JPH03101727A - color image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a color image forming apparatus such as a color copying machine.

[Prior Art] In recent years, various color image forming apparatuses for recording color image information on the surface of a photosensitive recording medium have been known. In particular, in a color copying machine, a visible image is obtained by irradiating light from a light source onto the surface of an original, and forming an image of original image light, which is reflected light, directly onto the surface of a photosensitive recording medium. At this time, the light intensity of the original image light, which is the reflected light from the original, is diffusely reflected by the original surface, so only a part of the three-dimensional 2π reaches the surface of the photosensitive recording medium, so the ratio with the light intensity of the incident light is 10. It is weakened by about 2 to 10-3 times. On the other hand, the sensitivity of photosensitive recording media, with the exception of silver halide photographic materials used in cameras, requires large amounts of energy ranging from several hundred ergs to several thousand ergs. It is extremely slow at approximately 1 cpm.

Therefore, if you try to improve the copying speed, you will need to develop materials to improve the photosensitivity of the photosensitive recording medium, and if you try to increase the light output of the light source, it will increase the cost. However, there were disadvantages such as excessive heating of the document surface. Furthermore, if an attempt is made to condense the diffusely scattered reflected light from the original document with high efficiency, a lens with a high aperture ratio is used, resulting in an increase in cost.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and improves the copying speed of image formation by inserting a device that increases light intensity into the exposure optical path to produce a color image based on a color original. At the same time, it is possible to reduce the cost of the apparatus and to reduce the size of the apparatus when forming color images.

[Means for Solving the Problem] In order to achieve this object, the color image forming apparatus of the present invention generates an optically scanned image of the surface of a color document using a plurality of photosensitive wavelength ranges corresponding to a certain amount of each color of the color document. A color image forming apparatus that performs exposure recording on the surface of a photosensitive recording medium, comprising a light source means for optically scanning the surface of a color document, and a color image light of the surface of the document pre-scanned by the light source means, which is sequentially converted into light of a certain wavelength for each color. a light transmission selection means for selectively transmitting the light, a photoelectric conversion means for converting the light transmitted by the light transmission selection means into photoelectrons; and a photoelectric conversion means for emitting secondary electrons by the photoelectrons converted by the photoelectric conversion means; A photoelectron multiplier for multiplying the number of secondary electrons, a secondary electron acceleration means for accelerating the secondary electrons multiplied by the photoelectron multiplier, and a photoelectron accelerating means that matches each photosensitive wavelength range of the photosensitive recording medium. a plurality of types of phosphor cells are arranged in regular rows, and a corresponding phosphor cell emits fluorescence upon incidence of secondary electrons accelerated by the secondary electron accelerating means; An image forming apparatus characterized in that the image forming apparatus is purchased so that light emitted by a light means is irradiated onto the surface of a photosensitive recording medium.

[Function] According to the color image forming apparatus of the present invention having the aspects described above, the light transmission selection means selectively transmits the opposite light from the color original by the light emitting means, and the wavelength light of each color component is selectively transmitted. The energy of the wavelength light for each color component is sequentially converted into photoelectrons by the photoelectric conversion means, and then the photoelectron multiplication means emits secondary electrons and multiplies the number of secondary electrons, and then the photoelectron acceleration means converts the secondary electrons into photoelectrons. The speed of the electrons is accelerated and the electrons are incident on the surface of a fluorescent element, which is a fluorescent means.

A plurality of types of fluorescent substances having spectral sensitivity characteristics corresponding to the sensitive wavelength range of the photosensitive recording medium are coated on the surface of the fluorescent element, and the fluorescent element emits light upon incidence of the secondary electrons. As a result, the light is irradiated onto the surface of the photosensitive recording medium, and color document information is exposed and recorded on the surface of the medium. For example, the light transmission selection means is composed of an R-G-B three-color separation filter, and corresponding rows of R phosphor cells, G phosphor cells, and B phosphor cells are arranged on the phosphor element surface. In this case, first the R phosphor cells in the R filter are made to emit light to record an R color image on the surface of the photosensitive recording medium, and then the G phosphor cells in the G filter are made to emit light. A color image of G is exposed and recorded on the surface of the photosensitive recording medium, and finally, a B phosphor cell is made to emit light using a B filter, and a color image of G is recorded on the surface of the photosensitive recording medium.
If a color image is recorded by exposure, full-color image recording can also be achieved.

