JPH03200148A - Method for controlling temperature of solvent for image formation - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To rapidly and exactly control the temp. of a solvent for image formation by controlling the operation of a heating means with the heating set temp. of the solvent as a target while detecting the temp. of the heating means when the solvent for image formation attains the prescribed temp. lower than the heating set temp. CONSTITUTION:The water temp. rises up when a heater 81 is energized to start a heat generating operation. A controller 87 first controls the operation of the heater 81 in accordance with the lower temp. detected by the thermistor 95 at the time of the start of the temp. control. The heat generating set temp. of the heater 81 is set higher (for example, 55 deg.C) than the heating set temp. of the water at this time and the temp. detection is switched to a thermistor 85 when the water temp. detected by the thermistor 95 attains the prescribed temp., for example, 31 deg.C, slightly lower than the heating set temp. (35 deg.C). The heat generating operation of the heater 81 is then controlled so that the temp. of the heater 81 attains the heating set temp. (35 deg.C). The rapid and exact control of the solvent for image formation is executed in this way.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Industrial Field of Application] The present invention relates to photosensitive materials, image receiving materials, etc., which obtain images by performing processes such as development, transfer, and fixing in the presence of an image forming solvent. The present invention relates to a method for controlling the temperature of an image forming solvent in an image forming solvent coating apparatus for applying an image forming solvent to a recording material.

[Prior Art] A photosensitive material is exposed to reflected or transmitted light of light irradiated onto an original, or light obtained by photoelectrically converting an electric signal, and the image obtained on the photosensitive material is transferred to an image receiving material. Image forming apparatuses that obtain images are known.

To obtain an image on an image-receiving material, the image-wise exposed photosensitive material is heated and developed, and the photosensitive material is superimposed on the image-receiving material for transfer. Photosensitive materials and image-receiving materials are known in which development is accelerated by applying an image-forming solvent to at least one of the photosensitive material and the image-receiving material prior to heat development.

The configuration for applying an image forming solvent to a photosensitive material or image receiving material (hereinafter referred to as a recording material) includes a configuration in which a coating roller impregnated with an image forming solvent contacts the image forming surface of the recording material; There is a configuration in which a recording material is immersed in an image forming solvent. The recording material 4 coated with the image-forming solvent swells, and the image-forming layer on the recording material has appropriate moisture content, thereby facilitating the subsequent heat development process.

The image forming solvent applicator stores the image forming solvent in a sealed tank to prevent dust from getting into the image forming solvent, and when the image forming apparatus starts operating, the image forming solvent is transferred to the solvent applying part through a solvent flow pipe. It is preferable to supply the image-forming solvent by a pump or the like for coating, and it is preferable to collect the solvent into the tank after the operation is completed.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) The temperature of the image forming solvent applied to the recording material is controlled to a predetermined temperature in order to keep the amount of swelling of the recording material constant.

For this purpose, the image forming solvent is supplied to the application section at the start of operation of the image forming apparatus, and then heated to a predetermined temperature by the heating means, and thereafter the temperature of the image forming solvent is maintained constant. The operation of the heating means is controlled intermittently.

In order to control the temperature of the image forming solvent, for example, a temperature detecting means is provided by being immersed in the image forming solvent, and when the detected solvent temperature reaches a predetermined temperature, the operation of the C heating means is stopped; There is a method of starting the operation of the heating means when the solvent temperature falls below a predetermined temperature. However, in this method, even if the operation of the heating means is stopped when the solvent temperature reaches a predetermined temperature, the solvent temperature will rise above the predetermined temperature due to heating overshoot by the heating means.

Further, the heat capacity of the image forming solvent interposed between the temperature detecting means and the heating means influences the temperature of the image forming solvent.

Therefore, the operating hunting width of the heating means increases, making it difficult to maintain a constant temperature of the image forming solvent.

In addition, in order to control the temperature of the image forming solvent, a temperature detection means is provided in contact with the heating means, and when the heating means reaches a predetermined temperature, the operation of the heating means is stopped, and the temperature of the heating means is set to a predetermined temperature. There is a method of starting the operation of the heating means when the temperature drops below the temperature. However, when controlling the operation of the heating means by detecting the temperature of the heating means, even if the heating means reaches a predetermined temperature, the image forming solvent may not reach the predetermined temperature. Accurate temperature control cannot be performed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and to provide an image-forming solvent temperature control method that can quickly and accurately control the temperature of an image-forming solvent.

