JPH0364749A - Solvent applying device for image formation - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily and exactly regulate the temp. of a solvent for image formation by disposing a heating means so as to come into contact with the solvent and providing a temp. detecting means immersed in the solvent so as to come into contact with the heating means and in proximity to a supply port CONSTITUTION:The heating means 81 is so disposed that at least a part thereof comes into contact with the solvent for image formation. The temp. detecting means 85 is immersed in the solvent for image formation and is provided in contact with the heating means 81 and in the extreme proximity to the supply port 83. Namely, the temp. detected by the temp. detecting means 85 immersed in the solvent for image formation and provided in contact with the heating means 81 is the equil. temp. of the solvent for image formation and the heating means 81 and is, therefore, adequate for the temp. regulation of the solvent for image formation. The exact detection of the temp. for regulation is possible in this way and and the temp. of the solvent for image formation is easily and exactly regulated by controlling the operation of the heating means.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to recording materials such as photosensitive materials and image-receiving materials that obtain images by performing processing such as development, transfer, and fixing in the presence of an image-forming solvent. The present invention relates to an image forming solvent coating device for applying an image forming solvent.

[Conventional technology]

Image formation in which a photosensitive material is exposed to reflected or transmitted light of the light irradiated on the original, or light obtained by photoelectrically converting an electrical signal, and the image obtained on the photosensitive material is transferred to an image receiving material to form an image on the image receiving material. The device is known.

To obtain an image on an image-receiving material, the image-wise exposed photosensitive material is heated and developed, and the photosensitive material is superimposed on the image-receiving material for transfer. Photosensitive materials and image-receiving materials are known in which development is accelerated by applying an image-forming solvent to at least one of the photosensitive material and the image-receiving material prior to heat development.

Structures for applying an image forming solvent to a photosensitive material or an image receiving material (hereinafter referred to as recording materials) include a structure in which a coating roller impregnated with an image forming solvent contacts the image forming surface of the recording material, and a structure in which a coating roller impregnated with an image forming solvent contacts the image forming surface of the recording material. There is a configuration in which the recording material is immersed in a solvent. The recording material coated with the image-forming solvent swells, and the image-forming layer on the recording material has an appropriate moisture content, thereby facilitating the subsequent heat development process.

The image forming solvent applicator stores the image forming solvent in a sealed tank to prevent dust from getting into the image forming solvent, and when the image forming apparatus starts operating, the image forming solvent is transferred to the solvent applying part through a solvent flow pipe. It is preferable to supply the image-forming solvent by a pump or the like for coating, and it is preferable to collect the solvent into the tank after the operation is completed.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

In order to keep the swelling amount of the recording material constant, the temperature of the image forming solvent applied to the recording material is set to, for example, around 35°C. For this purpose, the image forming solvent is supplied to the coating section at the start of operation of the apparatus, and then heated to a predetermined temperature by a heating means to adjust the temperature.

Furthermore, the heating means operates intermittently to maintain the image forming solvent at a constant temperature even while the image forming apparatus is in operation.

In order to adjust the temperature of the image forming solvent, for example, a temperature detecting means is provided by being immersed in the image forming solvent, and when the detected solvent temperature reaches a predetermined temperature, the operation of the heating means is stopped and the solvent is There is a method of starting the operation of the heating means when the temperature drops below a predetermined temperature. However, in this method, when the temperature detection means and the heating means are separated, even if the operation of the heating means is controlled based on the detected temperature, the image formation interposed between the temperature detection means and the heating means is difficult. The heat capacity of the imaging solvent affects the temperature of the imaging solvent. Therefore, the operating hunting width of the heating means increases, making it difficult to maintain a constant temperature of the image forming solvent.

In addition, in order to adjust the temperature of the image forming solvent, a temperature detection means is provided in contact with the heating means, and when the heating means reaches a predetermined temperature, the operation of the heating means is stopped, and the temperature of the heating means is adjusted to the predetermined temperature. There is a method of starting the operation of the heating means when the temperature drops further. However, when controlling the operation of the heating means by detecting the temperature of the heating means, even if the heating means reaches a predetermined temperature, the image forming solvent may not reach the predetermined temperature. It is not possible to accurately adjust the temperature.

