JPH0342658A - Mark detecting device and its method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To allow one detector to detect any types of marks by detecting light which transmits a hole-like mark out of a light which irradiates the back of a long-sized body from a second light source when the hole-like mark is detected and detecting reflected light which irradiates the surface of the long- sized body from a first light source when an exposed and recorded mark is detected. CONSTITUTION:The light from the first light source 18 irradiates the surface of the long-sized body 12, and its back is irradiated with the light from the second light source 16. To detect the exposed and recorded mark 15, the light from the first light source 18 detects the light reflected by the long-sized body 12, thereby detecting the mark 15. Since the quantity of the light reflected by the mark 15 decreases, the mark 15 is detected from this change. In the case of the hole-like mark 17, the light from the second light source 16 irradiates the back of the long-sozed body 12, and the light transmitting the hole-like mark 17 is made incident on the detector 14, whereby the mark 17 is detected from a change in the quantity of the incident light. Thus, one detector can detect any types of marks.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a mark detection device and method for detecting marks recorded on a conveyed elongated body.

[Prior Art] On the widthwise end of a long piece of photographic paper, for example, there are cut marks for cutting every -m, or prints cut every -m, corresponding to the image recorded on the photographic paper. Sort marks used when sorting paper are recorded.

The mark recorded on the photographic paper is detected by a sensor head fixed to a printing device or the like.

The types of marks to be detected include those in which small holes are provided on the sides in the width direction, and those in which slit-shaped marks are exposed and recorded on the surface of photographic paper. When detecting small hole marks,
A light source such as an LED is placed below the photographic paper, a detector is placed above the photographic paper, and the mark is detected by making the light that passes through the small hole enter the detection surface of the photodetector. There is.

When detecting slit-shaped marks, a light source is placed above the photographic paper, a detector is placed above the photographic paper, and the light from the light source is constantly irradiated onto the surface of the photographic paper, and the reflected light is The light is incident on the detection surface of the detector, and when it reaches the mark, the amount of light reflected from the mark decreases, so the mark is detected by the change in the amount of light.

On the other hand, there are several types of photographic paper with marks recorded on them, each having a different width. The positions of the marks recorded on these photographic papers are also different, and it is necessary to easily provide a mark detector corresponding to each photographic paper. For example, it is necessary to provide a mark detector for each width of photographic paper, or to The position of the mark detector is changed depending on the width.

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention 1] However, since the conveyed photographic paper snakes in the width direction and moves in the width direction, reflected light and transmitted light may deviate from the detection range of the detector. Misreading of marks occurs.

Furthermore, since the positions of marks recorded on photographic paper vary depending on the printer's mask, the positions of the marks also vary, resulting in misreading of the marks.

Furthermore, if the above-mentioned mark is a mark recorded by exposure, it is easy to misidentify it as a pattern of an image.

Furthermore, if the length of the photographic paper in the width direction is different, it is necessary to install a detector at a position corresponding to the width direction of the photographic paper, or to move each detector to a position corresponding to the width direction. was troublesome.

Furthermore, as mentioned above, marks include hole-shaped marks through which light from a light source passes through the photographic paper, and slit-like marks exposed on the surface of the photographic paper, so so-called transmission detectors corresponding to these marks are used. , a reflection detector must be provided for each mark, and it is not possible to detect both marks with one detector, making the apparatus complicated.

In consideration of the above facts, the present invention eliminates misreading of marks due to meandering of a long body, variation in mark position, pattern, etc., and can detect multiple types of marks with a single detector regardless of the type of mark. It is an object of the present invention to provide a mark detection device and method that can reliably detect marks corresponding to elongated bodies with different width dimensions.

[Means for Solving the Problem] The invention of claim (1) includes a first light source that irradiates light onto the surface of the elongated body, and a second light source that irradiates light from the back side of the elongated body. , the detection surface faces the front side of the elongated body and is arranged along the entire width direction of the elongated body, and when detecting the hole-like mark, the second light source illuminates the back side of the elongated body. A detection method that detects the light transmitted through the light hole-like mark and also detects the mark recorded by exposure on the elongated object.In addition, the detection detects the reflected light of the light irradiated from the first light source to the surface of the elongated object. The structure is characterized by having means.