[Means and effects for solving the problem] The above object of the present invention is to provide an image forming solvent temperature control method in which an image forming solvent to be coated on a recording material is heated by a heating means, in which the solvent temperature is detected. While controlling the operation of the heating means to aim at a temperature higher than the heating set temperature of the solvent, and when the solvent temperature reaches a predetermined temperature lower than the heating set temperature, the heating set temperature of the solvent is targeted while detecting the temperature of the heating means. This is achieved by an image forming solvent temperature control method that controls the operation of a heating means.

That is, while detecting the temperature of the image forming solvent, the operation of the heating means is controlled with the aim of achieving a temperature (T2) higher than the heating set temperature (T1) of the solvent. When the solvent temperature reaches a predetermined temperature (T3) slightly lower than the heating set temperature (T1), the operation of the Calothermal means is controlled with the target heating set temperature (TI) of the solvent while detecting the temperature of the heating means. do. The heating set temperature (T1) of the image forming solvent and the predetermined temperature (T3) for switching temperature detection are set in consideration of overshoot of the image forming solvent, and the temperature of the solvent reaches the predetermined temperature. When the operation of the heating means is stopped at times, it is preferable that the temperature be set so as to approach the heating set temperature (T1) due to overshoot of the image forming solvent.

When controlling the operation of the heating means, the heating means is operated with the target temperature (T2) higher than the heating set temperature (T1) while detecting the temperature of the image forming solvent until the predetermined temperature (T3) of the image forming solvent is reached. When the image forming solvent reaches a predetermined temperature (T3), the operation of the heating means is controlled to reach the heating set temperature (TI) of the solvent while detecting the temperature of the heating means. The temperature of the solvent can be controlled quickly and accurately. Therefore, when the image forming apparatus starts operating, the image forming solvent reaches the heating set temperature in a short time, and the temperature of the image forming solvent can be accurately maintained at a constant temperature while the image forming apparatus is operating.

The recording material used in the present invention includes a photosensitive material and an image-receiving material that forms an image by overlapping the photosensitive material.

Such light-sensitive materials and image-receiving materials are those in which a latent image obtained by imagewise exposure is subjected to processing such as development, transfer, and fixation in the presence of an image-forming solvent to obtain a visible image. It can be anything.

For example, the photosensitive material includes a heat-developable photosensitive material. Regarding the heat-developable photosensitive material, U.S. Patent No. 4,50
No. 0,626, No. 4.483914, No. 4,43
No. 0,415, No. 4503.137, JP-A-59-
No. 1544/15, No. 59-180548, No. 59-
No. 165054, No. 61-88256, No. 60-12
No. 0356, No. 59-218443, No. 61-238
It is disclosed in No. 056 and the like.

The above-mentioned heat-developable photosensitive material basically consists of photosensitive silver halide, a binder, a dye-providing compound, a reducing agent (
In some cases, the dye-donating substance also serves as a reducing agent), and if necessary, organic silver salts and other additives can be contained.

The heat-developable photosensitive material may be one that gives a negative image or one that gives a positive image when exposed to light. Direct positive emulsion as a silver halide emulsion (there are two types: a method that uses a nucleating agent and a method that uses light fogging) to provide a positive image.
Either a method using a dye-donating compound or a method using a dye-donating compound that emits a positively diffusible dye image can be adopted.

Furthermore, the image forming solvent used in diffusion transfer includes, for example, water, and this water is not limited to so-called pure water, but includes water in the widely customary sense.

Alternatively, a mixed solvent of pure water and a low boiling point solvent such as methanol, DMF, acetone, or diisobutyl ketone may be used. Furthermore, a solution containing an image formation accelerator, an antifoggant, a development stopper, a hydrophilic heat solvent, etc. may also be used.

Further, the image forming solvent may be a developing solution, a bleaching solution, a bleach-fixing solution, a fixing solution, or a stabilizer, and the present invention can also be applied to an automatic developing device.

[Embodiment] Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail based on the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus 10. As shown in FIG.

