JP3288907B2 - Image recording device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus capable of holding an optical image obtained by a photographing lens as a visible image and reading the visible image.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, silver halide photographic materials have been widely used as materials for recording optical images. Silver halide photographic materials have features such as high light sensitivity and resolution, and are also economical, but not only are the development processes complicated,
There is also a disadvantage that a visible image cannot be obtained simultaneously with shooting. Although a dry development method has been developed to simplify the development processing, it is impossible to immediately develop the image, that is, obtain a visible image at the time of photographing, even with this development method.

On the other hand, as a non-silver salt photographic material, an electrophotographic material, a diazo photographic material, a free radical photographic material and the like are known. However, none of these photographic materials has characteristics such as silver halide photographic materials and can be developed immediately. Since electrophotographic materials can be dry-developed and an electrostatic latent image obtained by exposure can be immediately developed with toner or the like, they have been widely used mainly in copiers.

In recent years, in such an electrophotographic technique, a photographic material, such as a silver halide photographic material, in which a recording medium itself is directly electronically developed and the developed visible image is immediately obtained, has been developed. Is coming. Such an electronically developed recording medium is referred to as an electro-developing recording medium in this specification.

For example, JP-A-5-2280 discloses a recording medium in which an electrostatic information recording medium and a charge holding medium are combined. The electrostatic information recording medium comprises a photoconductive layer and an inorganic oxide layer. And the charge holding medium has a liquid crystal display element. With this configuration, when the electrostatic information recording medium is exposed while a voltage is applied to the electrostatic information recording medium and the charge holding medium, charges corresponding to the amount of incident light are generated on the electrostatic information recording medium. Since the strength of the electric field applied to the liquid crystal display element arranged opposite to the electrostatic information recording medium changes according to the generated charges, an image corresponding to the light amount distribution is displayed on the liquid crystal display element, that is, the image is developed. .

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-150251 discloses a dispersion type liquid crystal display element in which an image displayed on the liquid crystal display element is retained even when an electric field applied to the liquid crystal display element is removed.

[0007]

When an image developed on such a liquid crystal display element is detected by a line sensor or the like, a light source is provided on one side of the liquid crystal display element, and the other side of the liquid crystal display element is provided on the other side. A line sensor is disposed in the scanner, and light transmitted by the light source is read by the line sensor via a scanner optical system. That is, the light source is arranged on the optical axis of the scanner optical system. However, if the light source is located at a position close to the electro-developing recording medium during the photographing operation, vignetting occurs partially, and the exposure amount on the electro-developing recording medium may be insufficient. Further, when the light source is disposed between the photographing optical system and the electro-developing recording medium, it is necessary to secure at least a distance corresponding to the size of the light source. For this reason, the back focus of the photographing optical system cannot be sufficiently shortened, and the degree of freedom in designing the photographing optical system decreases.

According to the present invention, vignetting does not occur during the photographing operation, the recording medium can always be properly exposed, and the distance between the photographing optical system and the recording medium can be sufficiently reduced. It is intended to provide an image recording device.

[0009]

According to the present invention, there is provided an image recording apparatus comprising: a photographing optical system; an electro-developing recording medium for electronically developing an image formed by the photographing optical system; A light source provided between the development-type recording medium and illuminating the electro-developing recording medium; a scanner optical system provided in the middle of a path of light transmitted through the electro-developing recording medium by the illumination by the light source; and a light source. And a moving mechanism for moving the scanner optical system along the electro-developing recording medium, wherein the light source and the scanner optical system are provided at positions off the optical axis of the photographing optical system.

The electro-developing recording medium is preferably movable in a direction substantially perpendicular to the optical axis of the photographing optical system. The electro-developing recording medium may be capable of recording a plurality of images in adjacent recording areas, and in this case, may be movable in a direction in which these recording areas are arranged. When the first recording area of the electro-developing recording medium is located on the optical axis of the scanner optical system, the second recording area adjacent to the first recording area is located on the optical axis of the photographing optical system. Is preferred.

A color separation prism may be provided between the photographing optical system and the electro-developing recording medium. In this case, a recording area of the electro-developing recording medium has an image of each color separated by the color separation prism. Is recorded.

