JP2001083619A - Photographic paper transporting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a photographic paper transporting device capable of suppressing the degradation in working efficiency based on the presence of a spliced part of the photographic paper even if the device has transporting guides set narrow in a spacing in the thickness direction of the photographic paper. SOLUTION: The transporting guide unit 60 for maintaining the position in the thickness direction of the photographic paper with respect to an exposure section of the photographic paper transporting device for transporting the photographic paper 2 to the exposure section at a permissible range has first guides 61 facing the emulsion surface of the photographic paper and second guides 62 facing the base surface of the photographic paper. The each other's spacings of the first guides and the second guides 62 are settable at the permissible range described above and at least either of the first guides and the second guides 62 is constituted as an escape guide to be displaced to the escape position permitting the passage of the spliced part of the photographic paper.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a photographic paper transport apparatus for transporting photographic paper to an exposure position of an exposure unit for exposing an image to photographic paper in a photographic print production process.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An image picked up on a film by a photographic camera is printed on photographic paper by an exposure section of a photographic processing apparatus, and is developed to be finished as a photographic print. Previously, as an exposure unit of such a photographic processing apparatus, previously, an illuminating light from a light source was irradiated on a photographic film, and an image captured on the photographic film was exposed by exposing a photographic paper with transmitted light transmitted through the photographic film. The projection exposure method of printing on photographic paper was used, but recently, instead of this, print data was generated by subjecting digital image data obtained by photoelectrically converting a film image to appropriate print processing to generate print data. A so-called digital exposure method in which a digital exposure head exposes photographic paper based on data has begun to be adopted. In the digital exposure method, in particular, an exposure head that extends in the main scanning direction is used, and the photographic paper is conveyed to the exposure head in a sub-scanning direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction, thereby completing the exposure of the entire film image. Exposure is the mainstream.

[0003] In any case, the photographic paper in the exposure section is
Regardless of whether the exposure is carried out in the transport state or in the stationary state, in order to produce a high-quality photographic print, the position must be held with high precision with respect to the exposure point. This position retention is important not only in the photographic paper transport direction and the photographic paper transverse direction, but also in the thickness direction of the photographic paper, otherwise, the exposure is out of focus. In order to maintain such a position in the thickness direction of the photographic paper within an allowable range, a transport guide including a first guide located on the emulsion surface side of the photographic paper and a second guide located on the base surface side of the photographic paper. The unit is convenient, and the interval between the first guide and the second guide may be set so that the printing paper is located within the allowable range with respect to the exposure point. Such a transport guide unit is incorporated in a photographic paper transport device that transports photographic paper to an exposure unit by roller driving or the like.

[0004]

In the above-described photographic processing apparatus, the photographic paper is stored in a paper magazine as a long sheet wound in a roll shape, and cut in accordance with the print size before or after exposure. Is done. Normally,
The photographic paper roll accommodated in the paper magazine is a single continuous long sheet. In some cases, the photographic paper roll has a seam (splice portion) connected by a splice tape on the way. Since such a splice portion is thicker by the amount of the splice tape than the thickness of the photographic paper alone, it is difficult to pass through the transport guide unit in the above-described exposure unit region where the interval in the thickness direction is set to be particularly small. For this reason, it was necessary to cut the photographic paper before and after the splice, and then remove it outside the photographic processing apparatus. For this reason, when the photographic paper roll used has a splice portion, there has been a problem that the work efficiency of photo print creation is reduced. In view of the above situation, an object of the present invention is to provide a photographic paper that can minimize a reduction in work efficiency due to the presence of a splice portion of the photographic paper even if the conveyance guide unit is provided with a narrow interval in the thickness direction of the photographic paper. It is to provide a transport device.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, in a photographic paper transport apparatus according to the present invention, a transport guide unit for maintaining a position of the photographic paper in a thickness direction with respect to an exposure section within an allowable range is provided. A first guide facing the emulsion surface and a second guide facing the base surface of the photographic paper, wherein the first guide and the second guide can be set at an interval between each other within the allowable range, and At least one of the first guide and the second guide is configured as an escape guide that is displaced to an escape position that allows the photographic paper to pass through a splice portion.

