JP2547819B2 - Image recording device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus for superposing a heat-developable photosensitive material on which an image has been exposed on an image-receiving material for heat-development transfer processing.

[Prior Art] An image is exposed on a photothermographic material, and the photothermographic material is superposed on an image receiving material and heated, whereby the photothermographic material is thermally developed and the image is transferred to the image receiving material. An image recording device for obtaining an image is known.

In this type of image recording apparatus, a separating means such as a separating arm is arranged in the vicinity of the heat developing and transferring section so that the heat developing photosensitive material after the heat developing and transferring is separated from the image receiving material by the separating arm. Has become. Further, the separated photothermographic material is conveyed by a conveying means such as a conveying roller and accumulated in a waste box.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] By the way, the photothermographic material is heated after being transferred by heat development because of the reason that the photothermographic material is wound around a roller and conveyed, or heated after water as an image forming solvent is applied. When separated from the image receiving material, irregular curl occurs and the photothermographic material as a whole is rolled into a significantly small diameter.

In this respect, in the conventional image recording apparatus, since the curl generated in the photothermographic material is simply collected in the waste box without being removed, the apparent volume of the photothermographic material accumulated by the curl increases. However, there is a problem that the actual amount of waste boxes that can be accumulated is reduced.

In view of the above facts, an object of the present invention is to provide an image recording apparatus capable of collecting the photothermographic material separated from the image receiving material after the heat development transfer in a small space without waste.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In an image recording apparatus according to the present invention, a photothermographic material on which an image is exposed is superposed on an image receiving material to thermally develop the photothermographic material, and at the same time, the image is transferred to the image receiving material. An image recording apparatus for separating a photothermographic material from an image receiving material after transfer and for transporting the photothermographic material, the storage section being provided for storing the photothermographic material transported after the thermal development transfer, and provided at an entrance of the storage section. A transporting roller for transporting the photothermographic material into the accommodating portion, a pressing member provided in the accommodating portion along the transporting direction of the photothermographic material by the transporting roller, and a concave surface curved in a concave shape A holding plate having a side facing the pressing member and feeding the photothermographic material between the pressing member and the pressing member, and pressing the photothermographic material fed from the conveying roller. And a curl imparting means for forcibly causing curl around an axis parallel to the conveying direction with the member inside and holding the curl in the curled state.

[Operation] In the image recording apparatus having the above-described configuration, the photothermographic material, which is separated from the image receiving material and conveyed after the image transfer, is fed into the accommodating portion. Here, the photothermographic material fed into the accommodation section is forcibly pressed by the curl imparting means, moves while curling around an axis parallel to the conveying direction, and curls with a regular curl being generated. It is held and accumulated by the giving means. So even in this case,
The apparent volume of the photothermographic material does not increase due to the irregular curl, and the photothermographic material can be continuously and regularly accumulated in a small space without waste.

The photothermographic material used in the present invention basically has a photosensitive silver halide, a binder, a dye-donor compound and a reducing agent (the dye-donor compound may also serve as the reducing agent) on the support. In addition, an organic silver salt and other additives can be added if necessary.

The photothermographic material described above may give a negative image or a positive image upon exposure. As a method of giving a positive image, a method of directly using a positive emulsion as a silver halide emulsion (a method using a nucleating agent and a light fog method are available), a dye that emits a positive diffusible dye image Any of the methods using a donor compound can be adopted.

In the present invention, this diffusible dye is transferred to the dye solid element (image receiving material), but this transfer may be carried out simultaneously with the heat development, or may be carried out continuously or at a time interval after the heat development. Good. The heat development may be carried out in the presence of a very small amount of water.

There are various methods of transferring the diffusible dye, for example, a method of transferring to the dye-fixing element with an aqueous solvent such as water, a method of transferring to the dye-fixing element with a high-boiling organic solvent, a transfer to the dye-fixing element with a hydrophilic thermal solvent. And a method of transferring to a dye fixing element having a dye-receptive polymer by utilizing the thermal diffusivity or sublimability of the diffusible dye, and the present invention can be applied to any of them.

Listed below are the documents which specifically describe the photothermographic materials and image receiving materials that can be used in the present invention. US Patent 4,46
3,079, 4,474,867, 4,478,927, 4,5
07,380, 4,500,626, 4,483,914, JP Sho
58-149046, 58-149047, 59-152440, 59
-154445, 59-165054, 59-180548, 59-
168439, 59-174832, 59-174833, 59-17
4834, 59-174835, 62-65038, 61-23245
No., European Patent Publication Nos. 210,660A2 and 220,746A2.

