JPH0365968A - Information recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate and quicken a DRAW processing operation by exposing and additionally recording desired DRAW image information such as date and character on a recording medium corresponding to the specification screen area part for main image information. CONSTITUTION:A DRAW information recording means 21 is provided, which exposes and additionally records the desired DRAW image information such as date and character in a surface area part on the recording medium 15 corresponding to the specification screen area part for the main image information. By relatively changing the exposure of both of the main image information and the DRAW image information, the recording density of both image information synthetically recorded becomes different from each other corresponding to the change of the exposure, and the information is recorded in a state where the information can be distinguished from the other to be recognized. DRAW processing is roughly specified and operated without caring about being overlapped, so that the DRAW processing operation is facilitated and quickened.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to information recording devices such as microfilm printers, copying machines, and image display devices.

More specifically, when recording the main image information to be recorded,
A postscript function that allows image information to be combined and recorded in a form in which desired/optional postscript image information, such as date, characters, symbols, etc., is added to the main image information, if necessary. The present invention relates to an information recording device comprising:

(Prior Art) Information recording apparatuses themselves having the above-described write-once function are already known.

For example, image information (main image information) of a manuscript, microfilm, etc. is exposed onto an electrophotographic photoreceptor as a recording medium to form an electrostatic latent image corresponding to the image information, and the latent image is transferred to a developing device. The developed image is transferred to recording paper (transfer material).
Separately from the above-mentioned main image information exposure means, desired additional image information such as the date is input onto the photoreceptor by external input. The apparatus is provided with a means for exposing to light, and the above-mentioned additional image information exposing means exposes additional image information such as the date to a portion of the photoreceptor surface corresponding to the screen area specified by the area specifying means within the screen of the main image information. Then, an electrostatic latent image corresponding to the main image information and an electrostatic latent image corresponding to the additional image information are formed on the photoreceptor in a combined form.

The process of developing, transferring, and fixing the composite electrostatic latent image is then executed to obtain a composite recording material in which desired additional image information is added (additionally recorded) to the main image information on the same recording paper. be.

As the exposure means for the additional image information, for example, a light emitting element array assembly is used, and this is arranged so as to face the surface of the photoreceptor in parallel to the direction (main scanning direction) orthogonal to the surface movement direction (sub-scanning direction) of the photoreceptor. By controlling the individual light emitting elements of the light emitting element array assembly at point A (main scanning control) in accordance with the time-series electric digital pixel signals corresponding to the target additional image information inputted by the input means, the electronic bulletin board can be displayed. In this method, desired additional image information is selectively exposed (written) in main scanning and sub-scanning on a pre-specified area surface portion of the photoreceptor surface to form an electrostatic latent image corresponding to the information.

FIG. 11(A) shows negative image information 100 of a negative image type microfilm F as shown in FIG.
An example of a screen of a recorded material P which is outputted as an enlarged copy recorded material by adding, for example, required date information 102 as additional image information to an arbitrary screen area portion 103 specified in advance by a specifying means. It shows.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) In the conventional information recording device equipped with the above-described write-once function, when the write-once processing is performed, the recording portion 1 of the main image information is
01 and the recording portion 102 of additional image information in FIG. 11 (B
) and (C) in the same figure, when overlapped parts (image duplication) occur, the recorded content of the main image information and/or additional image information of the overlapped parts becomes confused and cannot be determined, resulting in a recording failure. Therefore, the recording position 103 of the additional image information specified in advance should be set to a location that does not overlap with the main image information, or a location where mutual information content can be determined even if overlap occurs. It was necessary to carefully identify the information and specify it accurately, which required time and effort to add the information.

In view of the above, the present invention provides the main image information recording portion 101.
The purpose of this is to facilitate and speed up the additional recording operation by making it possible to record the information in a format that allows the information to be distinguished from the other and the recording portion 102 of the additional image information to be recorded in a manner that allows the information to be recognized even if the information is recorded in an overlapping manner. That is.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The gist of the present invention is an information recording device equipped with a write-once function and characterized by the following configurations (1), (2), and (3).

