JPH01102563A - Heat developing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To generate no wrinkle in a photosensitive material, and also, to obtain an image being free from an uneven development by providing plural open holes in the carrying direction and the width direction of the photosensitive material, on a guiding plate for guiding the photosensitive material heated and carried from a heating body of a pre-heating part. CONSTITUTION:A photosensitive material S carried to a pre-heating part is wound to a heating roll 61 and heated, and the contained water content is evaporated through open holes 631, 632 provided on a guiding plate 63. Also, the guiding plate 63 is in a state that an arbitrary position in the width direction of the photosensitive material S is abutted with plural open holes 631, 632 when the photosensitive material S is carried, therefore, the water content can be evaporated uniformly from the photosensitive S. In such a way, it is prevented that the wrinkle is generated in the photosensitive material S, and also, the generation of the unevenness of an image caused by an uneven development due to an ununiform distribution of water can be prevented.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION <Industrial Application Field> The present invention relates to a thermal developing apparatus for thermally developing a photosensitive material that has been imagewise exposed.

<Prior art and its problems> A method of image-wise exposure and obtaining an image by heat development is already known, and various image recording materials, heat development devices, etc. to be used in this method have been developed. .

One such image recording material utilizes microcapsules containing a photosensitive composition. Specifically, for example, a vinyl compound, a photoinitiator,
Also known are those carrying synthetic polymer resin wall capsules containing colorant precursors (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 57-1989-1).
No. 179836).

An image recording method using such an image recording material is to imagewise harden the microcapsules by exposure to light, rupture the unhardened microcapsules by applying pressure, and obtain a color image from the released colorant precursor. It is. With such a method, high quality images can be obtained by performing simple dry processing. However, such image recording materials have a drawback in that they have significantly lower photosensitivity than those using silver halide.

A new recording material which improves these drawbacks, has high photosensitivity, and can obtain high quality images through simple dry processing is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 62-2 by the present applicant.
It is disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 75742. Such an image recording material includes at least photosensitive silver halide,
The photosensitive composition includes a reducing agent, a polymerizable compound, and a color image-forming substance, and at least the polymerizable compound and the color image-forming substance are encapsulated in the same microcapsule.

An image recording method for recording an image using this image recording material (photosensitive material) is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-278849 filed by the present applicant. This image recording method first performs imagewise exposure to form a latent image,
Thereafter, development is performed by heating, and the polymerizable compound in the area where the latent image is present is polymerized to produce a high molecular compound, thereby hardening the microcapsules. Then, the image-receiving material having an image-receiving layer to which the color image-forming substance can be transferred is stacked and pressurized to rupture at least a portion of the microcapsules in the area where the latent image does not exist, and the color image-forming substance is transferred to the image-receiving material. to obtain an image on an image-receiving material.

Then, using the above-mentioned photosensitive material, this photosensitive material is subjected to imagewise exposure, heat development is performed, and then the image recording material is overlaid with an image-receiving material and pressed, and an image is obtained on the image-receiving material by transfer, which is automatically performed. Regarding the number of devices, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-209461 filed by the present applicant, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6
It is disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2-147461 and the like.

The heat developing device in this case is as shown in FIG.
It has a heating drum 44 that is heated to about 150 to 160°C, and an endless belt 50 that is passed around belt support rollers 46, 47, 48, 49 so as to be circumferentially in contact with this heating drum 44. The endless 50 is a heating drum 44
The endless belt 50 is wrapped around the outer periphery of a circular arc of about 270°, and the photosensitive material is conveyed while being held between the endless belt 50 and the heating drum 44.

However, when such a thermal development apparatus is used to heat the photosensitive material, the following disadvantages occur due to the small amount of water contained in the photosensitive material. In other words, the water contained in the photosensitive material evaporates and is trapped in areas where the contact pressure is low between the endless belt and the photosensitive material or between the heating drum and the photosensitive material, causing the water vapor distribution to change. Non-uniformity occurs, which causes wrinkles in the photosensitive material.

Further, since water in a photosensitive material has the function of promoting development, uneven distribution of water (or water vapor) on the surface of the photosensitive material results in uneven development of the photosensitive material, causing image unevenness.

In order to deal with this problem, a method has been proposed in which the photosensitive material is preheated by a preheating means to evaporate water before heat development (Japanese Patent Application No. 61-298632).

An example of a thermal developing device having such a preheating section is the one shown in FIG. 4.

