JP2729052B2 - Image recording method - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an image recording direction for efficiently recording a color image on a photosensitive material. (Technical background and problems to be solved) Conventionally, for example, a photothermographic material is used as a photosensitive material,
When a color image is recorded by optically exposing an electric image signal to this, a so-called drum system has been generally used. In this method, a photothermographic material cut to a predetermined size is wound around a drum and rotated, and a point light source scanned in parallel with the drum axis is modulated and recorded. However, in this recording method, it is difficult to reduce the recording time because the number of rotations of the drum is limited, and the time required for attaching and detaching the photothermographic material to and from the drum is also required, and the mechanism is relatively complicated. In addition, the device becomes large and complicated. Further, since batch processing is performed for each photothermographic material cut into a predetermined size, the number of processed sheets per unit time is small. FIGS. 5 and 6 show an example of the above-mentioned conventional image recording apparatus (Japanese Patent Application No. 61-124406). This image recording device 10
In, the magazine 14 is mounted on the machine base 12 and the photothermographic material
Sixteen are housed. Photothermographic material 16 in magazine 14
Is drawn out from the outer periphery thereof, cut into a predetermined length by the cutter 18, and then wound around the outer periphery of the exposure drum 20 (in the direction of arrow A). On the outer periphery of the exposure drum 20, an exposure head 22 having light emitting elements of three color point light sources is provided to face each other.
Exposure drum 20 reverses after exposure of one screen, photothermographic material
16 is peeled off by a scraper 24 and sent to a development transfer unit 28 via a water application unit 26. On the other hand, the image receiving paper 32 accommodated in the tray 30 is sent to the development transfer section 28 and
Is heated by a heater in the development transfer section 28 after the superposition. Thus, the photothermographic material 16 is developed, and the developed image is transferred to the image receiving paper 32. After the transfer is completed, the photothermographic material 16 is stored in the waste tray 38 via the scraper 36, and the image receiving paper 32 is sent to the takeout tray 42 via the drying unit 40. The exposure head 22 is a photothermographic material as shown in FIG.
While the exposure roller 16 is wound around the exposure drum 20, it is rotated at high speed (A direction) around its axis to perform main scanning. The exposure head 22 is provided with three light emitting elements 44 of three primary colors.
Sub-scanning can be performed in the B direction along a guide cover 46 arranged on a parallel axis to the exposure head 22. A pair of pulleys 48 and 50 are arranged in a parallel axis for sub-scanning the exposure head 22, and a wire 52 is wound around these. That is, one end of the wire 52 is fixed to the exposure head 22, the intermediate portion is wound around the pulleys 48 and 50, and is attached to the exposure head 22 via the tension applying means 54. After the photothermographic material 16 in the magazine 14 is cut to a predetermined length by the cutter 18, the photothermographic material 16 is wound around the outer periphery of the exposure drum 20, and thereafter the exposure drum 20 is rotated in the direction A by a motor (not shown). The exposure head 22 is moved in the direction B by sub-scanning by rotating the pulley 48. In this sub-scanning, the exposure operation is performed by the light emitting element 44 only when the pulley 48 is driven clockwise (C). After the exposure, the exposure drum 20 is reversed, and the photothermographic material 16 is separated from the outer periphery of the exposure drum 20 by a scraper 24 and sent to a development transfer unit 28 via a water application unit 26. On the other hand, the image receiving paper 32 taken out of the tray 30 is sent to the development transfer section 28 and is superposed on the photothermographic material 16, so that the emulsion surfaces of both materials are in close contact with each other. Here, when the heater in the development transfer section 28 is heated, the image exposed on the photothermographic material 16 is thermally developed, and thereafter, this image is transferred to the image receiving paper 32.
In this image transfer, since the water has already been applied to the emulsion surface of the photothermographic material 16 by the water application unit 26, reliable transfer is performed. After the transfer, the photothermographic material 16 is scraped by a scraper 36.
