JPH0958908A - Image recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sensitive film recording device capable of being applied to both a long-size material conveying mode and a high-accuracy conveying mode of a plane scanning type image recording device. SOLUTION: In a long-size material conveying mode, sag of a film F between an explosure head 11 and a sensitive roller 2 is eliminated, a nip pressure between a main roller 5 and a nip-roller 6 is reduced, and the film F is conveyed straight as a whole while the course of the film is constantly corrected not to move obliquely on the basis of the sensitive roller 2. In a high-accuracy conveying mode, the film F is slackened between the explosure head 11 and the sensitive roller 2, the nip pressure between the main roller 5 and the nip- roller 6 is intensified, the influence of disturbances before and after the main roller 5 is minimized, and the distortion of the film F on the explosure head 11 and the deterioration of repeatability are minimized.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a plane scanning type image output apparatus, and more particularly to an image recording apparatus having at least two types of modes, a long length transport mode and a high precision transport mode.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 5 shows an example of a conventional plane scanning type image recording apparatus. In a film supply magazine 1, a film F as a photosensitive material is wound around a photosensitive material roller 2 to form a roll film 3. The film F pulled out from the roll film 3 is sent between the main roller 5 and the nip roller 6. The main roller 5 is rotationally driven by a drive motor (not shown), and the nip roller 6
The film F sandwiched between and is conveyed in the sub-scanning direction S. In this state, based on the image data of the document, the optical system 7
Thus, the film F on the main roller 5 is scanned in the main scanning direction to expose the duplicate image. In addition,
Reference numerals 8a, 8b, 9a and 9b in FIG. 5 denote transport rollers, and reference numeral 11 denotes an exposure head.

In the exposure process in such a plane scanning image recording apparatus, very high film F feed accuracy and duplicate image position accuracy are required in order to prevent distortion of the duplicate image. Therefore, by applying load resistance to the roll film 3, a back tension is applied to the film F, and this back tension enhances the adhesion between the film F and the main roller 5 to increase the film F.
The feed accuracy and the position accuracy of the duplicate image are maintained. Further, conventionally, the pressure of the nip roller 6 with respect to the main roller 5 (hereinafter referred to as “nip pressure”) has been set to a fixed value.

[0004]

However, even with the above-described back tension type transport method, the film F is skewed or meandered, and it is difficult to completely remove it.

FIG. 6 is a view showing a state in which the position of the film F is displaced due to skewing or meandering. FIG. 6A shows the film F being skewed while being conveyed while being inclined by an angle α in the sub-scanning direction. 6B shows the state of meandering in which the center P of the film F is conveyed while deviating by ± β in the main scanning direction with respect to the center O of the main roller 5. Figure 6
The dashed-dotted line T in (b) shows the locus of the center P of the film F.

It is considered that the cause of the skew or meandering is that the material and thickness of the film F, the inter-roller pressure of the transport mechanism, the curl shape of the film itself, the verticality of the sheet end surface, etc. interact with each other. It is considered that the film F is slightly distorted due to the influence of disturbance such as vibration, and the distortion is gradually increased by the above-mentioned interaction. When the film F is fed, it has a great influence on the pattern formation of the duplicated image. Particularly, the longer the film F, the greater the degree of skew and meandering, and it is difficult to maintain the precision of the duplicated image. In recent years, in the field of color images, more and more high-definition image recording is required, and the recording position shift due to the unstable conveyance such as the skew and the meandering cannot be allowed at all.

Therefore, in the case of highly accurate conveyance in terms of feed reproducibility, the nip pressure in the main roller 5 is
It is set higher than that in the long conveyance mode, and the slack forming means loosens the photosensitive material between the conveying means and the photosensitive material roller. As a result, the influence of the disturbance before and after the main roller 5 is minimized to prevent the film F from being distorted, and thus the skew and the meandering are suppressed. in this case,
As indicated by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. 2, slack between the film supply magazine 1 and the main roller 5 (hereinafter referred to as “front slack”) will occur.

On the other hand, in the case of carrying a long sheet, the film F is slightly skewed once, and if it is left uncorrected, the degree of skewing gradually increases. The nip pressure of the roller 5 is set to be relatively low, the slack is not provided, and the film is conveyed along the axis of the photosensitive material roller 2 to constantly correct the inclination of the film F and minimize the skew of the film F. Was there.

As described above, it is desirable to change the nip pressure of the main roller 5 according to the situation.
As described above, since the nip pressure is fixed in the related art, it is difficult to satisfy both the cases of high precision conveyance and long length conveyance.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide an image recording apparatus which can be applied to both high precision transport mode and long transport mode.