A photosensitive material magazine 14 is disposed on the machine base 12 of the image forming apparatus 10, and a photosensitive material 16 is stored therein in a wound form. The photosensitive material 16 has a photosensitive silver halide, a binder, a dye-donating substance, and a reducing agent on a support.

A cutter 18 is arranged near the photosensitive material magazine 14, and is adapted to cut the photosensitive material 16 pulled out from the photosensitive material magazine 14 into a predetermined length.

The cut photosensitive material 16 is conveyed to an exposure section 20.

An exposure device 22 is provided directly above the exposure section 20.

The exposure device 22 includes main exposure light #24 as a main exposure means.
, a plurality of fixed mirrors 26, a first movable mirror 27A that moves together with the main exposure light tA24, a second movable mirror 27B whose relative position to the first movable mirror 27A is variable, and a lens unit 2 are arranged. Further, a mounting plate 30 is provided on the upper part of the machine stand 12 above these parts. The main exposure light source 24, the first movable mirror 27A, and the second movable mirror 27B are movable along the mounting plate 30, and the light emitted from the main exposure light source 24 is directly irradiated onto the original 32. It looks like this.

A branching section 70 and a reversing section 72 are arranged downstream of the exposure section 20 (on the left side in FIG. 1).

A flapper 74 is rotatably arranged at the branching portion 70 . This flapper 74 has the role of entering one of the bifurcated transport paths for the photosensitive material 16 and changing the transport path for the photosensitive material 16 . It should be noted that the photosensitive material 16 immediately after being pulled out from the photosensitive material magazine 14 is guided to the upper conveyance path in FIG.

The guided photosensitive material 16 is reversed at a reversing section 72 and conveyed to the exposure section 20 again. This causes the photosensitive surface of the photosensitive material to face upward in FIG.

Here, when exposing the photosensitive material 1': 116, the main exposure light source 24 and the first movable mirror 27A are moved while the second
The movable mirror 27B is moved at a predetermined speed to irradiate the emitted light along the original 32, and the reflected image light is applied to the photosensitive material 1 located in the exposure section 20 using the lens unit 2.
6 for scanning exposure. Note that the recording magnification on the photosensitive material 16 can be changed by changing the tracking speed of the second movable mirror 27B. In the case of this embodiment, the second movable mirror 27B has a speed of 1 of the speed of the main exposure light source 24 for equal magnification.
/2.

The photosensitive material 16 that has been scanned and exposed in the exposure section 20 is conveyed in an inverted state, and is coated with water as an image forming solvent by a water coating section 36 .

A squeeze roller 37 is arranged in the water application section 36 to remove excess water applied to the photosensitive material 16.

A thermal development transfer section 38 is arranged on the side of the squeeze roller 37. The thermal development transfer section 38 is composed of a heating drum 40 and an endless pressure belt 42.

The surface of the heating drum 40 is coated with Teflon. Furthermore, a halogen lamp 4 is provided inside the heating drum 40.
4 is placed, which causes the outer peripheral surface to reach approximately 90°C.
is heated to.

The endless crimping belt 42 has a structure in which a heat-resistant material such as aromatic polyamide fiber (for example, Kevlar or Nomex, both registered trademarks of DuPont) is coated with carbon-containing silicone rubber, and has electrical conductivity. have.

On the other hand, a receiving material magazine 46 is arranged below the photosensitive material magazine 14, and contains an image receiving material 48 wound in a roll. The image forming surface of the image receiving material 48 is coated with a dye fixing material having a mordant.

A canter 50 is also arranged near this receiving material magazine 46, and the image receiving material 4 pulled out from the receiving material magazine 46 is
8 to a predetermined length. The cut image receiving material 48 is conveyed to the thermal development transfer section 38.

A bonding roller 52 is arranged near the heating drum 40 on the upstream side of the endless pressure belt 42 in the material supply direction. The laminating roller 52 overlaps the transported photosensitive material 16 and the image-receiving material and presses them to the outer periphery of the heating drum 40, and guides them between the heating tram 40 and the endless pressure belt 42 in the overlapping state. The material is held and conveyed over approximately 2/3 of the circumference of the heating drum 40 to be thermally developed. As a result, the photosensitive material 16 emits a mobile dye, and at the same time, this dye is transferred to the dye fixing layer of the image receiving material 48 to obtain an image.

