JPS63257753A - Image forming solvent supplying device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To contrive the improvement of the workability at the time of replacement by attaching the end parts of a discharge pipe and a supply pipe to a cover body by a movement of the cover body, containing the end parts in a spare tank, respectively, when the cover body is in a first position, and detaching and attaching simultaneously the end parts from and to the spare tank, when the cover body is in a second position. CONSTITUTION:At the time of changing water in a spare tank 80, first of all, a cover 88 for partitioning the upper and lower parts of a spare tank containing part 77 provided on the lower part of a machine base is rotated clockwise through a hinge 90. When this cover 88 reaches a position of an imaginary line shown in the figure, this state is held by an action of a magnet cap 96. When the cover 88 is in the position of the imaginary line, a hose 102 and a connecting pipe 112 are both detached from the spare tank 80, therefore, a worker can draw out easily the spare tank 80 to this side of the paper surface in a roughly horizontal state. In such a way, by rotating the cover 88 centering around the hinge 90, plural pipes such as the hose 102 and the connecting pipe 112, etc., inserted into the spare tank 80 can be taken out simultaneously, therefore, the workability at the time of replacing the spare tank 80 is improved.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an image recording method for obtaining an image on an image-receiving material by transferring an image recorded on a heat-developable photosensitive material to the image-receiving material in the presence of an image-forming solvent. The present invention relates to an image forming solvent supply device used in a recording device.

[Prior Art] As shown in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 75247/1983, an image recording device for obtaining a color image using a heat-developable photosensitive material exposes an image to the heat-developable photosensitive material and then sends it to a heat development section. It is known that an image-receiving material is brought into close contact with a photosensitive material after heat development, and an image is transferred to an image-receiving paper through a transfer process.

Before this photosensitive material or image-receiving material is sent to a transfer section, a transfer aid (image forming solvent) such as water is applied in advance to improve transfer efficiency.

For this reason, in the apparatus shown in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 59-75247, water is applied using a roller impregnated with water. This water is accumulated in a main tank, and the roller is arranged so that a portion of the outer periphery of the roller is immersed in the water in the main tank. By rotating this roller, water is brought out around the outer periphery of the roller and applied to the photosensitive material or image-receiving material. Here, depending on the frequency of use, the water in the main tank may be contaminated with gelatin, etc., which is peeled off from the photosensitive material or image-receiving material, and may stain the water, the inner surface of the tank, the application roller, etc. When the frequency of use exceeds a predetermined value, the water is circulated between a reserve tank installed at the bottom of the image recording device, diluted, and reused.

Here, since the effect of dilution by circulation between the main tank and the reserve tank becomes less effective depending on the frequency of use, the water in the reserve tank is replaced from time to time in each reserve tank. This allows proper water application without contaminating the water in the main tank.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, there are at least two pipes that connect the main tank and the reserve tank: a water supply pipe and a drainage pipe. Retrieved from recording device. The storage area for the spare tank used for this work is narrow, making it difficult to attach and remove the spare tank.

Furthermore, when the tip of the pipe is pulled out, liquid leaks from the opening at the tip, staining the hands and clothes of workers, shorting out electrical parts, and making replacement work difficult.

In consideration of the above-mentioned facts, the present invention aims to provide an image-forming solvent supply device that facilitates the attachment and detachment of a reserve tank and improves workability during solvent exchange.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The image-forming solvent supply device according to the present invention obtains an image on the image-receiving material by transferring the image recorded on the photothermographic material to the image-receiving material in a heat-developable transfer section. A supply device used in an image recording device that supplies an image forming solvent applied to a heat-developable photosensitive material or an image-receiving material to a main tank, the supply reserve storing the solvent to be supplied to the main tank. a tank, a discharge reserve tank that accumulates the solvent discharged from the main tank, and a discharge pipe that guides the solvent discharged from the main tank to the discharge reserve tank;
a supply pipe for guiding the solvent to be supplied from the reserve supply tank to the main tank;

The vicinity of the ends of the discharge pipe and the supply pipe are attached, and in the first position, the vicinity of the ends are accommodated in the discharge reserve tank and the supply reserve tank, respectively, and in the second position, the vicinity of the ends are respectively accommodated in the discharge reserve tank. The lid body is detachable from the tank and the supply reserve tank.

[Function] The water accumulated in the main tank is carried to the transport path of the photothermographic material or image-receiving material by, for example, a coating roller, and is applied to the photothermographic material or image-receiving material.