[0011]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a photosensitive material wound around a photosensitive material roller is rotationally driven by a drive motor to be conveyed to an exposure section, and a duplicate image is recorded in the exposure section. In the image recording apparatus, a main roller and a nip roller that nip and convey a sensitive material near the exposure section, and a sensitive material unwound from the sensitive material roller are conveyed to the exposure section and the main roller. And a nip pressure adjusting means for adjusting the strength of the pressing force of the nip roller against the main roller, and a slack forming means for slackening the photosensitive material between the conveying means and the photosensitive material roller.

In the long conveyance mode for exposing a long photosensitive material, the nip pressure adjusting means weakens the pressing force of the nip roller against the main roller, and the slack forming means is stopped to move the photosensitive material. Elimination of slack between the conveying means and the photosensitive material roller. As a result, the inclination angle of the photosensitive material can be constantly corrected with reference to the angle of the photosensitive material roller, and the photosensitive material can be conveyed in a straight line as a whole.

On the other hand, in the high-accuracy transfer mode in which high-accuracy transfer is performed in terms of feed reproducibility, the nip pressure adjusting means increases the pressing force of the nip roller against the main roller, and the slack forming means causes the photosensitive material to move. Is loosened between the conveying means and the photosensitive material roller.
As a result, it is possible to minimize the influence of disturbances before and after the main roller, prevent distortion of the photosensitive material, and suppress skewing and meandering.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the image recording apparatus according to the first aspect, the nip pressure adjusting means includes a spring member that biases the rotation shaft of the nip roller toward the main roller. A tension adjusting mechanism that changes the support position of the spring member to change the tension. This allows
The nip pressure adjusting means can be easily changed with a simple structure.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the image recording apparatus according to the second aspect, the nip pressure adjusting means detects the change in the supporting position of the spring member, and the detecting means. Control means for appropriately controlling the support position determination of the spring member by the tension adjusting mechanism based on the signal from As a result, the support position of the spring member can be changed accurately, and the nip pressure can be reliably adjusted in both the high-precision transport mode and the long transport mode.

[0016]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

<Structure> FIGS. 1 and 2 are views showing an image recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 and 2, elements having the same functions as those of the conventional image recording apparatus are designated by the same reference numerals. In the image recording apparatus of this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the film F drawn from the roll film 3 in the film supply magazine 1 is the first film.
Transport mechanism 21 and second transport mechanism 22 (transport means)
The film F guided between the main roller 5 and the nip roller 6 and nipped by the rollers 5 and 6 is rotated by the main roller 5 to drive the film F in the sub-scanning direction S.
It is configured to be transported to. In addition, in order to collect the exposed film F, a recovery box 13 is installed behind the main roller 5, and the recovery roller 12 rotating at a predetermined rotation speed is housed in the recovery box 13. A cutter 14 for cutting the film F at the time of recovery is provided between the recovery box 13 and the main roller 5.

The main roller 5 is rotationally driven by a drive motor (not shown), the transport roller 8b is driven by the first drive motor 23, and the recovery roller 12 is driven by the second drive motor 23.
Are driven to rotate by drive motors 24, respectively. In addition,
The transport rollers 9a and 9b that constitute the second transport mechanism 22 are only rotatably supported, and are not connected to a drive mechanism such as a motor. Therefore, the tilt angle of the film F in the exposure head 11 (exposure section) is
It is defined by the interaction between the supply angle from the sensitive material roller 2 and the transport angle at the main roller 5.

In this image recording apparatus, the first slack forming means for forming the slack of the film F between the main roller 5 and the film supply magazine 1 and the film F between the main roller 5 and the recovery box 13 are provided. Second to form slack
And a slack forming means.

The first slack forming means is a first speed switching means 25 for changing the rotation speed of the first drive motor 23 of the conveying roller 8b relative to the rotation speed of the main roller 5 for a fixed time. The first slack sensor 25a for feeding back the amount of slack of the film F caused by the speed difference between the transport roller 8b whose speed has been changed and the main roller 5. First speed switching means 25
When the film F is to be loosened, the first drive motor 23 is controlled to be rotated at a high speed until it is confirmed from the first looseness sensor 25a that a predetermined amount of looseness is obtained.

The second slack forming means is a second speed switching means for changing the rotation speed of the second drive motor 24 of the collecting roller 12 relative to the rotation speed of the main roller 5 for a fixed time. 26, and a second slack sensor 26a for feeding back the amount of slack of the film F caused by the speed difference between the speed of the collecting roller 12 and the main roller 5. When trying to loosen the film F, the second speed switching means 26 controls the rotation speed of the second drive motor 24 until it confirms that a predetermined amount of slack is obtained from the second slack sensor 26a. Control to slow down.

