JPH09258372A - Photographic film and method for identifying photographic film - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) An object of the present invention is to surely identify an ID of a photographic film and to accurately collate the cartridge and the photographic film. SOLUTION: A bar code reader and O are attached to a film F.
Bar code 24 and number 2 read by CR
6 and a magnetic track 2 read by a magnetic head
The IDs are recorded by 8 and 30. Therefore, even if the optical identification information cannot be read due to light fog or the like, the film F can be identified by reading the magnetic identification information by the magnetic reading means. By recording a plurality of pieces of magnetic identification information in parallel in the reading direction, it is of course possible to deal with a temporary abnormality of the magnetic head, dirt, or the like. The magnetic head can read the magnetic identification information.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a photographic film and a method for identifying a photographic film.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, there has been proposed a system in which a developed photographic film is stored in a cartridge in a wound state without being cut and is returned to a customer. In such a service system, it is necessary to store the photographic film which fits in the cartridge without fail in the photo lab.

By the way, the unexposed photographic film is provided with an ID in advance by a bar code and a number, and the bar code and the number (character) corresponding to this ID are attached to the cartridge. Then, the IDs of the developed photographic film and the cartridge are collated, and the photographic film is automatically stored in the cartridge.

However, since the bar code reader and the OCR for reading the bar code and the numbers (characters) of the photographic film are so-called optical reading means, they may not be read when exposed to light.

When such an error occurs, the operator has to collate and process the numbers of the photographic film and the cartridge, and there is a problem in efficiency.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In consideration of the above circumstances, it is an object of the present invention to surely identify the ID of a photographic film so that the cartridge and the photographic film can be collated accurately.

[0007]

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a magnetic identification information recording area in which identification information having the same content as the identification information recorded in the optical identification information recording area read by the optical reading means is recorded. Is provided on the photographic film.

Therefore, even if the optical identification information in the optical identification information recording area cannot be read due to the fog of light or the like,
The photographic film can be identified by reading the magnetic identification information in the magnetic identification information recording area with the magnetic reading means.

According to the second aspect of the invention, a plurality of magnetic identification information recording areas are recorded in series in the reading direction of the identification information. As described above, by providing a plurality of pieces of information for identifying the photographic film and reading them at different timings, it is possible to reduce the probability that the reading cannot be performed. Therefore, a temporary abnormality of the magnetic reading means,
Or, it can deal with dirt on the head.

According to the third aspect of the invention, a plurality of magnetic identification information recording areas are recorded in parallel in the reading direction of the identification information. That is, the magnetic identification information is read by a plurality of magnetic reading means provided along the width direction of the photographic film.

Therefore, a temporary abnormality of the magnetic reading means,
Alternatively, it is of course possible to deal with dirt on the head and the like, and the magnetic identification information can be read by the magnetic reading means arranged in parallel even if the transport speed of the photographic film changes.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the photographic film is contained in the cartridge having the identification information which is the same as or one-to-one correspondence with the identification information of the photographic film.
This makes it possible to collate the photographic film and the cartridge.

According to a fifth aspect of the invention, the optical identification information recording area and the magnetic identification information recording area are arranged between the leading end portion and the first image frame of the photographic film, and the sixth aspect is also described. According to the invention, the optical identification information recording area and the magnetic identification information recording area are arranged at both edges of the photographic film.

By arranging in this way, the degree of freedom in arranging the reading means increases. In the invention according to claim 7,
If at least one of the optical identification information of the photographic film read from the optical identification information recording area by the optical reading means and the magnetic identification information of the photographic film read from the magnetic identification information recording area by the magnetic reading means can be read, This is the true identification information of the photographic film.

As described above, if even one piece of identification information is obtained, it can be processed as the identification information of the true photographic film, so that the human collation work can be omitted.

According to the present invention, the optical identification information of the photographic film read from the optical identification information recording area by the optical reading means and the magnetic identification of the photographic film read from the magnetic identification information recording area by the magnetic reading means. Among the information, the maximum number of pieces of identification information that match each other are the identification information of the true photographic film.

