JP2001092019A - Positioning mechanism for optical parts - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To drive a rack of a mirror holder by a pinion coupled to a torque limiter to move the holder to a prescribed position with respect to a digital kit. SOLUTION: A mirror 11 is held in a holder 14 and is integrated with a support arm 14a into one body. A rack 17 is formed on the support arm 14a. A pinion 18 is coupled to a DC motor 19 through the torque limiter, and the pinion 18 and the rack 17 are engaged with each other to drive the holder 14. The motor 19 is stopped by a photoelectric sensor 40 just before the forefront of the holder 14, and the support arm 14a is brought into contact with a reception part 54 of an enclosure 15 by inertia. Since the pinion 18 is always energized in the direction of an arrow R by the torque limiter, the position is not shifted.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a mechanism for positioning optical components used in a digital kit of a photographic printing apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, JP-A-63-257742 discloses a film image recorded on a photographic film and a CRT.
Discloses a photographic printing apparatus which can selectively print a video image displayed on a photosensitive material.

In this photographic printing apparatus, a lens for printing a film image and a photosensitive material are sequentially arranged below a photographic film, and a CRT having a display screen facing upward is arranged alongside the photosensitive material. A first mirror (sub-mirror), a second mirror (main mirror) above the photosensitive material, and a video image printing lens between these mirrors.
The light from the RT is guided to the photosensitive material via the first and second mirrors, and the first and second mirrors are extracted from the optical path when printing a film image.

Recently, with the development of digital cameras and the like,
Film image (analog image) and CR
There has been a demand for a photographic printing apparatus that can selectively print a video image (digital image) displayed on a T on a photosensitive material or synthesize an analog image and a digital image. .

[0005] However, the photographic printing apparatus currently owned by the majority of small-scale developing laboratories is dedicated to analog image processing, and the photographic printing apparatus capable of processing both analog images and digital images is expensive. But because
There has been a demand for a so-called digital kit which can add a digital image exposure function by a relatively simple modification to a conventional photographic printing apparatus having only an analog image exposure system at a low cost.

A general photographic printing apparatus used conventionally has, for example, a structure schematically shown in FIG. That is, a light source unit 42 for illuminating a print target frame set in the negative carrier unit 41 is provided on an upper portion of the main body 2 of the photoprinting apparatus 1, and light transmitted through the print target frame is converted into a film image printing lens 43. Thereby, an image is formed on the photosensitive material (paper) 44. Paper 44
Is pulled out of the roll paper 45 and set at the printing position, and the exposed paper 44 is placed in the printing section 46.
After passing through the developing unit 47 to be developed, the drying is performed by the drying unit 48 and then sent to the sorter unit 50. And a lens 4 for film image printing.
A space 51 exists between the position 3 and the paper print position below the space 3. An optical unit for performing special printing is detachably mounted in the space 51.

[0007]

By the way, in order to add a function of printing a digital image such as a video image to the photographic printing apparatus 1 for analog image printing having the above-described structure, the above-mentioned publication is disclosed. Similarly to the photographic printing apparatus described in the patent application, a digital image display unit including a CRT (or LCD) as an image display means based on a digital image signal, and an image displayed on the CRT is exposed on a paper 44. It is necessary to attach an optical unit for performing the operation.

However, since the optical unit is interposed in the analog exposure system, when printing an analog image, it is necessary to retract the mirror position of the optical unit from the analog exposure system. Also, when exposing a digital image, the mirror is moved to a predetermined position so that it can be used,
It is necessary to position the mirror with high accuracy. For that,
Essentially, it is essential to use a step motor, a sensor, and the like. However, since the digital kit is a remodeling kit, there are many electrical and spatial restrictions in design, and it is difficult to arrange a large number of step motors and sensors.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide an optical component positioning mechanism which has a relatively simple structure and enables high-precision positioning.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, there is provided a positioning mechanism for an optical component, comprising: a holder for holding an optical component and having a rack installed in a predetermined direction; and a guide for moving the holder along the direction of the rack. A guide rail, a restricting means for restricting the movement of the holder at a predetermined position, a gear engaged with the rack, a spring-type torque limiter (not shown), and a motor connected to the gear via a reduction gear. And a drive mechanism.

Further, it is possible to provide a detecting means for stopping the motor by detecting that the holder has moved to a predetermined position on the guide rail, for example, by mechanically, electrically or optically detecting a part of the holder. .

The part of the holder includes both a part formed integrally with the holder and a separate part provided on the holder.

It is preferable that a support arm guided by a guide rail is provided integrally with the holder, and the rack is installed on the support arm.

The guide rail is supported by the housing, and a contact portion projects from the tip of the support arm. After the detection means is operated, the contact portion comes into contact with the housing at a predetermined position to position the guide rail. Is preferably performed.