The image recording apparatus of this embodiment is provided with the nip pressure adjusting means 28 for changing the spring pressure for the nip pressure by the cam mechanism. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the nip pressure adjusting means 28 applies tension of the spring 31 to the cam disk 32 (tension adjusting mechanism) when the nip roller 6 is biased toward the main roller 5 by the spring 31.
It changes according to.

The spring 31 is provided with a first nip roller supporting plate (bracket) 33 that supports the nip roller 6 in a protruding manner.
Is laid between the spring fulcrum shaft 34 and a second spring fulcrum shaft 35 that is provided in the vicinity of the peripheral edge of the plate surface of the cam disc 32 in the normal direction. Here, the nip roller support plate 33 has one corner supported rotatably around the fulcrum shaft O1 by a device body (not shown), and the both ends of the rotary shaft 36 of the nip roller 6 rotatably supported by the central receiving hole 33a. The nip pressure between the rollers 5 and 6 is supported by urging both ends of the rotation shaft 36 of the nip roller 6 around the fulcrum shaft O1 by the spring 31 in the rotation direction.

The cam disc 32 is supported by a bearing (not shown) so as to be rotatable about a rotary shaft 37 (FIGS. 3 and 4), and is a gear having occlusal teeth formed on its outer peripheral surface. The second spring fulcrum shaft 35 is provided so as to project in the normal direction in the vicinity of the peripheral edge of the plate surface of the cam disk 32. Further, an angle detecting cam plate 38 that rotates together with the rotating shaft 37 is fixed to the rotating shaft 37 of the cam disc 32, as shown in FIG.
The notch 3 formed in the angle detecting cam plate 38 as shown in FIG.
The contact sensor 41 detects the positions of 9a and 39b to detect the rotation angle of the cam disk 32, and based on the result, the angle adjusting means 42 (control means) drives the stepping motor (or DC motor) 43 to rotate. By transmitting the power to the cam disc 32 via the gear 44, the tension of the spring 31 is appropriately controlled.

Here, one notch 39a of the angle detecting cam plate 38 is a contact sensor when the cam disk 32 rotates and the second spring fulcrum shaft 35 comes closest to the first spring fulcrum shaft 34. It is formed so as to come to a position corresponding to 41.
The other notch 39b of the angle detecting cam plate 38 corresponds to the contact sensor 41 when the cam disk 32 rotates and the second spring fulcrum shaft 35 becomes the farthest from the first spring fulcrum shaft 34. It is formed so as to come to the position. By the control by the contact sensor 41 and the angle adjusting means 42, the nip pressure of the main roller 5 is set high by the expansion of the spring 31 in the high precision transfer mode, and the spring 31 is shortened in the long transfer mode. Thus, the nip pressure of the main roller 5 is set low.

The first speed switching means 25, the second speed switching means 26 and the angle adjusting means 42 are provided for each motor 2
A power supply adjusting circuit for 3, 24, 43,
A microcomputer having a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM controls based on a signal from the main controller 45. The main control unit 45 is connected to the input device 46, and gives a predetermined signal to each of the speed switching means 25, 26 and the angle adjusting means 42 according to a mode switching instruction from the input device 46 by an operator. The control timing will be described in detail later.

<Operation> The operation of the image recording apparatus having the above configuration will be described. The operator first designates the long transport mode or the high precision transport mode by the switching operation of the input device 46. In response to this signal, the angle adjusting means 42 controls the rotation of the stepping motor 43. This situation will be described in detail.

A. Long conveyance mode When the long conveyance mode is designated by the switching operation on the panel section by the operator, first, the stepping motor 43 causes the gear 4 to move under the control of the angle adjusting means 42.
1 and 4 by rotating the cam disk 32 through
As shown in (a), the second spring fulcrum shaft 35 is arranged at a position closest to the first spring fulcrum shaft 34. At this time, as shown in FIG. 3, since the angle detecting cam plate 38 rotates together with the rotating shaft 37, the stepping motor 43 is detected when the position of the one notch 39a is detected by the contact sensor 41.
To stop the rotation of. Then, the cam disk 32 can be accurately rotated so that the second spring fulcrum shaft 35 comes closest to the first spring fulcrum shaft 34. at this point,
Since the tension of the spring 31 is relatively weak, the nip pressure on the main roller 5 is set to be gentler than that in the high precision transport mode. It should be noted that in the long transport mode, the front slack is prevented from occurring between the transport rollers 8a and 8b and the transport rollers 9a and 9b, and a small amount of rear slack is provided between the main roller 5 and the recovery box 13. deep.

