JPH0411240A - Image recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce paper jamming and to facilitate paper jamming processing by arranging a masking original plate housing means in the back-and-forth direction of an aligning means, making the carrying direction of the original plate in a back-and-forth direction and making the state of a masking original plate carrying means from an annular state to a linear state. CONSTITUTION:This recorder is provided with plural original plates for masking 15 formed of monochromatic light shielding images obtained by the color separation of image information, the aligning means 31 for successively aligning the original plates 15 at the specified position of a photosensitive recording medium 50, and an exposing means 41 for successively performing the color separation and exposure through the original plate 15. The original plate 15 to which the exposure has been performed by the means 41 is transmitted from one side of the aligning means 32-34 by the masking original plate carrying means 21. A control means 90 selects the masking original plates housing means 102-104 where the original plate 15 is not housed and switches branching means 22-27 to house the original plate. Thus, the paper jamming is reduced and the paper jamming processing is facilitated.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus that forms a color image using a color-separated monochromatic mask original plate.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, in this type of image recording device, when outputting a plurality of color images from the same set of mask originals, after the mask original is sent out from the exposure position, another mask original is being exposed. A mask master storage section for temporarily storing the mask master, a transport path from the exposure position to the mask master storage, and a transport path from the mask master storage to the exposure position for transporting the mask master to the exposure position again. They were arranged in a ring, and the original mask plates were circulated.

[Problem to be solved by the invention] However, the circulation path for reusing the mask original plate is
Since there are many curved paths and the mask original must be circulated, paper jams occur frequently and the reliability of the device is low. In addition, in order to remove a paper jam, the entire circular path of the mask original, including the alignment means, must be pulled out of the device, which makes handling the paper jam inconvenient. The problem was that it became unstable.

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 has fewer paper jams and can easily handle paper jams.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve this object, the image recording device of the present invention includes a plurality of mask original plates formed by color-separating image information to form monochromatic light-shielding images, and a plurality of mask original plates formed by color-separating image information. It is equipped with a positioning means for sequentially aligning specific positions on a photosensitive recording medium, and an exposure means for sequentially performing color separation exposure through the mask master, and further includes a plurality of shutters for temporarily storing the mask master. a mask original storage means, a mask original transport means for transporting the mask original to the mask original storage means, a branching means for distributing the mask original to a predetermined mask original storage means, the mask original transport means, and the mask original transport means. control means for controlling the branching means, selecting the mask original storing means in which the mask original is not stored, and controlling the mask original storing means to store the mask original in the mask original storing means.

Further, it is preferable that the image forming apparatus further includes a detection means for detecting whether or not the mask original is stored in the mask original storage means.

[Operation] According to the present invention having the above configuration, the mask original plate that has been exposed by the exposure means is sent out from one side of the alignment means by the mask original transport means. The control means selects a mask original storing means in which no mask original is stored, switches to the branching means, and stores the mask original. Next, the mask master to be exposed is transported from the other side of the alignment means by the mask master transport means, and after the exposure is completed, the mask master to be exposed is transported from the opposite side to the mask master storing means where no mask master is stored. Then, the mask original to be exposed is conveyed to the alignment means. After the exposure is completed, the mask original is transported to the side from which it was transported and stored in the mask original storage means.

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

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram in which a monochrome laser printer (hereinafter referred to as a laser printer) 1 and an image recording device 20 are combined and arranged.

First, the laser printer 1 is mounted on top of the image recording device 2o. In the laser printer 1, a polygon scanner 2 irradiates laser light onto a charged photoreceptor 3, thereby drawing an electrostatic latent image. The photoconductor 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. Normal laser printer 1
records data transmitted from the host computer.

The output from the laser printer 1 is sent to the paper path switching unit 10.
If a black and white image is required, the document is sent to the monochrome output tray 11 or to the automatic document feeder (hereinafter referred to as ADF) tray 12; if a color image is required,
After being delivered to the ADF tray 12, it is taken into the image recording device 20.

The paper sent to the ADF tray 12 is taken into the image recording device 2° one by one by the ADF paper feed roller 13, and a set of three monochrome printed papers output from the laser printer 1 forms an image. It is used as a mask original 15 (15R15G, 15B) of the recording device 20.

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

An alignment device 31 is located at the bottom of the main body of the image recording device 20, and the ADF tray 12 and the alignment device 31 are connected by a mask original transport path 21. A pair of rollers 2 whose rotation direction can be controlled are provided on both the left and right sides of the alignment device 31.
2, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27 and gate 28.2
9 and mask original storage units 102, 103, and 104 are arranged. In the middle of the mask original transport path 21, a pair of recurler rollers 101 is arranged to remove curls from the mask original 15 discharged from the laser printer 1. Outside the roller pair 26, 27, there is a mask original discharge tray 30 for discharging the used mask original 15.

