JP2003186168A - Photograph film developing and processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the S/N of image data by suppressing a dark current caused by heat generation of an imaging device when reading images in a photograph film developing and processing device in which the images of a photograph film developed at least are read by using an image reader and outputted as digital image data. <P>SOLUTION: Light is radiated by a light source 61 provided on the non- emulsion side of a photograph film 1, the image illuminated by light transmitted through the photograph film 1 is formed on an imaging device 63 by a lens 64, and the digital image data are obtained by photoelectrically transducing with the imaging device 63. A Peltier element 65 to be functioned as a heat pump is provided near the back of the imaging device 63, heat generated from the imaging device 63 is absorbed, the elevation of a temperature in the imaging device 63 is suppressed and the dark current is reduced. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to the development of a color photographic film using silver halide as a catalyst for coloring a dye, the color photographic film is developed and the image on the photographic film is read to form a recording medium. The present invention relates to a photographic film developing apparatus for recording.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been proposed a method for developing a photographic film by directly spraying or coating an appropriate amount of each processing solution on the emulsion surface of the photographic film (hereinafter referred to as "direct coating development"). (See, for example, JP-A-62-92957). However, in putting this direct coating development into practical use, simple rapid development is further proposed in which at least one of the other steps except the development step among the processing steps of development, bleaching, fixing and stabilization is omitted. It became so. First, the background will be described.

As is well known, at the same time as a service for developing a photographic film and printing it on photographic paper, a service for reading an image on the photographic film with a scanner and recording it as digital image data on a recording medium such as a CD-R is provided. ing. Further, there is also a digital photographic printing apparatus which forms an image on a photographic printing paper piece by exposing the photographic printing paper piece with a laser beam using digital image data photographed by a digital camera or digital image data recorded on the CD-R or the like. It has been put to practical use.

With the downsizing and cost reduction of photographic film developing devices and photographic printing devices, so-called minilab stores, where these devices are installed in stores to develop films and print on photographic paper in a short time, are rapidly increasing. is doing. further,
Digital cameras are rapidly becoming popular in place of cameras using photographic film. As a result, the number of photographic films processed in one minilab store tends to decrease, and this trend is expected to continue.

Under these circumstances, a minilab store has both or both functions of a conventional analog photographic printing device for printing photographs using photographic film and a digital photographic printing device for printing photographs using digital image data. Installing a composite photo printing device is costly in terms of location and / or economy. Therefore, a minilab store with a small capital power has a desire to unify the photographic print processing into a digital photographic printing apparatus.

However, in the conventional system, the image data is read by the scanner after developing, bleaching, fixing, stabilizing and drying the photographic film in the photographic film developing device. Therefore, the time required to read image data when performing photographic print processing with a digital photographic printing apparatus using image data read from photographic film is greater than when performing photographic printing processing with a conventional analog photographic printing apparatus. The processing time increases as much. As a result, the minilab store, which sells products for a short time, has a problem that its competitiveness with other stores is reduced.

For a customer who orders a print of a photo from a minilab store, it suffices that the finished photo has a certain image quality, and whether the process in the middle is analog or digital, but not so much. It can be said that it has no relationship. Further, if the same photograph can be duplicated in the future, it does not matter whether the medium for recording the image is a film or a recording medium such as a CD-R. As an extreme example, if the image data is stored on a CD-R or the like, the photographic film may be discarded.

On the other hand, if at least the developing step is completed, the exposed portion is developed on the photographic film,
It is in a state where it can be recognized as an image. Therefore, the image data can be read by the scanner even if the subsequent processing is omitted. Therefore, on the premise that printing is performed by a digital photographic printing apparatus, simple quick development is proposed in which at least one of the development, bleaching, fixing, and stabilization processing steps other than the development step is omitted. It was
Specifically, a first method consisting of two steps of development and drying, a second method consisting of three steps of development, bleaching and drying, and development,
It is a third method consisting of three steps of fixing and drying. In any of the methods, the most time-consuming stabilization treatment step is omitted, and therefore the time required from the development of the photographic film to the drying can be greatly shortened.

Incidentally, the case where all of the development, bleaching, fixing and stabilizing processes are executed is referred to as "standard development", and in any case of any of the above-mentioned methods, the omitted steps should be additionally processed afterwards. Gives a negative film in the same processing state as in standard development. Therefore, if the customer desires, it is possible to return the standard-developed negative film by performing the omitted steps after reading the image data.

