JPH09149194A - Film feeder for scanner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To carry a photo film with high precision. SOLUTION: The feeder 3 is made up of a film holder 17 consisting of n upper holder 23 and a lower holder 24 to have a piece film 2 inbetween to provide flatness, a supply roller pair 18 to feed the piece film 2 to the film holder 17, a discharge roller pair 20 discharging the film after reading, a film carrier roller pair 19 feeding frames of the film in the film holder 17, and a ball screw 21 used to move the film holder 17 at a prescribed speed. In the case of a long piece film 2, plural frames are read consecutively in both directions of reciprocating motion and even a short slide film is supplied automatically and fed with high precision.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a scanner for reading an image using an image line sensor, and more particularly to a scanner capable of handling both a short photographic film of one frame and a long photographic film of a plurality of frames. It relates to a feeder.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to create a print photograph of a proper color in a photo lab, before printing an image of a developed photo film (negative film or positive film) on photographic paper,
The photographic film is certified to determine the exposure correction amount during printing. Conventionally, this film inspection has been performed by observing the naked eye of a skilled worker, but nowadays, a method of automatically performing film inspection by a scanner is the mainstream.

In the above scanner, one frame of a photo film is passed through an image area sensor (CC) through an optical system such as a lens.
The image is captured in D), divided into a large number of minute areas, and each area is subjected to three-color separation photometry. Then, the density is obtained from the photometric value of each area, and the exposure correction amount for determining the basic exposure amount by LATD is calculated from these many densities. A scanner using this image area sensor is expensive but has a high reading speed, and therefore is suitable for use in a large-scale developing laboratory or the like in which a large number of photographic films are connected for processing.

There is also a scanner using a low-priced image line sensor. In this scanner, the photographic film is conveyed at a constant speed to the sensor and is read frame by frame. A scanner using this image line sensor is mainly used for film verification when printing is performed from a piece film obtained by cutting a developed photographic film every several frames.

[0005]

However, in the case of a scanner using the above image line sensor, it is difficult to feed the piece film at a constant speed with high accuracy due to meandering and expansion / contraction of the piece film, difference in friction coefficient, and the like. Further, since the flatness is insufficient, there is a problem that the reading accuracy is inferior to that of the scanner using the image area sensor.
Also, the slide film cut into one frame could not be sent.

It is also possible to set the piece film in a holder and move the holder with respect to the sensor. In this case, the feeding speed, the flatness, etc. can be maintained with high precision, and the slide film can also be fed. However, every time one frame is scanned, the photographic film in the holder has to be manually set again, which is very inefficient.

The present invention is intended to solve the above problems, and provides a film feeding device for a scanner, which can feed a developed photographic film frame by frame with high accuracy regardless of the length and the length. The purpose is to

[0008]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the film feeding device according to the first aspect of the invention has a frame for holding one frame of the photographic film and holding it, and an opening for exposing the image of one frame. The provided film holder,
A holder moving unit that moves the film holder at a constant speed between the first position and the second position when reading an image of one frame, and a film transport roller pair that sends one frame that has been read out of the film holder. It is composed. According to this, the photographic film can be conveyed to the image line sensor with high accuracy, and the frame feeding in the film holder can be efficiently performed for each frame reading.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a film feeding device, which is located outside the first and second positions of the film holder, and which has a pair of supply rollers for feeding the photographic film into the film holder and a photographic film from the film holder. A pair of discharge rollers for discharging are provided. According to this, it is possible to efficiently exchange the photo film in the film holder.

Further, in the film feeding device according to the third aspect of the invention, after the film holder moves from the first position to the second position and one frame image is read, the next frame is sandwiched by the film holder. Then, the image is read when moving from the second position to the first position. As a result, two-frame images can be read by reciprocating movement.

[0011]

1 is a schematic diagram showing the structure of a scanner in which the present invention is implemented. The scanner uses a piece of photo film 2 that has been cut into several frames (for example, 6 frames) of a developed photo film, a slide film that has been cut into frames of one frame, and a single photo film such as a long film. A film feeding device 3 that conveys the photo films, a light source 4 that illuminates the photographic film from below the film feeding device 3, a scanner unit 5 that is arranged above the film feeding device 3 and that reads an image of each frame of the photographic film, It is composed of a controller 6 for controlling these, a keyboard 7, a display 8 and the like used for inputting various correction data and operating the scanner.

The scanner section 5 includes an image line sensor 12 for picking up an image of the piece film 2 via a reflecting mirror 10 and an imaging lens 11, an A / D converter 13, a characteristic value calculating section 14, and an exposure correction amount calculating section. It is composed of 15 and.
The image line sensor 12 converts the image of the target frame of the piece film 2 fed by the film feeding device 3 at a constant speed into image signals line by line, and performs three-color separation photometry. The photometric signal for one frame of each color is sent to the A / D converter 1
3 is input.

