JPH04149425A - Photosensitive and pressure sensitive recording medium and iamge recorder using the medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the quality of an output image by providing three kinds of microcapsules which respectively contain dye precursors which develop color to be magenta, yellow and cyan and a sheet-like supporting body holding them on the surface. CONSTITUTION:A microcapsule paper 7 and a color developing paper 8 are used as a photosensitive pressure and sensitive recording medium. As for the microcapsule paper 7, the microcapsules 25a-25c are applied to the surface of the sheet-like supporting body 23 through a binder 24. A 1st microcapsule 25a principally containes a photosensitive substance whose mechanical strength is changed and the dye precursor which acts with color developer and develops the color to be magenta by the irradiation of red light, a 2nd microcapsule 25b principally contains the dye precursor which develops the color to be yellow by the irradiation of green light, and a 3rd microcapsule 25c principally contains the dye precursor which develops the color to be cyan by the irradiation of blue light. Thus, exposure is performed based on a green image data with the red light, a blue image datum with the green light and a red image datum with the blue light, so that the quality of the output image is improved.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium and an image recording apparatus using the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, microcapsules containing a photocurable resin, a photopolymerization initiator, and a dye precursor as the main contents, and a color developer that reacts with the dye precursor contained in the microcapsules to form a color are separate sheets. There are known photosensitive and pressure sensitive recording media coated with
No. 340, JP-A-61-42649 and JP-A-61-
No. 24495, etc.).

In this type of photosensitive and pressure sensitive recording media, the photocurable resin in the microcapsules of one sheet is cured by light, increasing the mechanical strength of the microcapsules. It is used in a device that forms an image by exposing the microcapsules that have not hardened to light and causing the dye precursor inside to react with the developer on the other sheet.

Photocurable resins can be classified into three types depending on their photosensitive wavelength range: those that are sensitive to red light, those that are sensitive to green light, and those that are sensitive to blue light. Furthermore, dye precursors can be classified into three types, cyan, magenta, and yellow, depending on the color they develop. In conventional microcapsules, the encapsulated photocurable resin and dye precursor are configured such that the photosensitive wavelength band of the photocurable resin and the color developed by the dye precursor are complementary colors.

That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the first microcapsule 27a contains a photocurable resin that is sensitive to red light and a cyan dye precursor, and the second microcapsule 27b contains a photocurable resin that is sensitive to red light and a cyan dye precursor.
contains a photocurable resin sensitive to green light and a magenta dye precursor, and the third microcapsule 27c contains a photocurable resin sensitive to blue light and a yellow dye precursor. Various types of microcapsules are supported on a sheet-like support 28 via a binder 29.

Conventional image recording devices using such photosensitive and pressure sensitive recording media record red image data using red light, record green image data using green light, and record blue image data using blue light. It was configured to record.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

By the way, as shown in FIG. 3, the relative luminous efficiency is higher in the order of green, red, and blue, and when a white background is used as a reference, the relative luminous efficiency is higher in the order of complementary colors, that is, magenta, cyan, and yellow. Therefore, the influence on the image quality of magenta is large, and if the reproducibility of magenta gradation deteriorates, the image quality of the output image will deteriorate. However, as shown in FIG. 5, green has a large cross color area and is therefore easily influenced by other colors. For this reason, conventional photosensitive and pressure sensitive recording media have a problem in that it is difficult to reproduce the gradation of magenta, which is the complementary color of green light, and the quality of the output image deteriorates.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and provides a photosensitive and pressure sensitive recording medium that improves the reproducibility of magenta gradation and provides high image quality output, and a photosensitive pressure sensitive recording medium thereof. The purpose of the present invention is to provide an image recording device using the following methods.

[Means to solve the problem]

The photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium of the present invention comprises first microcapsules mainly containing a photosensitive substance whose mechanical strength changes when irradiated with red light and a dye precursor that develops a magenta color by reacting with a color developer; A second microcapsule that mainly contains a photosensitive substance whose mechanical strength changes when irradiated with light and a dye precursor that develops a yellow color by reacting with a color developer, and a photosensitive substance whose mechanical strength changes when irradiated with blue light. The structure includes third microcapsules mainly containing a dye precursor that develops a cyan color by reacting with a substance and a color developer, and a sheet-like support holding these three types of microcapsules on its surface.

Further, the image recording apparatus of the present invention uses the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium described above, and records green image data with red light, records blue image data with green light, and records red image data with blue light. The structure includes an exposure control means for recording data.