Then, the transport roller 8b is rotated to supply the roll film 3 to the transport rollers 9a and 9b. The film F is transported in a transport path formed by the transport rollers 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b and the main roller 5 while keeping the amount of post-slack substantially constant. Then, an exposure beam is emitted from the optical system 7 toward the exposure head 11, and the film F is exposed by the beam. The film F is then wound around the collection roller 12 in the collection box 13. The amount of post-slack is the ON / OF of the second slack sensor 26a.
The second drive motor 24 may be controlled by the second speed switching means 26 based on the F switching to change the rotation speed of the collecting roller 12.

At this time, since the nip pressure of the main roller 5 is gentle, the inclination angle of the film F in the exposure head 11 mainly depends on the axial direction of the sensitive material roller 2 of the roll film 3, and the sensitive material roller 2 Since it is conveyed along the axis of No. 2, the skew of the film F can be reduced unless the axial direction of the photosensitive material roller 2 of the roll film 3 changes. In particular, since the front slack, that is, the photosensitive material conveying path line is not formed between the film supply magazine 1 and the main roller 5, the inclination angle of the film F is based on the angle of the photosensitive material roller 2 of the roll film 3. It will be constantly corrected, and the photosensitive material can be conveyed in a straight line as a whole.

B. High-Precision Transfer Mode When a high-precision transfer mode is instructed by a switching operation of the input device 46 by an operator, first, the stepping motor 43 is controlled by the angle adjusting means 42 so that the cam disk 32 via the gear 44. To rotate. And
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4B, the second spring fulcrum shaft 35
Is arranged at a position most distant from the first spring fulcrum shaft 34. At this time, as shown in FIG. 3, the cam plate 38 for angle detection is used.
Rotates with the rotary shaft 37, the rotation of the stepping motor 43 is stopped when the contact sensor 41 detects the position of the one notch 39b. Then, the cam disk 32 can be accurately rotated so that the second spring fulcrum shaft 35 is farthest from the first spring fulcrum shaft 34. At this point, the tension of the spring 31 becomes relatively strong, so that the nip pressure on the main roller 5 is set higher than that in the long transport mode. In the high-accuracy transport mode, the first speed switching unit 25 increases the rotation speed of the first drive motor 23 for a certain period of time, so that the front slack between the transport rollers 8a and 8b and the transport rollers 9a and 9b is increased. Is generated. A small amount of post-slack is provided between the main roller 5 and the collection box 13 as in the long transport mode.

When the transport roller 8b is rotated to supply the film F to the transport rollers 9a and 9b, the film F is transported to the transport rollers 8a, 8b and 9a while keeping the front slack amount and the rear slack amount substantially constant. , 9b and the main roller 5 in the conveying path, the exposure head 11 and the optical system 7 perform an exposure process, and then the rewinding roller 12 in the recovery box 13 winds the rewinding roller. The amount of front slack is determined by setting the speed of the drive motor of the transport roller 8b to the slack sensor ON.
Control may be performed by switching between high speed and low speed by switching on / off. The control of the amount of post-slack is the same as in the long transport mode.

At this time, since the nip pressure with respect to the main roller 5 is set to be relatively high, the inclination angle of the film F in the exposure head 11 mainly depends on the transport operation by the main roller 5 and the nip roller 6. In this way, in the high-accuracy transport, the film F is slackened in the vicinity of the film supply magazine 1 and the main roller 5
Film F in the exposure head 11 only by rotating
Since the transport operation of the main roller 5 is specified, the influence of disturbance around the main roller 5 can be minimized, and the skew of the film F can be minimized by preventing the distortion of the film F. You can

In the long transport mode, the film F is transported while the amount of post-slack is kept small and constant even after the exposure process is completed. In the high-precision transport mode, the film F is transported from the start of exposure until the predetermined transport amount is reached, with a small amount of post-slack, which is the same as in the long transport mode. After that, the rotation of the collecting roller 12 is stopped, and the amount of post-slack is increased. Then, at the time of exposure of the next plate, the recovery roller 12 for pre-slack is rotated in advance to reduce the amount of post-slack, and then the recovery roller 12 is stopped and exposed. Further, when the film F is cut, the collecting roller 12
The film F is conveyed by the main roller 5 to the cutting position while the above is stopped. After that, the film F is cut with a cutter or the like.