In the A / D converter 13, the photometric signal input from the image line sensor 12 is digitized and sent to the characteristic value calculating section 14. The characteristic value calculation unit 14 calculates various characteristic values such as maximum density and minimum density based on the three-color image data, and sends them to the exposure correction amount calculation unit 15. The exposure correction amount calculation unit 15 calculates an exposure correction amount for correcting the basic exposure amount by LATD for each color based on various characteristic values. This exposure correction amount calculation processing is performed by classifying print target frames into various scenes using various characteristic values and using an exposure correction calculation formula according to the classified scenes.

The exposure correction amount calculated by the exposure correction amount calculation unit 15 is input to the controller 6, and the exposure correction amount for each color is stored in a recording medium such as an IC card or a magnetic tape corresponding to the frame number. . This recording medium is set in a photographic printer together with a photographic film, and photographic printing such as reprinting is performed. The controller 6 controls the scanner unit 5 and the film feeding device 3 according to the stored program. If there is a frame that cannot be corrected by the automatic exposure correction by the scanner, the exposure correction data is input from the keyboard 7 while looking at the display 8.

As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the film feeding device 3 includes a film holder 17 for sandwiching a photographic film such as a piece film 2, a slide film, and a long film to give a flatness, and the film holder 17. A pair of film transport rollers 19 that feeds the photographic film in a frame
A pair of supply rollers 18 for feeding the photo film to the film holder 17, a pair of discharge rollers 20 for discharging the photo film from the film feeding device 3, a first position of the film holder 17 shown in the drawing, and a two-dot chain line. It is composed of a ball screw 21 which is a holder moving means for moving at a constant speed to and from the second position shown.

The film holder 17 is a piece film 2
The upper and lower holders 23 and 24 are formed with openings 23a and 24a for exposing one frame. The upper holder 23 is movable up and down with respect to the lower holder 24 by a shift mechanism 25 controlled by the controller 6, and is lifted by the shift mechanism 25 at the time of receiving the film and at the time of delivering the film, so that the upper holder 23 and the lower holder 24 are A space through which the piece film 2 can pass is formed therebetween. Further, at the time of lowering, the piece film 2 is sandwiched with the lower holder 24 to provide flatness. A cam, a solenoid or the like is used for the shift mechanism 25.

On both sides of the film holder 17 in the moving direction, a pair of guide shafts 27 are arranged along the moving direction. By inserting the guide shaft 27 into the bearing portions 28 provided on both side surfaces of the lower holder 24, the film holder 17 is movable along the guide shaft 27. Although not shown, slide bearings are incorporated in the bearings 28 to reduce the load when the film holder 17 is moved.

The film holder 17 has a ball screw 2
1 moves along the guide shaft 27. The ball screw 21 has a screw shaft 30 arranged parallel to the guide shaft 27.
And a ball nut 31 meshed with the screw shaft 30. The ball nut 31 is incorporated in a screw receiving portion 32 provided in a lower portion of the lower holder 24. The screw shaft 30 is rotated in the forward and reverse directions by the pulse motor 34 controlled by the controller 6 via the driver 33, and the rotation of the screw shaft 30 causes the ball nut 31 to move on the screw shaft 30. The film holder 17 to which is attached reciprocates along the guide shaft 27 between the first position and the second position.

The supply roller pair 18 is arranged in the vicinity of the film holder 17 at the first position, and is provided with a driving capstan roller 18a and the capstan roller 1.
It is composed of a pinch roller 18b which is pressed against and separated from 8a. The capstan roller 18a is the driver 3
Pulse motor 3 controlled by controller 6 via 6
It is driven by 7. Also, the pinch roller 18b
Is pressed against and separated from the capstan roller 18a by a nip mechanism 38 including a cam and solenoid controlled by the controller 6. Then, the piece film 2 is fed into the film holder 17 by sandwiching the piece film 2 between the capster roller 18 a and the pinch roller 18 b and rotating the piece film 2.

The pair of film transport rollers 19 are incorporated one by one outside the openings 23a and 24a in the middle of the film holder 17 in the transport direction. The film transport roller pair 19 is composed of a capstan roller 19a and a pinch roller 19b like the supply roller pair 18, and the capstan roller 19a is connected to a pulse motor 39 controlled by the controller 6 via a driver 38. The pinch rollers 19b are each driven by the nip mechanism 40.

