JPH0968760A - Image compositing printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image compositing printer capable of masking an adequate area in accordance with a sub-image and capable of printing the area of the main image which is normally suffers a deficit due to a mask without exchanging an inserting mask. SOLUTION: This printer is provided with a main-image exposing means 1 and a sub-image exposing means 2, a mask part driving mechanism means 6 drives the shielding plate of a mask part 5 in accordance with the size and the position of the sub-image so as to mask an area where the sub-image is printed, and also a changing means 8 controls the printing magnification of the main image to be small, then the means 1 exposes the main image on a main image part. Thus, the means 2 exposes such the sub-image as date on the sub-image part masked by the means 1.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image synthesizing printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a group photograph or the like, a sub-image consisting of pattern images of characters such as dates, places, headings, etc. can be printed on the edge of the main image together with the main image of the film. There was an image synthesizer printer.
As such an image synthesizing printer, as shown in FIG. 6, a dedicated insertion mask 101 created according to a condition such as a size of a sub-image is used as a paper mask portion of the main image exposing means 102. There was a configuration to set. Sub-image exposure means 1 is provided on the portion shielded by the insertion mask 101.
The sub-image such as the date is exposed by 03.

At this time, a plurality of insertion masks 101, 101 in which mask areas are formed according to the size and position of the sub-images.
A, 101B ... are prepared.

[0004]

However, in the conventional image synthesizing printer as described above, when the size and position of the sub-image are changed, the corresponding insertion masks 101A, 101B ... There was a problem that I had to replace each one.

Therefore, in order to solve such a problem, the applicant discloses in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-323468 that four shielding plates are provided around the image exposing portion of the photosensitive material in the paper mask portion. We proposed an image synthesizer printer configured to move independently.

With this technique, it becomes possible to mask the optimum position and size according to the sub-image to be combined with the main screen of the film without replacing the insertion mask. However, although the work of changing the position and size of the mask for the sub-image was improved, a part of the main image was masked because of the sub-image, so that the obtained composite image contained one of the main images. There was room for further improvement in that the parts were in a missing state.

The present invention provides an image synthesizing printer capable of masking an optimum area in accordance with a sub-image without replacing the insertion mask, and also capable of printing an area of the main image which would otherwise be lost by the mask. It was made for the purpose.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a main image exposing means for exposing a main image of a film onto a light-sensitive material and a sub-image exposure for exposing a sub-image at a predetermined position on the light-sensitive material. Means, a mask portion for shielding a part of the exposure light of the main image exposing means for masking an area in which a sub-image is to be printed, and the shielding state in the mask portion is changed according to the position and amount of the sub-image. A means for providing a mask portion drive mechanism means and a changing means for changing the printing range of the main image according to the shielding state by the mask portion are provided.

Further, in claim 2, the changing means includes a magnification changing means for changing the printing magnification of the main image. In the third aspect, the changing means includes a lens shift means for moving the printing optical axis of the main image. Further, in claim 4, the changing means includes a magnification changing means for changing the printing magnification of the main image and a lens shifting means for moving the printing optical axis of the main image.

The change of the printing range in the present invention means, specifically, when the area to be printed of the main image is narrowed to 90% of the area due to the change of the masking state in the mask portion, the changing means Is to change only the image in the range of 90% of the main image to be printed, and to change the printing magnification, specifically, the main image should be printed by changing the masking state in the mask part. When the area is narrowed to 90%, the printing magnification of the main image is reduced to 90% by the magnification changing means.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION As an embodiment of the present invention, when a film on which a main image such as a group photo of a group trip is photographed is printed, characters such as a photographing date, a photographing place or a title of a trip are written. A case will be described as an example in which is printed as a sub-image together with the edge portion of the main image.

According to the image synthesizing printer of the present invention, in the above-mentioned case, first, a sub-image consisting of characters such as a photographing date, a photographing place or a title of a trip is determined. This sub-image can be automatically generated by reading the unique information such as the date recorded on the film.

Then, the size of the sub-image and the position to be printed are determined, for example, as the edge portion near the lower long side of the photosensitive material. The position to be printed at this time can also be automatically determined by reading the vertical information recorded on the film. Next, based on the position and size of the sub-image, the mask unit drive mechanism unit changes the mask unit to mask the area in which the sub-image is printed, and the changing unit controls the printing range of the main image to be narrow. After that, the main image exposing means exposes the main image in the range. Alternatively, the main image exposure unit exposes the main image after the main image exposure magnification is controlled to be small by the magnification changing unit.

Then, the sub-image is exposed to the masked area by the sub-image exposing means.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described more specifically below with reference to the drawings showing an embodiment of an image synthesizing printer.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an image synthesizing printer, in which a main image exposing means 1 and a sub-image exposing means 2 are provided along a long transfer path of a photosensitive material A. The photosensitive material A is wound and stored in a magazine A0 in a roll shape, and is drawn out by a transfer roller R1.