[Example] Hereinafter, examples embodying the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

First, the configuration of a color copying machine will be explained with reference to FIG. A color original 1 is placed on the original table 2, and a lamp 3
illuminated by the light of The light reflected and scattered by the original 1 is transmitted through a three-color separation filter 40 via a lens 4, and further enters an image intensifier 6, where the light intensity is intensified and then converted into full color by a lens 5. The image is formed on a photosensitive pressure-sensitive microcapsule paper 7 of one type. Here, the lamp 3, lens 4, image intensifier 6, and lens 5 are fixed to each other to form an exposure unit 17, which can scan the original 1. The roll paper-like photosensitive and pressure-sensitive microcapsule paper 7 housed in the cartridge 8 is guided by capsule paper conveying rollers 9a and 9b, and pressure developing rollers l that come into contact with each other.
1a and 1lb, and is taken up by the take-up reroller 10.

On the other hand, a cut paper-like color developer paper 14 is guided to a color paper guide 15 after passing through pressure development rollers lla and llb so as to be superimposed on the exposed surface of the photosensitive and pressure-sensitive microcapsule paper, and is conveyed by a thermostatic conveyance roller 13. During printing, the sheet is thermally fixed by a heat fixing unit 12 and outputted as an output sheet 16. The photosensitive recording medium 7 used here includes photosensitive microcapsules containing a cyan dye precursor, photosensitive microcapsules containing a magenta dye precursor, and photosensitive microcapsules containing a yellow dye precursor. It is assumed that the capsules are uniformly distributed and coated on the surface of the base sheet. The photosensitive wavelengths are 650 nm for the cyan capsule, 550 nm for the magenta capsule, and 450 nm for the yellow capsule. Further, the three-color separation filter has an R color that transmits only red light.
A filter, a G filter that transmits only green light,
Three types of B filters that transmit only blue light are switchably arranged in front of the image intensifier 6.

Next, the image intensifier 6 according to FIG.
The configuration of is explained below.

In the image intensifier 6, an input glass 21, a microchannel plate 23, and a fluorescent glass 25 are arranged side by side at a small distance from each other in order from the light incident side of a frame 20 whose interior is evacuated.

A photoelectric converter 22 that converts the energy of the incident light into photoelectrons is provided on the incident glass 21 surface. The photoelectric converter 2
For example, if the light emitted from the light emitting element 1 is in the visible light range, the photoelectric conversion material used in the photoelectric conversion material 2 may be Sb-
K-Na-Ca. In the near infrared region, Ag-0~C
Examples include s. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the microchannel plate 23 is constructed by forming a secondary electron emitting material layer 103a on the inner wall surface of each channel of an aggregate 103 of fine through holes called channels. The photoelectrons guided into each channel collide with the secondary electron emitting material layer 103a to emit secondary electrons,
As the secondary electrons further repeatedly collide with the secondary electron emitting material layer, the number of secondary electrons is multiplied.

A variable voltage power supply 44 is connected between the incident surface side and the exit surface side of the microchannel plate 23, and by changing the applied voltage value, the microchannel plate 23
The number of secondary electrons emitted can be multiplied by several hundred thousand to several million times. Figure 4 shows the applied voltage and 2
This figure shows typical characteristics of the secondary electron multiplication factor, which shows the relationship with the number of secondary electrons (gain).

On the other hand, the fluorescent glass 25 is coated with a fluorescent substance 24. Three types of fluorescent substances are used to coat the fluorescent plate 42, and their emission wavelengths match the wavelengths of the cyan capsule, magenta capsule, and yellow capsule of the photosensitive recording medium 7 described above. That is, a fluorescent material that emits red light (coloring wavelength 650 nm) corresponds to the cyan capsule, a fluorescent material that emits green light (coloring wavelength 550 nm) corresponding to the magenta capsule,
Blue light (coloring wavelength 450
A fluorescent substance that emits light (nm) is used, respectively. Each fluorescent substance (fluorescent cell) on the fluorescent element surface
The arrangement is as shown in Fig. 3, in which R phosphor cells, G phosphor cells, and B phosphor cells are arranged in a dot-like arrangement in a delta arrangement, or as shown in Fig. 5. One possible example is one arranged in stripes like this. In this case, each channel aggregate 103 is configured to correspond to each cell of each phosphor. A variable voltage power source 45 is connected to the fluorescent glass 25, and the luminance of the fluorescent material is controlled by adjusting the power source voltage.

In the color image forming apparatus configured in this way,
The reflected light of the light irradiated onto the surface of the color original by the light source lamp 3 is incident on the image intensifier 6 via the three-color separation filter 40.

