JP3959661B2 - Cut mark detection device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a cut mark detection apparatus for detecting a cut mark serving as a reference point for cutting a long photosensitive material on which a plurality of frame images are formed for each frame image during conveyance of the photosensitive material.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, a frame image formed on a developed negative film is baked along a longitudinal direction on a long photographic paper, and the baked photographic paper is cut for each frame image after being developed. The The negative film for which the printing process has been completed is also cut in units of four or six frame images and stored in a negative sheet as a piece negative. As described above, photosensitive materials such as photographic paper and negative film must be accurately stopped and controlled so that the cutting line comes to be almost in the middle of the boundary area between adjacent frame images. For this reason, for example, when photographic paper is intermittently fed at the exposure point during printing processing, a puncher or notch provided immediately downstream of the exposure point (in the transport direction) is punched at a location that becomes a reference point for cutting. Holes and notches are processed as cut marks. In negative films as well, punch holes and notches that are also used as cutting reference points are processed in many cases.
[0003]
Such a cut mark usually uses a light sensor composed of a light emitting part and a light receiving part, and the difference in the signal intensity of the light receiving part due to the difference in the amount of transmitted light beam where the cut mark exists and does not exist. Pay attention, set an appropriate threshold value, when the signal intensity of the light receiving unit exceeds the threshold value, it is considered that the light receiving unit has detected a cut mark, and based on this detection timing, control the photosensitive material transport device, The photosensitive material is stopped so that the cutting line of the cutter is almost in the middle of the boundary area.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, since it is not desirable to make very conspicuous scratches on photographic paper, etc., the place where the cut mark is attached is limited to the vicinity of the side edge, and the light that travels from the side edge to the light receiving part of the optical sensor. However, even if the threshold value is set carefully, especially in high-speed processing, it is not possible to detect erroneous detection of cut marks or not. There has been a risk that detection will occur, causing trouble such that the photographic paper is discharged without being cut or cut in the frame image area.
In view of the above situation, an object of the present invention is to provide a cut mark detection device capable of obtaining a detection signal having a S / N as high as possible regardless of a change in the conveyance state in order to suppress erroneous detection or non-detection of a cut mark. It is.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, a cut mark detection device for detecting a cut mark serving as a reference point for cutting a long photosensitive material on which a plurality of frame images are formed in frame image units during conveyance of the photosensitive material In the present invention, a light emitting portion that is disposed on one surface side of the photosensitive material and emits a light beam toward the photosensitive material, and in the transport direction of the photosensitive material on the other surface side of the photosensitive material. The cut mark is formed from a first light receiving portion and a second light receiving portion that are spaced apart from each other, a first signal obtained by the first light receiving portion, and a second signal obtained by the second light receiving portion. Signal processing means for detecting,
The photosensitive material is photographic paper, and the cut mark is a punch hole or notch formed in a side edge portion of the photographic paper as the photosensitive material,
The first light receiving unit and the second light receiving unit emit the light emitting unit while the linear light beam that has emitted the light emitting unit and passed through the punch hole or notch reaches the first light receiving unit. The linear light beam toward the second light receiving unit is blocked by the photographic paper, and the optical axis of the light beam is set to be at the center between the first light receiving unit and the second light receiving unit. ,
The signal processing means detects the cut mark using a signal obtained by subtracting the second signal from the first signal .
[0006]
In this configuration, two light receiving units that are similarly affected by the light coming from the side edges are prepared, and the environmental noise signal when the cut mark detection signal is obtained by the first light receiving unit is the second light receiving unit. Therefore, by comparing the signals from the two light receiving sections, a so-called normalized signal from which the environmental noise signal component has been removed can be extracted. As a result, it is possible to detect a cut mark with a high S / N ratio and reliability compared to a conventional method of detecting a cut mark by monitoring a threshold value of a signal from a single light receiving unit.
