JPH0311330A - Automatic film feeder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To always stop a picture in a regular exposure position by performing fine adjustment of a picture structure to store the extent of this position correction when the picture is not in the regular stop state in a first position and using the stored extent of position correction for automatic frame feed to a second position. CONSTITUTION:Picture detecting sensors 37 and 38 to detect the edge position of each picture of a negative film 14 and film front end detecting sensors 39 and 40 to detect the front end of the negative film 14 are arranged on the film entrance side of windows 11 and 12. When the film is fed, the picture position of the film is detected by the first picture detecting sensor 37, and the picture of the film is set to a first position 11, for example, a film observation position, and this picture is subjected to negative film inspection. If it is deviated, the picture position is observed to perform fine adjustment of the picture position by the operation of a fine adjustment key, and the extent of this fine adjustment for each picture is stored in a memory, and this extent is used as the extent of correction at the time of setting the picture to a second position, for example, the exposure position. Thus, the picture is automatically and accurately positioned to the exposure position or the like.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an automatic film feeding device, and more particularly to an automatic film feeding device suitable for use in a printer that performs negative inspection and prints.

[Conventional technology]

Automatic film carriers are used in printer processors, negative verification machines, and the like to automatically set each screen of the film at an exposure position or a negative verification position. This automatic film carrier detects a notch formed on the edge of the film in accordance with the position of the film screen, and automatically positions the screen at the exposure position, etc., or detects each screen of the film using a screen detection sensor. There are some that perform automatic positioning.

[Problem B to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the method of detecting and positioning the notch, there is a problem in that it is necessary to provide the notch in advance in the film.

In addition, when positioning is performed by detecting the edge position of the screen using a screen detection sensor, if the edge position of the screen is unclear, the screen stop position may deviate from the normal position, making it difficult to accurately position the screen at the exposure position. The problem is that it cannot be done.

In addition, conventional film carriers have only one window for printing exposure and negative verification, so when performing negative verification before printing with a printer processor, the screen located in the exposure window must be First, negative verification was performed, and then printing exposure was performed. Therefore, there is a problem that print processing cannot be performed continuously, resulting in a decrease in efficiency.

The present invention is intended to solve the above problems, and is capable of efficiently performing print processing and automatically and accurately positioning the screen to the exposure position, etc. even when the edges of the screen are unclear. The purpose is to provide an automatic film feeding device that can

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides first and second positions at which each frame of the film stops;
First and second screen detection sensors with the same specifications are provided at respective positions, and a first screen with the same specifications sets the film screen at each position based on signals from each screen detection sensor.
and a second film feeding means, a means for observing the screen set at the first position by the first film feeding means and inputting a fine correction amount for the screen position, and a means for inputting a fine correction amount of the screen position, and a means for inputting a fine correction amount of the screen position by observing the screen set at the first position by the first film feeding means, and a means for inputting a fine correction amount of the screen position. a first position correction means that sends a signal to correct the screen position relative to the first position, stores the input fine correction amount, and uses this fine correction amount and the output signal of the second screen detection sensor. Accordingly, a second position correction means for correcting the screen position relative to the second position is provided.

[Effect]

When the film is advanced, the screen position of this film is the first
Detected by screen detection sensor. Based on the signal from this screen detection sensor, a film screen is set at a first position, for example, a film observation position, and a negative verification is performed on this screen. During this negative verification, if the screen position is set deviated from the film observation position, the operator must observe the screen position relative to the film observation position and then finely adjust the screen position by operating the fine adjustment key. , This allows the screen position to be finely adjusted and the screen to be accurately set at the film viewing position. Further, this fine adjustment amount is stored in a memory for each screen, and is used as a correction amount when setting each screen to a second position, for example, an exposure position. Since the screen detection sensor and film feeding means at the film observation position and the screen detection sensor and film feeding means at the exposure position are the same, the screen set at the film observation position can be set at the exposure position under the same conditions. Therefore, the screen set position for both will be the same.