A peeling claw 56 is arranged below the heating l/ram 40 on the downstream side of the endless crimping heald 42 in the material supply direction. Also,
A peeling roller 58 is disposed between the peeling claw 56 and the endless crimping bell l-42.

! The tip of the separating claw 56 is normally in contact with the heating drum 40, and when the photosensitive material 16 is conveyed, it engages with the tip of the photosensitive material 16 and separates the photosensitive material 16 from the image receiving material 4. The peeling roller 58 presses the photosensitive material 16 onto the heating drum 40, wraps the peeled photosensitive material 16 around the peeling claw 56, and bends it downward. It is supposed to be done. The separated photosensitive material 16 is transferred to a heating drum 40
The photosensitive material is sent to a waste photosensitive material storage box 60 provided below.

On the other hand, a peeling roller 62 and a peeling pawl 64 are arranged near the heating drum 40 above the peeling pawl 56, and the image-receiving material 4 separates from the photosensitive material 16 and moves together with the heating drum.
8 from the outer periphery of the heating drum 40. The image receiving material 48 peeled off from the outer periphery of the heating drum 40 is collected on a tray 66.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the water application section 36. As shown in FIG.

The water application section 36 includes a guide F that accommodates water and guides the photosensitive material.
80, and a heater 8 watertightly fixed below the guide 80.
1, and water contained in a tank 82 is appropriately supplied onto the guide 80 from a supply port 83 provided in the heater 81. A thermistor 95 is provided in the water above the guide 8°, a thermistor 85 is provided on the bottom surface of the heater 81 to detect the temperature of the heater 81, and the heater 81 and thermistor 95.85 are electrically connected to the control device 87. ing. The control device 87 controls the operation of the heater 81 based on the water temperature and heater temperature detected by the thermistor 95°85.

The tank 82 includes a water suction pipe 84 whose lower end is submerged in water, a strainer 86 that removes coarse dust from the water, an activated carbon filter 88 that removes fine dust from the water, and sucks up the water in the tank 82 and supplies it to the guide 80. The first flow pipe 92a is connected to the heater 81 via a pump 90.

The tank 82 also includes a second tank 82 for collecting overflow water from the water storage portion 80a of the guide 80 into the tank 82.
It is connected to the guide 80 by a flow pipe 92b. The first flow pipe 92a and the second flow pipe 92b are connected by a bypass pipe 92c, and a valve 94 is connected to the bypass pipe 92c.
is provided.

The tank 82 contains more water than the amount of water that can be accommodated on the guide 80, and the amount of water that can be supplied from the tank 82 onto the guide 80 by the pump 90 is limited by the amount of water that can be supplied from the water surface to the water suction pipe 8.
4, that is, the amount up to the water level shown by the dotted line in the figure. The amount of water from the water surface in the tank 82 to the lower end of the water suction pipe 84 is greater than the amount of water stored on the guide 80, and when the water on the guide 80 decreases due to coating, evaporation, etc. Water is supplied above.

Here, since the lower end of the water suction pipe 84 is located apart from the bottom surface of the tank 82, even if dust settles in the tank 82, the dust will not be sucked up.

When the image forming apparatus 10 is powered on, water in the tank 82 is supplied onto the guide 80 by the pump 90 with the valve 94 blocking the flow path of the bypass pipe 92c. At this time, the water supplied onto the guide 80 is transferred to the strainer 86
And the dust is removed by filter 88.

After the pump 90 operates a predetermined number of times to supply water onto the guide 80 and stops, the image forming process is started. Water that overflows from above the guide 80 during water supply falls into the tank 82 through the second supply pipe 92b and is collected.

When the operation of the image forming apparatus is finished, the valve 94 is operated to open the flow path of the bypass pipe 92c, and the water contained on the guide 80 passes through the first flow pipe 92a, the bypass pipe 92c, and the second flow pipe 92b. and collected in the tank 82.

The heater 8I is energized and its heat generating operation is controlled by the control device 87 based on the water temperature and heater temperature detected by thermistors 95.85.

Next, a description will be given of control for setting the water temperature in the water application section to, for example, 35°C.