In the invention of claim (2), the width dimension of the elongated body is detected by irradiating light from the first light source onto the surface of the elongated body and emitting light from the second light source onto the back side of the elongated body. to set the mark detection effective range of the mark detection means, and when detecting the hole-like mark, the detection means detects the light from the second light source that has passed through the hole-like mark to detect the mark. In addition, when detecting a mark recorded by exposure on a long body, the detection means detects the light reflected by the mark recorded by exposure.

[Function] In the invention of claim (1) above, the first
Light is emitted from the second light source, and light is emitted from the back side of the elongated body from the second light source. When detecting a mark recorded on a long body, for example, a mark recorded by exposure, the first
The marks are detected by detecting the light emitted from the light source and reflected by the elongated body. In this case, the light emitted from the first light source is always reflected on the surface of the elongated body and enters the detector. When the mark position is reached, the amount of reflected light decreases and the amount of light changes. The presence of the mark can be detected by this change in the amount of light.

Further, when the mark is hole-shaped, light is constantly irradiated from the second light source to the back side of the elongated body. At times, light does not enter the detector at the mark position, but when it comes to the mark position, the light passes through the small hole and enters the detector. This changes the amount of light incident on the detector and detects the presence of the mark.

In the invention of claim (2), light is irradiated from the first light source to the front surface of the elongated body, and light is irradiated from the second light source to the back side of the elongated body. Next, the mark detection effective range of the detection means is set.

When detecting a small hole-like mark in this state, the light from the second light source that has passed through the small hole-like mark is detected by the detection means to detect the small hole-like mark. Further, when detecting a mark recorded by exposure on a long body, the light reflected by the mark recorded by exposure is detected by the detection means to detect the mark recorded by exposure. In this case, the amount of light reflected on the elongated body is different depending on whether it is reflected at the mark position or at a position other than the mark position, and the amount of light reflected at the mark position is small. Marks recorded by exposure on the elongated body are detected by this change in the amount of light.

[Effect of the Invention] According to the invention of claims 1) and 2) having the above structure, there is no misreading of the mark due to meandering of the elongated body, variation in mark position, pattern, etc., and regardless of the type of mark. An excellent effect can be obtained in that each mark can be detected with a single detector, and marks can be detected reliably in correspondence with elongated objects having a plurality of width dimensions.

[Example] FIGS. 1 to 3 show a mark detection device 10 according to the present invention.
It is shown. 1 and 2 are perspective views showing the main parts of the apparatus, and FIG. 3 is a control block diagram of the mark detection apparatus.

A mark detection device 10 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is a device for detecting marks recorded between image frames of photographic paper 12. As shown in FIG. Marks recorded on the photographic paper 12 include cut marks indicating positions at which each frame is to be cut, and sort marks for sorting the photographic paper cut into images. Types of marks indicating these include slit-like marks 15 exposed between images on the photographic paper 12 and small hole-like marks 17 provided on the photographic paper 12 as shown in FIG. One of these marks is recorded on the photographic paper.

As shown in FIG. 1, a line sensor 14 is arranged along the width direction of the photographic paper 12 above the photographic paper 12 conveyed by a conveying means (not shown). This line sensor i4 is formed of a charged coupled device (CCD), and is formed by approximately 128 pixels arranged in parallel along the width direction of the photographic paper 12.

Further, an LED 16 is arranged on the back side of the photographic paper 12 being conveyed, and two LEDs 1 are arranged on the front side of the photographic paper 12.
8 is placed. These LEDs 16 and 18 emit light to the back side and the front side of the photographic paper 12. Note that a lamp may be used instead of the LED as this light source. This LED16
．． 18 is connected to a timing generator 24 via a power source BUF 21, as shown in FIG.

