JPH01267546A - Solvent coating device for image formation - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To maintain the sufficient quantity of coating even when a carrying speed is increased, to obtain an image of good quality, and to shorten the time required for processing by providing plural coating rollers which are arranged nearly each other and contact a heat-developed photosensitive material or image receiving material directly to apply a solvent for image formation. CONSTITUTION:When the photosensitive material 16 is carried and its head end passes a coating roller 64 by prescribed quantity, the coating rollers 64 and 66 rotate as shown by arrows respectively and water 70 in a main tank 72 is carried out sticking on its surface to form beads 70A and 70B on the emulsion surface of the photosensitive material 16, thereby applying them to the photosensitive material 16. Thus, the plural coating rollers are provided to increase the amount of water 70 with which the emulsion surface of the photosensitive material 16 is impregnated, and consequently while a saturation quantity is easily reached, coating uniformity is improved. Consequently, even if the carrying speed of the photosensitive material 16 is speeded up, the sufficient quantity of coating can be maintained, the image of good quality is obtained, and the time required for processing is shortened.

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 coating 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 the image to a heat developing section.
There is known a method in which an image-receiving material is closely attached to a photosensitive material after heat development, and an image is transferred to 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 stored in a main tank, and the roller is arranged so that a part of its outer periphery is immersed in the water surface in the main tank. When applying water, the roller is rotated to bring out the water around the outer periphery of the roller, and this roller directly contacts the photosensitive material or image-receiving material to apply the water.

In this case, a film of water (so-called bead, hereinafter referred to as bead) is formed between the roller and the photosensitive material or image-receiving material that comes into contact with the roller (for example, the bead width is approximately 15 mm for a roller with a diameter of 3 Q mm), and the roller As the light-sensitive material or image-receiving material is rotated (transportation of the photo-sensitive material or image-receiving material), heavy water penetrates into the image-forming surface layer of the photo-sensitive material or image-receiving material (infiltration).
It is supposed to be done. Therefore, the longer the contact time between the bead formed on the contact surface of the roller and the photosensitive material or image-receiving material, the more water permeates into the image forming surface layer (the amount of infiltration), and the more likely it is to reach the saturation amount. .

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, when the conveyance speed of the photosensitive material or image-receiving material is increased in order to shorten the time required for processing, the bead formed on the contact surface of the roller and the photosensitive material or There is a problem in that the contact time with the image-receiving material is inevitably shortened, and as a result, the amount of water that permeates into the image-forming surface layer (infiltration amount) decreases, making it impossible to obtain the necessary amount of water applied. Therefore, it takes time to obtain the required amount of water application.
Furthermore, if an attempt is made to shorten the time required for processing, the transfer efficiency will decrease due to an insufficient amount of water applied, making it impossible to obtain a high-quality image.

Furthermore, simply increasing the outer diameter of the roller will only result in an increase in the size of the device and increase in cost, and will not have any significant effect.

In consideration of the above facts, the present invention makes it possible to maintain a sufficient amount of coating even when the transport speed of the photosensitive material or image receiving material is increased, thereby producing high quality images without reducing the transfer efficiency of the photosensitive material or image receiving material. It is an object of the present invention to obtain an image-forming solvent coating device that can reduce the time required for processing.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The image-forming solvent coating device according to the present invention obtains an image on the image-receiving material by transferring the image recorded on the heat-developable photosensitive material to the image-receiving material in a heat-developable transfer section. An image-forming solvent coating device used in an image recording device to apply an image-forming solvent to a heat-developable photosensitive material or image-receiving material. It is equipped with a plurality of application rollers that directly contact each other to apply the image forming solvent.

[Function] In the image-forming solvent coating device having the above configuration, the plurality of coating rollers directly contact the heat-developable photosensitive material or the image-receiving material to apply the image-forming solvent.

In this case, a bead of image forming solvent is formed on each coating roller. Therefore, the width of the bead of image forming solvent formed on the contact surface between the coating roller and the heat-developable photosensitive material or image-receiving material becomes substantially longer, and the contact time between the bead and the photosensitive material or image-receiving material becomes longer. Become.