According to this configuration, a piece of photographic paper having an unspecified thickness, such as a splice portion of photographic paper, can pass through the transport guide unit by displacing the escape guide to the escape position. For this reason, even if a splice portion exists in the photographic paper roll, the splice portion should be discharged from the paper exit portion as in a normal photographic print through the exposure portion and the development portion as it is by the photographic paper transport device. This eliminates the need to open the cover of the photoprocessing device and perform an unnecessary operation such as removing the splice part by an operator in an emergency evacuation.

[0007] In one preferred embodiment of the present invention, the displacement of the escape guide to the escape position is suppressed by a spring, and the escape guide is pushed up by the splice portion. The escape guide is displaced to the escape position against the urging force of the spring. In this configuration, when a photographic paper having a splice is fed, the splice having a large thickness pushes the escape guide against the biasing force of the spring in the direction of the escape position, and the gap between the transport guide units is increased. To allow the passage of the splice. When the splice passes, the escape guide returns to the original position by the urging force of the spring, and the interval between the two guides of the transport guide unit is within the allowable range required for properly transporting the printing paper.

In the escape guide structure using such a spring, since no external power such as electric power is used, the installation is easy, but the splice portion pushes the escape guide while rubbing the escape guide. If this is not desired, and it is desired to surely increase the guide width of the transport guide unit before the splice portion comes, the escape guide may of course be configured to be displaced to the escape position by electric power. As the actuator, a solenoid or a motor is used, and a well-known link mechanism may be interposed.

Since the position of the photographic paper at the exposure point is planned with reference to the emulsion surface of the photographic paper, the position of the first guide for guiding the emulsion surface side requires particularly high precision. From this point of view, it is desirable to avoid making the first guide movable as much as possible.
The guide is configured as an escape guide.

As described in the section of the prior art, there are a projection exposure system and a digital exposure system using an optical print head as exposure for photographic printing. In particular, photographic paper conveyed by the digital exposure system is line-by-line. When a line exposure head for exposing is used, since the exposure is performed while the photographic paper is being conveyed, the interval between the conveyance guide units needs to be set to be narrower. A transport device is particularly suitable, in which case the transport guide unit extends in the photographic paper transport direction both upstream and downstream of the line exposure head in the photographic paper transport direction. Other features and advantages according to the present invention will become apparent from the following description of embodiments with reference to the drawings.

[0011]

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a printer processor known as a so-called digital minilab. The exposure unit of the digital minilab employs a digital exposure system. Here, a film for reading a photographed image from an image frame of a photographic film (hereinafter simply referred to as a film) 1 developed by a film developing machine (not shown) is used. A scanner 3, a controller 7 for processing digital image data read through the film scanner 3 to generate print data, and an exposure unit for exposing an image corresponding to a frame image to the photographic paper 2 based on the print data. A digital printing unit 5 and a development processing unit 6 for developing the exposed photographic paper 2
And a photographic paper transport device 8. The photographic paper 2 developed by the development processing section 6 is discharged as a finished print through a drying process.

The film scanner 3 includes, as main components, an illumination optical system 30, an imaging optical system 40, a photoelectric conversion unit 50 using a line CCD sensor 51 as a photoelectric conversion element,
An automatic film mask 10 is provided for determining the irradiation range of the film 1 and for transporting the film 1 in the sub-scanning direction for scanning by a line CCD sensor.

The illumination optical system 30 includes a halogen lamp 31 as a white light source, a light control filter 32, and a mirror tunnel 3.
3 irradiates the film 1 with the color distribution and intensity distribution of the light beam from the light source adjusted. An imaging optical system 40 for processing a transmitted light beam from the film 2 includes a lens unit 41 and a mirror 42 for changing the direction of light.

The photoelectric conversion unit 50 that photoelectrically converts the light beam guided by the imaging optical system 40 includes three CCD sensors 51a, 51b, and 51c assigned as line CCD sensors 51 for detecting each color of RGB. Each CCD sensor has a large number (for example, 5000) of C
CD elements are arranged in the main scanning direction, that is, in the width direction of the film 1. A color filter that allows only the red component of the light transmitted through the film 1 to pass through the imaging surface of the red CCD sensor 51a, and allows only the green component of the light that has passed through the film 1 to pass through the imaging surface of the green CCD sensor 51b. A color filter is provided on the imaging surface of the blue CCD sensor 51c so as to pass only the blue component of the light transmitted through the film 1, and performs photoelectric conversion of only the blue, red, and green components, respectively. .