[Effect]

In the photosensitive pressure sensitive recording medium and image recording device having the above configuration, the red light reacts with the photosensitive substance in the first microcapsule of the photosensitive pressure sensitive recording medium based on the green image data to increase the mechanical strength. Strong (to do)

This prevents the dye precursor that develops magenta color from flowing out from the microcapsules, leaving the magenta color to develop into green. In this case, since red light is less affected by cross colors, the contrast between the part where magenta is removed and the part where magenta remains is clear, and the gradation of magenta, which is the complementary color of green, is well reproduced. In this way, it is possible to produce a green color using green image data. Furthermore, by similarly exposing to green light and blue light, it is possible to reproduce blue and red image data, respectively, and obtain a full-color image.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below using an example in which a liquid crystal display (hereinafter referred to as LCD) is used as an optical shutter.

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing a liquid crystal printer which is an image recording apparatus of an embodiment. The liquid crystal printer 1 shown in this figure uses microcapsule paper 7 and color developer paper 8 as photosensitive and pressure sensitive recording media.

As shown in FIG. 2, the microcapsule paper 7 used in this example has microcapsules (first, second, and third microcapsules) 25a on the surface of a sheet-like support 23 with a binder 24. , 25b, 25c are applied, and the microcapsules 25a, 25b, 2
5c contains a dye precursor and the like that reacts with the color developer.

The first microcapsules 25a mainly contain a photosensitive material whose mechanical strength changes when irradiated with red light and a dye precursor that reacts with a color developer to develop a magenta color. The second microcapsules 25b mainly contain a photosensitive material whose mechanical strength changes when irradiated with green light and a dye precursor that develops a yellow color by reacting with a color developer. Furthermore, the third microcapsule 2
5c mainly contains a photosensitive material whose mechanical strength changes when irradiated with blue light and a dye precursor that reacts with a color developer to develop a cyan color.

Note that a color developer is coated on the surface of the support of the color developer paper 8, and develops color by reacting with a dye precursor. Details are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,399,209, etc. The explanation will be omitted here.

This liquid crystal printer 1 is equipped with a halogen lamp 3 as a light source for exposure, and a beam flap 2 is disposed above the halogen lamp 3.

Further, a condensing lens 4 is disposed below the halogen lamp 3, and an infrared cut filter 5 is further disposed below the condensing lens 4.
is located. Below the infrared cut filter 5, a filter unit 22 consisting of color filters 22R, 122G and 22B is arranged, and further below it is an L
CD6 is placed.

A light-shielding cartridge 18 is arranged at the lower left of the LCD 6, and an unexposed microcapsule paper 7 is housed inside the cartridge 18 in a state wound around the cartridge shaft 15. A feed roller 19 is arranged on the right side of the cartridge 18, and pressure rollers Ila, l are placed ahead of it.
lb and a winding shaft 16 are arranged. Based on this configuration, the microcapsule paper 7 is sent out by a feed roller 19, passes between pressure rollers lla and llb, and is wound up on a winding shaft 16.

The color developing paper 8 is loaded in a predetermined cassette and installed in the liquid crystal printer 1. A half-moon roller 9 is arranged above the color developer paper 8, and a paper feed roller 10 and a paper feed guide 17 are arranged to the left of the half-moon roller 9. Further, a thermal fixing device 12 is arranged below the color developer paper 8 . A heater 13 is arranged inside the heat fixing device 12, and a conveyor belt 14 is arranged below the heater 13.

Next, the operation of the liquid crystal printer 1 having the above configuration will be explained.

First, when a print start key (not shown) is pressed, an image corresponding to an image signal input from the outside is displayed on the LCD 6. Next, the halogen lamp 3, which is a light source, is turned on. The light beam of the halogen lamp 3 is efficiently condensed by the deflector 2 and the condensing lens 4, and the beams are made almost parallel and transmitted through the infrared cut filter 5 and the red filter 22R to be irradiated onto the LCD 6. At this time, the microcapsule paper 7 is stationary and is exposed to light selected by the LCD 6, which is controlled by the green signal of the image to be recorded.

When the exposure with the red light is completed, the red filter 22R and the green filter 22G are exchanged, and the signal input to the LCD 6 is switched from the green signal to the blue signal.
Exposure to green light is performed in the same manner as above. Exposure with blue light is performed in the same manner as described above based on the red signal, and when the three exposures are completed in this way, the halogen lamp 3 is turned off. As a result, a color latent image is formed on the microcapsule paper 7.

Next, the microcapsule paper 7 is sent in the direction of the pressure rollers 11a and 11b by the drive of the take-up roller 16 and the feed roller 19. On the other hand, the developer paper 8 is taken out one by one from the cassette by a half-moon roller 9, and is sent to pressure rollers lla and llb by a paper feed roller 10 and a paper feed guide 17.

