JPH06121087A - Full color board copy equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To generate a color copy of a character or an illustration written on a board. CONSTITUTION:A color read section 12 applies 3-color separation photometry to characters written on a sheet 3 while the sheet 3 is wound and reads them for each line. A 3-color picture signal is written in a memory 17. The 3-color picture signal is selectively read and fed to a printer section 7. The printer section 7 is provided with a thermal recording section 7a and a fixing section 7b, executes thermal recording of each thermosensing coloring layer of a color thermosensing recording material and optical fixing to generate a color copy. A discharge exit is provided with a brush to shield an external light.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a full color board copying apparatus using a color thermal recording system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Various board copy devices (electronic blackboards) for automatically printing out what is written on a whiteboard (including a blackboard) are on the market. To this end, a roll-up type sheet is used as a whiteboard, and while it is being rolled up, the characters written on the sheet are converted into image signals by a reading device and printed out, or written on a fixed whiteboard. For example, there is a device that reads the printed characters and the like with a reading device movably provided on the front surface and prints them out. In addition, JP-A-60-20
As disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 685, there is also known a portable board copy device which is arranged apart from a whiteboard and forms an image by forming an image of a character or the like written on the whiteboard on a reading device. ing.

[0003]

Since the conventional board copying apparatus makes a copy by a monochrome thermosensitive coloring method, the contents can be easily understood by using color felt pens of red, blue, green, black and the like. Even if you write
On the copy, all text is black. Recently, a color electrophotographic copying apparatus, a color inkjet printer, a color thermal transfer printer, and the like have been put into practical use, and thus color copying is also possible. But,
In the color electrophotographic method, the apparatus is large and complicated, and maintenance is difficult, resulting in high copy cost.
Further, the color ink jet printer is difficult to maintain when it is not used for a long time, and the color thermal transfer printer has a problem that waste of the ink ribbon is generated. Considering these, it is extremely difficult to put the board copying apparatus into practical use.

An object of the present invention is to provide a full-color board copying apparatus which has a simple structure, does not require maintenance, does not generate waste, and has a low copying cost.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a method in which at least yellow, magenta, and cyan image signals are read out by line-by-line photometry of characters and the like written on a whiteboard by three-color separation photometry. And a thermal recording section for recording at least a yellow thermosensitive coloring layer, a magenta thermosensitive coloring layer, and a cyan thermosensitive coloring layer, which are layered on the color thermosensitive recording material, in order from the top layer, Before the thermal recording of the layer, the fixing section that irradiates light to the already recorded thermosensitive coloring layer to fix it, and the thermal recording material where thermal recording and fixing are completed and the characters etc. on the whiteboard are copied are discharged. And a light-shielding means for shielding the discharge part from outside light to the extent that it can be used without any inconvenience during the next thermal recording even if the color thermosensitive recording material is loaded and left unrecorded in the apparatus. It is those with a. As described above, according to the present invention, by adopting the color thermal recording method, the apparatus is not large and complicated, and the copy can be made at low cost.

Further, in the full-color board copying apparatus according to the second aspect, the color reading section includes a pixel array of three colors and three lines for each line read by each pixel array.
Since it has a memory for recording color image signals,
A three-color image can be read by scanning once.

Further, in the full-color board copying apparatus according to the third aspect, since the thermal recording section is composed of three thermal heads for recording images of respective colors, the color thermal recording material can be fed once. Three-color images can be recorded simultaneously, and high-speed printing can be achieved.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIG. 2, an opening 2a is formed in the front surface of a main body 2 and a recording surface 3a is exposed inside the opening 2a.
A white sheet 3 for writing characters and the like is provided so as to cover a. Both ends of this sheet 3 have cores 4 and 5
Is fixed to the core 4 and is wound around the core 4 or the core 5 by the rotation of the motor 6. Further, a printer unit 7 is provided on the back surface of the main body 2, and when an instruction to print characters or the like written on the sheet 3, the color copy 8 is ejected to the tray 9.

Inside the main body 2, a color reading section 12 including a taking lens 10 and a color image line sensor 11 is provided. In this embodiment, the optical axis 10a of the taking lens 10 is parallel to the sheet 3 behind the opening 2a, and the line at the reading position 13 is imaged on the color image line sensor 11. It should be noted that the sheet point 3 wound around the winding core 4 changes the object point distance due to the thickening, but this change does not cause any practical problem because the distance between the reading position 13 and the photographing lens 10 is large. A rod-shaped lamp 14 for irradiating a read image is provided near the read position 13.