In this way, from the plurality of read information,
By determining the identification information of the photographic film by a majority vote, there is almost no possibility of misreading.

Further, by reading the identification information assigned to different positions at different timings and adopting the maximum number of obtained information, the reliability of the information is enhanced.

According to the present invention, the optical identification information of the photographic film read from the optical identification information recording area by the optical reading means and the magnetic identification of the photographic film read from the magnetic identification information recording area by the magnetic reading means. If the identification information of the photographic film read by different reading means matches the information, this is regarded as the identification information of the true photographic film.

As described above, the probability that the identification information of the photographic film read by the different reading means coincides is smaller than the probability that the identification information of the photographic film read by the same reading means coincides, that is, the probability of misreading. Are considered to be extremely small, thus increasing the reliability of the information obtained.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, the optical identification information of the photographic film read from the optical identification information recording area by the optical reading means and the magnetic identification of the photographic film read from the magnetic identification information recording area by the magnetic reading means. Of the information, the read information that matches the identification information of the cartridge that houses the photographic film is the identification information of the genuine photographic film.

As described above, the identification information of the authentic photographic film can be obtained by collating with the identification information of the cartridge.

In the eleventh aspect of the present invention, the identification information of the true photographic film is collated with the identification information of the cartridge containing the photographic film, and if they match, the identification information of the genuine photographic film is determined.

By thus comparing the identification information of the cartridge with the identification information of the cartridge, the identification information of the genuine photographic film can be obtained even if the identification information obtained from the photographic film is small.

[0025]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION As shown in FIG. 1, a film F according to this embodiment is provided with rectangular perforations 14 that clearly indicate the position of an image frame 12 at predetermined intervals. The perforations 14 are used for positioning the image frames 12 when performing image exposure or printing work. Further, an around perforation 16 is provided on the FT side of the final image frame 12, and it is clearly indicated that no image is recorded on the FT side.

On the other hand, around perforation 16
A detach perforation 18 is formed on the FT side, and the position of the FT of the film F can be determined by detecting the detach perforation 18.

Further, the film F is provided with a transparent magnetic recording layer so that an area which does not cover the image frame 12 is used as a magnetic track.

That is, a magnetic track 20 for a developing station is provided between the perforations 14, and a magnetic track 22 for a camera is provided on the opposite side of the image frame 12. Then, the development data is written on the magnetic track 20.
Photographed data is recorded on the magnetic track 22.

Further, on the FT side of the final image frame 12, two magnetic tracks 28 and 30 are provided in parallel in the direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the film F. On the magnetic tracks 28 and 30, a plurality of IDs for identifying the film F based on ID information of a cartridge 34 described later are recorded before development processing or at the time of printing. In this way, by recording a plurality of pieces of the same information (in the present embodiment, six pieces are recorded in one row, making a total of 12 pieces), it is possible to read at different timings in time, and it is impossible to read. Can reduce the probability of Therefore, it is possible to deal with a temporary abnormality of the magnetic heads 38 and 40, which will be described later, or dirt.

On the opposite side of the magnetic tracks 28 and 30, a bar code 24 and a numeral 26 on which a film ID is recorded are formed in advance as a latent image at the manufacturing stage of the film F and should be developed. Is visualized in.

At the same position as the magnetic track 22,
The bar code 32 representing the manufacturer and the film type is previously formed as a latent image at the manufacturing stage, and visualized by developing.

Further, in the FT portion of the film F, the film F is placed at the center in the width direction of the spool shaft 3 of the cartridge 34.
A long hole 42 for engaging with 6 (see FIG. 2) is formed. Engagement holes 44 are formed on both sides of the elongated hole 42. When the film F is inserted into the slit 46 of the spool shaft 36, the engagement hole 44 engages with the protrusion 48 provided in the slit 46 and plays a role of preventing the film F from coming off.

