JPH03243935A - Image recordor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To utilize exposure means for a slide exposure, etc, and to widen the range of use by making a first exposure means and a second exposure means attachable/detachable to/from a main body. CONSTITUTION:A three color resolution exposure unit 40 is mounted detachably on a main body frame, exposure unit marks 48 and 49 are provided in an upper surface of three color resolution unit 40, and exposure unit discriminating sensors 110 and 111 are provided in the positions corresponding to each mark on the main body side. Furthermore, the three color resolution exposure unit 40 can be removed and a slide exposure unit 140 can be attached, because of this, exposure unit marks 148 and 149 are provided at the same positions as the three color resolution exposure unit 40 in the slide exposure unit 140. Thus, the exposure means of the slide exposure, etc., can also be utilized.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus that exposes a photosensitive recording medium using a mask original.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, this type of image recording device was developed by the present applicant in Japanese Patent Application No. 62-105843 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 63-26865).
There is a proposal made in Publication No. 0). In this image recording device, when obtaining multiple color outputs from the same set of mask originals, after the mask original is sent out from the exposure position, a mask is used to temporarily store other mask originals during exposure. The original storage section and a transport path for transporting the original to the exposure position again are connected in a circular manner and are arranged at the upper part of the main body of the image recording apparatus.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the above-mentioned apparatus, since the exposure means is disposed inside the circulation section of the mask original, it is only possible to perform close-contact transmission exposure at the same magnification, and there is a problem that the range of use is narrow. Incidentally, improvement of the negative layer is desired.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image recording apparatus that can also utilize a surface exposure means such as slide exposure.

[Means for Solving the Problem] In order to achieve this object, the image recording device of the present invention has the following features:
A first step for exposing a photosensitive recording medium through a mask master plate.
The exposure means and the second exposure means for exposing the photosensitive recording medium through a color image such as a slide are selectively attachable to and detachable from the main body of the image recording apparatus.

[Function] In the image recording apparatus of the present invention having the above configuration, the first exposure means and the second exposure means are selectively attached and detached.

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

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

First, the monochrome laser printer 1 is mounted on top of the color image recording device 20. In the laser printer 1, a polygon scanner 2 irradiates a charged photoreceptor 3 with laser light, thereby drawing an electrostatic latent image. 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 1 is sent to the paper bus switching unit 10.
If a black and white image is required, it is fed to the monochrome output tray 11 or automatic document feeder (hereinafter referred to as ADF) tray 12; if a color image is required, it is fed to the ADF.
) After being sent to the ray 12, it is taken into the color image recording device 20.

The sheets sent to the ADF tray 12 are taken one by one into the color image recording device 20 by the ADF paper feed roller 13, and three sheets of monochrome printed paper output from the laser printer 1 are combined into a set of color images. It is used as a mask original 15 (15R, 15G, 15B) of the image recording device 20.

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

An alignment device 31 is located at the bottom of the main body of the color image recording device 20.
1 are connected by a mask original transport path 21. On both left and right sides of the alignment device 31 are roller pairs 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27 whose rotation direction can be controlled, and a gate 2.
8.29 and a mask original storage section 102 are arranged. In the middle of the mask original transport path 21, a laser printer 1 is installed.
A pair of glue curler rollers 101 is arranged to remove curls from the mask original 15 discharged from the mask original plate 15.

The used mask original plate 1 is placed on the outside of the roller pair 26 and 27.
There is a mask original discharge tray 30 for discharging the original mask 5.

The alignment device 31 includes a sensor (not shown), a pair of rollers 32 and 33 placed near both left and right ends, a glass plate 34 placed between them, and the like.

Below the alignment device 31 is a three-color separation exposure unit 4.
0 is arranged, and an exposure device 41 is provided therein so as to be movable in the left-right direction along the alignment device 31.

This three-color separation exposure unit 40 is removably attached to the main body frame.
Four exposure unit marks 48. are provided on the upper surface of the . Exposure unit identification sensors 110 and 111 are provided on the main body at positions corresponding to the respective marks.

