JPH0466931A - image recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

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

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus for forming an image on a photosensitive recording medium.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, in this type of image recording device (for example, a color copying machine), when copying an original, the original is irradiated with light and reflected, and the reflected light is used to form an image. That is, first, a latent image corresponding to the original image is formed on a photosensitive recording medium (for example, photosensitive paper) by light reflected from the original, and then the photosensitive surface on which the latent image is formed and the surface of the developer paper coated with the color developer material. The image was transferred to color developing paper by applying pressure with both sides facing each other, and then heated to promote color development to form an image [Problem to be solved by the invention] However, because the optimal exposure conditions differ depending on the density characteristics of the original, such as average density and contrast height, there is a problem that the desired image quality cannot be obtained depending on the density characteristics of the original. If the amount of reflected light is large and the overall color is pale (for example, white), the shading of the output image will not change much even if the amount of reflected light changes to a certain extent.As a result, the shading of the output image will not be clear. There is a problem that the entire document becomes pale (white).This problem also occurs when the entire document is dark (for example, black).The present invention aims to solve the above-mentioned problems. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image recording apparatus that can obtain a desired image quality regardless of the density characteristics of a document.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve this object, the image recording device of the present invention has the following features:
As illustrated in FIG. 1, based on the exposure means M1 for forming a latent image corresponding to the image on the photosensitive surface of the photosensitive paper and the coloring characteristics of the photosensitive paper,
an exposure control means M2 for controlling the exposure light amount and the color balance of the exposure of the exposure means M], with the photosensitive surface on which the latent image is formed facing the developer material coated surface of the developer paper; In an image recording device that forms an image by transferring an image to a developing paper under pressure and further heating it to promote color development, based on the reflected light of the light irradiated onto the original image from the exposure means M], an image reading means M3 for reading the original image; a density characteristic calculating means M4 for calculating the density characteristics of the original image based on the image data read by the image reading means M3; Based on the determined density characteristics of the original image, the exposure control means M
The gist of the present invention is an image recording apparatus characterized by comprising: a density characteristic control means M5 for controlling the drive of the image forming apparatus 2 and adjusting the amount of exposure light.

[Function] In the image recording apparatus of the present invention having the above configuration, the exposure means M1 forms a latent image corresponding to the image on the photosensitive surface of the photosensitive paper, and the exposure control means M2 forms a latent image based on the coloring characteristics of the photosensitive paper. to control the exposure light amount and exposure color balance of the exposure means M1.

Then, the photosensitive surface on which the latent image is formed and the surface coated with the color developer material of the color developer paper face each other and the image is transferred to the color developer paper by applying pressure, and then the image is transferred by heating to promote color development. Form.

The image reading means M31 reads the original image based on the reflected light of the light irradiated onto the original image from the exposure means M1, and then the density characteristic calculation means M4 converts the image data read by the image reading means M3 into Based on this, the density characteristics of the original image are determined. Then, concentration characteristic control means M
S controls the exposure control means M2 to adjust the amount of exposure light based on the density characteristics of the original image determined by the density characteristic calculation means M4.

In other words, as shown in Fig. 2, the present invention focuses on the relationship between the amount of reflected light indicating the brightness and darkness of the original and the density of the output image.First, the density characteristics of the original, such as the average density and contrast height, are determined. A good output image is formed by detecting the density characteristics and controlling the amount of exposure light based on this density characteristic.

For example, if the document is entirely white, the amount of reflected light will increase, but if the amount of reflected light increases, the density of the output image will become thinner (white in this case), and the entire image will become too white. Therefore, by reducing the amount of exposure light, the range used by the graph in Figure 2 is changed from region A to region B, where the amount of reflected light corresponds to the density of the output image, and as a result, the image becomes excessively white. This prevents this from occurring and forms a good output image.

[Example] Hereinafter, an example embodying the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

In the photosensitive pressure sensitive copying machine of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, photosensitive paper consisting of a light sensitive pressure sensitive paper (hereinafter referred to as microcapsule paper) 2 and a color developing paper 3 is used.

Note that microcapsules are coated on the surface of the support of the microcapsule paper 2 used in this example.
The microcapsules contain a dye precursor that reacts with a color developer, which will be described later. A color developer is coated on the surface of the support of the color developer paper 3 and develops color by reacting with a dye precursor.
It is stated in the specification etc. of the issue, and will be omitted here.

First, a transparent original platen glass 4 and an opaque original platen cover 5 are arranged on the upper part of the copying machine 1. A desired original 6 is placed face down on the original platen glass 4, and the original platen cover 5 is placed. Closed.

