JP2005088440A - Heat development and recording method and device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To well heat develop a heat development and recording material without lowering the processing speed of heating development. <P>SOLUTION: When heat development and recording materials F different in size are continuously transferred, a low temperature part in which the heating temperature of a heat development section C becomes lower than a prescribed temperature is predicted and the amount of exposure of laser light L when an image recording area corresponding to the low temperature part is scanned is corrected. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a heat development recording method and a heat development recording apparatus in which a latent image is formed by scanning and exposing a laser beam to a heat development recording material, and development is performed by heating.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as an image recording apparatus for recording medical images such as CT and MR, a wet system that obtains a reproduced image by performing wet processing after photographing or recording on a silver salt photographic photosensitive material is used. On the other hand, in recent years, a recording apparatus using a dry system that does not perform wet processing has attracted attention. In such a recording apparatus, a photosensitive and heat-sensitive recording material (photosensitive heat-sensitive recording material) or a film of a heat-developable photosensitive material (hereinafter referred to as “heat-developable recording material”) is used. In this recording apparatus using a dry system, a latent image is formed by irradiating (scanning) the heat-developable recording material with a laser beam in the exposure unit, and then the heat-developable recording material is brought into contact with the heating means in the heat developing unit. Thermal development is performed, and then cooling is performed, and the thermally developed recording material on which an image is formed is discharged out of the apparatus. Such a dry system can solve the problem of waste liquid treatment as compared with wet treatment.

  However, the conventional image recording apparatus has a problem that the temperature of the heat development portion changes due to continuous processing of the heat development recording material, and as a result, the density of the image fluctuates. This will be specifically described below.

FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 are diagrams showing a heat development section of a conventional heat development recording apparatus, and are diagrams for explaining a state in which a heat development recording material is held by a plate heater.
When a plurality of heat development recording processes are performed according to a request from the user, as shown in FIG. 9, the plate heater is in a state where the interval d between relatively small heat development recording materials (for example, 6-cut size) Fs is narrowed. It is sequentially carried into 140. At this time, the heat-developable recording material Fs sequentially contacts a certain area 140a on the peripheral surface of the plate heater 140, and the heat of the peripheral surface of the plate heater 140 is taken away by the heat-developable recording material Fs, so that the heat-developable recording material Fs. The heating temperature is lower in the region 140a that has been in contact with the region 140b than in the region 140b that has not been in contact with the region 140a. When the heat development recording material Fs larger than the heat development recording material Fs is thermally developed on the peripheral surface of the plate heater 140 after the heat development recording processing of the heat development recording material Fs, the heat development is performed. A relatively low temperature region 140a and a region 140b having a normal heating temperature on both sides thereof are in contact with the heated surface of the recording material Fb, and the heated surface differs in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction. As a result, the image formed on the heat-developable recording material Fb has a low density value at the central portion in contact with the region 140a, and a higher density value than the center at both side portions in contact with the region 140b. In some cases, density unevenness occurs.

  Therefore, in order to prevent such density unevenness from occurring, conventionally, the heat-developable recording material F is kept on standby without being subjected to development processing until the heating temperature of the plate heater 140 in the heat-developing portion becomes uniform, or heat development is performed. The heating temperature is made uniform by controlling the interval at which the recording material F is supplied to the heat development section or by providing a plurality of heaters for heating the plate heater 140 and individually controlling these heaters ( For example, see Patent Document 1).

JP 2000-357888 A

  However, in any of the above cases, it takes a considerable amount of time until the heating temperature of the plate heater 140 of the heat developing unit is made uniform, and thus there is a problem that the processing speed during continuous development is greatly reduced. It was.

  Further, density unevenness during development is likely to occur when a large-sized heat-developable recording material Fb is processed after a large number of small-sized heat-developable recording materials Fs are processed in succession. The density unevenness can be reduced by interrupting the development processing of the large-sized heat development recording material Fb in the middle of the development processing of the recording material Fs. This is unrealistic.

