JP2775455B2 - Film processing equipment - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a film processing apparatus that reads a bar code of an original film and inputs exposure amount correction information and the like.

[Prior Art] At present, most of the original film on the market is provided with a latent image barcode. The format of this bar code is standardized, specifically, consists of a clock bit and a data bit, and the data has a double density of the clock, and includes a start bit, a maker code bit, a type code bit, and a parity bit. The start bit and the end bit form a block.

In this bar code, a film type (manufacturer name, type, sensitivity, etc.) is coded. This barcode is generally called a DX code. Hereinafter, this is referred to as a DX code. By reading this DX code, the film type of a DX-coded film can be automatically identified, which automatically sets and changes the initial setting conditions of the printing machine for each film. Therefore, processing can be performed while various kinds of films are mixed.

On the other hand, in recent years, new barcodes have been proposed from completely different angles. This bar code is obtained by coding the frame number for each frame number which has been latently formed on the film in advance. Hereinafter, this is referred to as a frame number code.

At the time of printing, this bar code is read by a photo printing machine, and the number (frame number in one order) on the back of the printed print is printed, for example. Omitted. Then, when performing the reprinting process with the photoprinting device, the number printed on the back of the print and the frame number displayed on the negative film are automatically collated and selected. Is baked.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, when the use of displaying the frame number code on the original film is shortly before, the original film displaying the frame number code and the original film not displaying the frame number code may be different. In such a case, the frame number cannot be displayed on the original film that does not display the frame number code, so the number printed on the back side of the print and the negative film when performing the reprinting process with the photoprinting device The negative image automatically collated and selected with the frame number displayed in the above section cannot be conveyed to the exposure unit to be positioned and printed.

The object of the present invention is created in view of the above,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a film processing apparatus capable of detecting an original picture film on which a frame number code is not displayed and assigning a frame number.

The film processing apparatus referred to in the present invention is a notcher for forming a notch in a developed original film, a pre-reader for inputting exposure amount correction information for each image frame of the original film, and a pre-lead notcher having both functions, Photo printing machine that prints original film images onto photographic paper.

A printing device for printing the image frame number corresponding to the printing on the back of the printing paper is exemplified, but the printing device is not limited thereto.

[Means for Solving the Problems] An object of the present invention is to provide a bar code reader for reading a bar code corresponding to a main number and a sub number alternately displayed at intervals of one frame of a half-size image of an original film. Means and a storage means for storing information read by the bar code reading means, wherein the bar code recognition means and control means for recognizing that the bar code is not attached to the original film. When the bar code recognition means recognizes that the bar code is not attached, the control means sets a series of frame numbers to be attached to the photographic paper at the time of printing based on the frame number input by the operator. Is calculated by a film processing apparatus characterized by calculating the following equation, and details thereof will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Embodiment FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a pre-lead notcher according to an embodiment of the present invention, a state of a film in a film transport system, arrangements of sensors and drivers, and a signal flow.

In the figure, the pre-lead notcher includes a film transport system, a bar code reading system, a film screen detection system, a code information recording unit, a correction information input unit, and a control unit 50.

The film transport system includes a stepping motor 10 and a stepping motor drive unit 11. The step motor 10 rotates per pulse in response to a pulse signal sent from the stepping motor drive unit 11, and transports the film by 0.25 mm.

Barcode reading system is barcode detector 30, 36, amplifier 3
1, 32, 37, A / D converter 34, and barcode operation processing unit 35
Consists of The barcode detectors 36 and 30 are arranged on the upper and lower sides of the transport path, respectively, and include light source units 36A and 30A (for example, LEDs) and light receiving sensor units 36B and 30B. These are made of glass fiber and sandwich the film 1 in a coaxial pair. Barcode detector 3
Numerals 0 and 36 cause the light source units 30A and 36A to emit light, and the transmitted light from the bar code portion of the film 1 is received by the light receiving sensor units 30B and 36B, and the transmitted light is converted into electric signals by the light receiving sensor units 30B and 36B. The converted sensor output is input to the amplifiers 31, 32, and 37.
On the other hand, since the DX barcode format of a commercial film is composed of two tracks, a data track and a clock track, the barcode detector 30 arranged for reading the DX code has two light receiving sensor units 30B. The sensor output on the clock bit side is input to the amplifier 31 and the sensor output on the data bit side is input to the amplifier 32, and each of the output data is transmitted light output data of the film barcode portion. A / D
The converter A / D converts the signals transmitted from the amplifiers 31, 32, and 37 and transmits the signals to the barcode processing unit. The bar code processing unit 35 detects data from the start bit to the end bit of the bar code, or detects data from the end bit to the start bit in the reverse direction, and analyzes and determines the data.