Also, a lens 2 is provided between the line sensor 14 and the photographic paper 12.
0 is placed. This lens 20 is a plastic lens for CD, and projects the reflected image onto the CCD at a magnification of 1/25.

The line sensor 14 is connected to the driver 2 as shown in FIG.
It is connected to a timing generator 24 via 2. The timing generator 24 transmits the operating timing of the line sensor 14 to the driver 22, and the timing generator 24 transmits the operating timing of the line sensor 14 to the driver 22.
, (that is, the timing at which detection starts is controlled.

In addition, when the line sensor 14 detects light, it converts the detected light into an electrical signal and outputs it.
Main lines are drawn out, and these lines are connected to an amplifier circuit 26. Generally CCD
is an element with a lot of switch noise. Therefore, there is a line containing an optical signal (line C3) and a line containing only noise without an optical signal.
i (DO3 line) is connected, and noise is reduced from the detection signal by taking the difference between the signals output from these lines.

The mark detection signal amplified by the amplifier circuit 26 is input to the sample hold circuit 28, and the difference between the signals output from these two lines is calculated.

This calculation result is input to the current buffer circuit 29 and converted into a current value. The mark detection signal converted into a current is input to an analog/digital converter 30, and the analog signal is converted into a digital signal. The digitized detection signal is manually inputted to a comparator 32. This comparator 32 contains data for determining either the small hole-like mark 17 or the slit-like mark 15 recorded by exposure on photographic paper, that is, data for mark judgment. A level voltage is set, and this level voltage and the analog/digital converter 30
The digitalized detection signals are compared and it is determined whether it is mark 17 or mark 15.

As a result of this determination, a signal corresponding to the detection signal is input to shift registers 34 and 35. Further, a test LED (not shown) is connected to the comparator 32.

The signal of either mark 17 or mark 15 input manually to shift registers 34 and 35 is transferred to this soft register 34.
A signal is output to the data selector 36 according to the next input signal after being stored in the data selector 35 and 35. Only necessary data is outputted into the ROM table 38 by the data selector 36.

The data selector 36 has a function of switching the brightness and darkness of the detection signals of the slit-like mark and the hole-like mark because the level for slicing them is different. The signal manually entered into the ROM table 38 is input to the lunch 40, and the detection signal is temporarily held in the latch 40. Thereafter, a signal is applied to the latch 42, and a mark signal for either the mark 17 or the mark 15 is outputted by the connector 44.

Also, analog/digital converter 30, comparator 3
2 is connected to the timing generator 24,
The operation timing is transmitted from this timing generator 24. This timing generator 24 is further connected to a shift register 34.35, and outputs an operation timing to this shift register 34.35.

A signal corresponding to the effective detection area of the line sensor 14 is transmitted from the CPU 46 to the timing generator 24, and the detection area of the line sensor 14 is set.

For example, if the mark is a small hole-shaped mark 17, light emitted from the back side of the photographic paper 12 is transmitted through the small hole, and this light is incident on the detection surface of the line sensor 14. The signal output from the line sensor 14 at this time is as shown in FIG. 2
No light is incident on part B corresponding to . When the photographic paper 12 comes to the position of the small hole-shaped mark (FIG. 4, section C), the light that has passed through the small hole enters the line sensor 14.
Output to 6. As a result, the mark 17 is detected.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, when detecting a slit-shaped mark 15 exposed and recorded on photographic paper 12,
The line sensor 14 detects the reflected light from the ED 16.
The reflected light at the mark 15 position is detected. In this case, as shown in FIG. 5, since there is no reflected light on the outer side edges of the photographic paper 12 in the width direction, the line sensor 14
Although no light is incident on the photographic paper 12, the reflected light is incident on the line sensor 14 (section E in FIG. 5). When the position of the mark 15 is reached from this state, the amount of reflected light reflected on the mark 15 decreases (section F in FIG. 5), and the mark 15 is detected.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained.

