JP2553195B2 - Film carrier - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial field of use] The present invention relates to a film carrier suitable for use in performing a negative test.

[Prior Art] In a color printer, an automatic exposure control device is built in, at least one characteristic value is extracted from a color negative image, and an exposure amount calculation formula using this characteristic value is used to print an exposure for each color light. The amount is calculated. Actually, an exposure control amount having a predetermined relationship with the printing exposure amount is calculated, and the red component, the green component, and the blue component of the printing light are automatically controlled in accordance with the exposure control amount. However, since there are various kinds of scenes in color negative images, it is practically difficult to calculate an appropriate printing exposure amount for all color negative images and create a print photograph with a good finish. Therefore,
A color negative test is performed before printing a photograph, and the correction amount is determined based on the experience of the operator for a unique scene in which the finish is not good with the automatic exposure control. This negative test is carried out by using a dedicated negative tester for large-scale processing, and in the case of small-scale processing, the negative image set at the print position is observed before printing exposure.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

The negative test is performed by observing the negative film, determining the correction amount based on the experience of the operator, and inputting the correction amount using a keyboard or the like. The correction data you entered is
Normally, the numerical value is not displayed but is stored as it is on a paper tape or used as an exposure control value during printing. Therefore, there is a problem that it is not possible to check if a correction amount input error occurs.

The present invention is intended to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a film carrier capable of easily checking input correction data, data necessary for a negative test, and the like.

[Means for solving the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a film carrier for guiding a core recorded on a photographic film to an exposure window for printing, and an observation window upstream of the exposure window in the film feeding direction, and the observation window. A means for forming a loop is provided between the window and the exposure window, and this observation window is provided adjacent to the observation section for observing the frame of the photographic film and various types required for negative inspection. And a liquid crystal display section for displaying information.

[Action]

The operator performs a negative test on the frames set in the film observation window, and the correction amount is input from the keyboard. The input information such as the correction amount and the film type is displayed on the liquid crystal display unit provided adjacent to the transparent portion for film observation or the opening (observation portion). Therefore, the operator can easily confirm the correction amount and the like that have been input, by slightly shifting the line of sight from the transparent portion for film observation or the opening portion. Therefore, the efficiency of the negative test is improved, the number of input errors is reduced, and the efficiency of print photographs is improved.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 2 showing a printer processor, a light source for printing is shown.
The white light emitted from 10 enters the diffusion box 12 after the light quality is adjusted by the light quality adjusting unit 11. The light quality control unit 11
The light quality is adjusted to automatically control the exposure amount based on the exposure control amount, and the cyan, magenta, and yellow filters 13 to 15 are automatically inserted into the printing optical path according to the exposure control amount. The printing light diffused by the diffusion box 12 illuminates a color original image, for example, a color negative film 18 set on the film carrier 17.

An imaging lens 20 is disposed above the film carrier 17, and a color paper 21 set at the exposure position is set.
Form a negative image on. Further, a shutter 25 is arranged in the printing optical path between the color paper 21 and the imaging lens 20, and the shutter 25 is inserted into the printing optical path by the shutter drive unit 26. The color paper 21 is wound into a roll and stored in the magazine 27.
28 frames are taken out one by one to the exposure position. After the exposure, the color paper 21 is sent to a well-known processor 29, subjected to development processing, cut into each frame, and discharged to a tray 30.

In addition, a scanner is installed diagonally above the film carrier 17.
31 are arranged. This scanner 31 has a lens 32
It is composed of a color image area sensor 33 such as a CCD. The color image area sensor 33 photometrically separates the printing light transmitted through the color negative film 18 into three colors and sends the photometric value to the characteristic value calculator 34. The characteristic value calculation unit 34 is composed of a well-known microcomputer, and has 3 points for each point.
The exposure correction data of three colors is automatically calculated based on the color separation photometric value and the like. The obtained exposure correction data is sent to the controller 60 described later.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the film carrier 17 is provided with an exposure window 35 at an exposure position, and the exposure window 35 has a carrier mask 36 and a film holder 37.
Is arranged. The film retainer 37 is urged downward by a solenoid (not shown) at the time of exposure for exposure, and retains the negative film 18.

Also, on the film entrance side of the exposure window 35, there is a film observation window.
38 are provided. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the film observation window 38 has a transparent portion 39 for film observation and a liquid crystal display portion 40 for displaying various information on the plate 38A.
Are provided. The transparent portion 39 for observing the film is formed with a size of two frames in order to efficiently perform the negative test, and the negative test can be continuously performed while watching the connection of the screens. The observation transparent portion 39 is a plate 38A in which transparent glass is fitted, but an opening portion may be provided instead of this.

Further, the liquid crystal display section 40 is provided adjacent to the upper side of the transparent window section 39. The liquid crystal display unit 40 includes a film type display unit 41 that displays the type of film, and a correction amount display unit 42 that displays the correction amount at the time of negative verification. The correction amount display unit 42 includes a display unit 42A that displays the density correction amount and a display unit that displays the correction amounts of each color of yellow, magenta, and cyan.
It is composed of 42B to 42D. Further, frame identification marks 43A and 43B for identifying which of the first frame and the second frame of the transparent window 39 the correction amount is input are provided above the first frame and the second frame. It is provided. The liquid crystal display unit 40 is connected to the driver 45 via the connector 44. The driver 45 is controlled by the controller 60.