[0007]
In one preferred embodiment of the present invention, the signal processing means detects the cut mark by evaluating a differential amplifier having the first signal and the second signal as inputs, and an output signal of the differential amplifier. A cut mark detecting means is provided. In the case of this configuration, if the first signal is used for cut mark detection and the second signal is used for environmental noise detection, a cut mark detection signal having a high S / N can be created easily and at high speed by calculating the difference.
[0008]
Furthermore, as one of the preferred embodiments of the present invention, the light emitting unit is constituted by a single light emitter in which a light beam is aimed at an intermediate position between the first light receiving unit and the second light receiving unit. For example, simplification of the configuration and cost reduction can be realized by sharing the light emitter.
[0009]
As yet another form, if the light emitting portion and the first and second light receiving portions are supported by a U-shaped holder that sandwiches the edge portion of the photosensitive material, the light emitting portion and the first and second light receiving portions are located very close to the edge portion of the photosensitive material. Positioning at the time of mounting the light emitting part and the first and second light receiving parts becomes simple, which contributes to a reduction in assembly cost.
As the cut mark, a punch hole or notch by a puncher or a notch is preferably employed because of the use of an optical sensor.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of embodiments with reference to the drawings.
[0010]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
A transport path of the negative film 2 and the photographic paper 3 transported in the photographic processing apparatus 1 having the cut mark detection apparatus according to the present invention in accordance with various processing processes is schematically shown in FIG. The photographic processing apparatus 1 includes a negative film supply unit 10, an exposure unit 20 that prints an image of the negative film 2 on the photographic paper 3 drawn from the paper magazine 4, and develops the photographic paper 3 that has been exposed by the exposure unit 20. A development processing unit 30 to process, a drying unit 40 for drying the photographic paper 3 developed by the development processing unit 30, and a print discharge unit for cutting the dried photographic paper 3 into a predetermined length and discharging it as a print. 50, the negative film 2 used in the exposure unit 20 is cut, inserted into a negative sheet if necessary, and discharged, and the negative film discharge unit 60 loaded from the negative film discharge unit 60 and one order negative film 2 And a tray controller that collates and combines one-order prints carried in from the print discharge unit 50 as finished products and conveys them to a finished product take-out position by an operator. And a ya mechanism 70.
[0011]
The negative film supply unit 10 can be loaded with two negative reels 11 winding up up to 100 negative films 2 joined by a splice tape, and each negative film 2 drawn out from the negative reels 11 can be loaded. A bar code reader 12 that reads information relating to photographic processing such as a film number from the provided bar code, and a negative cutter 13 that cuts the drawn negative film 2 every order are provided. Further, a screen sensor 14 for detecting a frame image of the negative film 2 and a negative punch 15b having a punch hole at the center of the frame image of each negative film 2 based on information from the screen sensor 14 are also provided.
[0012]
As shown in FIG. 2, the exposure unit 20 is provided with a film reading device 21 including a reading light source 21a, a mirror tunnel 21b, and an imaging device 21c on the upstream side in the film conveying direction, and on the downstream side in the film conveying direction. An exposure device 22 including an exposure light source 22a, a light control filter 22b, a mirror tunnel 22c, a negative mask 22d, a printing lens 22e, and a shutter 22f is provided, and passes from the negative film supply unit 10 through the exposure unit 20 to the negative discharge unit 60. A roller 23a for conveying the negative film 2 and a motor 23b for driving the roller 23a are provided.
[0013]
The negative film 2 conveyed by the roller 23a is first read by the film reading device 21 for each frame image, and sent to the controller 5 whose block diagram is shown in detail in FIG. The exposure control means 5a of the controller 5 obtains the exposure conditions for printing the image of the negative film 2 on the photographic paper 3 based on the image information received from the film reader 21, and the corresponding frame of the negative film 2 is determined. When the sheet is conveyed to the position of the negative mask 22d, the light control filter 22b and the shutter 22f are controlled based on the previously obtained exposure conditions to expose the photographic paper 3. Further, the controller 5 processes the image information of the negative film 2 read by the film reader 21, and displays a simulated image of the image obtained when the photographic paper 3 is printed on the obtained exposure conditions on the monitor 6a. The operator can observe the simulated image on the monitor 6a and correct the exposure condition from the console 6b as necessary.
