JP2001100321A - Optical unit fitting structure for photograph printing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To fix a rail member extended in parallel with the surface of a photosensitive material to a photograph printing device main body with the surface of the photosensitive material as a reference and to attachably and detachably fix an optical unit having a function printing a video image on the surface of the photosensitive material on the rail member when the optical unit is attachably and detachably fitted to a photograph printing device having a function printing a film image on the surface of the photosensitive material positioned at a prescribed position. SOLUTION: When a stopper fitting 62 is fixed to the lower section of the housing 15 of the optical unit 6 and the unit 6 is inserted in the photographic printing device main body 2 along a rail main body 35, the front end of the fitting 62 abuts on the this-side end surface 35a of the main body 35 so as to position the unit 6 in the inserting direction on the main body 35. Besides, the unit 6 is fixed on the main body 35 by a screw 63 piercing through the fitting 62.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a structure for mounting an optical unit in a photographic printing apparatus, and more particularly, to a photographic printing apparatus having a function of printing a film image on a photosensitive material surface set at a predetermined position. The present invention relates to a mounting structure for detachably mounting an optical unit having a function of printing a video image on a material surface.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A general photographic printing apparatus conventionally used has, for example, a structure schematically shown in FIG. That is, on the upper part of the main body 2 of the photographic printing device 1,
A light source unit 42 for illuminating the print target frame set in the negative carrier unit 41 is provided. Light transmitted through the print target frame is imaged on a photosensitive material (paper) 44 by a film image print lens 43. Paper 4
4 is pulled out from the roll paper 45 and set at the printing position, and the exposed paper 44 is
After being sent to the development processing unit 47 through the developing unit 6 and developed, it is dried in the drying unit 48 and sent to the sorter unit 50. A space 51 exists between the film image printing lens 43 and the paper print position below the film image printing lens 43. In this space 51, an optical unit for performing special printing is detachably mounted. It has become so.

Recently, with the development of digital cameras and the like,
It is possible to selectively print a film image (analog image) recorded on photographic film and a video image (digital image) displayed on a CRT on a photosensitive material, or to synthesize an analog image and a digital image. Demand for color photographic printing apparatuses is increasing.

A photographic printing apparatus for selectively printing such an analog image and a digital image displayed on a CRT on a photosensitive material is disclosed in, for example, JP-A-63-257742. In the photographic printing apparatus disclosed in this publication, an analog image printing lens 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) is disposed above, and a second mirror (main mirror) is disposed above the photosensitive material. A digital image printing lens is disposed between these mirrors. First and second
The first and second mirrors are led out of the optical path when an analog image is printed by guiding the photosensitive material through a mirror.

However, as described above, there is an increasing demand for a photographic printing apparatus capable of selectively printing a film image as an analog image and a video image displayed on a CRT as a digital image on a photosensitive material. That said, most small labs (labs) currently have photographic printing equipment dedicated to analog image printing, and can process both analog and digital images. A so-called digital kit, which can add a digital image printing function by a relatively simple modification to a conventional photographic printing apparatus having only an analog image printing function because a simple photographic printing apparatus is expensive. Is required.

This digital kit comprises a digital image display unit including a CRT as a means for displaying a video image, and an optical unit including a mirror and a lens for exposing the image displayed on the CRT onto paper. You. In order to obtain a good resolution, it is preferable to use a large display screen for the CRT. Therefore, the digital image display unit is large and heavy. It is possible to attach and detach the optical unit having a mechanism for switching the optical path between the time of printing a film image and the time of printing a video image in the space 51 of the photographic printing apparatus 1 shown in FIG. .

In this case, as a lens for printing a video image to be provided in the optical unit of the digital kit,
In some cases, it is required to provide an optional lens in addition to the standard lens. In such a case, two lenses are arranged on a movable pedestal with their optical axes parallel to each other in the direction of movement of the pedestal. It is considered that one of these two lenses may be configured to be selectively interposed in the optical path.

[0008]

In general, when printing a film image, a bright light source and a printing lens having a relatively large depth of field (for example, about 7 mm) are used, so that the surface of the photosensitive material is aligned with the optical axis. Even if it is slightly inclined, there is no possibility that a partial blur will occur in the printed image. Therefore, a photographic printing apparatus dedicated to film image printing does not require much accuracy with respect to the inclination of the photosensitive material surface with respect to the optical axis of the lens.

On the other hand, when printing a video image using a CRT, since the screen of the CRT, which is a light source, is relatively dark, when using the same lens as that used for film image printing, the exposure time must be lengthened. Therefore, the number of prints processed per unit time is reduced and the work efficiency is reduced. Therefore, a relatively large-diameter lens is inevitably used for printing video images.
Large aperture lenses have a shallow depth of field (for example, 1mm
If the optical axis of the video image printing optical unit is slightly inclined with respect to the surface of the photosensitive material, the printed image may be partially out of focus.