The exposure device 41 is a linear white light source (hereinafter referred to as a lamp).
42, a reflecting plate 43 that reflects light from the lamp 42, and a filter unit 44 including 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. 62-143044.
The main material is a photocurable resin using a photopolymerization initiator known in the publication, and the photocurable resin is cured by light of each wavelength of red, green, and blue, and cyan, magenta, and yellow. Microcapsules containing each of the 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 is routed from inside the cartridge 51, passing between the glass plate 34 and the exposure table 52, passing through the buffer 55, the pressure developing device 70'', the separating roller 64, and the driving roller 57, and then reaching the take-up roller 54. The exposure table 52 is lowered by the cam 53,
It is configured so that the mask original 15 conveyed onto the glass plate 34 and the photosensitive recording medium 50 are brought into close contact. The fixed roller 56 is pressed against the left end of the exposure table 52 when the exposure table 52 is lowered to a predetermined position, and is arranged so as to fix the photosensitive recording medium 50 to the exposure table 52 during exposure of the mask original 15. has been done.

The developer sheet 60 is constructed by coating a base paper with a developer described in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 58-88739, and is placed in the cassette 61 so that the developer-coated surface faces downward. It is set.

A suction cup 62 for feeding the color developer sheets 60 one by one is arranged on the top of the cassette 61.

The pressure developing device 70 is composed of a photosensitive recording medium 50 on which a latent image has been formed by exposure, and a pair of pressure rollers 71 for overlapping a color developer sheet 60 and developing it under pressure.

The heat fixing device 80 is constructed between a casing 83 containing a heater 81 and an impeller 82 in the upper part, rubber rollers 84, 85, 86 for conveying the color developer sheet 60 in the lower part, and rollers 87 and 88. A paper ejection tray 63 is attached to the outside of the heat fixing device 80.

FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of the control system.

The control system includes a control circuit 12 consisting of a microcomputer, etc.
0, various sensors including exposure unit identification sensors 110 and 111 are manually operated, and output is sent to actuators such as motors and solenoids, lamps, heaters, and the like.

In the apparatus configured as described above, the operation when obtaining a plurality of color images from one set of mask originals will be described below.

When the power is turned on, the exposure unit identification sensor 110.1
11 detects the exposure unit marks 48 and 49 and enters the three-color separation exposure mode.

First, a mask original plate 15R for red is created using 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 mask original plate has toner as a light-shielding image placed on other parts. At this time, the mask original 15R outputted from the monochrome laser printer 1 is sent to the ADF tray 12 and fed into the color image recording device 20 by the ADF paper feed roller 13. Color image recording device 20
The mask original 15R fed inside passes through the mask original transport path 21 and is moved to the positioning device 3 by roller pairs 24 and 22.
Sent to 1. On the way, the curl of the mask master plate 15R is corrected by the curler roller 101. At this time, the gate 28 is at the position indicated by the solid line.

Next, the alignment device 31 transports the mask original 15R to an appropriate exposure position by the roller pair 32, and then uses a drive source (not shown) to move the mask original 15R while reading the alignment mark printed on the mask original 15R with a sensor.
Move R to a predetermined position.

Immediately before alignment, the exposure table 52 is lowered to a predetermined position by a cam 53, and a fixed roller 5 is placed on the left end of the exposure table 52.
6 is pressed to fix the photosensitive recording medium 50 to the exposure table 52. After the alignment is completed, the exposure table 52 is further lowered by the cam 53, and the glass plate 34 of the alignment device 31
The mask original plate 15R and the photosensitive recording medium 50 are brought into close contact with each other.

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 performs scanning exposure in the direction of arrow A in order to expose the photosensitive recording medium 50 to red light via the red filter 44R and the mask original 15R. When the exposure is completed, the lamp 42 is turned off and the exposure device 4 is turned off.
1 moves back in the direction of arrow B. At this time, the filter unit 44 of the exposure device 41 is moved by a drive source (not shown), and the green filter 44G is positioned above the lamp 42.

