JP2001166393A - Film carrier - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To efficiently read the bar codes of photographic films. SOLUTION: The film carrier 18 is provided with a film kind switch 65. Whether the photographic film having the bar codes or the photographic film without having the bar codes is instructed by operating the film kind switch 65. The bar codes of the photographic film 20 are read in the case of the photographic film having the bar codes by a controller 45. The controller 45 does not read the bar codes in the case of the photographic film 20 not having the bar codes. Since the bar codes are not read, the displaying of a read failure error does not occur any more and the need for the operation or the like to cancel this error display is eliminated in the case of the photographic film 20 not recorded with the bar codes.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a film carrier, and more particularly to a film carrier for efficiently reading a bar code such as a DX code recorded on a photographic film.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Some film carriers are provided with a bar code sensor for specifying the type of photographic film to be handled. The bar code sensor reads the DX bar code recorded on the photographic film, and based on the read bar code sensor, calculates an exposure amount during printing exposure and changes reading conditions during image reading.

[0003]

In such a film carrier, when handling a film on which a DX bar code is not recorded, if the bar code cannot be read, an error display such as "bar code cannot be read" is displayed. Is performed. The operator needs to perform an operation to clear the error by the error display, and the process is complicated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and a film carrier capable of handling a photographic film on which a bar code is not recorded in the same manner as a photographic film on which a bar code is recorded. The purpose is to provide.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a film carrier, comprising: means for generating bar code presence / absence information of a photographic film; Selection means is provided for reading a barcode when there is a code, and not reading the barcode when there is no barcode.

It is preferable that the bar code presence / absence information generating means determines the presence / absence of a bar code based on the spectral characteristics of the film base of the photographic film. In addition, an external operation member may be provided instead of the automatic determination of the presence or absence of the barcode. In this case, the presence or absence of the barcode is input by operating the external operation member.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a film carrier having a magnetic head displaced between a reading position in contact with a photographic film and a retracted position away from the photographic film, and reading magnetic information at the reading position. There is provided a reading unit and a unit for setting the magnetic head to a retracted position when the barcode is not present.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS First, a digital lab system in which the present invention is implemented will be described. FIG. 2 shows a schematic configuration of a digital laboratory system 10 according to the present embodiment. The digital lab system 10 includes an input device 13 including a line CCD scanner 11 and an image processing unit 12, and an output device 17 including a laser printer unit 15 and a processor unit 16.

The line CCD scanner 11 has a film carrier 18 of the present invention. Film carrier 18
Transports the photo film 20, and reads the image recorded on the photo film 20 by the line CCD during the transport. The photo film 20 to be read includes, for example, a 135 film, an IX240 film, a 110
These are various photographic films such as 20 and 220 size (Brownie size), and can read reversal films in addition to negative films.

The image processing section 12 performs image processing such as various corrections on the read image information, and outputs the image information to the laser printer section 15 as recording image data. Further, the image processing unit 12 outputs the image data after the image processing to the external device 19 as an image file. For example, the information is output to a recording medium 19a such as a memory card or a CDROM, or transmitted to another information processing device 19b via a communication line.

The laser printer unit 15 includes R, G, and B laser light sources and a modulation unit. The modulator modulates each laser from the laser light source based on the image data for recording, scans and exposes the photographic paper with the modulated laser, and records the image on the photographic paper. The processor unit 16 performs color development, bleach-fix, washing, and drying processes on the photographic paper that has been scanned and exposed, and performs development processing.

FIG. 3 shows a schematic configuration of an optical system of the line CCD scanner 11. This optical system includes a light source 2 composed of a metal halide lamp, a halogen lamp, an LED, and the like.
1 is provided. The light source 21 is arranged on the reflector 22 at its focal position. The reflector 22 has an infrared light (I
R), and the reflection surface is formed in a parabolic shape. Light from the light source 21 is reflected by the reflector 22 and is emitted toward the photographic film 20.

On the light emitting side of the light source 21, an IR cut filter 24, a light amount adjusting diaphragm plate 25, a balance filter 2
6. The light diffusion box 27 and the diffusion plate 27a are arranged in order along the optical axis L. The insertion position of the light amount adjustment diaphragm plate 25 into the optical axis L is variable, and the light amount is thereby adjusted. The balance filter 26 is provided with a negative film filter 26a and a reversal film filter 26b for color temperature adjustment, and one of them is selectively inserted into the optical axis L.

