JPH03139626A - Mask original plate for image recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate the nonuniformity of the density of registration marks and to lessen the color slurring of color images by providing solid black parts of the same size as or slightly larger than the size of the registration marks before the registration marks by the distance required for the developing sleeve of a laser printer to make one turn. CONSTITUTION:The mask original plate 15 of the image recorder is provided with the solid black parts 102 of a prescribed area just before the registration marks 101 in order to obviate the photographing of the image just before the registration marks 101. Namely, the mask original plate is provided with the solid black parts 102 of the area larger than the registration marks 101 in the position apart by the distance (a) from the registration marks 101. The distance (a) is the distance required for the developing sleeve of the laser printer to make one turn. The nonuniformity of the density by the influence of the image just before the registration marks 101 of the mask original plate 15 and the influence of an edge effect is eliminated in this way and the accuracy of the registration of the mask original plate is improved. The color slurring on the color images is thus decreased.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to alignment marks for image recording devices, and more specifically, the present invention relates to alignment marks for image recording devices, and more specifically, to exposure of a mask original created based on image information onto photosensitive paper to form a color image. The present invention relates to alignment marks for an image recording device to be obtained.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, an image recording apparatus of this type has been proposed as shown in the specification and drawings of Japanese Patent Application No. 1983-256000 filed by the present applicant. In this apparatus, a reference mark for alignment on the mask original is read by a reflective sensor, and after alignment is performed at a predetermined position by an alignment means, contact exposure with photosensitive pressure sensitive paper is performed. By repeating this process with three mask plates, a color latent image was formed on the photosensitive pressure sensitive paper, and by superimposing it with a color developer sheet and applying pressure, a color image was formed. The original mask used for this purpose had a specific shape shown in FIG. 6 printed in solid black.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, a laser printer using an electrophotographic method can be considered as a monochrome printer used in this device, and when a mask original is created with a laser printer, the image immediately before the alignment mark is , the density of the alignment mark varies depending on the location.

In other words, if the alignment mark is solid black, most of the toner on the developing sleeve of the laser printer will be developed onto the photoconductor to print solid black, and the developing sleeve will be newly coated with toner in the developing device. and used for subsequent development of alignment marks. On the other hand, if the image immediately before the alignment mark is of low density or has a white background, the toner on the developing sleeve will not be consumed and will be frictionally charged again in the developing device and in the layer thickness regulating blade, etc., and will be used for the next alignment. Used for developing marks. For this reason, the toner charge ff1 (Q/g) during development of the alignment mark is different between the former and the latter, and as a result, the density of the alignment mark differs depending on the presence or absence of the image immediately before the alignment mark or the density. be. In addition, because the density of the alignment mark becomes uneven due to the so-called edge effect, which occurs when the edge part of the alignment mark is developed and the density is low inside, it is difficult to locate the alignment mark using a reflective optical sensor. When aligning, because the amount of reflected light from a certain area is detected, it is not possible to separate variations in density from variations in position, and it is not possible to align the three original mask plates to the same position accurately, resulting in color shift in the color image. There was a problem in that it caused

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and improves the color of a color image by eliminating the influence of the image immediately before the alignment mark on the mask original and uneven density due to edge effects. The purpose is to reduce the deviation.

[Means for Solving the Problem] In order to achieve this object, the mask original of the image recording device of the present invention has a predetermined area immediately before the alignment mark in order to eliminate the influence of the image immediately before the alignment mark. A solid black area is provided.

Additionally, alignment marks are formed as dots to eliminate the influence of edge effects.

Further, as a method of eliminating the influence of edge effects, alignment marks are formed by lines.

[Function] In the mask master plate of the present invention having the above configuration, by providing a solid black area equal to or slightly larger than the alignment mark in front of the alignment mark by the distance required for one rotation of the developing sleeve of the laser printer. Non-uniform density of alignment marks is eliminated.

In addition, by forming alignment marks with dots and lines,
The alignment mark can be printed using only the edges, and uneven density of the alignment mark due to edge effects is eliminated.

[Example] Hereinafter, an example embodying the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

First, the structure and operation of the entire image recording apparatus will be explained with reference to FIG.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a monochrome laser printer and a color image recording device 20 in a combined arrangement.