The preheating section has rollers 61, 62 and a guide plate 63,
A heating source is installed on one of the rollers 61, 62 (normal roller 62). In this case, the imagewise exposed photosensitive material S is transported around two parts of the roller 61 by a guide plate 63 placed opposite the circumferential surface of the roller 61 and a conveying roller 64 provided on this guide plate 63. The structure is such that the material is conveyed while being moved in contact with the material, and is heated at this time.

In such a structure, if the guide plate 63 is made into a plate shape without a notch, the moisture in the photosensitive material S will not evaporate sufficiently.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, the guide plate 63 is
Notch-shaped windows 635 are partially provided for releasing water vapor.

However, when such a guide plate 63 is applied, moisture easily evaporates in the portion of the photosensitive material S that passes near the notch-shaped window 635, whereas water passes through a portion other than the notch-shaped window 635. A phenomenon occurs in which water is difficult to evaporate in the S portion of the photosensitive material.

Furthermore, there is a drawback in that non-uniform water content in such light-sensitive materials causes uneven development.

<Object of the Invention> An object of the present invention is to provide a heat developing device that can uniformly distribute the moisture contained in a photosensitive material, prevent wrinkles from forming on the photosensitive material, and provide an image with no uneven development. .

<Brief explanation of the invention> The above objects are achieved by the invention described below.

That is, the present invention provides a thermal developing apparatus which has a preheating section and a heat developing section, and heats an imagewise exposed photosensitive material in advance in the preheating section, and then heats and develops it in the heat developing section. It has a heating body and a guide plate that guides the photosensitive material heated and conveyed by the heating body, and the guide plate has a plurality of openings in the conveying direction and width direction of the photosensitive material. This is a heat development device.

<Specific structure of the invention> Hereinafter, the specific 4M configuration of the present invention will be explained in detail.

FIG. 1 is a partial sectional view showing an embodiment of a thermal development apparatus 1 of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, such a thermal development device 1 is disposed in a heat-insulating developing housing 42, and includes a preheating section and a preheating section for preheating (preheating) a photosensitive material S that has been imagewise exposed. , and a heat developing section for heating and developing the photosensitive material S after being heated in the preheating section.

The preheating section includes rollers 61 and 62 and a guide plate 63 provided for transporting the imagewise exposed photosensitive material S so as to circumferentially move around a part of the roller 61.

In the present invention, the guide plate 63 is provided with a plurality of openings in the direction of conveyance of the photosensitive material S and in the width direction.

For example, as shown in FIG. 2, such a guide plate 63 is provided so that an arbitrary position in the middle of the photosensitive material S comes into contact with the plurality of openings 631 when the photosensitive material S is transported. The following can be mentioned.

For example, examples of the arrangement of the openings 631 include a staggered arrangement (illustrated example), a parallel arrangement, and the like.

The shape of this opening 631 is usually circular as shown in the figure, but it may also be rectangular, diamond-shaped, square, cross-shaped, polygonal, or a combination thereof. In this case, the area of the opening 631 is about 1 to 180r+) m2, and the number of holes to be provided varies somewhat depending on the area of the opening, but usually the area is i
2,800 to 100,000 pieces, preferably 7,000 to 100,000 pieces per n2
The number may be approximately 123,000.

Note that the aperture ratio of the guide plate 63 through which a certain point in the width direction (direction perpendicular to the conveying direction) of the photosensitive material S passes is 10 to 50.
%, and as shown in the illustrated example, it is preferable that this aperture ratio is set to ±10% or less at any position in the width direction of the photosensitive material S.

For example, if the area of the openings is 3.14 mm' (diameter 2 mm) and the opening ratio is 28%, the number of holes per 1 m'' of area will be 900.

Furthermore, conveyance rollers 64 for conveying the photosensitive material S are installed on the guide plate 63 in conjunction with the rollers 61. In the illustrated example, a conveying roller 64 is connected to the rotating shaft 641, and two rollers 64 are connected to the rotating shaft 641 so as to contact both ends of the photosensitive material S in the width direction.
A guide plate 6 that rotatably supports two conveying rollers 64 and is installed so that these two conveying rollers 64 can rotate.
3 is provided with a roller hole 632.

In such a case, rollers 61, 62 and conveying rollers 64
The rotation usually occurs when roller 61 or roller 62 is driven by a drive motor (not shown).

As a specific design example, such a guide plate 63 has a radius of curvature of about 22 mm, and the diameter of the conveying rollers 64 is about 10 mm.