When the tip of the support arm comes into contact with the housing, it is preferable that the pinion always urges the rack toward the tip of the support arm by the torque limiter.

[0016]

According to the present invention, there is provided an optical component positioning mechanism comprising: a holder on which a rack is installed; a guide rail for guiding the holder in the direction of the rack; and a restricting means for restricting the movement of the holder at a predetermined position. A drive mechanism comprising a gear engaged with the rack and a motor connected to the gear via a spring-type torque limiter and a reduction gear, and when the holder stops at a predetermined position, the spring of the torque limiter is used. Since the gear is kept in a state of urging the rack in one direction, the holder is prevented from slightly moving on the rail, and accurate positioning can be performed.

When an external force is applied to the holder in the opposite direction, the gear cannot be rotated by the reduction gear even if the rack presses the gear (pinion), so that the holder does not move and the correct position is maintained. .

When a detecting means for detecting that the holder has moved between predetermined positions on the guide rail and stopping the motor is provided, the holder is stopped at a predetermined position without imposing a load on the drive mechanism. Can be done.

[0019]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show perspectively only essential parts of a photographic printing apparatus having a configuration substantially similar to that shown in FIG. 7 with a digital kit to which the present invention is applied. It is a schematic front view and a side view. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing the configuration of the digital kit.

In FIG. 1 to FIG.
FIG. 2 shows a digital image display unit 5 fixedly attached to the front surface of the main body 2 of the photoprinting apparatus 1 including the CRT 4 with the display screen 4a facing upward, and a rail (not shown) fixed to the main body 2. The optical unit 6 is detachably mounted from the front side in the space 6.

The optical unit 6 has a filter turret 8 provided with three color filter elements 7R, 7G, 7B on a rotating plate, and the three color filter elements 7R, 7G, 7B of the filter turret 8. And a lens 10A, 10B having a horizontal optical axis for forming an image on paper of the image light reflected by the sub-mirror 9 and reflecting the image light transmitted vertically upward in one direction. And a main mirror (optical component) 11 for reflecting image light emitted from one of the lenses 10A and 10B toward paper.

The filter turret 8 converts a red component image, a green component image, and a blue component image, which are monochrome images, sequentially displayed three times on the display screen 4a of the CRT 4 into red, green, and blue images, respectively. It is provided to make an image. The main mirror 11 is
It is provided for switching between film image printing and digital image printing. At the time of film image printing, the main mirror 11 is guided by the rail 16 and retracts to the left in FIG. 3 along the horizontal optical axis, and the lens 43 in FIG. It is configured to allow exposure of the transmitted film image light to the paper 44 surface.

The two lenses 10A and 10B are composed of, for example, a standard lens and an optional lens.
One of the lenses 10A and 10B is configured to be selectively interposed in the optical path according to the purpose.

The digital image display unit 5 includes:
In order to protect the display screen 4a facing upward from the CRT 4, a shutter 12 covering the display screen 4a when the optical unit 6 is not mounted is provided. The shutter 12 is mechanically opened by a member of the optical unit 6 when the optical unit 6 is inserted into the space, thereby exposing the display screen 4a. Digital image display unit 5
The operation of the optical unit 6 is controlled by the control unit 13.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the optical unit 6. The main mirror 11 is fixed to a mirror holder 14, and the mirror holder 14 is cross-linked horizontally and horizontally along both side walls extending in the longitudinal direction (the left-right direction in FIG. 4) of the housing 15 of the optical unit 6. Two pipe-shaped rails 1
It is movably supported on 6,16. In this case, the mirror holder 14 is integrally provided on both sides with support arms 14a, 14b supported by the rails 16, 16 in such a manner that the rails 16, 16 are respectively penetrated. A rack 17 is extended along the rail 16 and a rack 17 is engraved (installed) along the longitudinal direction of the support arm 14a.

On the other hand, a mirror driving motor (DC motor) 19 in which a pinion (gear) 18 meshing with the rack 17 is mounted on a rotating shaft is fixed to the housing 15, and the main mirror 11 is moved by the motor 19. , The video image from the CRT 4 can be moved between an exposure position (the position shown in FIG. 4) for exposing the video image on the paper 44 and a retracted position for allowing the exposure of the film image on the paper 44. I have.

A photoelectric sensor 20 for stopping the main mirror 11 at the exposure position and a microswitch (detection means) 21 for stopping the main mirror 11 at the retracted position are fixed to the housing 15.

In the vicinity of the filter turret 8,
A filter driving motor (pulse motor) 22 and a filter origin detector 23 are provided, and a lens driving mechanism 24 is further provided.

The lens driving mechanism 24 includes the rails 16 and
Rails 25, 2 on two parallel pipe-like rails 25, 25 bridged in a direction orthogonal to 16 and horizontally.
The moving base 26 is slidably supported along the reference numeral 5, and two video image printing lenses 10A and 10B are fixed on the moving base 26.

