JPH09179205A - Photographic printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To maintain and improve an exposure processing capacity, without impairing a light shielding property by providing a control means for executing the closing operation of a second shutter for shielding light, when a first shutter for controlling an exposure is in a continuously closed state for a specified time or more. SOLUTION: A controller 10 monitors the operation of the first shutter 11 and controls the closing operation of the second shutter 12, when the first shutter 11 is in the continuously closed state for the specified time or more. A photosensitive material kind detector 45 is provided inside or outside a paper magazine 31 and a photographic printer is provided with an environmental measuring device 46 such as an illuminometer. The specified time can be fixed at 60 seconds as well, but information obtained by the photosensitive material kind detector 45 and the environmental measuring device 46 is transmitted to the controller 10, to set the specified time for obtaining time for controlling the closing operation of the second shutter 12. In other words, it is desirable that suiting to the characteristic of the photosensitive material and the installation environment of a device is attained.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an exposure shutter device provided with an exposure control shutter and a light-shielding shutter for a photographic printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A shutter device of a photographic printing apparatus is provided on the optical path and has a light-shielding property at the time of blocking and is opened at the time of exposure. The exposure time of the photosensitive material is controlled by an accurate opening / closing operation.

Photographic printing apparatuses are required to handle high-sensitivity light-sensitive materials or to improve processing capacity and reduce apparatus cost. A shutter device with excellent light-shielding properties, high-speed opening / closing operation and high precision, and a simple structure has been developed. Among them, a shutter for exposure control and a shutter for light-shielding are combined. The shutter device will be described as an example.

In Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 3-17283, "Exposure Shutter Device for Photographic Printing Apparatus", a light source, a first shutter, a negative, an optical member, a second shutter, and photographic paper are arranged in this order on an optical path. The first shutter is a main shutter that is opened only during the exposure time and determines the amount of light applied to the printing paper. Since the first shutter is located near the light source, it is small and the opening / closing operation is stable at high speed. The second shutter is appropriately closed except during the exposure time to prevent the printing paper from being fogged by stray light from the light source or the outside. The second shutter is opened by the time the first shutter is opened at the latest, and the first shutter is closed when it is closed.

Japanese Patent Application No. 7-145169 filed by the present inventor
Also in the "Photographic printing apparatus", a shutter device in which the first shutter, the negative, the optical member, the second shutter, and the photographic paper are arranged in this order on the optical path from the light source is devised, and the first shutter is opened only during the exposure time. In the main shutter, the second shutter functions as a light-shielding shutter that prevents the printing paper from being fogged by a light source or stray light from the outside. The shutter device shown here makes the opening and closing operations of the second shutter and the first shutter independent, and also performs the stricter opening and closing operation control for the second shutter so that the first shutter and the second shutter for exposure control are controlled. By enabling the opening completion operation and the closing start operation to be performed simultaneously, the exposure processing speed is increased, and the light-shielding property and the maintainability are improved.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 3-172832 and Japanese Patent Application No. 7-1
Since the shutter device as shown in Japanese Patent No. 45169 continuously exposes one order for each customer or film unit, the closing operation control is performed for each order for the second shutter for shading.

[0007]

As described above, in the conventional photographic printing apparatus, the exposure time is controlled by the first shutter, which is the main shutter, and the second shutter for shading merely secures the shading property. Instead, the operation is controlled more efficiently and the exposure time is not eroded.

From the viewpoint of the light shielding property, it is desirable to open and close the second light shielding shutter every time the first shutter for exposure control is opened and closed. However, as compared with the first shutter for exposure control arranged near the light source, the second shutter for shading arranged near the photographic paper is large in size, so that the operation from the start to the completion of the opening / closing operation can be performed. It takes time. On the other hand, from the viewpoint of the exposure processing capability, it is desirable that the second shutter for light shielding is always open when the photoprinting apparatus is in operation, but naturally, fog is caused by stray light or the like.

Therefore, conventionally, the second shutter for light shielding is closed for each order in consideration of both the light shielding property and the exposure efficiency. However, strict opening / closing operation control matched with the operation of the first shutter is performed. Even if you go, exposure time is eroded. Recently, as the cost of photographs has been reduced and the consumption of photographs has been significantly increased, it is often the case that a large number of photographs are continuously processed, and improving the processing capacity is one of the important issues.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an exposure control shutter having a sufficient light-shielding property and an exposure shutter provided with the light-shielding shutter, which shortens the time required for the exposure process in a photographic printing apparatus.