  Further, by enlarging the plate heater 140 and sufficiently increasing the heat capacity, it is possible to reduce the decrease in the heating temperature due to the passage of the heat-developable recording material Fs, but this leads to an increase in the size of the entire apparatus. Increased power consumption is inevitable.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a heat development recording method capable of satisfactorily heat developing a heat development recording material without reducing the processing speed of heat development and An object of the present invention is to provide a heat development recording apparatus.

The above object can be achieved by a heat development recording method and a heat development recording apparatus having the following constitution.
(1) A latent image is formed by scanning and exposing a laser beam modulated in accordance with image data to a heat-developable recording material that is sequentially conveyed along a conveyance path, and the heat-developable recording material is heated by a heat developing unit. A heat development recording method for performing heat development, and predicting a low temperature portion where the heating temperature of the heat development portion is lower than a predetermined temperature when continuously transporting the heat development recording materials having different dimensions, A heat development recording method comprising correcting an exposure amount of the laser beam when scanning an image recording area corresponding to the low temperature portion.
(2) The heat-developable recording method according to (1), wherein the exposure amount is corrected based on the processing interval of the heat-developable recording material and the characteristic of decreasing the density value of the recorded image with respect to the number of processed sheets.
(3) The image recording area corresponding to the low temperature portion of the image data is corrected to generate corrected image data, and the exposure amount of the laser beam is corrected based on the corrected image data. The heat development recording method according to (1) above.
(4) A latent image is formed by scanning and exposing a laser beam modulated in accordance with image data to the heat development recording material sequentially conveyed along the conveyance path, and the heat development recording material is heated by the heat development section. In the heat development recording apparatus for performing heat development, the image information input means for reading the image data and storing it in a recording unit and the heat development recording material having different dimensions are continuously conveyed. Read the processing interval and the number of processed sheets between the development recording materials, determine the low temperature portion of the heating temperature in the thermal development portion, and expose the laser beam to scan the image recording area corresponding to the low temperature portion in the thermal development recording material A heat development recording apparatus comprising: a recording information control means for correcting the amount; and a scanning exposure means capable of performing scanning exposure of the laser beam on the heat development recording material in accordance with an output of the recording information control means. .
(5) The recording condition correction unit for determining the exposure amount based on a reduction characteristic of a density value of a recorded image with respect to a conveyance interval of the heat-developable recording material and the number of continuous processes is provided. Thermal development recording apparatus.
(6) The recording information control unit corrects the image data stored in the recording unit based on the exposure amount to generate corrected image data, and outputs the corrected image data to the scanning exposure unit. The heat development recording apparatus according to (4), further comprising a recording condition correction unit.
(7) The heat according to any one of claims 4 to 6, wherein the heat development section is provided with a plate heater so as to heat the heat development recording material on a peripheral surface. Development recording device.
(8) From the above (4) to (6), the heat development section is provided with a heating drum rotatably supported so as to heat the heat development recording material on the peripheral surface. The heat development recording apparatus according to any one of the above.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a heat development recording method and a heat development recording apparatus capable of satisfactorily heat developing a heat development recording material without reducing the processing speed of heat development.

Embodiments of a heat development recording method and a heat development recording apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a heat development recording apparatus of the present embodiment.
The thermal development recording apparatus 10 uses a thermal development recording material F made of a thermal development photosensitive material or a photosensitive thermal recording material that does not require wet development processing, and exposes the thermal development recording material F by scanning exposure with a laser beam L. After the latent image is formed, a visible image is obtained by performing heat development, and then cooled to room temperature.
The thermal development recording apparatus 10 basically includes a thermal development recording material supply unit A, an image exposure unit B, a thermal development unit C, and a slow cooling unit D in the order of conveyance of the thermal development recording material F. In addition, it is provided with transport means for transporting the heat-developable recording material F provided at a key point between each part, and a power source / control part E that drives and controls each part.