However, as described above, in the photographic printing apparatus dedicated to film image printing, for the above-described reason, a great precision is not required for the inclination of the photosensitive material surface with respect to the main body frame. It is difficult to secure the mounting accuracy of the optical unit when the optical unit is attached later to a photographic printing apparatus dedicated to film image printing.

Further, as described above, the optical unit must be configured to be detachable from the photographic printing apparatus, and it is required that the optical unit be easily detachable.

In view of the above-mentioned circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a mounting structure capable of mounting an optical unit of the digital kit to a photoprinting apparatus with high accuracy and easy attachment and detachment. is there.

[0013]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a photographic printing apparatus having a function of printing a film image on a photosensitive material surface positioned at a predetermined position, and a function of printing a video image on the photosensitive material surface. A mounting structure for detachably mounting the provided optical unit, wherein a rail member extending parallel to the photosensitive material surface with respect to the photosensitive material surface is fixed to the main body of the photographic printing apparatus, and is mounted on the rail member. The optical unit is detachably fixed.

In this case, the optical unit may be attached to a leading end when the optical unit is inserted into the photographic printing apparatus along the rail member, and may be attached to a fixed-side member with the insertion of the optical unit. It is preferable that an engagement means is provided for engaging the optical unit to prevent the optical unit from floating from the rail member.

[0015]

According to the present invention, the rail member is fixed to the main body of the photographic printing apparatus on the basis of the photosensitive material surface (paper surface), and the optical unit for video image printing is detachably fixed on the rail member. As a result, the optical unit can be attached to the surface of the photosensitive material with high accuracy, and even if the video image printing lens has a small depth of field, the printed image can be printed on the image. There is no danger of partial defocusing.

Also, since the optical unit is mounted on the rail member, there is an advantage that the work of inserting and removing the optical unit can be easily performed.

Further, the optical unit is connected to a fixed side member at the leading end when the optical unit is inserted into the photographic printing apparatus along the rail member as the optical unit is inserted. By providing an engagement means for preventing the optical unit from floating from the rail member, the distal end of the optical unit is fixed on the rail member simply by inserting the optical unit into the photographic printing apparatus. There are advantages that can be.

Further, an electric connector is provided at an end on the leading side when the optical unit is inserted into the photographic printing apparatus, and is provided on the photographic printing apparatus side with the insertion of the optical unit into the photographic printing apparatus. In the case where the electrical connection is achieved by fitting with the connector, the provision of the engagement means makes it impossible for the connector to insert the optical unit into the photographic printing apparatus main body. There is also the advantage that the application of force can be prevented.

[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 the same as that shown in FIG. 11 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, a digital kit 3 includes a CRT 4 with a display screen 4a directed upward, and a photographic printing apparatus 1 including a CRT 4.
A digital image display unit 5 fixedly attached to the front surface of the main body 2 and an optical unit 6 removably mounted in a space 51 of FIG. 11 from the front side along a rail (not shown) fixed to the main body 2. And is constituted by.

This optical unit 6 has a filter turret 8 provided with three color filters 7R, 7G, 7B.
And a sub-mirror 9 for horizontally reflecting image light transmitted vertically upward through one of the three color filters 7R, 7G, 7B of the filter turret 8, and an image light reflected by the sub-mirror 9. 10A and 10B having a horizontal optical axis for forming an image on paper
And a main mirror 11 for reflecting image light emitted from one of the lenses 10A and 10B toward paper.

The filter turret 8 is a CRT 4
Is provided to convert 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 into a red image, a green image, and a blue image, respectively. The main mirror 11
Is provided to switch between film image printing and digital printing.
The main mirror 11 is guided by the rails 16 and 16 to be described later and retracts to the left in FIG. 3, and passes through the film image printing lens 43 in FIG.
It is configured to allow exposure on four sides.

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 directed upward from the CRT 4, a shutter 12 that covers the display screen 4a when the optical unit 6 is not mounted is provided. This shutter 1
2 is mechanically opened by a member of the optical unit 6 with the insertion of the optical unit 6 into the space, thereby exposing the display screen 4a. The operations of the digital image display unit 5 and the optical unit 6 are 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 slidably 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 on the support arm 14a along the longitudinal direction.

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

A photoelectric sensor 20 for stopping the main mirror 11 at the exposure position and a microswitch 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 detecting photoelectric sensor 23 are provided, and a lens driving mechanism 24 is 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.
5, a pedestal 26 slidably supported along the pedestal 5 and two video image printing lenses 10 on the pedestal 26.
A and 10B are arranged while being held by lens brackets fixed on the pedestal 26, respectively.