The volume for accumulating image forming solvent in the main tank is small due to the compactness of the device itself, so a supply reserve tank and a discharge reserve tank are provided in separate locations for water coating operations. They are replaced depending on the frequency. In this case, the supply reserve tank and the discharge reserve tank may be the same, and the solvent may be circulated. The solvent discharged from the main tank is guided through a discharge pipe to the reserve tank, and the solvent in the reserve tank is guided through a supply pipe to the main tank. By repeating this process at appropriate times, the solvent is diluted and the solvent in the main tank can be maintained as a suitable solvent as clean coating water.

Here, if the solvent exceeds a predetermined frequency of use, replace the solvent in each preliminary tank. In this case, in the present invention, the ends of the discharge pipe and the supply pipe are attached to the lid by moving the lid, and when the lid is in the first position (for example, in contact with the opening of the reserve tank), the ends of the discharge pipe and the supply pipe are attached to the lid. When the ends are accommodated in the reserve tank and the lid body is in the second position (for example, separated from the reserve tank), the ends can be removed from the reserve tank at the same time. Improves work efficiency.

The image recording apparatus applied to the present invention includes a heat developing section that heat-develops the exposed heat-developable photosensitive material, and a heat-developable photosensitive material and an image-receiving material that are overlapped and heated to form an image on the image-receiving material. The transfer section that performs the transfer may be provided separately.

The heat development section and the transfer section are provided in the same place, that is, a heat development transfer section is provided in which the exposed photothermographic material and the image receiving material are overlapped and heated to perform heat development and thermal transfer at the same time. It may be something.

Further, in the image recording device applied to the present invention, for example,
U.S. Patent No. 4430415, U.S. Patent No. 4483914,
4500626, 4503137, JP 59-154445, JP 59-165054,
JP-A-59-180548, JP-A-59-21844
No. 3, JP 60-120356, Patent Application 1982-20
No. 9563, Patent Application No. 79709, Patent Application No. 1988-
169585, Japanese Patent Application No. 60-244873, and the like can be used.

In the present invention, an image-forming solvent is a solvent required for image formation, such as water, a low-boiling organic solvent (alcohol, ketones, amides, etc.), or a surface-active solvent added to these solvents. These include additives containing various additives such as additives, development accelerators, and development stoppers.

(Description of Embodiments) The distal end of the discharge pipe or supply pipe has a shape with an inner diameter smaller than the inner diameter of the discharge pipe or supply pipe,
A manufactured nozzle is installed. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the solvent remaining in the pipe from leaking when the discharge pipe or the supply pipe is separated from the reserve tank. This is due to the surface tension of the solvent, and the inner diameter size is determined by the magnitude of this surface tension. Note that even if all the communication pipes are made small in diameter, the effect of preventing liquid leakage will occur, but
Since the medium circulation flow rate decreases, it is preferable that only the tip portion has a small diameter.

[Example] An image recording apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below.

As shown in FIG. 2, an image recording apparatus 10 to which the present invention is applied has a magazine 14 housed in a machine base 12 and a roll-shaped photothermographic material 16 housed therein. This photosensitive material 1
6 is pulled out from its outer periphery, cut into a predetermined length by a cutter 18, and then wound around the outer periphery of a rotating drum 20. An exposure head 22 is disposed corresponding to the outer periphery of the rotating drum 20, and the rotating tram 20 is rotated in the direction of arrow A to expose an image onto the wound photosensitive material 16.

After exposure, the photosensitive material 16 is rotated in the reverse direction of the rotating drum 20.
It is peeled off from the rotating drum 20 by a scraper 24, water is applied as an image forming solvent in a water coating section 26, and then sent to a thermal development transfer section 28 whose interior is a heating section.

On the other hand, the uppermost layer of the plurality of image receiving materials 32 accommodated in the tray 30 is sent to the thermal development transfer section 28 .

In the thermal development transfer section 28, conveyance rollers 34, which are in close contact with each other,
36 is provided at the inlet portion, and the photosensitive material 16 and the image receiving material 32 are connected to each other.
After the sheets are brought into close contact with each other, they are sent to the conveyance rollers 38 and 40 at the exit section. A conveyance roller 42 is provided in the middle part.
44 is provided and has the role of delivering the closely adhered photosensitive material 16 and image receiving material 32 delivered from the transport rollers 34, 36 to the transport rollers 38, 40. Each conveyance roller is configured to receive rotational force by transmitting the driving force of a motor (not shown).