On the other hand, after the above-mentioned film F is developed, it is housed in the casing 52 in a wound state on the spool shaft 36 of the cartridge 34 by the automatic winding device 50 (see FIG. 3). It has become.

As shown in FIG. 2, a label is attached to the outer peripheral surface of the casing 52 of the cartridge 34.
The label has the ID of the film F at the manufacturing stage of the film F.
The information corresponding to "etc." is printed on the bar code 54 and the numeral 56.
By collating D, the cartridge 3
A film F that definitely matches 4 is stored.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the automatic winding device 50 includes a film tray 5 for setting a bundle of films F.
8 are provided. In the film tray 58, a plurality of rollers 60 for bending the film F largely are provided upright.

The FT of the film F set in the curved state on the film tray 58 is held by the holder 62 in a laminated state.

The holder 62 is attached to the rotating arm 64. The rotation arm 64 is rotated toward the delivery roller 66 (toward the front side of the drawing), and the film F
When the switch 70 protruding from the table 68 is pressed, the feeding roller 66 is rotated and the outermost film F is fed to the transport device 72.

The film transport device 72 is provided with an upper guide 74 and a lower guide 76, and the opposing surfaces are transport paths 78.

A driven roller 80 is provided on the upper guide 74, and a drive roller 82 provided on the lower guide 76.
And the film F is pinched and conveyed in the direction of arrow A.

Further, the lower guide 76 is provided with a bar code reader 84 and an OCR 86, which optically reads the bar code 24 and the numeral 26 of the film F, and controls them as optical identification information of the film F (shown in the figure). (Omitted) is output to.

Further, the upper guide 74 is provided with two magnetic heads 38 and 40, and reads the ID of the film F from the magnetic tracks 28 and 30 arranged in parallel, and as magnetic identification information to the control device. Output.

On the other hand, on the downstream side of the conveying path 78, an arc-shaped attach plate 88 is provided so as to be rotatable around a shaft 90. The cartridge 3 which is hooked on the long hole 42 of the film F by the claw provided at the tip of the attach plate 88 and stands by at the nest 94 of the loading section 92.
It is designed to be inserted into 4.

The loading section 92 is provided with a pair of support rollers 96 to rotatably support the doughnut-shaped container 98. Further, when the container 98 is loaded, the link gear 100 provided coaxially with the container 98 meshes with the drive gear 102 and a rotational force is applied.

On the other hand, on the outer peripheral portion of the container 98, 20 storage portions (not shown) for accommodating the cartridges 34 in the circumferential direction are provided at regular intervals. The storage portion is provided with a window so that the barcode 54 of the cartridge 34 can be seen, and a number indicating the address of the storage portion is provided near the window. Further, the container 98 is provided with an opening so that the cartridge 34 can be pushed out from the storage portion by a pressing device through the opening and moved to the nest 94.

A bar code reader 104 is arranged below the nest 94 so that the ID of the cartridge 34 can be read.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described. Twenty developed films F are bundled, the FT portion is mounted on the holder 62, and the rear end portion is set in the film tray 58 in a state of being greatly curved. Next, the holder 62 is tilted down so that the outermost film F is pressed against the delivery roller 66.
Further, in the container 98, 20 cartridges 34 having the same ID as the film F are stored in the storage section, and the cartridge 9 is loaded in the loading section 9
Set to 2.

The operation of identifying the ID of the film F and storing the film F in the cartridge 34 will now be described with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS.

At step 200, the container 98 is rotated once and the bar code 54 of each cartridge 34 is read by the bar code reader 104. The read identification information is stored in the controller in association with which cartridge 34 is stored in which storage unit.

Next, at step 202, the film F is fed into the single sheet conveying path 78, and the magnetic tracks 28, 3 are conveyed.
Film F recorded with 0, bar code 24, number 26
IDs of the above are read by the magnetic heads 38 and 40, the barcode reader 84, and the OCR 86.