[0011]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention comprises an exposure light source and an optical member for projecting the transmitted light of a negative film onto a photosensitive material at an appropriate magnification. A first shutter for controlling the exposure time between the negative films, and a second shutter for shielding the light between the optical member and the photosensitive material.
A photographic printing apparatus having a shutter is provided with control means for executing a closing operation for the second shutter for light shielding when the first shutter for exposure time control is continuously closed for a predetermined time or longer.

The operation timing of the control means for executing the closing operation of the light-shielding second shutter will be described. In a light-sensitive material, in the normal exposure amount range, the emulsion is formulated so that the density increases and the gradation increases in proportion to the exposure amount = light intensity × exposure time. It has the characteristic that it does not sensitize in the exposure amount range and the density change is dull in the high exposure amount range. To efficiently control the shutter and ensure sufficient light-shielding properties without eroding the exposure processing time, the closing operation of the second shutter for light-shielding is performed with the low exposure amount region where the photosensitive material is not exposed as the limit. Good to do.

The limit of the low exposure amount region in which the light-sensitive material is not exposed depends on the sensitivity of the light-sensitive material, and the amount of light that causes fog on the light-sensitive material depends on the structure and installation environment of each photographic printing apparatus. Therefore, from the above relational expression of exposure amount = light intensity × exposure time, based on the limit of the low exposure amount region that differs depending on the photosensitive material and the light amount that causes fog on the photosensitive material, Is the limit for opening the second shutter. When this exposure time is set as a predetermined time, the first shutter is continuously closed for a predetermined time or more, that is, when the exposure process is interrupted, the second light-blocking shutter is closed to prevent unnecessary fog. can do.

Specifically, as a means for detecting the sensitivity by discriminating the photosensitive material of the photographic printing apparatus, the photosensitive characteristic of the photosensitive material is recorded on the outside of the main body of the paper magazine or on the photosensitive material itself by unevenness or density. In addition, it is preferable to use an apparatus for discriminating the photosensitive material by reading the record mechanically, optically or magnetically. The amount of light that causes fog on the photosensitive material may be measured by using an illuminometer or the like as a device for measuring the installation environment of the photographic printing apparatus. A means for determining a predetermined time on the basis of these pieces of information is mounted, and a closing operation is executed for the second shutter for light shielding when the first shutter for exposure time control is continuously closed for a predetermined time or more. It is better to control the control means.

[0015]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Evaluations and results of the light-shielding property of a print lamp house equipped with a zoom lens (prototype) applicable to the photographic printing apparatus of the present invention will be described.

The light-shielding property is usually evaluated by uniformly irradiating the entire surface of the device or component requiring the light-shielding property with a constant intensity for a certain period of time using a flood ref lamp (300 to 500 W). , V = 0.2 to 0.3, and is allowed to stand. The light irradiation conditions are 15000 lux for 2 minutes as an operating state and 5 as a non-operating state.
000 lux x 12 hours.

Therefore, with respect to the evaluation method of the light-shielding property of the print lamp house, according to the above-mentioned method, the case where the aperture of the zoom lens is opened in a state where the light of 5000 lux is irradiated at a certain position of the print lamp house, and 3・
When the aperture is set to 3/4, the light-shielding properties are compared when the front cover of the zoom lens provided on the light source side is opened and when the front cover is closed, and when the light irradiation time is different.

A print lamp house was installed in a test model, and gray exposure was performed at V = 0.2 to 0.3.
After leaving the paper as it is, erase the print lamp, fully open the shutter, turn on the flood reflex lamp, turn off the flood reflex lamp after a certain period of time, develop the paper, visually check the paper Check for fog. In addition, the space between the zoom lens and the shutter is shielded by an Eptsealer, and the chemical is F
A, QA-5 (Konica) was used for the paper.

FIG. 1 shows a table summarizing the results of evaluation of the light-shielding property of the print lamp house of the photographic printing apparatus.
When the aperture of the zoom lens is set to the open value (command value 0), not only when light is emitted for 2 hours with the front cover of the lens open, but also when the front cover of the lens is closed and light is emitted for 1 minute, Fog occurred.

When the aperture of the zoom lens is set to 3/3/4 (command value 15), fog occurs in any case where light is irradiated for 1 hour, 10 minutes, 5 minutes with the lens front cover closed. However, it was confirmed that fog did not occur when the lens front cover was closed when the light was irradiated for 1 minute.

Since this zoom lens is a prototype, the light-shielding property is evaluated under the condition that no detailed light-shielding measure is taken. Due to the simple structure, a considerable amount of light penetrates through the slits for cooling and the gaps in the lamp house. However, since the fog does not occur for 1 minute if the aperture is 3/4, it is considered that it is sufficient to take a light shielding measure when the exposure processing is not performed for 60 seconds or more.