Further, in order to adjust the temperature of the image forming solvent, a temperature detecting means is provided by immersing it in the image forming solvent, and another temperature detecting means is provided in contact with the heating means to adjust the temperature of the image forming solvent and the temperature of the image forming solvent. There is a method of controlling the operation of the heating means by detecting the temperature of the heating means. However, this method requires control by taking into account the correlation between multiple temperature detection means.
The configuration becomes complicated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and to provide an image-forming solvent coating apparatus that has a simple configuration and can easily and accurately adjust the temperature of an image-forming solvent.

[Means and Effects for Solving the Problems] The above object of the present invention is to provide an image-forming solvent container having a supply port through which an image-forming solvent to be applied to a recording material is supplied; In an image forming solvent coating apparatus having a temperature detecting means for detecting the forming solvent temperature and an image forming solvent heating means whose operation is controlled based on the detected temperature, at least a part of the heating means is used for forming an image. The temperature detection means is immersed in the image forming solvent and is in contact with the heating means, and the daily supply amount is also controlled by an image forming solvent applicator disposed close to the heating means. be done.

That is, the temperature detected by the temperature detection means immersed in the image forming solvent and provided in contact with the heating means is the equilibrium temperature of the image forming solvent and the heating means, and is therefore suitable for adjusting the temperature of the image forming solvent. It is. Therefore, the temperature for adjustment can be accurately detected, and by controlling the operation of the heating means based on this detected temperature, the temperature of the image forming solvent can be easily and accurately adjusted with a simple configuration. be able to.

Furthermore, since the temperature is detected near the image forming solvent supply port, temperature adjustment can be started quickly when the image forming solvent at a temperature lower than the set temperature is supplied.

The recording material used in the present invention includes a photosensitive material and an image-receiving material that forms an image by overlapping the photosensitive material.

As such photosensitive materials and image-receiving materials, a latent image obtained by imagewise exposure is subjected to processing such as development, transfer, and fixation in the presence of an image-forming solvent to obtain a visible image. It can be anything as long as it can be used.

For example, the photosensitive material includes a heat-developable photosensitive material. Regarding the heat-developable photosensitive material, US Pat. No. 4,50
No. 0,626, No. 4,483゜914, No. 4,4
No. 30,415, No. 4゜503.137, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 5
No. 9-154445, No. 59-180548, No. 59
-165054, 61-88256, 60-1
No. 20356, No. 59-218443, No. 61-23
It is disclosed in No. 8056 and the like.

The above-mentioned heat-developable photosensitive material basically has a support having a photosensitive silver halide, a binder, a dye-providing compound, and a reducing agent (the dye-providing substance may also serve as a reducing agent). Furthermore, organic silver salts and other additives can be added as necessary.

The heat-developable photosensitive material may be one that gives a negative image or one that gives a positive image when exposed to light. Direct positive emulsion as a silver halide emulsion (there are two types: a method that uses a nucleating agent and a method that uses light fogging) to provide a positive image.
Either a method using a dye-donating compound or a method using a dye-donating compound that emits a positively diffusible dye image can be adopted.

Furthermore, the image forming solvent used in diffusion transfer includes, for example, water, and this water is not limited to so-called pure water, but includes water in the widely customary sense.

Alternatively, a mixed solvent of pure water and a low boiling point solvent such as methanol, DMF, acetone, or diisobutyl ketone may be used. Furthermore, a solution containing an image formation accelerator, an antifoggant, a development stopper, a monohydrophilic thermal solvent, etc. may also be used.

Further, the image forming solvent may be a developing solution, a bleaching solution, a bleach-fixing solution, a fixing solution, or a stabilizer, and the present invention can also be applied to an automatic developing device.

[Embodiment]

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail based on the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus IO.

A photosensitive material magazine 14 is disposed in the window 12 of the image forming apparatus Wlo, and a photosensitive material 16 is stored in a wound roll. The photosensitive material 16 has a photosensitive silver halide, a binder, a dye-donating substance, and a reducing agent on a support.

A cutter 18 is arranged near the photosensitive material magazine 14, and is adapted to cut the photosensitive material 16 pulled out from the photosensitive material magazine 14 into a predetermined length.

The cut photosensitive material 16 is transported to the exposure section 20.
It's becoming a sea urchin.

