JPH0443351A - Solvent applying device for image formation - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent a solvent for image formation from leaking when recovered by opening a flow passage opening/closing means when a detecting means detects the presence of a recovery tank at the time of re-actuation. CONSTITUTION:A solvent for image formation which is discharged from a coating part 36 is reservoired temporarily in a temporary storage means 80a and when the tank detecting means detects the absence of the image forming solvent recovery tank 82, the flow rate opening/closing means such as solenoid valves 101a and 101 is closed to store the solvent for image formation temporarily in the storage means 80a. When the presence of the recovery tank 82 is detected, the flow passage opening/closing means is opened to collects the solvent for image formation in the recovery tank 82 from the temporary storage means 80a. Consequently, the image forming solvent in the coating part is dripped and collected only when the recovery tank 82 is loaded, but when not, the solvent for image formation is prevented from being dripped and discharged.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to recording materials such as photosensitive materials and image-receiving materials that obtain images by performing processing such as development, transfer, and fixing in the presence of an image-forming solvent. The present invention relates to an image forming solvent coating device for applying an image forming solvent.

[Conventional technology]

An image forming device that exposes a photosensitive material to reflected or transmitted light of the light irradiated on the original, or light converted from image information, and transfers the image obtained on the photosensitive material to an image-receiving material to obtain an image on the image-receiving material. It has been 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.

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

The image forming solvent applicator stores the image forming solvent in a sealed image forming solvent replenishment tank to prevent dust from getting into the image forming solvent, and when the image forming apparatus starts operating, the solvent distribution pipe is It is preferable that the image forming solvent is supplied to the solvent application section via a pump or the like to carry out the application.
Preferably, the solvent is recovered in a recovery tank after the operation is completed.

To easily recover the image forming solvent that was in the application area,
The application section is provided above the recovery tank, and the application section and the recovery tank are connected by a solvent flow pipe, and the solvent flow pipe is further provided with channel opening/closing means such as a valve, so that the recovery channel is closed when the image forming apparatus is finished operating. A configuration may be considered in which the image forming solvent is allowed to fall naturally by controlling the opening state.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, the image forming solvent recovery tank is not always loaded in the apparatus. For example, it is difficult to replace the recovery tank,
The recovery tank may not be loaded at a predetermined position within the image forming apparatus due to cleaning or the like, and the operation and termination operations may be performed without noticing this.

Even in the case where the recovery tank is not loaded at a predetermined position in the image forming apparatus, in the above-mentioned configuration, the solvent flow pipe for solvent recovery that connects the coating section and the solvent recovery tank is provided. The channel opening/closing means such as a valve is controlled to be open, and the image forming solvent falls into the place where the recovery tank should originally be located, contaminating the inside of the apparatus. Various electronic devices such as control circuits are built into the image forming apparatus, but since the image forming solvent is a conductor, exposure to droplets from the image forming apparatus is likely to cause insulation defects.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and in particular, to provide an image forming solvent applicator that prevents leakage when recovering an image forming solvent and prevents the inside of the image forming apparatus from being contaminated with the image forming solvent. It is about providing.

[Means and effects for solving the problem] The above object of the present invention is to supply an image forming solvent to be applied to a recording material from a replenishment tank to an image forming solvent application section, and from the application section, An image forming solvent coating device that appropriately collects a solvent in a removable recovery tank includes a detection means for detecting the presence or absence of the recovery tank, and a detection means provided in a solvent recovery path from the coating section to the recovery tank to form an image in the coating section. a temporary storage means capable of accommodating a solvent for use in the image formation; a channel opening/closing means provided in a solvent recovery path from the temporary storage means to the recovery tank; A forming solvent is supplied to the coating section, and when the operation is stopped, the image forming solvent in the coating section is recovered to the temporary storage means, and when the detection means detects that the recovery tank is present when the operation is restarted. This is achieved by an image-forming solvent coating apparatus including a control means for controlling the channel opening/closing means to open.

In other words, the image forming solvent discharged from the coating section is temporarily stored in the storage means, and when the image forming solvent recovery tank is detected as "absent" by the tank detection means such as a touch sensor, the electromagnetic valve etc. The flow channel opening/closing means is controlled to be in a closed state to maintain the state in which the image forming solvent is temporarily stored in the storage means. Further, when the tank detection means detects that the recovery tank is present, the channel opening/closing means is controlled to be in an open state to recover the image forming solvent from the temporary storage means to the recovery tank. Therefore, only when the collection tank is loaded, the image forming solvent in the coating section is dropped and collected, and when the collection tank is not loaded, the image forming solvent is prevented from falling or being discharged undesirably. It can be prevented.