In this thermal development recording apparatus 10, the power / control unit E is at the bottom, the thermal development recording material supply unit A is at the top, and the image exposure unit (recording unit) B, the thermal development unit C, and the slow cooling unit D are at the top. The image exposure part B and the heat development part C are arranged adjacent to each other.
According to this configuration, the exposure process and the heat development process can be performed within a short transport distance, the transport path length of the heat development recording material F can be minimized, and the output time of one sheet can be shortened. In addition, both the exposure process and the thermal development process can be simultaneously performed on one thermal development recording material F.

  The heat-developable recording material supply unit A is a part that takes out the heat-developable recording material F one by one and supplies it to the image exposure unit B located downstream in the transport direction of the heat-developable recording material F, and includes three loading units 11a. , 11b, 11c, a pair of supply rollers 13a, 13b, 13c respectively disposed in the loading portions 11a, 11b, 11c, and a conveyance roller and a conveyance guide (not shown). Further, magazines 15a, 15b, in which heat development recording materials of different sizes (for example, B4 size, half-cut size, etc.) F are accommodated inside the loading sections 11a, 11b, 11c having a three-stage configuration. 15c is inserted. The user selects one of the heat-developable recording materials F loaded in the loading sections 11a, 11b, and 11c according to the shape and application of the image to be recorded, and receives an image recording instruction and image data from the external terminal. It can be used by sending a signal containing it.

  The heat-developable recording material F is processed into a sheet shape and is usually formed into a laminated body (bundle) of a predetermined unit such as 100 sheets, and is packaged by a bag or a belt. Each package is housed in a magazine and loaded in each stage of the heat-developable recording material supply unit A.

  The image exposure unit B scans and exposes the light beam L in the main scanning direction to the heat-developable recording material F conveyed from the heat-developable recording material supply unit A, and the sub-scanning direction substantially orthogonal to the main scanning direction. A desired image is recorded on the heat-developable recording material F by being conveyed in the direction of conveyance of the heat-developable recording material F, thereby forming a latent image.

  The thermal development section C performs thermal development by performing a temperature rise process while conveying the thermal development recording material F after scanning exposure. Then, the heat-developable recording material F after the development processing is cooled in the slow cooling portion D and carried out to the discharge tray 16.

  Here, a width adjusting mechanism 66 is provided in the conveyance path between the heat development recording material supply unit A and the image exposure unit B, and the heat development recording material F carried in from the heat development recording material supply unit A is provided. Are supplied to the image exposure unit B with the end portions in the width direction being aligned.

  The image exposure unit B is a part that exposes the heat-developable recording material F by light beam scanning exposure, and has a sub-scanning conveyance unit having a flutter prevention mechanism that conveys the heat-development recording material F while preventing fluttering from the conveyance surface. (Sub-scanning means) 17 and an optical scanning device 20 are provided. The optical scanning device 20 scans (main scans) the laser light L while controlling the output of the laser light L according to separately prepared image data. At this time, the heat-developable recording material F is moved in the sub-scanning direction by the sub-scanning conveyance unit 17.

  The sub-scanning conveyance unit 17 is disposed so as to face the two driving rollers 61 and 62 having an axis substantially parallel to the scanning direction and the driving rollers 61 and 62, and supports the heat-developable recording material F. A guide plate 63 is provided. The guide plate 63 is provided on the outer surface between the drive rollers 61 and 62 arranged in parallel with each other on the peripheral surfaces of the drive rollers 61 and 62. The elastic repulsive force caused by the bending of the heat-developable recording material F is brought into contact with and received between the drive rollers 61 and 62.

  Due to this bending, an elastic repulsion force is generated in the heat-developable recording material F itself. Due to this elastic repulsive force, a predetermined frictional force is generated between the heat-developable recording material F and the drive rollers 61, 62, and the conveyance drive force is reliably transmitted from the drive rollers 61, 62 to the heat-developable recording material F. The heat-developable recording material F is conveyed. Therefore, flapping from the transport surface of the heat-developable recording material F, that is, fluttering in the vertical direction is reliably suppressed. By irradiating the heat-developable recording material F between the drive rollers 61 and 62 with a laser beam, good recording without exposure position deviation can be performed.

