JP2004091183A - Image recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image recorder for highly accurately forming an image by avoiding incidence of the improper light on a sheet-like photosensitive material. <P>SOLUTION: Light shielding partition walls 61, 62, 64 and 66 are arranged between an image recording part 100 and a tray loading part 67 and between the tray loading parts 67, 69 and 71, and trays 36, 38 and 40 are extracted from either of the tray loading parts 67, 69 and 71. When replenishing or replacing a film F, the external light is prevented from being incident on the film F in the tray loading parts 67, 69 and 71 already loaded with the film F. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus that forms a sheet by feeding a sheet-shaped photosensitive material stored in a tray to an image forming unit.
[0002]
[Prior art]
For example, there is an image recording apparatus that supplies a sheet-like photosensitive material and forms an image on the photosensitive material. In such an image recording device, when the photosensitive material is replaced, the sensitivity characteristics may vary from lot to lot, or may be replaced with a different type of photosensitive material, so the sensitivity characteristics are set prior to image formation. However, it is necessary to perform sensitivity correction. In this case, it is very troublesome for the operator to set the sensitivity characteristics. In addition, if the setting work is forgotten, it becomes impossible to form a highly accurate image.
[0003]
Therefore, for example, in the prior art disclosed in Patent Document 1, a bar code seal in which sensitivity characteristic information is recorded is attached to a packaging member that houses a photosensitive material, and the packaging member is loaded into an image recording apparatus. The sensitivity characteristic information is acquired by reading the barcode seal using a reading sensor arranged in the apparatus. In this case, the image recording apparatus can correct the sensitivity of the image information recorded on the photosensitive material in accordance with the automatically acquired sensitivity characteristic information.
[0004]
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-275749 (FIG. 2)
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, the image recording apparatus is configured so that a plurality of trays for storing a plurality of sets of photosensitive materials can be loaded. In this case, if the reading light from the reading sensor that reads the barcode seal of the packaging member stored in the tray leaks to the other tray side, the photosensitive material may be fogged.
[0006]
Further, when the tray is pulled out for replenishment or replacement of the photosensitive material, there is a possibility that external light may enter the photosensitive material stored in another tray.
[0007]
The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problems, and can form an image with high accuracy by avoiding inappropriate light incident on the sheet-like photosensitive material. An object is to provide a recording apparatus.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus that forms a sheet by feeding a sheet-shaped photosensitive material stored in a tray to an image forming unit.
A plurality of tray loading sections loaded with the tray;
A light-shielding partition wall disposed between the tray loading units and configured to shield light between the tray loading units;
An information reading unit that is disposed in each light shielding partition in each tray loading unit and reads information relating to the photosensitive material stored in the tray;
It is characterized by providing.
[0009]
In this case, for example, when one tray is pulled out and the photosensitive material is replenished or replaced, the light shielding partition between the tray loading portions prevents the external light from entering the other tray.
[0010]
In addition, when the information reading unit is an optical information reading unit that optically reads information, the light shielding partition prevents the reading light from the information reading unit from leaking to the adjacent tray. The optical information reading unit is preferably stored in a storage unit formed in the light shielding partition.
[0011]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 shows an image recording apparatus 10 of the present embodiment. The image recording apparatus 10 includes trays 36, 38, and 40 that can be loaded with a plurality of packaging bodies 12 configured as shown in FIGS.
[0012]
Here, the packaging body 12 is configured by holding the film F, which is a plurality of laminated photosensitive materials, with the application paper 16 and storing it in a light shielding bag 14 (packaging bag). The light shielding bag 14 holds the film F in a light-tight manner by heat-treating the central portion of one surface. Fin portions 18 a and 18 b are formed at both ends of the light shielding bag 14. The surface of the light shielding bag 14 on which the mating portion 20 is formed is composed of a bar code on which lot information, sensitivity characteristic information, etc. of the film F stored in the light shielding bag 14 are recorded in a portion that does not interfere with the mating portion 20. A bar code label 22 is attached. Instead of using the barcode label 22, the barcode may be recorded directly on the light shielding bag 14 by printing. In addition, information can be recorded using an information recording medium other than a barcode, for example, an IC chip or an RF-ID (Radio Frequency-IDentification).