The recovery tank in the present invention may also serve as a replenishment tank that stores an image forming solvent for replenishing the coating section.

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, US Pat. No. 4,50
No. 0,626, No. 4,483゜914, No. 4,4
No. 30,415, No. 4゜503.137, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 5
No. 9-154445, No. 59-180548, No. 59
-165054, 61-88256, 60-1
No. 20356, No. 59-218443, No. 61-23
It is disclosed in No. 8056 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. It goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described below, and that various modifications can be made based on the technical idea of the present invention.

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 transported to an exposure section 20.

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

The exposure device 22 includes a main exposure light source 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 source 24, and the first movable mirror 2.
A second movable mirror 27B and a lens unit 28 whose relative position relative to the mirror 7A is variable are arranged, and a mounting plate 30 is further provided on the upper part of the machine stand 12 above these parts. Main exposure light source 24, first moving mirror 27A, second
The movable mirror 27B is movable along the mounting plate 30, so that the light emitted from the main exposure light source 24 is directly irradiated onto the original 32.

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 16, the main exposure light source 24
While moving the first movable mirror 27A, the second movable mirror 27B is moved at a predetermined speed to irradiate the emitted light along the original 32, and the reflected image light is exposed using the lens unit 28. The photosensitive material 16 located in the section 20 is scanned and exposed. 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 this embodiment, the same magnification is the second
The speed of the moving mirror 27B is 1/2 that of the main exposure light source 24.

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 at 35.degree. C. 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 400 is coated with Teflon. Furthermore, a halogen lamp 4 is provided inside the heating drum 40.
4 is arranged, and the outer circumferential surface is heated to about 78°C.

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 cutter 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 cutter 50.
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 image-receiving material 48 and presses them to the outer periphery of the heating drum 40, and guides them between the heating drum 40 and the endless pressure belt 42 in the overlapping state. , the material is sandwiched and conveyed over approximately 2/3 of the circumference of the heating drum 40 to be thermally developed. Thereby, 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 drum 40 on the downstream side of the endless pressure belt 42 in the material supply direction. Further, a peeling roller 5 is provided between the peeling claw 56 and the endless pressure belt 42.
8 is placed.

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

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. Note that the present invention is applied in connection with the water applicator 36 and the tank 82, and first, the schematic structure of the water applicator 36 will be explained, and then its operation will be explained.

The water application section 36 includes a guide 80 that accommodates water and guides the photosensitive material, and a heater 8 that is 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 85 for detecting the temperature of water is provided on the upper surface of the heater 81 near the supply port, and the heater 81 and thermistor 85 are electrically connected to a control device (not shown). The control device then controls the operation of the heater 81 based on the water temperature detected by the thermistor 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 active return filter 88 that removes minute 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 touch sensor S shown in relation to the tank 82 corresponds to the detection means in the present invention, and detects the presence or absence of the tank 82 when the device is in operation and when the device is stopped. Note that the detection means is not limited to a switch having a mechanical structure, and any of an optical sensor, a magnetic sensor, etc. may be applied.

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 the bypass pipe 92c is provided with an auxiliary tank 100 and solenoid valves 101a and 101b that open and close in conjunction with the sensor S. It is being

Note that the capacity of the auxiliary tank 100 is set to a level that can accommodate all of the image forming solvent in the water storage section 80a.

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 accommodated on the guide 80, and when the water on the guide 80 decreases due to application, evaporation, etc., water flows from the tank 82 onto the guide 80. Water is provided.

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, that is, at the start of operation, the sensor S detects the presence or absence of the tank 82, and if it is determined that the tank is present, the solenoid valve 101b is activated.
is controlled to be closed, and the solenoid valve 101a is controlled to be opened. As a result, the flow path of the bypass pipe 92c is blocked. Water in the tank 82 is supplied onto the guide 80 by the pump 90 with the solenoid valve 101b blocking the flow path of the bypass pipe 92c. At this time, the water supplied onto the guide 80 is filtered by a strainer 86 and a filter 88 to remove dust.

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 image forming apparatus finishes operating, that is, when it stops operating,
By turning off the power of the device, if the magnetic valve 101
a is in a closed state, and solenoid valve 101b is in an open state. As a result, the image forming solvent in the water storage portion 80a flows into the auxiliary tank 100 from the supply port 83 via the solenoid valve 101b. However, since the solenoid valve 101a is controlled to be closed, water does not flow into the tank 82 at this point. In other words, the water on the guide 80 is temporarily pooled in the auxiliary tank 100.