  The driving rollers 61 and 62 receive the driving force of driving means such as a motor (not shown) via transmission means such as gears and belts, and rotate in the clockwise direction in FIG.

Next, the heat developing unit C will be described.
The heat development unit C is an image development unit that heats the heat development recording material F on which the latent image is formed and converts the latent image into a visible image. The thermal developing unit C includes a cylindrical rotating gear 52 serving as a drive transmission unit, a plurality of conveying rollers 55 that are rotationally driven by the rotating gear 52 and arranged in an arc along the outer peripheral shape of the rotating gear 52, and a plurality of conveying rollers 55. A first plate heater 51a as a heating means for heating the heat-developable recording material F, which is arranged in the outer diameter direction of the roller 55 along the arrangement direction of the rollers 55, that is, the feeding direction of the heat-developable recording material F; A second plate heater 51b and a third plate heater 51c are provided.

  Each of the plate heaters 51a, 51b, 51c arranged in the feeding direction of the heat-developable recording material F has a curved concave heating surface, and the plate heaters 51a, 51b, 51c are arranged in a series of arcs. It is arranged.

  The plate heater 51a on the most upstream side in the conveyance direction of the heat-developable recording material F is a preheating heater, which heats the heat-developable recording material F at room temperature and gradually raises the temperature to the heat development temperature. On the other hand, the plate heaters 51b and 51c in the subsequent stage are development heaters that heat the heat development recording material F so as to maintain the development temperature.

  In the heat developing section C including the plate heaters 51a, 51b, 51c, as shown in the figure, the pressing roller 55 is in contact with the peripheral surface of the rotating gear 52 and is driven to rotate following the rotation of the drum 52. Thus, the heat-developable recording material F is pressed against the concave surface, which is the heating surface of each plate heater 51a, 51b, 51c, and the heat-developable recording material F is conveyed while sliding on the concave surface. At this time, the heat developing recording material F is transferred by means of a supply roller 53 and a plurality of pressing rollers (pressing means) 55 for transferring heat from the plate heaters 51a, 51b, 51c to the heat developing recording material F. It corresponds.

  As a driving source of the pressing roller 55, each of the plurality of pressing rollers 55 may be provided with a biasing means such as a spring material that biases the plate heater side. As this urging means, for example, it has a function of pressing the heat-developable recording material F sandwiched between the plate heaters against the heating surface of the plate heaters. As these pressing rollers 55, a metal roller, a resin roller, a rubber roller, or the like can be used. With this configuration, the heat-developable recording material F to be conveyed is conveyed while being pressed against the plate heaters 51a, 51b, 51c, so that buckling of the heat-developable recording material F is prevented.

A discharge roller 57 for transferring the heat-developable recording material F is disposed at the end of the conveyance path of the heat-developable recording material F in the heat developing portion C.
The plate heater having the curved shape as described above is an example, and may be configured to include an endless belt and a peeling claw using another flat plate heater or a heating drum as described later. .

  Then, the heat-developable recording material F carried out from the heat-developing part C is cooled with care so that no wrinkles are generated by the slow-cooling part D and no curling occurs. The heat-developable recording material F discharged from the slow cooling part C is guided into the guide plate 64 by a cooling roller pair 59 provided in the middle of the transport path, and is further discharged from the discharge roller pair 65 to the discharge tray 16.

  In the slow cooling part D, a plurality of cooling roller pairs 59 are arranged to give a desired constant curvature R to the conveyance path of the heat-developable recording material F. This means that the heat-developable recording material F is conveyed with a certain curvature R until it is cooled below the glass transition point of the material. In this way, the heat-developable recording material F is intentionally curved. Thus, no extra curling occurs before cooling below the glass transition point, and if it falls below the glass transition point, no new curl is attached and the amount of curl does not vary.

