JPH025054A - Image recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To guarantee uniform heating and to prevent the generation of wrinkles on photosensitive material by providing a heating drum and an endless belt and decreasing the diameter of the heating drum as it goes from the center part in an axial direction to both ends. CONSTITUTION:The heating drum 74 is shaped so as to possesses the maximum diameter Dmax at the center part in the axial direction, and the diameter gradually decreases as it goes to both ends possessing the minimum diameter Dmin at both ends and a linear cross section from the center part to both ends. The heating drum 74 is made of metal such as aluminum, formed as a hollow cylinder and a halogen lamp 72 is provided inside. Since the flat endless belt 84 is wound around the peripheral plane of the heating drum 74, the pressing power at the area near the center of the heating drum 74' becomes stronger compared with that at the areas near both ends. Thus, the uniform heating is carried out, the wrinkles are prevented during the heating, and preferable image recording is carried out.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Industrial Application Field] The present invention involves superimposing a photosensitive material having an image formed by imagewise exposure on an image-receiving material, heat-developing the image on the photosensitive material, and converting the image into an image-receiving material. The present invention relates to an image recording device that performs thermal transfer.

[Conventional technology]

As a photosensitive material that requires a heat treatment process, heat-developable photosensitive materials are well known in this technical field.For information on heat-developable photosensitive materials and their processes, for example, see Basic Non-Silver Salt Photography Edition of Photographic Engineering (Published by Corona Publishing, 1982). pages 242 to 255, 40 pages of video information published in April 1978, Neblett's Handbook of Photography (Neblett'
s 1landbook of Photography
and Reprography) 7th edition (7thB
d,) Van Nostrand Reinhold Cumber 1-- (Van No5trand Re1nh
Old Company), pages 32-33.

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

There are also methods in which a mobile dye is released in an image form by heating, and this mobile dye is transferred to a dye-fixing material (image-receiving material) with a mordant using a solvent such as water, and a method in which a high-boiling organic solvent is used to transfer the mobile dye to a dye-fixing material (image-receiving material). A transfer method, a method of transferring to a dye fixing material using a hydrophilic heat solvent built into the dye fixing material, a method in which the mobile dye is heat diffusible or sublimable,
A method of transferring to a dye-receiving material such as a support has been proposed.

As an apparatus for carrying out this type of image forming method, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 59-75247, an exposure head is used in an exposure section to expose a color image onto a heat-developable photosensitive material. Later, this is sent to the heat development 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.

Further, an apparatus has been proposed in which an image forming solvent is applied to at least one of a photosensitive material and an image-receiving material, and then the photosensitive material and the image-receiving material are overlapped to simultaneously perform thermal development and thermal transfer.

In this type of device, the thermal development transfer section has, for example, approximately 12
It consists of a heating drum that is heated to 0°C and an endless belt that is supported by a belt support roller and wrapped around the outer circumference of the heating drum in an arc of approximately 270 degrees. This device heats the material by sandwiching and conveying it.

Here, the photosensitive material and the image-receiving material are pressed against the heating drum by the tension of the endless belt, and are subjected to heat development and transfer. Therefore, the photosensitive material and the image-receiving material are uniformly pressed against the heating drum.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, since the heating drum is cylindrical,
When a photosensitive material or image receiving material that is wavy due to heat or moisture is sandwiched and conveyed between the heating drum and the endless belt, it is not evenly pressed against the heating drum, so the wavy portion is not evenly heated. First, there is a problem that uniform development and transfer are not performed.

Another problem is that the photosensitive material shrinks during heating, causing wrinkles in the photosensitive material.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and to provide an image recording apparatus having a heating section that ensures uniform heating and does not cause wrinkles in the photosensitive material.

[Means and effects for solving the problems] The above-mentioned object of the present invention is to superimpose a photosensitive material having an image formed by imagewise exposure and an image-receiving material, heat develop the image on the photosensitive material, and prepare the image-receiving material. An image recording apparatus that thermally transfers images to a surface of the heating drum, the endless belt contacting a part of the outer peripheral surface of the heating drum and moving in the same direction as the rotational direction of the heating drum. This is achieved by an image recording device whose diameter decreases from the axial center toward both ends.

That is, by forming the diameter of the central part of the heating drum to be larger than the diameter of both ends, when the photosensitive material and image-receiving material are pressed against the heating drum by the endless belt, the pressing force near the center of the heating drum becomes higher. The photosensitive material and the image-receiving material are conveyed while being rolled from near the center toward both ends. Therefore, the corrugated photosensitive material and image-receiving material become flat, and good image recording can be performed without wrinkles during heating.