On the opposite side of the photographic film 20 from the light source 21, a lens unit 28 and a line CCD 29 are sequentially arranged along the optical axis L. Lens unit 28
Represents the image recorded on the photo film 20 as a line CCD.
An image is formed on the light receiving surface 29. In FIG. 3, the lens unit 2
Although 8 shows only a single lens, the lens unit 28 may be a plurality of zoom lenses.

The line CCD 29 is an R, G, B CCD
The cell rows are arranged in the direction in which the photo film 20 is fed (the direction of arrow A in FIG. 3). Each CCD cell row is CC
D cells are arranged in a line in the width direction of the photo film. Thus, the main scanning for reading the film image is performed in the arrangement direction of the CCD cells. In addition, when the photographic film 20 is sent, sub-scanning for reading a film image is performed. In the line CCD 29, since three CCD cell rows are sequentially arranged at a predetermined pitch along the feed direction of the photographic film 20, the detection timing of each component color of R, G, and B in the same pixel is determined. Causes a time difference. For this reason, in the present embodiment, the detection timing of the photometric signal is delayed by a different delay time for each component color, whereby the R, G, and B photometric signals of the same pixel are simultaneously output from the line CCD. .

FIG. 1 shows a schematic structure of a film carrier 18 for 135 film embodying the present invention. The film carrier 18 is composed of a base 30 and a cover 31, and a film passage 32 is formed between them. The cover 31 is attached to the base 30 so as to be openable and closable, and the film passage 32 on the base 30 can be opened by opening the cover 31 upward.

In the film passage 32, a film insertion port 3 is provided.
3 sequentially, a film leading edge sensor 34, a first film transport roller pair 35, a dust removal roller pair 36, a perforation sensor 39, a second transport roller pair 40, an image reading section 41, a third transport roller pair 42, and a film storage guide 43.
Is arranged. Film guides (not shown) are provided on both sides of the film passage 32.
0 is guided to various roller pairs 35, 36, 40, 42 and a film storage guide 43.

As shown in FIG. 1, the film tip sensor 3
4 detects the insertion of the leading end of the photo film 20. This detection signal is sent to the controller 45. The controller 45 controls the driver 46a based on the film leading end detection signal.
, The film feed motor 46 is rotated forward. The rotation of the film feed motor 46 is transmitted to each transport roller pair 35, 40, 42 via a timing belt or a pulley (not shown). Thus, the photographic film 20 is fed so as to be drawn into the film carrier 18. Further, the sent photo film 20 is stored in a rolled state in the film storage guide 43.

The first film transport roller pair 35 includes a drive roller 50 disposed on the base side and a pressing roller 51 disposed on the cover side. The second and third film transport roller pairs 40 and 42 also include a driving roller 50 and a pressing roller 51 similarly to the first transport roller pair 35. Second and third transport roller pairs 40, 4
2 is provided with roller shift mechanisms 54 and 55. The roller shift mechanisms 54 and 55 include
1 is moved up and down to be displaced between a lowered nip position and a retracted position retracted upward. Then, the second and third roller pairs 40 and 42 are selectively brought into a nip state, and the film is fed. Photo film 20 is transferred to film carrier 18
In the A-direction feeding, the third conveying roller pair 42 enters a nip state. When the photographic film 20 is fed in the direction B opposite to the direction A, the second transport roller pair 40 is in a nip state.

The dust removal roller pair 36 is a photo film 2
0, and dust attached to both sides of the sheet is removed.
Further, the film storage guide 43 is formed in a cylindrical shape, and stores the photo film 20 in a roll shape.

As shown in FIG. 3, the image reading section 41 includes a guide ridge 60, an illumination opening 61, and a film mask 62.
And The guide ridge 60 is connected to the film passage 32.
Is arranged in the film width direction at the image reading position of
It has a cylindrical curved guide surface 60a. The top of the guide ridge 60 is long in the film width direction and has an illumination opening 61.
Are formed. A film mask 62 is arranged above the illumination opening 61 and on the cover 31 side.