When the frame image of the film 1 is positioned at the scan position set in the auto film mask 10, the reading process of the frame image is started, and the transmitted light of the frame image is transmitted by the film transport mechanism 9 to the film 1. By the feeding, three CCD sensors 51a, 51b, and 51c sequentially read, but since each CCD sensor is arranged at intervals of several pixels along the transport direction of the film 1, R, R There is a time difference between the detection timings of the G and G component colors. This is due to the signal processing at the subsequent stage of the photoelectric conversion unit 50.
The image signals are stored in a predetermined memory of the controller 7 in association with each other. Such control of the illumination optical system 30, the imaging optical system 40, and the photoelectric conversion unit 50 of the film scanner 3 is performed by the controller 7.

In this embodiment, the digital printing section 5 employs a PLZT shutter system. That is, a shutter array including a PLZT element is employed as the exposure head 5a. The shutter array composed of this PLZT element is made of a transparent ferroelectric ceramic material obtained by adding lanthanum to lead zirconate titanate, and utilizes the electro-optic effect of the material. Light of each color of R, G, and B is introduced from the light source 5b via many optical fibers. The shutter array extends in the width direction of the photographic paper 2, that is, in the transverse direction of the transport direction. When a predetermined level of voltage is applied to each shutter, it enters a light transmitting state,
When the application of the voltage is stopped, the light is cut off. Therefore, when a drive voltage is applied to the shutter corresponding to each pixel from the controller 7 based on the print data, the shutter is opened and light of the color introduced from the light source is irradiated on the printing paper 2. This irradiation position is the exposure position. The light source 5b is provided with a rotation filter composed of optical filters of three colors of R, G, and B. By controlling the rotation phase of the rotation filter, one of the R, G, and B filters is output.
One selectively faces the light source, and light of the selected color is sent to the shutter through an optical fiber through a filter of that color. As a method of the digital print section, this PLZT
In addition to the shutter method, a liquid crystal shutter method, a fluorescent beam method, a FOCRT method, a DMD (digital micromirror device) method, and the like are known, and can be selected according to exposure specifications at the time of design.

Since the digital printing section 5 can simultaneously expose each of the cut photographic papers 2 arranged in two rows,
The photographic paper transport device 8 is divided into a photographic paper supply line 8A that transports the cut photographic paper 2 in a single row, an exposure transport line 8B that can transport the cut photographic paper 2 in two rows, and a development transport line 8C. Paper supply line 8A and exposure transport line 8B
A sorting device 4 for sorting the printing paper 2 sequentially sent from the printing paper supply line 8A to each row of the exposure conveyance line 8B is provided.

The photographic paper supply line 8A is selectively provided from one of the two photographic paper magazines 2A and 2B which house the photographic paper 2 in a roll shape with the emulsion side facing out.
And a pre-distribution transport unit that transfers the photographic paper 2 to the distribution device 4.

At the upstream end of the pre-sorting transport section, there is provided a paper cutter 12 for cutting the photographic paper 2 drawn from the photographic paper magazine 2A or 2B in accordance with the print size. Is provided. The back print section 13 is provided on the back side (non-emulsion side) of the photographic paper 2.
It prints a film ID, a frame number, and correction information indicating image processing performed at the time of print data creation, and a dot-in-packed printer is usually used.