Next, when the power is turned on again, the solenoid valve 101a is opened, the solenoid valve 101b is closed, and the auxiliary tank 1
The image forming solvent in 00 is caused to flow into the tank 82, and at this time, the following notable operations are performed.

That is, when the power is turned on, if the sensor S detects that the tank 82 is "absent", the solenoid valve 101a is controlled to remain closed, and as a result, the auxiliary tank 100 is transferred to the tank 82 for image formation. The inflow of the solvent is prevented, in other words, the discharge is prevented.

Further, the pump 90 stops operating, displays "No water replenishment tank" on a display board (not shown), and generates a warning sound if necessary. Therefore, the image forming solvent in the auxiliary tank 100 is not undesirably discharged and the inside of the apparatus is not contaminated, and the user can recognize that there is no tank and can install the tank 82.

In addition, when the power is turned on, if the switch SW detects that there is a tank, the solenoid valve 1
01a is controlled to be in the open state, water in the auxiliary tank 100 is collected into the tank 82, and then the solenoid valve 101b is controlled to be in the closed state, and the image forming solvent is supplied by the pump 90.

In addition, various aspects can be considered regarding the structure of the auxiliary tank 100 explained above. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, when the electromagnetic valve 101a is controlled to be open, the image forming solvent in the auxiliary tank 101a may be easily discharged by its own weight.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 4, the entire tank 100 may be provided at a position lower than the bypass pipe 92c, and the image forming solvent in the tank 100 may be discharged by a pump 110 provided instead of the electromagnetic valve. good.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above, and various modifications are possible.

For example, instead of the auxiliary tank 100, the bypass pipe 92c
may be configured to store water in the application section 36. In this case, the bypass pipe 92c between the solenoid valves 101a and 101b
It is necessary to have a volume large enough to accommodate the water in the application section 36, and for example, the pipe diameter is made large or the pipe length is made long. Bypass pipe 9 between solenoid valves 101a and 101b
When forming the bypass pipe 2c to be long, the bypass pipe 92c is not limited to a straight shape, but may have a meandering shape in a horizontal plane.

Further, the downstream solenoid valve 101a may be provided at a lower position than the upstream solenoid valve 101b, and the bypass pipe 92c may be formed in a straight line or meandering shape to form a long flow path between the solenoid valves 101a101b.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, when recovering the image forming solvent in the application section to the image forming solvent recovery tank, the image forming solvent is temporarily stored in the temporary storage means provided in the recovery channel, and the detection means After detecting the presence of the recovery tank, the image forming solvent temporarily stored in the storage means is recovered to the recovery tank. Therefore, if the recovery tank is not loaded in the correct position, the imaging solvent will not be undesirably discharged into the apparatus.
It is possible to prevent the inside of the apparatus from being contaminated by the image forming solvent.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of the image forming apparatus, Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of the water application section, Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of an example of the auxiliary tank, and Fig. 4 is another example of the auxiliary tank. It is a schematic block diagram. Symbols in the figure: 1 - Image forming device 16 - Photosensitive material 21 - Sub-exposure light source 36 - Water application section 46 - Receiving material magazine 7 - Branch section 81 - Heater 83 - Supply port 85 - Thermistor 88 - Filter 92a - b - Flow pipe 100 - Auxiliary tank 101a, 10 l b - Solenoid valve Sensitive material magazine - Exposure section Exposure device - Thermal development transfer section - Receiving paper guide tank Water suction pipe strainer - Pump bypass pipe 2c Pump Fig. 2

Claims (1)

[Claims] An image forming solvent to be applied to the recording material is supplied from a replenishment tank to an image forming solvent application section, and from the application section,
An image forming solvent coating device that appropriately collects a solvent in a removable recovery tank includes a detection means for detecting the presence or absence of the recovery tank, and a detection means provided in a solvent recovery path from the coating section to the recovery tank to form an image in the coating section. a temporary storage means capable of accommodating a solvent for use in the image formation; a channel opening/closing means provided in a solvent recovery path from the temporary storage means to the recovery tank; A forming solvent is supplied to the coating section, and when the operation is stopped, the image forming solvent in the coating section is recovered to the temporary storage means, and when the detection means detects that the recovery tank is present when the operation is restarted. and a control means for controlling the channel opening/closing means to open.