The photosensitive material used in the present invention basically has a photosensitive silver halide, a binder, a dye-donating compound, and a reducing agent (the dye-donating compound may also serve as a reducing agent) on a support. Furthermore, organic silver salts and other additives can be contained as necessary.

The above-mentioned photosensitive material may be one that gives a negative image upon exposure, or one that gives a positive image.

There are two methods for producing a positive image: a direct positive emulsion as a silver halide emulsion (a method using a nucleating agent, and a method using a light fogging method).
A method using a dye-donating compound that emits a positively diffusible dye image can be adopted.

In the present invention, this diffusible dye is transferred to a dye-fixing element (image-receiving material), but this transfer may be performed simultaneously with heat development, or may be performed continuously or at intervals after heat development. good. Thermal development may be carried out in the presence of a very small amount of water.

There are various methods of transferring diffusible dyes, such as transferring to a dye fixing element using an aqueous solvent such as water, transferring to a dye fixing element using a high boiling point organic solvent, and transferring to a dye fixing element using a hydrophilic hot solvent. There have been proposed methods for transferring dyes to a dye-fixing element having a dye-receiving polymer by utilizing the thermal diffusivity or sublimation of a diffusible dye, and the present invention can be applied to any of these methods.

Listed below are documents specifically describing photosensitive materials and image-receiving materials that can be used in the present invention. U.S. Patent No. 4,463,
No. 097, No. 4,474,867, No. 4,478
, No. 927, No. 4,507380, No. 4,500
, No. 626, No. 4 483 914, JP-A-58-
No. 149046, No. 58-149047, No. 59-1
No. 52440, No. 59-154445, No. 59-16
No. 5054, No. 59-180548, No. 591684
No. 39, No. 59-174832, No. 59-17483
No. 3, No. 59-174834, No. 59-174835
No. 62-65038, No. 61-23245, European Patent Publication No. 210.660A2, European Patent Publication No. 220,746A
No. 2 etc.

Further, the image forming solvent includes, for example, water, and this water is not limited to so-called pure water, but includes water in the widely conventional sense. In addition, pure water, methanol, DMF,
A mixed solvent with a low boiling point solvent such as acetone or diisobutyl coke may also be used. Furthermore, a solution containing an image formation accelerator, an antifoggant, a development stopper, a hydrophilic heat solvent, etc. may also be used.

[Embodiment]

Next, preferred embodiments of the image recording apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an image recording apparatus 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 and formed on 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 stores the photosensitive material A, an image reading section 15 that reads image information carried on the document S, and a latent image formed on the photosensitive material A. An exposure section 16, a water application section 17 that applies water to the photosensitive material A, and an image receiving paper C to the photosensitive material A.
A superimposing section 19 for superimposing the photosensitive material A and the image receiving paper C, a heat development transfer section 21 for performing heat treatment on the photosensitive material A and the image receiving paper C, and a peeling section 23 for separating the image receiving paper C from the photosensitive material A are provided, respectively.

A transparent document support glass plate 14 on which a document S is placed is arranged on the upper surface of the housing 12, and the image reading section 15 is arranged below this document support glass plate 14. That is, the image reading section 15 includes a light source 18 that integrally scans the entire surface of the document supporting glass plate 14, a mirror 20a, an imaging lens/flash assembly 30, and a scanning distance Z of the light source 18, etc. Mirrors 20b and 20c moving in the same direction and fixed mirrors 20d and 20e2O
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 of the photosensitive material A 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 35 and a shutter control device 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, and a cooling fan 303 is provided near the standard white plate 302.

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

The photosensitive material supply section 13 has roller pairs 56a to 56d for conveying the photosensitive material A from the magazine 54 to the exposure section 16. In this case, a cutter 58 for cutting the photosensitive material A into predetermined lengths is provided between the roller pair 56a56b. Further, the exposure table 60 disposed between the roller pair 56C56d faces the exposure opening 34 defined on the bottom surface of the partition wall 22 surrounding the image reading section 15.

In front of the exposure section 16 (hereinafter, "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 A, and is provided with a pair of rollers 56f and 56g.
, a guide plate 172 and a water tank 174. Then, the water tank 174 is filled with water, and the photosensitive material A is transported while being immersed in the water.

The photosensitive material A coated with water is conveyed to the overlapping section 19 by a pair of rollers 56g.

