JPH09274260A - Order collation system for photographic processing - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To facilitate the transmission of customer information or order information and the delivery of a photographic film to a DPE center from a distributing agent and to flexibly control the data of the customer information and the reorder information in a photographic processing system. SOLUTION: When the photographic processing order of the photographic film is received, a voucher 13 with an ID code on which the customer information and the reorder information are recorded is issued and a bar code seal 15 representing the above mentioned ID code is stuck to the housing body of the photographic film. Then, the content of the voucher 13 is electronically read by the photographic processing system before photographing processing work is executed by the photographic processing system.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is for photographic processing for collating customer information and reorder information obtained at the time of receiving a reorder (reorder) for photographic processing of photographic film such as a reprint order with the photographic film. Of order matching system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional order collation system for photographic processing as described above, reordering such as designation information of reprinted print frames and number of copies to be printed is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-241344. After the information is recorded in the magnetic recording portion of the DP bag at the agency, the photographic film is put in the DP bag and sent to the DPE center. DPE
At the center, check tapes with the same number are attached to the DP bag that was received, the film container that was placed in the DP bag, and the leading end of the film that was cueed from the container. Paste for. Further, the reorder information recorded in the DP bag is transferred to the IC card, and thereafter, the IC is used for the request to retrieve the information in the photo processing.
Respond by mounting the card in the photo processing system. This DP bag stands by at the exit of the photographic processing system in order to store the film that has undergone photographic processing and the produced print. In the case of such an order collation system, since the DP bag and the photographic film cannot be separated during the delivery from the agency to the DPE center, the DP bag is bulky and the delivery efficiency is deteriorated. Further, since the reorder information in the photo processing system is based on the IC cards processed in batch, it is troublesome to take measures when the order of the photo processing is greatly changed. Management and storage of DP bags during photo processing operations is also a problem.

[0003]

In the above-mentioned conventional order collation system, since the DP bag is used as a medium for customer information and reorder information, the DP bag and the film are separated from each other at the time of delivery from the agency to the DPE center. And the DP bag assigned when reordering is stored until delivery.
Problems that must be managed, as well as storage methods that allow flexible retrieval of customer information and reorder information in the photo processing system, remain to be improved.

The object of the present invention is to simplify transmission of customer information and reorder information from an agent to a DPE center and delivery of photographic film, and to provide flexible data of customer information and reorder information in a photographic processing system. It is to provide an order matching system for photo processing that enables management.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, in an order collation system for photographic processing according to the present invention, customer information and reorder information are recorded when a reorder for photographic processing of photographic film is accepted. While issuing the ID code-attached slip, the ID code is given to the photographic film or the photographic film container, and the contents of the slip are read into the photographic processing system before the photographic processing operation by the photographic processing system.

According to this structure, the ID code-attached slip and the photographic film or the photographic film container are sent to the DPE center from the agency that accepts reorders for photographic processing such as reprinting. Since they are related to each other by the ID code, it is possible to send them separately. Being able to send both the slip and the photographic film or the container, which are completely different in form and shape, separately from each other has a great advantage in terms of sending efficiency. Furthermore, by giving the contents of the slip, that is, reorder information, to the photo processing system in the form of so-called electronic data before the photo processing work, the film being processed using the ID code as a key in the photo processing work. Since it is possible to link the reorder information with
The reliability of photo processing is improved.

[0007] Here, the photographic film and the container for this photographic film are defined as the object to which the ID code is given. When reordering such as reprinting (new photographic system), the developed photographic film is APS. This is because, in the case of the conventional cartridge type, the photographic film is stored in a cartridge based on the developed film, and the photographic film is in the form of a negative piece obtained by cutting the developed film into a predetermined length.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, an ID code is given to the photographic film or the photographic film by attaching a sticker having an ID code recorded thereon. This approach does not require the formation of a special magnetic layer on the voucher or photographic film, facilitating the conversion from the conventional method.