There is a C yoke below the original platen glass 4 at the top of the copying machine.
A light source section 7 equipped with a halogen lamp 7a, a reflector 7b, a reflective mirror 7C, etc. is provided. It is arranged so that it can be moved.
Light is emitted from the light source section 7 in a line perpendicular to the moving direction toward the document table glass 4. The emitted light passes through the document table glass 4 and is reflected downward by the document 6.

A mirror part 9 including reflective mirrors 9a and 9b is movably attached to the shaft 8 separately from the light source part 7, and collects the light reflected from the document 6 (reflecting mirrors 7c, 9a,
9b in order to be parallel to the moving direction of the reflective tongue light source section 7.

Further, a projection lens] is fixed below the document platen glass 4, and a filter 12 for adjusting the color tone of the copied image is disposed adjacent to the projection lens. Then, the light reflected by the reflection mirror 9b is transmitted to the projection lens 1.
] After being incident on the projection lens ]1, the light is reflected by the reflecting mirror groups 13a and 13b. The filter 12 includes three filters 12a, 12b, 12c (fourth filter) of yellow (Y), magenta (M), and cyan (C).
), and the respective filters 12 are moved up and down by the pulse motor 10 (FIG. 4) and combined, so that red (R) and green (G
) and blue (B) are corrected.

An exposure table 14 for exposing the microcapsule paper 2 is provided to the right of the reflective mirror 13b.

A reflecting mirror 15 that rotates to switch the optical path is attached between the reflecting mirror 13b and the exposure table 4. Below the reflecting mirror 5, a line CCD 16 for reading the image is arranged. ing. And the exposure table 14
The reflected light is guided to the microcapsule paper 2 arranged along the original image 6, and an original image is formed on the document 6.

In addition, the reflecting mirrors 13a and 13b are normally fixed, but when enlarging or reducing the size of the latent image formed on the microcapsule paper 2, the optical path length is changed according to a change in the projection magnification m set. Therefore, they are configured to be able to move together in the axial direction of the shaft 8.

On the other hand, a removable cartridge 20 is disposed in the center of the copying machine 1.A cartridge shaft 21 (in which a long microcapsule paper 2 is housed in a two-wound state) is disposed in the center of the copying machine 1.

A feed roller 22, a conveyance roller 23, and a dancer roller 24 for tension adjustment are arranged below the exposure table 4. Furthermore, on the right side of the dancer roller 24, a large diameter pressure roller 25a, a small A pressure developing device 25 including a pressure roller 25b and a backup roller 25c is provided.

On the right side of this pressure developing device 25, there is a separation roller 26 for separating the heavily adhered microcapsule paper 2 and color developing paper 3.
is arranged between the separation roller 26 and the cartridge 2.
A winding shaft 27 for fitting and holding the microcapsule paper 2 is disposed between the microcapsule paper 2 and the microcapsule paper 2 . The microcapsule paper 2 that has come out from the top of the cartridge 20 is guided by a feed roller 22, passes above the exposure table 14, passes a dancer roller 24 and a pressure developing device 25, and is further passed by a separation roller. 26 and then wound onto a winding shaft 27. Note that the unexposed microcapsule paper 2 after leaving the cartridge 20 is maintained in an unexposed state by the light shielding cover.

Further, below the pressure developing device 25 (secondly, a paper feed cassette 29 containing the color developing paper 3 is installed).

A suction cup-type paper feeding mechanism 30 for loading paper using negative pressure suction is disposed above the paper feeding cassette 29, and the developing paper 3 is taken out one by one by the paper feeding mechanism 30.

Feed rollers 31a, 31b, 31c and a feed guide 31d are disposed between the paper feed mechanism 30 and the pressure developing device 25. The color developing paper 3 is conveyed and carried into the pressure developing device 25 .

Further, on the right side of the pressure developing device 25, a heat fixing device 32 is provided.This heat fixing device 32 provides a heat roller 32a, a paper ejection roller 32b, and a conveyor belt 32c. On the right side of the fixing device 32, a paper discharge tray 33 is arranged to store the color developing paper 3 on which an image has been formed. Incidentally, above the heat fixing device 32, a deodorizing filter 35 and a deodorizing fan 36 for guiding the gas to the deodorizing filter 35 are provided in order to remove the odor of gas generated during heat fixing. There is.

Furthermore, this copying machine has an autoloading function for automatically setting the microcapsule paper 2 on a predetermined transport path within the apparatus. In this process, a leader film (not shown) attached to the tip of the microcapsule paper 2 is automatically pulled out into the device and conveyed.
This is a function of winding it around the winding shaft 27. This results in
The microcapsule paper 2 following the leader film section is also wound up on the winding shaft 27, and the setting in the apparatus is completed.

