JP2003207859A - Image reader and photograph processor provided with the image reader - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image reader capable of improving the quality of picture by effectively erasing flaws or grains existing on a film and eliminating the necessity of especially increasing the capacity of a light source, and a photograph processor provided with the image reader. <P>SOLUTION: The image reader is provided with a line sensor for reading out image from a developed photograph film F, a light source 3 for irradiating the film F, an optical fiber unit 4 for forming an optical path of the light source 3, and a film carrying unit 5 for carrying the film F is also provided with an aperture part attached to the incident port L1 of the unit 4 and capable of expanding the diameter of light of a high incident angle Θ made incident from the light source 3 so as to make the expanded light incident on the light source 3 and a reflection guide cylinder 17 capable of sending the incident light too the incident port L1 of the unit 4. <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 an image reading device and a photographic processing device having the same, and more particularly to an image reading device having a line sensor for reading an image on a developed photographic film and a photograph having the same. Regarding a processing device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When making a photographic print with a photographic processing device, first, an image of a developed photographic film (sometimes referred to simply as "film") is read by a scanner device and digital data is read using the read image data. A photosensitive material such as paper is printed and exposed by a conventional exposure head. A finished photographic print can be obtained by developing the photosensitive material exposed with image data.

A mechanism for reading an image on a film is incorporated in the scanner device, and a halogen lamp as a light source for reading and a line sensor for reading data are provided. The line sensor is arranged along the width direction (main scanning direction) of the long film, and the film is moved by moving the film along the longitudinal direction (sub scanning direction) while the film is illuminated by the halogen lamp. Image data can be obtained from the image formed on the.

As a mechanism for reading an image on a film, in order to supply a necessary amount of light to the line CCD in the scanner device, a large number of bundled optical fiber cable entrances are arranged in front of the halogen lamp and the incident light is input. Is fed to the film irradiation surface. The entrances of the optical fiber cables are bundled in a round shape, and the optical fibers are arranged in a line at the exit so that the light can be irradiated in a line on the irradiation surface of the film.

As described above, the film is irradiated with a sufficient amount of irradiation light to obtain required image data. However, when the film is irradiated with strong irradiation light parallel to the optical axis, the film is irradiated. The scratches and graininess that are present in the image become noticeable, and a so-called rough feeling is generated, so that the image quality is deteriorated. Therefore, a diffuser plate made of frosted glass, LSD (holographic light shaping diffuser), or the like is provided to eliminate scratches and graininess existing in the film to improve the image quality.

[0006]

However, it is inevitable that the amount of light irradiating the film surface is reduced by providing the diffusion plate, and it is conceivable to increase the amount of light of the light source in order to make up for the shortage. In order to increase the light intensity of the light source, a higher output lamp will be used, resulting in higher power consumption, larger light source, and inevitably the introduction of a heat dissipation mechanism to raise the temperature. Therefore, not only the cost increase but also the cost increase of the light source itself, the measures for expanding the arrangement space, etc. are required, and the life of the halogen lamp as the light source is shortened. It had brought a considerable rise.

Therefore, in view of the problems of the above-mentioned prior art, an object of the present invention is to effectively erase scratches and graininess existing in the film to improve the image quality, and Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an image reading apparatus that does not require a particularly large light source capacity and a photographic processing apparatus including the image reading apparatus.

[0008]

The above objects can be achieved by the inventions described in the claims. That is, the characteristic configuration of the image reading apparatus according to the present invention includes a line sensor for reading an image of a developed photographic film, a light source for illuminating the photographic film, and an optical fiber forming an optical path of the light source. A unit and a film transport unit for transporting the photographic film, which is attached to the entrance of the optical fiber unit and has an expanded diameter toward the light source so that light with a high incidence angle from the light source can enter. In addition to having an opening, the incident light can be sent to the entrance of the optical fiber unit.