Each conveyance roller has a heater 46 arranged on the opposite side of the conveyance path for the photosensitive material 16 and the image-receiving material 32, and is heated to a predetermined temperature by eight generating elements composed of energized heating elements. .

A peeling means 48 is disposed downstream of the heat development transfer section 28, and a peeling means 48 is arranged downstream of the heat development transfer section 28, and removes the photosensitive material 16 sent out from the heat development transfer section 28.
The image receiving material 32 is separated and sent to a waste photosensitive material storage box 50 and an image receiving material 32 to a drying device 52. After the image-receiving material 32 is dried in a drying device 52, it is delivered onto a take-out tray 54 formed at the top of the machine stand 12.

As shown in FIG. 1, a pair of conveyance rollers 56, 58 that sandwich the photosensitive material 16 being conveyed are arranged in the water application section 26, and a pair of conveyance rollers 60 are downstream of these conveyance rollers 56.5B. .62 are arranged to sandwich and convey the photosensitive material 16.

These rollers are configured to send out the photosensitive material 16 in the direction of arrow B to the thermal development transfer section 28 by receiving the driving force of a motor (not shown). Further, between these conveying rollers, guide plates 5 are provided corresponding to both ends of the photosensitive material 16 being conveyed.
1A and 51B are provided to convey the photosensitive material 16 to the roller 5.
6.58 to the conveyance roller 60.62.

The photosensitive material 1 is placed between the conveyance roller 58 and the conveyance roller 62.
A coating roller 64 serving as a coating member corresponds to the center portion of the back surface (emulsion side) of 6. This application roller 64
The rotary shaft 65 is pivotally supported on the machine base 12. Also,
A motor (both not shown) is connected to this rotating shaft 65 via a shaft coupling, and the application roller 64 is rotated in the direction of arrow C by the driving force of this motor.

A portion of the coating roller 64 is immersed in a main tank 72 filled with water 70, which is an image forming solvent, and water 70 is brought out from its circumferential surface while the coating roller 64 rotates.

The water 70 taken out by the application roller 64 is applied to the photosensitive material 16.
In this state, as the photosensitive material 16 is transported, the bead 70A is formed between the photosensitive material 1
The coating water is formed on the back side of 6.

A supply pipe 74 for supplying the water 70 and a discharge pipe 76 for discharging the water 70 from the main tank 72 are attached to the main tank 72 filled with water 70 . One end of the supply pipe 74 and one end of the discharge pipe 76 are each extended to a reserve tank accommodating section 77 (see FIGS. 2 and 3) provided at the bottom of the machine base 12.

The main tank 72 contains water 7 that is filled into the main tank 72.
An overflow pipe 78 is attached to discharge the surplus amount. Opening 7 of this overflow pipe 78
8A is arranged at a predetermined height from the bottom surface 72A of the main tank 72, and when the water 70 supplied from the supply pipe 74 reaches above this opening 78A, the water 70 is transferred to the outside of the main tank 72 ( The amount of water (water surface height) in the main tank 72 can be kept constant.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the spare tank housing section 77
A spare tank 80 is placed on the .

This reserve tank 80 is commonly used as a supply reserve tank and a discharge reserve tank, and is designed to circulate water 70 to be supplied to the main tank 72.

The height of the reserve tank 80 is approximately half the height of the reserve tank accommodating portion 77, and there is a space above the reserve tank accommodating portion 77. A cylindrical body 82 is integrally formed in the upper part of the reserve tank 80, and serves as an outlet 82A for water to be supplied to the main tank 72. A pipe coupling 86 is placed in the outlet 82A via a packing 84 made of an elastic material such as rubber. This pipe coupling 86 is attached to a lid 88 that partitions the upper and lower portions of the reserve tank housing section 77, and is adapted to be moved together with this lid 88. One end of the lid 88 (the right end in FIG. 3) has a hinge 90.
It is attached to the side plate via a hinge 90, and can rotate in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 3 around this hinge 90.

Here, when the lid 88 is rotated clockwise around the hinge 90 as shown by the imaginary line in FIG. 3, the pipe coupling 86 is removed from the outlet 82A, and the outlet 82A is opened. . A magnetized body 92 (for example, iron) is attached to this M2S, and a magnet 94 is attached to the ceiling 77A of the reserve tank housing section 77 in correspondence with this, and this magnet 94 and the magnetic body 92 make a magnetic catch. It consists of 96. Thereby, when the lid 88 reaches the position indicated by the imaginary line, it is held by the magnetic force of the magnet 94.