Next, the power supply / control unit E will be described.
The power supply / control unit E receives a power supply unit (not shown), an image information input unit 30 to which an image record (job) is input as a command signal from the outside, and a signal output from the image information input unit 30. Recording information control means 40 for outputting a signal to the scanning device 20. These image information input means 30 and recording information control means 40 can be configured as, for example, a sequencer or a program stored in a computer. Note that the image information input unit 30 and the recording information control unit 40 may be provided outside the power source / control unit E or in other parts, or may be configured to function by another sub control device provided separately.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the optical scanning device in the heat development recording apparatus.
As shown in FIG. 2, in the optical scanning device 20, the light source unit (laser light source) 21 includes a semiconductor laser and a collimator lens (not shown). The collimator lens converts a laser beam (light beam) issued by the semiconductor laser into a parallel beam. The laser beam converted into a parallel beam by the collimator lens is irradiated onto the half mirror 23, a part of which is reflected and received by the light receiving sensor 25 through the condenser lens 24.

The laser beam that has passed through the half mirror 23 passes through a cylindrical lens 26, is shaped into a beam, and is irradiated onto a polygon mirror 27 that is driven to rotate at high speed.
The laser beam deflected by the polygon mirror 27 passes through the fθ lenses 28 and 29 and the cylindrical lens 31, is reflected downward by the cylindrical mirror 22, and then forms an image on the recording material F and scans.

  Here, the light reflected by the half mirror 23 and irradiated through the condenser lens 24 is received by the light receiving sensor 25, and the output voltage obtained by receiving the light receiving sensor 25 is an APC (Auto Power Control) circuit. The current value to the semiconductor laser is adjusted so that the output voltage of the light receiving sensor 25 has a constant relationship with the reference voltage, and the light intensity is controlled to be constant.

Next, the control system of the heat development recording apparatus 10 will be described.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a control system of the heat development recording apparatus 10. As shown in FIG. 3, the heat development recording apparatus 10 is different from the image information input means 30 that reads image data sent as a transmission signal from an external terminal and stores it in the recording unit 30A. When the material is continuously conveyed, the supply interval and dimensional difference between the heat development recording materials are read, the amount of decrease in the heating temperature in the heat development section C (see FIG. 1) is determined, and the heat development recording material is scanned. And a recording information control means 40 for controlling the exposure amount of the laser beam L.

  The image information input means 30 is provided with an image data reading unit 30B. The image data reading unit 30B reads image data transmitted from each terminal by a user operation, and outputs the image data to the recording unit 30A. To do. The recording unit 30A temporarily stores the image data, and outputs the image data to the recording information control unit 40A as necessary.

  The recording information control unit 40 includes a recording condition correction unit 40A, a recording material supply interval reading unit 41, and a recording material size reading unit 42. The recording material supply interval reading unit 41 and the recording material size reading unit 42 are respectively set to the recording conditions. It is electrically connected to the correction unit 40A. The recording material supply interval reading unit 41 has a processing interval between the thermally developed recording materials continuously conveyed to the thermal development unit C (in this embodiment, the rear end in the conveyance direction of the thermally developed recording material previously conveyed is The time until the front end of the transport method of the heat-development recording material transported later reaches the reference position after passing the reference position is measured, and this processing interval is recorded as an output signal. Output to the condition correction unit 40A. The recording material size reading unit 42 measures the dimension in the scanning direction of each of the heat-developable recording materials that are continuously conveyed to the heat developing unit C, and outputs the dimensional difference as an output signal to the recording condition correcting unit 40A. The recording material size reading unit 42 may be provided in the loading units 11a, 11b, and 11c and the supply roller pairs 13a, 13b, and 13c of the heat development recording material supply unit A shown in FIG. Further, when the heat-developable recording material F is taken out from the heat-developable recording material supply unit A and supplied to the downstream image exposure unit B, the scanning direction dimension of each heat-developable recording material F is output to the recording condition correction unit 40A. Thus, the recording material size reading unit 42 may be omitted.