The exposure transfer line 8B is arranged in the order of the transfer direction.
An intermediate transport roller unit 80A constituting two rows of carry-in areas of the exposure transport line 8B, a first exposure transport roller unit 80B on the entrance side arranged to sandwich the exposure head 5a of the digital print unit 5, and a second exposure roller unit on the exit side. An exposure transport roller unit 80C is provided. The first exposure transport roller unit 80B has a first exposure drive roller 85 in contact with the non-emulsion surface side of the cut photographic paper 2 and a distance from and near the first exposure drive roller 85. Displaceable first exposure pressure roller 86
And the second exposure transport roller unit 80C is a second exposure drive roller 8 which contacts the non-emulsion side of the cut photographic paper 2.
7 and a second exposure pressure roller 88 that can be displaced in a distance direction with respect to the second exposure drive roller 87. The first and second exposure drive rollers 85 and 87 are synchronously driven by a belt transmission mechanism 89a from one drive source 89, while the first and second exposure pressure rollers 86 and 88 are independently opposed to each other. It can be displaced far and near with respect to the roller. For this purpose, a first driver 86a for displacing the first exposure pressure roller 86 in perspective and a second driver 87a for displacing the second exposure pressure roller 87 in perspective are provided. A mechanism according to the specifications, such as a combination of a link and a solenoid, can be adopted. With such a configuration, only the first exposure and conveyance roller unit 80B, or only the second exposure and conveyance roller unit 80C,
Alternatively, the first and second exposure / conveyance roller units 80B, 80
The photographic paper 2 can be conveyed by both of C and C.

The sorting device 4 includes a paper cutter 12
The photographic paper 2 cut by the above is received, and is constituted by a chucker-type XY moving mechanism that alternately transfers the photographic paper 2 to the left and right row positions of the intermediate transport roller unit 80A. Of course, when handling a wide large photographic paper 2, exposure is performed in one row, so the photographic paper 2 received from the photographic paper supply line 8A is simply used as the intermediate transport roller unit 80A.
Just hand it over.

As schematically shown in FIG. 2, each of the photographic paper supply line 8A, the exposure transport line 8B, and the developing transport line 8C is provided with a transport guide so that the photographic paper 2 is transported correctly. However, especially in order to realize high-quality line exposure, the exposure conveyance line 8B has an extremely large guide interval compared to other lines in order to maintain the position of the photographic paper 2 in the thickness direction within an allowable range. A transport guide unit 60 that is set narrow is provided.

In this printer processor, a roll of photographic paper 2 stored in photographic paper magazine 2A or 2B
In the case where there is a splice portion 90 connecting the ends of the printing paper with a splice tape 91 as shown in FIG. 3, the splice detection of the photographic paper 2 provided at a position before the splice portion 90 is detected. A splice detection optical sensor 93 for detecting the use hole 92 is provided in the photographic paper supply line 8A.

If the optical sensor 93 detects the splice detection hole 92, the controller 7 cuts the photographic paper 2 with the length including the splice portion 90 by the paper cutter 12, and the cut photographic paper piece cannot be exposed. It is sent to the exposure conveyance line 8B as photographic paper pieces. This non-exposed photographic paper piece is conveyed by a photographic paper supply line 8A, an exposure conveyance line 8B, and a development conveyance line 8C in the same manner as the normal cut photographic paper 2 except that it is not exposed by the digital printing section 5.

As shown in FIG. 4, a transport guide unit 60 provided on the exposure transport line 8B has a first guide 61 facing the emulsion surface of the photographic paper 2 and a second guide 61 facing the base surface of the photographic paper 2. And a guide 62. Here,
The second guide 62 is configured as an escape guide that is displaced to an escape position so as to allow the above-described unexposed photographic paper piece to pass through the splice portion 90 with the first guide 61. For this purpose, the second guide 62 is provided with an adjusting rod 63 extending perpendicularly to the outer surface thereof, and the adjusting rod 63 penetrates through holes provided on both sides 64a and 64b of the U-shaped holder 64. I have. Side portions 64a and 64b of holder 64
In the area of the adjustment rod 63 located between
The coil spring 66 includes a spring retainer 65 and a holder 64 which are similarly externally fixed to the adjustment rod 64.
Is held down between one side 64a. The adjustment rod 64 also extends outward from the side 64 a of the holder 64, and an adjustment nut 67 is screwed in an outer region thereof. The holder 64 is attached to a bracket 68 fixed to the body frame.