When the conveyance of the photographic paper 2 starts, the timing generator 24 receives a signal from the CPU 46 to set the detection area of the line sensor 14, and based on this signal, the timing generator 24
2, the detection range of the line sensor 144 is set. In this case, by receiving a signal corresponding to the width direction dimension of the photographic paper 12 from the CPU 46, the detection area of the line sensor 14 corresponding to the width direction dimension of the photographic paper 12 is set in advance. The effective detection area of the line sensor 14 is set by receiving a signal corresponding to the width dimension of the line sensor 14.

As shown in FIG. 6, when the width of the photographic paper 12 is G, the detection area of the line sensor 14 is located on the left side of the page in FIG. , when the width dimension of the photographic paper 12 is ■, it is located on the right side of the page in FIG. Also, 1 piece of medium-sized photographic paper
In the case of the width dimension H of 2, the detection area is set between the width dimension G and the width dimension ■.

For example, a CCD with 512 pixels is used for the line sensor 14. Since the width of the photographic paper 12 varies by about 80 mm at most, the detectable area is about 100 mm. In other words, one pixel is 0.12 pixels of photographic paper. Compatible with 2mm. On the other hand, if all 512 pixels were to be used as a detectable area, the circuit etc. would become complicated, so within the 512 pixels, approximately 16
pixels are used. The detection area of these six pixels corresponds to 31+nm on the photographic paper 12.

The detection power of the line sensor 14 can also be set by determining the width of the photographic paper 12 based on the pattern of reflected light or transmitted light from the photographic paper 12 that the line sensor 14 first detects.

In other words, in the case of reflected light, the pattern of areas where light is incident (bright areas) and areas where light is not incident (dark areas) differs depending on the width of the photographic paper ↓2, and by detecting this pattern, 12 is detected, and the detection area of the line sensor 14 is set.

For example, if the bright area is 1 and the dark area is 0, the pattern of bright areas and dark areas detected by the line sensor 14 is XXXXXl100OI
If IXXXXXX is detected, the width of the photographic paper 12 can be determined. However, line sensor 14
Since it is easy to misidentify the detected image as a pattern, misidentification as a pattern is prevented by manually inputting a signal for the end position of the photographic paper 12 from the CPU.

Here, a case will be described in which a slit-shaped mark 15 recorded by exposure on photographic paper 12 is detected.

Light irradiated onto the slit-shaped mark 15 from the LED 16, which is a light source, is reflected and enters the detection surface of the line sensor 14. In this case, there is a difference between the amount of reflected light without a mark and the amount of reflected light from the mark position. A signal corresponding to the difference in light amount is transmitted to the current buffer 29 and then inputted to the analog/digital converter 30 . The analog/digital converter 30 digitizes the detection signal.

The digitized detection signal is sent to the comparator 32, where the slit-shaped mark 15 is detected.
It is determined whether the signal is the detection of the small hole-shaped mark 17. In other words, the amount of light transmitted through the mark 17 and the reflected light 7 reflected from the surface of the photographic paper 12 is greater than the amount of light transmitted through the small hole.
There is a level signal in the comparator 32 that determines the difference in the amount of light, and this signal determines whether the mark 17 is a small hole or the mark 15 has been exposed and recorded. Since a mark recorded by exposure is detected here, this detection signal is manually input to the shift register 34.

The timing generator 2 is connected to this shift register 34.
A timing signal is sent from 4, and a detection signal is sent to the ROM table 38 through the data selector 36. R.O.
A mark 15 detection signal is sent from the M table 38 to a printing machine or the like via latches 40 and 42.

When detecting the small hole-shaped mark ↓7, the light emitted from the LED 16 passes through the small hole and enters the line sensor 14. Upon incidence of this light, the line sensor 14 outputs an electrical signal corresponding to the detected light to the amplifier circuit 26. The subsequent signal flow is the same as in the case of Mark-F.

In this embodiment, the marks 15 and 17 can be detected by one line sensor 814, so there is no need to replace the line sensor 14 even if the marks have different shapes. Furthermore, since the line sensor 14 performs detection after the detection range is set, the marks 15 and 17 can be reliably detected even if the conveyed photographic paper meanders in the width direction.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, one detector can serve both as the reflective mark 15 and the transmissive mark 17. Furthermore, since the line sensor 14 is used, there is no possibility of misreading the image pattern and mark.