(1) Main information recording means for exposing and recording the main image information to be recorded on a recording medium, and a screen for specifying any screen area within the main image information screen as an additional information recording section. an area specifying means, and recording desired additional image information such as date and characters as image information different from the main image information, corresponding to the specified screen area portion of the main image information by the screen area specifying means; additional information recording means for exposing and additionally recording within a surface area on a medium; an amount of exposure for the recording medium of the main image information by the main information recording means; and an amount of exposure for the recording medium of the additional image information by the additional information recording means. 1. An information recording device comprising: exposure amount variable means for relatively changing the exposure amount.

(2) The exposure amount variable means includes an exposure amount detection means for the main image information recording medium by the main information recording means, and the exposure amount detection data is used to detect the exposure amount for the recording medium for the additional image information recorded by the additional information recording means. An information recording device characterized by having an automatic control method for controlling exposure amount.

(3) An information recording apparatus characterized in that the exposure amount variable means is of a manual adjustment type.

(Function) In other words, by relatively changing the exposure amount of both the main image information and the additional image information on the recording medium, the recording density of both image information to be combined and recorded increases in response to the change in exposure amount. There are differences between the two.

As a result, even if the recorded portion 101 of the main image information and the recorded portion 102 of the additional image information are overlapped and recorded in a composite manner, both pieces of image information are recorded in a form that can be distinguished and recognized from each other due to the above-mentioned mutual recording density difference. Ru.

Therefore, in order to avoid confusing or illegible recording contents of one or the other or both due to the overlap between the main image information and the additional image information, as in the past, the additional recording location 103 is set in advance so as not to overlap with the main image information. It is no longer necessary to carefully identify and specify operations, and it is now sufficient to perform general specification operations without worrying about overlaps, which simplifies and speeds up the additional writing process and improves work efficiency.

Conversely, the main image information and additional image information are shown in Figure 11 (
It is also possible to perform additional writing in an overlapping format as shown in B) and (C), if necessary.

The exposure amount variable means for relatively changing the rain exposure amount of the main image information and the additional image information with respect to the recording medium is described in (2) above.
It is possible to use an automatic control method as shown in (3), or a manual adjustment method as shown in (3). An example will be specifically described.

(A) Overall schematic structure of the reader printer (FIGS. 1 to 3) FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the schematic structure of the reader printer of this embodiment.

1 is a halogen lamp for projection; 2 is a spherical mirror disposed behind the lamp as a reflecting shade; 3 is a reflecting mirror that reflects the light from the lamp 1 upward; 4 is a condensing lens;
These 1 to 4 constitute a lighting section unit.

F is a microfilm that serves as the main image information, and the desired image frame is searched for manually or automatically at the film illumination position of the illumination unit, held stationary, and illuminated from the back side of the film. .

The film-transmitted light of the illumination light passes through the projection lens 5 → the fixed first to
It reaches the transmission type projection screen via the fourth opposite mirror 6 to 9, and the image information of the target image frame is enlarged and projected onto the screen °10, so that the information content can be read f/P (
reader mode).

A leader section is constituted by a member extending from the projection lens 5 to the projection screen 10 described above. A indicates the optical path of the reader section.

Reference numerals 11 and 12 denote first and second one-scanning mirrors that are arranged at 90' from each other and are mounted and supported by a common movable carrier 50.
The movable carrier 50 supporting the vertical leader section optical path A between the second and third fixed reflection mirrors 7 and 8 of the leader section
The reciprocating movement (R-W) in the lateral direction is controlled by a drive means (not shown).

13 is a horizontally long slit plate disposed below the second scanning mirror 12, 13a is a slit of the slit plate, and 15 is a photosensitive drum as a recording medium of the printer mechanism disposed below the slit plate 13. As shown in FIG. 3, the printer mechanism in this example is a transfer type electrophotographic copying mechanism using an electrophotographic photosensitive drum 15 which is rotationally driven as a recording medium. This will be discussed later.

The movable carrier 50 supporting the first and second scanning mirrors 11 and 12 is always (reader mode) in such a way that the first scanning mirror 11 is withdrawn to the side from the optical path A of the reader section as shown by the solid line in FIG. It is waiting with the non-intervention evacuated state position as the home position.