Further, when the photographic film to be processed is a film of a type to which a leader hook tape or a leader hook reinforcing tape is connected, in a preferred embodiment according to the present invention, the leader hook tape or leader hook tape is used. Print the ID code directly on the reinforcing tape or attach a sticker with the ID code. With this, enough space for the ID code can be secured,
Workability of ID code assignment is improved.

Furthermore, when the film is pulled out from the container in the processing step, the relationship between the container and the film is broken. Therefore, the ID code initially assigned to the container must be delivered to the film at that stage. In order to solve this problem by a simple method, in a preferred embodiment according to the present invention, a sticker having an ID code recorded includes a base portion having an adhesive layer formed on the back surface and an adhesive layer that can be re-attached to the back surface. Formed together with I
The display unit, which has a two-stage seal structure composed of a display unit that records a D code, is attached to the film storage unit integrally with the base unit. It can be attached to the tip of the drawn film.

Furthermore, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention,
If the ID code includes information about the agency, even if the information about the film being processed read from the slip of the agency is lost due to an unexpected system down of the photo processing system, at least the agency who ordered the film Since the store can be known, the film and the prints produced can be sent to the agency, and can be collated with the customer's name by collating with the copy slip left at the agency.

The ID code used in the present invention can be composed of any one of a bar code, a symbol, a character and the like, or a combination thereof. Bar codes have the advantage that they can carry a lot of information in a small space, and that symbols and characters are easy for humans to identify. When the ID code is composed only of symbols and characters, it is necessary to use an OCR or the like as an electronic reading device. Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of embodiments with reference to the drawings.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows a photograph processing system 100 in which a reordered film 1 such as a request for additional printing at an agency 10 is used when an order collation system according to the present invention is adopted.
It is shown that it is processed at a DPE center equipped with. In the following description, the photo processing system and DPE
The center is shown as a synonymous number 100 in both figures.

When the agency 10 requests the additional processing of the developed film 1, the developed film 1 is normally put in a negative bag in the form of a negative piece 1b cut into a length of about 6 frames. But APS (new photo system)
In the case of the film based on (1), it is stored in the cartridge 2 in the form of the long film 1a. Hereinafter, the film 1 will be referred to as a generic name of a developed film including both the negative piece 1b and the long film 1a.

When the customer holds the film 1 in any of the above-mentioned forms and requests the photographic processing such as reprinting from the agency 10 of the DPE center, the agency 10 keeps the film 1 and also three sheets as shown in FIG. Issue a reorder card as a spelling reorder slip. The reorder slip is a customer copy slip 11 given as a copy of the customer, an agency confirmation slip 12 left in the agency 10, and a DP.
The laboratory slip 13 is sent together with the film 1 to the E center 100. This reorder slip contains photo processing information such as "frame No." and "number of prints" selected by the customer in a plurality of barcodes, and customer information such as first and last name, address, and telephone number. Is provided and the name of the agency 10 is provided. Further, the laboratory slip 13 is also provided with a store name bar code 14 indicating the ID code of the agency 10.

At the time of issuing this order form, a bar code sticker 15 representing an ID code used to collate the order slip with the film 1 deposited by the customer is attached to the laboratory slip 13 and the film 1. If the customer puts it in the form of the negative piece 1b, the bar code seal 15 will be the leading piece of the plurality of negative pieces 1b.
If it is contained in the container 2, it is attached to the container 2. A bar code seal having a resealable two-stage seal structure, which will be described in detail later, is attached to the container 2. This is because the film 1a is pulled out from the housing body 2 in the photographic processing process at the DPE center 100, and the barcode seal 15 needs to be reattached to the film 1a pulled out at that time. When the sticking work of the barcode sticker 15 is completed, the lab slip 13 and the film 1 can be collated with each other by using the ID code as a key even if they are scattered. As a result, when transporting the film 1 from the agency 10 to the DPE center 100, the laboratory slip 13 and the film 1 can be separated.