Specifically, the guide plate 63 may be made of punched metal, expanded metal, punched wire mesh, or the like.

Examples of the material include metals such as AfL%Cu and Fe, with Fe being particularly preferred.

The thickness of the guide plate 63 is approximately 0.8 to 1.6 mm.

Moreover, the material of the conveyor rollers 64 is Al1, Cu%
Examples include metals such as Fe, among which A11 and the like are preferred, and coating with silicone or the like is preferred.

A heating source is installed on at least one of the rollers 61, 62 of the preheating section. Usually, it is installed within the roller 62, but it may also be installed within the roller 61, or in both rollers 61, 62 as the case may be.

Examples of the heat source include a halogen lamp.

In this case, the temperature of the roller 61 with which the photosensitive material S is in contact is as follows:
The temperature may be about 120 to 140°C.

As a specific design example, the diameter of the roller 61 is 40 mm10.
- The diameter of the rubber 62 is approximately 20 to 25 mm.

As for the material of such rollers 61 and 62, the one that is normally used as the heating source may be a material with good thermal conductivity such as metal such as AjZ, Cu%Fe, etc., and it is usually coated with resin such as Teflon. use Further, the material of the roller that does not have a heat source may be silicone rubber, fluororubber, or the like.

After passing between the rollers 61 and 62 in the preheating section, the photosensitive material S is guided to the heating and developing section.

This heating and developing section includes a heating drum 44, belt support rollers 46.4 and 48.49, and an endless belt 50.
7.48.49, the hook is passed over and wound around a part of the heating drum 44.

In this case, the angle of the arc at which the endless belt 50 is wound around the heating drum 44, the wrap angle, is about 180 to 3006 degrees.

A halogen lamp or the like is usually used as the heat source.

In this case, the temperature of the heating drum 44 may be approximately 130 to 160°C.

As a specific design example, the diameter of the heating drum 44 is 100 m.
The diameter of belt support rollers 46 to 49 is 18 mm.
It is sufficient to set the degree.

There are no restrictions on the material of the heating drum as long as it is a metal with good thermal conductivity such as AJ2 or Cu%Fe, but A1 is recommended due to cost reasons.
is commonly used. These metals are usually coated with a resin such as Teflon.

The belt may be made of any rubber having excellent heat resistance and weather resistance, such as silicone rubber or Teflon rubber, but silicone rubber is generally used due to cost considerations.

The thermal development apparatus 1 of the present invention further includes an exposed photosensitive material S.
a guide plate 41 for guiding the material to the preheating section;
It has a guide device 54 for removing the heated photosensitive material S, and a vertical guide device 58 for guiding the developing photosensitive material S sent by the belt support roller 49 and the nip roller 52 to the exit 56. A sensitive material leading edge detection sensor 60 is provided.

The above-mentioned guide device 54 is usually provided with abrasion claws for removing the photosensitive material S.

Furthermore, a guide plate or the like may be installed between the preheating section and the heat development section, as necessary, for conveying the preheated photosensitive material to the heat development section.

The heating developing section is not limited to the one shown in the figure, and the heating drum is one
The number of belts is not limited to one, but may be two or more, and the arrangement of belts such as endless belts may be determined accordingly. In some cases, a plurality of belts may be used for two or more heating drums, and the two wooden belts may be overlapped and placed in circumferential contact with the heating drum, and the photosensitive material S may be conveyed while being sandwiched between the belts. It may also be configured to heat.

By doing so, the transportability of the photosensitive material is improved and the photosensitive material can be protected during transport.

In this case, the guide plate for conveying the exposed photosensitive material S, the guide device for separating it, the drive device for moving the belt, etc. may be appropriately determined according to the configuration of the heat developing device.

The thermal development apparatus 1 of the present invention is not limited to the one shown in FIG. 1, but can also be applied to a thermal development transfer apparatus that performs development and transfer simultaneously.

In this case, a configuration may be adopted in which a nip roller or the like is attached to apply pressure, and this may be selected as appropriate depending on the application.

FIG. 3 shows the above-mentioned heat developing device 1, published in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-2694.
61 and JP-A No. 62-147461, the present invention is a block diagram when the present invention is applied to an image recording apparatus as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-147461.