Therefore, in the photographic printing apparatus of the present invention, the closing operation of the second light shielding shutter is preferably performed based on the continuous closing state of the first shutter for exposure time control of 60 seconds or more.

FIG. 2 shows a chart of the density characteristic curve of color paper. The figure shows Fuji Color Paper SU as color paper.
PER FA7 was used and exposed using a 3000K color correction filter, and then processed using CP-43FA2.

The exposure amount (logarithm) is plotted on the horizontal axis and the density is plotted on the vertical axis. In general, a light-sensitive material forms an image by utilizing a range in which a change in exposure amount is appropriately reflected as tone reproduction, that is, a portion where a characteristic curve exhibits a constant gradient in the figure. In the range where the exposure amount is excessive, the change in the exposure amount is not reflected in the density, and in the range where the exposure amount is below a certain exposure amount, the sensitivity to light is extremely low and an image is not formed. In the photographic printing apparatus of the present invention, when the first shutter for exposure time control is continuously closed for less than 60 seconds, it is considered that the exposure amount is below a certain exposure amount and fog does not occur.

The operation of the shutter device provided in the photographic printing apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 3 is a timing chart for explaining the opening / closing operation of the shutter device provided in the photographic printing apparatus of the present invention. As a comparison, FIG.
FIG. 3 shows a timing chart for explaining the opening / closing operation of the shutter device provided in the conventional photo printing apparatus.

As shown in FIG. 4, conventionally, exposure is continuously performed for one order of a customer or a film unit, and the closing operation control is performed for the second shutter for light shielding for each order. Since the second light-shielding shutter is a large shutter that shields the entire surface of the paper, it is necessary to spend a certain time when the opening operation control is started immediately after the closing is completed.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, in the shutter device provided in the photographic printing apparatus of the present invention, the second shutter for shading is opened through a plurality of orders, and the exposure process is interrupted for 60 seconds or more, that is, First for printing exposure time control
Detects when the shutter is closed for 60 seconds or more,
The second light shielding shutter is closed. As to whether or not it is in the blocked state for 60 seconds or more, the presence or absence of a release request may be confirmed at the time of the blocked state for 60 seconds.

If the exposure process is continued and the paper feed is intermittently performed, the
Even if the second light-shielding shutter is open, there is no risk of fogging. In addition, the second shutter for shading minimizes the time lag when the opening operation control is started immediately after the closing is completed.

[0029]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of an exposure shutter device of a photographic printing apparatus of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram of a photographic printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The roll-shaped paper 25 is a paper magazine 31.
Is filled. The paper 25 is conveyed by a roller 26 driven by a motor 27, is set in an exposure area held by a paper mask 29, and is sent to a development processing unit 30 when the exposure is completed. The light source unit is the light source 13
A filter 20 such as a dimming filter or a cut filter is provided in the vicinity of, and a first shutter 11 for exposure control is provided between the filter 20 and the mirror tunnel 14. The filter 20 and the first shutter 11 move between the optical path region and the non-optical path region according to the signal from the controller 10.

The negative film 21 is conveyed by rollers 22 and 23 driven by a motor 24, and a frame to be photographed is set in the optical path region, and when the exposure is completed, the frame is appropriately fed. First shutter 11 and negative film 21
A mirror tunnel 14 is provided in the optical path between the two, and a lens 15 combined with a reflection mirror 16 is provided on the optical path that has passed through the negative film 21. Lens 15 for photometry
Moves away from the optical path, and the reflection mirror 16 moves to the optical path. The reflection mirror 16 sends the light transmitted through the negative film 21 to the CCD image sensor 19 via the lens 17 and the rotary color filter 18. The CCD image sensor 19 provides the controller 10 with an image signal and the like obtained by receiving light. The rotating color filter 18 includes a spectral filter,
The motor 28 rotates and the spectral filters are sequentially set.

A second light-blocking shutter 12 is provided on the optical path between the lens 15 and the paper, and operates in response to a signal from the controller 10 like the motor 27, the first shutter 11 and the like. The controller 10 also controls the monitor 8 which displays the exposure processing status, photometric information, and the operating status of the photo printing apparatus.

