JPS60135946A - Picture recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To control the temperature and the time or the like of heating in a development heat treatment part and a transfer heat treatment part independently of each other by providing both heat treatment parts independently of each other through a part where a sensitive material and a transfer sheet are brought closely into contact with each other. CONSTITUTION:Thermocouples 15a and 15b incorporated in panel heaters 4 and 11 of a development heat treatment part 2 and a transfer heat treatment part 9 respectively operate a control mechanism which controls power supply to heating bodies 3 and 10 by the electromotive formed generated with heat of panel heaters 4 and 11. That is, the temperature of the panel heater 4 and the carrying speed in the development heat treatment part 2 are adjusted to heat the sensitive material 1 for 30sec at 150 deg.C because the sensitive material 1 can be developed normally in these conditions, and meanwhile, the temperature of the panel heater 11 in the transfer heat treatment part 9 is set to such value that development is not advanced, and the carrying speed is so set that the sensitive material 1 passes the transfer heat treatment part in 30sec; and thus, temperatures of heating in both treatment parts are controlled independently of each other.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] This invention relates to the development of a latent image formed by an exposure means on the photosensitive surface of a photosensitive material having a diffusion transfer type heat-developable photosensitive layer, and the development of a latent image formed on the photosensitive surface of the photosensitive material. The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus in which diffusion transfer of exposed image dye to an image receiving layer of a transfer sheet in close contact with the image dye is carried out using a separate heating means.

[Conventional technology]

In general, in the case of a photosensitive material that has a heat-developable photosensitive layer, in which the material itself develops color to express an image, there is a problem that the color may change due to subsequent heat, and the storage stability of one image is poor. Recently, a light-sensitive material having a diffusion transfer type heat-developable photosensitive layer has been developed, which allows an image developed by heat development to be diffusely transferred onto a transfer sheet 1 and stored. Examples of such sensitive materials include JP-A-57-179840 and JP-A-5.
No. 7-198458 and the patent application filed by the applicant in 1973
8-104900 etc. When developing an image recording device using a photosensitive material having a diffusion transfer type heat-developable photosensitive layer, it is necessary to place a transfer sheet in close contact with the exposed photosensitive material and then perform development and diffusion transfer at the same time using the same heat source. There is an inconvenience that the development continues even after the diffusion dye is formed by development and the diffusion transfer has started, and there is a risk that the problem may arise that the optimum temperature and time for development and diffusion transfer cannot be individually controlled. Ta.

[Purpose and structure of the invention]

This invention is intended to solve the above-mentioned problems, and includes a development heat treatment section that develops a latent image after exposure of a light-sensitive material having a diffusion transfer type heat-developable photosensitive layer, and an image expressed on the surface of the light-sensitive material after development. By configuring the transfer heat treatment section that diffusely transfers the image to the image receiving layer of the transfer sheet to be provided independently through the contact area between the sensitive material and the transfer sheet, the heating temperature and time in the development heat treatment section and the transfer heat treatment section can be reduced. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image recording device that can separately control the following.

〔Example〕

Next, the present invention will be described based on an embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings.

1 is a photosensitive material with a diffusion transfer type heat-developable photosensitive layer.

The photosensitive material 1 is exposed to light through a suitable exposure means (not shown) and then supplied to a heat development processing section 2. The exposed photosensitive material 1 supplied to the development heat treatment section 2 is heated by a surface heater 4 having a built-in heating element 3 such as a heating wire.

The sheet passes through a conveyance path constituted by a conveyor belt (or rollers) 5 facing the surface heater 4 while being held therebetween with an appropriate adhesion force. During this period, the sensitive material 1 remains at a constant temperature (for example,

150-200°C) is applied. As a result, the latent image formed on the photosensitive surface of the photosensitive material 1 by the exposure means is thermally developed, and a silver image appears in the exposed area.

A diffusible dye is formed accordingly.

Note that the conveyor belt (or roller) 5 used in the development heat treatment section 2 is made of a material (for example, fluororesin) to which the diffusible dye formed by development does not adhere, or a surface-treated material is used. Of course, it will be done.

Reference numeral 6 denotes a transfer sheet that is not photosensitive per se but has a specially treated image-receiving layer that receives the dye formed by developing the photosensitive material 1, and the transfer sheet 6 is passed through a guide member 7 by a conveyance means (not shown) to a contact portion 8. The photosensitive material 1 is automatically supplied to the photosensitive material 1 and brought into close contact with the photosensitive surface of the photosensitive material 1 that has been developed as described above. The sensitive material 1 and the transfer sheet 6 that have been brought into close contact with each other are supplied to a transfer heat treatment section 9, where a surface heater 11 having a built-in heating element 10 such as a heating wire and a conveyor belt 12 facing the surface heater 11 are provided. The material passes through the conveyance path formed by the materials while being held in a state of being sandwiched with appropriate adhesion force. During this time, heat at a constant temperature (for example, 60 to 140° C.) is applied to the photosensitive material 1 and the transfer sheet 6. As a result, the image developed on the photosensitive surface of the photosensitive material 1 is diffusely transferred to the image receiving surface of the transfer sheet 6.