In FIG. 1, the color image line sensor 11 is formed with three rows of pixel arrays 15a to 15c arranged side by side.
Red, green and blue color filters 16a, 1 on the front of c
6b and 16c are attached or affixed. The color image line sensor 11 simultaneously reads a red image signal, a green image signal, and a blue image signal for one image through the photographing lens 10 line by line, and writes them in the image memory 17 in a state where they are separated for each color. When the writing of the color image signals for one image is completed, the printer control unit 18 reads the color image signals from the image memory 17, converts the color image signals into yellow, magenta, and cyan image signals and outputs them to the printer unit 7. In this printer unit 7, a thermal recording unit 7a thermally records an image, and a fixing unit 7b optically fixes the image to produce a color copy 8.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the printer section 7. The long color thermosensitive recording material 19 is provided on the supply reel 2
It is wound in a roll shape on 0, and when the printing operation is performed, it is pulled out by the rotation of the pull-out roller pair 22 connected to the motor 21. At the thermal recording position, the thermal head 23
Is provided, and the yellow optical fixing device 24 is arranged on the downstream side and the magenta optical fixing device 25 is arranged on the upstream side. As is well known, the thermal head 23 is formed by arranging a large number of heating elements in a line, and generates thermal energy according to the color to be thermally recorded and its color density. The yellow optical fixing device 24 and the magenta optical fixing device 25 are composed of rod-shaped ultraviolet lamps 26 and 27 and reflectors 28 and 29 which are open on the side facing the color thermosensitive recording material 19. The ultraviolet lamp 27 for magenta emits ultraviolet rays having a wavelength of approximately 420 nm and a wavelength of approximately 365 nm.

A platen roller 30 is provided at a position facing the thermal head 23, and a conveying roller pair 31 is provided downstream of the yellow optical fixing device 24. Platen roller 30
The transport roller pair 31 serves to feed the motor 2 together with the supply reel 20 and the pull-out roller pair 22 during thermal recording and optical fixing.
The color thermosensitive recording material 19 is rotated at 1 to be conveyed in the feeding direction or the rewinding direction. A cutter 32 and a discharge roller pair 33 are provided on the downstream side of the transport roller pair 31. The cutter 32 includes a fixed blade 34 and a movable blade 35, and the movable blade 35 moves up and down to separate the recorded portion of the color thermosensitive recording material 19 into a sheet. The discharge roller pair 33 is rotated by the motor 21 and discharges the separated color thermosensitive recording material 19 to the tray 9 as the color copy 8.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the color thermosensitive recording material 19. Cyan thermosensitive coloring layer 4 on the support 40
1, magenta thermosensitive coloring layer 42, yellow thermosensitive coloring layer 4
3. The protective layer 44 is sequentially layered. These thermosensitive coloring layers 41 to 43 are layered from the surface in the order of thermal recording. For example, in the case of thermal recording in the order of magenta, yellow, and cyan, the yellow thermosensitive coloring layer and the magenta thermosensitive coloring layer. The positions of the layers are exchanged. An intermediate layer (not shown) is provided between the layers.

The cyan thermosensitive coloring layer 41 contains an electron-donating dye precursor and an electron-accepting compound as main components, and develops cyan when heated. Magenta thermosensitive coloring layer 4
The compound No. 2 contains a diazonium salt compound having a maximum absorption wavelength of about 365 nm and a coupler which thermally reacts with this compound to develop magenta color. When the magenta thermosensitive coloring layer 42 is irradiated with ultraviolet rays in the vicinity of 365 nm after thermally recording a magenta image with the thermal head 23, the diazonium salt compound is photodecomposed and the coloring ability is lost. The yellow thermosensitive coloring layer 43 contains a diazonium salt compound having a maximum absorption wavelength of about 420 nm, and a coupler that thermally reacts with this compound to develop yellow. When the yellow thermosensitive coloring layer 43 is also irradiated with ultraviolet rays in the vicinity of 420 nm, the yellow thermosensitive coloring layer 43 is photodecomposed and loses the coloring ability. Since the cyan thermosensitive coloring layer 41 is not provided with optical fixing property, it is not irradiated with ultraviolet rays.