In the photographic printing apparatus of the present invention, the controller 10 monitors the operation of the first shutter 11 and when the controller 10 is continuously closed for a predetermined time or longer, the second shutter 1
2. Control the closing operation. A photosensitive material type detecting device 45 is provided inside or outside the paper magazine 31, and an environment measuring device 46 such as an illuminance meter is provided in the photo printing device. The predetermined time may be fixed at 60 seconds, but the photosensitive material type detection device 45 and the environment measurement device 4 may be used.
The information obtained in 6 is sent to the controller 10, and it is preferable to set a predetermined time for controlling the closing operation of the second shutter 12 and match it with the characteristics of the photosensitive material and the installation environment of the apparatus. In addition, the controller 10 is
A shutter of the photo printing apparatus, an optical member including a lens 15 and a reflection mirror 16, control means such as a motor 27 and a CCD image sensor 19 are provided, and an input from the console 9 and a signal from each unit under control are accepted, The operation is monitored and the operation is controlled.

FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram of the controller of the photographic printing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. The controller 10 includes an image information storage unit 1, an exposure condition calculation unit 2, an image information conversion unit 4, an exposure control unit 3, a display screen storage unit 5, a display image information storage unit 6, a control unit 7, and a second shutter closing time. The certification unit 47 is the main component. In this embodiment, CC is used for photometry.
The D image sensor 19 is used, and the image signal of the negative film is sent to the image information storage unit 1 as photometric data. The exposure condition calculation unit 2 calculates the exposure condition by calculating the density, color density and the like from the image signal.

The obtained exposure conditions are sent to the exposure control unit 3, the display screen storage unit 5 and the image information conversion unit 4, and the exposure control unit 3
Is the opening / closing operation of the first shutter 11 and the second shutter 12, the dimming filter 36 and the cut filter 3 according to the exposure conditions.
Control the movement of 7. In addition, the exposure control unit 3, when the first shutter 11 is continuously closed for 60 seconds or more,
In addition to controlling the second shutter 12 to be closed, it exchanges signals with the control unit 7 and also outputs control signals to the image information storage unit 1, exposure condition calculation unit 2, and image information conversion unit 4.

The second shutter closing time recognizing unit 47 determines the operating condition of the second shutter closing control based on the information sent from the photosensitive material type detecting device 45 and the environment measuring device 46, and the exposure controlling unit 3 I am sending it to. The exposure time, which is the limit of non-exposure to light, is determined from the sensitivity and the environment in which the device is installed, and is set to a predetermined time that is the open limit of the second shutter for light shielding. When the first shutter is continuously closed for a predetermined time or longer, that is, when the exposure process is interrupted, the exposure control unit 3 performs the closing operation of the second light-shielding shutter to prevent unnecessary fogging.

The image information conversion unit 4 includes an image information storage unit 1,
The image signals sent from the exposure condition calculation unit 2, the control unit 7, and the exposure control unit 3 are converted into display image information to be output on the display screen and sent to the display image information storage unit 6. The display screen storage unit 5 combines the information sent from the exposure condition calculation unit 2 and the control unit 7 with the image information sent from the display image information storage unit 6, and holds it as display screen data. The display screen data in the display screen storage unit 5 is sent to the monitor 8 to obtain the display screen output. The control unit 7 receives an input from the console 9 and sends a command signal to each unit, and also controls the motor 24, the motor 27, and the motor 28 that drive the paper, the negative film, and the rotary color filter.

FIG. 7 is a schematic sectional view showing the exposure section of the photographic printing apparatus in the embodiment of the present invention. The light source section is provided with a yellow dimming cut filter 41, a magenta dimming cut filter 42, and a cyan dimming cut filter 43 as cut filters on the optical path near the exposure lamp 33. A setup filter 44 is provided. The dimming cut filter is provided with a sensor 38, a sensor 39, and a sensor 40, respectively.

Further, the optical path is provided with a first shutter 11 for controlling the exposure time and a mirror tunnel 14, and in the vicinity of the mirror tunnel 14, a light control sensor 34 is retracted on the non-optical path. When the first shutter 11 is opened, the light source light that has passed through the mirror tunnel 14 passes through the negative film 21,
At the time of photometry, the reflection mirror advances to the light control sensor 34, and at the time of exposure, the second shutter 12 is also opened and projected on the paper 25. The transmitted light of the negative film 21 is printed on the paper 25 placed on the exposure table 32 by the lens 15 having the lens code sensor 35. In the present embodiment, the cut filter and the first shutter are driven by the pulse motor, the dimming filter, and the second shutter are also driven by the pulse motor, but a driving means suitable for driving accuracy and speed can be used. .