[0013]
Each tray 36, 38, 40 has flange portions 42 a, 42 b on both sides, and can be pulled out or loaded via guide rails 44 a, 44 b arranged in the image recording apparatus 10. As shown in FIG. 4, the trays 36, 38, and 40 have a handle portion 46 disposed on the front side of the image recording apparatus 10. Of the storage portions 48 of the trays 36, 38, and 40 in which various types of packaging bodies 12 of different sizes are accommodated, the packaging body cooperates with a roller (not shown) in the image recording apparatus 10 at a portion on the handle portion 46 side. Ironing rollers 50a and 50b sandwiching the 12 fins 18a are disposed.
[0014]
In the storage portions 48 of the trays 36, 38, and 40, positioning pins 52a to 52g are disposed from the flange portion 42a side at positions corresponding to the size of the package 12 to be stored. Further, positioning plates 54 a to 54 c are arranged in the storage portion 48 from the handle portion 46 side according to the size of the package 12.
[0015]
In this case, a six-cut film F is stored in the storage portion 48 surrounded by the ironing roller 50a, the positioning pins 52a and 52b, the positioning plate 54a, and the positioning pins 52d and 52e. Four-cut film F is stored in the storage portion 48 surrounded by the ironing roller 50a, the positioning pins 52a to 52c, the positioning plate 54b, and the positioning pins 52d and 52e. A large-angle film F is stored in the storage portion 48 surrounded by the ironing rollers 50a and 50b, the positioning pins 52a to 52c, the positioning plate 54c, and the positioning pins 52f and 52g. A half-cut film F is stored in the storage portion 48 surrounded by the ironing rollers 50a and 50b, the positioning pins 52a to 52c, the positioning plate 54c, and the side plate on the flange portion 42b side. FIG. 1 shows a state in which each tray 36, 38, 40 is set to a six-cut size, a large-angle size, and a half-cut size.
[0016]
The side plates 43a to 43c constituting the trays 36, 38, and 40 are formed with groove portions 45 that communicate along the upper edge side. A slit 47 is formed in the handle portion 46. By inserting a shutter plate 49 into the slit 47 and the groove 45 from the handle 46 side, the openings of the trays 36, 38, and 40 can be closed.
[0017]
A substantially rectangular opening is formed on the bottom surface of the trays 36, 38, 40 extending from the center of the storage portion 48 where the film F having a six-cut size is stored to the positioning pins 52f, 52g via the positioning pins 52d, 52e. Portions 56, 58 and 60 are formed. Note that a shutter plate that can be opened and closed can be attached to the openings 56, 58, and 60 as needed.
[0018]
The trays 36, 38, and 40 configured as described above are loaded in tray loading units 67, 69, and 71 that are separated from each other by light shielding partitions 61, 62, 64, and 66. Openings 68, 70, 72 are formed in the respective light shielding partitions 62, 64, 66 corresponding to the positions of the openings 56, 58, 60 formed on the bottom surfaces of the trays 36, 38, 40. The openings 68, 70, 72 are connected to storage parts 74, 76, 78, and each storage part 74, 76, 78 has a bar code label 22 attached to the package 12. Bar code readers 80, 82, and 84 (optical information reading units) for reading are provided. In this case, the bar code readers 80, 82, 84 can be selectively disposed at either one of the two positions A1 or A2 according to the size of the film F stored in the trays 36, 38, 40.
[0019]
At the top of the trays 36, 38, 40 loaded in the image recording apparatus 10, suction plates 86, 88, 90 for sheeting the film F, and the film F sheeted by the suction plates 86, 88, 90 are provided. Nip rollers 92, 94, and 96 are disposed for nipping and transporting.
[0020]
An image recording unit 100 is disposed above the uppermost tray 36 via a conveyance path 98. The light shielding partitions 61, 62, and 64 have passages 73, 75, and 77 for conveying the film F sheeted from the tray loading units 67, 69, and 71 to the image recording unit 100. In these passages 73, 75, 77, it is preferable to provide a shutter member that can be closed when the film F does not pass through in order to improve the light shielding property.
[0021]
The image recording unit 100 includes a pair of rollers 102a and 102b, and a plate 104 that positions the recording surface of the film F when the rollers 102a and 102b come into contact with each other. A laser beam L is guided between the rollers 102 a and 102 b from a laser beam scanning unit 106 disposed above the image recording unit 100. The laser beam L is modulated based on the radiographic image information, thereby recording radiographic image information including a latent image on the film F.