  The recording condition correction unit 40A inputs in advance the interval between the thermally developed recording materials conveyed continuously, the dimensional difference between these thermally developed recording materials F, and the number of processed sheets of thermally developed recording materials conveyed continuously. By corresponding to the corrected data, the density reduction amount ΔD of the heat development recording material after the heat development is calculated. Then, the recording condition correction unit 40A sets a new recording condition in which the exposure amount is corrected so as to partially increase the exposure amount of the scanning exposure in order to compensate for the density reduction amount ΔD. Output as a signal.

  In the present embodiment, the optical scanning device 20 (see FIGS. 1 and 2) functions as scanning exposure means. The scanning exposure unit 20 includes an exposure unit (light source unit) 21 and an operation unit (polygon mirror) 27. The scanning exposure unit 20 scans the image recording area corresponding to the low temperature part by controlling the exposure unit 21 and the operation unit 27 based on the recording conditions output from the recording condition correction unit 40A in the recording information control unit 40. In this configuration, the laser beam can be scanned and exposed to the heat-developable recording material while correcting the exposure amount of the laser beam.

Next, a process of recording an image on a heat development recording material using a heat development recording apparatus will be described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the image recording process. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a process of correcting the exposure amount.
As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, first, image data transmitted from the outside of the heat development recording apparatus by a user operation and a signal (job) to start recording of the image data are read (step S <b> 101). Next, the recording condition correction unit 40A determines whether a predetermined time has elapsed from the recording time of image recording in the job preceding the transmitted job (step S102). If the predetermined time has elapsed, the normal recording condition is set or the normal recording condition is maintained (step S105).

  On the other hand, if the predetermined time has elapsed, the dimensional difference in the scanning direction is compared with the previously developed heat-developable recording material (step S103). If the dimension in the scanning direction of the heat-developable recording material conveyed this time is larger than the dimension in the scanning direction of the heat-developable recording material conveyed previously, the process proceeds to a step of correcting the exposure amount (step S104). . On the other hand, when the dimension in the scanning direction of the heat-developable recording material conveyed this time is not larger than the dimension in the scanning direction of the heat-developable recording material conveyed previously, the normal recording conditions are set or normal recording is performed. The condition is maintained (step S105).

  As shown in FIG. 5, in the step of correcting the exposure amount, first, the number of processing sheets and the processing interval recorded so far are confirmed (step S201), and the density reduction amount Δ is determined based on the density value reduction characteristics. D is calculated (step S202).

  Here, with reference to FIG. 6, the density reduction characteristic of the recorded image in the heat-developable recording material will be described. FIG. 6 is a graph showing the relationship of the density value with respect to the continuous processing number (processing number) of the heat-developable recording material for each processing interval. The amount of decrease in the heating temperature of the heat development portion when continuously conveying heat development recording materials having different dimensions is determined by the processing interval and the number of processed sheets of the heat development recording material. As shown in FIG. 6, the density value decreases as the number of consecutively processed heat-developable recording materials increases, and the density value decreases as the processing interval decreases. At this time, the density value can be obtained empirically by the processing interval between the heat-developable recording materials being conveyed and the number of processed sheets. That is, the density decrease amount ΔD of the density value can be uniquely calculated by reading the processing number and the processing interval.

Next, the exposure amount under the recording condition is corrected based on the density reduction amount ΔD (step S203). The exposure amount can be calculated by a relational expression of the density value with respect to the recording light amount. FIG. 7 is a graph showing the relationship of the density value to the recording light amount (μJ / cm ² ). In this way, the value of the recording light quantity to be set can be uniquely calculated based on the target density value.
Here, the recording light amount is the light amount of laser light when scanning exposure is performed on the heat-developable recording material.