In the photographic printing apparatus of this embodiment, since the opening / closing operation control of the first shutter for exposure time control and the second shutter for light blocking is independent, the second shutter is opened at a proper time.
Can be occluded. In the present invention, the second light shielding shutter is provided with control means for executing the closing operation when the first shutter for exposure time control is continuously closed for 60 seconds or more than a predetermined time. However, when the control means is appropriately switched, or when high-sensitivity paper is used, the control means may be changed so that the opening completion and the closing start of the first shutter and the second shutter coincide with each other to strictly shield light. .

[0040]

As described above, according to the present invention, in the photographic printing apparatus having the first shutter for controlling the exposure time and the second shutter for shielding the light, the second shutter for shielding the light is controlled by the first shutter for controlling the exposure time. By providing the control means for executing the closing operation when the shutter is continuously closed for 60 seconds or more than a predetermined time, the light blocking property is obtained. As long as the exposure process is continuously performed, the second light-shielding shutter maintains the open state, so that fog does not occur. A predetermined time, which is a control condition for the closing operation of the second shutter, is determined in accordance with the sensitivity of the photosensitive material and the installation environment of the apparatus, and the second shutter having an operation speed slower than that of the first shutter,
By performing such a closing operation, it is possible to maintain and improve the exposure processing capability without impairing the light shielding property. Since the photographic printing apparatus of the present invention can be configured by using an existing photographic printing apparatus having a first shutter for controlling exposure time and a second shutter for light shielding, it has a low cost and exposure processing capability. There is an effect that it can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a table summarizing the results of evaluating the light-shielding property of a print lamp house of a photo printing apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a chart of a density characteristic curve of color paper.

FIG. 3 is a timing chart illustrating an opening / closing operation of a shutter device included in the photographic printing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a timing chart illustrating an opening / closing operation of a shutter device included in a conventional photo printing apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram of a photographic printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram of a controller of the photographic printing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic sectional view showing an exposure section of the photographic printing apparatus in the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 image information storage unit 2 exposure condition calculation unit 3 exposure control unit 4 image information conversion unit 5 display screen storage unit 6 display image information storage unit 7 control unit 8 monitor 9 console 10 controller 11 first shutter 12 second shutter 13 Light source 14 Mirror tunnel 15 Lens 16 Reflecting mirror 17 Lens 18 Rotating color filter 19 CCD image sensor 20 Filter 21 Negative film 22 Roller 23 Roller 24 Motor 25 Paper 26 Roller 27 Motor 28 Motor 29 Paper mask 30 Development processing section 31 Paper magazine 32 Exposure Stand 33 Exposure lamp 34 Light control sensor 35 Lens code sensor 36 Light control filter 37 Cut filter 38 Sensor 39 Sensor 40 Sensor 41 Light control cut filter 42 Light control cut filter 43 Light control cut Filter 44 Setup filter 45 Photosensitive material type detection device 46 Environment measurement device 47 Second shutter closing time certification unit

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. An exposure light source, an optical member for projecting transmitted light of a negative film onto a photosensitive material at an appropriate magnification, and a first shutter for controlling an exposure time and an optical member between the exposure light source and the negative film. In a photographic printing apparatus having a second light-shielding shutter between a member and a photosensitive material, the second shutter is a control for executing a closing operation when the first shutter is continuously closed for a predetermined time or longer. A photographic printing apparatus having means. 2. The photographic printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein in the photographic printing apparatus, the second shutter executes a closing operation when the first shutter is continuously closed for 60 seconds or more as a predetermined time. apparatus. 3. A light source for exposure, an optical member for projecting transmitted light of a negative film onto a photosensitive material at an appropriate magnification, and a first shutter for controlling an exposure time, an optical member provided between the light source for exposure and the negative film. In a photographic printing apparatus having a second light-shielding shutter between a member and a photosensitive material, the second shutter is a control for executing a closing operation when the first shutter is continuously closed for a predetermined time or longer. A photographic printing apparatus comprising means and setting means for setting the predetermined time. 4. The photographic printing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the setting means comprises a means for measuring the installation environment of the photographic printing apparatus, and a means for determining the predetermined time from a measured value obtained by the measuring means. 5. The measuring means is an illuminance meter.
Photographic printing device described. 6. The setting means comprises a means for detecting the type of the photosensitive material and means for determining the predetermined time from the type of the photosensitive material obtained by the detecting means.
Photographic printing device described. 7. The setting means determines from the measuring means of the installation environment of the photographic printing apparatus, the detecting means of the type of the photosensitive material, the measured value obtained by the measuring means and the type of the photosensitive material obtained by the detecting means. The photographic printing apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising means for determining the predetermined time.