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

An exposure device 41 is arranged below the alignment device 31, and the exposure device 41 is movable in the left-right direction along the alignment device 31. The exposure device 41 includes a linear white light source (hereinafter referred to as a lamp) 42, a reflection plate 43 that reflects light from the lamp 42, and a filter unit 44 that includes a red filter 44R, a green filter 44G, and a blue filter 44B. It is configured.

The photosensitive recording medium 50 is, for example, disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-14304.
The main material is a photocurable resin using a photopolymerization initiator known in Publication No. 4, and includes a photocurable resin that cures with light of each wavelength of red, green, and blue, and cyan, magenta, Microcapsules containing yellow dye precursors are coated on a base sheet.

The photosensitive recording medium 50 is housed in a cartridge 51 so as not to be exposed to light. The photosensitive recording medium 50 is routed from inside the cartridge 51, passing between the glass plate 34 and the exposure table 52, passing through a buffer 55, a separating roller 64, a pressure developing device 70, and a driving roller 57, to the take-up roller 54. . The exposure table 52 is lowered by a cam 53 and is configured to bring the mask original 15 conveyed onto the glass plate 34 and the photosensitive recording medium 50 into close contact.

Further, 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.
The photosensitive recording medium 50 is placed on the exposure table 5 during exposure of the mask original 15.
It is arranged to be fixed at 2.

The color developer sheet 6o is constructed by coating a base paper with a color developer disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 58-88739, and is placed in the cassette 61 with the developer coated side facing downward. It is set.

At the top of the cassette 61, a suction cup 62 for feeding the developer sheets 60 one by one is arranged.

The pressure developing device W70 is composed of a pair of pressure rollers 71 and the like that superpose the photosensitive recording medium 50 on which a latent image has been formed by exposure and the color developer sheet 60 and develop the image 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.

Next, with reference to FIG. 2, the electrical configuration of the control system for the portion related to conveyance of the mask original 15 will be explained.

The control system includes an electronic control circuit 90.

The electronic control circuit 90 includes a CPU 91 (central processing unit) that executes arithmetic processing for various controls, and a ROM (ROM) in which control programs and initial data necessary for the CPU 91 to execute arithmetic processing are recorded in advance.
a read-only memory) 92, a RAM (random access memory) 93 in which data used to process calculations by the CPU 91 is temporarily stored, and an input circuit that receives input signals from sensors, etc. 94, and drive units 22a, 23a, 24a that drive the roller pairs 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 32°33.

25 a, 26 a, 27 a, 32 a
, 33a, and an output circuit 95 that outputs a control signal to actuators such as solenoids 28a and 29a that drive the gates 28 and 29.

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 next.

First, a mask original plate 1 for red is printed using a laser printer 1.
5R is created. This mask original plate 15R is a mask original plate in which toner, which is a light-shielding image, is placed on other parts of the microcapsules coated on the photosensitive recording medium 50 in order to harden the microcapsules containing a cyan dye precursor. be.

At this time, the mask original plate 1 outputted from the laser printer 1
5R is delivered to the ADF tray 12 and fed into the image recording device 20 by the ADF paper feed roller 13. The mask original 15R fed into the image recording device 20 passes through the mask original transport path 21 and is sent to the alignment device 31 by the roller pair 24, 22. On the way, the curl of the mask master plate 15R is corrected by the curler roller pair 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 pair of rollers 32, and then reads the alignment mark printed on the mask original 15R with a sensor (not shown), while driving the mask by a drive source (not shown). The original plate 15R is moved 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
lights up, and the exposure device 41 performs scanning exposure in the direction of arrow A in order to expose the photosensitive recording medium 50 with red light through the red filter 44R. When the exposure is completed, the lamp 42 is turned off and the exposure device 41 moves back in the direction of arrow B. At this time, the filter unit 44 of the exposure device 41
A green filter 44G is positioned above the lamp 42, which is moved by a drive source (not shown).

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 is lowered, the tension is applied to the photosensitive recording medium 50, and when the exposure table 52 is lowered, the tension is applied to the photosensitive recording medium 50. The length is pulled out from the storage cartridge 51, and when the exposure is completed, the exposure stage 5
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, when the green mask original 15G created by the laser printer 1 passes through the ADF tray 12, ADF paper feed roller 13, recurler roller pair 101, and mask original transport path 21, and reaches just before the roller pair 24, the roller The pairs 22, 24, 25, 27 and the roller pairs 32, 33 of the alignment device 31 are rotated in the direction of conveying the mask original 15R to the right. At this time, the gates 28 and 29 are moved to the positions indicated by solid lines by control signals from the CPU 91. The mask original 15R is sent out from the alignment device 31 and stored in the mask original storage section 103, and at the same time, the mask original 15G is conveyed to the exposure position and stopped. The exposed mask original 15R is held between the pair of rollers 27 and is held by stopping the rotation of the pair of rollers 27 in a state where the rear end has passed through the gate 29.