[0022]
On the downstream side of the image recording unit 100, a heat developing unit 108 is provided that converts the latent image into a visible image by heating the film F on which the radiation image information is recorded. The heat developing unit 108 is configured to bend along the plurality of rollers 110 that convey the film F, the plate heaters 112a to 112c that heat the film F being conveyed, and the plurality of rollers 110 to rotate. And a gear 114 that rotates.
[0023]
A cooling unit 116 is provided at the top of the image recording apparatus 10 so as to be connected to the heat developing unit 108. The film F cooled by the cooling unit 116 is discharged to a discharge unit 118 that is an upper surface portion of the image recording apparatus 10.
[0024]
The image recording apparatus 10 of the present embodiment is basically configured as described above. Next, the operation thereof will be described.
[0025]
When the six-size package 12 is stored in the upper tray 36, first, after the tray 36 is pulled out from the tray loading portion 67, the barcode label 22 attached to the light shielding bag 14 is turned down, and the fin portion The package 12 is stored in the tray 36 with the 18a side in front. In this case, as shown in FIG. 5, the film F (see FIG. 2) in the light shielding bag 14 is positioned in a range surrounded by the ironing roller 50a, the positioning pins 52a and 52b, the positioning plate 54a, and the positioning pins 52d and 52e. Stored. Further, one fin portion 18a of the light shielding bag 14 is led out of the tray 36 through the squeezing roller 50a, and the other fin portion 18b is placed on the positioning plate 54a. Thus, in a state where the package 12 is stored in the tray 36, the barcode label 22 attached to the light shielding bag 14 is disposed at a position facing the opening 56 formed on the bottom surface of the tray 36.
[0026]
Here, outside light enters the tray loading section 67 while the tray 36 is pulled out and the packaging body 12 is stored. However, since the tray loading unit 67 is isolated from the image recording unit 100 side and the other tray loading units 69 and 71 by the light shielding partitions 61 and 62 disposed above and below, the film F and the tray 38 during image recording are separated. , 40 is not likely to be exposed. It is more preferable that the film F passages 73, 75, 77 in the respective light shielding partitions 61, 62, 64, 66 are closed by shutter members while the package 12 is stored in the tray 36.
[0027]
Next, the fin portion 18b side of the light shielding bag 14 is cut off, and the tray 36 is loaded into the tray loading portion 67 via the guide rails 44a and 44b. At this time, the opening 68 of the light shielding partition wall 62 is disposed with respect to the opening 56 on the bottom surface of the tray 36, so that the barcode reader 80 disposed on the position A 1 side of the storage portion 74 can be moved to the light shielding bag 14. It faces the bar code label 22 attached. Therefore, the barcode reader 80 reads the barcode recorded on the barcode label 22, and acquires lot information, sensitivity characteristic information, and the like of the loaded film F.
[0028]
In this case, since the barcode reader 80 is stored in the storage portion 74 attached to the light-shielding partition wall 62, the reading light emitted from the barcode reader 80 when other information such as lot information and sensitivity characteristic information is read. There is no possibility that the film F leaks to the tray loading sections 69 and 71 and the film F is exposed.
[0029]
In the present embodiment, the storage portion 74 is connected as a separate body to the light shielding partition wall 62. However, for example, the light shielding partition wall 62 may be integrally formed by drawing or the like. Good. Further, the opening 68 formed in the light shielding partition wall 62 may be closed with the casing of the barcode reader 80, and the tray loading portions 67 and 69 may be shielded from light.
[0030]
After the lot information, sensitivity characteristic information, etc. of the film F are read, the operator pulls out the fin portion 18a of the light shielding bag 14 exposed to the outside of the image recording apparatus 10 to the front. At this time, the film F is released into the image recording apparatus 10 while being held on the application paper 16.
[0031]
Next, the suction plate 86 disposed on the upper portion of the tray 36 is driven, and the uppermost film F stored in the tray 36 is sucked and fed to the conveyance path 98 via the nip rollers 92. Next, the film F is supplied to the image recording unit 100 via the conveyance path 98, and is nipped and conveyed in the sub-scanning direction by the rollers 102a and 102b and the plate 104, and according to the radiation image information from the laser beam scanning unit 106. The modulated laser beam L is irradiated in the main scanning direction. In this case, the laser beam L is corrected in accordance with the lot information and sensitivity characteristic information obtained from the barcode label 22 attached to the light shielding bag 14 of the package 12, and the radiation image as a latent image is two-dimensionally formed on the film F. To be recorded.