Therefore, even when the transport speed of the photosensitive material or image-receiving material is increased, the necessary coating amount can be maintained and the coating uniformity is improved, thereby reducing the transfer efficiency of the photosensitive material or image-receiving material. It is possible to obtain high-quality images without any distortion, and to shorten the time required for processing.

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 for transferring the image may be provided separately, or the heat development section and the transfer section may be provided at the same location, that is, the exposed heat-developable photosensitive material and the image-receiving material may be overlapped. A thermal development and transfer section may be provided that heats the image and performs thermal development and thermal transfer at the same time.

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 59-154-445, JP 59-165054, JP 59-180548, JP 59-2184
43, JP-A-60-120356, JP-A-60-88
No. 256, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 238056 in 1982, Patent Application No. 1983-1
69585, Japanese Patent Application No. 60-244873, and the like can be used.

In the present invention, the image-forming solvent is a solvent required for image formation, such as water, a low flooding point organic solvent (
(alcohols, ketones, amides, etc.) or those obtained by adding various additives such as surfactants, development accelerators, and development stoppers to these solvents.

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

FIG. 2 shows an image recording apparatus 10 to which an image forming solvent coating apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention is applied.

The image recording device 10 has a magazine 14 housed in the machine base 12.
A heat-developable photosensitive material 16 in the form of a ferol is accommodated.

This photosensitive material 16 is pulled out from its outer periphery and cut into a cutter 18.
After being cut to a predetermined length, it is wound around the outer periphery of the rotating drum 20. This rotating drum 20
An exposure drum 22 is disposed corresponding to the outer periphery of the rotary drum 20, and rotates the rotating drum 20 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 and used as an image forming solvent coating device. After being applied with water as an image forming solvent in a water coating section 26, it is transferred to a thermal development transfer section 28 whose interior is a heating section. is sent.

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 are in close contact with each other.
36 is provided in the population section to hold the photosensitive material 1G and the image receiving material 32.
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.

Conveyance rollers 42, 44 are provided in the intermediate portion, and the adhered photosensitive material 16 is sent out from the conveyance rollers 34, 36.
and the image-receiving material 32 to the transport rollers 38, 40. Each cliff roller is configured to receive rotational force by receiving 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 a heating element constituted by an energized heating element.

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 59 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 and 58 are arranged in the water application section 26 to sandwich the photosensitive material 16 being conveyed, and a pair of conveyance rollers 56 and 58 are similarly arranged downstream of these conveyance rollers 56 and 58. Rollers 60 and 62 are arranged to nip and convey the photosensitive material 16.

These rollers are rotated by the driving force of a motor (not shown) and send out the photosensitive material 16 in the direction of arrow B to the thermal development transfer section 28.

Moreover, between these conveyance rollers, the photosensitive material 1 to be conveyed is
Guide plates 51A and 51B are provided corresponding to the guide plates 6 to guide the photosensitive material 16 from between the conveyance rollers 56 and 58 to between the conveyance rollers 60 and 62.

A coating roller 64 and a coating roller 66 are arranged between the conveyance rollers 56 and 58 and the conveyance rollers 60 and 62, corresponding to the center of the back surface (emulsion side) of the photosensitive material 16. The rotating shafts 65 of the application rollers 64 and 66 are supported on the machine base 12 so that they have the same diameter and are close to each other. That is, the photosensitive material 16 held and conveyed by the conveyance rollers 56 and 58
After contacting the upper outer periphery of the application rollers 64 and 66 once, the rollers are held between the conveying rollers 60 and 62.

The rotating shaft 6 of the application roller 64, 66 is pivotally supported on the machine base 12.
5.67 is connected to a motor (both not shown) via a shaft coupling, and the application roller 64.66 is rotated in the direction of arrow C (direction along the conveyance direction of the photosensitive material 16) by the driving force of this motor. It is now possible to do so. In this case, each motor is configured to rotate when the photosensitive material 16 is conveyed and its leading end passes the coating roller 64 by a predetermined amount, and further when the photosensitive material 16 passes the coating roller 64, 66 and thereafter. The rotation is stopped when the end reaches a predetermined amount in front of the application roller 66.