The laboratory slip 13 sent to the DPE center 100 and the deposited film 1 are received at the reception station 20.
Reception processing is performed. In this reception processing, the reorder information such as the designation information of the reprint print frame and the number of prints in the form of the above-mentioned barcode recorded in the laboratory slip 13 and the store name barcode are the barcode seal 1
The ID code 5 and the ID code 5 are read by the bar code reader 21 and taken into the host computer 200 of the photo processing system installed in the DPE center. Since all the captured information is stored using the ID code as a key, the ID code in the form of the bar code sticker 15 attached to the storage body 2 or the negative piece 1b is shown here at a necessary point in the photographic processing process. The reorder information can be uniquely linked to the container 2 or the negative piece 1b by reading it with a bar code reader not provided. This allows the host computer 200 to know what kind of reorder information each film 1 being processed by this photographic processing system has.

When the leader hook tape 3a or the leader hook reinforcing tape 3b is attached to the film 1a as shown in FIG. 3 during the photographic processing, an ID code is transcribed on the leader hook tape 3. . As a result, the film 1a pulled out from the container 2 can always be linked to the information taken in the host computer 200 via the transcribed ID code.

The bar code seal 15 attached to the housing 2 may have a two-stage seal structure shown in FIG. The two-stage seal 15 is composed of a base portion 15b having an adhesive layer formed on the back surface thereof, and a bar code display portion 15a having an adhesive layer that can be re-adhered on the back surface thereof and representing an ID code. The bar code display portion 15a attached to the housing body 2 integrally with the base portion 15b at the agency store 10 is
The film is peeled off from the base portion 15b and attached to the leading end of the film. As a result, the film 1a pulled out from the container 2 can always be linked to the information taken into the host computer 200 via the ID code of the reattached barcode display portion 15a.

The developed film 1b, which has been received at the receiving station 20, is processed by the reorder station 40.
To be grouped according to printing conditions such as print size, and stored in the film magazine 300 for each group. In addition, 30 is a developing station for processing an undeveloped film.

Next, the film magazine 300 will be described. FIG. 5 shows the overall structure of the film magazine 300. Basically, the film magazine 300 is composed of a case 301 constituting its appearance and a drum 303 rotatable around a rotation axis 302 provided at the center thereof.
And a roller mechanism 305 for loading and unloading the film 1a with respect to the drum 303. Eight axial slits 306 are formed at equal intervals on the outer peripheral wall 304 of the drum 303. The side wall of the drum 303 is not shown for the purpose of making the drawing easy to see. The film 1a is inserted into the internal space of the drum 303 through these slits 306, and is discharged from the drum 303 as needed.

An endless belt 307 is arranged along the outer peripheral wall 304 of the drum 303 to hold the trailing end region of the film 1 inserted in the inner space of the drum 303. In a state where the endless belt 307 is in contact with a substantial part of the outer peripheral portion 304 of the drum 303, the film 1 is scissors between the belt 307 and the outer peripheral wall 304,
It is configured to hold. The endless belt 307 is provided with a plurality of rollers 308, and one of them is configured so that power is supplied from the station side.

Further, as described above, the endless belt 30
7 is not in contact with the entire periphery of the outer peripheral wall 304 of the drum 303, but in part of the outer peripheral wall 304 at the entrance for insertion of the film 1 into the slit 306.
Has been removed from Thus, the portion of the belt 307 that does not contact the outer peripheral wall 304 is
3 and, at the same time, the release of the film end from the drum 303 is formed because the holding of the film end is released at this portion. As is apparent from the drawing, the path of the film 1 entering the drum 303 is formed by the guide plate 309.

The film magazine 300 further includes a rotation restricting arm 310 for preventing the drum 303 from rotating carelessly during transport of the film magazine 300, and a drum rotation position for detecting the rotation position of the drum 303. Detection means 311 is provided. Various known position detection sensor systems can be used for the drum rotation position detection means 311. For example, a combination of a magnetic body and a magnetic sensor provided in a position adjacent to the slit 306 on the outer peripheral wall 304 is typical.

The loading / unloading of the film 1 into / from the film magazine 300 and the power to the drum 303 are prepared at each station side where the film magazine 300 is mounted. For example, 350 in FIG. 5 is provided at the station side. The roller mechanism 305 is a loading / unloading roller for the film 1, and is connected to an output gear or a pulley (not shown) on the station side so as to be able to transmit power when the film magazine 300 is mounted.