On the front of the base 26 parallel to the rail 25,
A rack 27 extending parallel to the rail 25 is fixed by screws or the like. A lens switching motor (pulse motor) 28 is fixed to the housing 15.
8 connected via a reduction gear to the rotating shaft 8
Are engaged with the rack 27. Accordingly, the pedestal 26 moves in the vertical direction in FIG. 4 with the forward / reverse rotation of the motor 28, and the selected one of the lenses 10A and 10B is moved.
Each is configured to intervene in the optical path connecting the mirrors 9 and 11.

The photoelectric sensor 32 is fixed to the housing 15 in the direction in which the rack 27 protrudes, and the protruding end of the rack 27 intervenes between the light emitting element and the light receiving element of the photoelectric sensor 32 so that the light receiving element The light incident on the pedestal 26 is blocked, whereby the origin position of the pedestal 26 is detected.

Standard lens 10A, optional lens 10
In order for B to intervene in the optical path, the number of drive pulses of the motor 28 is counted from this origin position, and the standard lens 10
A, the pedestal 26 may be driven by the motor 28 for the number of drive pulses of the motor 28 set for each of the optional lenses 10B.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view showing the housing 15 of the optical unit 6 and the rail member 34 serving as a mounting base for the optical unit 6. 6 is a plan view showing the rail member 34 and the paper placing member 55, FIG. 7 is a perspective side view showing a part of the rail member 34, FIG. 8 is a front view of the rail member 34, and FIG. 15 is a front view of the lower section 15b of FIG. FIG. 10 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG.

In FIG. 5, the housing 15 is composed of an upper section 15a and a lower section 15b, and the rail member 34 is, as apparent from FIG.
, A pair of rail bodies 35, 35 parallel to the insertion direction, a cross member 36 connecting between the rear ends of the rail bodies 35, 35, and a cross member 37 connecting between intermediate parts of the rail bodies 35, 35. And are formed in a frame shape.
Each rail body 35 has a flat top surface and a bottom surface that form planes parallel to each other.

The paper placing member 55 shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 provided in the photoprinting apparatus main body 2 has a substantially horizontal upper surface 55a forming a reference plane.
A paper feed belt (not shown) on which the paper 44 is placed is configured to move from left to right in FIG. The belt is a wide flat belt having a large number of holes, and the paper 44 is sucked on the upper surface 55a of the paper placing member 55 via the belt by using vacuum suction means.

The frame 56 of the photoprinting apparatus main body 2 has the rail main bodies 35, 35 of the rail member 34.
A positioning means such as a protruding edge (not shown) is provided for accurately positioning the bottom surface of the paper mounting portion 55 with respect to the upper surface 55a of the paper placing portion 55, and the rail member 34 has rail main bodies 35, 35. In such a manner that the top surface of the cross member 3 is exactly parallel to the upper surface 55 a of the paper placing portion 55, that is, parallel to the surface of the paper 44.
6 and 37 are fixed to the frame 56 of the photoprinting apparatus main body 2 via brackets 38 and 39 respectively fixed thereto.

A front end face 35a of each rail body 35 of the rail member 34 is a vertical surface, and a screw hole extending into the rail body 35 from the end face 35a along the rail body 35 is formed on the end face 35a. 35b are formed.

On the other hand, as is clear from FIG. 9, the optical unit 6 has engaging grooves 57, 57 which engage with the rail bodies 35, 35 along both side edges of the bottom surface of the lower section 15b of the housing 15. It has. Also, lower section 1
5b, that is, the leading side wall when the optical unit 6 is inserted into the space 51 of the photoprinting apparatus main body 2 using the rail main body 35 as a guide,
As shown in FIGS. 7 and 10, an electric connector 58 is attached, and the space 51 of the optical unit 6 is provided.
It is configured to be fitted with a connector provided on the side of the main body 2 to achieve electrical connection with insertion into the inside.

Further, as is apparent from FIG. 10, an inclined surface 59 is formed on the bottom surface of the distal end portion of the lower section 15b, and the inclined surface 59 terminates at the stepped portion 60. 61 is fixed. The engaging member 61 is attached to the cross member 36 of the rail member 34.
And a slit 36a for engaging the optical unit 6
Is inserted into the space 51 of the photoprinting apparatus main body 2 using the rail main body 35 as a guide, and in the final position of the insertion, the engaging metal fitting 61 is engaged in the slit 36a.
The distal end of the optical unit 6 is pressed onto the rail member 34 to prevent the optical unit 6 from floating from the distal end rail member 34.