The applicator rollers 64, 66 are partially immersed in a main tank 72 filled with water 70, which is an image forming solvent, so that when the applicator rollers 64, 66 rotate, the water 70 is brought out on their peripheral surfaces. There is. The water 70 taken out by the application rollers 64, 66 forms a bead 70A between the application rollers 64, 66 and the photosensitive material 16 when the application rollers 64, 66 come into contact with the photosensitive material 16.
, 70B, and in this state, water is applied to the back surface of the photosensitive material 16 as the photosensitive material 16 is transported. In this case, the application roller 64.66
Since a bead is formed for each application roller (beads 70A, 70B), the overall width of the bead formed on the photosensitive material 16 is substantially increased, and the contact time between the bead and the photosensitive material 16 is increased. is becoming longer.

Furthermore, each application roller rotates when the leading end of the photosensitive material 16 passes by a predetermined amount, and stops rotating when the rear end reaches a predetermined amount in front of the photosensitive material 16. Water is not applied to a predetermined amount from the leading end of the material 16, and excess water is not applied to a predetermined amount from the rear end.

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 the discharge vibrator 76 are respectively connected to a reserve tank in a reserve tank accommodating portion 77 (see FIG. 2) provided at the bottom of the machine base 12.

The main tank 72 contains water 7 to be filled into the main tank 72.
An overflow pipe 78 is attached for discharging the surplus of 0. Opening 7 of this overflow pipe 78
8A is arranged at a predetermined height from the bottom surface 72Δ 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 middle part of the discharge vibrator 76), so that the water I (water surface height) in the main tank 72 can be kept constant. This overflow pipe 7
8 is also connected to the reserve tank in the reserve tank storage section 77.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained.

The photosensitive material 16 pulled out from the magazine 14 is cutter 1
8 and then wrapped around the outer circumference 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 at a water coating section 26, and sent to a thermal development transfer section 28.

Part of the image receiving material 32 in the tray 30 is sent from its uppermost layer to the thermal development transfer section 28 and 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 the peeling means 48, the photosensitive material 16 is transferred to the out-of-business photosensitive material storage box 50, and the image-receiving material 32 is transferred to the reversing roller 56 in an approximately right angle direction (upper part of FIG. 2). ), and is taken out to a take-out 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 the guide plates 51A and 51B. The photosensitive material 16 is a guide brake) 51A, 5
1B is conveyed while contacting the outer peripheries of application rollers 64 and 66, respectively, and is further conveyed by conveyance rollers 60 and 62.
sandwiched between.

Here, when the photosensitive material 16 is conveyed and its leading end passes the coating roller 64 by a predetermined amount, the coating roller 64.6
6 rotate in the direction of arrow C in FIG.
The water 70 inside is attached to the surface and taken out to form beads 70A and 70B between it and the emulsion surface of the photosensitive material 16,
This is applied to the photosensitive material 16.

Here, since a bead 70A or bead 7OB is formed for each coating roller 64, 66, a single coating roller 64 or 66 can coat the photosensitive material.
6, the overall bead (
The width of the bead 70A170B) is substantially increased, and the contact time between the bead and the photosensitive material 16 is increased.

Therefore, the amount of water 70 that permeates into the emulsion surface of the light-sensitive material 16 (infiltration amount) increases, and the saturation amount is easily reached.
Improves coating uniformity. Therefore, even if the conveyance speed of the photosensitive material 16 is increased, a sufficient coating amount can be maintained, and as a result, the transfer efficiency of the photosensitive material 16 is not reduced, a high quality image can be obtained, and the time required for processing is shortened. be able to.

When the photosensitive material 16 passes the applicator roller 64, 66 and the rear end reaches a predetermined amount in front of the applicator roller 66, the rotation of the applicator roller 64, 66 is stopped. No excess moisture is applied.

Note that the application rollers 64 and 66 are not limited to rotating in the direction of arrow C in FIG. 1 (direction along the conveyance direction of the photosensitive material I6).
The photosensitive material 160 may be rotated in a direction opposite to the feeding direction, or may be rotated in opposite directions. Even in these cases, similar effects can be obtained.