Next, the process of inserting the film 1 into the film magazine 300 will be described with reference to FIGS. In the following description, the terms leading edge and trailing edge of the film are used, but this means that the first portion fed from the station side is the leading edge, that is, the magazine 300.
The leading end of the film 1 fed into the film is defined as the leading end. The trailing end is defined as the opposite end, that is, the end of the film that is finally discharged when being fed from the station side.

First, the film magazine 300 is mounted at a predetermined mounting position on the station side (state of FIG. 6a).
At this point, the rotation regulating arm 3 of the film magazine 300
10 becomes a state where the rotation restriction of the drum 303 is released.
Then, the drum rotation position detecting means 311 detects whether or not the rotation position of the drum 304 is at the position where the film 1 can be inserted. The drum 304 is detected by this detection.
Is not in the film insertion position, the drum 303 is further rotated clockwise in the drawing. Slit 30 of drum 303
Outer peripheral wall 303 divided into segments by 6
When the sensor 311a detects the position of the detected body 311b, which is a component of the drum rotation position detecting means 311 provided in the above, the rotation of the drum 303 is stopped (state of FIG. 6b).

Loading / unloading roller 350 and roller mechanism 30
The film 1 is started to be conveyed by driving 5 (see FIG. 6).
(state c), the leading edge of the film 1 enters the slit 306 of the drum 303 (state of FIG. 6d). Film 1
6e is continued until a predetermined time elapses after the film sensor 351 is in the undetected state as shown in FIG. 6e. That is, at the time when the undetected rear end of the film is detected, the rear end of the film 1 and the slit 30
Since there is a considerable length up to 6, the film 1 is further fed to some extent, and then the driving of the carry-in / carry-out roller 350 and the roller mechanism 305 is stopped.

As shown in FIG. 6f, the loading / unloading roller 3
The rotation of the drum 303 is executed after the driving of the roller mechanism 50 and the roller mechanism 305 is stopped. The rotation of the drum 303
The rotation is stopped when the drum rotation position detecting unit 311 detects the film insertable position of the drum 303. At this stop position, the holding of the film 1 by the endless belt 307 is realized, and the drum 303 enters a standby state in which the next film 1 can be received.

Loading / unloading roller 350 and roller mechanism 30
The next film 1 is conveyed by driving 5 (the state of FIG. 7g). Then, as shown in FIG. 7h, the film 1 is conveyed into the drum, and the rear end of the film 1 passes through the position of the film sensor 351 (state of FIG. 7h). Then, as described above, after a predetermined time has elapsed, the transport device is stopped. Further, the drum 303 is rotated clockwise in the drawing, and the rotation of the drum 303 is continued until the drum rotation position detecting means 311 detects the film insertable position for inserting the next film 1 ( Figure 7i).

Then, when it is detected that the drum 303 has rotated to the insertable position, the drum 303 is stopped, and a standby state for the next insertion of the film 1 is set. 7j and 7
k, as shown in FIG.
The step of inserting into 3 is repeated as above.

In the above-described method, the film 1 having the same printing condition is stored in the film magazine 300 and is sent to the conveyor 50 having the stock function, where the film 1 is subjected to the printing process at the printing device station 60. To wait. The film magazine 300 which has been subjected to the printing process is sent to the printing apparatus station 60, and the stored film 1 is discharged by the first-in first-out method.