The light source and the scanner optical system may be provided integrally with the moving mechanism, and may be movable in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis of the photographing optical system and perpendicular to the moving direction of the electro-developing recording medium. .

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an external view of a still video camera to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

When the camera body 11 is viewed from the front, a photographing optical system 12 having a photographing lens and the like is provided substantially at the center of the front surface, and a strobe 13 is provided at the upper right of the photographing optical system 12. A release switch 14 is provided on the opposite side of the flash 13. The finder 15 is provided at the center of the upper surface of the camera body 11.
Extends from front to back. A scan start switch 16 is provided on the upper side of the camera body 11 on the side of the finder 15. In order to output an image signal obtained by the camera to an external recording device or the like, an output terminal 17 is provided at a lower portion of a side surface of the camera body 11. A slot 18 for mounting the electro-developing recording medium 30 is formed on a side surface of the camera body 11, and a discharge switch 19 pressed near the slot 18 when the electro-developing recording medium 30 is removed from the slot 18. Is provided. The electro-developing recording medium 30 will be described later.

FIGS. 2 to 4 show the internal structure of the camera body 11.

In the camera body 11, a photographing optical system 12
Is provided with a color separation prism 110, and the light rays guided from the imaging optical system 12 to the color separation prism 110 are R (red), G (green), and B (blue).
And emitted from the color separation prism 110. The image obtained by the photographing optical system 12 forms an image on the electro-developing recording medium 30 disposed immediately behind the exit surface of the color separation prism 110. That is, the electro-developing recording medium 30 is provided on the image forming surface of the image by the photographing optical system 12 (that is, the photographing image-forming surface), and the light receiving surface of the electro-developing recording medium 30 has R, G, B An image is formed. This image is developed as a visible image on the electro-developing recording medium 30, and is read out by driving the sub-scanning mechanism 50.

The sub-scanning mechanism 50 is provided with a light source 42 which is an optical system for illuminating the electro-developing recording medium 30. The light source 42 is attached to a moving mechanism 52 that is displaceably provided on a guide shaft 51, and is located closer to the photographing optical system 12 than the electro-developing recording medium 30 in the optical axis direction of the photographing optical system 12. The moving mechanism 52 is provided with a scanner optical system 43 and a line sensor 44, which are located on the side opposite to the light source 42 with respect to the electro-developing recording medium 30. The scanner optical system 43 is provided in the middle of the path of the light transmitted through the electro-developing recording medium 30 by the illumination of the light source 42, and the line sensor 44 is provided on the image forming surface of the image by the scanner optical system 43. The light source 42 is, for example, a light emitting element (LED), and extends in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. The line sensor 44 also extends in a direction perpendicular to the plane of FIG. 2 and is arranged in parallel with the light source 42.

In the moving mechanism 52, the main body 52a is supported by the guide shaft 51, and the lamp support plate 52c is integrally fixed to the main body 52a. Lamp support plate 52c
Extends parallel to the optical axis of the scanner optical system 43, and extends from the optical axis of the scanner optical system 43 in the length direction of the electro-developing recording medium 30, that is, the direction in which the recording areas 30a, 30b, and 30c are arranged (the upper and lower directions in FIG. 2). Direction). The light source 42 is fixed to one surface of the lamp support plate 52c, and extends to a position facing the front of the scanner optical system 43.

A pair of guide shafts 51 extend in the vertical direction of the camera body 11, one guide shaft 51 is located at a substantially central portion of the camera body 11, and the other guide shaft 51 is located at a side of the camera body 11. are doing. That is, the light source 42, the scanner optical system 43, and the line sensor 44 are provided at positions off the optical axis of the photographing optical system 12, and the light source 42 and the line sensor 44 move up and down in a horizontal state.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5, the electro-developing recording medium 30 stores three images in adjacent recording areas 30a,
30b, 30c, and can be recorded in each of the recording areas 30a to 30c.
The R, G, and B images separated by the color separation prism 110 are recorded in 30c. The electro-developing recording medium 30 is guided by a guide groove (not shown) so that the recording areas 30a to 30c are aligned (arrow Y in FIGS. 2 and 5).
Direction). This moving direction is the camera body 1
1 is a direction substantially perpendicular to the optical axis of the photographing optical system 12, and is also a direction substantially perpendicular to the moving direction of the moving mechanism 52.