[0014]
In addition, the negative film 2 that has been subjected to the exposure processing in the exposure unit 20 is subjected to every 6 frames or 4 frames by the negative cutter 25 provided in the negative film discharge unit 60 disposed on the downstream side in the film transport direction of the exposure device 22. In this case, the negative film 2 has to be stopped so that the boundary area (elementary omission) between the frame images of the negative film 2 is exactly at the cutting line of the negative cutter 25. For this purpose, when using punch holes processed by the negative punch 15b, a negative cut mark detecting device 90B for detecting the punch holes as cut marks is provided near the negative cutter 25. The negative film 2 (negative piece) cut by the negative cutter 25 is inserted into a negative sheet and then sent out to the tray 100 of the tray conveyor mechanism 70. The series of negative film 2 conveyance from the negative reel 11 until it is finally delivered to the conveyor mechanism 70 is controlled by the negative film conveyance control means 5b of the controller 5.
[0015]
The photographic paper 3 on which the image of the negative film 2 is printed by the exposure unit 20 is intermittently conveyed at an exposure pitch by a roller 24a and a motor 24b that drives the roller 24a. At that time, as shown in FIG. A punch hole 3a functioning as a cut mark is formed in the side edge of the paper by a paper punch 15a. Further, the photographic paper 3 is developed by passing through the collection printing unit 26 and sequentially passing through the development processing tank of the development processing unit 30. The developed photographic paper 3 is dried by the drying unit 40, and then the photographic paper 3 is cut into a print 3 by a paper cutter 51 and sent to a transverse feed conveyor 54 driven by a motor 54a. Conveyance of the photographic paper 3 (print 3) until the photographic paper 3 pulled out from the paper magazine 4 passes through the development processing unit 30 and the paper drying unit 40 and is carried into the conveyor mechanism 70 from the transverse feed conveyor 54. The control is performed through the photographic paper transport control means 5c of the controller 5. Control of the conveyor mechanism 70 is performed through the conveyor control unit 5d of the controller 5.
[0016]
The paper punch 15a and the negative punch 15b themselves have a known structure, and the punching operation is controlled by a command from the punch control means 5e of the controller 5. For example, regarding the control of the paper punch 15a, as shown in FIG. 4, the frame image and the frame image of the photographic paper 3 are calculated from the size data of the frame image printed on the photographic paper 3 and the transport data of the photographic paper 3. When the center of the blank portion 3d formed between the two reaches the center of punching of the paper punch 15a, the photographic paper 3 is stopped and the punching hole 3a is instructed to the paper punch 15a.
[0017]
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, a cut mark detection device 90 </ b> A for detecting the punch hole 3 a is disposed on the rear side in the transport direction of the paper cutter 51. Since the cut mark detection device 90B for detecting the punch hole of the negative film 2 and the cut mark detection device 90A for detecting the punch hole 3a of the photographic paper 3 have the same substantial structure, they are generically referred to as the cut mark detection device 90. The configuration will be described with reference to FIGS.
[0018]
The cut mark detection device 90 configured as a transmissive optical sensor is installed in the photographic paper conveyance line here, and includes a light emitting unit 91 that emits a light beam toward a side edge region on the surface of the photographic paper 3, and the printing A first light receiving unit 92 and a second light receiving unit 93 are provided on the opposite side of the light emitting unit 91 across the paper 3. The light emitting unit 91 is supported and integrated by a U-shaped holder 94. The holder 94 is arranged so as to sandwich the side edge of the photographic paper 3 so that the light beam from the light emitting unit 91 can pass through the punch hole 3a formed in the photographic paper 3 and reach the first light receiving unit 92. Has been. The second light receiving unit 93 is prepared for detecting the signal level of the first light receiving unit 92 when the light beam that has passed through the punch hole 3a is not directly detected, that is, environmental noise, and is provided in the direction of conveying the photographic paper. Along with the first light receiving unit 92, the position is set so that the light entering the side edge of the photographic paper 3 is substantially the same as the first light receiving unit 92. In addition, the light emitting unit 91 is positioned so that the optical axis of the light beam of the light emitting unit 91 is exactly in the middle between the first light receiving unit 92 and the second light receiving unit 93, so that the light emitting unit 91 has the first and second light receiving units 92 and 92. It is not necessary to prepare a light source for each of 93, and a single light source can be obtained.