And is discarded to a waste tray 38, and the image receiving paper 32 is taken out to a takeout tray 42 via a drying unit 40. As described above, in the image recording apparatus using the conventional photothermographic material, after the photothermographic material 16 cut to a predetermined size is wound around the exposure drum 20, a color image is recorded.
Since the exposed photothermographic material is sent to the processing section for processing, it is cut into a predetermined size and exposed to light.
It takes time to wind around the drum 20 and detach it from the drum 20, and its mechanism is complicated. Also, three light emitting elements for exposing the photothermographic material 16 of the exposure head 22 to three colors corresponding to the photosensitivity characteristics of the photothermographic material 16
Since the recording is performed in the main scanning and the sub-scanning according to 44, the recording time becomes very long. Furthermore, since the recording size is limited to a size corresponding to the diameter of the exposure drum 20, a scraper 36 for separating the image receiving paper 32 from the photothermographic material 16 is provided, and a waste tray 38 is further provided. Becomes large. Further, the photothermographic material for supply is provided in the magazine 14.
Since the thermal development photosensitive material 16 is stored in the waste tray 38 after the thermal transfer recording, the handling and management of the photothermographic material 16 are complicated. (Object of the Invention) The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to simplify winding and management of a photosensitive material for forming an image by transferring a heat-developable photosensitive material. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image recording method, in particular, to straighten a photosensitive material conveying path and to provide a photosensitive material without a cutting mechanism, and to separate an image receiving material after development without providing a separate peeling-only member. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image recording method in which the size of the apparatus can be reduced so that the image recording method can be performed. (Means for Solving the Problems) An object of the present invention is to store a supply roll that freely rotates in a feeding direction of a wound photosensitive material and drives and rotates in a rewinding direction. And a first storage chamber having a light-shielded feeding section, and a driving rotation in a winding direction of the photosensitive material fed from the first storage chamber;
And a non-light-shielding second storage chamber that houses a take-up roll that freely rotates in a rewinding direction and has an introduction portion that introduces the photosensitive material along a curved guide surface, and is integrally formed with the photosensitive roll. Using an image recording roll magazine in which the material can be rewound, the photosensitive material in the first storage chamber is fed out and an image is formed on the photosensitive material while being continuously wound on the winding roll in the second storage chamber. After exposing and superimposing and transferring an image receiving material of a predetermined size separately supplied to the photosensitive material, the image receiving material having a relatively rigid shape is provided at a curved introduction portion provided in the second storage chamber. Is spontaneously peeled off from the photosensitive material, and thereafter, the supply roll is driven and rotated in the rewinding direction to rewind the unexposed portion of the photosensitive material to the position of the exposed portion. (Effect of the Invention) The method of the present invention uses an image recording roll magazine in which a first storage chamber for a supply roll of photosensitive material and a second storage chamber for a take-up roll are integrated, and its handling and management are easy. In addition, the image is recorded while being wound on another roll from a state wound in a roll shape, and the image is recorded as a sheet without cutting with a cutter. A certain image receiving paper is naturally separated from the developed photosensitive material by the curved guide surface and falls by its own weight, and the developed photosensitive material is taken up by the take-up roll of the second storage chamber from the introduction portion. Further, the unexposed portion of the photosensitive material after development is rewound to the position of the exposed portion by the drive rotation of the supply roll in the unwinding direction, and the next exposure, water application, and development operations are performed. Use effectively without wasting parts. Here, as the photosensitive material in the present invention, for example,
U.S. Patent No. 4430415, No. 4483914, No. 4500626,
No. 4503137, JP-A-59-154445, JP-A-59-16505
No. 4, JP-A-59-180548, JP-A-59-218443, JP-A-60-120356, Japanese Patent Application No. 59-209563, Japanese Patent Application No. 60-7970.