[Examples] Examples of the present invention will be described below.

FIG. 7 shows an image recording apparatus 10 to which the photothermographic material accumulating method according to the present invention is applied.

In the image recording apparatus 10, a roll-shaped photothermographic material 16 is housed in a magazine 14 housed in a machine base 12.

The photothermographic material 16 is pulled out from the outer periphery thereof, cut into a predetermined length by a cutter 18, and then wound around the outer periphery of the exposure drum 20 in the direction of arrow A. An exposure head 22 is arranged corresponding to the outer circumference of the exposure drum 20, and the exposure drum 20 is rotated at a high speed to expose an image on the wound photothermographic material 16.

The photothermographic material 16 after exposure is peeled off from the exposure drum 20 by the scraper 24 by the reverse rotation of the exposure drum 20 (direction of arrow B), and after water as an image forming solvent is applied by the water coating section 26, the photothermographic material 16 is heated. It is adapted to be sent to the development transfer section 28.

The heat development transfer section 28 includes a heating drum 34 and an endless pressure contact belt.
36 are arranged. Further, a halogen lamp 38 is arranged inside the heating drum 34, and the outer circumference of the heating drum 34 is heated to about 90 ° C. by the halogen lamp 38.

The endless pressure welding belt 36 includes tension rollers 37, 39, 41,
It is wound around 43, and its endless outer side is pressed against the outer circumference of the heating drum 34.

The photothermographic material 16 to which water is applied is supplied between the heating drum 34 and the endless pressure contact belt 36, and the heating drum 34 is almost heated.
It is sandwiched and conveyed over 2/3 laps for thermal development.

A pair of superposing rollers 46 are arranged near the portion where the endless pressure contact belt 36 is wound around the tension roller 37.

On the other hand, the magazine 30 arranged below the heat development transfer section 28
Inside, a plurality of image receiving materials 32 cut into a predetermined length are arranged.
Is housed. The image receiving material 32 is sequentially taken out one by one by the supply roller 44 arranged on the side of the magazine 30 and sent to the heat development transfer section 28.

The image receiving material 32 sent to the heat developing and transferring section 28 is superposed on the photothermographic material 16 by the superposing roller 46 and supplied between the heating drum 34 and the endless pressure contact belt 36.

The photothermographic material 16 is an image receiving material in the photothermographic transfer section 28.
When heated in a state of being superposed on 32, the image is transferred to the image receiving material 32 while being thermally developed, and the image is obtained on the image receiving material 32.

A peeling section 48 is arranged in the vicinity of the portion where the endless pressure contact belt 36 is wound around the tension roller 43, and separates the fed photothermographic material 16 and the image receiving material 32. The separated photothermographic material 16 is dried by the drying device 53 and then sent to the waste photosensitive material storage box 60 by the transport roller 50.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 6, a waste photosensitive material storage box 60
Has a main body portion 62 as a housing portion. Body 62
Is the front plate 62A, the rear plate 62B, the upper plate 62C, the left and right side plates 6
The 2D and the bottom plate 62E form a box shape, and the top plate 62C is removable.

An opening 64 is formed in the lower part of the front plate 62A. The transport roller 50 is located in the vicinity of the opening 64, and the transported photothermographic material 16 is fed into the main body 62. In this case, the surface of the photothermographic material 16 fed into the main body 62 is coated with water by the water coating unit 26 on the front plate 62.
It is sent so that it faces the A side.

Further, in the center of the front plate 62A, a rectangular opening 66 extending vertically is formed, and a pressing rod 68 as a curl imparting means is fixed above the opening 66. ing. The presser bar 68 is made of an elastic bar material and is formed into a substantially S-shape. One end of the presser bar 68 has an opening 66 as shown in FIG.
The other end is fixed to the upper part and extends into the main body 62 through the opening 66. Therefore, in the photothermographic material 16 fed into the main body portion 62 through the opening 64 by the conveying roller 50, the widthwise central portion of the photothermographic material 16 is forcibly pressed in the direction of the rear plate 62B by the pressing rod 68 and conveyed. Curl is generated around an axis parallel to the direction.