Alternatively, the coating roller 64 at the first stage, which first comes into contact with the photosensitive material 16, may be rotated for a certain period of time and then stopped, and the coating roller 66 at the latter stage may be kept rotating while coating.
Since the coating roller 64 is stopped, there is no vibration of the bead, and more uniform coating is possible.

When the rear end of the photosensitive material 16 passes through the application rollers 64.66 and is conveyed to the next process (image transfer processing in the thermal development transfer section 28) by the conveyance rollers 60.62, the bead 70A is mainly moved by its own weight. It is returned to the tank 72.

Next, other embodiments of the present invention will be described. Note that parts that are basically the same as those in the first embodiment are given the same reference numerals as in the first embodiment, and their explanations are omitted.

As shown in FIG. 3, in the water coating section 30 which is a solvent coating device for image formation, the coating roller 64 in the first embodiment is
．． A large number of application rollers 82 having a smaller diameter than 66 are arranged in close proximity. Therefore, the beads 70A of water 70 formed by the application roller 82 are continuous with each other, and the beads 70A of the water 70 formed by the application roller 82 are continuous with each other.
As in the example, a long bead is formed as a whole. Therefore, the contact time with the photosensitive material 16 becomes longer, and even if the conveying speed of the photosensitive material 16 is increased, a sufficient coating amount can be maintained.

In this case as well, the rotation direction of each application roller 82 may be set to be opposite to the conveying direction of the photosensitive material 16, or may be configured to rotate in mutually opposite directions or alternately change directions. .

FIG. 4 shows a water coating section 9 which is a solvent coating device for image formation.
0 is shown. A large-diameter coating roller 92 and a small-diameter coating roller 94 are arranged close to each other in the water coating section 90 . Therefore, the bead 70A of water 70 formed by the large-diameter application roller 92 is stretched and held by the small-diameter application roller 94, and in this case as well, a long bead is formed as a whole. Therefore, the contact time with the photosensitive material 16 becomes longer, and even if the conveyance speed of the photosensitive material 16 is increased, a sufficient coating amount can be maintained. In this case as well, the application roller 92 and the application roller 94 may be rotated in a direction opposite to the conveyance direction of the photosensitive material 16, or may be rotated in opposite directions to each other.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, the image forming solvent coating device according to the present invention transfers an image recorded on a heat-developable photosensitive material to the image-receiving material in the heat-developable transfer section, thereby obtaining an image on the image-receiving material. An image-forming solvent coating device used in a recording device to apply an image-forming solvent to a heat-developable photosensitive material or image-receiving material. Since it is equipped with a plurality of application rollers that contact each other to apply the image forming solvent, a sufficient amount of application can be maintained even when the conveyance speed of the photosensitive material or image-receiving material is increased. This method has excellent effects in that high-quality images can be obtained without a decrease in efficiency, and the time required for processing can be shortened.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a water application section according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing an image recording apparatus to which this water application section is applied, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing the water application part according to the third embodiment. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10... Image recording device, 16... Photosensitive material, 26... Water application part, 64... Application roller, 66... Application roller, 70... Water, ? OA...Bead, 70B...Bead, 72...Main tank, 80...Water application section, 90...Water application section.

Claims (3)

[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; An image-forming solvent coating device for applying an image-forming solvent, comprising a plurality of coating rollers arranged close to each other and applying an image-forming solvent by directly contacting a photothermographic material or an image-receiving material being conveyed. Features of a solvent coating device for image formation. (2) Among the plurality of application rollers, the rotation direction of the roller that comes into contact with the photothermographic material or image-receiving material first is the opposite direction to the conveying direction of the photothermographic material or image-receiving material, and the rotation of the other rollers The image forming solvent coating device according to claim 1, wherein the direction is the same as the conveying direction. (3) A claim characterized in that, among the plurality of application rollers, the roller that comes into contact with the heat-developable photosensitive material or the image-receiving material first is stopped after a predetermined period of time has elapsed after it has come into contact with the heat-developable photo-sensitive material or the image-receiving material. The image forming solvent coating device according to item (1).