When the copy start key (not shown) is pressed while the image information of the desired image frame of the microfilm F is being projected onto the projection screen 10 in an enlarged manner in the reader mode, the movable carrier 50 moves to the evacuation position shown in FIG. The first scanning mirror 11 is moved forward from the home position in the direction of the optical path A of the reader section and enters into the optical path A of the reader section, and as shown by the solid line in FIG. Optical path A
When the robot enters a predetermined position, that position is set as the scanning start position and further forward movement R is stopped.

The forward movement process R of the movable carrier 50, that is, the first and second scanning mirrors 11 and 12, from the retreat home position shown by the solid line in FIG. 2 to the scanning start position shown by the solid line in FIG. 3 is hereinafter referred to as ``pre-scan''.

Next, at a predetermined control timing, the movable carrier 50, which is at the scanning start position shown in FIG. 3, is moved backward W in the opposite direction to the forward movement R, and returns again to the retracted position shown in FIG. This backward movement process W will be referred to as "main scan" hereinafter.

In this main scanning process W, the image information light of the target image frame on the reader optical path A that is sequentially scanned by the first scanning mirror 11 passes from the second scanning mirror 12 to the rotating photosensitive drum 15 via the slit 13a of the slit plate 13. The light is incident on the drum surface and is imaged on the drum surface.

That is, slit scanning exposure of the main image information to the surface of the drum 15 is executed.

B is the first scan in the pre-scan process R and main scan process W.
From the scanning mirror 11 to the photoelectric conversion element array Sl-, which will be described later.
The optical path of the printer section leading to Sn and the photosensitive drum 15 surface is shown.

The printer mechanism section is constructed by disposing image forming process equipment around the photosensitive drum 15, as shown in FIG. That is, the photosensitive drum 15 is rotated around the spindle 15a in the clockwise direction of arrow E at a predetermined circumferential speed, and the outer surface of the photosensitive drum 15 is charged by the charger 16, and the book is placed on the charged surface. vinegar.

By receiving the image exposure by the scan W, electrostatic latent images of image information corresponding to the target image frames of the microfilm F are sequentially formed.

Next, the formed latent image is developed as a toner image by the developing device 17, and the toner image is transferred onto a transfer material P that is synchronously fed between the photosensitive drum 15 and the transfer charger 18 from a paper feeding section (not shown). The images are transferred sequentially.

The transfer material P to which the toner image has been transferred is separated from the surface of the photosensitive drum 15 and conveyed to a fixing device (not shown), where the image is fixed and output as a recorded material (copy). After the image has been transferred, the surface of the photosensitive drum 15 is removed by a cleaning device 19 to remove residual toner and other adhered contaminants, and then exposed to light from the front by an eraser lamp 20 to remove static electricity and to be physically and electrically cleaned. and is repeatedly subjected to image formation.

(B) Addition function ■Screen area designation means (Figs. 1, 4, and 5) In Figs.
37b) and a pair (37C and 37d) parallel to each other in the vertical direction, which are four parallel cursor wires for specifying screen areas.

Each of the pair of parallel cursor wires 37a and 37b in the left-right direction can be manually moved in parallel in the up-down direction TU. However, both 37a and 37b cannot move by climbing over each other. Each of the pair of vertically parallel wire rods 37c and 37d can be manually moved in parallel in the horizontal direction H-I. However, both 37c and 37d cannot move by climbing over each other.

The shadows of the cursor wires 37a-37b, 37c, and 37d are reflected on the back surface of the screen when image information is projected onto the projection screen 10, and are visually recognized together with the projected image information from the front side of the screen.

In the reader mode state in which image information is projected onto the projection screen 10, the four manual cursor wires 37
Move the a-37b, 37c, and 37d vertically and horizontally, respectively, to move the cursor to any surface area where you want to add desired additional image information, such as the date, within the image information screen projected on screen 10. Wire rods 37a and 37b.

It is surrounded by projection lines 37c and 37d.

Each of the cursor wires 37a and 37b was moved.

The movement stop positions of 37c and 37d are determined by position detection sensors (38a and 3 in the control Qll system block diagram in Figure 5).
8b, 38C and 38d), and these signals are input to the main control circuit (cpU) 39.

As a result, the surface area surrounded and operated by the four cursor wire projection lines in the screen of the main image information projected on the screen 10, that is, the four intersection points h-i-j-k (th The main control circuit 39 determines the coordinates of the rectangular area whose vertices are (Fig.
is calculated and becomes the specified state.

■Additional information recording means (Figs. 3, 6, and 7) In Fig. 3, reference numeral 21 denotes an additional information recording unit arranged opposite to the photosensitive drum 15 between the main image information exposure position on the photosensitive drum 15 and the developing device 17. This is an information exposure device.

The additional information exposure device 21 of this embodiment is constructed using a light emitting element array 22 such as an LED and an exposure lens 23. FIG. 6 is a plan view showing the arrangement of the device 21 with respect to the photosensitive drum 15, and FIG. 7 is a perspective view.

In the device of this embodiment, the light emitting element array 22 has a long length corresponding to the entire effective length area of the photosensitive drum 15 in the generatrix direction, and includes a plurality of light emitting elements such as LEDs arranged at predetermined intervals in the generatrix direction of the photosensitive drum 15.・X2...Jons are arranged in one or more rows.

And the angle of each single light emitting element, ・IL2...
An exposure lens 23 that focuses the emitted light of the Iln and exposes the surface of the photosensitive drum 15. ...23n as light emitting element ILI
. . . are arranged at predetermined intervals in one-to-one correspondence with ln to constitute a postscript information exposure device 21, and this device 21 is fixedly arranged to face the photosensitive drum 15 in parallel to the photosensitive drum 15. It is possible to record additional image information for the entire length region in the generatrix direction.

A slit plate 24 is arranged between each light emitting element and the exposure lens, and restricts the light emitted from each light emitting element from going around to the adjacent exposure lens.

Desired additional image information such as dates and characters is manually inputted to the main control circuit 39 by an appropriate input means 41 (FIG. 5) such as a keyboard, and is converted into a time-series electric digital pixel signal.

Then, rotational driving of the photosensitive tram 15 of the printer mechanism is started for copying, and the first and second scanning mirrors 11
・After the main scan (FIG. 3) of the main image information in step 12 is started, the main control circuit 39 calculates a predetermined writing value corresponding to the additional image information addition coordinate position specified and inputted thereto. From the start timing, the driver 42 of the light emitting element array 22 (FIG. 5) responds to the time-series electrical digital pixel signal corresponding to the manually added additional image information.
is controlled, and the individual light emitting elements u, -422, . is exposed through the optical path G (FIG. 7), and an electrostatic latent image of a character font corresponding to the manually added image information is formed. The writing position of this additional image information on the surface of the photosensitive drum 15 is such that the main image information exposed by the main scan with the first and second scanning mirrors is written on the surface of the photosensitive drum 15 after the specified processing is performed within that screen. This is within a surface area on the photosensitive tram 15 corresponding to the desired screen area.

(2) Exposure amount variable means As mentioned above, this is a means for relatively changing the exposure amount for the recording medium of the main image information and the additional image information by automatic control or manual adjustment.

First, an example of an automatic control type will be explained.

In FIG. 1, S, -Sn are photoelectric conversion element arrays as means for detecting the exposure amount of the image information of the film F, which is the main image information, to the photosensitive tram 15, and in this example, the upper surface of the slit plate 13. Slit holes 13 along the length
Optical sensors made of amorphous silicon or the like are arranged at predetermined intervals near point a.

The exposure amount detection by the exposure amount detection means requires the operation of specifying the additional recording area by the image area specifying means 37a, 37b, 37c, and 37d, and the manual operation of the required additional image information by the input means 41 (FIG. 5). When a copy start key (not shown) is pressed, the first and second scanning mirrors 11 and 11.
12 moves pre-scan to reach the scan start position (FIG. 2→FIG. 3) and is executed before the main scan W is started.

That is, in the process of the pre-scan movement R of the first and second scanning mirrors 11 and 12, the main image information light in the optical path A of the reader section is
- The second scanning mirrors 11 and 12 scan, and in synchronization with this, the photoelectric conversion element array S,
-asn scans, and this photoelectric conversion element array S1 to Sn
As shown in FIG. 8, the image information of the film F is sequentially scanned from the rear to the front. In other words, the light intensity of the projected image of the main image information is transmitted from the image area on the line segment 0-0 to the image area on the line segment Q-Q via the image area on the line segment pp to the photoelectric conversion element array S.
, -=Sn receives light, and its exposure amount is sequentially detected at points, and the received light data is input to the main control circuit 39 (FIG. 5).

The main control circuit 39 divides each point into two parts, a bright part (exposed part) and a dark part (non-exposed part), based on the manually input light reception data.

Based on the data, the current value applied to the light emitting element array 21 of the write-once information exposure device 21 is appropriately calculated and controlled. That is, even if the main image information recording section 101 and the additional image information recording section 102 overlap as shown in FIGS. 11(B) and 11(C), there will be no difference in image density between the two. The additional information exposure device 21 controls the amount of exposure of the additional image information to the photosensitive drum 15 with respect to the amount of exposure of the main image information to the photosensitive drum 15 so that a composite image is formed in a form in which both pieces of information can be recognized. is done.

The first and second scanning mirrors 1 after completing the pre-scanning movement R
1 and 12 then proceed to the main scan W and scan the photosensitive drum 1.
Exposure scanning of the main image information for 5 is executed, and exposure for the additional image information by the additional information exposure device 21 is performed on the portion of the surface of the photosensitive drum 15 corresponding to the specified area surface with the above-mentioned control at exposure amount. Then, the main image information record P (FIGS. 11A, 11B, and 11C) in which the required additional image information is added to the specified area is output.

FIGS. 9(A) and 9(B) show the light emitting elements for writing exposure of the additional information exposure device 21 depending on the light intensity of the main image information (the level of light received by the charge conversion element array S, ...Sn). n, . . . shows an example of a circuit for controlling the light amount of ILn.

In FIGS. 9(A) and (B), S+...Sn are individual elements of the photoelectric conversion element array, S+...An are individual light emitting elements of the light emitting element array 22 of the postscript information exposure device 21, R1,・R12--・R,n, RH・R22--・R
2n.

RIIH・Rj! , 2 ・Rj2n , Rf
, R32Rf, , Rfi is a resistor, C1 is a capacitor, SW, ・SW2 is a switch, op, ~op is an operational amplifier.

The circuit driving power source is omitted from the figure. charging conversion element S,
...The sum of the outputs of Sn (depending on the light intensity of the main image information) is the resistor R2, ~R2n, Rf, operational amplifier OP
Made with I. Note that R0 to R,n are idle current resistors.

The switch SWI is turned on only when the first and second scanning mirrors 11 and 12 perform the forward scan movement R, and the element S1...
The sum of the outputs of Sn is stored in a sample/hold circuit composed of a capacitor c1 and an operational amplifier OP2.

The first and second scanning mirrors 11 and 12 move during the main scan W
After the main image information starts to be exposed and scanned on the photosensitive drum 15, the switch SW2 is turned on at a predetermined control timing, and the light emitting elements IL1 to Itn are turned on by the signal from the sample and hold circuit. In the circuit of FIG. 9(A), elements 1 and zln are connected in series and lit. In the circuit shown in FIG. 3B, the elements ~j2n are connected in parallel and lit. , in this parallel type, each element statement, ~J2
The variation in the light amount of n can be adjusted by adjusting the resistor R angle and the R angle n.

Resistor Rs, ・Rf2. The amplifier OP3 serves as both an amplifier and a signal inverter, and determines the amount of light emitted by the elements S1, . Rs2 and Rf2 may be determined by experiment.

When the additional image information 102 is recorded in a blank area of the main image information as shown in FIG. 11(A), the amount image information 102
There is a method of controlling the average density of 1.102 to be the same, and a method of controlling the density of both image information 101102 to make them different so that both can be recognized (for example, the density of the additional image information 102 is set to be high). You can choose a method (to make it stand out).

When the additional image information 102 as shown in FIG. 11(B) is recorded in the image part of the main image information 101, the additional image information 1 is recorded in the area where the main image information and the additional image information overlap.
The density of 02 is controlled to be higher than the density of main image information 101 so that the recorded additional image information stands out.

When the additional image information 102 is recorded across the image part of the main image information 101 and the blank part as shown in FIG. 11(C), the main image information 102 is The maximum density of the image information is detected, and the density of the additional image information is controlled to be higher than the maximum density to make the additional image information stand out.

Additional information The element angle of the light emitting element array 22 of the exposure device 21,
... The current value applied to in can also be controlled by manual adjustment.

FIG. 10 shows element J2. . . . shows an example of a circuit when manually determining the amount of light emitted by un to an arbitrary level.

This circuit manually changes and controls the light intensity of the light emitting element angle, .
By changing the image density as desired, both image information may be recorded in an overlapping form (Fig. 11 (B).
(C)), which enables recognition of both.

Components common to those in the circuit shown in FIG. 9 are given the same reference numerals and will not be described again. By manually moving the variable resistor VR to vary the output of the resistor VR,
Change the light intensity.

■In order to improve the accuracy of the exposure detection data regarding the main image information, measures should be taken such as increasing the number of points divided when the photoelectric conversion element array S and Sn scans, and increasing the number of optical sensors. You can also do it.

Also, during the pre-scan R, the photoelectric conversion element arrays S, ~Sn
The light reception data regarding the exposure amount at each point of the main image information detected in FIG. 1 can also be used as development bias control information in AE (automatic density adjustment) and the like.

The present invention can be applied to microfilm reader printers for obtaining positive copy images from negative original images and positive copy images from positive original images, as in the apparatus of the embodiment, as well as plain paper copying machines and electrofax copying machines. It can also be applied to machines, display devices, etc.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, according to the present invention, even if the main image information and the additional image information overlap in an information recording device having an additional recording function, both image information can be recorded in a recognizable form.
Unlike the conventional method, it is not necessary to carefully identify and designate the additional writing location in advance to avoid duplication of both image information, and the additional writing processing operation is facilitated and speeded up. This eliminates recording failures and rerecording due to inability to distinguish information due to duplication of the main image information portion and the additional image information portion, and improves economic efficiency.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawing shows the configuration of a microfilm reader printer as an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the overall schematic structure of the beam-dublinter. FIG. 2 is a state diagram when the first and second scanning mirrors are in the retracted home position. FIG. 3 is a state diagram when the first and second scanning mirrors are at the scanning start position. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the configuration of the screen area specifying means. FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the control system. 6 and 7 are a plan view and a perspective view of a photosensitive drum and a write-once information exposure device disposed opposite thereto. FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of the scanning procedure for detecting the amount of light of the main image information using the photoelectric conversion element array. FIGS. 9(A), 9(B), and 10 are examples of automatic and manual circuits that control the exposure amount of light emitting elements, respectively. FIGS. 11(A), 11(B), and 11(C) are diagrams of examples of recording modes of the above image information and additional image information, respectively. F is a microfilm as the main image information, 5 is a projection lens, 10 is a projection screen, 11 and 12 are first and second scanning mirrors, S, -3n is a photoelectric conversion element array, 1
5 is a photosensitive drum, 21 is an additional information exposure device, 37a.3
7b, 37c, and 37d are cursor wires for screen area designation operation, and 39 is a main control circuit. ■ I 51 ~ Kiritachio diagram

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) Main information recording means for exposing and recording the main image information to be recorded on a recording medium, and a screen for specifying any screen area within the main image information screen as an additional information recording section. an area specifying means, and recording desired additional image information such as date and characters as image information different from the main image information, corresponding to the specified screen area portion of the main image information by the screen area specifying means; additional information recording means for exposing and additionally recording within a surface area on a medium; an amount of exposure for the recording medium of the main image information by the main information recording means; and an amount of exposure for the recording medium of the additional image information by the additional information recording means. 1. An information recording device comprising: exposure amount variable means for relatively changing the exposure amount. (2) The exposure amount variable means includes an exposure amount detection means for the main image information recording medium by the main information recording means, and the exposure amount detection data is used to detect the exposure amount for the recording medium for the additional image information recorded by the additional information recording means. 2. The information recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information recording apparatus uses an automatic control method to control the exposure amount. (3) The information recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the exposure amount variable means is of a manual adjustment type.