A holding plate 70 is arranged inside the main body 62. The holding plate 70 is formed to be smoothly curved, and is fixed to the inside of the rear plate 62B so that the concave surface faces the pressing rod 68. Therefore, the photothermographic material 16 fed into the main body portion 62 while being curled by the presser bar 68 about the axis parallel to the conveying direction is held in the curled state and is held by the presser bar 68 and the holding plate 70. It is supposed to be held by and. In this case, since the surface side of the photothermographic material 16 is accumulated facing the pressing rod 68, the surface side without moisture is in contact with the already accumulated photothermographic material 16.

In addition, the curl amount in this retained state can be up to a state in which the curl amount exceeds 0 degree and is wrapped around 360 degrees, but is preferably 10 degrees.
The angle between 180 degrees and 180 degrees is good, and the holding plate 70 is correspondingly curved.

A pressing plate 72 is arranged inside the upper portion of the main body 62. The pressing plate 72 is connected to the upper surface plate 62C via a plurality of compression springs 74, and is located in the notches 76 formed in the left and right side surface plates 62D and is always pressed in the lower surface plate 62E direction. There is. In this case, the notch 76 is formed such that the distance between the pressing plate 72 and the lower surface plate 62E is longer than the length along the transport direction of the photothermographic material 16.

Further, the pressing force of the compression spring 74 is set to be weaker than the carrying force of the carrying roller 50 for the photothermographic material 16 (rigidity of the photothermographic material 16 fed into the main body portion 62). The photothermographic material 16 sent into the main body portion 62 via the portion 64 moves in the main body portion 62 in the direction of the upper surface plate 62C while being curled, and the tip portion thereof has the pressing plate 7
When it comes into contact with 2, the pressure plate 7 is pressed against the biasing force of the compression spring.
2 is moved in the direction of the upper surface plate 62C, and when the rear end is separated from the conveying roller 50, it is pressed by the pressing plate 72 and is reliably held between the holding bar 68 and the holding plate 70. ing.

One end of a guide plate 76 is fixed inside the lower surface plate 62E. The other end of the guide plate 76 is fed from the opening 64 to the conveyance roller.
The photothermographic material is extended in 50 directions.
When the rear end of 16 is separated from the conveying roller 50 and pressed by the pressing plate 72 in the direction of the lower plate 62E, the rear end is guided so as not to be nipped by the conveying roller 50 again. ing.

On the other hand, the image receiving material 32 separated from the photothermographic material 16 in the peeling section 48 is dried by the drying device 52 and then the machine base 12
It is adapted to be delivered onto an ejection tray 54 formed at the top of the.

 Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.

When the photothermographic material 16 drawn from the magazine 14 is cut by the cutter 18 and then wound around the outer periphery of the exposure drum 20, the exposure drum 20 rotates at high speed in the direction of arrow A in FIG. Is exposed.

The exposed photothermographic material 16 is peeled off by the scraper 24 by the reverse rotation of the exposure drum 20 (direction of arrow B), coated with water by the water coating section 26, and sent to the heat development transfer section 28.

On the other hand, the image receiving material 32 in the magazine 30 is sequentially taken out one by one by the supply roller 44, and is further superposed and brought into close contact with the photothermographic material 16 by the superposing roller 46 arranged in the vicinity of the heating drum 34. Further, the heat-developable photosensitive material 16 and the image-receiving material 32, which are superposed on each other, form a heating drum 34 and an endless pressure contact belt 36 (a portion wound around a tension roller 37).
Is supplied to and from.

The heat-developable photosensitive material 16 and the image-receiving material 32 sent to the heat-development transfer section 28 are heated between the heating drum 34 and the endless pressure-contact belt 36, which are heated to about 90 ° C. by the halogen lamp 38 while being in close contact with each other. Then, while being nipped and conveyed over approximately two-thirds circumference of the heating drum 34 and thermally developed, the image exposed on the photothermographic material 16 is transferred to the image receiving material 32.

After the transfer, the photothermographic material 16 and the image receiving material 32 are sent to the peeling section 48 and separated from each other. Separated photothermographic material
16 is sent to the waste photosensitive material storage box 60 by the transport roller 50.

In the waste photosensitive material storage box 60, the photothermographic material 16 which is moved by the transport roller 50 is fed into the main body portion 62 through the opening 64 formed in the lower portion of the front plate 62A. Here, the center portion of the photothermographic material 16 fed into the main body portion 62 in the width direction is held by the presser bar 68 extending into the main body portion 62 through the opening 66 to the rear plate 62B (holding plate 70). ) Direction, it moves while curling around an axis parallel to the transport direction.