For this automatic loading, a feed roller 22 and a cartridge 20 are used for pulling out the leader film section.
A half-moon roller 40 is disposed between the winding shaft 2 and the winding shaft 2.
7, a separation chute 4] is rotatably attached.

Further, an upper winding guide 42 and a lower winding guide 43 are disposed around the winding shaft 27 for winding the leader film portion.

In order to control the copying machine 1 having the above-described configuration, an electronic control unit (ECU) 50 shown in FIG. 4 is provided.

As shown in the figure, this ECU 3O has a CPU 50a that performs processing such as well-known calculations and judgments, and stores information such as the amount of exposure light from the halogen lamp 7a and the amount of movement of the filter 12 inserted to correct color tendency characteristics. A certain ROM50
b, a RAM (image memory) 50c for storing image information read from the line CCD 16, an input/output port 50d for inputting and outputting data, a pass line 50e for connecting them, and the like.

Furthermore, this ECU 3O includes an image reading circuit 52 which inputs image information from the line CCD 16, and a reflection mirror 15.
An optical path switching control circuit 53 that switches the direction of the optical path switching control circuit 53. A halogen lamp drive control circuit 54 that controls the amount of exposure light by controlling the voltage of the halogen lamp 7a. Each filter 12
a, 12b.

A filter drive control circuit 55 and the like that drive the pulse motor 10 that moves the motor 12c are connected.

Next, the operation of the present copying machine 1 having the above configuration will be explained.

First, when the cartridge 20 is set in the copying machine,
Autoloading will start.

Then, only when autoloading starts, the half-moon roller 4
0 rotates once to several times in the conveyance direction, and moves the leader film attached to the tip of the microcapsule paper 2.
It is sent out to the conveyance roller 23. Thereafter, it stops, and subsequent conveyance is performed by driving the conveyance roller 23. Also,
The upper winding guide 422, the lower winding guide 43, and the separation chute 4] are rotated to the position shown by the two-dot chain line, and the leader film portion is wound around the winding shaft 27.

When autoloading is completed in this way, the upper winding guide 427, the lower winding guide 43 and the separation chute 4
1 returns to the position shown by the solid line and can be copied.

Next, when the copy start key 57 (FIG. 3) is operated, one scan is performed to read the image of the original 6 in order to determine the density characteristics. That is, the light source unit 7, which initially stopped at the position PI, moves to the position P3 via P2 without irradiating the original 6 with light. During this time, the optical path is switched to the line CCD 16 by the reflective mirror] 5, so the originals 6 are read one after another and the images are transferred to the EC.
It is stored in RAM 50c of U 50.

When the light source section 7 reaches the position P3, scanning is performed once again to expose the microcapsule paper 2. That is, the direction of movement of the light source section 7 is changed, and the light source section 7 moves from P3 to P1 via P2 without exposing it. At this time,
Since the optical path is switched toward the exposure table 4 by the reflection mirror 15, the microcapsule paper 2 is actually exposed to form a latent image of the original image.

Here, if the transport speed of the microcapsule paper 2 is V and the projection magnification is m, the reflection mirror 7C and the halogen lamp 7a move at a movement speed (1/m) V, and the reflection mirror 9
a and 9b move at a moving speed (1/2 m)V.

In other words, since the conveyance speed of the microcapsule paper 2 is synchronized with the movement speed of the mirror groups 7c, 9a, and 9b as described above, the microcapsule paper 2 is loaded with the original 6 when passing through the exposure table 14. Latent images of predetermined lines are sequentially formed. Note that the predetermined speed ratio is predetermined based on the setting of the magnification.

On the other hand, the topmost color developing paper 3 of the paper feed cassette 29 is transported to the paper feed mechanism 30. Feed rollers 31 a, 31 b, 310
Transported by etc. Then, the transported microcapsule paper 2 and color developer paper 3 are supplied to the pressure developing device 25 in a state where they are in close contact with each other and integrated.

In this pressure developing device 25, the microcapsule surface of the microcapsule paper 2 on which the latent image has been formed and the color developer coated surface of the color developer paper 3 are brought into contact with each other on the inside, and are integrated into one body under a large diameter pressure. Pressure is applied by being sandwiched between the roller 25a and the small diameter pressure roller 25b. This pressure destroys the unexposed microcapsule paper 2 and forms an image on the color developing paper 3.