[0019]
The first signal from the first light receiving unit 92 and the second signal from the second light receiving unit 93 are input to the differential amplifier 95. The differential amplifier 95 outputs a calculated value of the difference between the first signal and the second signal. Therefore, when the first light receiving unit 92 detects the light beam from the light emitting unit 91 that has passed through the punch hole 3a, a signal obtained by removing the environmental noise from the first signal is obtained as the output signal of the differential amplifier 95. By monitoring this, the punch hole 3a with high reliability, that is, cut mark detection is realized. In this embodiment, the output signal of the differential amplifier 95 is monitored by the cut mark detection means 5g of the controller 5. That is, the signal processing means for detecting the cut mark from the first signal obtained by the first light receiving section 92 and the second signal obtained by the second light receiving section 93 is constituted by the differential amplifier 95 and the cut mark detecting means 5g. Will be. The cut mark detecting means 5g is substantially realized as a function of a part of the microcomputer. The detection of the cut mark by the cut mark detection means 5g is given to the paper cutter control means 5f and the negative cutter control means 5h, and is used for operation control of the paper cutter 51 or the negative cutter 25.
In the above-described embodiment, the punch hole is used as the cut mark, but various shapes of notches may be employed instead.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the flow of negative film and photographic paper in a photographic processing apparatus employing a cut mark detection apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the photographic processing apparatus. 4] Explanatory drawing of punching process [FIG. 5] Explanatory drawing of cut mark detection process [FIG. 6] Perspective view of cut mark detection device [FIG. 7] Block configuration diagram of cut mark detection device [Explanation of symbols]
2 Negative film 3 Printing paper (print)
5g Cut mark detection means 90 Cut mark detection device 91 Light emitting part 92 First light receiving part 93 Second light receiving part 94 Holder 95 Differential amplifier

Claims (3)

In a cut mark detection apparatus for detecting a cut mark serving as a reference point for cutting a long photosensitive material in which a plurality of frame images are formed in frame image units, during conveyance of the photosensitive material,
A light emitting portion disposed on one side of the photosensitive material and emitting a light beam toward the photosensitive material, and spaced apart from each other along the conveyance direction of the photosensitive material on the other side of the photosensitive material. A first light receiving portion and a second light receiving portion, and a signal processing means for detecting the cut mark from a first signal obtained by the first light receiving portion and a second signal obtained by the second light receiving portion; With
The photosensitive material is photographic paper, and the cut mark is a punch hole or notch formed in a side edge portion of the photographic paper as the photosensitive material,
The first light receiving unit and the second light receiving unit emit the light emitting unit while the linear light beam that has emitted the light emitting unit and passed through the punch hole or notch reaches the first light receiving unit. The linear light beam toward the second light receiving unit is blocked by the photographic paper, and the optical axis of the light beam is set to be at the center between the first light receiving unit and the second light receiving unit. ,
The signal processing means detects the cut mark using a signal obtained by subtracting the second signal from the first signal . The signal processing means includes a differential amplifier that receives the first signal and the second signal, and a cut mark detection means that detects the cut mark by evaluating an output signal of the differential amplifier. The cut mark detection device according to claim 1. 3. The cut mark detection device according to claim 1, wherein the light emitting unit and the first and second light receiving units are supported by a U-shaped holder that sandwiches a side edge of the photographic paper. .

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