No. 9, JP-A-60-169585, JP-A-60-244873 and the like can be used. In the present invention, the solvent for image formation is a solvent required for image formation, for example, water, low-boiling organic solvents (alcohols, ketones, amides, etc.) or a surfactant, heat, etc. Examples include those to which various additives such as a development accelerator and a development terminator are added. Further, as another example, there is a so-called photosensitive pressure-sensitive material which transfers an image generated by imagewise exposure to an image receiving material having an image receiving layer by pressure to obtain a visible image. As the photosensitive pressure-sensitive material, for example, a polymerizable compound is cured imagewise by imagewise exposure disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Sho 57-179836, filed with the present applicant, and then overlaid with an image receiving material. There is also a type that obtains a visible image by adding. This photosensitive pressure-sensitive material has a support on which a synthetic polymer resin wall capsule containing a vinyl compound, a photopolymerization initiator, and a colored precursor is supported. Further, there is a type in which a latent image generated by imagewise exposure is preliminarily subjected to thermal development or wet development, and then superposed on an image receiving material and pressure is applied to obtain a visible image. An example of such a material is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 278849 discloses an example. This material is obtained by transferring a color image forming substance to an image receiving material having an image receiving layer after thermal development to obtain an image on the image receiving material. At least a photosensitive silver halide, a reducing agent, The polymerizable compound and the color image forming substance are coated, and at least the polymerizable compound and the color image forming substance are encapsulated in the same microcapsule. (Embodiment of the Invention) Fig. 1 schematically shows an image recording apparatus provided with an image recording roll magazine 101 for carrying out the method of the present invention, and a photothermographic material 100 is wound around a supply roll 105. The photothermographic material that has been stored in one storage chamber 103 of the magazine 101 and is drawn out from the feeding section 120 in a sheet shape is transported to a take-up roll 102 provided in the other storage chamber 104. Along the transport path of the photothermographic material 100 which is transported in a substantially horizontal straight line.
00, a water application section 400 and a development transfer section 500 are provided in series,
An image receiving paper supply unit 300 is provided below the development transfer unit 500. Further, the appearance of the magazine 101 is as shown in FIG. 2, and the photothermographic material 100 fed from the slit-shaped feeding section 120 extends along the bottom outer peripheral surface of the curved guide 107 of the storage chamber 104. Guided to the slit-like inlet 108,
Supply roll 105 and take-up roll 1 in storage chambers 103 and 104
Reference numeral 02 denotes a drive shaft 123 (which rotates freely in the feeding direction of the photosensitive material 100 and rotates in the rewind direction) and a drive shaft.
124 (they rotate in the winding direction of the photosensitive material 100 and rotate freely in the rewinding direction). When the magazine 101 is loaded at a predetermined position of the image recording apparatus, the drive shafts 123 and 124 are driven by being connected to a drive mechanism (not shown). The transport path is provided with a pair of upper and lower transport rolls 110, 111, and 112 for performing smooth and accurate transport. Further, a light shielding mechanism 106 for shielding external light is provided at the end of the transport path.
The developed photothermographic material is smoothly fed from the inlet 108 to the take-up roll 102 by the curved guide 107 of the storage chamber 104 of 01.
It is designed to be wound up. Further, the storage chambers 103 and 104 are connected by a connecting portion 122 to form an integral structure. A leader having a predetermined length is connected to the leading end of the photothermographic material 100 wound around the supply roll 105.
Inside 120, a light shielding member 123 is provided. An exposure unit 200 is provided between the conveyance rollers 110 and 111, and a setting plate 201 for guiding and positioning the photothermographic material 100 to be conveyed to a predetermined position is provided above the conveyance path of the exposure unit 200. And a spring member 208.