Then, the microcapsule paper 7 and the developer paper 8 are pressed by pressure rollers lla and llb with their exposed surfaces and developer coated surfaces facing each other, whereby the image on the microcapsule paper 7 is transferred to the developer paper. It is transferred to 8. Since the color developing paper 8 is further conveyed by a conveyor belt 14, color development is promoted by a heat fixing device 12, and the image on the surface is fixed.

Next, the exposure control means will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing control of the LCD 6 and filter unit 22, and FIG.
(Exposure control means) 30 is a flowchart showing the flow of control.

The CPU 30 operates according to a program written in the memory 31. The CPU 30 starts exposure when the print switch on the key panel 36 is pressed (S1), and then inputs image data to be recorded from the image input terminal 32 (S2).
), this image data is divided and stored by color in the image memory 33, 34, 35. Image memory 33.34.35
When the data transfer is completed, the halogen lamp 3 is turned on (S3), and the CPU 30 starts the filter control circuit 38.
Sends a signal to insert red filter 22R to (S
4).

Next, the CPU 30 reads green image data from the 6-image memory 34 and transfers this image data to the LCD control circuit 3.
7 to display the image on the LCD 6 (S5). Then, the CPU 30 counts the exposure time, and when it determines that the exposure with the red light has ended (S6), it moves on to the next exposure with the green light.

For exposure with green light, the CPU 30 first sends a signal to the filter control circuit 38 to insert the green filter 22G (S7). After that, the CPU 30 reads blue image data from the 8-image memory 35, sends this image data to the LCD control circuit 37, and displays the image on the LCD 6 (S8). At this time as well, the CPU 30 counts the exposure time, and when it determines that the exposure to green light has ended (S
9), then proceed to exposure with blue light.

That is, the CPU 30 sends a signal to the filter control circuit 38 to insert the blue filter 22B (S10
). Next, the CPU 30 reads the red image data from the two-image memory 33, sends it to the LCD control circuit 37, and sends it to the LCD control circuit 37.
Display the image on CD6 (Sll). Also, CPU3
0 counts the exposure time, and when it is determined that the exposure with blue light has ended (S12), the halogen lamp 3 is turned off and all exposure is ended.

In this way, in the microcapsule paper 7 and liquid crystal printer 1 having the above configuration, exposure is performed based on green image data using red light, blue image data using green light, and red image data using blue light. Therefore, green, blue,
Not only can red image data be reproduced to obtain a full-color image, but since green data with high relative luminosity is recorded as an image using red light with little cross-color influence, the magenta gradation can be improved. The reproducibility of images can be improved, and the quality of output images can be significantly improved.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments,
Various changes can be made. For example, although a halogen lamp is used in the above embodiment, a metal halide lamp may also be used.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, it is possible to reproduce green, blue, and red image data to obtain a full-color image, and also to obtain a green image with high relative luminous efficiency using red light with little cross-color influence. - Since evening is recorded as an image, it is possible to improve the reproducibility of magenta gradation, which has a large effect on image quality, and it is possible to obtain the effect that the image quality of the output image can be significantly improved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a liquid crystal printer, Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing microcapsule paper, Fig. 3 is a diagram showing characteristics of relative luminous efficiency, and Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing conventional microcapsule paper. , FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the sensitivity characteristics of microcapsule paper, FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the exposure control means, and FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the flow of exposure control. 1...Liquid crystal printan, 7...Microcapsule paper (photosensitive and pressure sensitive recording medium), 8
... Color developer paper, 23... Sheet-like support, 25a... Microcapsule (first microcapsule), 25b... Microcapsule (second microcapsule) C... Microcapsule (first microcapsule) 3 micro-force cell) 0...CPU (exposure control means)

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A first microcapsule mainly containing a photosensitive substance whose mechanical strength changes when irradiated with red light and a dye precursor that reacts with a color developer to develop a magenta color, and irradiated with green light. A second microcapsule mainly encapsulating a photosensitive substance whose mechanical strength changes depending on the temperature and a dye precursor that develops a yellow color by reacting with a color developer, and a photosensitive substance whose mechanical strength changes when irradiated with blue light. A photosensitive material comprising third microcapsules mainly containing a dye precursor that develops a cyan color by reacting with a color developer, and a sheet-like support holding these three types of microcapsules on its surface. Pressure sensitive recording medium. 2. An image recording device using the photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording medium according to claim 1, which records green image data with red light;
An image recording apparatus comprising an exposure control means for recording blue image data using green light and recording red image data using blue light.