First, a monochrome laser printer is mounted on top of a color image recording device. A polygon scanner 2 in a laser printer 1 draws an electrostatic latent image by irradiating a charged photoreceptor 3 with laser light. The photoreceptor 3 on which the electrostatic latent image has been formed is developed by a developing device 4, and the toner image is transferred onto plain paper or an OHP sheet fed from a paper feed cassette 5, and fixed by a fixing device 6. Typically, the monochrome laser printer 1 records data transmitted from a host computer.

The output from the laser printer is output from the paper bus switching unit 10 to the monochrome output tray 11 if a black and white image is required.
Alternatively, if a color image is required, the sheet is sent to the paper ejection tray 12 and then taken into the color image recording device 20.

The front end side of the paper output tray 12 is rotatable between the position shown by the solid line and the position shown by the chain line in FIG. 1, and when located at the position shown by the solid line, the paper output from the laser printer is is taken into the color image recording device 20,
A set of three monochrome printed sheets output from a laser printer is used as a mask original 15 (15R, 15G, 15B) of the color image recording device 20.

Next, the configuration of the color image recording device 20 will be explained.

That is, the upper part of the main body of the color image recording device 20 includes an alignment device 31, a circulation guide 25, and two parallel guides.
A mask original transport device 21 is located in which storage sections 26 and 27 are connected in an annular manner.

The positioning device 31 of the mask original transport device 21 and the storage portions 26 and 27 are connected to the discharge tray 12 of the monochrome laser printer 1 via the guide member 22, so that the output tray 12 of the monochrome laser printer 1 A sheet of paper (mask original) is introduced into the mask original transport device 21 . Further, a gate 23 is arranged in the mask original conveying device 21 below the guide member 22, and the mask original 15 that has been guided and conveyed by the guide member 22 is placed on the alignment 31 side or ejected by this gate 23. paper tray 3
It is sorted to the 0 side. Furthermore, a 'gate 28 is arranged between the circulation guide 25 and the two storage sections 26 and 27, and the mask original 15 that has been guided and conveyed by the circulation guide 25 is placed in the upper part by this gate 28. It is sorted into either the storage section 26 side or the lower storage section 27 side.

On the other hand, the mask original plate 15 inserted from the manual feed tray 29
is guided into the mask original transport device 21 via the gate 24.

The alignment device 31 is constructed by processing a belt 31a made of a transparent dielectric material (for example, polyethylene terephthalate (PET)) into an endless shape and stretching it between two rotating shafts. has been done. At least one of the two shafts is rotationally driven by a motor (not shown), and as the shaft rotates, the belt 31a is driven to circulate in the direction shown by the arrow in FIG. The surface of the belt 31a is charged by a charging device (for example, a corotron), not shown, and is adapted to attract the mask original 15 by electrostatic attraction. Further, a sensor for alignment is provided near the belt 31a, and is configured to read alignment marks printed at predetermined positions on the mask original plate 15 and set the mask original plate 15 at a predetermined position. It is composed of

An exposure device 41 is arranged above the alignment device 31, and the exposure device 41 is movable in the left-right direction along the alignment device 31.

The exposure device 41 includes a linear white light source (hereinafter simply referred to as a lamp) 42 and a reflection plate 43 that reflects light from the lamp 42.
and arranged to surround the lamp 42 and the reflector 43,
The color separation filter 44 includes a red filter 44R, a green filter 44G, and a blue filter 44B.

The photosensitive recording medium 50 is, for example, disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-14304.
The main material is a photocurable resin using a photopolymerization initiator disclosed in Publication No. 4, and includes a photocurable resin that cures with light of each wavelength of red, green, and blue, and cyan, etc. Microcapsules containing zenta and yellow dye precursors are coated on a base sheet. The photosensitive recording medium 50 is housed in a cartridge 51 so as not to be exposed to light. The photosensitive recording medium 50 pulled out from the cartridge 51 passes between the belt 31a and the exposure table 52, and then passes through a fixed roller 56, a slack remover 55, a movable guide 64, a pressure phenomenon device 70, and a drive roller 57, and then is wound. It is wound up on the take-up roller 54. When the exposure table 52 is exposed to light by the front optical device 41, it is raised by a cam 53, and thereby the mask original plate 15 and the photosensitive recording medium 50, which have been conveyed by the belt 31a, are raised by the cam 53.
and bring them into close contact. Further, the fixed roller 56 clamps and fixes the exposed photosensitive recording medium 50 while the pressure development device 70 performs a developing process.