Note that this image recording device is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 62-121284.
This method automatically performs the image forming method as disclosed in the patent specification. In this case, first, imagewise exposure is performed to form a latent image, and then development is performed by heating.
The microcapsules are hardened by polymerizing the polymerizable compound in the area where the latent image is present to produce a high molecular compound. Then, the image-receiving material having an image-receiving layer to which the color image-forming substance can be transferred is stacked and pressurized to rupture at least a portion of the microcapsules in areas where no latent image exists;
The color image-forming material is transferred to the image-receiving material to obtain an image on the image-receiving material.

The image recording apparatus shown in FIG.
(S), an imagewise exposure section 3 that imagewise exposes the photosensitive material S conveyed from the storage section 2 (S), a thermal development device 1 of the present invention that heats and develops the imagewise exposed photosensitive material, and an image-receiving material C. accommodating section 2 (C), a pressure transfer device 6 that superimposes the heat-developed photosensitive material and the image-receiving material C and transfers them under pressure, and a sensitive image-receiving material peeling device provided downstream of the pressure transfer device 6. The device 7, and a photosensitive material disposal section 8 and a fixing device 9 provided downstream thereof.
It has

In the example shown in FIG. 3, the fixing device 9 is provided, but the fixing device 9 may be selected as appropriate depending on the photographic material used, and the fixing device 9 may not be provided in some cases. For example, a post-heating device may be installed to improve image density.

In the image recording apparatus shown in FIG. 3, a photographic material in which a photosensitive material S as a photosensitive element and an image receiving paper C as an image receiving element are provided on separate supports is used. The image receiving element and the image receiving element may be formed on the same support. Furthermore, although an example is taken in which both are peeled off after transfer, a type that does not require peeling may also be used.

The photosensitive material used in the present invention is not limited as long as it can be developed by heating, but those using paper as a support are preferable, and photosensitive and pressure-sensitive heat-developable photosensitive materials are particularly preferable.

For example, there is a type in which a polymerizable compound is imagewise cured by imagewise exposure, and then pressure is applied to obtain a visible image. Specifically, a vinyl compound, a photopolymerization initiator,
and those carrying synthetic polymer resin wall capsules containing colorant precursors (JP-A-57-1
No. 7983).

In addition, after containing silver halide and giving imagewise exposure, heat development is performed to develop the silver halide, the polymerizable compound is simultaneously cured in correspondence with this development, and then pressure is applied to form a visible image. There is a type that obtains the following, and is particularly preferably used in the present invention. Such a method involves 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, in which at least photosensitive silver halide, Examples include a microcapsule containing a reducing agent, a polymerizable compound, and a color image-forming substance, in which at least the polymerizable compound and the color image-forming substance are encapsulated in the same microcapsule (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-2788).
No. 49).

In addition, as the paper used as a support, Japanese Patent Application No. 61-1
Paper with low water absorption applied to the photosensitive material described in Japanese Patent Application No. 83050, paper with a certain Bekk smoothness applied to the photosensitive material described in Japanese Patent Application No. 191273/1983, Japanese Patent Application No. 227766/1983 A paper with low shrinkage rate applied to the photosensitive material described in the specification of Japanese Patent Application No. 1987-227788, a paper with low air permeability applied to the photosensitive material described in the specification of Japanese Patent Application No. 1988-227788, filed by the present applicant on October 14, 1988 Paper or the like having a pH value of 5 to 9, which is applied to the photosensitive materials described in the specification of "Photosensitive materials" in (2), can be used.

In the photosensitive material of the present invention, the thickness of the support is preferably about 50 .mu.m to 150 .mu.m, and the thickness of the coated photosensitive layer is preferably about 5 .mu.m to 50 .mu.m.

<Specific Effects of the Invention> In the image recording apparatus described above, the photosensitive material S fed out to a certain length from the storage section 2 (S) is imagewise exposed in the imagewise exposure section 3 by the reflected light of the light irradiated onto the original. A latent image is formed. The photosensitive material S on which the latent image has been formed is cut according to the length of the document and is conveyed to the thermal development apparatus 1 of the present invention. First, in the thermal developing device 1, the photosensitive material S conveyed to the preheating section is wound around a roller 61 heated to about 120 to 140 degrees Celsius, and is moved by a guide plate 63 and conveying rollers 64 provided thereon. , and are conveyed so as to move circumferentially around the rollers 61. During this circumferential movement, it is heated, and the water contained in the photosensitive material S evaporates through the openings 631 and 632 provided in the guide plate 63.