Therefore, if the screen set at the film observation position is slightly shifted, the screen will be set at the exposure position as well, but in this case, the fine adjustment key etc. The input correction amount is stored in memory and used when setting to the exposure position, so there is no need to operate the fine adjustment keys again, and the film screen is automatically set to the exposure position. be done.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1 showing the printer processor, numeral 10 indicates a film carrier. This film carrier 10 is set on a workbench 13 of a printer processor. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the film carrier 10 includes:
A film observation window 11 and an exposure window 12 are provided. The exposure window 12 is provided so as to coincide with the exposure position when the film carrier 10 is set on the workbench 13 of the printer processor. Further, the film observation window 11 is provided on the film entrance side with respect to the exposure window 12.

As shown in FIG. 1, below the film observation window 11, there is a light source 15 built into the film carrier 10 for illuminating the negative film 14;
A diffusion plate 16 is arranged to diffuse light from the inside. Further, a light source section 17 of the printer processor is located below the exposure window 12, and a printing exposure section 18 of the printer processor is located above the exposure window 12. The color paper 19 that has been subjected to printing and exposure in the printing and exposure section 18 is developed in a processor section 20, cut frame by frame, and then discharged onto a tray 21.

Pairs of transport rollers 30 and 31 are arranged in the film observation window 11 and the exposure window 12 to set each screen of the negative film 14 in these directions. Each transport roller pair 30, 31 is rotated asynchronously by pulse motors 33, 34, respectively.

Each pulse motor 33, 34 is controlled by a controller 50, which will be described later, via a driver 33A34A. Further, between the good intentions 11 and 12, a loop forming stage 35 is provided which stores several hundred sides of the negative film 14 in a loop shape in order to perform film observation and printing exposure asynchronously. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the loop forming stage 35 is provided with a fixed guide plate 36A and a movable guide plate 36B for guiding the leading edge of the film to the exposure window side transport roller pair 31. As shown in FIG. 2, after guiding the leading edge of the film, the movable guide plate 36B is rotated upward by a motor (not shown) and retracted so as not to interfere with loop formation.

As shown in FIG. 1, screen detection sensors 37 and 38 for detecting the edge position of each screen of the negative film 14 and the negative film 14 are provided on the film entrance side of the good intentions 11 and 12.
a film leading edge detection sensor 39 for detecting the leading edge of the film;
40 are arranged. Further, a film detection sensor 41 for detecting that the leading end of the film is inserted into the entrance side of the film carrier 10 is arranged at a position upstream of the input side transport roller pair 30 on the film observation window side. Furthermore, a loop detection sensor 42 is arranged on the loop forming stage 35 to detect when a predetermined loop amount has been reached.

The output signals from each of these sensors are sent to the controller 50, where the screen position is determined.

Based on this determination result, the controller 50 controls each of the pulse motors 33 and 34 to automatically position each screen of the film 14 at the right angle 11° 12.

As shown in FIG. 3, the controller 50 is composed of a well-known microcomputer, and the CPU 54 controls automatic frame advance based on the control program stored in the ROM 52, various data stored in the RAM 53, and output signals from each sensor. In addition to this, as shown in Figure 1, the light of the printer processor! It also controls various mechanisms such as the adjustment section 55 and the shutter drive section 56. For this reason, a keyboard 57 is provided for controlling frame advance and various mechanisms. The keyboard 57 includes, as shown in FIG.
Alphanumeric keys 58 for setting various modes and inputting set values, correction keys 59 for inputting negative test results, frame advance keys 60 for advancing frame by frame, and frame advance keys 60 for changing frame positions. For fine-tuning? An illumination key 61, a start key 62, etc. are provided. In addition, numerals 63 and 64 in FIG. 3 are I10 boats, and each boat 6
Each sensor and pulse motor are connected to 3.64.

FIG. 4 shows the screen detection sensor 37 disassembled and viewed from below. Note that the screen detection sensor 38 disposed on the exposure window side is also configured similarly to the screen detection sensor 37 on the film observation window side. A light projecting section including a cold cathode tube 72 is arranged below the negative film 14 transport path. The light from the cold cathode tube 72 passes through the slind door 5 of the slit plate 74 and illuminates the negative film 14 from below.