  As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the recording condition correction unit 40 </ b> A has data indicating the relationship of the density value with respect to the continuous processing number of the heat-developable recording material for each conveyance interval and data indicating the relationship of the density value with respect to the recording light amount As correction data. Then, the recording condition correction unit 40A corrects the exposure amount under the recording conditions from the processing interval obtained from the recording material supply interval reading unit 41 based on the correction data.

  Further, the recording condition correction unit 40A determines the dimensions of the thermally developed recording material conveyed last time and the thermally developed recording material conveyed this time, based on the dimension (recording material size) of the thermally developed recording material obtained from the recording material reading unit 42. When it is confirmed that there is a difference, an area where the heat-developable recording material conveyed so far is in contact is measured in advance as a low temperature portion where the heating temperature is lower than a predetermined temperature. Then, the recording condition correction unit 40A determines the exposure amount of the laser beam when scanning the image recording area corresponding to the low temperature portion on the scanning exposure surface of the heat-developable recording material as the exposure amount obtained from the correction data. To correct.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the means for scanning and exposing the laser beam with the corrected exposure amount is outputted from the recording information control means 40 when the laser beam is scanned and exposed on the scanning exposure surface of the heat-developable recording material. Based on the signal, the light source unit 21 serving as the exposure unit and the polygon mirror 27 serving as the scanning unit are controlled, and the image recording region (referred to as S1 in FIG. 2) corresponding to the low temperature portion with respect to the entire image recording region S0. The laser beam is scanned and exposed with the corrected exposure amount only. At this time, in the image recording area other than S1, the laser beam is scanned and exposed with an exposure amount modulated in accordance with normal image data.

  As shown in FIG. 4, after correcting the exposure amount, image recording is performed (step S106). Thereafter, it is checked whether all jobs have been completed. If there are other jobs waiting, the process returns to the step of reading the job (step S101), while if there are no other jobs waiting, an image is displayed. The recording process is completed.

As described above, the thermal development recording method according to the present invention predicts a low temperature portion where the heating temperature of the thermal development section C is lower than a predetermined temperature when the thermal development recording materials F having different dimensions are continuously conveyed. The exposure amount of the laser beam L when the image recording area corresponding to the low temperature portion is scanned is corrected.
In this way, in the heat development part C, even if the heating temperature of the heating part corresponding to the heat development recording material F previously heat developed is lowered, the laser light L is corrected in the image recording area corresponding to the low temperature part. Since the scanning exposure is performed with the exposure amount, it is possible to prevent the image density from being lowered due to the lowering of the heating temperature. Therefore, even when the thermally developed recording material F having different dimensions is continuously conveyed, the thermally developed recording material F can be thermally developed so as not to cause density unevenness while maintaining the heat development processing speed. .

  Further, the exposure amount may be corrected by correcting the image data. Specifically, the image data stored in the recording unit 30A is output to the recording condition correction unit 40A, and the corrected image data is created by correcting the image recording area corresponding to the low temperature portion. The recording condition correction unit 40A may output the corrected image data to the scanning exposure unit, and the scanning exposure unit may modulate the laser beam based on the corrected image data, thereby correcting the exposure amount of the laser beam. . As a method for correcting the image recording area corresponding to the low temperature portion, a predetermined correction amount is added to the data of the image recording area based on the density reduction amount, and the data is rewritten so as to increase the data amount, and laser is scanned during scanning exposure. The amount of light exposure may be increased.

The heat development unit of the heat development recording apparatus according to the present invention may be a heating drum type as shown in FIG. FIG. 8 is a main part configuration diagram showing a heat drum type heat development part.
In such a heat development recording apparatus, in the heat development section C, a drum 81 that can be heat-treated while holding the heat development recording material F on the outer periphery, and the outside of the drum 81 in parallel to the drum 81. In addition, a plurality of rollers 83 are provided as pressing means that are arranged in the circumferential direction of the drum 81 at equal intervals or different intervals, and that press and guide the heat-developable recording material F against the peripheral surface of the drum 81. The drum 81 is supported so as to be rotatable clockwise in the drawing.