Then, the microcapsule paper 2 and the color developing paper 3 that have come out of the pressure developing device 25 are separated by a separation roller 26. Then, the separated color developing paper 3 is accelerated in color development ε by the heat fixing device 32 to form an image.
b, the paper is conveyed to the paper discharge tray 33. On the other hand, the separated microcapsule paper 2 is passed through a separation roller 26 and wound onto a winding shaft 27.

Next, the control of the amount of exposure light performed in conjunction with the operation of the copying machine 1 described above will be explained in detail based on the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 4 and 5.

First, when the copy start key 57 of the copying machine 1 is pressed, in step 100, the optical path switching control circuit 53 is driven, the reflection mirror 15 is rotated, and the optical path ε line CCD 1 is
Switch in direction 6.

Next, in step 1]0, the light source unit 7 is moved to scan the original 6ε once, and the image reading circuit 52 is driven.
Read images sequentially from line CCD16, RAM50
Image data is sequentially stored in c.

After the image reading operation is completed, in step 20, the density characteristics of the original image are calculated from the image data stored in the RAM 50c.

Next, in step 130, the calculated density characteristics are compared with reference density characteristics data stored in advance in the ROM 50b to determine density characteristics such as shading and contrast height of the original image.

Here, for example, if it is determined that the image is white (low density), in step 140, control is performed to reduce the exposure light amount in order to use the area B where the slope of the graph in FIG. 2 is steep. . That is, in order to reduce the amount of light beyond the predetermined amount (according to density characteristics) stored in the ROM 50b, the halogen lamp drive control four-way 54 is driven to lower the voltage applied to the halogen lamp 7a, thereby reducing the amount of exposure light. - End the Japan processing.

On the other hand, if it is determined that the image is black (high density), in step 50, control is performed to increase the exposure light by 1, contrary to step 40 above.

Further, if it is determined that the density characteristics of the image are normal, the main processing is immediately terminated without controlling the exposure light amount.

In this way, depending on the density characteristics of the original image of the document 6,
After adjusting the amount of light to be exposed, control is performed to expose the normal microcapsule paper 2.

As described above, in the copying machine 1 of this embodiment, first, prior to normal exposure, in order to detect the density characteristics of the document 6, the light source section 7 is scanned to read the original image of the document 6, and the image is Store data. The density characteristics of the original image are determined by comparing the stored image data with reference data, and based on this determination, the amount of light for exposure to be performed in the next operation is controlled.

Therefore, even if the density characteristics such as the average density and contrast height of the original are different, the optimum exposure conditions can be easily set by increasing or decreasing the light amount of the halogen lamp 7a. Desired image quality can be obtained.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments detailed above, and various changes can be made without departing from the spirit thereof.

For example, in this embodiment, a copying machine for the original 6 is described, but the scope of application is extremely wide, such as a copying machine for slide film, or a printer using a CRT, a laser, or the like. Furthermore, the image memory 50c does not need to store the entire image, and may store only the density characteristics of the image.

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the detailed description above, the present invention includes an image reading means, a density characteristic calculating means, and a density characteristic controlling means, so that the average density, contrast height, etc. of the original can be adjusted. Optimal exposure conditions can be set even if the density characteristics of the images are different. Therefore, even if there are differences in the density characteristics of original documents, a desired good image quality can always be obtained.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a basic configuration diagram illustrating the present invention, FIG. 2 is a graph explaining the invention in detail, FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of the copying machine of this embodiment, and FIG. 4 is an electronic control unit. The block diagram and FIG. 5 are flowcharts showing control of the exposure light amount. Ml... Exposure means M2... Exposure control means M3... Image reading means M4... Density characteristic calculation means M5... Density characteristic control means 1... Copying machine 15... Reflection mirror 7a...・Halogen lamp 16...Line CCD Fig. 1

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. Exposure means for forming a latent image corresponding to an image on the photosensitive surface of photosensitive paper, and an exposure light amount and color balance of exposure of the exposure means based on the coloring characteristics of the photosensitive paper. an exposure control means for controlling, and applying pressure with the photosensitive surface on which the latent image is formed and the developer material coated surface of the developer paper facing each other to transfer the image to the developer paper, and further heating. In an image recording apparatus that forms an image by promoting color development, the image reading means reads the original image based on the reflected light of the light irradiated onto the original image from the exposure means; density characteristic calculation means for calculating the density characteristics of the original image based on the read image data; and drive control of the exposure control means based on the density characteristics of the original image calculated by the density characteristic calculation means. What is claimed is: 1. An image recording apparatus comprising: density characteristic control means for adjusting the amount of exposure light by adjusting the amount of exposure light.