While the exposure device 41 moves backward, the exposure table 52 is raised 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 in the cartridge 51, and when the exposure table 52 descends,
A length corresponding to the amount of descent of the exposure table 52 is pulled out from the storage cartridge 51, and the exposure table 52 is pulled out after exposure is completed.
2 rises, the photosensitive recording medium 50 is rewound in a direction to take up the slack.

Even after the exposure of the red mask master plate 15R is completed, the exposure table 52 only rises to a predetermined position, and the photosensitive recording medium 50 is moved to the exposure table 52 by a fixed roller 56 pressed against the left end of the exposure table 52. remains fixed.

Next, the green mask original plate 15G created by the monochrome laser printer 1 is ADF) Ray 12, ADF
When it passes through the paper feed roller 13, recurler roller 101, and mask original transport path 21, and reaches just before the roller pair 24',
The roller pair 22.24°25.27 and the roller pair 32.33 of the alignment device 31 are rotated in the direction of conveying the mask original 15R to the right, and at the same time the mask original 15R is sent out from the alignment device 31. 15G is transported to the exposure position and stopped. At this time, gate 28.29
is located at the position indicated by the solid line, and the exposed mask original 15R is held between the pair of rollers 27 and is held by causing the pair of rollers 27 to stop rotating with its rear end passing through the two gates.

The mask original plate 15G guided by the alignment device 31 is aligned with the photosensitive recording medium 50, as in the case of the mask original plate 15R, and then the exposure table 52 is lowered to align the mask original plate 15G with the photosensitive recording medium 50. Being brought into close contact. after that,
The lamp 42 is turned on and exposure to green light is performed via the green filter 44G. After the exposure is completed, the exposure table 52 is raised to a predetermined position. The exposure device 41 is moved back to the original position, and the filter unit 44 is moved so that the blue filter 44B is positioned above the lamp 42.

Next, the blue mask original 15B created by the monochrome laser printer 1 is similarly fed to the color image recording device 20, and while being conveyed just before the roller pair 24, the blue mask original 15B is moved to the roller pair 24, 22.degree. 25. 26 and alignment device 3
One pair of rollers 32.degree. 33 is rotated in the direction of conveying the mask original 15G to the right, so that the mask original 15G is sent out from the alignment device 31, and the mask original 15B is conveyed to the exposure position and stopped. At this time, the gate 28 is located at the position shown by the solid line, and the gate 29 is located at the position shown by the broken line. It is maintained by stopping the rotation of.

The mask original 15B guided by the alignment device 31 is brought into close contact with the photosensitive recording medium 50 by a similar operation. The photosensitive recording medium 50 is exposed to blue light through the mask original 15B.

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

Next, the exposure table 52 is raised to the initial position, the fixed roller 56 and the left end of the exposure table 52 are separated from each other, and the buffer 55 is moved in the direction of the arrow E to remove the unexposed portions of the photosensitive recording medium 50. is pulled out from inside the cartridge 51 below the exposure table 52. Drive roller 57
The photosensitive recording medium 50 is conveyed and stopped when the leading edge of the latent image reaches the pressure roller 71 of the pressure developing device 70.

In synchronization with the movement of the photosensitive recording medium 50, the developer sheet 60
is sent out from the cassette 61 by a suction cup 62, and is conveyed to a position where the leading edge of the developer sheet 60 corresponds to the leading edge of the latent image on the photosensitive recording medium 50, and then stopped.

Next, the pressure developing device 70 is driven by a drive device (not shown).
The pressure roller 71 is pressed while being rotated in the direction of the arrow. At this time, by lowering the exposure table 52 to a predetermined position again, the fixed roller 56 is pressed against the left end of the exposure table 52, and the photosensitive recording medium 50 or the exposure table 52 is pressed against the left end of the exposure table 52.
Fixed.