[0010]

However, in the above-mentioned simple rapid development, at least one of the other steps except the developing step is omitted in order to realize the short-time processing, and as a result, the halogen contained in the photographic film is omitted. The desilvering process such as silver halide has not been completed. When a photographic film that has not been desilvered in this way is scanned by a scanner, the concentration of silver halide remaining in the photographic film is high, so the transmittance of illumination light is reduced, and the image sensor of the scanner The exposure time becomes long. When the exposure time becomes long, the amount of heat generated by the image pickup element increases and a dark current is generated due to heat, and the image data is buried in noise. Therefore, there arises a problem that the image quality of an image reproduced using the obtained image data is deteriorated.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and is a photographic film developing method for suppressing dark current caused by heat generation of an image pickup device at the time of image reading and improving S / N of image data. It is intended to provide a processing device.

[0012]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a developing treatment means for performing at least a developing treatment by directly spraying or coating a treatment liquid on the emulsion surface of a photographic film, and a developed photographic film. In a photographic film developing apparatus having an image reading unit for reading the above image, a noise reducing unit for reducing noise generated when the image reading unit reads image data is provided.

According to this structure, since the noise reducing means for reducing the noise generated when the image reading means reads the image data is provided, the S / N ratio of the image data output from the image reading means is improved. As a result, the image quality of the image reproduced using this image data is improved.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the image reading means includes an image pickup device, and the noise reduction means is a heat pump for absorbing heat generated by the image pickup device. With this configuration, it is possible to suppress the temperature rise of the image sensor and reduce the generation of noise due to dark current.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is further provided an exhaust heat treatment means for warming the treatment liquid by using the exhaust heat generated by the heat pump. According to this configuration, the function for warming the treatment liquid is unnecessary, and the exhaust heat can be efficiently used.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, a Peltier element is used as the heat pump. According to this configuration, the structure of the noise reducing means can be simplified.

[0017]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a photographic film developing apparatus according to this embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1, a photographic film developing apparatus according to this embodiment is a cartridge (patrone).
The photographic film 1 pulled out from the film 10 is conveyed at a constant speed in a predetermined direction (for example, the right side in the drawing) by a film conveying mechanism 20 including a roller 21 and a belt 22. Incidentally. The numbers and positions of the rollers 21 and the belts 22 are not limited to the illustrated example, and can be changed as appropriate.

When the type of the photographic film 1 is the 135 type, the photographic film 1 is placed near the cartridge 10.
A first cutter 11 is provided for cutting the end of the. Further, a second cutter 12 for cutting the developed photographic film 1 into a predetermined length is also provided near the final end of the film transport mechanism 20. When the type of photographic film 1 is the APS type, the photographic film 1 is stored in the original cartridge without being cut, so
The cutter 11 and the second cutter 12 are unnecessary.

A first coating head 3 for directly spraying or coating the developing solution onto the emulsion surface 1a of the photographic film 1 in the conveying direction of the photographic film 1 and on the downstream side of the first cutter 11.
0, a first storage tank 31 for storing the developer, a first valve 32 for adjusting the amount of the developer, and a constant thickness (amount) of the developer applied on the emulsion surface 1a. The first coating amount adjusting rollers 33 and 34 are provided.

On the downstream side of the first coating amount adjusting rollers 33 and 34, there is provided a second for directly spraying or coating a processing solution other than the developing solution such as a bleaching solution or a fixing solution on the emulsion surface 1a of the photographic film 1. Application head 40, second storage tank 41 for storing treatment liquid, second for adjusting amount of treatment liquid
Valve 42, second coating amount adjusting roller 4 for adjusting the thickness (amount) of the processing liquid applied on the emulsion surface 1a to a constant value.
3 and 44 are provided.

A processing liquid wiping device 50 (a pair of squeeze rollers 51 and 52) for wiping the processing liquid on the emulsion surface 1a of the photographic film 1 is provided downstream of the second coating amount adjusting rollers 43 and 44. Is provided. Further, a drying device 15 for drying the photographic film 1 wet with the treatment liquid is provided on the downstream side of the treatment liquid wiping device 50.