The photothermographic material 16 that moves in the main body 62 in the direction of the upper surface plate 62C while being curled has the pressing plate 72 at its tip.
Contact with the pressure plate 72 against the biasing force of the compression spring.
Is moved in the direction of the upper surface plate 62C, and when the rear end is separated from the transport roller 50, the pressing plate 72 presses it and pushes it back downward (in the direction of the lower surface plate 62E). It is held between the rod 68 and the holding plate 70.

In this case, since the guide plate 76 is fixed to the lower surface plate 62E and the front end portion thereof extends from the opening 64 toward the conveying roller 50, the rear end portion of the photothermographic material 16 is separated from the conveying roller 50 and pressed. When the plate 72 is pressed in the direction of the lower plate 62E, the photothermographic material 16 is guided and moved by the guide plate 76, and the rear end thereof is not nipped by the transport roller 50 again.

Further, since the presser bar 68 has elasticity, even when a plurality of photothermographic materials 16 are accumulated in the main body 62, the presser bar 68 is held with the presser bar 68 in a curled state. It is securely held and integrated with the plate 70. Further, in this case, the heat-developable photosensitive material 16 is arranged such that the back surface side without moisture contacts the already-integrated heat-developable photosensitive material 16, and further, the accumulated heat-developable photosensitive material 16 is previously dried by the drying device 53. When the photothermographic material 16 is dried and is in contact with air in the main body portion 62, the photothermographic material 16 is in a dry state before being fed, so that friction is small and smooth accumulation is achieved. Therefore, the apparent volume of the photothermographic material 16 does not increase due to the irregular curl, and the photothermographic material 16 can be continuously and regularly accumulated without waste, and the waste photosensitive material storage box 60 can be downsized. it can.

On the other hand, the image receiving material 32 separated from the photothermographic material 16 in the peeling section 48 is taken out to the takeout tray 54 via the drying device 52.

After the image recording process is completed, the waste photosensitive material storage box 60 is removed from the machine base 12, and the photothermographic material 16 accumulated inside is removed.
Dispose of. In this case, the waste photosensitive material storage box 60
Since the upper plate 62C is removable, the photothermographic material 16 can be easily taken out and discarded by removing it.

In the present embodiment, the holding plate 70 is formed so as to be curved smoothly, and the photothermographic material 16 is curled in an arc shape and held, but the holding state of the photothermographic material 16 is not limited to this. Instead, as shown in FIG. 8, a holding plate 80 having a V-shaped cross section may be used to hold the V-shaped holding plate. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 9, a holding plate having a U-shaped cross section.
It may be configured so as to be held in a U shape by 90 and a pair of holding rods 92.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, the image recording apparatus according to the present invention has an excellent effect that the photothermographic material separated from the image receiving material after the heat development transfer can be accumulated in a small space without waste. are doing.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of a waste photosensitive material storage box of the image recording apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a front view of the waste photosensitive material storage box, and FIG. 3 is a cross section taken along line III-III in FIG. Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV in Fig. 3, and Fig. 5 is V- in Fig. 2.
Sectional view taken along line V, FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line VI-VI of FIG. 2, FIG. 7 is a schematic configuration diagram of the image recording apparatus, and FIGS. 8 and 9 show other embodiments. It is sectional drawing which shows the holding plate which concerns. 10 ... Image recording device, 16 ... Photothermographic material, 32 ... Image receiving material, 60 ... Waste photosensitive material storage box, 62 ... Main body section, 68 ... Presser bar, 70 ... Holding plate, 80 ... … Holding plate, 90… Holding plate.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A heat-developable photosensitive material on which an image has been exposed is superposed on an image-receiving material to thermally develop the heat-developable photosensitive material, and the image is transferred to the image-receiving material, and after the transfer, the heat-developable photosensitive material is separated from the image-receiving material. An image recording apparatus for transporting, a storage section for storing the photothermographic material conveyed after heat development transfer, and a transport provided at the entrance of the storage section for transporting the photothermographic material into the storage section. A roller, a pressing member provided in the accommodating portion along the carrying direction of the photothermographic material by the carrying roller, and a pressing surface provided so as to be concavely curved so that a concave surface side faces the pressing member. A holding plate into which the photothermographic material is fed between the member and the member, and the photothermographic material fed from the transport roller is strengthened around an axis parallel to the transport direction with the pressing member inside. Image recording apparatus comprising: the curling unit, a holding manner in the state where curling occurs with resulting curling.