The photosensitive recording medium 50 is conveyed under pressure in a state where it is overlapped with the color developer channel 60, and the uncured microcapsules on the photosensitive recording medium 50 are destroyed by the pressure, and the image a is formed on the photosensitive recording medium 50. A corresponding color image is developed on the developer sheet 60.

By rotating the pressure roller 71 of the pressure developing device 70 in the direction of the arrow, the buffer 55 is moved in the direction of the arrow F. As soon as the color developer sheet 60 is separated from the photosensitive recording medium 50 by the separating roller 64,
It is guided in the direction of the heat fixing device 80 .

In the heat fixing device 80, the color developer channel 60 is heated by a heater 81 and by air circulating in a casing 83 by an impeller 82, thereby promoting color development of a color image. At the same time, the binder polymer (binder resin) for fixing the color developing medium to the hese paper of the color developer sheet 60 is thermally melted, and the surface becomes smooth and the surface of the color developer sheet 60 has a moderate gloss. can get. The color developer sheet 60 that has been subjected to color development and gloss treatment is discharged to a paper discharge tray 63.

During the above-described series of development and coloring/glossy processing, the photosensitive recording medium 50 is held and fixed between the exposure table 52 and the fixed roller 56. Therefore, while the development processing for one screen is being performed, the next exposure point is It is possible to perform exposure processing on the latent image of a color image.

When exposing the second color image, first, the mask original 15B at the exposure position is sent to the left, and the mask original 15R held at the position of the roller pair 27 is sent to the alignment device 31 by the rollers. vs. 24.22.25
．． 27 and the pair of rollers 32 and 33 of the alignment device 31 are rotated so as to convey the mask original 15R to the left. At this time, game) 28 and 29 are located at the position of the solid line.

The mask original plate 15B is held between the pair of rollers 24, and the rotation of the pair of rollers 24 is stopped at a position where the rear end passes through the gate 28. The mask original 15R sent to the alignment device 31 is aligned and brought into close contact with the photosensitive recording medium 50. The photosensitive recording medium 50 is a mask original plate 15R
exposed to red light through.

Next, the mask original 15R in the exposure device is sent to the left, and the mask original 15G held at the position of the roller pair 26 is sent to the alignment device 31 by the roller pair 2.
2, 23, 25, 26 and the roller pair 3 of the alignment device 31
2.33 is rotated so as to convey the mask original 15G to the left.

At this time, the gates 28 and 29 are located at the positions indicated by broken lines. The mask original plate 15R is sandwiched between the pair of rollers 23, and is held by stopping the rotation of the pair of rollers 23 at a position past the rear end of the gate 28. Alignment device 31
The mask original 15G sent to the photosensitive recording medium 50 is brought into close contact with the photosensitive recording medium 50 after being aligned. Photosensitive recording medium 50
is exposed to green light through the mask original 15G.

Next, the mask original 15G at the exposure position is sent to the right, and the same operation is performed to send the mask original 15B held at the position of the roller pair 24 to the alignment device 31, and the color is placed on the photosensitive recording medium 50. A latent image of the image is formed to form a color image on the developer sheet 60.

By repeating the same operation, one set of mask originals 1
5, a predetermined number of color images can be output.

After obtaining the required number of color images from the same mask original 15, each mask original 15 is discharged from the roller pair 27 or the roller pair 26 to the paper discharge tray 30.

In addition, if the next mask original 15 is output from the monochrome laser printer 1 while a series of color images are being exposed, it is temporarily stored in the ADF (ADF) ray 12 and the exposure of the previous set is completed. 1 by the ADF paper feed roller 13.
The sheets are fed into the color image recording device 20 one by one.

Furthermore, when a mask original output from another monochrome laser printer or a previously used mask original is to be used again, the mask original can be manually operated by setting it on the ADF tray 12.

Next, the case of performing slide exposure will be explained. .