[0032]
Since the light-shielding partition wall 61 is disposed between the image recording unit 100 and the tray loading unit 67, the laser beam L for recording an image is irradiated on the film F of the tray loading unit 67. It is not.
[0033]
The film F on which the radiation image is recorded is nipped and conveyed by the roller 110 and the plate heaters 112a to 112c in the heat developing unit 108, and is heated and developed by the heat applied from the plate heaters 112a to 112c, so that the latent image becomes a visible image. Converted. The film F on which the visible image is recorded is cooled by the cooling unit 116 and then discharged to the discharge unit 118.
[0034]
Similarly, when the middle tray 38 or the lower tray 40 is pulled out to store the film F, or the information recorded on the bar code label 22 of the package 12 stored in these trays 38 and 40 is stored in the bar. Even in the case of reading using the code readers 82 and 84, there is no problem that the film F is exposed by the external light or the light from the bar code readers 82 and 84.
[0035]
Note that the tray loading unit 120 can also be configured as shown in FIG. That is, the light shielding partition wall 122 disposed in the lower portion of the tray loading unit 120 is formed in a flat plate shape, and the barcode reader 80 is directly disposed on the upper surface portion thereof. On the other hand, guide rails 124a and 124b are disposed on the upper surface of the light shielding partition wall 122, and the guide rails 126a and 126b disposed on the bottom surface of the tray 36 are engaged with the guide rails 124a and 124b. The tray 36 can be pulled out via 124a and 124b.
[0036]
When the tray loading unit 120 at each stage is configured in this manner, a predetermined amount of gap can be formed between the bottom surface of the tray 36 and the light shielding partition wall 122, so that the bar code reader 80 is provided with respect to the light shielding partition wall 122. There is no need to specially form a storage portion for storing the. Therefore, the light shielding partition wall 122 can be manufactured at a very low cost, and the light shielding with respect to the adjacent tray loading section can be more reliably performed.
[0037]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, in an image recording apparatus having a plurality of tray loading sections, when a photosensitive material is replenished or replaced with respect to each tray loading section, external light is exposed in the adjacent tray loading section. The incident on the material can be avoided and the photosensitive material can be maintained in a good state. Further, when reading information related to the photosensitive material in each tray loading unit, the light for reading does not leak to the adjacent tray loading unit, so that the photosensitive material can be maintained in a better state. .
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an image recording apparatus according to an embodiment.
FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a package loaded in the image recording apparatus shown in FIG.
3 is a rear view of the package body loaded in the image recording apparatus shown in FIG. 1. FIG.
4 is an explanatory perspective view of a tray for storing a package to be loaded in the image recording apparatus shown in FIG. 1. FIG.
5 is an explanatory plan view of a state in which a six-size package is stored in the tray shown in FIG. 4. FIG.
FIG. 6 is a configuration explanatory diagram of a tray loading unit according to another embodiment.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Image recording device 12 ... Package 14 ... Light-shielding bag 18a, 18b ... Fin part 20 ... Matching part 22 ... Barcode label 36, 38, 40 ... Tray 44a, 44b, 124a-124d ... Guide rail 50a, 50b ... Ironing Rollers 52a-52g ... Positioning pins 54a-54c ... Positioning plates 56, 58, 60, 68, 70, 72 ... Openings 61, 62, 64, 66, 122 ... Light shielding partitions 67, 69, 71, 120 ... Tray loading parts 48, 74, 76, 78 ... storage unit 80, 82, 84 ... bar code reader 100 ... image recording unit 106 ... laser beam scanning unit 108 ... thermal development unit 116 ... cooling unit 118 ... discharge unit F ... film

Claims (3)

In an image recording apparatus in which a sheet-like photosensitive material stored in a tray is fed into a sheet and supplied to an image forming unit to form an image.
A plurality of tray loading sections loaded with the tray;
A light-shielding partition wall disposed between the tray loading units and configured to shield light between the tray loading units;
An information reading unit that is arranged in each light shielding partition in each tray loading unit and reads information relating to the photosensitive material stored in the tray;
An image recording apparatus comprising: The apparatus of claim 1.
The image recording apparatus, wherein the information reading unit is an optical information reading unit that optically reads the information recorded in a packaging bag for packaging the photosensitive material stored in the tray. The apparatus of claim 2.
The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the light shielding partition has a storage unit in which the optical information reading unit is stored.

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