In this case, as shown in FIG. 2, the guide plate 63 of the present invention is configured such that any position in the width direction of the photosensitive material S comes into contact with a plurality of openings when the photosensitive material S is transported. Therefore, water can be uniformly evaporated from the photosensitive material S.

Thereafter, the preheated photosensitive material S is conveyed to a heating and developing section, where it is heated and developed.

That is, the photosensitive material S is pressed against the heating drum 44 by an endless belt 50, heated at about 130 to 160 DEG C., and developed.

The developing photosensitive material S is moved to the heating roller 4 by the guide device 54.
4, and the belt support roller 49 and nip roller 5
2 and is guided by a vertical guide device 58 to exit 5.
Reach 6. Then, the fact that the leading edge of the developed photosensitive material S has passed through the outlet 56 is detected by the sensitive material leading edge detection sensor 60 .

When the photosensitive material described in JP-A-61-278849 is used, the microcapsules in the portion of the photosensitive material where the latent image is present are cured by the development in the thermal development device 1 as described above. .

Next, it is held in the storage section 2 (C), and is held in the storage section 2 (C) at the timing when the development of the photosensitive material is completed.
), the image-receiving material C to be cut and the developed photosensitive material S are brought together, and transferred to a pressure transfer device 6.
sent to.

In the pressure transfer device 6, the superimposed photosensitive material S and image receiving material C are pressed, and at least a portion of the microcapsules in the portion of the photosensitive material where no latent image exists is ruptured, thereby forming an image in the developing photosensitive material S. The substance is transferred to the image receiving material C.

After the pressure transfer, the photosensitive material S and the image receiving material C are separated by a photosensitive image receiving material peeling device 7, and then the photosensitive material S is fed into a photosensitive material disposal section 8, while the image receiving material C is passed through a fixing device 9. taken out.

(Effects of the Invention) According to the present invention, water contained in a photosensitive material can be uniformly evaporated. Therefore, it is possible to prevent wrinkles from forming on the photosensitive material. It is possible to prevent the occurrence of image unevenness caused by uneven development due to non-uniform distribution of .

Such an effect is remarkable when paper is used as a support for a photosensitive material.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a partial sectional view showing an embodiment of the thermal development apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the guide plate of the preheating section in the present invention. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an image recording apparatus to which the thermal development apparatus of the present invention is applied. FIG. 4 is a partial sectional view showing an embodiment of a conventional thermal development apparatus. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a conventional guide plate of a preheating section. FIG. 6 is a partial sectional view showing an embodiment of a conventional thermal development apparatus. Explanation of symbols S...Photosensitive material, C...Image receiving material, 1...
Thermal development device, 2(S)... Accommodating section for photosensitive material, 2(C)... Accommodating section for image receiving material, 3... Imagewise exposure section, 6... Pressure transfer section, 7.
...Sensitive image-receiving material! ! Jllf device, 8... Sensitive material disposal section, 9... Fixing device, 4 Ri... Guide device, 42... Developing housing, 44... Heating roller, 46.47, 48.49...・Support roller, 50...
Endless belt, 52... Nip roller, 54... Guide device, 56... Exit, 58...
Vertical guide device, 60...Sensitive material tip detection sensor, 61.62...Roller, 63...Guide plate, 631.632...Opening hole, 635...Window, 64...For conveyance Coro FI
G, 1 FIG, 3 FIG, 4

Claims (6)

[Claims] (1) In a thermal developing apparatus that has a preheating section and a heat developing section, and after preheating the imagewise exposed photosensitive material in the preheating section, it is heated and developed in the heat developing section, in which the preheating section is a heating body. and a guide plate for guiding the photosensitive material heated and conveyed by the heating body, the guide plate having a plurality of openings in the conveying direction and width direction of the photosensitive material. Device. (2) The apertures of the guide plate are provided such that any position in the width direction of the photosensitive material passes through the plurality of apertures when the photosensitive material is transported. The thermal development device according to item 1. (3) The thermal developing device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the heating body is roller-shaped. (4) The thermal development apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the photosensitive material uses paper as a support. (5) The photosensitive material is a photosensitive pressure-sensitive heat-developable material having on a support a photosensitive layer configured such that an image formed by heat development after imagewise exposure is fixed by pressure. The thermal development device according to item 4. (6) The heat development device according to claim 5, wherein the image of the photosensitive pressure-sensitive heat development material is formed by a distribution of microcapsules having different degrees of hardening after the heat development.