FIG. 3 is a graph showing the change in water temperature in the water application section 36 over time, and the graph shown by the solid line is the graph of this embodiment.

At the start of operation of the image forming apparatus, the water temperature is approximately equal to room temperature, and in this embodiment, the initial temperature of the water is 15"C.

When the heater 81 is energized and starts generating heat, the heater temperature rises, and as the heater 81 heats the water, the water temperature rises. The control device 87 first controls the heater 81 based on the water temperature detected by the thermistor 95 at the start of temperature control.
control the operation of

At this time, the heat generation set temperature of the heater 81 is set higher than the water heating set temperature, and heat is generated with a target of, for example, 55°C. Then, when the water temperature detected by the thermistor 95 reaches a predetermined temperature slightly lower than the heating set temperature (35° C.), for example, 31° C., temperature detection is switched to the thermistor 85 which detects the temperature of the heater 8. Next, the temperature of the heater 81 is detected by the thermistor 85, and the heating operation of the heater 81 is controlled so that the temperature of the heater 81 reaches the heating set temperature (35° C.). After the heater 81 reaches the heating set temperature (35°C), it repeatedly generates heat intermittently based on 35°C to heat the water and raise the water temperature.

Note that if the thermistor 95 that detects the water temperature fails, the detection will not switch to the thermistor 85 and the temperature of the heater 81 will continue to rise, so to avoid this, the heater 81 stops operating at 55°C. It is supposed to be done.

In this embodiment, the water temperature reached the heating set temperature (35° C.) 5 minutes after the heater 81 started generating heat.

The graph shown by the dotted line in FIG. 3 represents the change in water temperature in the comparative example with respect to the present embodiment.

Comparative Example 1 is a method in which only the heater temperature is detected by the thermistor 85 and the operation of the heater 81 is controlled. The heater 81 in Comparative Example 1 repeatedly generates heat intermittently even before the water temperature reaches the heating set temperature, so it takes more time to control the temperature than in this embodiment, and the time it takes for the water temperature to reach the heating set temperature is 10 minutes. Met.

Comparative Example 2 is a system in which only the water temperature is detected by a thermistor 95 and the operation of the heater 81 is controlled.

In Comparative Example 2, the water temperature overshoots, so
The hunting width becomes large, making it difficult to control the water temperature, and it takes a long time for the water temperature to stabilize.

The heating operation of the heater 81 is controlled as described above when the image forming apparatus 10 starts operating, and the heating operation of the heater 81 is similarly controlled when the guide 80 is replenished with water.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, when controlling the operation of the heating means, the operation of the heating means is controlled with the target temperature (T2) higher than the heating set temperature (T1) of the solvent while detecting the temperature of the image forming solvent; The image forming solvent is heated to the set temperature (T l )
When the lower predetermined temperature (T3) is reached, the temperature of the image forming solvent can be quickly and accurately adjusted by controlling the operation of the heating means to target the heating set temperature (TI) of the solvent while detecting the temperature of the heating means. can be controlled. Therefore, when the image forming apparatus starts operating, the image forming solvent reaches the heating set temperature in a short time, and the temperature of the image forming solvent can be accurately maintained at a constant temperature while the image forming apparatus is operating.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus; Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the water application section; FIG. 3 is a graph of changes in water temperature over time. Code in the figure: 10.-Image forming device I6-・Photosensitive material 21-Sub exposure light source 36 Water application part 46-Received material magazine 70...-branch 81- Heater 83 Supply port 85-Thermistor 87-・Control device 88-filter 92a-b-Flow tube 94-valve 90-pump 14.-Sensitive material magazine 20-Exposed part 22... Exposure device 3rd day--Thermal development transfer section 48- Receiving paper 80...-Guide 82-Tank 84-Water suction pipe 86- Strainer 92cm bypass pipe Figure 2

Claims (1)

[Claims] In an image forming solvent temperature control method in which an image forming solvent for coating a recording material is heated by a heating means, the operation of the heating means is controlled to a temperature higher than a heating set temperature of the solvent while detecting the solvent temperature. , an image forming solvent temperature control method that controls the operation of the heating means with the heating set temperature of the solvent as a target while detecting the temperature of the heating means when the solvent temperature reaches a predetermined temperature lower than the heating set temperature.