The lower section 15b of the housing 15 of the optical unit 6 is provided with stopper metal fittings at positions nearer to the engaging grooves 57, 57 (the left side in FIG. 7) for engaging with the rail bodies 35, 35. 62, 62 are fixed, and the optical unit 6 is moved along the rail bodies 35, 35.
When inserted into the inside, the front ends of these stopper fittings 62, 62 are connected to the end faces 35a, 3 3 on the near side of the rail bodies 35, 35.
5a, the optical unit 6 is positioned on the rail bodies 35 in the insertion direction.

The stopper fitting 62 is shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 5, the front and rear ends of the horizontal strip are bent downward, and small holes are formed in these bent portions to fix the housing 15 to the rail member 34. The special screw 63 has a long shaft portion. That is, the stopper fitting 62 is
When the large-diameter head portion 63a of the special screw 63 is rotated clockwise with a finger, the screw portion 63b at the tip of the special screw 63 is screwed to the end surface 35a of the rail body 35, 35. The optical unit 6 is configured to be screwed into the hole 35b so that the optical unit 6 is fixed on the rail member 34. By loosening the special screws 63, 63 and releasing the screw engagement with the screw holes 35b, 35b, the optical unit 6 is released. The unit 6 can be immediately pulled out of the photoprinting apparatus main body 2. An E-ring 64 (FIG. 7) is fitted to the shaft of the special screw 63 so that the special screw 63 does not fall off the stopper fitting 62.

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present embodiment, the rail member 34 is fixed to the photographic printing apparatus main body 2 with the surface of the paper 44 as a reference, and the video image print is formed on the rail member 44. Paper unit 44 is configured to be detachably fixed.
The optical unit 6 can be attached with high precision to the surface of the video image printing lens 10A, 1
Even if 0B has a shallow depth of field, there is no possibility that the printed image will be partially out of focus.

Also, since the optical unit 6 is mounted on the rail member 34, there is an advantage that the work of inserting and removing the optical unit 6 can be easily performed.

Further, at the tip of the lower section 15b in the housing 15 of the optical unit 6, the optical unit 6
The optical unit 6 is attached to the slit 36a of the cross member 36 of the rail member 34 by pressing the optical unit 6 onto the rail member 34, thereby providing the optical unit 6 with a photographic printing apparatus. Just by inserting the optical unit 6 into the main body 2, the tip of the optical unit 6 is
There is also an advantage that it is possible to prevent the connector 58 from floating, and that no excessive force is applied to the connector 58.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic front view showing only essential parts in a state where a digital kit to which the present invention is applied is attached to a photographic printing apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a side view thereof.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view schematically showing a configuration of a digital kit to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of an optical unit of the digital kit to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of a housing of the optical unit and a rail member serving as a mounting base of the optical unit.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a rail member and a paper placing member.

FIG. 7 is a perspective side view showing a part of the section as a cross section.

FIG. 8 is a front view of a rail member.

FIG. 9 is a front view of a lower section of a housing of the optical unit.

FIG. 10 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG. 7;

FIG. 11 is a schematic configuration diagram of a conventional photographic printing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Photo printing apparatus 2 Photo printing apparatus main body 3 Digital kit 4 CRT 4a Display screen 5 Digital image display unit 6 Optical unit 7R, 7G, 7B Color filter 8 Filter turret 9 Submirror 10A, 10B Video image printing lens 11 Main mirror 12 CRT display screen protection shutter 13 Control unit 14 Mirror holder 15 Housing 16 Rail 17, 27 Rack 18, 31 Pinion 19 Main mirror drive motor 20, 23, 32 Photoelectric sensor 21 Micro switch 22 Filter drive motor 24 Lens drive mechanism 26 Base 28 Lens switching motor 34 Rail member 35 Rail body 36, 37 Cross member 43 Film image printing lens 44 Paper (photosensitive material) 55 Paper placing member 57 Engage 58 electrical connector 61 engaging alloy member 62 stopper fitting 63 special screws

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An optical unit having a function of printing a video image on a photosensitive material surface is detachably attached to a photographic printing apparatus having a function of printing a film image on a photosensitive material surface positioned at a predetermined position. A mounting structure for mounting, wherein a rail member extending parallel to the photosensitive material surface with respect to the photosensitive material surface is fixed to a main body of the photographic printing apparatus, and the optical unit is detachably fixed on the rail member. A mounting structure for an optical unit, characterized in that: 2. An optical unit, wherein the optical unit is attached to a leading end when the optical unit is inserted into the photographic printing apparatus along the rail member, and to a fixed-side member as the optical unit is inserted. 2. The mounting structure for an optical unit according to claim 1, further comprising an engaging means for engaging the optical unit to prevent the optical unit from floating from the rail member.