JPH02195351A - Device for applying image forming solvent - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To detect the stagnation of excess water when such stagnation arises and to prevent a solvent from overflowing to the outside of the device by providing a liquid level sensor in an overflow part. CONSTITUTION:The liquid level sensor 178 is disposed in the overflow part 163. The excess water begins to stagnate in the overflow part 163 when, for example, the discharge rate of the excess water exceeds the rate at which the water passes a filter 162 upon clogging of the filter 162. The liquid level sensor 178 detects the level of the stagnating water in the final if such state continues. The water feed by a pump 164 is then immediately stopped and the stagnating state is gradually eliminated. The overflow of the image forming solvent to the outside of the applying device is prevented in this way.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an image-forming solvent coating device (hereinafter referred to as a coating device) for coating a recording material with an image-forming solvent.

[Conventional technology]

Examples of image recording materials include photothermographic materials. For information on this heat-developable photosensitive material and its process, see pages 242 to 255 of Basics of Photographic Engineering Non-Silver Salt Photographers (published by Corona Publishing in 1982), Page 40 of Video Information published in April 1978, and Neblett's Handbook. Of Photography (Neblett's)landbook of
Photography and reprography
phy) 7th Edition (7thEd,) Van Nostrand Reinhold Campa = - (Van No5t
32 of Rand Re1nhold Company)
It is described on pages 33 to 33.

Furthermore, many methods have been proposed for obtaining color images by heat development.

For example, releasing a mobile dye in an image-like manner by heating,
A method of transferring this mobile dye to a dye fixing material with a mordant using a solvent such as water, a method of transferring it to a dye fixing material using a high boiling point organic solvent, a method of transferring this mobile dye to a dye fixing material using a hydrophilic thermal solvent incorporated in the dye fixing material A method in which the mobile dye is heat-diffusible or sublimable and is transferred to a dye-receiving material such as a support has been proposed. (U.S. Patent No. 4.463.079, U.S. Patent No. 4,474°867
No. L 478,927, No. 4゜507.3
No. 80, JP-A-58-149046, JP-A No. 58-149
No. 047, No. 59-152440, No. 59-1544
No. 45, No. 59-165054, No. 59-18054
No. 8, No. 59-168439, No. 59-174832
No. 59-174833, No. 59-174834, No. 59-174835, etc.) An apparatus for implementing this type of image forming method is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 59-75247. After exposing a color image to a heat-developable photosensitive material using an exposure head in an exposure section, the photothermographic material is coated with an image forming solvent such as water, and then sent to a heat-developable section.
An image recording apparatus has been proposed in which an image-receiving material is brought into close contact with a heat-developable photosensitive material after heat development, and the image is sent to a transfer section, where the image is thermally transferred to the image-receiving material.

Then, as a coating device for applying the image forming solvent, for example, the recording material is conveyed while being immersed in the image forming solvent stored in a water tank, the recording material is held between a pair of squeeze rollers, and the recording material is swollen. Some devices are designed to scrape off excess image forming solvent.

Then, due to the need to control the temperature of the image forming solvent, a heater (
The image forming solvent is constantly evaporated from the water tank, or the solvent is taken to the recording material by repeated dipping of the recording material, so the solvent water level in the water tank is lowered and the image forming solvent of the recording material is self-contained. Travel distance becomes shorter,
The amount of swelling decreases. To prevent this, an overflow portion of the image forming solvent from the water tank is set to maintain a constant amount of the image forming solvent, and the image forming solvent is replenished into the water tank at predetermined intervals or at appropriate times while controlling the temperature until it overflows. There is.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

From the overflow portion, the overflowing image forming solvent is refluxed through a filter or the like to a replenishment tank storing a replenishing image forming solvent.

At this time, if the filter is clogged,
There are cases where the amount of overflow is greater than the flow rate to the replenishment tank, and in the worst case, there is a problem that the image forming solvent overflows to the outside of the coating device.

An object of the present invention is to solve this problem, and to provide a coating device that prevents the image forming solvent in the coating device from overflowing.