In step 204, it is judged whether or not one or more IDs of the film F have been read. If none can be read, an alarm is issued in step 238 to reset the film F. In addition, in this embodiment, the light is covered by the barcode reader 84 and the OCR 86.
Even if D cannot be read, the two magnetic heads 38, 4
It is almost unlikely that any one of the 0's reads the IDs of the films F recorded on the magnetic tracks 28 and 30 and therefore cannot read at all.

On the other hand, when the ID of the film F is read, it is judged in step 206 whether or not there are a plurality of read IDs. When a plurality of IDs have been read, it is determined in step 208 whether all the IDs match.

If not, in step 210,
The read IDs are totaled for each same ID. Next, in step 212, it is determined whether or not there is a maximum number of identical IDs. If affirmative, step 214 determines the same majority as the ID of film F. in this way,
By adopting a so-called majority vote, the reliability of the identification information of the film F is improved.

Next, in step 216, the I of the film F is
The cartridge 34 with the ID corresponding to D is collated. If the ID of the film F matches the ID of the cartridge 34 in step 218, the container 98 is rotated in step 220 and the cartridge 34 with the matching ID is used.
Is moved to the nest 94.

Next, in step 222, the long hole 42 is hooked by the attachment plate 88, and the FT of the film F is
Is locked to the spool shaft 36 of the cartridge 34. Here, the spool shaft 36 is rotated by a spool driver (not shown), and the film F is wound up and stored in the cartridge 34.

Next, in step 224, the nest 9
4 is rotated and the cartridge 34 is discharged to the tray 110.

If the ID of the film F and the ID of the cartridge 34 do not match in step 218, an alarm is issued in step 226 to issue an instruction to replace the container. In this way, it is highly possible that the container 98 (cartridge side) is erroneous because the ID of the film F is highly reliable because of the high reliability of the ID of the film F that issues the instruction to replace the container. Is considered to be high.

On the other hand, in step 212, the same ID
If it is determined that there is no maximum number of IDs, for example, the barcode reader 84 reads the ID as 5, and the OCR 86 reads the ID.
5 is read, the magnetic head 38 reads two IDs 4 and the magnetic head 40 reads ID 6,
This is the case where the number 5 is 2 and the number 4 is 2, and the majority process cannot be performed.

Here, in step 228, each ID
The types of reading means that have read are totaled. That is, in the example described above, the ID No. 5 is read by two types of reading means, the barcode reader 84 and the OCR 86,
This means that the ID No. 4 was read by one type of reading means of the magnetic head 38.

Next, in step 230, a maximum number of each I
It is determined whether or not there is a maximum number among the total types of reading means that read D. In the previous example, ID number 5 is 2
Since it is read by various types of reading means, the maximum number is the maximum. In this case, the process proceeds to step 214 and the ID of the film F is determined.

On the other hand, in step 230, when there are a plurality of types, the barcode reader 8
4 reads the ID as 5, the OCR 86 reads the ID as 4, the magnetic head 38 reads 2 IDs 4 and the magnetic head 40 reads 2 IDs 5, 5 is This means that there are three, three and four, and there are two types of reading means.

In such a case, the ID of the cartridge 34 is collated in step 232, and it is determined in step 234 which ID matches. If any of the IDs match, the matching ID in step 236 is used as the film F ID.
Then, the process proceeds to step 220.

Further, in step 232, I of the film F is
If none of D matches the cartridge ID, an alarm is issued and an error is displayed in step 238.

In step 206, the I of film F
If a plurality of D's cannot be read, that is, if only one can be read, the process proceeds to step 232 and collates with the ID of the cartridge 34. Also, step 208
Then, if all the IDs of the film F match, the process proceeds to step 214 and the ID of the film F is determined.

In this embodiment, a total of four magnetic tracks 28 and 30 are provided in parallel on the film F and 12 IDs are recorded, but one ID may be used. However, in order to increase the reliability of information, it is preferable to use a plurality. Further, although the ID adopted in the majority decision is prioritized, if the IDs read by different reading means match, this ID may be prioritized as a true ID.