An image reading device (scanner) 60 for reading an image developed on the photographic film 1 and outputting it as image data is provided on the downstream side of the drying device 15, and the second cutter is further provided downstream thereof. 12 are provided. The details of the image reading device 60 will be described later.

First coating head 30 and second coating head 40
The distance between and is set so that the time required for development (for example, 1 minute) is required, assuming that the photographic film 1 is conveyed at the above-mentioned constant speed. Similarly, the distance between the second coating head 40 and the treatment liquid wiping device 50 is set to a distance that requires the time required for the reaction with the treatment liquid.

Inside or in the vicinity of each belt 22 for conveying the photographic film 1, the temperature of the photographic film 1 being processed (more strictly speaking, the developing solution impregnated in the emulsion layer of the photographic film 1 A heater 23 is provided to keep the temperature of the processing liquid constant. Also, photographic film 1
It goes without saying that the feeding speed of the image reading device 60 and the image reading speed of the image reading device 60 are synchronized.

Now, a method of developing the photographic film 1 in this embodiment will be described. In the present embodiment, direct coating development in which the emulsion surface 1a of the photographic film 1 is directly sprayed or coated with a processing solution, in particular, processing steps other than the development step among the processing steps of development, bleaching, fixing, and stabilization processing. And the simple rapid development that omits at least one of the other stabilizing processes. That is, it is one of three types of development processing only, development processing and bleaching processing, development processing and fixing processing.
In the case of only the developing process, the second coating head 40, the second storage tank 41, the second valve 42, the second coating amount adjusting roller 43.
And 44 are unnecessary. Further, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and the development processing, the bleaching processing, and the fixing processing can be performed.
It may be configured to perform one processing, developing, bleaching,
The fixing and stabilizing processes may all be executed. In those cases, a coating head or the like may be further provided depending on the number of processing steps. Each processing solution such as a developing solution has a higher viscosity (eg, gel) than the processing solution used in the conventional tank type photographic film developing apparatus.

The first coating amount adjusting rollers 33 and 34 and the second
Of the coating amount adjusting rollers 43 and 44, the photographic film 1
The rollers 34 and 44 on the non-emulsion surface side (antihalation film side) of (1) are in contact with the non-emulsion surface of the photographic film 1 at all portions in the width direction of the photographic film 1. On the other hand, the rollers 33 and 43 on the emulsion surface 1a side of the photographic film 1 come into contact only with the portions of the photographic film 1 where the image is not exposed (for example, in the case of the 135 type, the perforated portions on both sides), and the image is Do not touch exposed parts. That is, steps (for example, about 0.5 to 1.0 mm) are provided on the outer peripheral surfaces of the rollers 33 and 43.

First coating head 30 or second coating head 4
The developer 3 or other processing liquid 4 sprayed or coated on the emulsion surface 1a of the photographic film 1 from 0 to the roller 33 or 4
It is possible to abut on 3 and pass only the stepped portion. Therefore, on the downstream side of the first coating amount adjusting rollers 33 and 34 and the second coating amount adjusting rollers 43 and 44, the film thickness of the developing solution 3 or the other processing solution 4 coated on the emulsion surface 1a of the photographic film 1 is reduced. The (liquid volume) is managed so as to be almost constant.

The developing solution 3 or other processing solution 4 applied on the emulsion surface 1a of the photographic film 1 is sandwiched between a pair of squeeze rollers 51 and 52, whereby the emulsion surface 1
Almost completely wiped from the top, by the drying device 15,
The photographic film 1 wet with the processing liquid is dried.

Next, a negative color type photographic film will be briefly described. In a negative color type photographic film, a dye is developed using silver as a catalyst. The unexposed emulsion layer contains silver in the form of silver halide,
When exposed, the silver halide is transformed into metallic silver. Reacting the exposed photographic film with a developer,
The dye in the portion transformed into metallic silver is colored, and the dye in the portion where the silver halide remains is not colored. When the developed photographic film is sequentially reacted with a bleaching solution and a fixing solution, both metallic silver and silver halide are removed (desilvering processing), and undeveloped dyes are also removed. After that, a standard negative development is carried out by subjecting to a stabilizing treatment to obtain a general negative film. The antihalation layer on the non-emulsion side of the photographic film (for example, the brown layer on the back side) is slightly removed by the bleaching treatment and completely removed by the fixing treatment.