An exposure device 22 is provided directly above the exposure section 20.

The exposure device 22 includes a main exposure light source 24 as a main exposure means.
, a plurality of fixed mirrors 26, a first movable mirror 27A that moves together with the main exposure light source 24, and the first movable a-sea 2
A second moving unit 27B and a 1/lens unit 28 whose relative positions with respect to the frame A are variable are arranged, and a mounting plate 30 is provided on the upper part of the machine base 12 above these parts. There is. The main exposure light source 24, the first movable 27A1, the second movable sheet 27A, is movable along the Wi-Fi mounting plate 30, and the light emitted from the main exposure light source 27 is directly applied to the original. 32 is irradiated.

A branching section 70 and a reversing section 72 are arranged downstream of the exposure section 20 (on the left side in FIG. 1).

A flapper 74 is rotatably arranged at the branching portion 70 . This flapper 74 has the role of entering one of the bifurcated transport paths for the photosensitive material 16 and changing the transport path for the photosensitive material 16 . It should be noted that the photosensitive material 16 immediately after being pulled out from the photosensitive material magazine 14 is guided to the upper conveyance path in FIG.

The guided photosensitive material 16 is reversed at a reversing section 72 and conveyed to the exposure section 20 again. This causes the photosensitive surface of the photosensitive material to face upward in FIG.

Here, when exposing the photosensitive material 16, the main exposure light source 24
While moving the first movable mirror 27A, the second movable mirror 27B is moved at a predetermined speed to irradiate the emitted light along the original 32, and the reflected image light is exposed using the lens unit 28. The photosensitive material 16 located in the section 20 is scanned and exposed. Note that the recording magnification on the photosensitive material 16 can be changed depending on the tracking speed of the second movable mirror 21B. In this embodiment, the same magnification is the second
The movement ξ 2 thief B is 1/2 of the speed of the main exposure light source 24.

The photosensitive material 16 that has been scanned and exposed in the exposure section 20 is conveyed in an inverted state, and is coated with water as an image forming solvent by a water coating section 36 .

A squeeze roller 37 is arranged in the water application section 36 to remove excess water applied to the photosensitive material 16.

A thermal development transfer section 38 is arranged on the side of the squeeze roller 37. The thermal development transfer section 38 is composed of a heating drum 40 and an endless pressure belt 42.

The surface of the heating drum 40 is coated with Teflon. Furthermore, a halogen lamp 4 is provided inside the heating drum 40.
4 is placed, which causes the outer peripheral surface to reach approximately 90°C.
is heated to.

The endless crimping belt 42 is made of a heat-resistant material such as aromatic polyamide fiber (for example, Kevlar or Nomex, both registered trademarks of DuPont) and coated with carbon-containing silicone rubber. have.

On the other hand, a receiving material magazine 46 is arranged below the photosensitive material magazine 14, and contains an image receiving material 48 wound in a roll. The image forming surface of the image receiving material 48 is coated with a dye fixing material having a mordant.

A cutter 50 is also arranged near this receiving material magazine 46, and the image receiving material 4 pulled out from the receiving material magazine 46 is cutter 50.
8 to a predetermined length. The cut image receiving material 48 is conveyed to the thermal development transfer section 38.

A bonding roller 52 is arranged near the heating drum 40 on the upstream side of the endless pressure belt 42 in the material supply direction. The laminating roller 52 overlaps the transported photosensitive material 16 and image-receiving material 48 and presses them to the outer periphery of the heating drum 40, and guides them between the heating drum 40 and the endless pressure belt 42 in the overlapping state. , the material is sandwiched and conveyed over approximately 2/3 of the circumference of the heating drum 40 to be thermally developed. As a result, the photosensitive material 16 emits a mobile dye, and at the same time, this dye is transferred to the dye fixing layer of the image receiving material 4 to obtain an image.

A peeling claw 56 is arranged below the heating drum 40 on the downstream side of the endless pressure belt 42 in the material supply direction. Further, a peeling roller 5 is provided between the peeling claw 56 and the endless pressure belt 42.
8 is placed.