A hose 102 is attached to the lower end of the pipe coupling 86 and is housed in the reserve tank 80. Further, the upper end opening of the pipe coupling 86 is connected to the supply pipe 74 supported by a flange 98 attached to the M2S, so that water 70 to be supplied to the main tank 72 is sucked out from the reserve tank 80. That is, a pump 100 is interposed in the middle part of this supply pipe 74,
Water 70 is supplied to the main tank 72 by driving the pump 100. That is, the water 70 is supplied to this hose 102.
It is designed to be sucked out from the tip.

This hose 102 is made of hard rubber or resin and is bent into a slightly arc shape. The center of this arc is near the hinge 90, so that the hose 102 and the cylindrical body 82 do not interfere when the M2S is opened. As shown in FIG. 5, a small-diameter nozzle 104 is attached to the tip of the hose 102. In this embodiment, the inner diameter Di of the hose 102 is 6 mm, and the nozzle 104 is
The inner diameter dimension D2 of 04 is 4 mm. This is a dimension determined according to the surface tension of the liquid applied to water application, and when the M2S is lifted as shown in the imaginary line, the outlet 82A is opened and the nozzle 104 is inserted into the outlet 82A.
It has the role of preventing liquid leakage if it comes off from A. Note that the hose 102 and the nozzle 104 may be integrally formed.

The flange portion 108 of the filter case 106 is attached to the other upper part of the reserve tank 80, and the case body 110 is accommodated in the reserve tank 80. Further, the middle portion of the flange portion 108 is opened, and a short connecting pipe 112 attached to the lid 88 is inserted therethrough. This connecting pipe 112 is moved together with the lid 88, so that when the M2S is moved to the imaginary line in FIG. 3, the lower end comes out from the opening of the filter case 106. Thereby, when the lid 88 is in the position shown by the imaginary line in FIG. 3, the reserve tank 80 can be pulled out toward the front in the drawing in a substantially horizontal state.

The discharge pipe 76 is attached to the upper end of the connecting pipe 112 via a solenoid valve 113, and the waste water from the main tank 72 is discharged into the case body 110 by the operation of the solenoid valve 113.

Activated carbon, an antifoaming agent, a filter, etc. are incorporated into the case body 110 as necessary, and the waste water is purified and sent into the reserve tank 80.

The operation of this embodiment will be explained below.

The photosensitive material 16 pulled out from the magazine 14 is cutter 1
8 and then wrapped around the outer periphery of the rotating drum 20, the rotating drum 20 rotates at high speed and the exposure head 2
2, the image is exposed.

After exposure, the photosensitive material 16 is peeled off by a scraper 24, coated with water by a water coating section 26, and sent to a thermal development transfer section 28.

On the other hand, the image-receiving material 32 in the tray 30 is sent from its uppermost layer to the thermal development transfer section 2, where it is brought into close contact with the photosensitive material 16-.

The photosensitive material 16 and the image-receiving material 32 after being brought into close contact with each other are sent to the transport rollers 42.44 through the transport rollers 34.36. Furthermore, it is sent out from between the transport rollers 42, 40 and through the transport rollers 38, 40. In this way, since the plurality of pairs of conveyance rollers are heated by the heater 46,
The photosensitive material 16 and the image receiving material 32 are immediately brought to a predetermined temperature, and the image recorded on the photosensitive material 16 is thermally developed and thermally transferred to the image receiving material 32.

After the transfer, the photosensitive material 16 and the image-receiving material 32 are separated by a peeling means 48, and the photo-sensitive material 16 is transferred to a waste photo-sensitive material storage box 50, and the image-receiving material 32 is transferred by a reversing roller 56 to an approximately right angle direction (upward in FIG. 2). It is inverted and taken out to a takeout tray 54 via a drying device 52. .

Next, the procedure for applying water to the photosensitive material in the water application section 26 is as follows: First, when the photosensitive material 16 is conveyed, the conveyance roller 56...
58 and guide it between guide plates 51A and 51B. The photosensitive material 16 is attached to the guide plates 51A, 51
The coating roller 64 is conveyed while being in contact with the outer periphery of the coating roller 64 at the middle part of B. At this time, the coating roller 64 is rotating in the direction of arrow C in FIG. A bead 70A is formed between the photosensitive material 16 and the emulsion surface of the photosensitive material 16, and the beat 70A is applied to the photosensitive material 16.

When the rear end of the photosensitive material 16 passes through the coating roller 64 and is transported to the next process (image transfer processing in the thermal development transfer section 28) by transport rollers 60, 62, the beat 70A is transferred to the main tank 72 by its own weight. be returned to.

Here, when the number of sheets of photosensitive material 16 coated with water reaches a predetermined number, the water 70 in the main tank 72 is expected to be contaminated with gelatin and the like peeled off from the photosensitive material 16. For this reason,
At the same time as the water 70 in the main tank 72 is discharged into the reserve tank 80, the water 70 in the reserve tank 80 is sucked up by the pump 100 and circulated. As a result, diluted water 70 is supplied to the water 70 in the main tank 72, so that water application is properly performed. Note that the wastewater discharged from the main tank 72 is not directly discharged to the reserve tank 80,
Since the water is discharged after being filtered with activated carbon, antifoaming agent, etc. in the case body 110, the circulated water 70 can be used as coating water for a considerable number of photosensitive materials 16.

By the way, the water 70 in this preliminary tank 80 becomes dirty over time and needs to be replaced periodically. In this replacement procedure, first, the lid 88 that partitions the upper and lower parts of the reserve tank accommodating section 77 provided at the lower part of the machine base 12 is rotated clockwise in FIG. 3 via the hinge 90. This M2S is the third
When it reaches the position indicated by the imaginary line in the figure, this state is maintained by the action of the magnetic catch 96.

When the M2S is in the imaginary line position, both the hose 102 and the connecting pipe 112 are removed from the reserve tank 80, so the operator can easily pull out the reserve tank 80 approximately horizontally toward the front in the drawing.

Here, when the lid 88 moves from the horizontal state to the imaginary line in FIG. Since a small-diameter nozzle 104 is attached to the tip of the hose 102, the surface tension of the water 70 prevents liquid from leaking and staining the hands and clothes of the worker when pulling out the reserve tank 80. There is no chance of shorting out electrical parts.

As described above, in this embodiment, by rotating the lid 88 around the hinge 90, a plurality of pipes such as the hose 102 and the connecting pipe 112 inserted into the reserve tank 80 can be removed at once. Workability during replacement is improved.

Note that in this embodiment, the lid 88 is rotated, but
The M2S may be moved up and down.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, a supply device has been described in which one spare tank is installed and the water in the main tank 72 is circulated, but the present invention provides a supply water tank that supplies water to the main tank 72, It can also be applied to a supply device that is provided with a waste water tank that accumulates water discharged from the inside so that once used water is not reused.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, the image forming solvent supply device according to the present invention has the excellent effect of facilitating the attachment and detachment of the reserve tank and improving the workability during replacement.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a water application part according to an embodiment of the present invention;
Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the image tank accommodating part to which this water application part is applied, Fig. 4 is a top view of Fig. 3, and Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing how the hose and nozzle are attached. . 1O... Image recording device, 16... Photosensitive material, 26... Water coating section, 32... Receiving paper, 70... Water, 77... Spare tank housing section, 80... Spare Tank, 88...Lid, 90...Hinge, 102...Hose, 104...Nozzle.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) Used in an image recording device that obtains an image on an image-receiving material by transferring an image recorded on a heat-developable photosensitive material to an image-receiving material in a heat-developable transfer section, and an image that is applied to a photothermographic material or an image-receiving material. A supply device for supplying a forming solvent to a main tank, comprising: a supply reserve tank in which the solvent to be supplied into the main tank is accumulated; and a discharge reserve tank in which the solvent discharged from the main tank is accumulated. , a discharge pipe that guides the solvent discharged from the main tank to a discharge reserve tank, a supply pipe that guides the solvent supplied from the supply reserve tank to the main tank, and a combination of the discharge pipe and the supply pipe. The vicinity of the ends are attached, and in the first position, the vicinity of the ends are accommodated in the discharge reserve tank and the supply reserve tank, respectively, and in the second position, the vicinity of the ends are removed from the discharge reserve tank and the supply reserve tank, respectively. An image forming solvent supply device comprising: (2) A nozzle having an inner diameter smaller than the inner diameter of the discharge pipe or the supply pipe is attached to the end of the discharge pipe or the supply pipe. The image forming solvent supply device according to item (1).