The barcode detectors 36 and 30 are not limited to the above configuration, and may be configured to detect light reflected from the film 1.

The image detection system is an image detector 40, amplifier 41, A / D converter 42
And a screen detection processing unit 43,
The start and end of one image frame of the film 1 conveyed are detected.

The control unit 50 sends a clock signal of the same wavelength to the A / D converter 34 and the stepping motor driving unit 11 of the barcode reading system, and conveys the film 1 in the transporting degree and the barcode reading system in the percoat reading system. Synchronizes the bar code sampling frequency. The control unit 50 exchanges data with the bar code calculation processing unit 35 and the screen detection processing unit 43 to store information indicating the start and end of each image frame in the built-in RAM, Information indicating the frame number in the order, information indicating the film type, and the like are temporarily stored, and the information stored in the RAM is used as code information recording means after the completion of the processing of all the orders (one roll). It is recorded on a cassette tape set in the cassette recorder 60.

The information indicating the film type and the information indicating the frame number in one order for each image frame are channel numbers which are the basis of the printing conditions of the color printer. The control unit 50 has a built-in E ² PROM ^{2 in} which a correspondence table between the information and the channel is provided. Various data, soft switch data, and the like are prepared on the E ² PROM. For example, to save load switch or various data sets, such as auto constant estimation switch giving Blank screen information to all portions other than the detection surface splice, allows the exchange of data with the E ² PROM and cassettes All can be operated from the 21 keyboard 20 in an interactive manner with the display 21. The display 21, the keyboard 20, and the frame determination stage constitute a correction information input unit. In the present embodiment, correction information for the exposure amount is input as the amount.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing an original film provided with a DX code and a frame number code. The original film 1 is a 135 mm film, and full-size image frames are printed in series at regular intervals. A large number of perforations 2 and 3 are formed at both ends of the original film 1 at regular intervals. The original film 1 has a large number of DX codes formed at regular intervals between the side edges and the perforations 3 at the time of film production. I have.

The format of this barcode is standardized,
Specifically, it is composed of a clock bit and a data bit, and the data has a double density of the clock, and is composed of a start bit, a maker bit, a type code bit, a parity bit, and an end bit. One block is formed by the portion sandwiched between. The original film 1 has the same pitch as the pitch at which a half-size image frame is formed between the side portion and the perforation 2, and the main frame number 5 and the sub-frame number 6 are alternately located at the same position in the longitudinal direction of the film during manufacturing. Is formed. In the main number 5 on both sides in the width direction of the original film 1, an integer starting from "1" is displayed in order from one side of the original film 1. The sub-frame number 6 is displayed by adding “A” to the left side of the original film 1 in the width direction.

Bar codes 8A and 8B corresponding to the main frame number 5 and the sub frame number 6 are formed at a position distant to the right of the bar codes at the film manufacturing stage. By reading these bar codes 8A and 8B, the numbers of the main frame number 5 and the sub frame number 6 can be detected. Hereinafter, the bar code is referred to as a frame number code, and the frame number code has a fixed positional relationship with the DX code.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the processing operation of the film processing apparatus of the present embodiment.

When the main switch of the film processing apparatus is turned on, the routine shown in FIG. 2 is started, and the film identification code, the image frame identification code, the count value, and the like are initialized. That is, the film identification code is set to 1, the image frame identification code is set to the number immediately before the frame number (usually 1) corresponding to the first frame of the original film, that is, 0, and the count value is set to 0 similarly. Is set to Subsequently, the operator inputs the size information of the original film by using a numeric keypad, and sets the aerial portion at the leading end from the first frame of the original film in the film transport device to load the film. The size information of the image frame may be automatically inputted by the method described in JP-A-56-1037 and JP-A-57-104922.

Next, it is determined whether or not the next original film is loaded in the film transport system, and when the film is loaded, the dynamic range of the image sensor as the screen detection sensor is switched to the low sensitivity side.

Since the pixel row at the center of the printing position is used, the frame interval is calculated based on the input size information, and after a little less than 1/2 of this frame interval is conveyed at high speed (SI), the pulse motor is controlled. Then, the original film is conveyed at a low speed by detecting a minute pitch (for example, about 0.1 mm pitch) smaller than a single pixel pitch. Since the dynamic range of the image sensor is still switched to the low sensitivity side, the density difference between the film base and the frame image becomes a value that can be clearly distinguished, and the frame edge is detected by performing the pixel pitch interpolation described below. can do.