The discharge roller pair 20 is disposed in the vicinity of the film holder 17 at the second position and has a capstan roller 20a driven by the pulse motor 39 and a pinch roller 20b driven by the nip mechanism 41. It consists of Since the film holder 17 moves about the length of one frame of the piece film 2, the distance between the supply roller pair 18 and the discharge roller pair 20 is longer than the length of two pieces of the piece film 2. Need to be.

A front end detection sensor 43 is arranged upstream of the supply roller pair 18 in the film feeding direction. The leading edge detection sensor 43 detects the leading edge of the piece film 2 set in the film feeding device 3 and also acts as an end sensor that detects the trailing edge of the piece film 2. The detection signal of the tip detection sensor 43 is input to the controller 6.

Next, the operation of the scanner will be described. 3A to 3D show the states of the film feeding device 3 when feeding one frame of the piece film 2 to the scanner unit 5 at a constant speed in a stepwise manner. As shown in FIG. 3A, in the film feeding device 3 in the initial state, the film holder 17 stands by at the first position, and the upper holder 23
Is lifted by the shift mechanism 25, and a space through which the piece film 2 can pass is formed between the shift mechanism 25 and the lower holder 24. The pinch roller 18b of the supply roller pair 18 is pressed against the capstan roller 18a, and the pinch rollers 19b and 20b of the film transport roller pair 19 and the discharge roller pair 20 are respectively capstan rollers 19a and 20a.
It is separated from a.

When the piece film 2 is set on the feed roller pair 18 side of the film feeding device 3 in the above state, the tip of the piece film 2 is detected by the tip detecting sensor 43, and this detection signal is input to the controller 6. . The operator inputs the data such as the loading direction of the set piece film 2 and which frame is to be read with the keyboard 7, and then executes the film reading. When the film reading is executed, the controller 6 drives the pulse motor 37 via the driver 36 to rotate the supply roller pair 18 in the film feeding direction. As a result, the piece film 2 is nipped by the pair of supply rollers 18 and fed between the upper holder 23 and the lower holder 24 of the film holder 17.

The controller 6 stops driving the supply roller pair 18 when the number of pulses applied to the pulse motor 37 reaches a predetermined number. Since the piece film 2 must be reliably delivered from the supply roller pair 18 to the film conveyance roller pair 19, the supply roller pair 18 is stopped at the tip of the piece film 2 below the film conveyance roller pair 19. After passing. And
After the supply roller pair is stopped, the pinch roller 19b of the film transport roller pair 19 is pressed against the piece film 2 by the nip mechanism 40, as shown in FIG.
At this time, the pinch roller 18 b of the supply roller pair 18 is separated from the piece film 2 by the nip mechanism 38.

After that, the film conveying roller pair 19 is driven by the pulse motor 39 and is stopped when the number of pulses given to the pulse motor 39 reaches a predetermined number.
At this time, the first frame of the piece film 2 is at a predetermined position in the film holder 17, and as shown in FIG.
The upper holder 23 is lowered by the shift mechanism 25, and one frame of the piece film 2 is sandwiched between the upper holder 23 and the lower holder 24.

Next, the controller 6 operates the pulse motor 34.
Pulse is supplied to rotate the screw shaft 30. As a result, the ball nut 31 meshed with the screw shaft 30, that is, the film holder 17 is, as shown in FIG.
The scanner unit 5 is moved from the first position to the second position at a constant speed, and the scanner unit 5 transfers one frame image of the piece film 2 by the image line sensor 12 via the reflection mirror 10 and the imaging lens 11. Three-color separation photometry is performed line by line. The photometric signal of each color is digitized by the A / D converter 13, and the exposure correction amount is calculated by the characteristic value calculation unit 14 and the exposure correction amount calculation unit 15. The calculated exposure correction amount is input to the controller 6 and recorded on an IC card, a magnetic tape or the like in correspondence with the frame number.

While the film holder 17 is moving, the piece film 2 has good flatness because it is sandwiched between the film holders 17, and the film holder 17 moves along the guide shaft 27. Therefore, the film holder 17 does not meander, and the film holder 17 is moved by the ball screw 21, so that the moving speed hardly changes. As a result, one frame of the piece film 2 can be read with high accuracy.

When the film holder 17 reaches the second position, the pulse supply to the pulse motor 34 is stopped,
The movement of the film holder 17 is stopped. In the stopped film holder 17, the upper holder 23 is raised by the shift mechanism 25, and the piece film 2 is conveyed leftward in the figure by the film conveying roller pair 19, as shown in FIG. During the transportation, the piece film 2 is nipped by the discharge roller pair 20, and the film transport roller pair 19 and the discharge roller pair 20 move the piece film 2 for one frame in the film holder 17.