FIG. 5 shows the coloring characteristics of the thermosensitive coloring layers 41 to 43. The thermal energy on the horizontal axis represents the thermal energy generated by the heating elements of the thermal head 23, the thermal energy of the yellow thermosensitive coloring layer 43 is the lowest, and the thermal energy of the cyan thermosensitive coloring layer 41 is the highest.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described. When a character or an illustration is written on the white sheet 3 with a color felt pen and then a printing operation is performed, the lamp 14 is turned on and the winding core 4 is rotated in the winding direction by the motor 6 so that the sheet 3 is Take it up. During this winding, the pixel arrays 15a to 15c
The color image signal such as a character written on the recording surface 3a passing through the reading position 13 is separated into three colors and read line by line, and each color image signal is written into the image memory 17 in a separated state. When the trailing end of the recording surface 3a passes the reading position 13, the motor 6 starts reverse rotation and rewinds the sheet 3 to the initial state.

When the reading of the color image is completed, the printer control unit 18 reads out the color image signals of red, green and blue from the image memory 17, and the yellow, magenta, and
It is converted into a cyan image signal and output to the printer unit 7.

In the printer unit 7, the motor 21 starts driving, and the supply reel 20, the pull-out roller pair 22, the platen roller 30, and the transport roller pair 31 are rotated at a constant speed. At the same time, the ultraviolet lamp 26 of the yellow optical fixing device 24
Starts emitting light. The color thermosensitive recording material 19 wound in a roll on the supply reel 20 is nipped by the pair of pull-out rollers 22 and conveyed toward the thermal head 23.

When the tip of the recording area of the color thermosensitive recording material 19 reaches the thermal head 23, a yellow image is formed by the thermal head 23 on the yellow thermosensitive coloring layer 43.
Each line is heat-recorded. In the thermal recording of the yellow image, each heating element of the thermal head 23 is heated to a temperature in consideration of the color development characteristic shown in FIG. 5, based on the output signal from the printer control unit 18. The portion on which the yellow image is thermally recorded reaches the yellow optical fixing device 24,
Optical fixing is performed here. This yellow light fixing device 24
The ultraviolet lamp 26 irradiates ultraviolet rays of approximately 420 nm to decompose the diazonium salt compound that did not contribute to color development and eliminate the color development ability. When the end of the recording area of the color thermosensitive recording material 19 passes the yellow optical fixing device 24, the yellow ultraviolet lamp 26 stops emitting light.

When the thermal recording of the yellow image is completed, the motor 21 starts reverse rotation, and the supply reel 20, the pull-out roller pair 22, the platen roller 30, and the transport roller pair 31.
Is rotated in the rewinding direction of the color thermosensitive recording material 19. At the same time, the ultraviolet lamp 27 of the magenta optical fixing device 25
Starts emitting light.

When the end of the recording area of the color thermosensitive recording material 19 is rewound until it reaches the thermal head 23, a magenta image is thermally recorded on the magenta thermosensitive coloring layer 42 line by line. In the thermal recording of the magenta image, each heating element of the thermal head 23 is heated to a temperature in consideration of the coloring characteristic shown in FIG. 5 based on the output signal from the printer control unit 18.
In this case, the color signals read into the image memory 17 are read out in the reverse order of reading, and the printer control unit 1
At 8, it is converted into an image signal. The portion on which the magenta image is thermally recorded reaches the magenta optical fixing device 25, where optical fixing is performed. The ultraviolet lamp 27 of the magenta optical fixing device 25 irradiates ultraviolet rays of about 365 nm to decompose the diazonium salt compound that did not contribute to the color development to eliminate the color development ability. When the tip of the recording area of the color thermosensitive recording material 19 passes the magenta optical fixing device 25, the magenta ultraviolet lamp 27 stops emitting light.

When the thermal recording of the magenta image is completed, the motor 21 starts reverse rotation again, and the supply reel 20, the pull-out roller pair 22, the platen roller 30, and the transport roller pair 3 are provided.
1 is rotated in the drawing direction of the color thermosensitive recording material 19.

When the tip of the recording area of the color thermosensitive recording material 19 is pulled out until it reaches the thermal head 23,
Each heating element of the thermal head 23 is connected to the printer controller 1
Based on the output signal from 8, the heat is generated at a temperature in consideration of the color development characteristics shown in FIG. 5, and the cyan image is thermally recorded on the cyan thermosensitive coloring layer 41 line by line by the thermal head 23. The cyan thermosensitive coloring layer 41 has a thermal energy of about 80 mJ / mm ² or more required for thermosensitive coloring, and therefore does not develop color under normal storage conditions. Further, since the cyan thermosensitive coloring layer 41 is not provided with the optical fixing property, the optical fixing devices 24 and 25 are in the OFF state.

The transport of the color thermosensitive recording material 19 is continued even after the thermal recording of the cyan image is completed, and when the end of the recording area passes the cutter 32, the rotation of the motor 21 is stopped. While the conveyance of the color thermosensitive recording material 19 is stopped, the movable blade 35 moves up and down to separate the heat-recorded portion of the color thermosensitive recording material 19 into a sheet. Then, the discharge roller pair 33 is rotated by the motor 21, and the separated color thermosensitive recording material 19 is discharged to the tray 9 as the color copy 8.

Further, in the above embodiment, two optical fixing devices 2 are provided.
4, 25 are arranged on the opposite side to the thermal head 23, but the magenta optical fixing device 25 is
3 may be provided on the same side as the yellow optical fixing device 24. In this case, the color thermosensitive recording material 19 is rewound until the end of the recording area reaches the thermal head 23 when the thermal recording and fixing of the color image of one color are completed, and the next color image of the next color image is reproduced again from the end side of the recording area. Perform thermal recording and fixing.

Next, another embodiment of the printer section will be described with reference to FIG. The same members as those in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 are designated by the same reference numerals. In this embodiment, a yellow recording thermal head 50, a magenta recording thermal head 51, and a cyan recording thermal head 52 are sequentially arranged from the upstream side in the transport direction of the color thermosensitive recording material 19. Further, platen rollers 53 to 55 are provided at positions facing the thermal heads 50 to 52, respectively. Further, the yellow optical fixing device 24 is provided between the yellow recording thermal head 50 and the magenta recording thermal head 51, and the magenta recording thermal head 51.
The magenta optical fixing device 25 is provided between the cyan recording thermal head 52 and the cyan recording thermal head 52.

When the motor 21 is rotated during printing, the color thermosensitive recording material 19 is continuously pulled out by the rotation of the supply reel 20. When the recording position reaches the yellow recording thermal head 50, a yellow image is formed by the thermal head 50 on the yellow thermosensitive coloring layer 43.
Each line is heat-recorded. The portion on which the yellow image is thermally recorded reaches the yellow optical fixing device 24, where optical fixing is performed. Next, when the front end of the yellow image reaches the magenta recording thermal head 51, the thermal head 51 thermally records the magenta image on the magenta thermosensitive coloring layer 42 line by line. When the portion on which the magenta image is thermally recorded reaches the magenta optical fixing device 25, the optical fixing is performed there. Further, when the front end of the magenta image reaches the cyan recording thermal head 52,
A cyan image is thermally recorded on the cyan thermosensitive coloring layer 41 line by line. In this way, yellow image, magenta image,
Since the thermal recording of the cyan image and the optical fixing of the yellow thermosensitive coloring layer 43 and the magenta thermosensitive coloring layer 42 are all performed in parallel, the color thermosensitive recording material 19 can be drawn out only once.
The printing time can be shortened.

Next, another embodiment of the color reading section will be described with reference to FIG. In this embodiment, a color filter 62 including a red portion 62a, a green portion 62b, and a blue portion 62c is provided between the image sensor 60 and the taking lens 10.
Is arranged so as to be movable in the vertical direction with respect to the optical axis 10a. In this color filter 62, a red portion 62a is read when reading a red component of an image, a green portion 62b is read when reading a green component, and a blue portion 62c is placed when reading a blue component in front of one row of the pixel array 61. By the color filter 62, the line-shaped image is photometrically separated into three colors.

When the color reading section shown in FIG. 7 is used, for example, while the sheet 3 is wound with the blue portion 62c of the color filter 62 set on the optical axis, the data is written on the recording surface 3a of the sheet 3. Read the blue color component of each line. Then, this color image signal is sent to the printer section 7 shown in FIG. 3 to thermally record the yellow image on the color thermosensitive recording material 19 being pulled out in synchronization with the reading. Next, the green image is read while rewinding the sheet 3 with the green portion 62b set. With this,
While returning the color thermosensitive recording material 19, the magenta image is thermally recorded in synchronization with the reading according to the sent green image signal. While the sheet 3 is being wound again, the red image is read using the red portion 62a, and in synchronization with this reading, the cyan image is thermally recorded on the color thermosensitive recording material 19 being pulled out. In this way, if thermal recording is performed while reading, the image memory 17 becomes unnecessary.

Further, the sheet 3 is wound stepwise,
The color filter 62 may be moved between steps to read a color image line-sequentially.

Next, with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9, the shielding of the discharge portion in the above embodiment will be described. The discharge unit is provided on the downstream side of the cutter 32, and includes a discharge roller pair 33 and a discharge port 70 formed in the outer box of the printer unit 7.
Black brushes 71a, 71 are provided on the upper and lower inner walls of the discharge port 70.
b are provided so that the respective tip portions contact the outer circumference of the discharge roller pair 33. These brushes 71a, 71
b covers the upper and lower gaps of the discharge port 70, and external light enters the inside of the printer unit 7 to form a roller-shaped color thermosensitive recording material 1.
9 is prevented from being optically fixed.