According to this structure, it is possible to increase the amount of incident light emitted from the light source toward the entrance of the optical fiber unit without using a high-output light source, and the characteristic of the optical fiber is the incidence. Since the incident angle of the light becomes the outgoing angle of the outgoing light as it is, the light that entered at a high angle becomes the outgoing light of a high angle and illuminates the film surface without using a diffuser plate. It becomes possible to irradiate the film surface, and it is possible to effectively erase scratches and graininess existing in the photographic film while increasing the amount of light irradiating the film surface.

As a result, it is possible to effectively eliminate the scratches and graininess existing in the photographic film to improve the image quality, and at the same time, an image reading apparatus which does not need to increase the capacity of the light source is provided. Could be provided.

The reflection guide member has a cylindrical shape, the inner surface of which has a high reflection function, and the rear end side of which has a smooth concave shape so as to have a diameter substantially equal to the entrance diameter of the entrance of the optical fiber unit. Is preferably formed.

According to this structure, the light incident on the reflection guide member from the light source is reflected at a higher angle on the inner surface of the reflection guide member and is incident on the optical fiber forming the optical fiber unit, so that the diffusion effect is obtained. Is convenient because it becomes bigger. The inner surface of the reflection guide member can have a high reflection function by being mirror-finished (grinding, polishing, plating, etc.).

[0013] It is preferable that the reflection guide member can enter light having an incident angle from the light source of at least 30 ° or more.

According to this structure, of the irradiation light from the light source, the light originally scattered outside can be made incident on the optical fiber unit, which can contribute to an increase in the amount of light.
It is convenient that incident light having a large diffusion effect can be incident on the optical fiber. It is more preferable that light having an incident angle of 40 ° or more can be incident from the light source.

The optical fiber unit is 100 μm
It is preferably composed of a bundle of glass-made optical fibers having a diameter not larger than the diameter.

According to this configuration, particularly 850-890n
It has a high infrared ray transmittance of m, which is particularly effective for erasing film scratches and graininess, and is more heat resistant than plastic optical fibers (usage temperature up to about 70 ° C). Even if the entrance of the optical fiber is brought close to the light source, no special cooling mechanism is required. Moreover, since a large number of optical fibers having a diameter of 100 μm or less, which are smaller than conventional optical fibers (usually, a diameter of 250 to 500 μm is used), are bundled and used, irradiation light from a point light source, which is the center of the light source, and its surroundings are used. It is possible to disperse and uniform the unevenness of the light source due to the difference in the amount of the irradiation light from the film, and to irradiate the film surface with uniform irradiation light. The optical fiber diameter is
It is more preferable that the diameter is 60 μm or less because unevenness of the light source can be further reduced. As a glass optical fiber,
It is preferable to use so-called multi-component glass fibers.

The photographic processing device according to the present invention is characterized in that the image reading device according to any one of claims 1 to 3 and a printer for printing image information read from the image reading device on a photographic light-sensitive material. It is equipped with a device.

According to this structure, it is possible to effectively eliminate the scratches and graininess existing in the photographic film to improve the image quality, and it is not necessary to increase the capacity of the light source. It was possible to provide a photographic processing device equipped with a reading device.

[0019]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a photo processing system.

This photo processing system (photo processing device)
Is composed of a scanner device 1 and a printer device 2. The scanner device 1 has a developed negative film F.
A device for reading an image (corresponding to a photographic film. The one-dot chain line in the lateral direction of the paper of FIG. 2 indicates the position of the film surface), which is a kind of light source for reading, a halogen lamp 3, and an optical path forming unit. An optical fiber unit 4 that functions as a negative carrier F, a negative carrier 5 that functions as a film transport unit provided with a transport mechanism that transports the negative film F, and a scanner unit 6 configured by a CCD line sensor. It should be noted that FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram and does not show an accurate layout relationship.

The negative carrier 5 is provided with a driving roller 5a, and conveys the negative film F along the direction of the arrow in FIG. The scanner unit 6 is a negative film F.
The sensor array is arranged along the width direction (direction perpendicular to the plane of the drawing). Therefore, the image data of the negative film F can be sequentially acquired by transporting the negative film F along the transport path at a constant speed while irradiating the image surface of the negative film F with the halogen lamp 3.

