyance of a sheet-shaped recording medium in each unit, the processing is performed by the latent image recording forming unit and the developing unit. 2. The image recording apparatus driving method according to claim 1, wherein the processing power ratio is set based on the transport speed at each part. 3. When the processing in both the latent image recording forming section and the developing section is performed during continuous conveyance of the sheet recording medium in each section, the output processing power in the latent image recording forming section is recorded. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the processing capacity is a processing capacity, and the sending processing capacity in the developing unit is a developing processing capacity. 4. When the processing in one or both of the latent image recording forming section and the developing section is performed while the sheet recording medium is temporarily stopped in each section, the processing in the latent image recording forming section is performed. The sending processing power is the recording processing capacity, the sending processing capacity in the developing section is the developing processing capacity, and the size of the sheet-shaped recording medium processed in the latent image recording forming section and the developing section at the same time is the same. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein
4. The method for driving a thermal development recording device according to item 1. 5. The thermal development recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined range of the ratio is 0.8 to 1.2. 6. The thermal development recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a setting unit capable of changing the ratio. 7. The image recording apparatus driving method according to claim 1, wherein said recording medium is dry silver.