The slit plate 74 is attached to the opening A of the attaching machine 76 from above. The light transmitted through the negative film 14 is measured by a light receiving sensor 77. The light receiving sensor 77 is I
A glass plate 83 on which five light-receiving parts 82A to 82E are arranged in rows at two square intervals in the width direction of the negative film 14 is bonded to the back surface of the C substrate 81. Note that the central light receiving section 82
One light receiving section 82F is arranged side by side with respect to C at an interval of I side in the film feeding direction. The output signal of the light receiving section 82F is used to detect the arrival of the negative film 14, but can also be used to assist in screen detection as will be described later. The light receiving sections 82A to 82F are composed of well-known amorphous silicon photosensors. Since amorphous can create a uniform and large-area film on a glass plate, etc., as in this example,
The light receiving sections 82A to 82F can be arranged in a strip shape at a predetermined pitch.

Each of the light receiving sections 82A to 82F is formed in a rectangular shape elongated in the width direction of the negative film 14. Each light receiving section 82A-8
The dimensions of 2F are approximately 2.4 mm in length and approximately 0.2 mm in width when detecting each screen 14A of 135 type negative film 14. These light receiving parts 82A
The band-shaped scanning lines L a - L e on the negative film 14 by 82E are shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, which will be described later.

Note that the width of the light receiving portions 82A to 82F is not limited to the above numerical values, but is preferably selected within a range of, for example, 0.1 to 0.5 m. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the light receiving section 82A
Although the number of 82E to 82E is set to five, this number can be increased or decreased as appropriate. This increase/decrease range is preferably in the range of 4 to 10, but is not limited thereto.

Also, on the IC board 81, there is a preamplifier shown in FIG.
An IV conversion circuit 84 is incorporated.

This preamplifier/IV conversion circuit 84 includes each light receiving section 82.
The weak current signal charged and converted by A to 82F is amplified and then converted to a voltage signal. The substrate 81 is attached from above to the opening 86 of the attachment Fi 85, and the glass plate 83 is thereby fitted into the opening 86.

As shown in FIG. 3, the preamplifier/IV conversion circuit 84
After the gain is adjusted by the gain adjustment amplifier 87, the voltage signal from the
where the characteristic value VMin for screen detection is sent to
, and (VMax - VMin) are extracted. That is, the first extraction section 88 extracts the minimum value among the voltage signals V a -Ve from each of the light receiving sections 82A to 82E, and sends this to the A/D converter 92 as the characteristic value V Min.

Further, the second extracting section 90 extracts the maximum value among the voltage signals Va to Ve from each of the light receiving sections 82A to 82E, and converts this into V
Max7 and the difference from VMin from the first extractor 88 is sent to the A/D converter 94 as a characteristic value (VMax - VMin). The signals digitized by each A/D converter 92,94 are sent to the I10 port 63 of the controller 40.

FIG. 5 shows an example of the voltage signals Va to Ve obtained when the negative film 14 and each screen 14A thereof are scanned by the light receiving sections 82A to 82E, and characteristic values VMin, VMax, ( VMax-V
-Example of Min ) is shown. As can be seen from the figure, the characteristic value V Min becomes small within the screen 14A, and becomes large in the plain negative portion, which is the margin 14B between each screen 14A. Therefore, the controller 40 uses this characteristic value VMi
By detecting a sudden change in n, screen 14A and margin 1
The edge that is the boundary with 4B can be determined. In addition, the characteristic value (VMax - VMfn) is
In the margin 14B, the value becomes large, and in the margin 14B, the value becomes close to "0". Therefore, the controller 40 controls this characteristic value (V
By using the controller 40 to detect the position where Max - VMin) changes to approximately "0", the edge position of the screen 14A can be similarly determined.

Then, these two characteristic values VMin, (VMaχ
■ By ANDing the determination signals of old n), the final edge position of the screen 14A is determined, and thereby each screen 14A of the negative film 14 can be positioned in the film observation window 11 of the film carrier 10. can.

The positioning of each screen 14A to the film observation window 11 is performed as follows. First, the leading edge of the negative film 14 is detected by the film leading edge detection sensor 39, and from the time of this detection, the film feed amount is detected, for example, by counting the number of driving pulses of the pulse motor 33. Using this and the screen detection signal, the edge position of each screen 14A of the negative film 14 is stored as feed amount data from the leading edge, and the negative film 14 is transported based on this feed amount data to move each screen 14A. Position it in the film observation window 11. In addition,
Basically, each screen 14A of the negative film 14 is positioned also in the exposure window 12 in the same manner.