Below the film observation window 38, a diffusion plate 46 and a film illumination light source 47 are provided. Since the base color may be different depending on the type of film, the operator may have a slight intuition for the negative test, and the correction amount may be wrong. Therefore, it is preferable to prepare a plurality of light sources 47 for film illumination corresponding to the base of the film and select the light source according to the color of the base. Further, instead of using a plurality of light sources, a filter may be used to adjust the light quality corresponding to the base.

As shown in FIG. 2, a film observation window 38 and an exposure window 35
A loop forming means 50 for arranging the negative film 18 in a loop shape and temporarily storing the negative film 18 is arranged between and. The loop forming means 50 includes a guide plate 51 and the guide plate 51.
It is composed of a film observation window side transfer roller pair 52 and an exposure window side transfer roller pair 53 which transfer the negative film 18 so as to form a loop above, and a controller 60 which controls rotation of each of these transfer roller pairs 52, 53. . Each transport roller pair
52 and 53 are rotated by pulse motors 54 and 55. These pulse motors 54, 55 are driven by the controller 60 via drivers 56, 57. Instead of the pair of transport rollers 52, the negative film may be sandwiched and transported by a belt from above and below.

The controller 60 is composed of a well-known microcomputer, and controls the transport roller pairs 52 and 53 of the film carrier 17 as well as the scanner 31, the light quality dimming unit 11, the shutter driving unit 26, and the liquid crystal display. It also controls the section 40. A keyboard 61 is connected to the controller 60. The keyboard 61 has a density correction key 62 for inputting a negative test result, a color correction key 63, a fine adjustment key 65 for finely adjusting the frame position, and an observation window for the next frame.
A frame advance key 67, a print start key 68, a ten-key 69, a next frame key 70, and the like are provided for positioning to 38.

A sensor 71 for detecting the leading edge of the film is arranged on the entrance side of the pair of transport rollers 52 on the film observation window side. Also, the observation window
A well-known edge sensor 72 for detecting the edge of each frame of the negative film 18 and a reference point detection sensor 73 for issuing a reference signal for tracking the position of each frame are provided on the entrance side of the 38. Has been. The controller 60 stops the rotation of the conveying roller pair 47 based on the edge detection signal of the edge sensor 72, and accurately sets each frame at a predetermined position of the observation window 38. The reference point detection sensor 73 is configured similarly to the film tip detection sensor 71. Based on the film edge detection signal from the sensor 73, the controller 60
A built-in counter is operated to count the transfer amount of the negative film 18, for example, the number of drive pulses of the pair of conveyance rollers 52.

An edge sensor 74 and a reference position detection sensor 75 are also provided on the entrance side of the exposure window 35, and the controller 60
Accurately positions each frame of the negative film 18 in the exposure window 35 in the same manner as the observation window side. Each of these sensors 74, 75 is mounted in a sensor holding frame 76. If the position data of each frame is stored together with the negative verification data when a negative is detected and this position data is used during printing,
The edge sensor 74 arranged at the entrance side of the exposure window 35 can be omitted.

 Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.

First, the negative film 18 is set on the entrance side of the observation window 38 of the film carrier 17. With this set, the film leading edge detection sensor 71 is turned on, the pair of transport rollers 52, 53 rotate, and the negative film 18 is transported toward the observation window 38. During this transfer, the tip of the negative film 18 is moved to the reference point detection sensor.
The counter in the controller 60 is reset based on the detection signal detected by 73, and the number of drive pulses of the motor 54 is newly counted as the film transfer amount.

Further, when the edge sensor 72 detects the edge of the frame of the negative film 18, the feeding of the negative film 18 is stopped after feeding a fixed amount, whereby the frame is positioned in the observation window 38. At this time, if the frame position is displaced from the normal position in the observation window 38, the fine adjustment key 65 is operated to set the negative film 18 at a predetermined position. When the fine adjustment key 65 is operated, the number of drive pulses is subtracted or added depending on the rotation direction of the motor, so that accurate position data can be obtained.

The operator observes the frame located in the observation window 38 and performs a negative test. In addition, this negative test, when automatically calculating the exposure correction data by the scanner 31,
It is possible to instruct an approximate correction direction to supplement this. For example, it may be correction information for correctly recognizing an image that is difficult for a scanner, such as the presence or absence of a color area or a density area, or a portrait image or a landscape image. Also, when simply calculating the exposure amount based on the large screen average transmission density (LATD), the correction amount for each density and each color is finely determined, and this data is used for each correction key 62 as in the case of the normal negative test. Enter with 63. The input negative verification data is stored in the storage unit together with the frame position data of the counter built in by the controller 60,
It is displayed on each of the correction amount display sections 42A to 42D of the liquid crystal display section 40.
The type of the negative film 18 is also displayed on the film type display section 41. Therefore, the operator can easily check the entered negative test data by looking at the liquid crystal display unit 40 during the negative test. This reduces input mistakes.

