JPH0369972A - Color image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To increase an image recording speed by energy-converting the light of color image information emitted from a light emitting means to secondary electron, which is made high energy, and allowing the surface of a phosphor element to emit the light in a state where the diameter of an electron beam is converged. CONSTITUTION:The device is provided with plural kinds of light emitting means which emit the light based on the color image information, a photoelectric conversion means 410 which converts the light to photoelectron, a photoelectric multiplier means 41b which emits the secondary electron with the electronic energy of the converted photoelectron and multiplies the secondary electron, a secondary electron accelerating means which accelerates the multiplied secondary electron, and a fluorescent means 42 obtained by regularly arranging plural kinds of phosphor cells which emits wavelength light coincident with each photosensitive wavelength area of a photosensitive recording medium by the incidence of the secondary electron on a fluorescent surface. The wavelength light emitted from the fluorescent means 42 is a allowed to irradiate the surface 5 of the photosensitive recording medium. Thus, a color image is recorded with high output on the surface 5 of the photosensitive recording medium having plural inherent wavelength areas in order to develop the color image.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a color image forming apparatus that records color image information on the surface of a photosensitive recording medium having a plurality of photosensitive wavelength ranges for producing a color image.

[Prior Art and Problems to be Solved] In recent years, various color image forming apparatuses have been known that record color image information on the surface of a photosensitive recording medium compatible with color images. In particular, with the progress of digitalization of image information, devices using semiconductor lasers, light emitting diodes (LEDs), and the like as information light have also been put into practical use.

By the way, currently the semiconductor laser is 780 to 830
It can only be put to practical use in a specific wavelength range, such as 1550 nm (CD players, laser printers, etc.) or 1550 nm (general communications, etc.). In addition, the practical wavelength range of LED is 650
The wavelength range that can be used practically is also limited, such as nm, 750 nm, or 840 nm. Therefore, in order to record color image information on a photosensitive recording medium using information light in these wavelength ranges, it is necessary to develop materials for the recording medium that have photosensitivity suitable for these wavelength ranges.

However, for example, some photosensitive recording media such as silver salt photographic films and photosensitive microcapsule sheets (see JP-A-58-88739, U.S. Pat. No. 43,99209, etc.) contain the semiconductor lasers, etc. There are some that do not match the photosensitivity. For example, in the case of a silver halide photographic film, its spectral sensitivity is in the short wavelength region of 400 to 700 nm, so the above-mentioned semiconductor laser etc. cannot be used as it is. There are also special silver halide photographic films that have sensitivity in the infrared region (such as those made by Kodak), but these films have lower sensitivity in the infrared region than in the shorter wavelength region, so they cannot be exposed to light. A large amount of light is required, resulting in high energy costs. Furthermore, the photosensitive microcapsule sheet described above also has spectral sensitivity in the short wavelength range of 400 to 700 nm, so a semiconductor laser cannot be used. Even if semiconductor lasers were to be developed that could be used in photosensitive recording media having spectral sensitivity in these specific wavelength regions, there were problems such as high energy costs due to the short wavelengths.

On the other hand, there is also a device that records images by using a cathode ray tube (CRT) as information light.
By coating the RT surface with a fluorescent substance that emits light of a wavelength that matches the spectral sensitivity of the photosensitive recording medium, matching of the information light and the sensitive wavelength distribution of the photosensitive recording medium can be easily achieved. However, according to this method, when the electron beam output is increased, it is difficult to narrow down the beam spot diameter, and therefore it is difficult to obtain high brightness, and there are quality problems such as unclear printing outlines.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and is a color image capable of recording color images at high output on a photosensitive recording medium surface having a plurality of unique wavelength ranges for producing color images. A forming device is provided.

As a result, color image quality can be maintained and improved, and at the same time, energy costs for recording information can be reduced and the size of the apparatus can be reduced.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve this object, the color image forming apparatus of the present invention exposes the surface of a photosensitive recording medium having a plurality of sensitive wavelength ranges to light based on color image information in order to form a color image. a plurality of types of light emitting means that emit light based on color image information corresponding to each of the photosensitive wavelength ranges, a photoelectric conversion means that converts each of the light emitted by the six light emitting means into photoelectrons; Secondary electrons are emitted by the electronic energy of the photoelectrons converted by the photoelectric conversion means, and the secondary electrons are
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 secondary electron accelerating means corresponding to the various light emitting means. a fluorescent means in which a plurality of types of fluorescent cells are regularly arranged on a fluorescent surface, emitting light of wavelengths matching the respective sensitive wavelength ranges of the photosensitive recording medium upon incidence of secondary electrons accelerated by the means; and is configured such that the wavelength light emitted by the fluorescent means is irradiated onto the surface of the photosensitive recording medium.

