JP2973515B2 - Image recording device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus for printing out images and character data based on video signals and the like.
In particular, the present invention relates to an image recording apparatus which simultaneously exposes the periphery of a print (frame) on which an image is formed at the time of image exposure, and enables image output with a white frame by one exposure.

[Conventional technology]

In recent years, various liquid crystal display elements (LCs) that switch between light transmission and light blocking using various electro-optic effects in liquid crystals
D) Shutters are being developed. Here, among LCD shutters, a twisted nematic (TN) type LCD shutter will be described. In this TN type LCD shutter, a plurality of liquid crystal light modulating elements are arranged, and in each liquid crystal light modulating element, the liquid crystal has two transparent electrode substrates (outside) and two sheets having uniform linear grooves. It is sandwiched between the alignment film (inside). When no voltage is applied between the transparent electrodes, the liquid crystal molecules take a specific alignment state according to the force regulated by the grooves of the alignment film. In this case, since the groove directions of the above two alignments are shifted by 90 degrees from each other, the liquid crystal molecules show a twisted structure in the molecular long axis direction, and the alignment of the liquid crystal molecules is twisted by 90 degrees between both alignment films. ing. When the TN-type liquid crystal light modulation element in this state is sandwiched between two polarizing plates whose polarization directions are orthogonal to each other, and a light beam enters from one of the polarizing plates, the light beam is linearly polarized by the first polarizing plate. While the linearly polarized light travels in the liquid crystal, the birefringence of the liquid crystal molecules and the 90-degree twisted alignment structure as described above cause the linearly polarized light to have a polarization direction of 90 degrees.
Rotate degrees. As a result, the polarization direction of the linearly polarized light matches the polarization direction of the other polarizing plate, and the linearly polarized light is emitted as it is. However, when a voltage is applied between the transparent electrodes, the liquid crystal molecules are forcibly aligned in the direction of the electric field, so that the above-described 90-degree twisted alignment structure of the liquid crystal molecules is not formed. Therefore, the linearly polarized light incident from one of the polarizers reaches the other polarizer without rotating the polarization direction. Is done. A liquid crystal light modulation element that blocks light when a voltage is applied in this way is called normally white, and a liquid crystal light modulation element that transmits when a voltage is applied when two polarizing plates have the same polarization direction is called normally black.

Switching between light transmission and light blocking as described above is performed by applying a voltage between the transparent electrodes. By arranging a plurality of liquid crystal light modulation elements, a shutter with a fast response speed can be realized.

Focusing on such characteristics of the LCD shutter, various liquid crystal exposure apparatuses using the LCD shutter have been developed.
Normally, in an image recording apparatus using such a liquid crystal exposure apparatus, a portion around a print on which an image is formed is a non-exposed portion.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

However, in order to expose a non-exposed portion around a print in an image recording apparatus using a liquid crystal exposure apparatus as described above, only the frame must be exposed again with white light after image exposure. For this reason, there have been problems that the number of image processing steps increases and that the apparatus becomes expensive.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and enables an inexpensive image recording apparatus with a reduced number of image processing steps by enabling exposure of a frame around a print simultaneously with exposure of an image. The purpose is to provide.

[Means for solving the problem]

In order to achieve such an object, the present invention provides a method of exposing a photosensitive recording medium with a liquid crystal exposure device to form a latent image based on an image signal, transferring the latent image to a receiving paper, and outputting an image. A recording apparatus, wherein the exposure apparatus includes a light source,
A liquid crystal panel comprising a plurality of liquid crystal light modulating elements that shield light when a voltage is applied; and a polarizing plate disposed in close contact with the front and rear surfaces of the liquid crystal panel so as to sandwich the liquid crystal panel. The panel portion has an image display range portion in the center, the polarizing plate is set smaller than the liquid crystal panel portion and larger than the image display range portion, and the frame portion where the polarizing plate protrudes from the image display range portion. And the width of the photosensitive recording medium is set to be larger than the width of the image receiving paper and smaller than the width of the polarizing plate.