With this configuration, the second guide, that is, the escape guide 62, is fixed to the first guide by the tightening state of the adjustment nut 67.
The distance from the guide 61: D can be set arbitrarily. Further, when a force that pushes the escape guide 62 along with the passage of the splice portion 90 is applied, the coil spring 66
Is compressed, the escape guide 62 can be displaced to an escape position where the space: D is widened. Therefore, the distance D between the first guide 61 and the escape guide 62 is normally set to a value at which good line exposure can be expected, for example, 0.2 mm. When the non-printable paper piece is conveyed, it can be displaced until the distance D becomes about 2 mm so as to allow the splice portion 90 to pass smoothly.

As can be understood from FIG. 2, the transport guide unit 60 extends in the photographic paper transport direction in both the upstream and downstream directions of the digital print section 5 in the photographic paper transport direction. Notches are formed at corresponding locations so that the first and second exposure pressure bonding rollers 86 and 88 and the print head of the digital printing section 5 can directly face the photographic paper 2. Similarly, the second guide 62 is also provided with a notch at a corresponding position so that the first and second exposure driving rollers 85 and 87 can directly face the photographic paper 2.

Normally, in the photographic paper supply line 8A and the development conveyance line 8C which are photographic paper conveyance lines other than the exposure conveyance line 8B, it is not required to maintain the position of the photographic paper 2 in the thickness direction as much as the exposure conveyance line 8B. In the embodiment, the escape guide mechanism is not required for the transport guide unit by securing an interval enough to allow the passage of the splice portion 90. However, of course, depending on the circumstances, the photographic paper 2 is not transported when the photographic paper is transported. If accurate position holding in the thickness direction is required, an escape guide mechanism may be provided in these transport guide units.

In the above embodiment, the escape guide 6 is provided by the coil spring 66, the adjusting rod 66 and the adjusting nut 67.
In this case, the escape guide mechanism is realized by a mechanism that does not require external power such that the escape guide 62 is displaced to the escape position by compressing the coil spring 66 when a pushing force is applied to the escape guide 62. However, the escape guide may be configured such that the displacement force of a solenoid, a motor, or the like is transmitted to the escape guide 62 directly or via a link mechanism or the like to displace the escape guide 62 to the escape position. In this case, the guide width of the transport guide unit 60 can be increased before the splice unit 90 comes to the transport guide unit 60. Further, in this embodiment, the escape guide is applied to the second guide 62 facing the base surface of the photographic paper 2. However, depending on the circumstances, the first guide 61 facing the emulsion surface may be configured as the escape guide. Be free.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a digital minilab system employing a photographic paper transport device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the arrangement of a photographic paper transport device that transports photographic paper to an exposure unit and a transport guide unit thereof.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing a splice portion of photographic paper.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a displacement structure of the escape guide.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 photographic paper 3 film scanner 5 exposure unit (digital printing unit) 7 controller 8 photographic paper transport device 8B exposure transport line 60 transport guide unit 61 first guide 62 second guide (relief guide) 63 adjustment rod 66 coil spring 67 adjustment nut 90 Splice part 91 Splice tape

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A photographic paper transport device for transporting photographic paper to an exposure position of an exposure unit for exposing an image to photographic paper, wherein a transport guide unit for maintaining a position in the thickness direction of the photographic paper relative to the exposure unit within an allowable range. Are a first guide facing the emulsion surface of the photographic paper and a second guide facing the base surface of the photographic paper.
A guide between the first guide and the second guide, the distance between the first guide and the second guide can be set in the allowable range, and at least one of the first guide and the second guide has the distance between the first guide and the second guide. A photographic paper transport device configured as an escape guide that is displaced to an escape position that allows paper to pass through a splice portion. 2. The displacement of the escape guide to the escape position is suppressed by a spring, and the escape guide is displaced to the escape position against the urging force of the spring by pushing up the splice portion. The photographic paper transport device according to claim 1. 3. The photographic paper transport device according to claim 1, wherein said escape guide is displaced to an escape position by electric power. 4. The photographic paper transporting device according to claim 1, wherein said second guide is configured as an escape guide. 5. The exposure section includes a line exposure head for exposing a photographic paper being conveyed, and the conveyance guide unit performs printing in both the upstream and downstream directions of the line exposure head in the photographic paper conveyance direction. The photographic paper transport device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the photographic paper transport device extends in a paper transport direction.