A loop forming stage 7 is arranged between the main image exposing means 1 and the sub image exposing means 2, and the main image exposing means 1 prints a photographic image A1 as a main image. The photosensitive material A is curved to form a loop.

The main image exposure means 1 includes a light source 11, a negative image projection lens 12, and a light quality modulation filter 13 which is arranged so as to enter and retract in an optical path between the light source 11 and the negative film B. A light quality modulation filter drive mechanism section 14 for driving and controlling the light quality modulation filter 13, and a control section 3 described later.
The light quality modulation filter drive mechanism section 14 controlled by an instruction signal from the mechanical shutter 16, a mechanical shutter 16 for mechanically blocking the optical path between the light sources 11, and a mechanical shutter drive section 17 are provided. The exposure light is transmitted through the negative film B, and the main image is printed on the photosensitive material A which is stationary on the auto paper mask portion 5.

The auto paper mask section 5 is a shield plate 5A arranged on a part of the paper guide 51 of the exposure table.
And a mask portion drive mechanism means 6 for driving the shield plate 5A forward and backward. The mask portion drive mechanism means 6 receives the instruction signal from the control portion 3 described later and controls the position of the shield plate 5A. There is something.

The shield plate 5A is constructed so as to reciprocate in the direction orthogonal to the direction in which the photosensitive material A is transported.

The sub-image exposing means 2 includes a light source 21, a line-shaped PLZT head 22 provided in a direction orthogonal to the transfer direction of the photosensitive material A, a light quality modulation filter 23, and a light quality modulation filter 23. Head 22 and light source 21
The PLZT is composed of a light quality modulation filter drive mechanism section 24 for entering / retracting the optical path between the light source 21 and the mechanical shutter 26, a mechanical shutter 26 for mechanically blocking the optical path between the light sources 21, and a mechanical shutter drive section 25. The light transmitted from the light quality modulation filter 23 is sent from the light source 21 to the head 22. Therefore, the sub-image exposure unit 2 can perform line exposure on the photosensitive material A being transferred by changing the sub-image such as a character image or a graphic image to a variable color.

The PLZT head 22 includes an analyzer and a PLZT head.
The crystal and the polarizer are laminated, and the SELFOC lens array is arranged on the analyzer side. The sub-image exposing means 2 may be an exposing means using a CRT.

Reference numeral 4 in the drawing denotes upper and lower information / unique information detecting means, which, when the negative information is recorded on the negative film B and the unique information such as shooting date and comment, are recorded. Is read, and the read information is input to the control unit 3 described later as an electric signal.

In the figure, reference numeral 3 denotes a control unit. In addition to the main body 3A, the control unit 3 includes a sub-image determination means 31, a sub-image exposure control means 32, a hierarchical relationship determination means 33, and a sub-image input means 3.
4 and a printing magnification calculation means 35 are incorporated. The sub-image determining means 31 is a character image for exposing a long photosensitive material from the unique information detected by the upper and lower information / unique information detecting means 4,
The sub-image information such as a symbol image and a figure image is determined, and the sub-image exposure control unit 32 controls the sub-image exposure unit 2 based on the determination result of the sub-image determination unit 31 to control the exposure of the sub-image A2, The vertical relationship determining means 33 determines the vertical relationship of the screen based on the vertical information indicating the vertical relationship recorded on the negative film B detected by the vertical information / specific information detecting means 4.

In the main body portion 3A, the position of the sub-image portion A2 is determined from the result of the vertical relation determination by the vertical relation determining means 33 and the determination result by the sub-image determining means 31, and the shielding plate 5A of the shielding plate 5A is masked to the sub-image A2. The position is determined, and a command signal is sent to the mask drive mechanism means 6 based on this determination. When the film B to be processed has a form in which upper and lower information and unique information are not recorded, the upper and lower relations are determined by the operator's eyes, and the sub-image specified separately is controlled by the control unit. The image is read by the sub-image input means 34 of 3A.

In the figure, reference numeral 8 is a changing means for adjusting the negative image projection lens 12 composed of a plurality of lens groups to change the printing magnification. The printing magnification calculation means 35 calculates the optimum magnification that allows the main image to be printed in the full area of the main image portion A1 narrowed according to the position and size of the sub-image.
For example, based on the number of characters of the input sub-image, as shown in FIG. 3, the sub-image portion A2 having a width of 15% of the length of the short side is set at the edge on the long side of the entire area of one frame. In this case, the shield plate 5A is driven by the mask portion drive mechanism means 6 so as to advance by 15% of the length of the short side.

At the same time, the printing magnification calculating means 35 calculates the magnification necessary for reducing the main image by 15% to 85%, and based on this, the changing means 8 is controlled to control the printing magnification of the negative image projection lens 12. Is adjusted to 85%.

The image synthesizing printer configured as described above creates a synthetic print by the following operations. The vertical information / specific information detecting means 4 reads the vertical information indicating the vertical relationship of the screen shot on the negative film B and the unique information such as the shooting date and comment, and inputs the read data to the control unit 3 as an electric signal. . Alternatively, the sub-image data read by the sub-image image input means 34 is input to the control unit 3 as an electric signal.