Furthermore, the slack removing device 55 prevents the photosensitive recording medium 50 from sagging while the pressure developing device 70 performs the development process, and the driving roller 57 prevents the photosensitive recording medium 50 from being sagged at a constant speed. can.

For example, it is constructed by applying a color developer shown in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 58-88739 on a base paper, and the cassette 61
It is set so that the color developer coated side faces downward. The developer sheets 60 are taken out one by one from the cassette 61 by a paper feed roller 62 that is intermittently driven by a drive source (not shown), and are supplied to the pressure developing device 70.

Then, the color developer sheet 60 is attached to the exposed photosensitive recording medium 5.
0 is pressed by a pair of pressure rollers 71 of the pressure developing device 70, and as a result, the latent image formed on the photosensitive recording medium 50 by exposure is transferred onto the developer sheet 60. Visualized.

The heat fixing device 80 includes a heat roller 82 having a built-in heater 81.
, auxiliary roller 85, its heat roller 82 and auxiliary roller 85
The developer sheet is composed of an endless belt 84 installed between them and a presser roller 83 pressed against a heat roller 82 via the endless belt 84, and is guided and conveyed by a movable guide 64 from the pressure developing device 70. 6
0 is polished by the heat fixing device 80 and then discharged onto the paper discharge tray 63.

Next, detailed configurations of the alignment device 31, exposure table 52, etc. will be explained with reference to FIG. 2.

The positioning device 31 includes a piston 1 on the exposure table 52 side, which is composed of a belt 31a and a contact auxiliary plate 101 inside the belt 31a.
Air suction device 1 consisting of 02 and cylinder 103
04, a pipe 105 connecting the suction device 104 and the exposure table 52, and a valve 106 provided in the middle thereof.

1 The operation of the device configured as above will be explained below.

First, a mask original plate 15R for red color is produced by the monochrome laser printer 1. This mask original version 15R is
In order to harden the microcapsules containing a cyan dye precursor among the microcapsules coated on the photosensitive recording medium 50, this is a mask original plate with toner as a light-shielding image placed on other parts.

At this time, the monochrome laser printer 1
is in the position shown by the solid line, and the mask original 15R is guided by the guide member 22 to the color image recording device 20.
The original mask is guided into the mask original conveying device 21 .

At this time, other mask originals 1 are placed in the alignment device 31.
When it is confirmed by the sensor of the alignment device 31 that there is no mask original 1 by the gate 23,
5R is transported to the alignment device 31.

Next, the alignment device 31 adsorbs the mask original 15]2R to the belt 31a using electrostatic adsorption force and conveys it to the appropriate exposure position, and then the sensor reads the alignment mark printed on the mask original 15R. At the same time, the position is adjusted to an accurate position by a drive source (not shown).

Next, the photosensitive recording medium 50 is held down by the fixed roller 56, and the cam 53 is rotated by a predetermined angle by a drive source (not shown) to push the exposure table 52 upward, so that the photosensitive recording medium 50 sandwiches the mask original 15R. It comes into close contact with the belt 31a of the positioning device 31 while being pushed in.

When the exposure table 52 comes into close contact with the alignment device 31, the lamp 42 is turned on, and the exposure device 41 moves in the direction of the arrow to expose the photosensitive recording medium 50 with red light through the red filter 44R and the mask original 15R. Scanning exposure is performed in the A direction. When the exposure is completed, the lamp 42 is turned off and the exposure device 41 moves back in the direction of arrow B. At this time, the exposure device 41
A filter cylinder 44 is rotated by a drive source (not shown), and a green filter 4403 is located directly below the lamp 42.

Here, in addition to the alignment mark, the mask original plate 15 is printed with a color-specific mark indicating which color the mask original plate is a color separation mask original plate, and is read by a sensor at the same time as the alignment operation. In addition, the filter cylinder 44
is equipped with a sensor that detects the deduction points of each of the three types of filters 44R, 44G, and 44B.
4G.