The mask original 15G guided by the alignment device 31 is aligned with the photosensitive recording medium 50 in the same manner as the mask original 15R, and then the exposure table 52 is lowered to align the mask original 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 laser printer 1 is similarly fed to the image recording device 20, and is conveyed just before the roller pair 24.
4, 22, 25, 26 and the roller pair 3 of the alignment device 31
2.33 is rotated in the direction of conveying the mask original 15G to the right. At this time, the gate 29 is moved to the position indicated by the broken line. The mask original 15G is sent out from the alignment device 31 and stored in the mask original storage section 104, and the mask original 15B is conveyed to the exposure position and stopped. The exposed mask original 15G is held between the pair of rollers 26 and with its rear end passing through the gate 29, by stopping the rotation of the pair of rollers 26.

The mask original 15B guided by the alignment device 31 is brought into close contact with the photosensitive recording medium 50 by the same 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, by a drive device (not shown), the pressure roller 71 of the pressure developing device 70 is rotated in the direction of the arrow and pressed against the roller 71 . At this time, by lowering the exposure table 52 to a predetermined position again, the fixed roller 5 is placed on the left end of the exposure table 52.
6 is pressed, and the photosensitive recording medium 50 is fixed to the exposure table 52. The photosensitive recording medium 50 is conveyed while being pressed while being overlapped with the color developer sheet 60, and the photosensitive recording medium 50
The upper uncured microcapsules are destroyed by pressure, and a color image corresponding to the latent image on the photosensitive recording medium 50 is developed on the color 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. The color developer sheet 60 is peeled off from the photosensitive recording medium 50 by a separation roller 64 and guided toward a heat fixing device 80 .

In the heat fixing device 80, the color developer sheet 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. Along with this, a binder polymer (binder resin) for fixing the color developing medium to the base paper of the color developer sheet 6o
is thermally melted, the surface becomes smooth, and the surface of the color developer sheet 60 has an appropriate gloss. The color developer sheet 6o 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.

In addition, if the next mask original 15 is output from the laser printer 1 while a series of color images are being exposed, it is temporarily stored in the ADF tray 12, and then the previous set is finished being exposed. The sheets are then fed one by one into the image recording apparatus 20 by the ADF feed roller 13.

Next, the case where the second and subsequent color images are exposed will be explained with reference to FIG.

First, the CPU 91 moves the gate 28 to the position indicated by the broken line in step 301, hereinafter referred to as 5301. The same applies to other steps), roller pairs 32.33, 22.23
is driven to store the mask original 15B in the exposure apparatus into the mask original storage section 102 (S302). gate 29
Move L to the solid line position (S303), o-la pair 82
, 33, 25, and 27 to store the mask original storage unit 10.
Mask original plate 1 held at position 27 of roller pair 3
5R is sent to the alignment device 31 (S304). After alignment of Mazuku original plate 15R and completion of exposure (S305
), drive the roller pairs 32, 33, 25°27 to store the mask original 15R in the mask original storage section 103 (S
306). Next, move the gate 29 to the position indicated by the broken line.
307), the roller pairs 32, 33, 25, and 26 are driven to send the mask original 15G held at the position of the roller pair 26 of the mask original storage section 104 to the alignment device 31 (S308), and the alignment and Perform exposure (S3
09), drive the roller pairs 32, 33, 25°26,
The mask original plate 15G is stored in the mask original storage unit 104 (S310). Next, roller pairs 32, 33, 22.2
3 to drive the pair of rollers 23 in the mask original storage section 102.
The mask original 15B held at the position is sent to the alignment device 31 (S311), and alignment and exposure are performed (S312). As described above, a latent image of a desired color image is recorded on the photosensitive recording medium 50.

Next, when recording of a predetermined number of color images is completed (S313: YES), mask original plates 15R, 15G
, 15B are discharged to the mask original discharge tray 30 (S3
14) If the predetermined number of color images have not been recorded yet, the process returns to 8302 and the color images are recorded in the same manner.

Next, another embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

The mask original storage units 102, 103, 104, and 105 are equipped with sensors 106, 107, 108, and 109, respectively. The sensors 106, 107, 108, and 109 detect whether or not the mask original 15 is stored in the mask original storage units 102, 103, 104, and 105, respectively. The signal is input to the CPU 91 by an input circuit 94.