In this way, based on the output signals from the screen detection sensors 37, 38 and the film leading edge detection sensors 39, 40, which also have the same specifications, the pair of transport rollers 30, 31 and the pulse motors 33, 34, which also have the same specifications, are controlled. Since each screen 14A is positioned at .12, each screen 14A is always located at the same stop position on the good intentions 11 and 12.

However, if the edges of each screen 14A are unclear, the screen stop position may deviate from the normal stop position. Since the frame advancing devices of the good intentions 11 and 12 have the same specifications, the amount of deviation is approximately the same for each window 11 and 12. Therefore, if the film observation window 11 is stopped at a position slightly deviated from the normal stop position, the fine adjustment key 61 is operated to finely adjust the screen stop position. This is done by operating the fine adjustment key 61 in the direction in which you want to move the screen 14A, and rotating the pulse motor 33 in the corresponding direction. The position correction amount input with this fine adjustment key 61 is
It can be detected by counting the rotational direction of the pulse motor 33 and the number of drive pulses. Therefore, this rotation direction and the number of drive pulses are stored in the corresponding area of the RAM 53 for each screen 14A.

When each screen 14A is set in the exposure window 12, the positioning can be performed automatically without operating the fine adjustment key 61 by referring to the signal from the screen detection sensor 38 and the position correction amount. can. The procedure of the above-mentioned digit determination control is shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. 6 shows the control procedure for the film observation window 11, and FIG. 7 shows the control procedure for the exposure window 12.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1, 6, and 7.

When a negative film 14 is inserted from the entrance side of the film carrier 10 and its leading end is brought into contact with the nip portion of the entry side transport roller pair 30, the film detection sensor 41 detects the insertion of the film. This detection signal is made into a frame advance signal and is sent to the controller 50. The controller 50 rotates the transport roller pair 30 based on this detection signal, and rotates the film 14.
transport. Due to this transfer, each screen 14A of the film 14 is scanned by the light receiving sensor 77 of the screen detection sensor 37, and after the gain of this signal is adjusted by the gain adjustment section 87, the characteristic value is extracted by each characteristic value extraction section 88.90. After the extraction has been made and digitized with an A/D converter 92.94,
It is sent to the controller 50. As described above, the controller 50 sets each characteristic value VMin, (VMax −
Based on VMin), the edge position of each screen 14A is detected, and each screen 14A is thereby positioned in the film observation window 11.

After the positioning is completed, the operator checks the screen position, and if the screen 14A stops at a position shifted from the normal stop position of the film observation window 11, the operator operates the fine adjustment key 61 to finely adjust the west side position. The position correction amount due to this fine adjustment is stored in a predetermined area of the RAM 53 for each screen as the number of driving pulses of the pulse motor 33.
When the operator stops at the correct position, the operator observes the screen, performs a negative test, and inputs the amount of correction for density and color balance using the correction key 59. This negative verification result is stored in the RAM 53 for each screen, and later read out when this screen is positioned in the exposure window 12. ) The exposure amount is determined based on the photometry results.

The film 14 that has been negative tested in the above manner is
As shown in the figure, after being stored in a predetermined loop amount at the loop forming stage 35, the edge position detection signal is sent to the exposure window 12, and the edge position detection signal from the screen detection sensor 38 and the position correction amount input at the film observation window 11 are sent to the exposure window 12. Based on this, each screen is positioned in the exposure window 12. That is, controller 5
0 grasps the number of screens from the leading edge of the film based on the number of edges detected by the exposure window side screen detection sensor 38.

Then, based on this number of screens, the position correction data of a predetermined area of the RAM 53 is read out, and it is determined whether or not the screen currently located in the exposure window 12 is the one for which the position correction amount was input in the film observation window 11. Based on the result of this determination, if there is a positional correction amount, the film is transported in consideration of the positional correction amount. In addition, if there is no position correction amount, a fixed amount of feed is performed based on the normal edge position detection, so that each screen is accurately positioned in the exposure window 12 without shifting. Photometry is performed on the screen using a scanner, and printing exposure is performed based on the photometry results and the negative verification results. When the printing exposure is completed and a new unexposed color paper 19 is set at the exposure position, the controller 50 outputs a frame advance signal.