[Means and effects for solving the problems] The above object of the present invention is to transport a recording material while immersing it in an image forming solvent controlled at a desired temperature, and to transfer the swollen recording material between a pair of squeeze rollers. It is an image forming solvent applicator that scrapes off excess image forming solvent by holding the solvent between the parts. This is achieved by an image forming solvent coating apparatus equipped with a detection means for detecting the liquid level of the solvent in the unit and stopping the supply of the solvent.

That is, by providing the water level sensor, it is possible to detect that the image forming solvent remains in a part of the overcoat 70, and by stopping the replenishment of the image forming solvent, the image forming solvent is removed from the coating device. It can prevent the person from escaping outside.

The above-mentioned image forming solvent includes, for example, water, and this water is not limited to so-called pure water, but includes water in the widely customary sense, and furthermore, pure water, methanol, D
A mixed solvent with a low boiling point solvent such as MF, acetone, or diisobutyl ketone may be used. Alternatively, a solution containing an image formation accelerator, an antifoggant, a development stopper, a hydrophilic heat solvent, etc. may be used.

[Embodiment]

Next, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In describing the embodiments, in order to facilitate understanding of the invention, the structure and operation of the entire image recording apparatus to which the coating device is applied will be explained, and then the main parts will be explained.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an image recording device equipped with a coating device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In this embodiment, the photosensitive material is of a type that requires a heat development step and in which an image is transferred to an image-receiving material having an image-receiving layer in the presence of an image-forming solvent such as water.

Inside the housing 12 constituting the image recording device, there is a photosensitive material supply section 13 that houses a photosensitive material, an image reading section 15 that reads image information carried on the document S, and a photosensitive material A.
An exposure section 16 that forms a latent image on the photosensitive material, a water application section 17 that applies water to the photosensitive material, and an image receiving paper supply 8f that stores the image receiving paper C! 41. A superimposing section 19 that superposes the image receiving paper C on the photosensitive material A, a heat development transfer section 21 that performs heat treatment on the photosensitive material A and the image receiving paper C, and peels off the image receiving paper C from the photosensitive material. A peeling portion 23 is provided respectively.

A transparent document support glass plate 14 on which the document S is placed is arranged on the upper surface of the housing 12, and below this document support glass plate 14, the image reader f1615 is arranged.

That is, the image reading unit 15 includes the light source 18 that integrally scans the entire surface of the document support glass plate 14, the mirror 20a1, and the imaging lens/filter unit assembly 3.0, and the light source 18, etc., which are identical in scanning distance. Mirrors 20b, 20C that move in the direction and fixed mirrors 20d, 20e, 2O
f, which are surrounded by the partition wall 22 and optically isolated from other parts. However, in this case, the partition wall 22
, an exposure opening 34 related to the exposure section 16 for the photosensitive material is defined in a portion through which the optical axis 32 of the image reading section 15 reflected by the fixed mirror 2Of passes. A shutter device 135 and a shutter control bag [36] are arranged.

Further, a standard white plate 302 is provided near the original support glass plate 14 so as to be exposed to the light source 18 .

On the other hand, the photosensitive material supply B13 is provided on the left side of the housing 12 and is kept light-tight. This photosensitive material supply 1
13 is loaded with a removable photosensitive material magazine 54 in which photosensitive material A is wound.

The photosensitive material supply 113 has roller pairs 56a to 56d for conveying the photosensitive material A from the magazine 54 to the exposure section 16. In this case, roller pair 56a.

A cutter 58 for cutting the photosensitive material A into predetermined lengths is provided between the cutters 56b. Further, the exposure table 60 disposed between the roller pair 56C956d faces the exposure opening 34 defined on the bottom surface of the partition wall 22 surrounding the image reading at5.

In the following, the term "front" refers to the downstream side with respect to the traveling direction of the photosensitive material, etc. ) is provided with a conveyance path consisting of a pair of rollers 56e and a guide plate.

The exposure section 16 performs imagewise exposure on the photosensitive material A to form a latent image, and the photosensitive material A on which the latent image is formed is conveyed to the water application section 17 via the conveyance path.

The water application section 17 is for facilitating the transfer of the latent image formed on the photosensitive material, and the water application section 17 will be described later with reference to FIG.
Squeeze roller pair 176, guide plate 172 and water tank 17
It consists of 4 etc. Then, fill the water tank 174 with water,
The photosensitive material A is immersed in the water and transported.