Further, the cartridge 34 and the film F
The reliability of the information is improved by using the EXP (number of films), the manufacturer, the sensitivity, and the like recorded in the above as the IDs for collation.

In this embodiment, the magnetic information recording and the optical information recording are combined, but other information recording may be used. For example, mechanical recording (touch sensor), electrical recording (memory), etc. Can be mentioned.

[0067]

Since the present invention has the above-mentioned structure, the ID of the film can be surely read, and the cartridge and the film can be automatically collated.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a photographic film according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a cartridge in which the photographic film according to the present embodiment is stored.

FIG. 3 is an overall perspective view of an automatic winding device used in the method for identifying a photographic film according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram of an automatic winding device used in the method for identifying a photographic film according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a method of identifying a photographic film according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a method of identifying a photographic film according to the present embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 24 Bar Code (Optical Identification Information) 26 Characters (Optical Identification Information) 28 Magnetic Track (Magnetic Identification Information) 30 Magnetic Track (Magnetic Identification Information) 34 Cartridge 38 Magnetic Head (Magnetic Reading Means) 40 Magnetic Head (Magnetic Reading Means) 54 Bar code 84 Bar code reader (optical reading means) 86 OCR (optical reading means) 104 Bar code reader

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. A photographic film having an optical identification information recording area for recording identification information as optical identification information read by an optical reading means, wherein a magnetic identification information recording area read by a magnetic reading means with the same content as the optical identification information. A photographic film having: 2. The photographic film according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the magnetic identification information recording areas are recorded in series in the reading direction of the identification information. 3. The photographic film according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the magnetic identification information recording areas are recorded in parallel in the identification information reading direction. 4. The photographic film according to claim 1, wherein the photographic film is stored in a cartridge having identification information that is the same as or one-to-one correspondence with the identification information. 5. The optical identification information recording area and the magnetic identification information recording area are arranged between a leading end portion of a photographic film and a leading image frame, according to any one of claims 1 to 4. Photographic film described in. 6. The photographic film according to claim 1, wherein the optical identification information recording area and the magnetic identification information recording area are arranged at both edges of the photographic film. . 7. A method of identifying a photographic film having an optical identification information recording area and a magnetic identification information recording area having the same content, wherein the read information read by an optical reading means from the optical identification information recording area and the read information. A method for identifying a photographic film, characterized in that if at least one of the read information read by the magnetic reading means from the magnetic identification information recording area can be read, this is used as true photographic film identification information. 8. A method of identifying a photographic film comprising an optical identification information recording area and a magnetic identification information recording area having the same content, wherein the read information read by an optical reading means from the optical identification information recording area and the read information. A method of identifying a photographic film, wherein among the pieces of read information read by the magnetic reading means from the magnetic identification information recording area, the maximum number of pieces of read information that match each other is used as true photographic film identification information. 9. A method of identifying a photographic film comprising an optical identification information recording area and a magnetic identification information recording area having the same content, wherein the read information read by an optical reading means from the optical identification information recording area and the read information. A method for identifying a photographic film, characterized in that among the read information read by the magnetic reading means from the magnetic identification information recording area, the read information that is mutually identical and read by different reading means is the true photographic film identification information. 10. A method of identifying a photographic film, comprising an optical identification information recording area and a magnetic identification information recording area having the same content, wherein the read information read by an optical reading means from the optical identification information recording area and the read information. Of the read information read by the magnetic reading means from the magnetic identification information recording area, the read information that matches the identification information of the cartridge for storing the photographic film is the identification information of the genuine photographic film. Identification method. 11. The identification information of the genuine photographic film is compared with the identification information of the cartridge for storing the photographic film, and if they match, the identification information of the genuine photographic film is determined. The method for identifying a photographic film according to any one of 1.