At this time, if the three-color separation filter 40 is initially set to the R filter, only the R color light of the color original passes through the filter and enters the image intensifier 6. The R image information light is first converted into photoelectrons by the photoelectric converter 22. The number of electrons (secondary electrons) of the photoelectrons is multiplied by the microchannel plate 23 to hundreds of thousands to millions of times as described above, and the photoelectrons are irradiated onto the R phosphor cell on the surface of the phosphor glass 25. be done. The light emitted from the phosphor cell irradiated with secondary electrons is irradiated onto the surface of the photosensitive recording medium 7 via the optical lens 43. Next, when the three-color separation filter 40 is set to the G filter and light is irradiated onto the surface of the color document again, only the G color light from the surface of the document passes through the filter and enters the image intensifier 6. Since the G phosphor cell on the optical glass surface emits light, G color image information is recorded on the surface of the photosensitive recording medium 7 by exposure. B color image information is processed in the same way. The photosensitive recording medium on which R, G, and B color image information has been recorded in this manner is superimposed on a color developer paper and developed under pressure, so that a visible color image is developed on the surface of the color developer paper.

In addition to the above-mentioned photosensitive capsule sheet, various color compatible recording media such as silver salt photographic film can also be used as the photosensitive recording medium.

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the above detailed description, the color image forming apparatus of the present invention converts the energy of the color image information light emitted from the light emitting means into secondary electrons, and at the same time increases the energy. This makes the phosphor element surface emit light with a narrowed electron beam diameter. In addition, since the emission wavelength matches the photosensitivity of each chromogenic substance of the photosensitive recording medium, print recording with clear outlines can be achieved. Furthermore, printing energy is efficiently applied to the exposure of the surface of the photosensitive recording medium, resulting in improved energy efficiency.

Furthermore, since there is no need to use a short-wavelength semiconductor laser or the like, the device cost can be reduced and the device can be made more compact.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 to 5 show embodiments embodying the present invention. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the overall device, FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the main parts, and FIG. 3 is a microchannel. FIG. 4 is a gain characteristic diagram of the microchannel plate, and FIG. 5 is another example of the arrangement of the phosphor cells. In the figure, 1 is a document, 3 is a light source lamp, 4 is a light conversion amplification system,
5 and 7 are photosensitive recording media, 6 is an image intensifier, 22 is a photoelectric converter, 23 is a microchannel plate, 25 is a fluorescent glass, 40 is a three-color separation filter, 41
41a is a photoelectric converter, 4lb is a photomultiplier, 42 is a fluorescent plate, and 43 is an optical lens.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A color image forming apparatus that records an optically scanned image of a color document surface by exposure on a photosensitive recording medium surface having a plurality of photosensitive wavelength ranges corresponding to each color component of the color document, comprising: A light source means for optically scanning a document surface; a light transmission selection means for selectively transmitting color image light of the document surface optically scanned by the light source means for each color component wavelength; and a light transmission selection means for optically scanning the document surface. a photoelectric conversion means for converting transmitted light into photoelectrons; a photoelectron multiplication means for emitting secondary electrons and multiplying the number of secondary electrons by the photoelectrons converted by the photoelectric conversion means; and a photoelectron multiplication means for multiplying the number of secondary electrons. A secondary electron accelerating means for accelerating the secondary electrons multiplied by the means, and a plurality of types of phosphor cells matching each photosensitive wavelength range of the photosensitive recording medium are regularly arranged, A fluorescent means for causing a corresponding fluorescent cell to emit fluorescent light upon incidence of secondary electrons accelerated by the accelerating means, and configured such that the light emitted by the fluorescent means is irradiated onto the surface of the photosensitive recording medium. An image forming apparatus characterized by: 2. The photosensitive recording medium expresses a full-color image, and the light transmission selection means includes three types of color separation filters that selectively transmit red light, green light, and blue light, and the fluorescent means 2. The color image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein phosphor cells emitting red light, green light, and blue light are arranged in regular rows. 3. The color image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the fluorescent means has fluorescent cells that emit red light, green light, and blue light arranged in dots in a delta arrangement on the fluorescent surface. . 4. The color image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said fluorescent means has fluorescent cells that emit red light, green light, and blue light arranged in stripes on a fluorescent surface. 5. In the photosensitive recording medium, photosensitive microcapsules containing a cyan dye precursor, photosensitive microcapsules containing a magenta dye precursor, and photosensitive microcapsules containing a yellow dye precursor are uniformly dispersed and coated on the surface of the base sheet. The color image forming apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that: