JPS6370254A - Pressurization image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To pressurize a sheet material uniformly with a small-sized and light weight press roll and to obtain a sharp image by pressurizing a supporting roll while rolling the press roll to the right and left on the generator of the supporting roll. CONSTITUTION:The image is fixed onto image receiving paper by the pressurization from a photosensitive material exposed and formed with an original image. The press roll 402 energized by a spring 408 is moved back and forth to the right and left on the generator of the supporting roll 404 by means of a feed screw 416 and a guide bar 422. The photosensitive material and the image receiving paper are uniformly pressurized under the large face pressure by the press roll at the time of superposing said material and paper and conveying the same on the supporting roll 404. The sharp image is thus obtd. and the size of the device is reduced.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention provides an image formed by F4N light, which is obtained after imagewise exposure to a photosensitive material coated on a support with a substance that is fixed by pressure. The present invention relates to a pressure image forming apparatus for fixing an image by pressure.

[Technical background of the invention and its problems]

Images using microcapsules containing a photosensitive composition (as an example of an image recording material, for example,
A system disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 836 is known in which a synthetic polymer resin wall capsule containing a vinyl compound, a photopolymerization initiator, and a colorant precursor is carried on a support. The image recording method using this system is to imagewise harden the microcapsules by exposure to light, rupture the unhardened microcapsules by applying pressure, and obtain a color image from the released colorant precursor. This method has the feature that high quality images can be obtained through simple dry processing.

However, this system has the drawback of significantly lower photosensitivity than systems using silver halide.

A new recording material that improves these drawbacks, has high photosensitivity, and is capable of obtaining high-quality images through simple dry processing has been proposed in Japanese Patent Application No. 1986-2001 filed by the present applicant.
It is disclosed in the specification of No. 117089. In this recording material, at least a photosensitive silver halide, a reducing agent, a polymerizable compound, and a color image-forming substance are coated on a support, and at least the polymerizable compound and the color image-forming substance are contained in the same microcapsule. It consists of an encapsulated photosensitive composition.

Regarding the image recording method of recording images using this photosensitive material, Japanese Patent Application No. 60-1212 filed by the present applicant
It is disclosed in the specification of No. 84.

This image recording method first performs imagewise exposure to form a latent image, then develops it by heating, and polymerizes the polymerizable compound in the area where the latent image exists to form a macromolecular compound to form microcapsules. harden. Next, the image-receiving material (1) having an image-receiving layer to which the color image-forming substance can be transferred is overlapped with the image-receiving material (1) and pressure is applied to rupture at least a portion of the microcapsules in the area where no latent image exists, thereby transferring the color image-forming substance to the image-receiving material. An image is formed on an image-receiving material by transferring the image onto the image-receiving material.When the image obtained by imagewise exposure of the light-sensitive material is heat-developed and fixed on the image-receiving layer by pressure, a clear image can be formed. To do this, it is necessary to apply uniform pressure under predetermined conditions.

Conventional pressurized image forming devices have a diameter of approximately 100 to 200 m.
Either use two thick +++ rolls and press the sheet between them, or pass the sheet between two medium-diameter rolls with a diameter of 40 to 80 +++ m, and press the sheet between them.
The sheet is pressurized by applying pressure through a backup roll.

The above-mentioned large roll method and medium diameter roll/backup roll method both have the disadvantage that the equipment becomes heavy, and the latter also has the disadvantage of requiring highly accurate roll cylindricity, that is, roundness. be.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and provides an image obtained after imagewise exposure to a photosensitive material having a support coated with a substance to which an image formed by imagewise exposure is fixed by pressure. It is an object of the present invention to provide a compact and simple pressurized image forming device that can securely fix the image to the image-receiving layer and obtain a clear image.

[Means to solve the problem]

The pressurized image forming apparatus according to the present invention for achieving the above-mentioned object is characterized in that an image formed by imagewise exposure is formed on a photosensitive material on which a material that is fixed by pressure is coated on a support. This is a pressure image forming apparatus that fixes an image obtained after exposure to light by pressure, and includes a support roll and a pressurized image forming apparatus that is arranged to roll on the surface of the support roll along a generatrix line parallel to the axis of the support roll. and a traverse device for reciprocating the rotary pressurizing means on the generatrix. .

In the present invention, the photosensitive material refers to a material for obtaining a visible image by applying pressure to a latent image generated by imagewise exposure.

In this case, it may include a step of performing preliminary heat development or wet development before applying pressure.

An example of such a material is a type of material in which a polymerizable compound is imagewise cured by imagewise exposure, and then a visible image is obtained by applying pressure, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 57-1991 filed by the present applicant. Examples include materials disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 179836. This material has a synthetic polymer resin wall capsule containing a vinyl compound, a photopolymerization initiator, and a colorant precursor supported on a support.

Also, after containing silver halide and giving imagewise exposure, heat development is performed to develop the silver halide, the polymerizable compound is simultaneously cured in correspondence with this development, and then pressure is applied to form a visible image. Examples of materials that can obtain this include the materials disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 121284/1984 or Japanese Patent Application No. 53811/1983 filed by the present applicant. The material disclosed in the specification of Japanese Patent Application No. 121284/1984 is a material that is thermally developed and then transferred to an image-receiving material having an image-receiving layer to obtain an image on the image-receiving material. At least a photosensitive silver halide, a reducing agent, a polymerizable compound, and a color image-forming substance are coated thereon, and at least the polymerizable compound and the color image-forming substance are encapsulated in the same microcapsule. It is. Furthermore, the material disclosed in the specification of Japanese Patent Application No. 61-53811 is for obtaining an image on a light-sensitive material without using an image-receiving material. Contains two types of substances that cause a reaction, one of the substances that cause a color reaction and a polymerizable compound are housed in microcapsules, and the other substance that causes a color reaction is converted into a polymerizable compound. It has a photosensitive layer on the support that exists outside the microcapsules contained therein.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an image recording apparatus incorporating a pressure image forming apparatus of the present invention.

This image recording device uses a type of photosensitive material that forms an image on an image-receiving material. As shown in FIG. 1, a document supporting glass plate 2 is attached to the upper surface of a housing 1 so as to be slidable back and forth in the direction of an arrow 4.

That is, the glass plate 2 is slid between a position shown by a solid line and a position shown by an imaginary line in the figure, with the document placed face down.

At the bottom of the glass plate 2, there is a reflecting mirror 6 for illuminating the original.
An additional illumination lamp 8 is provided, and a fiber lens array 10 for forming an original image on a photosensitive material S at a predetermined position is provided.

A photosensitive material cartridge 14 containing a photosensitive material roll 12 wound with a photosensitive material S is removably attached to the side of the housing 1. At the outlet 16 of the photosensitive material S of the photosensitive material cartridge 14, a pair of photosensitive material take-out rolls 22 and 22' housed in the magazine connection dark box 20 are disposed, whereby the photosensitive material S wound on the photosensitive roll 12 is removed.
is pulled out by a certain length at a predetermined time. When setting the leading end of the photosensitive material S, the photosensitive material take-out rolls 22, 22' move away from each other as shown by imaginary lines, making it easier to set the photosensitive material S.

After setting, they return to the position where they are pressed against each other and nip the photosensitive material S. A cutter unit 23 for cutting the photosensitive material S and a guide plate 24 are arranged in front of the magazine connection dark box 20 (hereinafter, the front refers to the downstream side in the direction of travel of the photosensitive material S, etc.). There is.

In front of the guide plate 24, an n-light sensitive support roll 26 and two photosensitive material nip rolls 2g and 30 pressed against the support roll 26 are arranged. The photosensitive material S guided by the guide plate 24 is brought into close contact with the exposed photosensitive material support roll 26 by the photosensitive material nip rolls 28.30.
Fiber lens array 1 at position 32 between 300
0 provides imagewise exposure of the original.

A heat developing device 40 that heats and develops the exposed photosensitive material S is arranged in front of the exposed photosensitive material support roll 26 . The heating □ developing device 40 includes a developing housing 42 having a heat insulating effect, and is disposed within the developing housing 42, and has a width of about 12 mm.
An endless belt 50 is supported by a heating roll 44 heated to 0°C and four belt support rolls 46, 47, 48, 49, and is wound around the outer circumference of an arc of about 270°C of the heating roll 44, and the support roll 49. The nip roll 52 is pressed against the nip roll 52.

The heat developing device 40 further includes an exposed light-sensitive material support roll 26.
A guide device 54 guides the photosensitive material S fed from the heating roll 44 onto the heating roll 44 and separates the photosensitive material S from the heating roll 44 after being heated and developed; It has a vertical guide device 58 for guiding to the exit 56, and the exit 56 is provided with a sensor 60 for detecting the tip of the sensitive material.

Directly below the outlet 56, a pair of pressure rolls 62, 64,
A photoreceptor paper stacking device 70 is arranged, which includes a nip roll 66 pressed against the pressure roll 64 and a guide member 68 that guides the photosensitive material S to the contact portion of the pressure rolls 62 and 64.

An image-receiving paper supply device 72 is disposed on the side of the photosensitive image-receiving paper stacking device 70 . The image-receiving paper supply device 72 includes an image-receiving paper supply cassette 74 that protrudes from the housing 1 and is detachably attached, an image-receiving paper take-out roll 76 for taking out the image-receiving paper C in the cassette 74, and a take-out roll 76 ( The ejected image receiving paper C is pressed onto the pressure roll 64.
and a guide plate 78 that guides the nip roll 66 to the contact portion. Here, the width of the image-receiving paper C is about 6fffffl smaller than the width of the photosensitive material S, and in the photosensitive image-receiving paper stacking device 70, the image-receiving paper C is stacked at the center of the photosensitive material S in the width direction. .

A pressure image forming device 88 is disposed below the photosensitive material image-receiving paper layering device 70, which presses and transfers a layered photosensitive material S and image-receiving paper C (hereinafter referred to as sheet W).

The pressurized image forming apparatus 88 of the present invention will be explained with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4. In FIG. 2, 404 indicates a support roll, and 402 is a pressurizing hole arranged to roll on the surface of the support roll 404 along a generatrix parallel to the axis of the support roll 404. , 408 are compression springs for pressing the pressure roll 402 against the support roll 404.

Further, a traverse device is provided for reciprocating the pressure roll 402 on the generatrix.

In FIG. 2, the traverse device includes a pressure roll 40
2, a movable frame 406 that supports both ends of the support shaft 403, and a plurality of (four in El) fixed to the upper surface of the movable frame 406 and extending upward from the upper surface. ) guide pin 410
and a guide hole 414 for receiving each guide pin 410.
a block 412 having
and a block moving device for reciprocating the blocks. The block moving device shown in FIG.
A female thread 428 provided therein, and a female thread 428 screwed into the female thread 428,
A feed screw 4 arranged parallel to the axis of the support roll 404
16, a drive device M for rotating the feed screw, and an automatic switching device (not shown) for switching the rotation direction of the drive device M at a predetermined period.

(Thus, the rotational direction of the feed screw 416 is switched, so the moving direction of the block 412, the movable frame 406, and therefore the pressure roll 402 is switched, and the blocks move back and forth. Another example of the moving device is shown, and includes a rack 418 fixed to the upper surface of the block 412 in parallel to the axis of the support roll 404, a pinion 420 that meshes with the rack, a drive device M for rotating the pinion 420, and a drive. It is equipped with an automatic switching device (not shown) for switching the rotation direction of the device M at a predetermined period.

Therefore rank 418 and block 41 fixed to it
2, a movable frame 406 axially restrained by blocks 412, and a pressure roll 40 supported by the movable frame.
2 can reciprocate in the axial direction on the surface of the support roll 404 at a predetermined period.

FIG. 4 shows yet another example of the block moving device, in which at least two endless belts (including chains and wires) 424 run parallel to the axis of the support roll 404 above the block 412. (one of which is a drive roll), the block 412 is fixed to the endless belt 424 by a connecting member 426, and a drive device M for rotating the drive roll, and a rotation direction of the drive device M are provided. and an automatic switching device for switching at a predetermined cycle. Therefore, since the rotation direction of the endless belt 424 is reversed at a predetermined period, the blocks 412 fixed to the endless belt 424, the movable frame 406 restrained in the axial direction of the support roll 404 by the blocks 412, and the movable frame 406 The pressure roll 402 supported by the pressure roll 402 can reciprocate. Further, although a compression spring is illustrated as an example of a biasing device, it will be understood that hydraulic pressure may be used as an alternative.

In order to prevent wrinkles from forming on the sheet, nip rolls are provided on both sides of the contact point between the pressure roll 402 and the support roll 404 (as viewed in the circumferential direction of the support roll 404), and the sheet to be pressed is It is preferable to apply tension to the support roll 404, to drive the support roll 404 intermittently, or to use two or more of these in combination.

FIG. 5 shows a case where the pressure roll 402 in FIG. 2 is replaced with a ball, where 407 is a ball housing and 401 is a pressure ball. Compared to the pressure roll 402, the paper is less likely to wrinkle.

Below the pressure image forming device 88 is a photoreceptor paper peeling device 9.
0 is set. The sensitive material receiving paper peeling device 90 includes a guide member 92, a first feed roll 94, and a second feed roll 96.
and a peeling belt 102 wrapped around guide rolls 98 and 100 so as to press only the photosensitive material S at both end portions on the first feed roll 94.

A photosensitive waste section 104 is provided on one side of the peeling device 90, and a fixing device 106 is provided on the other side. The sensitive material disposal section 104 includes a guide member 108, a pair of feed rolls 110 and 112, and a disposal box 114.
The photosensitive material S sent from the peeling device 90 is sent to the feed roll 11
0.112 and put it in the waste box 114.

The fixing device 106 includes a guide member 120 and a reflective member 12.
2 ultraviolet irradiation lamps 124 and a pair of feed rolls 1
26.128, sent from the peeling device 90,
The image receiving paper C guided by the guide member 120 is
Fixation is performed by irradiating ultraviolet light for seconds.

A take-out tray 130 for receiving the image receiving paper C is attached to the front of the fixing device 106 so as to protrude from the housing 1 .

The above-described image recording apparatus further includes an irradiation lamp 8, a cutter unit 23, a document support glass plate 2, a sensitive material leading edge detection sensor 60, and a peeling device connected to a sensitive material receiving paper stacking device 70 (not shown). is provided, and the following operations are performed. That is, in the operation preparation stage of the image recording apparatus, the so-called copy preparation stage, the leading end of the photosensitive material S is placed near the cutting part of the cutter unit 23 or inside the magazine connection dark box 20.

Next, press the copy start button (not shown).
The photosensitive material take-out roll 22 is operated to feed the photosensitive material S, and just before the leading end of the photosensitive material S reaches a position 32, the illumination lamp 8 is turned on to illuminate the original.

Then, when the leading end reaches position 32, the document supporting glass plate 2 moves and the photosensitive material S is fed accordingly, and the document image is projected onto the photosensitive material S and exposed. On the other hand, when the photosensitive material S is fed by a distance equal to the length of the document in the moving direction, the cutter unit 23 is activated to cut the photosensitive material S.

The exposed and cut photosensitive material S is sent to a heat developing device 40, pressed against a heating roll 44 by an endless belt 50, heated at about 120° C., and developed. The passage of the leading edge of the developed photosensitive material S through the outlet 56 is detected by the sensitive material leading edge detection sensor 60 .

On the other hand, in the image-receiving paper supply device 72, the image-receiving paper C is fed out in synchronization with the pressing of the copy start button or the timing of exposure start, and the leading end of the image-receiving paper C is brought out by the pressure roll 6.
4 and the nip roll 66, the image receiving paper C is stopped.

In the photosensitive image receiving paper stacking device 70, the small and medium image receiving paper C is located at the center of the wider photosensitive material S in the width direction, and the leading edge of the photosensitive material S is aligned with the leading edge of the image receiving paper C. Or, they are superimposed so that they are several millimeters ahead of each other, and sent to the pressurized image forming device 88 to be compressed by about 2 mm by applying pressure as described above.
The image is transferred to the image receiving paper by being pressed with a pressure of 00 kg/crl to 700 kg/c++f.

The photosensitive material S after transfer is peeled off from the image receiving paper C by a peeling belt 102 in a peeling device 90 and sent to a photosensitive material disposal section 104.
sent to. On the other hand, the image receiving paper C is sent to the fixing device 106, where it is irradiated with ultraviolet rays for about 5 seconds and fixed.
Then the feed rolls 126 and 128 take out the tray 1.
Sent to 30.

The above-mentioned illumination lamp 8 with a reflector may be any lamp that emits radiation including visible light, and specifically, a strobe, a strobe, etc.
A flash, a halogen lamp such as a tungsten lamp, a mercury lamp, or an iodine lamp, a xenon lamp, a laser beam, a CRT light source, a plasma light source, a fluorescent tube, or a light emitting diode can be used as the light source. In addition, LCD (
It can also be constructed by combining a linear light source or a planar light source with a micron Yakut array using PLZT (lanthanum-doped lead titanium zirconate) or the like.

In the image recording apparatus described above, during exposure of the photosensitive material S, an original image is directly formed on the photosensitive material S by the fiber lens array 10. However, a spherical lens can also be used instead of the fiber lens array 10. In addition, the exposure of the photosensitive material S is carried out by a CRT using an image electric signal.
FOT (Fiberoptic tube)
, L CA (Liquid crystal
It is also possible to perform this indirectly by using an electro-optical element array, a combination of a laser and a scanner, a combination of an LED and a scanner, etc. In this case, it becomes possible to perform processing on the image signal for gradation correction, color correction, scaling, editing, etc. of the projected image.

In addition, in the image recording device described above, when scanning an original, both the original and the photosensitive material are moved and the optical system is fixed, but a method in which either the original or the photosensitive material and the optical system are moved is also possible. be.

Further, in the above embodiment, the heat developing device 40 is heated by the heating roll 44, but instead of this, belt heating, heating by a thermal head formed by arranging heating elements in a line, electrical heating, microwave or infrared irradiation can be used. It is also possible to form it so that it does. Further, depending on the photosensitive material S, it is also possible to heat it using eddy currents generated by electromagnetic induction. a liquid inert to the photosensitive material S;
For example, a fluorine-based liquid may be heated in a heating bath. The heating temperature in these cases is generally 80℃~
The temperature is 200°C, preferably in the range of 100°C to 160°C.

In the above-mentioned image recording apparatus, pressure transfer is performed by overlapping the image receiving paper C on the developing material S after the development process, but after overlapping the image receiving paper on the developing material S before the development process, the development process is performed. The present invention can also be suitably applied to an image recording apparatus configured to perform pressure transfer and subsequent pressure transfer.

Furthermore, in the above-mentioned image recording apparatus, when using a photosensitive material that obtains an image by pressure-transferring an image to an image-receiving layer provided on an image-receiving material, it is necessary to use a photosensitive material that has an image-receiving layer. As for the configuration of the image recording apparatus, the image receiving material supply device and the photosensitive material waste tray are omitted. Further, in the case where the image recording apparatus uses the photosensitive material disclosed in JP-A-57-179836, in which an image is obtained by curing capsules containing a coloring agent in the photosensitive material by light, the apparatus includes: The heat developing device is omitted.

〔Effect of the invention〕

Since the present invention has the above-described structure and function, it is not necessary to thicken both the pressure roll and the support roll, and the weight can be reduced. Also, since the surface pressure per unit surface can be increased, sharp images can be obtained. This has the effect of eliminating pressure unevenness due to roll deflection.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a structural explanatory diagram of an image recording apparatus incorporating a pressure image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a pressure image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 and 4 are schematic views showing other examples of the block moving device, and FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the present invention. S...Photosensitive material C...Receiving paper 1...Housing 2...Original support glass 8...Illumination lamp 14... ...Sensitive material cartridge 40...Heating developing device 70...Sensitive material receiving paper overlapping device 72...
. . . Receiving paper supply device 88 . . . Pressure image forming device 90 . . . Photosensitive material receiving paper peeling device 104 . Device 402... Pressure roll 403... Support shaft 404... Support roll 406... Movable frame 408... Compression spring 410... ...Guide pin 412...Block 414...Guide hole 416...Feed screw 418...Rack 420...Pinion 422. ...Guide rod 424...Endless belt 426...Connecting member 428...Female thread Fig. 2 Fig. 3 Fig. 4 Fig. 5

Claims (9)

[Claims] (1) Pressure image formation in which the image formed by imagewise exposure is fixed by pressure on a photosensitive material in which a substance is coated on a support, and the image formed by imagewise exposure is fixed by pressure. A device comprising: a support roll; a rotary pressure means arranged to roll on the surface of the support roll along a generatrix parallel to the axis of the support roll; and a rotary pressure means for pressing the support roll against the support roll. A pressurized image forming apparatus comprising: an urging device for reciprocating the rotary pressurizing means on the generatrix; and a traverse device for reciprocating the rotary pressurizing means on the generatrix. (2) The pressurized image according to claim (1), wherein the rotary pressurizing means comprises a pressurizing roll and a movable frame that rotatably supports the pressurizing roll. Forming device. (3) The pressurizing image according to claim (1), wherein the rotary pressurizing means comprises a pressurizing ball and a movable frame that rotatably supports the pressurizing ball. Forming device. (4) The traverse device includes a block having a plurality of guide pins fixed to the upper surface of the movable frame and extending upward from the upper surface, a guide hole for receiving each guide pin, and a block parallel to the axis of the support roll. The pressurized image forming apparatus according to claim 2 or 3, further comprising a guide rod passing through the block and a block moving device for reciprocating the block. (5) The block moving device includes a female screw provided in the block, a feed screw screwed into the female screw and arranged parallel to the axis of the support roll, a drive device for rotating the feed screw, and a drive. The pressurized image forming apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising an automatic switching device for switching the rotational direction of the apparatus at a predetermined period. (6) The block moving device includes a rack fixed to the upper surface of the block parallel to the axis, a pinion that meshes with the rack, a drive device for rotating the pinion, and a rotation direction of the drive device in a predetermined direction. The pressurized image forming apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising an automatic switching device for periodically switching. (7) The block moving device is arranged so that it runs parallel to the axis of the support roll above the block at least twice.
An endless belt stretched between rolls of books, a connecting member for fixing blocks to the endless belt, a drive device for rotating a drive roll of the rolls, and a rotation direction of the drive device is determined in a predetermined direction. The pressurized image forming apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising an automatic switching device for switching at a cycle of . (8) Any one of claims (4) to (7), characterized in that the biasing device comprises a compression spring interposed between the block and the movable frame. The pressure image forming apparatus described in . (9) According to any one of claims (4) to (7), wherein the urging device is a hydraulic device interposed between the block and the movable frame. The pressure image forming apparatus described above.