[Function] According to the color image forming apparatus of the present invention having the above configuration, light is emitted by the corresponding types of light emitting means based on the color image information of each color component obtained by color separating the color original image. The energy of each light is converted into photoelectrons by a photoelectric conversion means, and then secondary electrons are emitted and the number of secondary electrons is multiplied by a photoelectron multiplication means, and then the electron speed of the secondary electrons is increased by a photoelectron acceleration means. is accelerated and incident on the surface of the fluorescent element, which is the fluorescent means. On the surface of the fluorescent element, a plurality of types of fluorescent substances having spectral sensitivity characteristics corresponding to each of the sensitive wavelength ranges of the photosensitive recording medium,
For example, a fluorescent substance that emits red light for red image information, a fluorescent substance that emits green light for green image information, and a fluorescent substance that emits blue light for blue image information. When the fluorescent elements emit light due to the incident energy of the photoelectrons, the light is irradiated onto the surface of the photosensitive recording medium, and image information is exposed and recorded on the surface of the medium.

[Example code] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 shows the overall configuration of this device. This device uses a light-emitting element IR1IG, such as a semiconductor laser, that emits light based on red image information, green image information, and blue image information obtained by color-separating a full-color original image; and IB are provided, and the light emitted from the six light emitting elements IR1IG and IB is deflected within the range of angle θ by an optical deflection system 2 such as a polycon mirror or carbano mirror, and the light is transmitted through an imaging optical system 3. The light is input to the photoelectric conversion and amplification system 4. The light emitted by the photoelectric conversion and amplification system 4 is configured to be scanned in the width direction of the photosensitive recording medium 5 that is conveyed in a fixed direction.

The photosensitive recording medium 5 used here includes photosensitive microcapsules encapsulating a cyan dye precursor, photosensitive microcapsules encapsulating a magenta dye precursor, and photosensitive microcapsules encapsulating a yellow dye precursor. It is assumed that the coating is uniformly distributed and applied to the surface of the base sheet.

In addition, the photosensitive wavelength is 650nm for cyan capsule, 550nm for magenta capsule, and 450nm for yellow capsule.
Let it be m.

As shown in FIG. 1, the structure of the photoelectric conversion amplification system 4 includes, in order from the light incident side, a photoelectric conversion multiplier element 41, a fluorescent plate 42,
and optical lenses 43 are arranged in parallel with a small distance from each other. The photoelectric conversion multiplier 41 has a photoelectric converter 41a on the light incident side that converts the energy of the incident light into photoelectrons, and a photoelectric converter 41a on the light output side that converts the photoelectrons obtained by the photoelectric converter 41a into secondary electrons. A photomultiplier 41b that converts and multiplies the number of secondary electrons is arranged.

The photoelectric conversion substance used in the photoelectric conversion body 41a is, for example, sb--Na-Ca when the light emitted from the light-emitting elements IR, IG, and IB is in the visible light range, and Ag- when the light is in the near-infrared range. Examples include 0-Cs. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the photoelectron multiplier 41b is constructed by forming a secondary electron emitting material layer 103a on the inner wall surface of each channel of an aggregate 101 of fine through holes 10B called channels. . The photoelectrons guided into each channel collide with the secondary electron emitting material layer 103a to emit secondary electrons, and the secondary electrons further collide with the secondary electron emitting material layer 103a to emit secondary electrons. The number of secondary electrons multiplies. The incident surface side (photoelectric converter 41a side) of the photoelectric conversion multiplier element 41 is connected to a variable voltage power source 44, while the output surface side (photomultiplier 41b side) is grounded, and the variable voltage power source 44
By changing the applied voltage value, the number of secondary electrons emitted from the photoelectric conversion/multiplier element 41 can be multiplied by several hundred thousand to several million times. FIG. 3 shows typical characteristics of the secondary electron multiplication factor showing the relationship between the applied voltage and the number of secondary electrons (gain). This photoelectric conversion multiplier element 41 is generally referred to as a "microchannel plate."

On the other hand, in the fluorescent plate 42, a fluorescent substance is coated on the surface of a transparent substrate 42a (secondary electron incident surface side). The fluorescent plate 4
Three types of fluorescent substances are used whose emission wavelengths match the respective wavelengths of the cyan capsule, magenta capsule, and yellow capsule described above of the photosensitive recording medium 5. That is, the cyan capsule emits red light (coloring wavelength: 650 nm), and the magenta capsule emits green light (coloring wavelength: 5 nm).
A fluorescent material that emits blue light (coloring wavelength: 450 nm) and a fluorescent material that emits blue light (coloring wavelength: 450 nm) are used, respectively. The arrangement of each fluorescent substance (fluorescent cell) on the surface of the fluorescent element is as shown in FIG. They are arranged in a row. In this case, each light emitting element IR, IG, IB has one exposure spot.
Each channel aggregate 103 corresponds to one cell of each phosphor. Furthermore, each light emitting element IR, IC,
As shown in FIG. 5, the IB exposure spots correspond to the R phosphor cell, G phosphor cell, and B phosphor cell on the phosphor element surface, respectively. Incidentally, the fluorescent plate 42 is connected to a variable voltage power source 4.
5 is connected, and the luminance of the phosphor is controlled by adjusting the power supply voltage.

