JPH0362251B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a heat development transfer method and apparatus, and more particularly, to a heat development transfer method and apparatus, and particularly to a heat development photosensitive material having a photosensitive layer and a conductive heating layer that release a mobile hydrophilic dye from exposed or unexposed areas when heated. The present invention relates to a new thermal development transfer method for obtaining color images using an image-receiving material having a dye-fixing layer, and an apparatus for carrying out this method.

The heat-developable photosensitive material that can be used in the present invention includes at least a photosensitive silver halide, an organic silver salt oxidizing agent, a binder, and a photosensitive silver halide, as described in Japanese Patent Application No. 56-157798. Dye-donating property that is reducible to silver halide and/or organic silver salt oxidizing agents and reacts with photosensitive silver halide and/or organic silver salt oxidizing agents upon heating to release a mobile hydrophilic dye. Examples include a heat-developable photosensitive material having a photosensitive layer containing a substance together with a conductive heat generating layer that heats the photosensitive layer by generating heat when electricity is applied from an electrode. Such a heat-developable photosensitive material can simultaneously provide a silver image in the exposed area and a hydrophilic dye in the area corresponding to the silver image, simply by performing thermal development after image exposure. That is, when this heat-developable photosensitive material is imagewise exposed and heated, an oxidation-reduction reaction occurs between the organic silver salt oxidizing agent and the reducing dye-donating substance using the exposed photosensitive silver halide as a catalyst.
A silver image appears in the exposed areas. In this step, the dye-donating substance is oxidized by an organic silver salt oxidizing agent to form an oxidant. This oxidant is cleaved in the presence of a dye release aid, resulting in the release of a mobile hydrophilic dye. Therefore, a silver image and a mobile hydrophilic dye are obtained in the exposed areas, and a color image is obtained by transferring this hydrophilic dye to an image-receiving material. When an autopositive emulsion is used as the photosensitive layer, a silver image and a mobile hydrophilic dye are obtained in the unexposed areas.

Further, as another heat-developable photosensitive material, for example, as described in the specification of Japanese Patent Application No. 58-26008 "Image Forming Method" filed by the applicant of the present invention on February 18, 1982, , a photosensitive layer comprising at least a photosensitive silver halide, a binder, and an immobile dye-donating substance that is reducible and releases a dye upon heating, and does not react with the photosensitive silver halide upon heating to release a hydrophilic dye. Examples include a heat-developable photosensitive material having a conductive heat-generating layer that heats the photosensitive layer by generating heat when electricity is applied from an electrode. Such a heat-developable photosensitive material can simultaneously provide a silver image in the exposed area and a mobile hydrophilic dye in areas other than the areas corresponding to the silver image, simply by performing thermal development after image exposure. That is, when using an immobile dye-providing substance that originally releases hydrophilic dyes but no longer releases hydrophilic dyes when oxidized, this heat-developable photosensitive material is imagewise exposed and then heated. Then, the exposed photosensitive silver halide is used as a catalyst to release an originally hydrophilic dye that is reducible to an organic silver salt oxidizing agent and/or a photosensitive silver halide, but upon oxidation, the hydrophilic dye is released. An oxidation-reduction reaction occurs with the immobile dye-donating substance, which ceases to occur, and a silver image is generated in the exposed area. In this step, an immobile dye-donating substance that originally releases a hydrophilic dye but no longer releases the hydrophilic dye upon oxidation becomes an oxidant, and as a result, the hydrophilic dye is released in the exposed area. A hydrophilic dye that is mobile only in the unexposed area is obtained. A color image is obtained by transferring this hydrophilic dye to an image-receiving material. When an autopositive emulsion is used as the photosensitive layer, a silver image is obtained in the unexposed areas and a mobile dye is obtained in the exposed areas.

The conductive heating layer is made by grinding conductive material powder such as carbon, titanium, titanium oxide, etc. into fine powder using a hole mill, etc., mixing this with an aqueous gelatin solution or an aqueous PVA solution, applying it to the support of the photothermographic material, and drying it. It can be obtained by This conductive heating layer may be applied before or after coating the photosensitive layer. Further, the conductive heat generating film may be laminated to the support of the photothermographic material, or the conductive heat generating film itself may be used as the support of the photothermographic material. The conductive heating layer is preferably provided on the back side of the photothermographic material, but may be provided between the support and the photosensitive layer. Furthermore, fine powder of a conductive material may be mixed into the emulsion to serve as a photosensitive layer and a conductive heat generating layer. Further, the conductive heating layer may contain not only a conductive heating element but also other substances useful for photographic properties and physical properties.

The image-receiving material that can be used in the present invention is one in which an image-receiving layer capable of receiving a dye released from a heat-developable photosensitive material by heat development is formed on a support. This image-receiving layer contains a dye fixing agent such as a dye mordant, and a useful dye fixing agent is selected and used depending on the physical properties of the dye to be released, other components contained in the heat-developable photosensitive material, transfer conditions, etc. be able to. For example, the patent application in 1983-
As described in specification No. 157798,
High molecular weight polymeric mordants can be used.

An object of the present invention is to provide a method for better performing thermal development transfer using the above-described photothermographic material and image-receiving material, and an apparatus for carrying out the method.

The present invention has been made to achieve the above-mentioned object, and the method is directed to a heat-developable photosensitive material having a photosensitive layer and a conductive heating layer that release a mobile hydrophilic dye from exposed or non-exposed areas when heated. The photosensitive layer is imagewise exposed to light, and the conductive heat generating layer of the heat-developable photosensitive material, in which the photosensitive layer has been imagewise exposed, is heated by applying electricity to impart movable hydrophilicity to the photosensitive layer. The dye is formed into an image, and then the heat-developable photosensitive material is superimposed on an image-receiving material having a dye-fixing layer, with the dye-fixing layer and the photosensitive layer facing each other, and the photothermographic material is superimposed on the image-receiving material. The hydrophilic dye formed in the image form is transferred to the dye fixing layer by applying electricity to and heating the conductive heating layer of the photothermographic material, and then the image-receiving material is peeled from the photothermographic material. This is a heat development transfer method characterized in that a color image is obtained on the image-receiving material by doing so.
The apparatus comprises a heat-developable photosensitive material having a photosensitive layer that releases a mobile hydrophilic dye from an exposed area or a non-exposed area when heated, and a conductive heating layer. A first electrode that supports a photosensitive material for development and supplies current to the conductive heat generating layer; and a movable hydrophilic dye is applied to the photosensitive layer in the form of an image by being heated by supplying current to the conductive heat generating layer using the first electrode. a superimposing means for superimposing the heat-developable photosensitive material and the image-receiving material having a dye fixing layer formed on the photothermographic material, and a superimposing means for supporting the superimposed heat-developable photosensitive material and the image-receiving material by the superimposing means, and generating the electrically conductive heat. This is a thermal development transfer device characterized by comprising a second electrode that conducts electricity to the layer.

In this heat development transfer method, transfer is better carried out if a diffusion aid is applied to the image-receiving material having the dye-fixing layer before the image-receiving material is overlaid with the developed heat-developable photosensitive material. In the case of the meltable diffusion aid method, during the production of the image-receiving material, materials such as urea, crystallized water, and microcapsules that become water-like when heated, elute water, or exude water or an aqueous solution under pressure are diffused in advance. Since it is applied as an auxiliary agent, it is not necessary to apply it when overlapping. In the case of a method using water or a basic aqueous solution as a diffusion aid, the diffusion aid is applied to the image-receiving materials when they are superimposed. The water used as a diffusion aid is not limited to so-called pure water, but includes general drinking water, industrial water, and the like. These waters also include waters to which substances useful for improving photographic or physical performance, such as bases and surfactants, are added. The amount of water supplied is, for example, 10% or more of the dry weight of the total coating film of the photosensitive layer of the heat-developable photosensitive material and the dye fixing layer of the image-receiving material, and the dry weight is subtracted from the weight of the entire coating film at maximum swelling. It is sufficient that the amount is less than or equal to the specified value.

In the present invention, the heating temperature for development to form a movable hydrophilic dye in the form of an image on the photosensitive layer of the photosensitive material that has been imagewise exposed to light is about 80°C to about 80°C.
It can be developed at 250°C, but especially at about 110°C to about 160°C.
°C is useful. The heating time varies depending on the properties of the heat-developable photosensitive material, but a useful time is about 0.5 seconds to about 300 seconds. The heating temperature for superimposing the developed photothermographic material and the image-receiving material and transferring the image-shaped hydrophilic dye to the image-receiving material can range from about room temperature to a temperature not exceeding the development temperature. When performing transfer at a temperature close to the development temperature, that is, at a temperature that allows development to proceed, the development temperature and development time must be set in consideration of the development progress during transfer. The relationship between development conditions and transfer conditions is, for example, development temperature 130℃ for 20 seconds, transfer temperature 90℃
This is done so that the duration is 5 seconds. Usually, the difference between the development temperature and the transfer temperature is required to be 10° C. or more.

The heating for development and the heating for transfer are performed by applying electricity to the conductive heating layer. Therefore, the voltage to be energized ( In other words, it is necessary to set the current) and time. The degree of heat generated by the conductive heat generating layer varies depending on the amount of power per unit area. Therefore, the supplied current value varies depending on the width of the photothermographic material that is brought into contact with the electrode. When the widths are the same, the degree of heat generation will be the same if the applied voltage value is varied depending on the electrode spacing so that the same current value is obtained.

If the spacing between the electrodes used for energization during development is equal to the spacing between the electrodes used for energization during transfer, setting the applied voltage during transfer lower than the applied voltage during development will result in a transfer temperature lower than the development temperature. can be processed.

Furthermore, by utilizing the time during which the temperature rises after energization, the transfer temperature can be made lower than the development temperature even if the applied voltage, that is, the current value in this case is the same. For example, if it takes 7 to 8 seconds to complete the temperature rise, turn off the current during development.
If the time is set to 20 seconds and the electrification during transfer is set to 6 to 7 seconds, the transfer temperature will be lower than the development temperature.

Electricity is supplied to the conductive heating layer by bringing the photothermographic material into contact with parallel electrodes. The electrodes may be provided parallel to the width direction of the conductive heating layer, or may be provided at right angles to the width direction. When a long length of photothermographic material is intermittently fed at predetermined intervals for processing or continuously fed, it is preferable to use an electrode provided perpendicular to the traveling direction of the photothermographic material. The electrodes may also serve as means for supporting the photothermographic material, or may serve as means for transporting the photothermographic material. Furthermore, it may also serve as a means for overlapping the photothermographic material and the image-receiving material.
In order to serve as a conveyance means or a stacking means, the electrodes may be constructed of conductive rollers. The electrode used for development and the electrode used for transfer may be the same electrode. After the heat-developable photosensitive material, which has been brought into contact with the electrode and developed by being heated with electricity, is moved to the overlapping area with the image-receiving material and overlaid with the image-receiving material,
The transfer may be performed by bringing the same electrode into contact with the same electrode again and heating it with electricity. In this case, it is preferable that the electrodes be constituted by rollers, so that they also serve as conveyance means, and one of the electrodes is made to serve also as overlapping means.

When a conductive heat generating layer is applied together with a photosensitive layer, an image receiving material that is shorter in width or length than the photothermographic material is overlaid, and the electrodes are placed on both edges or ends of the photothermographic material. A structure that makes contact with the surface of the part can be used. In addition, when a conductive heat generating layer is provided between the support and the photosensitive layer, a current-carrying body for the conductive heat-generating layer is provided on the front or back surface of both edges of the heat-developable material, and the electrodes are connected to this current-carrying layer. A structure that allows it to come into contact with the body can be used.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be specifically explained with reference to Examples.

FIG. 1 is a side view showing the main parts of an embodiment apparatus in which electrodes for development and electrodes for transfer are provided separately. The photothermographic material used in this example apparatus has a photosensitive layer on the front surface and a conductive heating layer on the back surface. This embodiment device includes roller pair 1, roller pair 2, roller pair 3, roller pair 4, guide plate 5, guide plate 6, guide plate 7, guide plate 8, light source 9, mirror box 10, condenser lens 11, original image It consists of a carrier 12, an imaging lens 13, a color correction filter 14, a shutter 15, a power source 16, a power source 17, and a water supply nozzle 18. The roller pair 1 is for feeding the photothermographic material to the exposure stage 19, and the rollers 1A and 1 constituting the roller pair 1 are
B is a rubber roller. The roller pair 2 serves both as a feeding means and an electrode, and the roller 2A constituting the roller pair 2 is a heat-resistant rubber roller, and the roller 2B is a metal roller. The roller pair 3 serves as a feeding means, a superimposing means, and an electrode, and the roller 3A constituting the roller pair 3 is a heat-resistant rubber roller, and the roller 3B is a metal roller. The roller pair 4 serves both as a feeding means and an electrode, and the roller 4A constituting the roller pair 4 is a heat-resistant rubber roller, and the roller 4B is a heat-resistant rubber roller.
is a metal roller. A power source 16 is connected to the rollers 2B and 3B via a relay switch 16A, thereby forming a first electrode. A power supply 17 is connected to a relay switch 17A for rollers 3B and 4B.
A second electrode is configured by connecting the two electrodes through the two electrodes.
The water supply nozzle 8 is designed to supply a predetermined amount of water as a diffusion aid between the photosensitive layer of the developed photothermographic material and the dye fixed layer of the image receiving material.
Each roller pair 1, 2, 3, 4 is adapted to be driven respectively.

The manner in which the present invention is implemented using an apparatus configured as shown in FIG. 1 will be explained. When a transmissive original O is loaded into the original carrier 12 and a heat-developable photosensitive material is inserted into roller pair 1, roller pair 1 and roller pair 2 are driven, and the heat-developable photosensitive material is fed and passes over guide plate 5. The sheet advances until the tip is supported by the pair of rollers 2 and is loaded onto the exposure stage 19. A transmissive original O such as a positive or negative photographic film is irradiated with light emitted from a light source 9, homogenized by a mirror box 10, and condensed by a condenser lens. The image of the original O irradiated with light is captured by the imaging lens 13
B (blue), G
(green), R (red), C (cyan), M (magenta), Y (yellow), etc. through a color correction filter 14 and a shutter 15, and the photothermographic material is exposed to light. When imagewise exposure to the heat-developable photosensitive material is completed, roller pair 1, roller pair 2,
Then, the pair of rollers 3 is driven, and the photothermographic material is fed, passes over the guide plate 6, and advances until the leading end is supported by the pair of rollers 3, and is loaded onto the developing stage 20. In this state, the power supply 16 with the set voltage is applied by the relay switch 16A to the rollers 2B and 3B, which serve as the first electrodes, for the set time, and the conductive heating layer on the back side of the photothermographic material generates heat, causing the surface The photosensitive layer is heated and a mobile hydrophilic dye is released imagewise. When the development is completed, the image receiving material 21 that has been kept on standby on the guide plate 7 is inserted into the roller pair 3, and the roller pair 2, roller pair 3, and roller pair 4 are driven, and a predetermined amount is supplied from the water supply nozzle 18. water is supplied. The water supplied from the water supply nozzle 18 spreads along the overlapping line of the photothermographic material and the image receiving material due to the capillary effect to form a bead. The heat-developable photosensitive material and the image-receiving material pass over a guide plate 8 which is superimposed and sent by a pair of rollers 3, with water evenly interposed therebetween, until their leading ends are supported by a pair of rollers 4, and are transferred to a transfer stage 22. loaded. In this state, the power supply 17 with the set voltage is switched to the second voltage by the relay switch 17A.
The voltage is applied for a set time to rollers 3B and 4B, which serve as electrodes, and the conductive heating layer on the back side of the photothermographic material generates heat, which heats the photosensitive layer on the front side and the dye fixing layer of the image receiving material in contact with this photosensitive layer. The hydrophilic dye released into the photosensitive layer moves to the dye fixing layer through water, which is a diffusion aid, and is transferred to the image-receiving material as a color image. Thereafter, the roller pair 3 and the roller pair 4 are driven, and the photothermographic material and the image-receiving material are discharged while being overlapped.
When the image-receiving material is peeled off from the photothermographic material, a color photograph can be obtained on the image-receiving material.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing the main parts of an embodiment apparatus in which the same electrode serves as both a developing electrode and a transferring electrode. The photothermographic material used in this embodiment apparatus is the same as that used in the embodiment shown in FIG. However, the image-receiving material may be one that melts into a water-like state when heated, or one that contains in advance a diffusion aid that releases water when heated. The apparatus of this embodiment consists of a roller pair 30, a roller pair 31, a guide plate 32, a guide plate 33, a guide plate 7, and a power source 34. The roller pair 30 serves both as a feeding means and an electrode, and the roller 3 constituting the roller pair 30
0A is a heat-resistant rubber roller, and roller 30B is a metal roller. The roller pair 31 serves as a feeding means, an overlapping means, and an electrode.
The roller 31A constituting the roller is a heat-resistant rubber roller, and the roller 31B is a metal roller. roller 30B
A power supply 34 capable of supplying different voltages is connected to the and roller 31B via a switchable relay switch 35, and is configured to serve as a first electrode and a second electrode.

The manner in which the present invention is implemented using the apparatus configured as shown in FIG. 2 will be explained. When a photothermographic material, which has been image-wise exposed by optically converting and scanning computer data or video signals, is inserted into a pair of rollers 30, the pair of rollers 30 and 31 are driven, and the photothermographic material is fed. It passes over the guide plate 32 and advances until the tip is supported by the pair of rollers 31.
In this state, the relay switch 35 is operated to the power supply terminal 34A side of the voltage set for development of the power supply 34 for a set time, so that the voltage for development is applied to the roller 30B and the roller 31B, and the back surface of the photothermographic material is The conductive heating layer generates heat, and the photosensitive layer on the surface is heated, and the mobile hydrophilic dye is released in an imagewise manner. When the development is completed, the roller pair 30 and the roller pair 31 are driven again, and the developed photothermographic material is sent onto the guide plate 33 and stopped with its rear end being held between the roller pair 31. Thereafter, the image receiving material 36 is placed on the guide plate 7 and inserted into the roller pair 31, and the roller pair 31 and the roller pair 30 are inserted into the roller pair 31.
are driven in reverse, and the photothermographic material and the image-receiving material are conveyed in a superimposed manner by a pair of rollers 31, passing over a guide plate 32 until their leading ends are supported by a pair of rollers 30. In this state, the relay switch 35 is operated for a set time to the side of the power supply terminal 34B of the voltage set for the transfer of the power supply 34, so that the roller 30
A voltage for transfer is applied to the roller 31B and the conductive heating layer on the back side of the heat-developable photosensitive material generates heat, and the photosensitive layer on the front side and the dye fixing layer of the image receiving material in contact with this photosensitive layer are heated and the dye fixing layer is heated. The meltable substance contained in advance releases water, and the hydrophilic dye released into the photosensitive layer moves to the dye fixing layer via the water and is transferred to the image-receiving material as a color image. After that, the roller pair 30 and the roller pair 31 are driven,
The photothermographic material and the image-receiving material are discharged while still being overlapped. When the image-receiving material is peeled off from the photothermographic material, a color hard copy can be obtained on the image-receiving material.

The heat-developable photosensitive material used in the examples shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 above has a length between electrodes of 85 mm and a width in contact with the electrodes of 60 mm.
mm, and the resistance value in the longitudinal direction of the conductive heating layer is 600
It is Ω. During development, a voltage of approximately 125V was applied to the electrodes and the electrodes were heated to 140°C. In transcription, approx.
A voltage of 110V was applied and the mixture was heated to 110°C. Therefore, the current for development was 0.21A, and the current for transfer was 0.18A.

As described above, the present invention is a novel thermal development transfer method and apparatus, and transfer color images can be obtained in a simple manner by heating both development and transfer by applying electricity to a conductive heating layer. The fact that a conductive heating layer is not necessary for an image-receiving material from which an image can be obtained as a hard copy has a great practical effect.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of the main parts illustrating a thermal development transfer apparatus for carrying out the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a side view of the main parts showing another embodiment of the same apparatus. 1, 2, 3, 4, 30, 31...Roller pair, 2
B, 3B, 4B, 30B, 31B... Metal roller, 16, 17, 34... Power supply.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. Imagewise exposing the photosensitive layer of a heat-developable photosensitive material having a photosensitive layer that releases a mobile hydrophilic dye from exposed or non-exposed areas when heated and a conductive heat generating layer; A movable hydrophilic dye is formed in the form of an image on the photosensitive layer by applying electricity to and heating the conductive heating layer of the heat-developable photosensitive material whose photosensitive layer has been exposed to light in an imagewise manner, and then the dye is fixed. The heat-developable photosensitive material is superimposed on an image-receiving material having layers, with the dye fixing layer and the photosensitive layer facing each other, and the conductive heat-generating layer of the heat-developable photosensitive material superimposed on the image-receiving material is heated by applying electricity. By doing so, the hydrophilic dye formed in the image is transferred to the dye fixing layer, and then the image receiving material is peeled off from the photothermographic material to obtain a color image on the image receiving material. A heat development transfer method characterized by the following. 2. When the movable hydrophilic dye is formed in the form of an image on the photosensitive layer, the current value applied to the conductive heat generating layer is higher than the current value applied to the conductive heat generating layer when moving the image shaped dye to the dye fixing layer. The thermal development transfer method according to claim 1, characterized in that the value of the current to be applied is reduced. 3. When the movable hydrophilic dye is formed in the form of an image on the photosensitive layer, the electric current is applied to the conductive heat generating layer when the dye in the form of an image is transferred to the dye fixing layer. The thermal development transfer method according to claim 1, characterized in that the time during which the current is applied is shortened. 4. Supporting the photothermographic material in which the photosensitive layer of the photothermographic material has been imagewise exposed to light, the photosensitive layer having a photosensitive layer that releases a mobile hydrophilic dye from exposed or non-exposed areas when heated, and a conductive heating layer. and a first electrode that applies current to the conductive heat generating layer, and heat that is heated by applying current to the conductive heat generating layer at the first electrode and forms a movable hydrophilic dye in the form of an image on the photosensitive layer. a superimposing means for superimposing a developable photosensitive material and an image receiving material having a dye fixing layer; and a superimposing means for superimposing the photothermographic material and the image receiving material superimposed by the superimposing means and for supplying electricity to the conductive heating layer. A thermal development transfer device characterized by having two electrodes. 5. The thermal development transfer device according to claim 3, wherein the same electrode serves as the first electrode and the second electrode.