The photosensitive material A coated with water is squeeze roller fi17
6 and conveyed to the stacking section 19.

On the other hand, a receiving paper supply section 41 that supplies receiving paper C is provided on the left side of the housing 12. The image receiving paper supply section 4
1 is a receiving paper magazine 43 that stores rolled receiving paper C;
is loaded. The image receiving paper C in the magazine 43 is transferred to the roller pair 5.
6h, and cut into a predetermined length by a cutter 44 disposed in front of the pair of rollers 56h.

The cut image-receiving paper C is conveyed to the overlapping section 19 by a pair of rollers 561.

In front of the superimposed fl'1s19, a heat development transfer section 21 is provided which heats the superimposed photosensitive material A and image receiving paper C, develops the latent image on the photosensitive material A, and transfers it onto the image receiving paper C. .

The heat development transfer section 21 is surrounded by a heat insulating partition wall 62, and is wound around a hollow cylindrical heating drum 74 containing a halogen lamp 72 at an angle of about 270 degrees around the outer peripheral surface of the heating drum 74. Four belt support rollers 76, 7? , an endless belt 84 supported by 78°80, and carrying photosensitive material A and receiver paper C.
Heat them while stacking them on top of each other. By this heating, the latent image on the photosensitive material A is developed and transferred onto the image receiving paper C to develop color.

A peeling section 23 is provided within the partition wall 62, and the peeling section 23 includes a first peeling claw 232 for peeling the photosensitive material from the image receiving paper C, and a first peeling claw 232 for peeling the image receiving paper C from the heating drum 74. It consists of a second peeling claw 234 and a roller 56j that discharges the image receiving paper C to the outside of the partition wall 62.

In front of one side of the heat development transfer section 21, there is a waste tray 118 for discarding the heated photosensitive material peeled from the image receiving paper C by a peeling claw 232, and a roller for throwing the photosensitive material A into the waste tray 118. A pair 56k is provided. The waste tray 118 is provided below the heat development transfer section 21 . Further, in front of the other side of the heat development transfer section 21, there is a take-out tray 120 for storing the heated image-receiving paper C, and a pair of rollers 561.56 m for conveying the heated image-receiving paper C to the take-out tray 120.
5.6n is provided, and the image-receiving paper C on which the image has been transferred is delivered to the take-out tray 120.

Further, a color density detection unit 124 for detecting the color density of the image on the image receiving paper C is arranged between the roller pair 56m and 56r1. ...The color density detection unit 124 is the image receiving paper C.
an illumination device 126 that illuminates the image surface of the image plane, and a color photo sensor 1 that receives reflected light from the image receiving paper C caused by this illumination.
It consists of 28.

The apparatus further includes a color density control unit 1 connected to the imaging lens/filter unit assembly 30 and the 7-photo sensor 128 and disposed at a suitable location within the housing 12.
50, the color density control unit 150, the photosensitive material supply section 13, the image reading section 15, the drive system for the image reading section 15 (not shown), the receiving paper supply section 41, the cutter 44, 58, the shutter control device 36, A system control device (not shown) is provided, which is connected to the water application section 17, the heat development transfer section 21, and the peeling section 23 to control the entire lid making process.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the water application section 17.

The water application unit 17 includes a container 174 that is a water tank containing water, an upper guide member 172 that guides the photosensitive material into the water, and
A pair of rollers 56f that transports the photosensitive material A between the guide member 172 and the first bottom 174a of the container 174, a pair of squeeze rollers 176 that scrape off excess water from the photosensitive material A that has been swollen after being coated with water, and the like. configured.

The container 174 has the above-mentioned first bottom 174a and second bottom 174.
It is composed of b.

The first bottom portion 174a has a smooth cylindrical partial surface shape, bulges downward in the direction of gravity, and its axis is perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the photosensitive material A. The guide member 172 is connected to this first bottom portion 17.
It has a curved surface shape that maintains a constant predetermined interval to form a transport path from 4a to the photosensitive material. The photosensitive material A conveyed from the pair of rollers 56f is guided to the first bottom portion 174a, and is directed toward the pair of squeeze rollers 176.

A portion of the container 174 below the pair of squeeze rollers 176 is a second bottom portion 174b, which serves as a receptacle for water scraped below the lower roller of the pair of squeeze rollers 176.

A first bottom portion 174 is provided at a central portion of the first bottom portion 174a.
A supply pipe 168 is attached to supply water into the tank 160a, and a pump 164 supplies water from a tank 166 to the water supply port 160a as needed. This water supply port 1
There is a heater 180 adjacent to the water heater 60a, and water is heated to a predetermined temperature and then supplied into the first bottom portion 174a.

The first bottom portion 174a and the second bottom portion 174b are connected by a bypass pipe 160, so that the water level at both bottom portions is the same.

On the other hand, on the opposite side of the first bottom part 174a in the second bottom part 174b, there is an overflow B163 partitioned by a partition 165a having the same height as the boundary part 175 between the first bottom part 174a and the second bottom part 174b. Excess water is discharged to an overflow pipe 165 attached to. This overflow vibe 165 enters a tank 166, and the excess water is reused. At this time, it is more effective to remove dirt from the excess water using a filter 162 or the like.

A discharge pipe 169 is connected from the bypass pipe 160 to an overflow pipe 165 through a solenoid valve 167 to drain water from the container 174.

A liquid level sensor 178 (for example, a float sensor) is disposed within the overflow portion 163, and under normal conditions, excess water flows out from the overflow vibe 165 and is not detected by the water level sensor 178.

However, for example, if the filter 162 becomes clogged,
When the amount of excess water discharged is greater than the amount passing through the filter 162, the excess water begins to accumulate in the overflow portion 163. If this continues, the liquid level sensor 178 will eventually detect the level of the stagnant water, and the water supply by the pump 164 will be immediately stopped, and the stagnant state will be gradually eliminated.

Furthermore, by displaying on the display section of the image recording device that the liquid level sensor 178 has detected the surface of the stagnant water, it is possible to encourage the elimination of the cause of the stagnant water.

In addition to the above-mentioned float sensor, the liquid level sensor may be any other device that can detect the liquid level, such as one that detects the water surface position using an optical sensor, or one that detects the water surface position using electrical resistance changes using a thermocouple. be.

Incidentally, in the embodiment described above, the squeeze roller 176 may be formed of, for example, metal, resin, or the like.

Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments,
It may also be an apparatus that applies an imaging solvent to an image-receiving material.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, by providing a liquid level sensor in the overflow part, it is possible to detect when excess water remains in the overflow part, and at this time, by stopping the replenishment of the image forming solvent. It is possible to prevent the image forming solvent from overflowing to the outside of the coating device.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an image recording apparatus equipped with a coating device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a coating section. Reference numbers in the figure: 10 Image recording device 12 Housing 13
Photosensitive material recording section 14 Document support glass plate 15
Image reading section 17 Water application section 18 Light source
19 Overlapping section 21 Heat development transfer section 23 Peeling section 30 Imaging lens/filter unit assembly 32 Optical axis 36 Shutter control device 41 Receiving paper supply section 43 Receiving paper magazine 44, 58 Cutter 54 Sensitive material magazine 56Il to 56n roller pair 60 exposure stand 72
Halogen lamp 74 Heating drum 76, 7? ,
78.80 Belt support roller 84 Endless belt 118 Waste tray 120 Take-out tray 124 Color density detection unit 126 Lighting device 12
8 Color photo sensor 150 Color density control unit 160 Bypass pipe 160a Water supply port 16
2 Filter 163 Overflow part 164
・Pump 165a Partition 165 Overflow vibe 166 Tank 167 Solenoid valve 168
Supply pipe 169 Discharge pipe 172=-guide plate 174 Container 174a First bottom part
174b Second bottom part 176 squeeze roller
180 Heater 178 Liquid level sensor 232
．． 234 Peeling claw 302 White plate A Photosensitive material C Receiving paper

Claims (1)

[Claims] An image forming solvent applicator that conveys a recording material while immersing it in an image forming solvent controlled at a desired temperature, and pinches the swollen recording material between a pair of squeeze rollers to scrape off excess image forming solvent. an overflow part for making the solvent in the water tank a constant amount by overflowing the solvent from the water tank; and for detecting the liquid level of the solvent in the overflow part and stopping the supply of the solvent. An image forming solvent coating device comprising a detection means.