Then, each screen is sequentially set in the exposure window 12 based on the loop amount, the frame advance signal, and the screen detection signal. The printed and exposed color paper 19 is transferred to the processor section 20.
The film is then sent to , where it is processed.

In addition, in the above embodiment, the film observation window 11 and the exposure window 1
However, the present invention is not limited to this, and even when automatically metering with a scanner in a window other than the exposure window, the positioning of the metering window and the exposure window can be adjusted. The invention can also be practiced between. Furthermore,
The present invention can also be carried out between the exposure value 1 and the cut position when cutting a long film into a predetermined number of frames after exposure.

Further, although the film observation window and the exposure window are integrally provided in the same film carrier 10, they may be provided separately, and the present invention can also be practiced in this case.

Further, in the above embodiment, the characteristic value VMin is determined based on the output signal from the screen detection sensor 37 and 38.

(VMax - VMin) is extracted and the screen position is detected using this, but the screen position detection method is not limited to the above method, and detection may be performed using other methods. In addition, the characteristic values are obtained after gain adjustment of the signal from the screen detection sensor 37.3B, but in addition to this, the signal from the screen detection sensor is logarithmically compressed and converted into a density value, and the density value is Characteristic values can also be determined based on the values.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the characteristic values VMin, (VMa
x - VMiri) and detect the screen position of the negative film using this AND signal.In addition to this, it is also possible to perform even more accurate screen position detection by referring to the signal from the light receiving section 82F. You can also do it.

That is, the above two characteristic values VMin, (VMa
x −VMin ), when the edge on the side where the screen 14A changes to the margin 14B is detected, the light receiving part 82F
The detection signal ■f from 14B indicates the maximum value because it detects the margin 14B. This is because the light receiving section 82F is arranged 1 m apart from the light receiving section 82C, and the width of the margin 14B is about 2 m.
Therefore, when the edge is detected, the light receiving section 8
This is because 2F is always located above the margin 14B. Therefore, depending on whether this signal f has the maximum value or not, the margin 1
For example, depending on the scene on the screen, a blank area similar to the margin 14B is formed in the entire width of the film, and this blank area is When the width is smaller than the width of the margin 14B, blank areas in the screen will not be mistakenly detected as the margin 14B, and detection accuracy can be improved.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, the first position and the second position
The same screen detection sensor and film feeding means are provided at the same position, and the screen position is finely adjusted when the screen is not in a normal stopped state at the first position during automatic frame-by-frame feeding of the film.
This position correction amount is stored, and this position correction amount is used as the second position correction amount.
Since it is used for automatic frame-by-frame feeding to a certain position, the screen can always be stopped at the normal position at the second position, for example, the exposure position. Therefore, there is no need to constantly monitor the position of each screen at the second position, and when printing exposure is performed at the second position, automatic printing exposure can be performed reliably and efficiently.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a printer processor implementing an automatic film feeding device according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the overall appearance of the film carrier in the same embodiment. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the function of detecting the screen based on the signal from the light receiving sensor. FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the screen detection sensor. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a negative film, signals from each light receiving section when the screen of the negative film is scanned, and characteristic values extracted from the signals. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the automatic frame advance procedure in the film viewing window. FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing the automatic frame advance procedure in the exposure window. 41 Film detection sensor 50 Controller 10 1 l 2 14 14 A 30.31 35 37, 38 39, 40 Film carrier Film observation Window (first position) Exposure window (second position) Negative film/screen...Conveyance roller pair loop forming stage...Screen detection sensor...Film tip detection sensor Figure 6

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) First and second positions where each frame of the film stops, first and second screen detection sensors with the same specifications provided at the first and second positions, and each screen detection sensor. First and second film feeding means of the same specifications set the film screen at each position based on the signal, and fine correction of the screen position is made by observing the screen set at the first position by the first film feeding means. means for inputting the amount, first position correction means for correcting the screen position relative to the first position by feeding the film by the input fine correction amount, and storing the input fine correction amount. , a second position correction means for correcting the screen position relative to the second position based on the fine correction amount and the output signal of the second screen detection sensor.