At the time of the negative verification for the first frame, the frame identification mark 43A for the first frame is displayed to inform that the negative verification for the first frame is being performed. The operator inputs the negative verification data of the first frame by operating the correction keys 62 and 63, confirms this by the display of the display units 42A to 42D, and then operates the next frame key 70. As a result, the negative verification data of the first frame is taken into the storage unit, the display is switched from the frame identification mark 43A of the first frame to the frame identification mark 43B of the second frame, and the negative verification data of the next frame is changed. Input becomes possible. Further, at this time, by operating the next frame key 70 again, the display of the identification mark is switched from the second frame to the first frame, and the input correction mode for the first frame is set.

When the frame advance key 67 is pressed after the negative verification of the second frame is completed, two frames of the negative film 18 are transferred, a new unverified frame is positioned in the transparent section 39, and so on.
Negative test of each frame is done one after another. In this way,
When a proper number of frames are negative-verified, the tip of the negative film 18 reaches the film tip detection sensor 75 on the entrance side of the exposure window 35, and this sensor is turned on. Based on this detection signal, the controller 60 stops the rotation of the exposure window side transport roller pair 53. As a result, the negative film 18 is stored in a loop on the guide plate 51. Since the negative film 18 is stored as a free loop, printing is started by a loop detection sensor (not shown) or an operator's operation of the print start key 68. Negative verification is performed one after another during this printing.

Printing is performed as follows. First, the exposure window 35
The frame to be printed is set in the exposure window 35 based on the detection signal of the edge sensor 74 on the input side. Next, the scanner 31 is operated to perform photometry on the frame at the exposure position. When the photometric value from the image area sensor 33 is input to the characteristic value calculating unit 34, the characteristic value calculating unit 34 stores the photometric value in a built-in memory unit and at the same time, the characteristic value calculating unit 34 stores the photometric value in order to facilitate extraction of features. Is performed, and then LATD is calculated and characteristics such as the average density of the specific area are extracted. Further, a pattern identification calculation is performed based on this extraction result. The pattern identification calculation is performed by performing an identification process based on the identification parameter obtained from the extraction result, various correction programs, and the correction data obtained by the negative test. The exposure correction data thus obtained is sent to the controller 60.

The controller 60 automatically calculates the exposure control amount of the three colors by a well-known exposure amount calculation formula based on various exposure correction data and LATD, and controls the light quality adjustment unit 11 and the shutter drive unit 26 based on this automatically. To do. As a result, the light quality control unit 11
The printing target frame of the negative film 18 is printed and exposed on the color paper 21 by the printing light adjusted by. After the printing exposure, the negative film 18 and the color paper 21 are transferred by one frame. In this way, each frame of the negative film 18 is sequentially printed and exposed on the color paper 21. The exposed color paper 21 is sent to the processor 29, where it is developed and then cut into individual frames and discharged into the tray 30.

In the above embodiment, the liquid crystal display unit 40 is provided on the plate 38A.
It was constructed by inserting the plate 38A instead of the plate 38A.
The whole may be liquid crystal. In this case, a normally open liquid crystal panel that is always in a light transmitting state may be used.

In addition, in the above-described embodiment, the frame feed at the time of the negative test is set to 2
The frames are batched and the negative verification for 2 frames is performed by one frame advance. Instead of this, the frames are advanced one frame at a time, and the negative test is performed only at the second frame position. , First
The frame position may simply be used as a reference for successive frames.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, the observation window and the means for forming a loop between the observation window and the exposure window are provided on the upstream side of the exposure window in the film feeding direction. It is no longer necessary to perform a negative test on the print frame set in step 1, and the negative test and the printing process can be performed simultaneously in parallel. Therefore, the printing process can be efficiently performed.

Further, the observation window is provided with an observation section for observing the frames of the photographic film and a liquid crystal display section provided adjacent to the observation section and displaying various information necessary for the negative test, so that the operator can observe. By simply shifting the line of sight between the observation section and the liquid crystal display section in the window, it is possible to easily confirm various information such as the input negative test data and information necessary for the negative test. For this reason, the efficiency of the negative test is improved, and the number of mistakes in inputting test data is reduced,
The print processing can be performed efficiently.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a main part of a film carrier according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing a printer / processor using the film carrier in the same embodiment. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the overall structure of the film carrier. 17 …… Film carrier 18 …… Negative film 38 …… Film observation window 39 …… Observation transparent part 40 …… LCD display 42 …… Correction amount display 60 …… Controller 61 …… Keyboard.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A film carrier for guiding a core recorded on a photographic film to an exposure window for printing, wherein an observation window is provided upstream of the exposure window in the film feeding direction, and between the observation window and the exposure window. A means for forming a loop is provided, and this observation window is provided with an observation section for observing a frame of the photographic film and a liquid crystal display section provided adjacent to this observation section for displaying various information necessary for a negative test. A film carrier characterized by having and.