The film mask 62 is used for the photographic film 20.
Then, the photographic film 20 is pressed so as to keep the distance between the line CCD 29 and the optical system constant. Since the photographic film 20 is curved in the feed direction by the curved guide surface 60a, the photographic film 20 does not warp in the film width direction and the flatness is secured. Therefore, Photo Film 2
The image reading accuracy of 0 is improved.

The cover 31 of the film carrier 18 has
As shown in FIG. 1, a film type switch 65 is provided. The film type switch 65 is pressed in the case of a black-and-white film or a color reversal film in which it is not necessary to read the DX bar code, and this operation signal is sent to the controller 45. When the film type switch 65 is turned on, the controller 45 determines that it is not necessary to read the DX barcode, and does not perform the barcode reading process. As a result, as before,
An unreadable error or the like due to the inability to read the DX barcode does not occur, and the reading and exposure of an image using a photographic film can be performed immediately. In addition, since an operation for canceling the error is not required, the operation becomes easy. FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of the above processing.

In the above-described embodiment, the film type switch 65 is operated to input to the controller 45 that the film does not need to read the DX bar code. By measuring the density, it may be automatically determined whether or not there is a barcode for DX.

In this case, as shown in FIG. 5, the film base is subjected to three-color separation photometry with a film base sensor (not shown), and the three-color film base densities are compared with reference values of various films. It is determined whether the photographic film is a black-and-white film, a color reversal film, or a color negative film based on whether or not the three-color film base density is within a certain range of the reference value. If the photo film is a black-and-white film or a color reversal film, the DX
It is determined that the film does not require reading of the barcode, and the barcode is not read. In the case of a color negative film, a barcode is read by a barcode sensor for DX.

Instead of inputting to the controller 45 by operating the film type switch 65 that the film does not require reading a bar code, a display device (for example, a display device such as a CRT) and an input device (for example, a CRT) are provided. A mouse or keyboard) may be used to indicate that the film has no barcode.

In the above-described embodiment, a sensor for measuring the three-color density of the film base is provided. In addition, a three-color separation photometry of the film base is performed by a scanner for reading a film image. It may be determined whether the barcode is a recorded film.

In the above embodiment, the present invention is applied to the 135-type dedicated film carrier 18, but as shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, the present invention is applied to the IX240-type film carrier 70. May be implemented. In this case, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, a movable film guide 71 having a variable width is used. Film guide 7
Reference numeral 1 denotes a fixed guide 71a, a movable guide 71b, and a guide shift mechanism 71c. The movable guide 71b is moved in the width direction of the film by the guide shift mechanism 71c. Thus, the guide width for the 135-type photo film 20a is changed to the guide width for the IX240 type photo film 20b as shown in FIG.

Further, a pair of film transport rollers 72, 73,
Reference numeral 74 also serves as the photographic films 20a and 20b, and moves the movable roller body 75 in the axial direction according to the width of the film, thereby changing the distance from the fixed roller body 76. The same components as those of the 135-type film carrier 18 of the above embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals. Further, movable masks 77 and 78 are arranged at both ends of the illumination opening 61 in the film width direction. This movable mask 77,
78 is a narrow IX240 type photo film 20
Unnecessary illumination light at the time of reading b is cut.

The magnetic heads 80 and 81 are provided for reading and writing.
It is provided at a position corresponding to the magnetic recording track of the 0-film 20b, near both ends in the film width direction. The magnetic heads 80 and 81 are displaced by a head shift mechanism 82 (see FIG. 6) between a contact position where the magnetic film 80 comes in contact with the photographic film 20 for reading and writing and a position retracted upward from the film passage 32. Then, only when the IX240 film 20b passes, it is lowered into the film passage 32 by the head shift mechanism 82 and brought into the contact position.

As shown in FIG. 6, 135 type color negative film, IX24
There are provided three types of identification keys 85a, 85b and 85c for a 0-type color negative film and other films.
To 85c are selectively operated. By this key operation,
In the case of the IX240 type, reading of a bar code and magnetic information is performed. In the case of a 135 type color negative film, only the bar code is read, and the magnetic information is not read. In the case of other black and white films and color reversal films,
Barcodes and magnetic information are not read.

Instead of providing three kinds of identification keys 85a to 85c, two kinds of identification keys for special cases, for example, 135 type color negative film and black and white or reversal film are provided and operated. The corresponding process is sometimes performed, and when the key is not operated, it may be determined that the photograph film is an IX240 type photo film, and the bar code and the magnetic information may be read.