The tip of the peeling claw 56 is normally in contact with the heating drum 40, and when the photosensitive material 16 is conveyed, it engages with the tip of the photosensitive material 16 and separates the photosensitive material 16 from the image receiving material 48.
Further, the peeling roller 58 presses the photosensitive material 16 onto the heating drum 40, and the peeling claw 56 wraps the peeled photosensitive material 16 around it and bends it downward. It looks like this. The separated photosensitive material 16 is sent to a waste photosensitive material storage box 60 provided below the heating drum 40.

On the other hand, a peeling roller 62 and a peeling pawl 64 are arranged near the heating drum 40 above the peeling pawl 56, and the image-receiving material 4 separates from the photosensitive material 16 and moves together with the heating drum.
8 from the outer periphery of the heating drum 40. The image receiving material 48 peeled off from the outer periphery of the heating drum 40 is collected on a tray 66.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the water application section 36. As shown in FIG.

The water application section 36 includes a guide 80 that accommodates water and guides the photosensitive material, and a heater 8 that is watertightly fixed below the guide 80.
1, and water contained in a tank 82 is appropriately supplied onto the guide 80 from a supply port 83 provided in the heater 81. A star 85 for detecting the temperature of water is provided on the upper surface of the heater 81 near the supply port, and the heater 81 and thermistor 85 are electrically connected to a control device 87 .

Then, the control device 87 controls the operation of the heater 81 based on the water temperature detected by the thermistor 85.

The tank 82 includes a water suction pipe 84 whose lower end is submerged in water, a strainer 86 for removing coarse dust from the water, an active adult filter 88 for removing fine dust from the water, and a guide for sucking the water inside the tank 82. It is connected to the heater 81 by a first flow pipe 92a via a pump 90 that supplies the heater 80.

The tank 82 also includes a second tank 82 for collecting overflow water from the water storage portion 80a of the guide 80 into the tank 82.
It is connected to the guide 80 by a flow pipe 92b. Then, the first flow pipe 92a and the second 'a' fl 92b
The bypass pipe 92c is connected to the bypass pipe 92c.
A valve 94 is provided at c.

Inside tank 82? , this contains more water than the amount of water contained in the guide 80''2, and the amount of water that can be supplied from the tank 82 onto the guide 80 by the pump 90 is from the water surface to the lower end of the water suction pipe 84, that is, as shown in the figure. This is the amount up to the water level shown by the dotted line. The amount of water from the water surface in the tank 82 to the lower end of the water suction pipe 84 is greater than the amount of water stored on the guide 80, and when the water on the guide 80 decreases due to application, evaporation, etc. Water is supplied to

Here, since the lower end of the water suction pipe 84 is located apart from the bottom surface of the tank 82, even if dust settles in the tank 82, the dust will not be sucked up.

When the image forming apparatus 10 is powered on, water in the tank 82 is supplied onto the guide 80 by the pump 90 with the valve 94 blocking the flow path of the bypass pipe 92e. At this time, the water supplied to the guide 80'2 is
6 and a filter 88 to remove dust.

After the pump 90 operates a predetermined number of times to supply water onto the guide 80 and stops, the image forming process is started. Water that overflows from above the guide 80 during water supply falls into the tank 82 through the second supply pipe 92b and is collected.

When the image forming apparatus finishes operating, the valve 94 operates to open the flow path of the bypass pipe 92c, and the water contained on the guide 80 passes through the first flow pipe 92a1, the bypass pipe 92c, and the second flow pipe 92b. It is collected in the tank 82.

Next, water temperature adjustment control in the water application section will be explained.

Based on the water temperature detected by the thermistor 85, the heater 81 is energized and its heat generating operation is controlled by a control device (not shown).

FIG. 3 is a graph showing changes over time in the heater temperature and water temperature in the water application section 36, and the graph shown by the solid line is the graph of this embodiment.

When the image forming apparatus starts operating, the water temperature is approximately equal to room temperature, and in this embodiment, the initial temperature of the water is 15°C.

When the heater 81 is energized and starts generating heat, the heater temperature rises, and as the heater 81 heats water, the ice temperature rises. The control device controls the energization to stop the heating operation of the heater 81 when the temperature detected by the thermistor 85 exceeds 35°C, and stops the heating operation when the temperature detected by the thermistor 85 falls below 35°C. Control energization to start.