In this embodiment, the contact portion 8 for bringing the transfer sheet 6 into close contact with the photosensitive material 1 includes a contact roller 8a rotatably embedded in the upper surface of the surface heater 11 of the transfer heat treatment section 9.
is brought into pressure contact with the drive roller 12a of the conveyor belt 12, and the contact portion 8 and the transfer heat treatment portion 9 are configured as one block. This is because the contact area 8 is heated to 60° by the heat from the surface heater 11.
A temperature in the range of 140 DEG C. to 140 DEG C. is effective for preheating the transfer sheet 6 to be brought into close contact with the photosensitive material 1 and increasing the degree of adhesion between the two. Of course, the contact portion 8 and the transfer heat treatment portion 9 may not be configured as one block as described above, but may be independent, but in such a case, preheating may be performed separately before supplying the transfer sheet to the contact portion 8. It is desirable to provide means.

Further, in the two embodiments, the surface heaters 4 and 11 of the development heat treatment section 2 and transfer heat treatment section 9 are covered with a heat insulating material 14 except for their heat dissipation surfaces.

A case is shown in which the heat radiation surfaces of surface heaters 4 and 11 are covered with conveyor belts 5 and 12. This prevents the spread of heat from the surface heater and improves the efficiency of heating the photosensitive material 1 and the transfer sheet 6. In this case, the material constituting the conveyor belts 5 and 12 has a thermal conductivity of 3 XIOJ/cm, for example.
It is more preferable to select the following for -S-.

The time for passing the photosensitive material 1 through the development heat treatment section 2 is adjusted within the range of 2 seconds to 3 minutes in relation to the heating temperature, and the conveyance speed of the transfer heat treatment section 9 is also synchronized with this. Further, the transfer sheet 6 supplied to the contact portion 8 is delivered at a certain time lag when a sensor (not shown) detects that the leading edge of the photosensitive material 1 has passed a predetermined position.

Thermocouples 15a and 15b are built into the surface heaters 4 and 11 of the development heat processing section 2 and transfer heat processing section 9, respectively. This actuates a control mechanism (not shown) that controls energization to 3 and 10. That is, since the normal photosensitive material 1 can be developed by heating at 150° C. for 30 seconds, the temperature and conveyance speed of the surface heater 4 in the development heat treatment section 2 are adjusted, while the surface heater 11 in the transfer heat treatment section 9 is adjusted. The temperature can be set at a temperature 1, for example 130° C., which does not allow development to proceed, and the heating temperature can be controlled independently.

Note that static electricity and dust are removed from the contact surfaces of the sensitive material 1 and the transfer sheet 6 supplied to the contact section 8 by a static illuminator and an air cleaner (not shown).

Further, after passing through a transfer heat treatment section 9, the photosensitive material 1 and the transfer sheet 6 are supplied to a peeling section (not shown).

They are peeled off and then sent to a post-processing step.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, the image recording apparatus according to the present invention includes a development heat treatment section that develops a latent image after exposure of a light-sensitive material having a diffusion transfer type heat-developable photosensitive layer, and an image-receiving layer of a transfer sheet that develops an image exposed after development. Since the transfer heat treatment section for diffusion transfer is provided independently through the contact area between the sensitive material and the transfer sheet, the optimum temperature and time for development and diffusion transfer can be individually controlled, and therefore the development It is possible to prevent further development from proceeding after the diffusion dye is formed and diffusion transfer has started, and this has the excellent effect of efficiently forming a color image by heat development diffusion transfer. It is something to play.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The figure is a schematic sectional view of essential parts showing an embodiment of the invention. 1- Sensitive material 2-Development heat treatment section 3-.-Heating element 4-Surface heater 5-.Transport belt 6-Transfer sheet 8-Tight section 9-Transfer heat treatment section 10-.Heating element 11-Surface heater 12-.- conveyor belt

Claims (9)

[Claims] (1) A development heat treatment section that develops a latent image after exposure of a sensitive material having a diffusion transfer type heat-developable photosensitive layer, and a transfer heat treatment section that diffusely transfers the image exposed after development to an image receiving layer of a transfer sheet.
An image recording device characterized in that a photosensitive material and a transfer sheet are provided independently through a contact portion. (2) Claim 1, wherein the close contact portion can be heated to a constant temperature in the range of 60 to 140°C.
The image recording device described in Section 1. (3) The image recording apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the heating temperature of the transfer heat treatment section is controlled to a temperature that does not allow development to proceed. (4) The image recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the contact portion and the transfer heat treatment portion are configured as one block. (5) Claims 1 to 4, wherein the development heat treatment section and the transfer heat treatment section each include a surface heater and a conveyance heald or roller facing the surface heater.
The image recording device described in Section 1. (6) The image recording apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the surface heater is covered with a heat insulating material except for its heat radiation surface. (7) The material constituting the conveyor belt has a thermal conductivity of 3.
6. The image recording apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the image recording apparatus has the following in XIOJ/cm-3-. (8) Claims 1 to 7, wherein the time for the photosensitive material to pass through the development heat treatment section is adjusted within the range of 2 seconds to 3 minutes.
The image recording device described in Section 1. (9) The image recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, further comprising a pre-heating section for preheating the transfer sheet 1- supplied to the contact section.