FIG. 2 is a sectional view when the three-color separation exposure unit 40 is removed and the slide exposure unit 140 is attached.

Inside the slide exposure unit 140, a slide projector 142 for holding a slide 141 is arranged at the lower right side, and a reflection mirror 144 for guiding projection light from a lamp 143 in the slide projector 142 toward the alignment device 31. is placed at a predetermined angle on the lower left. Exposure unit marks 148 and 149 are provided at the same positions as the three-color separation exposure unit 40.

The rest of the configuration is similar to the above-described device.

Next, the action will be explained.

When the power is turned on, the exposure unit identification sensor 110.1
11 detects the exposure unit marks 148 and 149 and enters the slide exposure mode.

First, the exposure table 52 is lowered by the rotation of the cam 53, and the lamp 143 is turned on. Then, the image on the slide 141 is illuminated by the slide projector 142 and reflected by the reflection mirror 144, and then the image is projected onto the alignment device 3.
1, and is exposed by being imaged and enlarged and projected onto a photosensitive recording medium. After the exposure for a predetermined time is completed, the lamp 143 is turned off, and the exposure table is also raised by the rotation of the cam 53.

Through the above operations, a latent image of the desired image of the slide 141 was recorded on the photosensitive recording medium 50.

Thereafter, similarly to the case where the three-color separation exposure unit 40 is installed, the latent image on the photosensitive recording medium 50 is transferred onto the developer sheet 60 by the pressure developing device 70 while superimposed on the developer sheet 60. The developer sheet 60 is subjected to color development and gloss processing by the heat fixing device 80 and is discharged to the paper discharge tray 63.

As described above in detail, the color image recording apparatus 20 of this embodiment includes a three-color separation exposure unit 40 for exposing the photosensitive recording medium 50 through a mask original, and a slide exposure unit 140 for slide exposure. and can be selectively attached and detached, expanding the range of use.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and the following changes can be made without departing from the spirit thereof.

For example, in this embodiment, the slide exposure unit 1 that exposes the slide 141 instead of the three-color separation exposure unit 40
40, but instead of this unit, there is a unit that performs transmission contact exposure, a unit that exposes reflective originals, and a CRT.
Various applied units may be used, such as a unit that exposes a display, a unit that exposes an image displayed on a liquid crystal display, and the like.

Further, the exposure unit identification sensors 110 and 111 may be sensors of a type that detects unevenness, sensors of a type that detects white and black colors using light, or sensors encoded in the form of a bar code. It may also be configured to detect.

Further, although the method of fixing the three-color separation exposure unit 40 and the slide exposure unit 140 to the color image recording device 20 is not specified, any method may be used. They may be simply placed in the same position, or they may be engaged using fastening parts such as screws or wedges, or even better if the engaging pins are slid in a one-touch manner using a lever or the like.

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the above detailed description, the image recording apparatus of the present invention includes a first exposure means for exposing a photosensitive recording medium through a mask original, and a color image such as a slide. Since the second exposure means for exposing the photosensitive recording medium through the exposure means can be selectively attached to and detached from the main body, it is possible to use other exposure means such as slide exposure, thereby expanding the range of use.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 to 3 show embodiments embodying the present invention; FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an image recording apparatus equipped with a three-color separation exposure unit, and FIG. 2 is a slide exposure unit. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the control system. In the figure, 15 is a mask original plate, 20 is a color image recording device,
40 is a three-color separation exposure unit, 50 is a photosensitive recording medium, 6
0 is a color developer sheet, and 140 is a slide exposure unit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A photosensitive recording medium is exposed to light through a mask original created based on image information, and an image is recorded on the recording paper by pressure developing the recording paper and the photosensitive recording medium. An image recording device comprising: a first exposure means for exposing the photosensitive recording medium through the mask original; and a second exposure means for exposing the photosensitive recording medium through a color image such as a slide. An image recording apparatus characterized in that a means is selectively attachable to and detachable from the image recording apparatus main body.