The entire main body 202 below the transport path can be moved up and down by a mechanism not shown, and a linear white light source 203 such as a fluorescent lamp is provided in the main body 202. Is arranged. And the light source 203
A filter plate 205 that can move to the left and right is provided above the filter plate 205, and the filter plate 205 causes the photothermographic material 100 to develop colors such as C (cyan), M (magenta), and Y (yellow). Photothermographic material is provided with a three-color striped filter having wavelength characteristics for
It is automatically switched according to 100 exposure operations. Above the filter plate 205, the photothermographic material 1
An optical lens 206 that forms an image with respect to 00 is provided, and a liquid crystal shutter array 207 that controls light transmission by turning on and off pixels arranged in a row is provided between the optical lens 206 and the transport path. Is provided. The optical lens includes a general lens (such as a cylindrical lens), a micro lens array, a selfoc lens array, and the like. A water application section 400 is provided between the transport rollers 111 and 112 so as to be vertically movable, and the transport roller 112 is
To form the entrance. A developing plate 501 for stably performing thermal development is disposed above the transport path of the development transfer unit 500, and a developing plate 502 that moves up and down as indicated by A and B positions below the transport path. And a heater 503 for heating to a predetermined temperature is provided on the surface of the developing plate 502. Developing plate 5
02 is at the position A in the standby state, and is at the position B in the state where the thermal development is performed. Note that the developing press plate 501 may be moved up and down in order to avoid a thermal influence on the next frame. Further, when improving the development efficiency, a development heater may be attached to the development holding plate 501 side. A cassette 302 for stacking image receiving papers 301 cut to a predetermined size is mounted below the development transfer section 500. Are fed to the conveyance roller 112 through the space between the guide members 304 and 305, and are superimposed on the photothermographic material 100 being conveyed by the conveyance roller 112 and sent out. The guide members 304 and 305 have light-shielding and light-shielding characteristics, and perform exposure and heat development in a stable state, respectively. In such a configuration, in the standby state, the leading end of the photothermographic material 100 to be recorded is at the exposure unit 200, and the developing plate 50
2 is in position A. Further, the exposure unit 200 and the water application unit 400 are respectively located at lower positions in the figure. When image recording is instructed by the control unit, the supply of the photothermographic material 100 is controlled by driving the supply roller 105, the take-up roll 102, and the conveyance rollers 110, 111, 112, and the exposure unit 200 and the water The application section 400 is raised and the filter plate
The filter position of 205 and the on / off of each pixel of the liquid crystal shutter array 207 are controlled. In this linear exposure, as shown in FIG. 3, the positions of the three-color filters of the filter plate 205 are sequentially switched, and the transmitted light is applied to the linear liquid crystal shutter array 207 via the optical lens 206.
The light transmitted through the on / off control of each pixel by the image signal of 07 is exposed in a line scan by exposing the photothermographic material 100. Therefore, the exposure for one screen is completed by sequentially switching the three-color filters of the filter plate 205 for one line, and repeating the recording for the next one line after the recording. Thereafter, water is applied by a water application unit 400, and the water-applied photothermographic material 100 is supplied to the development transfer unit 500. In this case, the exposure speed of the exposure unit 200 and the water application speed of the water application unit 400 are the same (for example, about 2 mm / sec), and thermal development is to be performed at this speed. Then, the heater 503 is heated to a predetermined temperature, and the developing position 502 is at the position B. At the same time, the image receiving paper 301 is sent out one by one from the cassette 302 via the sending roller 303, and the guide member 304 and the
The photothermographic material 100 and the image receiving paper 301 are superimposed on each other by being conveyed between the conveyance rollers 305 and held by the conveyance rollers 112, and pass over the development plate 502 at the position A. Thereby, the image receiving paper 301 is heated to a predetermined temperature by the heater 503 from the exposed and water-coated photothermographic material, and the image is transferred. Thereafter, by transporting the photothermographic material 100 so as to be wound around the take-up roll 102, the image receiving paper 301A to which the image has been transferred is also transported at the same time, and the photothermographic material 100 is transported along the curved shape of the guide member 107. However, the relatively stiff image receiving paper 301A is naturally peeled off and falls under its own weight. After this recording output, the unexposed photothermographic material 100 coming inside the light shielding mechanism 106 is returned to the position of the exposure unit 200, and the developing plate 502 is returned from the position B to the position A. The exposure unit 200 and the water application unit 400 are lowered. FIG. 4 shows an example of another image recording apparatus for carrying out the method of the present invention, in which the development transfer section 600 performs development transfer in a stopped state. Transport rollers 111 and 1
Between 12 there is a sensible material slack shipping device 630,
By moving the slack generating member 632 up and down by the rotation of the eccentric cam 631, a slack 100A is generated in the photothermographic material 100 on the transport path as needed. This slack 100A is equivalent to the exposure speed of the exposure unit 200 (for example, about 2 mm /
Second) and the water application speed in the next stage water application section 400 (for example, about 2
0 mm / sec). A developing press plate 601 for stably performing thermal development is disposed above the transport path of the development transfer unit 600, and is located below the transport path, such as a C position (standby) and a D position (development). A rotating developing plate 602 is provided.