Further, as the optical lens 43, a short-focus rod lens array (trade name: "Selfoc lens") or the like is used whose focal point is exactly on the surface of the photosensitive recording medium 5.

In the color image forming apparatus configured in this way,
Image information light emitted from each light emitting element IR, IG, IB based on each color image information of red color, green color, and blue color obtained by color separation of a color original image is transmitted to an optical deflection system 2 and image formation. When the light enters the photoelectric conversion multiplication system 4 via the optical system 3, the light first passes through the photoelectric conversion multiplication element 4.
It is converted into photoelectrons by one photoelectric converter 41a. Then, the number of electrons (secondary electron number) of the photoelectrons is multiplied by the photoelectron multiplier 41b to hundreds of thousands to millions of times as described above, and the photoelectrons are irradiated onto predetermined phosphor cells of the phosphor plate 42. be done. The light emitted from the phosphor cell irradiated with secondary electrons is irradiated onto a predetermined position on the surface of the photosensitive recording medium 5 via the optical lens 43. In this case, the light emitting elements IR, IG, I
B simultaneously emits red, green, and blue color information to cause each R-G-B phosphor cell to emit light at the same time,
- Scanning exposure for three lines is performed at a time. Color image information is recorded by exposing a desired light irradiation position on the surface of the recording medium.

This photosensitive recording medium is used to develop a visible color image on the surface of the developing paper by overlaying it with a desired developing paper and developing it under pressure.

In this embodiment, a semiconductor laser is used as a light emitting element for emitting image information light, but the invention is of course not limited to this; for example, an LED array, an EL array, etc. may be used.

It goes without saying that the photosensitive recording medium can also be applied to various types of color-compatible recording media, such as silver salt photographic films, in addition to the photosensitive capsule sheet described above.

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the detailed description above, the 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. Since the photo element surface emits light with a narrowed electron beam diameter, and the wavelength of the emitted light matches the photosensitivity of each chromogen in the photosensitive recording medium, it is possible to print records with clear outlines. achieved. Furthermore, since color image information of a plurality of colors can be recorded by exposure simultaneously, the image recording speed can be increased. 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 configuration diagram of an optical amplification system which is the main part of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an optical amplification system to which the present invention is applied. FIG. 3 is a gain characteristic diagram of a microchannel plate, FIG. 4 is a schematic explanatory diagram showing the correspondence between a microchannel plate and a phosphor cell, and FIG. FIG. 2 is a schematic explanatory diagram showing the correspondence between each light emitting element IR, IG, and IB and each phosphor cell. In the figure, IR, IG, and iB are light emitting elements, 4 is a light conversion and amplification system, 5 is a photosensitive recording medium, 41 is a charge conversion multiplier, and 41a
is a photoelectric converter, 41b is a photomultiplier, 42 is a fluorescent plate,
43 is an optical lens.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A color image forming apparatus that exposes a surface of a photosensitive recording medium having a plurality of photosensitive wavelength ranges to light based on color image information in order to produce a color image, wherein a color image corresponding to each of the photosensitive wavelength ranges is provided. A plurality of types of light emitting means that emit light based on image information, a photoelectric conversion means that converts the light emitted by each of the light emitting means into photoelectrons, and two types of photoelectrons converted by the photoelectric conversion means.
A photoelectron multiplier that emits secondary electrons and multiplies the number of secondary electrons, a secondary electron accelerator that accelerates the secondary electrons multiplied by the photoelectron multiplier, and the various light emitting means. Correspondingly, 2 accelerated by the secondary electron accelerating means
a fluorescent means in which a plurality of types of phosphor cells are regularly arranged on a phosphor surface and emit light having a wavelength corresponding to each of the photosensitive wavelength ranges of the photosensitive recording medium upon incidence of electrons; A color image forming apparatus characterized in that the color image forming apparatus is configured such that the wavelength light emitted by the means is irradiated onto the surface of the photosensitive recording medium. 2. The photosensitive recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the photosensitive recording medium expresses a full-color image, and the fluorescent means comprises phosphor cells that emit red light, green light, and blue light. Color image forming device. 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 stripes on the fluorescent surface. 4. 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: