JPH0743906A - Photosensitive material relaxation device for image recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To elminate the distortion of a photoensitive material when it is attracted and held by a recording drum by executing the relaxation processing thereof decided based on the size of the photosensitive material on the recording drum and relation stored in a storage means. CONSTITUTION:The relaxation processing stored in a memory is selected based on the size of the photosensitive material received through a control panel. Next, the photosensitive material is carried toward the recording drum 320 and cut to the prescribed length. Then, it is set at a position where the leading edge of the photosensitive material is aligned with the recessed part 324 of the drum 320. The photosensitive material is carried toward the drum 320 besides and the drum 320 is rotated in synchronism with it. Then, the drum 320 is positioned so that the center position of the photosensitive material is positioned just under a peeling pawl. Besides, a blower is stopped and the attraction of the photoreceptor material to the drum 320 is released according to selected optimum data. Then, the blower is actuated again after a fixed time and the photosensitive material is attracted and held by the drum 320.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus for recording a desired image by irradiating a sensitive material having a plurality of sizes with a laser beam while rotating the recording drum while rotating the recording drum. The present invention relates to a light-sensitive material relaxation device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a certain type of image recording apparatus, while a photosensitive material is wound around a recording drum and sucked and held,
A duplicate image is drawn on the photosensitive material by rotating the recording drum and linearly driving the exposure head in a direction substantially parallel to the rotation axis of the drum in synchronization with the rotation of the photosensitive material. In this type of image recording device, the recording material is wound around the recording drum by rotating the recording drum while adsorbing the tip of the recording material, so that the recording material is likely to be distorted.

Further, in order to improve the adhesion of the photosensitive material to the recording drum, a plurality of nip rollers may be provided facing the recording drum. In this case, it is difficult to equalize the nip force between the nip rollers, and distortion of the photosensitive material is likely to occur due to nonuniformity of the nip force. If the drawing process is executed with the distortion generated in the photosensitive material as it is, the distortion affects the image recorded in the photosensitive material, and the recording accuracy deteriorates.

Therefore, the applicant of the present invention releases the attraction of the photosensitive material to the recording drum for a certain period of time (or weakens the attraction force for a certain period of time), and restores the attraction force again at least once. It has been proposed to adopt a treatment (Japanese Patent Application No. 4-69700). However, since there is only one type of relaxation processing according to the above proposal,
It is not possible to satisfactorily eliminate the distortion that varies depending on the size of the photosensitive material.

An object of the present invention is to satisfactorily eliminate the distortion that occurs when a photosensitive material is adsorbed and held on a recording drum.

[0006]

A photosensitive material relaxation apparatus according to the present invention irradiates a laser beam onto the photosensitive material while rotating the recording drum in a state in which the photosensitive materials having a plurality of sizes are adsorbed and held. It is for an image recording apparatus for recording an image. This device includes a storage means, a processing content determination means, and a relaxation means.

The storage means has a plurality of sizes of photosensitive material,
The relationship with a plurality of types of relaxation processing corresponding thereto is stored. The processing content determination means determines the content of the relaxation processing based on the size of the photosensitive material on the recording drum and the relationship stored in the storage means. The relaxation means applies the relaxation processing determined by the processing content determination means to the photosensitive material on the recording drum.

[0008]

In the photosensitive material relaxation apparatus according to the present invention, the content of the relaxation processing is determined by the processing content determination means based on the size of the photosensitive material on the recording drum and the relationship stored in the storage means. Then, the determined relaxation process is applied to the photosensitive material on the recording drum by the relaxation means.

Here, since the relaxation process for the photosensitive material on the recording drum is appropriately performed according to the size of the photosensitive material, the photosensitive material is adsorbed and held on the recording drum even if there are a plurality of photosensitive material sizes. The distortion that occurs at that time is satisfactorily resolved.

[0010]

1 and 2, an image recording apparatus to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied comprises a supply unit 100, a conveyance unit 200, an image recording unit 300, a carry-out unit 400 and a discharge magazine 500. There is. The supply unit 100 includes two supply magazines 100A and 100B that are detachably attached to the transport unit 200 from the front side.
Is equipped with.

The transport unit 200 is adapted to cut out the photosensitive material F (or the photosensitive material FB) from the supply magazines 100A and 100B and then cut the photosensitive material F to a desired length. Further, the transport unit 200 transports the photosensitive material F to the image recording unit 300 that draws a desired image. The transport unit 200 transports the drawer unit 210 that pulls out the photosensitive material F from the supply unit 100, a cutter mechanism unit 220 that cuts the photosensitive material F to a predetermined length, and the photosensitive material F toward the image recording unit 300. Supply mechanism unit 2
30 and a pulse motor PM1 that is a drive source of the transport unit 200.

The drawer mechanism 210 includes gears 211 and 211.
12 are provided for supplying magazines 100A and 1A, respectively.
00B is configured to transmit power. These gears 211 and 212 have clutches MCL1 and
MCL2 is connected. In addition, the drawer mechanism 210
Is provided with a roller pair R1 for transporting the photosensitive material F to the cutter mechanism unit 220.

The cutter mechanism section 220 is provided with a fixed cutter 221. The supply mechanism unit 230 includes two roller pairs R2 and R3, and the pulse motor PM
One rotational driving force is transmitted to each roller pair R2, R3. Further, a clutch MCL3 for controlling whether or not the driving force transmitted to the roller pair R1 is further transmitted to the roller pair R2 is attached.

The image recording unit 300 includes a frame 31.
A recording drum 320 that is rotatable in the direction of arrow A on the 0, and an exposure head 330 that is movable in a direction parallel to the rotation axis of the recording drum 320 (direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. 2). The exposure head 330 irradiates the photosensitive material F adsorbed and held on the recording drum 320 with a laser beam while moving in synchronization with the rotation of the recording drum 320 to record a desired image.

As shown in FIG. 3, the image recording unit 30
At 0, the recording drum 320 is rotatably held by the frame 310. The recording drum 320 is connected to the motor M4 and is rotationally driven by the motor M4. The motor M4 is cooled by a cooling fan (not shown) via the duct 321. A plurality of grooves 322 are formed on the surface of the recording drum 320.
These grooves 322 are connected to the blower 350 through the duct 323.
(See below). Therefore, when the photosensitive material F is placed on the recording drum 320 and the blower 350 is operated, the photosensitive material F is attracted to the recording drum 320.
The surface of the recording drum 320 has a plurality of recesses 324.
Are provided at equal intervals on a straight line parallel to the rotation axis of the recording drum 320.

A recording drum 320 is provided on the frame 310.
Ball screw 341 is arranged parallel to the rotation axis of
Both ends of the ball screw 341 are rotatably supported by the support members 342 and 343. A stage 345 on which the exposure head 330 is mounted is screwed onto the ball screw 341. The pulley 346 fixed to one end of the ball screw 341 is rotationally driven by the pulse motor PM5 via the belt 347. As a result, the exposure head 330 moves to the recording drum 320 according to the rotation amount of the pulse motor PM5.
It moves in the direction X and the direction (-X) parallel to the rotation axis of.

The carry-out unit 400 is arranged above the image recording unit 300. This carry-out unit 40
Reference numeral 0 has a peeling claw 410, which peels off the recorded photosensitive material and the like from the recording drum 320 and carries it out to the discharge magazine 500. In the carry-out unit 400, a nip roller R4 is provided so as to be opposed to the recording drum 320 so as to be able to come into contact with and separate from the recording drum 320. The nip roller R4 is separated from the recording drum 320 as shown by the solid line in FIG. 2 when the solenoid SL1 (described later) connected to the nip roller R4 is not excited. On the other hand, when the solenoid SL1 is excited, it is pressed against the recording drum 320 as shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG.

The peeling claw 410 is adjacent to the nip roller R4 and can be brought into and out of contact with the recording drum 320. This peeling claw 410 is a solenoid SL2 (described later).
Is connected to the recording drum 3 when the solenoid SL2 is in the excited state, and the leading end of the solenoid SL2 is in sliding contact with the recording drum 320, and when the solenoid SL2 is in the non-excited state.
Separate from 20.

Here, the discharge magazine 500 is arranged above the image recording unit 300, and the discharge unit 4
00 is configured to discharge the recorded sensitive material to the discharge magazine 500, so that an image recording apparatus having a small transport space for the sensitive material and a small flat space can be obtained. In FIG. 4 showing the control system of the image recording apparatus, the control unit 600 has a main control section 610 and a motor control section 620. The main control unit 610 includes an input control unit 611 and an output control unit 61.
2 and. The operation control panel 640 and various limit switches and sensors (not shown) are connected to the input control unit 611. .

The control unit 600 also includes a memory 613.
have. In the memory 613, as the size of the photosensitive material F usable in this embodiment, (a) 22 × 26,
(B) 22x28, (c) 22x34, (d) 24x2
8, (e) 24 × 34, (f) 26 × 22, (g) 28
X22, (h) 28x24, (i) 26x40, (j)
32 × 40, (k) 32 × 44 (inches) 11
The type is remembered.

Further, the memory 613 also stores the contents of a plurality of types of relaxation processing corresponding to the photosensitive material sizes (a) to (k). The relaxation process referred to here is to perform the operation of returning the attraction force to the original state once or more after releasing the attraction of the sensitive material F to the recording drum 320 for a certain time according to the size of the sensitive material F. . A more specific relaxation process is, for example, size (a)-
With respect to the photosensitive material F of (h), after the suction is released for 15 seconds, the suction force is restored. Size (i) ~
With respect to the photosensitive material F of (k), after the suction is released for 30 seconds, the suction force is restored. Of course, more detailed differences may be provided between the sizes.

Even if there are a plurality of sizes of the sensitive material, if the relaxation process is performed for the same time and number of times for all sizes, there is a problem that the large-sized sensitive material F cannot completely remove the distortion. On the other hand, a small size sensitive material F
Then, although the distortion is completely removed, there is a problem that the processing is further continued and a wasteful time is spent. In this embodiment, such a problem can be solved by employing a plurality of types of relaxation processing.

The operation panel 640 has a keyboard 641 and a display 642, and information for specifying a procedure of a series of image recording processes and information such as the size of a sensitive material on which an image is to be recorded are provided on the operation panel 640. Is input by the operator using. The output controller 612 includes the exposure head 3
30, the solenoids SL1 and SL2, and the blower 350 are connected. The exposure head 330 turns ON / OFF the laser beam based on a control signal from the output control unit 612 of the main control unit 610.

The solenoid SL1 is a nip roller R4.
Is an actuator for pressing or separating the recording drum 320 from the recording drum 320. On the other hand, the solenoid SL2 is
It is a drive source for driving the peeling claw 410 and the switching member 420 at the same time. In addition, the blower 350 is the duct 3
It is connected to the groove 322 of the recording drum 320 via 23. Therefore, the groove 3 is controlled by the blower 350.
The supply of negative pressure to 22 can be adjusted.

The motor control unit 620 is connected to a transport roller driving motor PM1, a cutter driving motor M2, a carry-out roller driving motor M3, a drum rotation driving motor M4, and an exposure head driving motor M5. The output of the motor control unit 620 is output to the motor M via the drive units 621, 624 and 625 for the motors PM1, M4 and PM5.
2 is given directly, and further for the motor M3 is given via the speed controller 623.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described with reference to the flow chart shown in FIG. In step S1, the supply magazine 100A and / or the supply magazine 1
Confirm that Sensitive Material F is set to 00B. Supply magazine 100A and / or supply magazine 100B
If it is confirmed that the photosensitive material F is set in, the process proceeds to step S2.

In step S2, the input of the size of the photosensitive material F to be used is accepted via the operation panel 640.
The sizes of the sensitive material F that can be input are the above-mentioned 11 sizes (a) to (k). In step S3, the memory 6 is read based on the size of the photosensitive material F input in step S2.
The relaxation process stored in 13 is selected.