On the lower surface of the electro-developing recording medium 30, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, V-shaped notches 30e and 30f for positioning are formed. These notches 3
Reference numerals 0e and 30f are located on boundaries between the recording areas 30a, 30b and 30c, and can be engaged with engaging members (not shown), so that any one of the recording areas 30a to 30c can be connected to the optical path of the photographing optical system 12 or the scanner. It is positioned on the optical axis of the optical system 43.

FIGS. 2 and 3 show an electro-developing recording medium 3.
0 indicates that the center of the first recording area 30a is located on the optical axis of the photographing optical system 12. At this time, the second and third recording areas 30b and 30c are in the color separation prism 110.
Is not facing. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4, the center of the first recording area 30a is located at the center of the scanner optical system 43.
The center of the second recording area 30b is located on the optical axis of the photographing optical system 12. Also, the third
When the center of the recording area 30c is located on the optical axis of the imaging optical system 12, the center of the second recording area 30b is located on the optical axis of the scanner optical system 43. With this configuration,
The reading operation of the recording area 30a and the exposure operation of the recording area 30b can be performed independently.

FIG. 6 is a view showing the structure of the electro-developing recording medium 30, which is the same as that disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 5-2280. That is, the electro-developing recording medium 3
Numeral 0 includes an electrostatic information recording medium 31 and a charge holding medium 32, and a voltage is applied to the electrostatic information recording medium 31 and the charge holding medium 32 by a power supply 33. Electrostatic information recording medium 31
Is formed by laminating a substrate 34, an electrode layer 35, an inorganic oxide layer 36, and a photoconductive layer 37. The photoconductive layer 37 is formed by polymerizing a charge generation layer 37a and a charge transport layer 37b. The charge holding medium 32 is configured by sealing a liquid crystal 40 between a liquid crystal support 38 and a liquid crystal electrode layer 39. The charge transport layer 37b of the electrostatic information recording medium 31 and the liquid crystal support 38 of the charge holding medium 32 face each other with a small gap.

The power supply 33 is turned on and off by a recording medium drive circuit 41 (see FIG. 7). When the power supply 33 is in an on state, the charge is held between the electrode layer 35 and the liquid crystal electrode layer 39, ie, between the electrostatic information recording medium 31 and the electric charge holding. A voltage is applied to the medium 32. When the electrostatic information recording medium 31 is exposed in this voltage applied state, charges corresponding to an image are generated on the electrostatic information recording medium 31. Since the intensity of the electric field acting on the liquid crystal 40 changes according to the charge, the image is displayed on the liquid crystal 40 as a visible image, and the subject image is developed. The charge holding medium 32 is a dispersion type liquid crystal display element, and the developed visible image is held even when the electric field is removed. The dispersion type liquid crystal display element can erase the developed visible image by heating to a predetermined temperature using a heating device (not shown). In this case, the same recording medium can be repeatedly used. it can.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a control circuit of the still video camera. The system control circuit 20 is a microcomputer, and controls a photographing operation by the photographing optical system 12 and the like and an image reading operation by the scanner optical system 43 and the like.

The photographing optical system 12 includes a plurality of lens groups,
An aperture 12a is provided. An electro-developing recording medium 30 is provided behind the photographing optical system 12,
A quick return mirror 21 is provided between the recording medium 2 and the electro-developing recording medium 30, and a shutter 22 is provided between the quick return mirror 21 and the electro-developing recording medium 30. A finder optical system 23 is provided above the quick return mirror 21.

Aperture 12a, quick return mirror 21
And the shutter 22 are respectively provided with the iris drive mechanism 2
4. Driven by a mirror drive mechanism 25 and a shutter drive mechanism 26, and these mechanisms 24, 25, 26 are controlled by an exposure control circuit 27. The exposure control circuit 27 operates according to a command signal output from the system control circuit 20. That is, at the time of exposure control, the photometric sensor 28
The aperture of the iris 12a is adjusted by the iris drive mechanism 24 according to the control of the exposure control circuit 27 based on the output signal from the camera. The quick return mirror 21 is normally set to a down position (a tilted state indicated by a solid line) where the subject image is observed, and guides the light passing through the imaging optical system 12 to the finder optical system 23. Time,
Under the control of the exposure control circuit 27, the mirror is rotated upward by the mirror driving mechanism 25 and is set to the up position (horizontal state indicated by a broken line). Although the shutter 22 is normally closed, the shutter drive mechanism 26 opens the shutter 22 for a predetermined time under the control of the exposure control circuit 27 during the shooting operation, so that the light passing through the shooting optical system 12 The light is irradiated on the light receiving surface.