[Action]

Light emitted from a light source and transmitted through a predetermined liquid crystal light modulation element of a liquid crystal panel is irradiated onto a photosensitive recording medium, where a latent image is formed, and the latent image is transferred to a receiving paper and output as an image. You. Here, the polarizing plate in close contact with the liquid crystal panel is set smaller than the liquid crystal panel (light transmitting portion) both in the vertical and horizontal directions, and the image display range part forming the center of the liquid crystal panel and the polarizing plate The size of the image receiving paper is set so that the edge of the image receiving paper is located within the region formed by the polarizing plate, that is, within the range of the frame portion where the polarizing plate protrudes from the image display range portion, and the paper feeding position is adjusted. Further, since the paper width of the photosensitive recording medium is set to be larger than the paper width of the receiving paper and smaller than the length of the polarizing plate, the frame around the image display area is exposed to white by exposure, and output to the receiving paper. A white frame is obtained simultaneously with the image as a print.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an image recording apparatus of the present invention using a liquid crystal exposure apparatus. In FIG. 1, the image recording apparatus 1
Is provided with a liquid crystal exposure device 2, and is configured such that an elongated microcapsule paper 20 using an exposure area 17 below the liquid crystal exposure device 2 as a photosensitive recording medium is transported.

The liquid crystal exposure apparatus 2 includes a halogen lamp 3 as a light source and a reflector that reflects light emitted from the halogen lamp 3.
3a, a condenser lens 3b having a parallel plate of light emitted from the halogen lamp 3 and reflected light from the reflector 3a, an infrared cut filter 4 for cutting infrared light, and light passing through the condenser lens 3b and the infrared cut filter 4 being red, Filters 5R and 5 for decomposing into green or blue
It comprises a filter unit 5 composed of G and 5B, an LCD shutter forming a deformed curved surface for correcting aberration, polarizing plates 7a and 7b and an imaging lens 8 which are provided in close contact with the front and rear surfaces of the LCD shutter 7, respectively. I have.

In the microcapsule paper 20, a plurality of microcapsules are applied on the surface of a long support, and the microcapsules contain a dye precursor or the like that reacts with a developer described later. Then, the unexposed microcapsule paper 20
Is mounted in the light-shielding cartridge 21 while being wound around the cartridge shaft 22. Further, feed rollers 23 for conveying the microcapsule paper 20 are disposed on the right side of the cartridge 21.

The microcapsule paper 20 that has been exposed in the exposure area 17 below the liquid crystal exposure device 2 is pressure-developed by the pressure rollers 30a and 30b in a state where the microcapsule paper 20 is superimposed on the developer paper (image receiving paper) 35. . Thereafter, the microcapsule paper 20 separated from the color developing paper 35 is wound around a cartridge shaft 27 provided in the cartridge 26.

Above the pressure rollers 30a and 30b, a cassette 37 in which a plurality of developer papers 35 are stacked and housed is mounted. A half-moon roller 41 is provided at the upper left of the cassette 37.
Are fed one by one between the paper feed rollers 42, 42. The sent color paper 35 is fed to the pressure rollers 30a and 30b via the feed guide 43 at a timing such that the leading edge of the color paper 35 and the tip of the latent image on the microcapsule paper 20 are aligned. Has become.

The color developing paper 35 has a color developer applied to the surface of the support,
The color develops by reacting with the dye precursor encapsulated in the microcapsules of the microcapsule paper 20, see US Pat.
No. 399,209, and the description is omitted here.

A heat fixing device 50 is disposed on the right side of the pressure rollers 30a and 30b, a heater 51 is provided inside the heat fixing device 50, and a conveying belt 52 for conveying the developed paper 35 is provided below the heat fixing device 50.
Are arranged.

Next, the liquid crystal exposure apparatus 2 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the relationship between the image display range of the LCD shutter 7 and the size among the microcapsule paper 20, the developing paper 35 and the polarizing plates 7a and 7b in the liquid crystal exposure apparatus 2 shown in FIG. FIG.

In FIG. 2, the polarizing plates 7a and 7b, which are in close contact with the front and rear surfaces of the LCD shutter 7, are set smaller than the liquid crystal panel section (light transmitting section) 60 of the LCD shutter 7 in both the vertical and horizontal directions. The central portion of the liquid crystal panel section 60 forms an image display range section 61, and is within the area formed by the image display range section 61 and the polarizing plates 7a and 7b, that is, the range of the frame portion where the polarizing plate protrudes from the image display range section The size of the color-developed paper 35 is set so that the edge of the color-developed paper 35 is positioned inside the paper, and the feeding position is adjusted. In the case of the present embodiment, the paper width of the microcapsule paper 30 is
The width is set to be larger than the width of the developing paper 35 and smaller than the lengths of the polarizing plates 7a and 7b. In the present invention, a normally white mode LCD shutter in which light passes between the transparent electrodes in a simple matrix is used, and the correlation between the sizes is set as described above, so that the hatched portion in FIG. Means that the light always passes, the frame 62 around the print can be exposed, and the output print has a white frame as shown in FIG.
62a will be obtained.