In step S4, the photosensitive material F is applied to the recording drum 3
After being conveyed to 20, the cutter mechanism unit 220 cuts it to a predetermined length L. And the cut sensitive material F
Is conveyed to the recording drum 320, and is set at a position where the concave portion 324 of the recording drum 320 and the tip of the photosensitive material F coincide with each other (see FIG. 6). Next, in step S5, the photosensitive material F is conveyed toward the recording drum 320, and the recording drum 320 is rotated in synchronization with it so that the center position CF of the photosensitive material F is located immediately below the peeling claw 410. The recording drum 320 is positioned (see FIG. 7). That is, the recording drum 320 is rotated at least one revolution so that the midpoint (center position CF) between the front end and the rear end of the photosensitive material F is positioned vertically above the rotation axis of the recording drum 320. To position. The position of the recording drum 320 at this time is the relaxation position. As a result, the distance from the center position CF of the photosensitive material F to both edges of the photosensitive material becomes the same.

In step S6, relaxation processing is executed. First, the blower 350 is stopped, and the adsorption of the photosensitive material F to the recording drum 320 is released according to the optimum data selected in step S3. At this time, since the photosensitive material F is arranged on the recording drum 320 in a state of being left-right evenly, it does not drop from the recording drum 320. Then, after a certain period of time (15 to 30 seconds), the blower 350 is operated again so that the photosensitive material F is recorded on the recording drum 320.
Hold by adsorption.

As described above, the recording drum 320 of the photosensitive material F
By releasing the adsorption to the recording drum 320 for a certain period of time, the distortion generated when the photosensitive material F is supplied to the recording drum 320 is eliminated. In particular, since the relaxation process suitable for the size of the photosensitive material F on the recording drum 320 is executed here, it occurs when the photosensitive material F is suction-held on the recording drum 320 even if there are a plurality of photosensitive material sizes. Distortion is better resolved. As a result, in the next step S7, the drawing process can be performed on the sensitive material F without distortion, and the recording accuracy is improved.

The relaxation treatment may be performed twice or more. Further, instead of releasing the suction, the suction force may simply be weakened. That is, at the relaxation position, the suction of the sensitive material F to the recording drum 320 may be weakened for a certain period of time, and then the process of restoring the suction force may be performed once or more. Further, it is possible to blow low pressure air from the groove 322 to the back surface of the photosensitive material F to accelerate the adsorption release.

In step S7, while rotating the recording drum 320 at a high speed, the laser beam from the exposure head 330 is scanned in a direction parallel to the rotation axis of the recording drum 320 to record an image on the photosensitive material F. When the drawing process is completed,
In step S8, the recorded sensitive material EF is peeled off from the recording drum 320 using the peeling claw 410, and
The sensitive material EF is carried out to the discharge magazine 500.

[0033]

In the photosensitive material relaxation apparatus according to the present invention, the content of the relaxation processing is determined based on the size of the photosensitive material on the recording drum and the relationship stored in the storage means, and the determined relaxation processing is recorded. Since it is applied to the photosensitive material on the drum, even if there are a plurality of photosensitive material sizes, the distortion generated when the photosensitive material is adsorbed and held on the recording drum is favorably eliminated.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view of an image recording apparatus adopting an embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic vertical sectional view thereof.

FIG. 3 is a perspective partial view of the image recording unit.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a control system of this image recording apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a schematic operation of this image recording apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing a loading procedure.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a loading procedure.

[Explanation of symbols]

 320 recording drum 330 exposure head 350 blower 600 control unit 613 memory F sensitive material

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A photosensitive material relaxation device of an image recording apparatus for recording a desired image by irradiating the photosensitive material with a laser beam while rotating the recording drum while adsorbing and holding photosensitive materials having a plurality of sizes. Based on the relationship between a plurality of sizes of the photosensitive material and a plurality of types of relaxation processing corresponding thereto, storage means, and the size of the photosensitive material on the recording drum and the relationship stored in the storage means. The content of the relaxation process, and a relaxation unit for applying the relaxation process determined by the process content determination unit to the photosensitive material on the recording drum. apparatus.