The printer device 2 is for making a photographic print based on the image data obtained by the scanner device 1. The printer device 2 is obtained by an exposure engine 7 for printing and exposing an image on a paper P (corresponding to a photographic photosensitive material), a controller 8 for controlling each part, a keyboard 9 for inputting various information, and a scanner device 1. And a monitor 10 for displaying the obtained image data.

Further, a paper magazine 11 accommodating the paper P in a roll is detachably provided, and the paper P pulled out from the paper magazine 11 is moved to a predetermined conveying path by an advance roller 12 and an exposure conveying roller 13. Is transported along. A cutter 14 that cuts the long paper P into a predetermined print size is provided along the transport path. The paper P exposed by the exposure engine 7 has a developing processing unit 15 and a drying processing unit 16.
Then, a predetermined process is performed and the finished photo print is discharged to the outside of the apparatus.

The exposure engine 7 exposes the paper P on the basis of digital image data, and PL
An appropriate system such as a ZT engine, a laser engine, a CRT engine can be adopted.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing the structure of the main part of the scanner device 1. Along the optical axis, the halogen lamp 3
(Corresponding to a light source), a heat ray absorption filter 20, a rotary filter 21, a reflection guide tube 17 having a substantially cylindrical shape which is a reflection guide member, and an optical fiber unit 4.

The halogen lamp 3 has a concave mirror surface in order to converge the scattered light of the filament portion 3a forming the point light source and the light emitted from the filament portion 3a into the reflection guide tube 17 as much as possible. And a light beam emitted from the filament portion 3a toward the inner surface of the reflection guide tube 17. The reflection guide tube 17 is made of aluminum,
The opening is widened toward the filament portion 3a in a diameter-expanding manner, and the inner surface is smoothly concave and mirror-finished toward the rear end side, and the rear end has an opening of the entrance L1 of the optical fiber unit 4. It matches the caliber.
The reflection guide tube 17 reflects not only the direct light from the filament portion 3a but also the incident light incident from the ref 3b at a high incident angle Θ at a high angle and sends it to the entrance port L1 of the optical fiber unit 4. As a result, the incident angle of the incident light Θ
By utilizing the characteristics of the optical fiber that makes the output angle as it is, it becomes possible to irradiate the film surface with the light incident at a high angle as it is as a high-angle output light, and it is possible to use the diffused light without using a diffusion plate. It becomes possible to irradiate the film surface, and it is possible to effectively erase scratches and graininess existing in the film without reducing the amount of light irradiating the film surface.

However, the film used is 1
35 film (35 mm version), 240 film (APS
, 110 film, 120 film, etc., but in general, the appropriate diffusivity differs depending on the type of these films, and in that case, the reflection guide tube 1
In addition to 7, the diffusion function may be added by providing a diffusion plate (frosted glass, LSD, etc.) on the exit side of the optical fiber unit 4.

The detailed structure of the optical fiber unit 4 is shown in FIG. This optical fiber unit 4 is about 50 μm
It is formed by bundling a large number of glass optical fibers having a diameter, and has an entrance L1 through which light from the halogen lamp 3 is incident and an exit L2 through which light is emitted toward the negative film F. The optical fiber group is bundled so that the entrance L1 has a circular shape (circular or substantially circular) corresponding to the cross-sectional shape of the light flux from the halogen lamp 3. The optical fiber group is bundled so that the shape of the emission port L2 is a linear shape corresponding to the shape of the sensor array of the scanner unit 6.

Since the optical fiber is made of glass, it is different from the conventional plastic, and especially, it is 850 to 890 nm.
It has a high infrared transmittance and is effective in erasing film scratches and graininess, which is convenient. Further, since it has heat resistance as compared with the plastic optical fiber, even if the entrance of the optical fiber is brought close to the light source, no special cooling mechanism is required. Moreover, conventional optical fibers (usually 25
Since a large number of optical fibers having a smaller diameter are bundled and used, the light source is caused by the difference in the light amount of the irradiation light from the point light source, which is the center of the light source, and the irradiation light from the surroundings. It is possible to disperse and uniform the unevenness and to irradiate the film surface with uniform irradiation light. The glass optical fiber may be made of quartz, which is excellent in heat resistance, but it is preferable to use cheaper multi-component glass fiber (including alkali metal oxide etc.).