In this pixel pitch interpolation, when a frame edge is detected by a sensor having a low pixel resolution, a clear pixel portion and a frame image portion change slowly without changing suddenly. While the original film 1 is being conveyed, the reversal of the change direction of the time series change amount of the image sensor (based on the position where the change value becomes zero) is detected as the position of the frame edge (S2). The image sensor 40 calculates the film base density by sampling the film density while the original film is conveyed by the fixed length film length and creating a histogram. This film base density is updated as a reference value (S3). This process is repeated until the process for all orders (one roll) is completed.

When the film transport is started, a signal synchronized with the step motor is transmitted from the control unit 50 to the A / D converter 34 for bar code detection.
The output of the amplifiers 31 and 32 is A / D-converted, fetched by the barcode arithmetic processing unit, and stored when necessary.

The bar code operation processing unit 35 detects the start bit to the end bit, or in the opposite direction, the end bit to the start bit, and stores this as one block data. This one block data is an analog data string of a clock track and a data track sampled in synchronization with a step motor (S
Four).

The bar code operation processing unit 35 does not directly process one block data of the DX code as analog data, but performs ternarization by comparing the data before and after. To obtain the model data of the data bit corresponding to the code or blank in the model data of the clock bit, and when this is intermediate model data, the analog data of both the clock bit and the data bit and the model data of the model sweater are obtained. By performing comparison before and after, model data of data bits is determined.

Also, for one block data generated from the frame number code, ternarization is performed by comparing the data before and after, and the data is modeled into three parts: a bar code part, a blank part, and an intermediate part (S5).

Further, the process of storing the block data having undergone a series of checks such as the parity check is repeated (S9).

In step 6, if the frame number code data is detected in this way but the detection has failed a predetermined number of times, the frame number code is not attached to the film. When it is determined, the clock signal sent from the control unit 50 is stopped, and the step motor 10 stops. As a result, the transport of the original film 1 is stopped, and the buzzer provided on the display 21 sounds.

The operator who notices this buzzer sounds looks over the frame determination stage and looks at the original film 1 on which the image frame is formed.
Is input from the keyboard 21.

Thereafter, a number corresponding to the frame number is sequentially obtained from the counter value held in the memory and the top frame number,
The data is stored in the RAM built in the control unit 50 (S8). When the processing for all orders (one roll) is finally completed in this way, all information is stored in the cassette recorder 60.

As information in the recording data, information indicating some kind of film corresponding to the DX code, etc., the number of DX codes in one order, and the number of the frame formed in one order obtained from the frame number code And information indicating the number of a frame number in one order calculated from the DX code count number in one order and the top frame number in one order. is there.

In the above description, it is determined that the frame number code is not attached to the original image film when the detection of the frame number code fails even though the detection has been performed a predetermined number of times. Measure the transmission density or reflection density or transmittance of the film side edge where the frame number code will be attached,
The determination may be made by comparing this measured value with a predetermined value. At this time, the value to be compared can be updated during the original film processing as described in the present embodiment.

Furthermore, it is also possible to improve the reliability of determination by inspecting only a predetermined range based on the DX code using the relative positional relationship between the frame number code and the DX code. According to the film processing apparatus of the present invention, when an original picture film on which no frame number code is displayed is detected, a warning is issued and the operator is notified. Is input, the subsequent image frame numbers can be automatically calculated with respect to the image frame numbers of the film, and the object described above can be achieved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an embodiment of the film processing apparatus of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the film processing apparatus of the present embodiment, and FIG. 3 shows an original film displaying a DX code and a frame number code. It is a top view. 1 Film 10 Step motor 11 Step motor drive 20 Keyboard 21 Display 30, 36 Bar code detector 31, 32, 37, 41 Amplifier 34, 42 A / D converter 35… Bar code calculation processing unit 43… Screen detection sensor 50… Control unit 60… Cassette recorder 70 …… Splice detection sensor 72 …… Splice detection processing unit

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Akira Kita 1 Sakuracho, Hino-shi, Tokyo Konica Co., Ltd. Examiner Mitsunobu Machida (56) Reference JP-A-63-305337 (JP, A) JP-A-63-256939 (JP, A) JP-A-55-62440 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) G03B 27/32 G03B 27/46

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A bar code reading means for reading a bar code corresponding to a main number and a sub number alternately displayed at intervals of one frame of a half size image of an original film, and the bar code reading means reads the bar code. Storage means for storing information, wherein the bar code recognition means and control means for recognizing that the bar code is not attached to the original film, wherein the bar code recognition means is the bar code Wherein the control means calculates a series of frame numbers to be attached to the photographic paper at the time of printing, based on the frame number input by the operator, when it is recognized that the frame number is not added. 2. The film processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said control means calculates a frame number subsequent to the input frame number using the frame number input by an operator as a top frame number.