As described above, since the bar code and the magnetic information are not required to be read according to the film type, the bar code and the magnetic information cannot be read because the bar code and the magnetic information are not actively read. Is no longer displayed. Therefore, an operation for canceling the error becomes unnecessary, and the image reading of the photo film can be performed efficiently. Moreover, for photographic films that do not need to read barcodes or magnetic information,
Since the reading operation is not performed, the magnetic head for reading the magnetic information can be set at the standby position. As a result, the magnetic head does not come into contact with the photographic film, thereby eliminating the occurrence of scratches and the like. Further, since the magnetic head contacts the photographic film only when reading magnetic information, wear of the magnetic head can be suppressed.

In the above-described embodiment, the present invention is applied to the film carriers 18 and 70 for reading an image. In addition, an analog printing system in which printing light transmitted through a photographic film is formed on a color paper by a printing lens. The present invention may be applied to a film carrier for a photographic printer. Further, the present invention may be applied to a film carrier for a film inspection machine in addition to the one for printing and image reading.

In the above-described embodiment, the reading of the DX bar code has been described. However, in addition to the above, the reading of the bar code for the film frame number and the extended DX bar code in which the DX code and the frame number code are integrated are also performed. The present invention may be implemented.

[0036]

According to the present invention, a means for generating bar code presence / absence information of a photographic film, a bar code is read based on the bar code presence / absence information of the photographic film, and a bar code is read based on the bar code presence information. The provision of the selection means that does not read the bar code eliminates the need to read the bar code from a photographic film having no bar code. As a result, an error display or the like due to the inability to read the barcode is eliminated. Therefore, it is not necessary to perform an operation for canceling the error, and it is possible to efficiently perform processes such as image reading of a photographic film and printing exposure.

By judging the presence / absence of a barcode based on the spectral characteristics of the photographic film based on the film, it is possible to perform the processing efficiently without the need for the operator to input the film type. Further, by inputting the presence or absence of the barcode by operating the external operation member, the input can be performed more easily, but the configuration can be simplified.

Further, a film carrier having a magnetic head displaced between a reading position in contact with the photographic film and a retracted position away from the photographic film, and having magnetic information reading means for reading magnetic information at the reading position By setting the magnetic head to the retracted position when there is no bar code, the magnetic head does not come into contact with the photographic film, and the film does not scratch. Also, the magnetic head does not unnecessarily come into contact with the photographic film, and wear is suppressed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a film carrier of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a digital print system using the film carrier of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a schematic configuration of a scanner.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a barcode reading process in the film scanner.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart in another embodiment for determining whether or not to perform a barcode reading process based on a film base density.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of a film carrier in another embodiment capable of transporting two types of photographic films, 135 type and IX240 type.

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a transport state of a 135-type photographic film of the film carrier.

FIG. 8 is a plan view showing a state of transporting an IX240 type photographic film of a film carrier.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 10 digital print system 11 line CCD scanner 12 image processing unit 18, 70 film carrier 20 photo film 30 base 31 cover 35, 40, 42, 72, 73, 74 film transport roller pair 36 dust removal roller pair 43 film storage guide 45 controller 65 Film type switch 71 Film guide 80, 81 Magnetic head 82 Head shift mechanism 85 Film type switch 85a, 85b, 85c Identification key

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A film carrier having means for reading a bar code recorded on a photographic film, comprising: means for generating bar code presence / absence information of the photographic film; and a bar code based on the bar code presence / absence information of the photographic film. A film reading means for reading a bar code when the bar code is not loaded and not reading the bar code when there is no bar code. 2. The film carrier according to claim 1, wherein said bar code presence / absence information generating means determines the presence / absence of a bar code based on a film-based spectral characteristic of said photographic film. 3. The film carrier according to claim 1, wherein said bar code presence / absence information generating means includes an external operation member, and the presence or absence of the bar code is input by operating the external operation member. 4. A magnetic information reading means having a magnetic head displaced between a reading position in contact with the photo film and a retracted position away from the photo film, wherein magnetic information reading means for reading magnetic information at the reading position; 4. A film carrier according to claim 1, further comprising: means for setting the magnetic head to a retracted position when there is no cord.