On the other hand, when the fixing process is omitted in the simple rapid development, the antihalation layer on the back surface of the photographic film remains, and the metallic silver, silver halide and undeveloped dye in the emulsion layer remain. It is not as transparent as a negative film. When the unfixed photographic film is exposed again, the silver halide in the portion which was originally unexposed and remains in the state of silver halide is transformed into metallic silver.

However, in the photographic film 1 in which fixing processing is omitted in the above-mentioned simple rapid development, the silver halide of the emulsion layer remains together with the antihalation layer on the back surface, and therefore the transmittance of the photographic film 1 is reduced. Is low. As a result, when the image reading device 60 reads the image on the photographic film 1, the exposure time of the image sensor 63 must be set longer than when the standard developed negative film image is read. Specifically, in the case of the standard developed negative film, the exposure time is about 0.1 seconds, but in the case of the photographic film 1 which is simply and rapidly developed, the exposure time reaches 20 to 30 seconds.

As described above, when the exposure time of the image pickup element 63 is lengthened, heat is generated from the image pickup element 63, and the temperature of the image pickup element 63 itself rises. When the temperature of the image sensor 63 rises, the amount of dark current flowing in the image sensor 63 increases, which causes noise. As a result, the ratio of noise contained in the image data output from the image reading device 60 increases and the S / N decreases.

It is conceivable to increase the amount of light emitted from the light source 61 in order to shorten the exposure time of the image pickup element 63. However, if the amount of light from the light source 61 is increased, the amount of heat generated by the light source 61 increases, The photographic film 1 may be altered. Therefore, there is a limit even if the light amount of the light source 61 is increased. Therefore, in the present embodiment, a Peltier element 65 is used as a heat pump to absorb heat generated from the image pickup element 63 and cool the image pickup element 63.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the structure of the image reading apparatus 60 according to this embodiment. The image reading device 60 provided on the downstream side of the drying device 15 includes a linear light source 61 such as a halogen lamp for illuminating the photographic film 1 from the non-emulsion surface side and a reflection plate 62, and the emulsion surface 1a of the photographic film 1. An image pickup element 63 such as a CCD (line CCD) for picking up an image developed on the photographic film 1 provided on the side, and an image pickup element 63 for picking up an image on the photographic film 1
The image pickup lens 64 for forming an image on the light receiving surface of, and a Peltier element 65 that is a heat pump (heat exchanger) provided in the vicinity of the image pickup element 63.

The Peltier element 65 is formed by joining p-type and n-type heat transfer semiconductors through metal electrodes and electrically connecting them in series. When a current is applied from the outside, one of them is caused by the Peltier effect. The metal electrode generates heat and the other metal electrode absorbs heat. When the upper metal electrode of the Peltier element 65 shown in FIG. 2 is the heat generating side and the lower metal electrode is the heat absorbing side, the image sensor 6 provided below the Peltier element 65.
3 will be cooled.

The Peltier element 65 is provided in the vicinity of the image pickup element 63 and may be in contact with the back surface of the image pickup element 63, or may not be in contact with the image pickup element 63 as long as it has a cooling effect. Is also good.

The first Peltier element 65 has a first
A first processing liquid transfer unit 35 that transfers the first processing liquid from the storage tank 31 to the first coating head 30, and a second storage tank 41.
To the second coating head 40, a second processing liquid transport unit 45 that transports the second processing liquid is disposed. Peltier element 65
Since the metal electrode on the upper side is on the heat generating side, the first processing liquid in the first processing liquid transfer section 35 and the second processing liquid in the second processing liquid transfer section 45 are heated. That is, the first processing liquid transporting section 35 and the second processing liquid transporting section 45 function as exhaust heat treatment means, and use the exhaust heat generated by the Peltier element 65 to warm the first processing liquid and the second processing liquid. In addition,
Normally, the liquid temperature of the developing solution and the fixing solution is processed at a constant temperature of about 38 degrees, so that a heater and a temperature sensor other than the Peltier element 65 may be provided to absorb variations in the amount of heat exhausted by the Peltier element 65. .