Next, the operation of the image recording apparatus 1 of the present invention will be described.

Data output from the outside is input to the image recording apparatus 1 by the video I / F circuit 11. The data is digitized by an A / D conversion circuit 12, where it is separated into red (R), green (G), and blue (B) and stored in a video RAM 13. Then, gradation data of each color is sent to the LCD controller 14 to cause the LCD shutter 7 to form an image.

When a print start key (not shown) is depressed, an image corresponding to a red (R) image signal input from the outside is first displayed on the LCD shutter 7. Next, the halogen lamp 3 as a light source is turned on, and the reflector 3a
The reflected light from the LED and the light emitted from the halogen lamp 3 are converted into parallel light by the condenser lens 3b, pass through the infrared cut filter 4, become red light by the red filter 5R, and enter the LCD shutter 7. This LCD shutter 7
Corresponds to the LCD controller 14 according to the red (R) image signal.
Is controlled by The light transmitted through the polarizing plate 7a, each pixel of the LCD shutter 7 (the liquid crystal light modulation element 5a), and the polarizing plate 7b is condensed by the imaging lens 8 and irradiated on the microcapsule paper 20 to complete the red exposure. . Next,
Green exposure is performed using the green filter 5G according to the green (G) image signal. Similarly, blue exposure is performed using the blue filter 5B according to the blue (B) image signal. As a result, a latent image of a color image is formed on the microcapsule paper 20. During this time, the microcapsule paper 20
Is stopped and stopped.

Here, as shown in FIG. 2, the areas other than the image display area 61 of the microcapsule paper 20 are in the normally white mode, and since no light is applied, light is always transmitted.
Exposure is performed in each color and white.

When the exposure is completed, the microcapsule paper 20 is driven by the feed roller 23 and the take-up roller 27 by the pressure roller.
It is transported in the direction of 30a, 30b. On the other hand, the color developing paper 35 is fed one by one by a half-moon roller 41, and is conveyed to pressure rollers 30a, 30b by a paper feed roller 42 and a paper feed guide 43. And
The pressure roller 30 is placed in a state where the exposure surface of the microcapsule paper 20 and the developer application surface of the developer paper 35 are superimposed on each other.
The pressure is applied by a and 30b, and the image is transferred to the developed paper 35.
The color developing paper 35 is further promoted by the heater 51 of the heat fixing device 50 while being conveyed by the conveying belt 52, and is output as an image.

Here, the polarizer is set so that the edge portion of the color developing paper 35 falls within the range of the frame portion protruding from the image display range portion 61, so that the output photographic paper has a white frame as shown in FIG. Can be

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, in this embodiment, a halogen lamp is used as a light source, but other lamps such as a metal halide lamp may be used. Further, the replacement order of the color filters is not limited to RGB.

Further, in this embodiment, a color image recording apparatus is used by using a color filter. However, a monochrome image recording apparatus may be used without using a color filter.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, by setting the correlation between the image display range of the liquid crystal panel unit and the sizes of the polarizing plate, the photosensitive recording medium, and the size of the image receiving paper, a white frame is simultaneously output with the image. This provides an effect of being able to provide an image recording apparatus capable of obtaining the above.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an image recording apparatus of the present invention using a liquid crystal exposure apparatus, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the relationship between the image display range of an LCD shutter and the size between a photosensitive recording medium, a developing paper, and a polarizing plate. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an output photographic paper. 1 ... image recording device, 2 ... liquid crystal exposure device, 3 ... halogen lamp, 5R, 5G, 5B ... filter, 7 ... LCD shutter, 7a, 7b ... polarizing plate, 20 ... microcapsule paper ( Photosensitive recording medium), 35 ... Colored paper, 61 ... Image display area, 62 ... White frame.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. An image recording apparatus for exposing a photosensitive recording medium by a liquid crystal exposure device based on an image signal to form a latent image, and transferring the latent image to an image receiving paper to output an image. The device comprises a light source, a liquid crystal panel section comprising a plurality of liquid crystal light modulating elements that block light when a voltage is applied, and polarizing plates disposed in close contact with the front and rear surfaces of the liquid crystal panel section so as to sandwich the liquid crystal panel section. The liquid crystal panel section has an image display range section at the center, the polarizing plate is set smaller than the liquid crystal panel section and larger than the image display range section, and the polarizing plate displays an image. The receiving paper is set so as to be arranged within the range of the frame part protruding from the range part, and the width of the photosensitive recording medium is set to be larger than the width of the receiving paper and smaller than the polarizing plate. Characteristic image recording Location.