Further, black brushes 72a, 72b, 73a, 73b having long bristles are also provided on the sides of the discharge roller pair 33. Brushes 72a, 72b, 73a, 73b
Since the opposing brushes and the respective tip portions overlap each other, the density of the brush portions is increased and the light shielding effect is enhanced. These brushes 72a, 72b, 73
The a and 73b prevent external light entering through a slight gap on the side surface from entering the inside further than the discharge roller pair 33.

When discharging the color copy 8, the brush 71
Since a and 71b are curved, the ejection of the color copy 8 is not hindered. At this time, the brushes 71a, 71b
Removes static electricity charged in the color copy 8.

FIG. 10 shows another embodiment of the discharge port. In the above embodiment, the two brushes are provided on the upper and lower inner walls of the discharge port so as to face each other. However, in this embodiment, the brush 80 having a long bristle is provided only on the upper inner wall of the discharge port 70, and the discharge port 70 is It is a blockade. In this case, the brush 80 should be made of a black and soft material and of high density so as to sufficiently block the external light so that the friction with the brush 80 does not hinder the conveyance of the color thermosensitive recording material 19. There is.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 11, a shutter 85 is provided on the upper outer wall of the discharge port 70, and the shutter 85 is opened and closed by a solenoid (not shown). The shutter 85 is opened only during the printing operation to expose the discharge port 70, and is closed when the printing is completed. The shutter 85 can be opened and closed by using a drive source in the board copy device other than the solenoid.

[0036]

As described above, according to the present invention, since a color copy is produced by the color thermosensitive recording system, the printer section is simple and compact, and the color copy can be produced at a low cost. Further, no maintenance is required, and no waste such as ink ribbon is generated. Further, since the light-shielding means is provided at the discharge port, it is possible to prevent the color thermosensitive recording material from being optically fixed by the external light.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a main part of a color board copying apparatus embodying the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing a color board copying apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a printer unit.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a layer structure of a color thermosensitive recording material.

FIG. 5 is a graph showing color forming characteristics of a color thermosensitive recording material.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing another embodiment of the printer unit.

FIG. 7 is a schematic view showing another embodiment of the color reading unit.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of a main part illustrating a light-shielding discharge part.

9 is a front view of the discharge roller shown in FIG.

FIG. 10 is a main-portion cross-sectional view showing another example of the discharging portion.

FIG. 11 is a main-portion cross-sectional view showing still another example of the discharging portion.

[Explanation of symbols]

3 sheet 7 printer section 7a thermal recording section 7b fixing section 8 color copy 11 color image line sensor 12 color reading section 15a to 15c, 61 pixel array 17 image memory 19 color thermal recording material 23, 50, 51, 52 thermal head 24, 25 Optical fixing device 41 Cyan thermosensitive coloring layer 42 Magenta thermosensitive coloring layer 43 Yellow thermosensitive coloring layer 60 Image line sensor 62 Color filter 71a, 71b, 72a, 72b, 73a, 73b, 8
0 brush 85 shutter

Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification number Office reference number FI technical display location B41M 5/26 B43L 1/04 F 8305-2H B41M 5/26

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A letter or the like written on a whiteboard
A color reading section for color separation photometry and reading for each line to output at least yellow, magenta, and cyan image signals, and at least a yellow thermosensitive coloring layer, a magenta thermosensitive coloring layer, and a cyan thermosensitive coloring layer that are layered on a color thermosensitive recording material. The thermal recording part for sequentially recording the recording layer consisting of layers from the uppermost layer, the fixing part for irradiating light to the thermosensitive color forming layer which has been recorded before the thermal recording for the next layer to perform optical fixing, and the thermal recording and fixing. Completed, the discharging section for discharging the color thermosensitive recording material with copied characters etc. on the whiteboard, and even if the color thermosensitive recording material is left unrecorded in the device, it can be used without any trouble at the next thermal recording. It is equipped with a light-shielding device that shields the discharge part against external light to a certain extent, and the characters written on the whiteboard can be recorded on the color thermosensitive recording material to make a color copy. Full-color board copy apparatus according to symptoms. 2. The color reading section comprises a pixel array of three colors and a memory for recording an image signal of three colors for each line read by each pixel array. Full color board copy machine described. 3. The full-color board copying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the thermal recording section is provided with three thermal heads for recording images of respective colors.