On the other hand, on the right side of the housing 12, there is provided a receiving paper supply section 41 that supplies the receiving paper C. The image-receiving paper supply unit 41 includes a image-receiving paper magazine 4 that stores the rolled image-receiving paper C.
3 is loaded. The image receiving paper C in the magazine 43 is fed out by a pair of rollers 56h, 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 overlapping part 19, the overlapping photosensitive materials A
A heating development transfer section 21 is provided which heats the 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. It includes an endless belt 84 supported by four belt support rollers 76, 77, 7880, and heats the photosensitive material A and the image receiving paper C in a superposed state. 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 56 for discharging 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 A peeled from the image receiving paper C by the peeling claw 232, and a roller pair 56k for supplying the photosensitive material into the waste tray 118. will be 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 56β, 56m for conveying to the take-out tray 120.
56n is provided, and the image-receiving paper C on which the image has been transferred is led out 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 pair of rollers 56m and 56n. The color density detection unit 124 includes an illumination device 126 that illuminates the image surface of the image receiving paper C, and a color photosensor 128 that receives reflected light from the image receiving paper C due to this illumination.

The apparatus further includes a color density control unit 1 connected to the imaging lens/filter unit assembly 30 and the photosensor 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 cutter 44, 58, and the shutter control device 3.
6. 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 and controls the entire apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the heating drum 74.

As shown in FIG. 2, the heating drum 74 has a maximum diameter D m a M at the center in the axial direction, gradually decreases in diameter toward both ends, and has a minimum diameter D ff1I at both ends.
h, and has a straight cross section from the center toward both ends. The heating drum 74 is made of metal such as aluminum, has a hollow cylindrical shape, and is equipped with a halogen lamp 72 inside.

Here, the maximum diameter D188 and the minimum diameter Dffll,
(hereinafter referred to as the crown amount) is set based on the maximum diameter D□8 and the axial length L of the heating drum 74, for example, the maximum diameter D m s -150 mm, L = 3
In the case of 50 mm, when the crown amount was set to 0.1-08 mm, the photosensitive material Δ and the image receiving paper C could be heated uniformly, and the photosensitive material Δ and the image receiving paper C were not wrinkled.

FIGS. 3(a) and 3(b) are sectional views of other embodiments of the heating drum 74.

The heating drum 74 shown in FIG. 3(a) has a maximum diameter D□8 at the center in the axial direction, gradually decreases in diameter toward both ends, and has a minimum diameter D□1° at both ends. , is a shape with a curved cross section.

The heating drum 74 shown in FIG. 3(b) has a maximum diameter in a predetermined area at the center in the axial direction, and 8. The diameter gradually decreases from the end of the maximum diameter portion toward both ends of the drum, and has a minimum diameter D m I h at both ends, and the cross section has a linear sloped surface. .

The area of the central maximum diameter portion is set based on the axial length of the heating drum 74 and the maximum diameter D□8.

Since the flat endless belt 84 is wrapped around the circumferential surface of the heating roller 74, the pressing force near the center of the heating drum 74 is higher than the pressing force near both ends. Therefore, even if the photosensitive material A or image receiving paper C, which is corrugated due to heat or moisture, is held between the heating drum 74 and the endless belt 84, it is conveyed while being gradually rolled from the center in the axial direction toward both ends. The person and the receiving paper C can be flattened. Furthermore, it is possible to prevent the photosensitive material A and the image receiving paper C that are sandwiched and conveyed from being wrinkled during heating.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, since the axial center of the heating drum has a larger diameter than both ends, the photosensitive material and image-receiving material sandwiched and conveyed by the heating drum and the endless belt are always rolled from near the center toward both ends. It is transported while being Therefore, even if a wavy photosensitive material or image-receiving material is held, it becomes flat during conveyance, uniform heating is performed, and no wrinkles occur during heating, making it possible to record good images. .

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an image recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 2 and 3 (a). ) is a sectional view of the heating drum. Reference numbers in the figure: 10 Image recording device 12 Housing 13
Photosensitive material supply 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
34 Opening 35 Nyatter 36 Shutter control device 41 Receiving paper supply unit 43 Receiving paper magazine 4458 Cutter 54 Sensitive material magazine 56 a to 56 N roller pair 60-[light combination 2 Halogen lamp 6, 77, 78, 80 4 Endless belt 18 Waste tray 20 Take-out tray 24 Color density detection unit 28 Color photo sensor 50 Color density control unit 72 Guide plate 32, 234 Peeling claw 02 White plate photosensitive material 74 Heating drum belt support roller 126 Illumination device water tank C image receiving paper

Claims (1)

[Claims] An image recording apparatus that superimposes a photosensitive material having an image formed by imagewise exposure and an image-receiving material, heat-develops the image on the photo-sensitive material, and thermally transfers it to the image-receiving material, the apparatus comprising: a heating drum; The heating drum has an endless belt that contacts a part of the outer peripheral surface and moves in the same direction as the rotational direction of the heating drum, and the heating drum has a shape such that the diameter decreases from the center in the axial direction toward both ends. An image recording device.