The first processing liquid transfer section 35 and the second processing liquid transfer section 45 are provided in the vicinity of the Peltier element 65 and may be in contact with the Peltier element 65, or at a distance having a heating effect. You don't have to touch them if you have them.

In parallel with the developing process of the photographic film 1, the image data output from the image pickup device 63 of the image reading device 60 is subjected to predetermined image processing, and then a known digital photographic printing device (not shown). Is output to
It is recorded on a recording medium such as a CD-R. A digital photograph printing apparatus prints a photograph on photographic paper using the input image data. The photographic film cut into a predetermined length by the second cutter 12 is returned to the customer together with the CD-R and the printed photograph. Further, according to the customer's request, the omitted processing may be performed later to perform the standard development.

As described above, in the photographic film development processing apparatus according to this embodiment, the Peltier element 65 is arranged in the vicinity of the image pickup element 63, and when the image pickup element 63 reads an image, it is generated by the image pickup element 63. Since the heat is absorbed by the Peltier element 65, that is, the image pickup element 63 is cooled, the temperature rise of the image pickup element 63 can be suppressed while the image on the photographic film 1 is being read by the image pickup element 63. As a result, the generation of noise due to the dark current flowing through the image sensor 63 is suppressed, and the S / N of the image data output from the image reading device 60 is improved. Therefore, even if an image is reproduced on a monitor screen or a photo is printed by a digital photo printing device or the like using this image data, it is possible to obtain a high quality image with almost no deterioration in image quality.

In the present embodiment, the image reading unit 6
0 is provided on the downstream side of the drying device 15, but the present invention is not particularly limited to this, and may be provided between the processing liquid wiping device 50 and the drying device 15, for example, and is suitable for reading image data. Any place is fine.

Although the first and second processing solutions are heated by the Peltier device, the present invention is not particularly limited to this, and the first and second processing steps are, for example, two steps of development and drying.
In the case of the method, only the first treatment liquid may be warmed, and when two or more treatment liquids are used, treatment liquid transporting units may be provided according to the number of the treatment liquids. Further, when using a plurality of treatment liquids, not all the treatment liquids may be warmed, but only one of the treatment liquids may be warmed.

[0044]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the noise reducing means for reducing the noise generated when the image reading means reads the image data is provided, the S of the image data output from the image reading means is reduced. / N is improved. As a result, the image quality of the image reproduced using this image data is improved.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the temperature rise of the image pickup device can be suppressed, and the generation of noise due to dark current can be reduced.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the function for warming the processing liquid is not required, and the exhaust heat can be efficiently used.

According to the invention described in claim 4, it can be applied when a Peltier element is used as the heat pump, and the structure of the noise reducing means can be simplified.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a photographic film development processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the image reading apparatus in the above embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Photographic Film 1a Emulsion Surface 11 First Cutter 12 Second Cutter 15 Drying Device 20 Film Conveying Mechanism 21 Roller 22 Belt 23 Heater 30 First Coating Head (Development Processing Means) 31 First Storage Tank 32 First Valve 33 First Coating Amount adjusting roller 34 First applying amount adjusting roller 35 First processing liquid transporting section (exhaust heat treatment means) 40 Second applying head 41 Second storage tank 42 Second valve 43 Second applying amount adjusting roller 44 Second applying amount adjusting roller 45 Second Processing Liquid Conveying Section (Exhaust Heat Treatment Unit) 50 Processing Liquid Wiping Device 51 Squeeze Roller 52 Squeeze Roller 60 Image Reading Device (Image Reading Unit) 61 Light Source 62 Reflector 63 Image Sensor 64 Imaging Lens 65 Peltier Device (Noise Reduction) Means) (heat pump)

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A photograph provided with a developing processing means for performing at least developing processing by directly spraying or coating a processing solution on the emulsion surface of a photographic film, and an image reading means for reading an image on the developed photographic film. A film development processing apparatus comprising: a noise reduction unit for reducing noise generated when the image reading unit reads image data. 2. The photographic film development processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image reading unit includes an image pickup device, and the noise reduction unit is a heat pump for absorbing heat generated by the image pickup device. 3. The photographic film development processing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising an exhaust heat treatment means for warming the processing liquid by using exhaust heat generated by the heat pump. 4. The photographic film development processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a Peltier element is used as the heat pump.