As described above, in this embodiment, the tilt angle of the film F is defined mainly by the axial direction of the photosensitive material roller 2 in the long transport mode, and the film F is transported along the axis of the sensitive material roller 2. The skew of the film F can be constantly corrected by minimizing the skew. In particular, when the operator sets the initial sensitive material, the sensitive material may often be set to be inclined with respect to the main roller due to work variations. Even in this case, it is necessary to realize short-time and short-distance transportation. Thus, the inclination correction (convergence) ability is improved. In the high precision transport mode, the nip pressure of the main roller 5 is mainly strengthened to loosen the sensitive material between the sensitive material roller and the transport means by the slack forming means. As a result, the influence of front and rear disturbances can be reduced and the feed reproducibility can be improved.

In the above embodiment, the tension of the spring 31 is changed by the cam disk 32 as the nip pressure adjusting means 28, but the invention is not limited to this. For example, a motor and a feed screw, a push-pull solenoid, or the like. The tension of the spring 31 may be changed by a linear motion using.

Further, in the above embodiment, the cam disk 3
The cam plate 3 for angle detection as a means for detecting the rotation angle of 2
8 and the contact sensor 41 are used, the invention is not limited to this, and an optical detection sensor such as an encoder that optically detects the rotation angle of the rotation shaft 37 may be used.

[0037]

According to the first aspect of the invention, in the high-accuracy transport mode in which the transport is highly accurate in terms of feed reproducibility, the nip pressure adjusting means increases the pressing force of the nip roller against the main roller. Since the slack forming means loosens the sensitive material between the conveying means and the sensitive material roller, the nip rigidity can be increased in order to minimize the influence of disturbance before and after the main roller. It is possible to minimize distortion of the photosensitive material and deterioration of reproducibility.

On the other hand, in the long conveyance mode for exposing a long length of sensitive material, the nip pressure adjusting means reduces the pressing force of the nip roller against the main roller, and the slack forming means is stopped to sense the sensitive material conveying means. Since there is no slack between the material roller and the material roller, there is an effect that the material can be conveyed straight in a straight line while the skew is constantly corrected based on the material roller.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of an image recording apparatus in a long conveyance mode according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an outline of an image recording apparatus in a high precision transport mode according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a nip pressure adjusting means.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an operation of a nip pressure adjusting means.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an outline of a conventional image recording apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a state where the film is skewed and meandered.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Film Supply Magazine 2 Sensitive Roller 3 Roll Film 5 Main Roller 6 Nip Roller 7 Optical System 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b Conveying Roller 11 Exposure Head 12 Collecting Roller 13 Collecting Box 14 Cutter 21 First Conveying Mechanism 22 Second Conveying Mechanism 23 First drive motor 24 Second drive motor 25 First speed switching means 25a First slack sensor 26 Second speed switching means 26a Second slack sensor 28 Nip pressure adjusting means 31 Spring 32 Cam disc 33 Nip roller support plate 34 First spring fulcrum shaft 35 Second spring fulcrum shaft 36 Rotating shaft 37 Rotating shaft 38 Angle detecting cam plates 39a, 39b Notch 41 Contact sensor 42 Angle adjusting means 43 Stepping motor 44 Gear 45 Main controller 46 Input device F film O1 fulcrum shaft

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An image recording apparatus, wherein a photosensitive material wound around a photosensitive material roller is rotationally driven by a drive motor to be conveyed to an exposure section, and a duplicate image is recorded in the exposure section, the vicinity of the exposure section. A main roller and a nip roller for nipping and transporting the sensitive material, a transport means for transporting the sensitive material unwound from the sensitive material roller to the exposure unit and the main roller, and a pusher for the nip roller against the main roller. A nip pressure adjusting means for adjusting the strength of the pressure, and a slack forming means for slackening the photosensitive material between the transporting means and the photosensitive material roller are provided. Reduces the pressing force of the nip roller against the main roller by the nip pressure adjusting means and stops the slack forming means to convey the sensitive material and the sensitive material roll. In the high-accuracy transport mode, in which the slack between the nip roller and the main roller is eliminated and high-precision transport is performed in terms of feed reproducibility, the nip pressure adjusting means increases the pressing force of the nip roller against the main roller, and the slack is formed. An image recording apparatus, wherein the photosensitive material is loosened between the conveying means and the photosensitive material roller by means. 2. The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the nip pressure adjusting means includes a spring member that urges the rotation shaft of the nip roller toward the main roller, and a support position of the spring member. An image recording apparatus, comprising: a tension adjusting mechanism for changing the tension. 3. The image recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the nip pressure adjusting means detects the change in the supporting position of the spring member, and the signal based on the signal from the detecting means. An image recording apparatus further comprising: a control unit that appropriately controls the determination of the support position of the spring member by the tension adjusting mechanism.