44B do not correspond, the filter cylinder 44 rotates to select each predetermined filter 44R, 44G, 44B.
It is designed to correspond to While the exposure device 41 moves backward, the exposure table 52 is lowered by the rotation of the cam 53, and the photosensitive recording medium 50 is separated from the alignment device 31 and the mask original 15R.

At this time, pack tension is applied to the photosensitive recording medium 50 at the center of rotation of the roll of the photosensitive recording medium 50 inside the cartridge 5, and when the exposure table 52 is raised, a length corresponding to the amount of rise of the exposure table 52 is applied. Saga storage cartridge 51
It is drawn out from within. Also, when the exposure is finished and the exposure table 52 is lowered,
The photosensitive recording medium 50 is rewound in a direction that takes up the slack.

When the exposure by the red mask original 15R is completed and the lowering of the exposure table 52 is confirmed, the belt 31a of the alignment device 31 rotates, and the mask original 15R is moved to the circulation guide section 2.
After passing through 5, the user is guided to a storage section 26 by a gate 28.

Next, after the green mask original 15G created by the monochrome laser printer 1 passes through the guide member 22,
The gate 23 guides the alignment device 31 .

Then, as in the case of the mask original plate 15R, after alignment is performed with respect to the photosensitive recording medium 50, the photosensitive table 52 is raised, and the photosensitive recording medium 50 and the mask original plate 15G are aligned with the belt 31a of the alignment device 31. and then lamp 4
2 lights up, and exposure to green light is performed via the green filter 44G. After exposure, the exposure table 52 is lowered, the mask original 15G is guided upward through the circulation guide section 25, the gate 28 is rotated, and the mask original 15G is guided to the storage section 27.

As the exposure device 41 moves back to its original position, the filter cylinder 44 rotates to position the blue filter 44B directly below the lamp.

Similarly, the blue mask original plate 15B created by the monochrome laser printer is transferred to the mask original conveying device 2.
1 and aligned to a predetermined position by an alignment device 3]. Thereafter, the exposure device 41 exposes the photosensitive recording medium 50 to blue light.

Through the above operations, a latent image of a desired color image is recorded on the photosensitive recording medium 50.

Next, as the exposure table 52 is lowered, the fixed roller 56 is separated and the drive roller 57 is rotated, so that the photosensitive recording medium 50
Wind it up in the direction of arrow C. At this time, the photosensitive recording medium 5
The buffer 55 and the movable guide member 64 for taking up the slack are located at the positions indicated by solid lines. In addition, the pressure developing device 7
The pressure rollers 71 of No. 0 are spaced apart from each other. Therefore, during the winding operation, the photosensitive recording medium 500 microcapsules are not damaged or destroyed. The drive roller 57 stops when the rear end portion of the latent image on the photosensitive recording medium 50 reaches the pressure roller 71 of the pressure developing device 70 .

In synchronization with the movement of the photosensitive recording medium 50, a developer sheet 60 is sent out from the cassette 61 by a paper feed roller 62, and is stopped at a position where the front end of the developer sheet corresponds to the rear end of the photosensitive recording medium 50. Make it.

Next, by a drive device (not shown), the pressure roller 71 of the pressure developing device 70 is pressed against the photosensitive recording medium 50 while rotating in the direction of the arrow, and the fixed roller 56 again clamps and fixes the photosensitive recording medium 50 . As a result, the photosensitive recording medium 50 is overlapped with the color developer sheet 60 and is sent in the direction of the arrow while being pressurized, and the uncured microcapsules on the photosensitive recording medium 50 are destroyed by the pressure and the photosensitive recording medium 50 is A color image corresponding to the latent image on the recording medium 50 is developed on the developer sheet 50.

As the pressure roller 71 of the pressure developing device 70 rotates in the direction of the arrow ] 7 , the slack removing device 55 moves in the direction of the arrow E and absorbs the slack of the photosensitive recording medium 50 . When the slack removing device 55 moves in the direction of arrow E,
The movable guide 64 moves to the position shown by the chain line by a mechanism not shown, and moves the tip of the developer sheet 60 to the photosensitive recording medium 5.
It is peeled off from 0 and guided in the direction of the heat fixing device 80.