A voltage is applied to the electro-developing recording medium 30 under the control of the recording-medium driving circuit 41, and the electro-developing recording medium 30 is exposed during this voltage application, thereby exposing it.
The image formed by the photographing optical system 12 is developed as a visible image. The recording medium drive circuit 41 operates according to a command signal output from the system control circuit 20. The recording medium drive circuit 41 applies a voltage to each electrode corresponding to each of the recording areas 30a, 30b, and 30c.

A sub-scanning mechanism 50 is provided near the electro-developing recording medium 30. As described above, the sub-scanning mechanism 50 supports the light source 42, the scanner optical system 43, and the line sensor 44, and these move along the electro-developing recording medium 30 by the sub-scanning by the sub-scanning mechanism 50. . As the line sensor 44, for example, a CCD one-dimensional sensor having 2000 pixels can be used. The light source 42 is movable along the front surface of the shutter 22, that is, along the front surface of the electro-developing recording medium 30.
4 is movable along the back surface of the electro-developing recording medium 30.

The on / off control of the light source 42 is performed by an illumination light source driving circuit 45, and the control such as the reading operation of the pixel signal generated in the line sensor 44 is performed by a line sensor driving circuit 47.
It is performed by The movement of the sub-scanning mechanism 50 is controlled by the scanner drive circuit 46. These circuits 45,
46 and 47 are controlled by the system control circuit 20.

The pixel signal read from the line sensor 44 is amplified by an amplifier 61 and converted to a digital signal by an A / D converter 62. The digital pixel signal is subjected to processing such as shading correction, dropout correction, and gamma correction in the image processing circuit 63 under the control of the system control circuit 20, and then temporarily stored in the memory 64. Note that the memory 64 may have a storage capacity for one horizontal scanning line output from the line sensor 44, or may be a memory having a storage capacity for one frame. The memory 64
Has a E ² PROM, the correction value such as shading correction for this E ² PROM is stored.

The pixel signal read from the memory 64 is
The image data is input from the image processing circuit 63 to the interface circuit 65, subjected to predetermined processing such as format conversion, and can be output to an external display device (not shown) via the output terminal 17. The pixel signal output from the image processing circuit 63 is sent to the recording device control circuit 66 by the
A predetermined process such as image compression or format conversion is performed, and the image can be recorded on a recording medium such as an IC memory card in the image recording device 67. The interface circuit 65 and the recording device control circuit 66 operate according to a command signal from the system control circuit 20.

A release switch 14 is connected to the system control circuit 20, and an image pickup operation is performed in accordance with the operation of the switch 14. The system control circuit 20 is connected to a display element 68a for displaying various setting states of the still video camera and a strobe drive circuit 69 for controlling the light emission of the strobe 13. Further, a scan start switch 16 is connected to the system control circuit 20. According to the operation of the switch 16, an image signal reading operation and the like are performed. Further, a display element 68b for displaying various setting states of the scanner optical system 43 and the like is connected to the system control circuit 20.

The operation of this embodiment will be described. When developing an image on the first recording area 30a of the electro-developing recording medium 30, the first recording area 30a is positioned on the optical axis of the imaging optical system 12, as shown in FIG. In this state, when a voltage is applied to the electrode of the portion corresponding to the recording area 30a of the electro-developing recording medium 30 and exposure is performed, the subject image is developed on the liquid crystal 40 (see FIG. 6) in the recording area 30a. When an image is recorded on the second recording medium 30b, the same operation may be performed by positioning the second recording area 30b on the optical axis of the photographing optical system 12, as shown in FIG.

On the other hand, in order to read out the image developed in the first recording area 30a by the line sensor 44, as shown in FIG.
3 on the optical axis. When the moving mechanism 52 is displaced along the guide shaft 51, the image on the electro-developing recording medium 30 illuminated by the light source 42 is read by the line sensor 44. Meanwhile, at this time, the second
Is located on the photographing optical axis. As described above, a voltage is applied to the electrode corresponding to the second recording region 30b, and the electrode is exposed to perform the photographing operation of the next frame. . That is, the exposure operation of another recording area 30b is performed while the recording area 30a is being read, and the time until the next frame photographing can be shortened.

As described above, in this embodiment, since the light source 42 is located at a position deviated from the optical axis of the photographing optical system 12, no vignetting occurs. Since it is at a position deviated from the position, the reflected light of the scanner optical system 43 does not affect the electro-developing recording medium 30. Therefore, the electro-developing recording medium 30
Is prevented from being degraded. Further, since nothing exists between the color separation prism 110 and the electro-developing recording medium 30, the distance between them can be reduced as much as possible, and the back focus of the photographing optical system 12 is shortened by that much. Therefore, the degree of freedom in designing the photographing optical system 12 increases.

The electro-developing recording medium 30 is not limited to the above-described configuration, but may have another configuration as long as the image is developed electronically.

Further, the present invention is not limited to a single-lens reflex camera as in the above embodiment, but can be applied to a lens shutter type camera.

The scanner optical system 43 can use a single lens, a micro lens array, a self-fox lens array, or the like.

Further, the recording medium mounted on the image recording device 67 may be a magnetic recording medium such as a hard disk or a magneto-optical recording medium such as a magneto-optical disk.

The line sensor 44 may be provided so as to detect the light reflected on the electro-developing recording medium 30, or may be an optical sensor for reading a two-dimensional image.

[0042]

As described above, according to the present invention, vignetting does not occur during the photographing operation, the recording medium can always be properly exposed, and the distance between the photographing optical system and the recording medium can be improved. Can be made sufficiently small, and the degree of freedom in designing the photographing optical system can be increased. Further, a recording medium capable of recording a plurality of images in adjacent recording areas is used, and when the first recording area is located on the optical axis of the scanner optical system, the second recording area is set to the photographing optical system. According to the configuration located on the optical axis, the operation of reading an image in the first recording area and the operation of exposing the second recording area can be performed independently.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view of a still video camera to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 shows the internal structure of the still video camera of FIG. 1,
FIG. 4 is a diagram of the still video camera as viewed from above during a recording operation on a first recording area of the electro-developing recording medium.

FIG. 3 is a view of the still video camera in the state of FIG. 2 as viewed from a side.

FIG. 4 shows a state similar to that of FIG. 2 when the still video camera is viewed from above during a recording operation on the second recording area of the electro-developing recording medium or during an image reading operation on the first recording area. FIG.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an arrangement of first to third recording areas of an electro-developing recording medium.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an electro-developing recording medium.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a control circuit of the still video camera.

[Explanation of symbols]

 12 photographing optical system 30 electro-developing recording medium 42 light source 43 scanner optical system 44 line sensor 50 moving mechanism

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] A photographing optical system, an electro-developing recording medium for electronically developing an image formed by the photographing optical system, and a photographing optical system disposed between the photographing optical system and the electro-developing recording medium. A light source for illuminating the electro-developing recording medium, a scanner optical system provided in a path of light transmitted through the electro-developing recording medium by illumination by the light source; and An image recording apparatus, comprising: a moving mechanism for moving along a mold recording medium, wherein the light source and the scanner optical system are provided at positions off the optical axis of the photographing optical system. 2. The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the electro-developing recording medium is movable in a direction substantially perpendicular to an optical axis of the photographing optical system. 3. The electro-developing recording medium according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of images can be recorded in adjacent recording areas, and can be moved in a direction in which these recording areas are arranged. Image recording device. 4. When the first recording area of the electro-developing recording medium is located on the optical axis of the scanner optical system, the second recording area adjacent to the first recording area is used for the photographing. The image recording apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the image recording apparatus is located on the optical axis of the optical system. 5. A color separation prism is provided between the photographing optical system and the electro-developing recording medium, and an image of each color separated by the color separation prism is recorded in a recording area of the electro-developing recording medium. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein
The image recording apparatus according to claim 1. 6. The light source and the scanner optical system are provided integrally with the moving mechanism, and move in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis of the photographing optical system and perpendicular to the moving direction of the electro-developing recording medium. The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus is capable of being operated.