The entrance side of the optical fiber group is fixed by a first fixing member 40 having a circular cross section. Further, the emission port side is fixed by a second fixing member 41 having a rectangular cross section. Thereby, the optical fiber group is unitized. Incidentally, reference numeral 43 is a fixing member for bundling the optical fiber groups.

As shown in FIG. 2, a heat ray absorbing filter 20 is attached to the front surface of the halogen lamp 3, and a rotary filter 21 is attached further to the back side thereof. The rotary filter 21 is connected to a rotary shaft 23 provided in a drive motor 22 as shown in FIG. 2, and is configured to be rotationally drivable. The rotary filter 21 includes a negative film filter, a setup filter, a positive film filter (not shown), and the like. When reading an image on the negative film F, the drive motor 22 is driven to set the negative film filter in the optical path.

In arranging the rotary filter 21 as described above, each filter section and the optical fiber unit 4
The outer diameter of the rotary filter 21 can be suppressed by making the distance to the entrance of the rotary filter 21 as close as possible. In FIG. 2, the light flux M emitted from the halogen lamp 3 is shown by a solid line, but it can be easily understood from this figure that the size of each filter portion can be reduced by bringing the light flux M closer to the entrance.

The optical fiber unit 4 is housed in the space formed in the cover case 18. The entrance L1 side of the optical fiber unit 4 is attached by inserting the first fixing member 40 into the hole 18a formed in the cover case 18 or the attachment frame. Also,
The emission port L2 side is attached by being inserted into the hole 18b.

[Other Embodiment] (1) In the above embodiment, the reflection guide tube is made of aluminum, but it may be made of other metal, such as resin. In short, any material can be used as long as it has heat resistance and workability to some extent and can add a high reflection function to the inner surface.

(2) For the film, the present invention can be applied to not only a negative film but also a positive film. A light source other than a halogen lamp may be used as the light source.

(3) In the photographic processing device according to the above embodiment, the scanner device and the printer device are configured as separate machines, but they may be integrated into one.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a photo processing system.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration of a main part of a scanner device.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a detailed configuration of an optical fiber unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 Printer device 3 light sources 4 Optical fiber unit 5 Film transport unit 17 Reflection guide member F photo film L1 optical fiber unit entrance P Photosensitive material Θ incident angle

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) H04N 1/04 H04N 1/12 Z 5C072 F term (reference) 2H106 AA33 AA36 AA62 AA76 2H108 CA07 CB01 EA02 2H109 AA51 AA59 AA98 5C051 AA01 BA03 CA06 DA03 DB01 DB23 DB24 DB25 DB28 DC04 DC07 DE13 FA04 5C062 AB03 AB17 AB22 AB32 AB33 AC02 AC04 AD06 5C072 AA01 BA17 CA03 DA04 DA07 DA09 DA21 EA05 VA03

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An image reading apparatus equipped with a line sensor for reading an image of a developed photographic film,
A light source for irradiating the photographic film, an optical fiber unit forming an optical path of the light source, and a film transport unit for transporting the photographic film,
The optical fiber unit has an opening having a diameter-expanding shape that is attached to the entrance of the optical fiber unit so that light with a high incident angle from the light source can enter, and sends the incident light to the entrance of the optical fiber unit. An image reading apparatus comprising a reflection guide member that is enabled. 2. The reflection guide member has a cylindrical shape, and has an inner surface having a high reflection function and a rear end side which is smooth so as to have a diameter substantially equal to an entrance diameter of an entrance of the optical fiber unit. The image reading device according to claim 1, wherein the image reading device is formed in a concave shape. 3. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the reflection guide member is capable of entering light having an incident angle of at least 30 ° or more from the light source. 4. A photographic processing device comprising: the image reading device according to claim 1; and a printer device for printing image information read by the image reading device on a photographic light-sensitive material.