When the image forming apparatus 10 starts operating, the heater 81 starts generating heat, and when the thermistor 85 reaches 35°C, the heater 8
1 stops the heat generation operation. Even after the heater 81 stops generating heat, the temperature rises slightly due to the overshade, so the temperature of the thermistor 85 also rises slightly. After that, the temperature of the %star 85 starts to decrease to 35°C.
When the temperature drops below , the heater 81 starts generating heat again. Even after the heater 81 starts generating heat, the temperature decreases slightly due to undershoot, so the temperature of the thermistor 85 also decreases slightly. After that, the heater 81 repeats intermittent heat generation based on 35° C., heats the water, and raises the water temperature.

In this embodiment, the heater 81 starts to generate heat, and after 3 minutes have elapsed, the heater has been in an intermittent operation, and the water temperature has reached the set temperature after 10 minutes have elapsed.

The hunting width (temperature difference) from the stop of the heater 81 heat generation operation to the start of the next heat generation operation becomes smaller as time passes.

Since the hunting width is the minimum after the water temperature reaches the set temperature, the water temperature rises quickly in response to the operation of the heater 81, making adjustment of the water temperature accurate and easy.

The graph shown by the dotted line in FIG. 3 shows temperature changes of the heater 81 and water in a comparative example with respect to the present embodiment.

In the comparative example, a thermistor 8 is installed on the non-contact surface of the heater 81 with water.
5 is attached to detect the temperature and control the operation of the heater 81. Since the hunting width of the heater 81 in the comparative example is larger than the hunting width in the present embodiment, it is difficult to control the heat generation of the heater 81 to increase the water temperature.

In this embodiment, the thermistor 85 is immersed in water and is provided in contact with the heater 81, so the thermistor 85 simultaneously detects the heater temperature and the water temperature. Since the temperature detected by the thermistor 85 is the equilibrium temperature of the heater and water, the heating operation of the heater 81 is controlled based on a temperature close to the actual water temperature. Therefore, the hunting width of the heater 81 is reduced, and the water temperature can be adjusted accurately.

The heating operation of the heater 81 is controlled as described above when the image forming apparatus 10 starts operating, and the heating operation of the heater 81 is similarly controlled when the guide 80 is replenished with water. At this time, since the thermistor 85 is provided near the water supply port 83, when water at a temperature lower than the set temperature is refilled, water temperature adjustment can be started quickly, and the water temperature after replenishing low-temperature water can be quickly adjusted. can be raised to

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, the temperature detected by the temperature detection means immersed in the image forming solvent and provided in contact with the heating means is the equilibrium temperature of the image forming solvent and the heating means. Suitable for adjusting the temperature of image forming solvents. Therefore, the temperature for adjustment can be accurately detected, and by controlling the operation of the heating means based on this detected temperature, the temperature of the image forming solvent can be easily and accurately adjusted with a simple configuration. be able to.

Furthermore, since the temperature is detected near the image forming solvent supply port, temperature adjustment can be started quickly when the image forming solvent at a temperature lower than the set temperature is supplied.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the image forming apparatus, FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the water application section, and FIG. 3 is a graph of changes in water temperature and heater temperature over time. Codes in the figure: 10-Image forming device 14-・Sensitive material magazine 16-
Photosensitive material 20--Exposure section 21--Sub-exposure light source 22--Exposure device 36--Water coating section
311-・Thermal development transfer section 46-・Receiving material magazine
48 --- Receiving paper 〇- Branch part 1 --- Heater 3 --- Supply port 5 --- Thermistor 8 --- Filter 2a-b --- Flow pipe 4 --- Valve 0 --- Guide 2--Tank 4-Suction pipe 6--Strainer 0--Pump 2c--Bypass pipe No. 2 Closed (8f')

Claims (1)

[Claims] an image forming solvent container having a supply port through which an image forming solvent to be applied to a recording material is supplied; a temperature detection means for detecting the temperature of the image forming solvent in the container; and an operation based on the detected temperature. In the image forming solvent coating apparatus, the heating means is arranged such that at least a part of the heating means is in contact with the image forming solvent, and the temperature detecting means is arranged such that at least a part of the heating means is in contact with the image forming solvent. An image forming solvent coating device immersed in a solvent and provided in contact with a heating means and closest to the supply port.