Exposure of the first image is the same as in the embodiment described above, so the explanation will be omitted, and the operation will be described for the case where the second and subsequent color images are exposed.

First, the mask original plate 1 is placed in the mask original storage parts 103 and 104.
Sensors 107 and 108 detect whether or not 5 is stored. When it is detected that the mask original 15 is stored in the mask original storage parts 103 and 104,
The mask original plate 15B at the exposure position is sent out to the left,
When the sensor 106 detects that the mask original 15 is not stored in the mask original storage 102, the gate 28 is moved to the position indicated by the broken line, and the mask original 15B is moved to the left in order to be stored in the mask original storage 102. transported to
Mask original plate 15R held at the position of roller pair 27
2 to the alignment device 31, the gate 29 is moved to the position indicated by the solid line, and the roller pairs 23, 22, 25.2
7 and the pair of rollers 32 and 33 of the alignment device 31 are rotated so as to convey the mask original 15B and the mask original 15R to the left. The mask original plate 15B is held between the pair of rollers 24, and the rotation of the pair of rollers 23 is stopped at the position where the rear end passes through the gate 28 and is held. Positioning device 3
The mask original 15R fed into the photosensitive recording medium 50 is aligned and brought into close contact with the photosensitive recording medium 50. The photosensitive recording medium 50 is exposed to red light through the mask original 15R.

Next, when the sensor 109 detects that the mask original 15 is not stored in the mask original storage section 105, the mask original 15R at the exposure position is sent out to the left, and the mask held at the position of the roller pair 26 is moved. In order to send the original plate 15G to the positioning device 31, a pair of rollers 24, 2 is used.
3, 25, 26 and the roller pair 32 of the positioning device 31.
33 is rotated so as to convey the mask original 15G to the left. At this time, the gate 28 is at the position indicated by the solid line, and the gate 28 is at the position indicated by the solid line.
9 has been moved to the position indicated by the broken line. The mask original plate 15R is held between the pair of rollers 24, and is held by stopping the rotation of the pair of rollers 24 at the position where the rear end passes through the gate 28. The mask original 15G sent to the alignment device 31 is aligned and placed on the photosensitive recording medium 50.
be brought into close contact with The photosensitive recording medium 50 is the mask original plate 15
G is exposed to green light.

Next, when the sensor 107 detects that the mask original 15 is not stored in the mask original storage section 103,
Send the mask original plate 15G at the exposure position to the right,
Mask original plate 15B held at the position of roller pair 23
A similar operation is performed to send the color image to the alignment device 31 to form a color latent image on the photosensitive recording medium 50 and a color image on the color developer sheet 60.

Similarly, each sensor stores 15 mask originals in each mask original storage section.
A predetermined number of color images can be output from a set of mask originals 15 by detecting whether or not the original mask 15 is stored and repeating the same operation.

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.

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the detailed description above, according to the present invention, the mask original storage section is disposed in the front and back direction of the alignment device with respect to the conveyance direction of the mask original, and Since the mask original transport path is arranged in the front-rear direction and the mask original transport path is changed from an annular shape to a straight line, paper jams are reduced, and furthermore, an image recording device that can easily clear paper jams can be provided. It produces a new effect.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 4 show embodiments embodying the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing the structure of an image recording device;
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the electrical configuration of a portion related to the conveyance of the mask original, FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the processing of the portion related to the conveyance of the mask original, and FIG. 4 is an image recording apparatus of another embodiment. FIG. In the figure, 15 is a mask original, 20 is an image recording device, 22,
23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 32.
33 is a roller pair, 28.29 is a gate, 31 is a positioning device, 41 is an exposure means, 50 is a photosensitive recording medium, 102
, 103, 104, 105 are mask original storage parts, 106
, 107, 108, 109 are sensors.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A plurality of mask originals formed by color-separating image information to form monochromatic light-shielding images, and alignment means for sequentially aligning the mask originals to specific positions on a photosensitive recording medium. and,
An image recording apparatus comprising an exposure unit that sequentially performs color separation exposure through the mask original, comprising: a plurality of mask original storage units that temporarily store the mask original; and a plurality of mask original storage units that store the mask original into the mask original storage unit. A mask original transporting means for transporting; a branching means for distributing the mask original to a predetermined mask original storage means; and a branching means for controlling the mask original transporting means and the branching means, and controlling the mask original transporting means and the branching means, and controlling the mask original transporting means and the branching means, An image recording apparatus comprising a control means for selecting a mask original storage means and controlling storage of the mask original in the mask original storage means. 2. The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a detection means for detecting whether or not the mask original is stored in the mask original storage means.