  When the above-described drum 81 to be heated is used, a reduction in heating temperature seen when the heat-developable recording material F is continuously recorded is particularly likely to occur as compared with the plate type as shown in FIG. For this reason, in the heat development recording apparatus provided with the drum 81 in the heat development section C, the effect is even more remarkable when the heat development recording method and the heat development recording apparatus according to the present invention are used.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to embodiment mentioned above, A suitable deformation | transformation, improvement, etc. are possible.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating a configuration of a heat development recording apparatus according to the present invention. It is a schematic block diagram explaining the structure of the optical scanning apparatus in a heat development recording apparatus. It is a block diagram which shows the control system of a heat development recording apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows the process of image recording. It is a flowchart which shows the process of correct | amending exposure amount. It is a graph which shows the relationship of the density | concentration value with respect to the number of continuous processes of a heat-developable recording material for every conveyance interval. It is a graph which shows the relationship of the density value with respect to recording light quantity. It is a principal part block diagram which shows the heat developing part of a heating drum type. In the conventional heat development recording apparatus, it is a figure explaining the state by which heat development recording material is hold | maintained at a plate heater. In the conventional heat development recording apparatus, it is a figure explaining the state by which another heat development recording material is hold | maintained at a plate heater.

Explanation of symbols

10 thermal development recording material 20 optical scanning device (scanning exposure means)
30 Image information input means 40 Recording information control means C Thermal development section F Thermal development recording material L Laser light

Claims (8)

A laser beam modulated in accordance with image data is scanned and exposed to the heat-developable recording material that is sequentially conveyed along the conveyance path to form a latent image, and the heat-developable recording material is heated by a heat developing unit to be heated. A heat development recording method for developing,
When continuously transporting the heat-developable recording materials having different dimensions, a low-temperature portion where the heating temperature of the heat-development portion is lower than a predetermined temperature is predicted, and an image recording area corresponding to the low-temperature portion is scanned. A heat development recording method, wherein the exposure amount of the laser beam is corrected. 2. The heat development recording method according to claim 1, wherein the exposure amount is corrected based on a reduction characteristic of a density value of a recorded image with respect to a processing interval of the heat development recording material and a number of processed sheets. The image recording area corresponding to the low temperature portion of the image data is corrected to generate corrected image data, and the exposure amount of the laser light is corrected based on the corrected image data. 3. The heat development recording method according to 1 or 2. A laser beam modulated in accordance with image data is scanned and exposed to the heat-developable recording material that is sequentially conveyed along the conveyance path to form a latent image, and the heat-developable recording material is heated by a heat developing unit to be heated. A heat development recording apparatus for performing development,
Image information input means for reading the image data and storing it in a recording unit;
When the heat-developable recording materials having different dimensions are continuously conveyed, the processing interval and the number of processed sheets of the heat-developable recording materials are read, the low-temperature portion of the heating temperature in the heat-developing part is determined, and the heat-developable recording Recording information control means for correcting an exposure amount of the laser beam to be scanned when scanning an image recording area corresponding to the low temperature portion in the material;
A thermal development recording apparatus comprising: a scanning exposure unit capable of scanning and exposing the laser beam to the thermal development recording material in accordance with an output of the recording information control unit. 5. The thermal development recording apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising a recording condition correction unit that determines the exposure amount based on a reduction characteristic of a density value of a recorded image with respect to a processing interval of the thermal development recording material and the number of processed sheets. . The recording information control unit corrects the image data stored in the recording unit based on the exposure amount to create corrected image data, and outputs the corrected image data to the scanning exposure unit. The heat development recording apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising a section. 7. The thermal development recording apparatus according to claim 4, wherein a plate heater is provided in the thermal development section so as to heat the thermal development recording material on a peripheral surface thereof. . 7. The heating unit according to claim 4, further comprising a heating drum rotatably supported on the peripheral surface so as to heat the heat development recording material. The heat development recording apparatus described.

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