FIG. 5 is a plan view similar to FIG. 4 showing a perspective view of a main part of the optical unit 6 shown in FIG. Holder 14
The support arms 14a, 14b are provided with a contact portion 52 protruding from the distal end 30 thereof. In FIG. 5, the mirror 14 is at the most advanced position,
That is, a state in which the digital image has been moved to a position where it can be exposed is shown. The manner in which the mirror 11 is positioned will now be described.

When the DC motor 19 operates, the pinion 18 interlocked with the pinion 18 rotates through the reduction gear and the torque limiter 56 (FIG. 6), and the rack 17 meshing with the pinion 18 is driven. Move in the direction shown. Immediately before the frontmost position shown in FIG. 5, the rib 36 protruding from the end wall 34 of the holder is
Sensor (detection means) provided inside the side wall 38 of the camera
Block 40 light paths. As a result, the photoelectric sensor 40 is activated, and the power supply to the motor 19 is stopped after a predetermined time. During this fixed time, the holder 14 moves in the direction of the arrow R, and the contact portion 52 contacts the receiving portion 54 of the housing 15. The receiving portion 54 is configured so that the position of the receiving portion 54 can be slightly adjusted in the axial direction of the guide rail 16 by loosening the screw 44 and can be fixed by retightening the screw.

The contact portion 52 of the holder 14 is
, The holder 14 stops. At this time, the pinion 18 is kept in a state of continuously biasing the rack in the direction of the arrow R while meshing with the rack 17 by the action of the torque limiter 56 containing the coil spring. As a result, the holder 14 stops at the specified position, and the state is changed to the motor 1 again.
Maintained until 9 is activated. Since the pinion 18 is connected to the motor 19 via the reduction gear, the pinion 18 is prevented from moving even if an external force is applied in the reverse direction, so that the position is reliably maintained.

To return the holder 14 to the original retracted position, the motor 19 is rotated in the reverse direction to move the holder 14 in the direction opposite to the arrow R. When the holder 14 reaches the retracted position, a part of the holder 14 contacts the microswitch 21 shown in FIG. 4, the microswitch 21 operates, and the motor 19 stops.

FIG. 6A shows a longitudinal sectional view of the optical unit 6, and FIG. 6B shows the holder 14 and its peripheral parts. (A)
5 shows a state in which the holder 14 is in its use position, that is, a position where a video image can be printed, as in FIG. CRT4
The light emitted from the sub-mirror 9 is laterally reflected by the sub-mirror 9, further reflected downward by the main mirror 11, and forms an image on the lower paper 44 (FIG. 6A). The position where the above-mentioned mirror 11 has been moved to the left most and has been retracted from the optical path of the analog image is indicated by a chain-line mirror 11. This state is shown in FIG.

FIG. 3B shows a state in which the holder 14 has moved to the leftmost position in relation to the guide rail 16 and the motor 19. At this time, the pinion 18 is located near the tip of the support arm 14a. Also, the photoelectric sensor 40 and the rib 36 for shielding the photoelectric sensor 40 are clearly shown.

As described above, the combination of the DC motor 19, the reduction gear, and the pinion 18 via the spring type torque limiter 56 allows the mirror 11 to be stopped at a predetermined position without providing any additional latch mechanism. be able to.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic front view showing a main part of a photographic printing apparatus equipped with a digital kit according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a similar schematic side view of the photographic printing apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view schematically showing the configuration of a digital kit.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of an optical unit.

FIG. 5 is a plan view perspectively showing a main part of the optical unit shown in FIG. 4;

6A is a longitudinal sectional view of the optical unit 6, and FIG. 6B is a schematic explanatory view showing a holder and its peripheral parts.

FIG. 7 is a schematic explanatory view of a conventional photographic printing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Optical component 14 Holder 16 Guide rail 17 Rack 18 Gear 21 and 40 Detection means 56 Torque limiter

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2F065 AA01 BB01 BB25 CC21 FF02 FF63 GG12 LL04 LL12 LL22 LL30 NN20 PP12 SS13 2H106 AA02 AB04 AB42 AB53 BA55 BA91 BH00

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A holder holding an optical component and having a rack installed in a predetermined direction, a guide rail for guiding the holder to move along the direction of the rack, and moving the holder at a predetermined position. An optical component positioning device comprising: a regulating means for regulating; and a drive mechanism comprising a gear engaged with the rack and a motor connected to the gear via a spring-type torque limiter and a reduction gear. mechanism. 2. A mechanism for positioning an optical component according to claim 1, further comprising detecting means for detecting that the holder has moved to a predetermined position on the guide rail and stopping the motor.