The process of discharging the film 1 from the film magazine 300 by the first-in first-out method is as follows. In FIG. 8 a, of the eight films 1 stored in the film magazine 300, only three films 1 are shown for easy viewing. In this drawing, it is assumed that the middle film 1 among the three films is the first film. In order to discharge the film 1, first, the drum 303 is rotated clockwise in the drawing by twice the angular pitch of the slits 306. FIG. 8b shows a state in which the drum 303 is rotated clockwise from the state of FIG. 8a by one pitch of the slit 306. FIG.
In the state of b, since the trailing edge of the film 1 to be discharged is not located inside the guide plate 309, the drum 303 is rotationally driven to the state of FIG. 8c. However, in this state, the rear end of the film 1 to be discharged is separated from the roller mechanism 305, and therefore the drum 303 is rotationally driven counterclockwise until the state of FIG. 8d is reached. The rotation deviation at this time corresponds to one pitch of the slit. In this way, the trailing edge of the film 1 passes through the guide plate 309 and reaches the roller mechanism 305. Therefore, in this state, the film 1 can be discharged from the film magazine 300 by driving the carry-in / carry-out roller 350 and the roller mechanism 305. When the leading edge of the film 1 passes the film sensor 351, the next film 1 can be prepared for discharge.
In a similar manner, the film 1 can be discharged sequentially from the previously inserted film 1. Of course, not only is it possible to discharge by the first-in first-out method, but also when discharging from an arbitrary film 1, the detection signal of the drum rotation position detecting means 311 is used to store the position of the stored film 1. This will be possible if you keep it.

The film 1 discharged from the film magazine 300 is sent to the printing station 60 and is printed by a method known per se, but a print frame of the film 1 to be processed is designated. Since the information and the number of prints are sent from the host computer 200 to the print station 60, the additional prints can be surely obtained according to the reorder slip. If there are special printing conditions, this information is also sent from the host computer 200 to the printing station 60, and the printing process is performed under the desired conditions.

The film 1 which has been subjected to the baking process in the baking station 60 and the print produced in the baking station 60 are sent to the auto packer station 70,
It is put in a DP bag for each customer and delivered again to the agency 10. In the case of a film based on APS (new photographic system), the film 1 which has been subjected to the photographic processing is stored in the original cartridge again, so that the emptied cartridge is sent to the auto packer station 70 in advance.

In the above embodiment, the bar code is used as the ID code, but instead of this, a symbol, a character or the like may be used, or a combination thereof may be used. When the ID code is composed only of symbols and characters, it is necessary to use OCR or the like instead of the barcode reader. The barcode is only for input to the computer, and the symbols and characters are separated for the purpose of human recognition, so when using the barcode and symbols or characters in combination, OCR is not necessary, just a barcode reader. Good.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of an agency and a DPE center adopting an order collation system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram for explaining work at a reception station of an agency and a DPE center.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a part of a reception station and a first sorter station.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the structure of a double seal.

FIG. 5: I for tape for leader hook and reinforcing tape
Explanatory drawing showing addition of D code

FIG. 6 is a process exploded view showing insertion of a film into a film cartridge.

FIG. 7 is an exploded view of a process showing insertion of a film into a film cartridge.

FIG. 8 is an exploded view of a process showing discharge of film from a film cartridge.

[Explanation of symbols]

 13 Lab slip 15 Bar code sticker 15a Display section 15b Base section 100 Photo processing system

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. When receiving a reorder for photographic processing of a photographic film, a slip with an ID code recording customer information and reorder information is issued, and the ID code is stored in the photographic film or a container for the photographic film. An order collation system for photo processing, characterized in that the contents of the slip are given to the photo processing system before the photo processing operation by the photo processing system. 2. The order collation system for photographic processing according to claim 1, wherein a sticker having the ID code recorded thereon is attached to the photographic film or a container for the photographic film. 3. The ID code is recorded on a leader hook tape or a leader hook reinforcing tape connected to the photographic film during a photographic processing operation by the photographic processing system. An order matching system for photo processing described in. 4. A sticker having the ID code recorded thereon includes a base portion having an adhesive layer formed on a back surface thereof, and a display portion having a re-adhesive adhesive layer formed on the back surface thereof and having the ID code recorded thereon. The two-stage seal structure consisting of the display unit attached to the film storage unit integrally with the base unit can be attached to the leading end of the film pulled out from the film storage unit as necessary. The order collation system for photographic processing according to claim 1, wherein: 5. The order collation system for photo processing according to claim 1, wherein the ID code includes information about an agency. 6. The ID code is constituted by any one selected from a bar code, a symbol and a character, or a combination thereof. An order verification system for the described photo processing.