In the heat fixing device 80, the color developer sheet 60 receives thermal energy from the heater 81 via a rotating heat roller 82 and an endless belt 84, thereby promoting color development of a color image. Along with this, add a color developing medium (color developer sheet) 60
The binder polymer (binding resin) for fixing to the base paper of the color developer sheet 60 is thermally melted and has a smoothness corresponding to the smoothness of the surface of the endless belt, so that the surface of the color developer sheet 60 has an appropriate gloss. obtain.

The color developer sheet 60 that has been subjected to the coloring and gloss treatment is separated by the curvature from the endless belt 84 and is discharged to the paper discharge tray 63.

During the above-mentioned series of development and coloring/glossy processing, the optical recording medium 50 is clamped and fixed by the fixed rollers 56, so the tension of the capsule sheet 50 changes due to the development in the subsequent process in the process before the exposure table 52. etc. are not affected. Therefore, while the development process for one screen is being performed, the exposure process for the latent image of another color image can be performed on the exposure table 52.

In addition, when it is desired to obtain a plurality of color images from the same mask original 15, the mask original 15R that has been waiting in the storage section 26 is guided to the alignment device 31 again through the gate 23 in the mask original conveying device 21, The same process as the exposure process for the first sheet is performed. The mask originals 15G and 15B are also guided one after another to the alignment device 31 using the storage sections 26 and 27 as soon as the exposure of the previous mask original 15 is completed. The mask original transport device 21 can thus repeatedly circulate the mask original 15 as many times as necessary.

After obtaining the required number of color images from the same mask original 15, the gate 23 rotates and guides each mask original 15 in the mass 9 original transport device 21 to the paper discharge tray 30.

Furthermore, in the event that the next combination of mask originals 15 enters from the monochrome laser printer 1 while a series of color images is being exposed, the gate 23 transfers these mask originals to the output tray 30. I will guide you to.

Further, the mask original conveying device 21 is equipped with a manual feed tray 29 for manually taking in the mask original 15 created by other means as described above. However, if there is already another mask original transport device in the mask original transport device 21, a manual feed gate 24 is provided to prevent manual feeding.

Next, with reference to FIG. 2, the mask original 15 and the locations detected by the sensor of the alignment device 31 are shown.

Sensor S1 and sensor S2 detect the position and inclination in the direction of arrow G (feeding direction), sensor S3 detects the direction of arrow H (lateral position), and alignment device 31 aligns the mask original 15 to a predetermined position. .

Sl,,S2. S3 is a reflective optical sensor that detects the amount of reflected light from a certain area.

Next, the mask original plate 15 of the present invention will be explained with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5. The mask original in FIG. 3 has an alignment mark 10 located at a distance a from the alignment mark 101.
A solid black portion 102 having an area larger than 1 is provided. At this time, the distance a is the distance required for the developing sleeve of the laser printer to rotate once.

Figure 4 shows a mask original with alignment marks formed as dots, and Figure 5 shows mask originals with alignment marks formed as lines. By configuring it in this shape, the density of the edge portion becomes almost uniform regardless of the variation in the amount of toner charge on the developing sleeve due to the presence or absence of an image immediately before the mark, and as a result, the variation in the amount of light input to the reflective sensor is reduced.

1 The present invention is not limited to the embodiments detailed above, and various changes can be made without departing from the spirit thereof.

For example, by using a combination of those shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the effects can be further improved.

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the detailed description above, according to the present invention, unevenness in density due to the influence of the immediately preceding image or edge effect can be eliminated from the alignment mark on the mask original. , it becomes possible to improve the precision of alignment of the mask original and reduce color shift on color images.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figures 1 to 5 show embodiments embodying the present invention. Figure 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of an image recording device, and Figure 2 shows alignment marks and alignment marks on a mask original. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a mask original according to one embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a mask original according to another embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing a mask original according to another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing a conventional mask original. In the figure, 15 is a mask original, 101 is an alignment mark, 1
02 is solid black part, Sl, S2. S3 is a sensor.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In an image recording device that uses a light-shielding mask master plate on which image information and alignment marks for alignment at predetermined positions are printed using electrophotography, a solid area of a predetermined area is printed immediately before the alignment mark. A mask original plate for an image recording device characterized by having a black area.