A heater 603 is provided on the surface of the substrate for heating to a predetermined temperature. Further, a cassette 621 for accumulating image receiving paper 620 cut to a predetermined size is provided in a lower body of the storage chamber 104.
Is attached, and the image receiving paper is
Each sheet is sent out onto the developing plate 602 at the C position. Above and below the transport roller 112, members 130 for blocking light and blocking heat are arranged so that exposure and heat development are performed in a stable state. In the above-described embodiment, white light and three-color image light are obtained by switching between the liquid crystal shutter array and the filter plate. However, a thermomagnetic shutter array can also be used. It is also possible to use a laser diode array. When three-color light is output by a filter, a cylindrical filter having a cylindrical shape can be used. Instead of a linear light source, a beam light such as a laser beam may be line-scanned for exposure. (Effects of the Invention) As described above, according to the image recording method of the present invention, the relatively stiff receiving paper after development is naturally separated from the photosensitive material by the curved guide surface formed in the second storage chamber. Since it falls under its own weight, a separate member dedicated to peeling is not required, and the size of the apparatus for implementing the method can be reduced. In addition, since the unexposed portion of the photosensitive material from which the image-receiving paper after development has peeled off falls back to the position of the exposed portion, the unexposed portion is not wasted in the next exposure, water application, and development process. Can be used effectively. Further, since the photosensitive material is unwound from the supply roll and taken up by the take-up roll, a waste tray is not required, and the storage chamber of each roll is integrated, so that the attachment / detachment to / from the recording device is easy. In addition, handling and management of the photosensitive material become easy.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an example of an image recording apparatus for carrying out the method of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the image recording apparatus, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a view showing an example of an optical system, FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing another image recording apparatus for implementing the method of the present invention, FIG. 5 is a view showing an example of a conventional recording apparatus using a photothermographic material, FIG. 6 is a view showing the structure of the exposure unit. 100 photothermographic material, 101 magazine, 200 exposure unit, 300 receiving paper supply unit, 301 receiving paper, 400
Water application section, 500: thermal development section.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] A first roll containing a supply roll that freely rotates in a feeding direction of the wound photosensitive material and is driven and rotated in a rewinding direction, and has a feeding portion that feeds out the photosensitive material and is shielded from light.
And a take-up roll that is driven and rotated in the direction in which the photosensitive material is fed out of the first storage chamber and is freely rotated in the rewinding direction, and curves the photosensitive material. And a non-light-shielded second storage chamber having an introduction portion for introducing the photosensitive material along the guide surface, and using an image recording roll magazine capable of rewinding the photosensitive material, using the image storage roll magazine. An image is exposed on the photosensitive material while the photosensitive material is fed out and continuously wound on the take-up roll in the second storage chamber, and an image receiving material of a predetermined size separately supplied to the photosensitive material is overlapped and transferred. After that, in the curved introduction portion provided in the second storage chamber, the relatively stiff image receiving material is naturally separated from the photosensitive material, and then the supply roll is driven in the rewind direction. Rotate, the photosensitive material Image recording method characterized by rewinding the non-exposed portion to a position of the exposure unit.