The printing magnification calculation unit 35 of the control unit 3 obtains the size of the area in which the main image is printed based on the input sub-image data, and calculates the magnification with which the main image is printed to fill the area. To do.

The negative film B is sent to the exposure stage 18 of the main image exposure means 1. On the other hand, the photosensitive material A is taken out of the magazine A0 and transferred to the main image exposure means 1 to expose the main image portion A1. At this time, the mask portion drive mechanism means 6 operates the shield plate 5A of the auto paper mask 5 based on the command signal of the control portion 3 to partially shield the exposure light of the main image exposure means 1 so that the sub image portion A2 is opened. Mask it. Note that FIG. 4 shows a state in which the shielding plate 5A is slightly inserted into the image portion to mask the lower portion of the image portion.

Further, in parallel with such control in the auto paper mask section 5, the changing means 8 is controlled on the basis of the printing magnification obtained by the magnification calculating section 35, so that the main image becomes the sub-image section A2. Negative image projection lens 12 so that the main image portion A1 is entirely exposed
Is adjusted. In this way, the main image area A1 is exposed.

At this time, the main image is printed without missing. The changing means 8 may be provided with a lens shift mechanism capable of moving the optical axis of the lens group in addition to the function of changing the magnification. As a result, as shown in FIG. 4, when the optical axis is shifted from the center O of one frame to the center O ′ of the main image portion A1 and then printed, the center portion of the main image comes to the center of the main image portion A1. Can be baked like. Further, when the printing is performed after changing the magnification to an appropriate value, it is possible to perform the optimal printing without wasting area without chipping.

Next, the photosensitive material A having the main image printed on the main image portion A1 is transferred to the sub-image exposing means 2. Here, in response to a command signal from the control section 3, the sub-image section A2 of the photosensitive material A being transferred is line-exposed with the command exposure color.

Next, the composite print P, which has been developed by the developing processing section 9 and then cut by the cutter, is collected on the tray 91.

FIG. 3 shows a composite print P, in which the lower portion of the main image portion A1 is a sub-image portion A2 and the main image exposing means 1 is provided.
In the sub image area A2, a sub image such as a character image is printed on the sub image portion A2.

As shown in FIG. 5 showing an application example of the auto paper mask section 5, not only one shield plate 5A that reciprocates in a direction orthogonal to the transfer direction of the photosensitive material A but also the shield plate 5A is opposed to the shield plate 5A. The shielding plate 5B and the shielding plates 5C and 5D orthogonal thereto may be provided so that all four of them can be operated independently by the mask unit drive mechanism means 6.

It is needless to say that the number, position and operation direction of the shielding plates can be changed as appropriate.

Further, in the above embodiment, the negative film was used as the recording medium for exposing the image on the photosensitive material, but other than this, a positive film, a transparency or the like can be used as the recording medium, and the negative film is not always required. It is not limited to film.

[0039]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, even if the position or size of the sub-image changes, the optimum position and size of the sub-image can be obtained without changing the insertion mask. It became possible to mask Sato. Furthermore, since the printing range of the main image is changed and the printing is performed, it is possible to obtain the effect that the printing can be performed without shifting the center portion of the main image.

Further, according to the second aspect, since the main image is printed by changing the printing magnification, it is possible to obtain the effect that the main image can be printed without loss of part of the main image. Further, in the third aspect, since the optical axis for printing the main image is moved and printing is performed, the printing can be performed without shifting the center of the main image.

Further, in claim 4, since the printing magnification of the main image is changed and the printing optical axis is moved, the main image is not chipped or the center is not displaced.
You can print without waste.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of an image synthesizing printer of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a main part of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an example of a print combined in the same embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a shift of an optical axis.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of an application example of an auto paper mask unit.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a main part of an image synthesizing printer of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 A Photosensitive material A1 Main image A2 Sub-image B Film 1 Main image exposure means 2 Sub-image exposure means 5 Auto paper mask part (mask part) 6 Mask part drive mechanism means 8 Change means

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A main image exposing means for exposing a main image of a film onto a photosensitive material, a sub-image exposing means for exposing a sub-image at a predetermined position of the photosensitive material, and one of exposure light of the main image exposing means. A mask portion for masking a region where the sub-image should be printed by masking the portion, mask portion driving mechanism means for changing the shielding state in the mask portion according to the position and amount of the sub-image, and the mask portion. An image synthesizing printer comprising: a changing unit that changes a printing range of a main image according to a state. 2. The image synthesizing printer according to claim 1, wherein the changing unit includes a magnification changing unit that changes the printing magnification of the main image. 3. The image synthesizing printer according to claim 1, wherein the changing means comprises a lens shift means for moving the printing optical axis of the main image. 4. The changing means comprises a magnification changing means for changing the printing magnification of the main image, and a lens shift means for moving the printing optical axis of the main image.
The image synthesis printer described in.