Next, other embodiments will be described. This embodiment is an example in which a photodiode array 46 and an optical fiber array 48 that guides light to the photodiode array 46 are used as the line sensor 14, as shown in FIG.

This photodiode array is formed by arranging eight photodiodes 45 in parallel and integrating them. This photodiode array 46 corresponds to the width direction of the photographic paper 13. Further, the optical fiber array 48 is formed by assembling and integrating a plurality of optical fibers 50. This optical fiber array 48 is disposed along the width direction of the photographic paper 12 and receives reflected light and transmitted light from the photographic paper, and the incident light is transmitted to the photodiode array 46.
lead to. When reflected light or transmitted light is incident on the photodiode 46, an electrical signal is output from the photodiode 45. The process in which this output signal is output and processed is the same as in the case where a CCD is used as the line sensor 14. However, in this case, the voltage level of the output electrical signal changes.

Further, by using the line sensor 14 and optical fiber described in each of the above embodiments, it is possible to detect an NG mark recorded approximately at the center of the image on the photographic paper 12 and indicating a defective image. This NG mark is a mark recorded on the image with a dermatopen or the like, and indicates that the image frame needs to be redone due to poor color, poor density, or the like. Previously, a dedicated detector was used to detect this mark, but
The mark detection device described in this embodiment can detect zero. However, the central part is illuminated with infrared light suitable for detecting NG marks.

Furthermore, the mark detection device shown in each of the above embodiments can detect the F mark. This F mark is out of focus,
Indicates that an image frame such as an aerial photograph is an unnecessary print.

Note that in each of the above embodiments, the mark detection device and method were described with respect to an example of detecting marks recorded on photographic paper.
The present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to other elongated bodies. Further, the mark detection device and method according to the present invention can be applied to mark detection for cutter sorters, automatic developing devices, and printing machines.

Further, in each of the above embodiments, the line sensor 14 and the optical fiber array 48 are continuously integrated along the width direction of the photographic paper 12, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the state is such that light transmitted and reflected through the photographic paper 12 can be detected. If so, a line sensor in which the sensor and fiber are spaced apart may be used.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1. Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a mark detection device according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing a mark detection device whose mark shape is different from that in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing a mark detection device connected to a line sensor. A block diagram showing a control circuit that processes a mark signal,
Figure 4 is a diagram showing the output signal when a small hole-like mark is detected, Figure 5 is a diagram showing the output signal when a slit-like mark recorded by exposure on photographic paper is detected, and Figure 6 is a diagram showing the output signal when a slit-like mark recorded by exposure on photographic paper is detected. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing the detection area of the line sensor with respect to the width dimension of photographic paper, and FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing another embodiment. 12... Photographic paper, 14... Line sensor, 15.17... Mark, 16.18... LEDo

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A mark detection device that detects a hole-shaped mark provided on a long body and a mark recorded by exposure on the long body, which includes a first light source that irradiates the surface of the long body with light; , a second light source that irradiates light from the back side of the elongated body, and a detection surface facing the front side of the elongated body and arranged along the entire width direction of the elongated body to detect the hole-like mark. In this case, the second light source irradiates the back side of the elongated body with light transmitted through the hole-like mark, and the first light source is used to detect the mark exposed on the elongated body. A mark detection device comprising: detection means for detecting reflected light of light irradiated from a light source onto the surface of an elongated body. (2) A mark detection method that detects a hole-like mark provided on a long body and an exposure record mark on the long body, the method comprising: irradiating light from a first light source onto the surface of the long body; irradiating light from a second light source to the back side of the ulnar body to set an effective mark detection range of the mark detection means, and when detecting the hole-like mark, the second light source that passes through the hole-like mark; The detecting means detects the mark by detecting the light from the object, and when detecting the mark recorded by exposure on the elongated body, the detecting means detects the light reflected from the mark recorded by exposure. mark detection method.