The piece film 2 is placed in the film holder 17.
When the frame is moved by one frame, the upper holder 23 is again lowered by the shift mechanism 25, and the frame next to the frame sandwiched during the forward movement is sandwiched. Then, the film holder 17 is moved at a constant speed toward the initial position by the screw shaft 30 being rotated in the reverse direction, and one frame of the piece film 2 is read by the scanner unit 5 even during this backward movement. In this way, by reading one frame each during the forward movement and the backward movement, even when all the six frames of the piece film 2 are read, the film holder 17 completes three reciprocations. The discharge roller pair 20 also has a function of applying an appropriate tension to the photographic film projected from the film holder 17 when the film holder 17 reciprocates.

As described above, when all the frames designated by the reciprocating movement are read, the controller 6 raises the upper holder 23 by the shift mechanism 25, and the discharge roller pair 20 moves the piece film 2 out of the film feeding device 3. To discharge.

Next, referring to FIG. 4, the operation of feeding the slide film cut into one frame will be described.
The case of this slide film 45 is almost the same as that of the above-described piece film 2, and when the slide film 45 is set in the film feeding device 3 as shown in FIG. The leading edge is detected and is fed into the film holder 17 by the supply roller pair 18 and the film transport roller pair 19. When the slide film 45 is sandwiched by the film holder 17, the leading edge detection sensor 45 immediately stops detecting anything.
Therefore, the controller 6 determines that the set photo film is the short slide film 45.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 3B, the film holder 17 is moved from the first position to the second position by the rotation of the screw shaft 30, and the scanner unit 5 moves one frame during this movement. Image is read. When the film holder 17 reaches the second position, the film transport roller pair 19 and the discharge roller pair 20 discharge the slide film 45 to the outside of the film feeding device 3, as shown in FIG.

In the above embodiment, the film feeding of the piece film and the slide film has been described. However, for example, a long film for one film can be conveyed with high accuracy as with the piece film. Also,
When reading the piece film, it was read at the time of the forward movement and the backward movement, but it is read only at the forward movement, and at the time of the backward movement, the film holder is returned to the initial position at a faster speed than the forward movement. You may do it. Further, since the image reading direction is opposite when the film holder is moving forward and backward, the scanner unit can automatically rearrange the image data in accordance with the feeding direction.
Furthermore, if the length of the photo film set in the film feeding device, the type of film such as negative and positive, the front and back of the set photo film, etc. are automatically determined and the focusing is also performed automatically, more work is possible. Efficiency is improved.

Although the ball screw is used as the film holder moving means, a cam, a crank mechanism or the like can be used instead of the ball screw. Further, the positioning of the photo film in the film holder may be performed by detecting a notch or the like of the photo film with a sensor in addition to controlling the number of pulses of the pulse motor.

[0036]

As described above, according to the film feeding device of the scanner of the present invention, by sandwiching the photographic film with the film holder, it is possible to impart good flatness to the photographic film. By moving the holder by the holder moving means, the photographic film can be fed at a constant speed without meandering, so that the reading accuracy of the image line sensor can be improved. Further, since the film feeding roller pair is provided for frame feeding in the film holder, it is possible to efficiently read a plurality of frames of the photographic film.

Further, since the supply roller pair and the discharge roller pair are provided outside the moving range of the film holder, the photographic film can be efficiently exchanged into the film holder.

Furthermore, since another frame is sandwiched by the reciprocating movement of the film holder, the photographic film can be read when moving in both directions, and the working efficiency is greatly improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a scanner using a film feeding device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the film feeding device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing the feeding state of the piece film of the film feeding apparatus of the present invention step by step.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing the feeding state of the slide film of the film feeding device of the present invention step by step.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 piece film 3 film feeding device 4 light source 5 scanner unit 6 controller 12 image line sensor 17 film holder 18 supply roller pair 19 film transport roller pair 20 discharge roller pair 21 ball screw 45 slide film

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A scanner that reads an image of one frame recorded on a developed photographic film line by line by an image line sensor, holds one frame of the photographic film and holds it, and exposes one frame of the image. A film holder provided with an opening, a holder moving means for moving the film holder at a constant speed between a first position and a second position when reading an image of one frame, and a film holder for reading one frame. A film feeding device for a scanner, which comprises a film feeding roller pair which is fed to the outside. 2. A first position and a second position of the film holder.
2. The film feeding device for a scanner according to claim 1, further comprising: a supply roller pair for feeding the photographic film to the film holder and a discharge roller pair for discharging the photographic film from the film holder, outside the position. 3. The film holder moves from the first position to the second position to read an image of one frame, and then sandwiches the next one frame to move from the second position to the first position. 3. The film feeding device for a scanner according to claim 1, wherein an image is read when returning.