JPH11231431A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To restrain the lowering of light quantity with time by exposing a silver halide color photosensitive material moving relatively to a recording part by using the recording part having an optical recording head provided with a driver IC being the driving element of a light emitting dot outside a high vacuum vessel. SOLUTION: This device is provided with a light emitting dot train 19 constituted by arranging phosphors 18 to be set in array of one or plural rows on a base plate (constituting a part of the high vacuum vessel 16) 17 in the high vacuum vessel 16, plural wire-type cathodes 20 stretched above the dot train 19, and an insulating layer 21 covering over at least a part of the base plate in the vicinity of the dot train 19. The recording part is constituted by providing an image-formation optical system outside the vessel 16 and also providing the driver IC 22 being the driving element of the dot train 19 outside the vessel 16. Then, photographic paper consisting of the silver halide color photosensitive material is moved relatively to the recording part so as to perform the exposure.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus which uses a recording section arranged in an array and exposes a silver halide color photosensitive material which moves relatively to the recording section to form an image. Things.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a technique for recording a color image on a color silver halide photographic material using a light source arranged in an array (hereinafter referred to as an "array light source"). This technology includes V
FPH (Vacuum Flourescent Pr)
An apparatus using a print head having a vacuum fluorescent tube light source called "int Head" has been proposed.

[0003] The vacuum fluorescent tube light source (VFPH) is characterized in that high brightness can be easily obtained, high-speed response, and thinness. The phosphor used here is mainly a zinc oxide phosphor (ZnO: Z) from the viewpoint of durability.
n) is selected.

Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 7, a VFPH is a substrate (constituting a part of the container 1) 72 in a high vacuum container 71.
A light emitting dot row 74 in which phosphors 73 are arranged in an array of one row or a plurality of rows on the electrodes, a wire-shaped cathode 75 extending above an intermediate portion of the light emitting dot row 74, An insulating layer 76 covering at least a part of the substrate in the vicinity of the dot row 74, and an imaging optical system (not shown) for imaging light from the light emitting dot row 74 is provided outside the container 1. The driver IC 77 which is a driving element of the light emitting dot row 74 is provided in the container 1.

[0005]

However, the above-mentioned conventional VPPH is left unused in the state of use because a residual gas component such as CO ₂ exists in the container 71 due to its production, even though it is in a high vacuum. And phosphor 7 constituting light emitting dot row 74
There is a possibility that the gas is adsorbed on the surface of No. 3 and the emission luminance is reduced. Therefore, the color and density vary with time, and it is not only difficult to maintain a stable print quality, but also to maintain a stable print quality, adjustments such as set-up are required every day, which is extremely troublesome.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a stable image forming apparatus in which the amount of light does not decrease with time. Another object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus which can always obtain the same print quality with the same color and density.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a light emitting dot array in which phosphors are arranged in one or a plurality of arrays on a substrate in a high vacuum container.
An imaging optic having a wire-shaped cathode stretched over the light emitting dot row, and an insulating layer covering at least a part of a substrate near the light emitting dot row, and forming light from the light emitting dot; A system is provided outside the high vacuum vessel, and a driver IC, which is the light emitting dot driving element, is provided outside the high vacuum vessel using a recording unit having an optical recording head. It is characterized by exposing a silver halide color light-sensitive material that moves to a high vacuum when manufacturing a high-vacuum container. It was configured such that the gas component adhering to was not brought in.

Further, the invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that the focal length of the image forming optical system is 7 mm or more, so that it can be made compact and the depth of focus can be increased. .

Further, the invention according to claim 3 is characterized in that the imaging optical system is a self-occurring lens array, and is configured so that the entire apparatus can be reduced in size and cost.

Further, the invention according to claim 4 is characterized in that the cell hook lens array is constituted by quadruple staggered rod lenses, and the cell hook lens array is sufficiently formed by using a long focal length rod lens. The system is configured so that brightness can be secured, and high-quality prints with high resolution, high speed, and good sharpness can be obtained.

Further, the invention according to claim 5 is characterized in that a plurality of the cathodes are arranged in parallel, so that electrons emitted from each cathode do not interfere with each other between the light emitting dot rows. , So that a constant light emission amount is always obtained.

Further, the invention according to claim 6 is characterized in that a conductive shielding member for covering a part of the insulating layer is provided outside the light emitting dot row, and a charge is provided on the surface of the insulating layer. Is stored, and the mutual interference between the accumulated charge and the electrons emitted from the cathode is reduced.

[0013]

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an image printer to which the present invention is applied, FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view in which a recording unit is enlarged, and FIG. 3 is a silver halide color photosensitive material (photographic paper).
FIG. 4 is an enlarged explanatory view showing the relationship between the image forming unit and the recording unit.
5A and 5B show a part of the configuration of an FPH, in which FIG. 5A is a cross-sectional view of a high-vacuum container, FIG. 5B is a diagram showing the relationship between a light emitting dot array and a cathode, and FIG. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view, and FIG. 6 is a partial perspective view of a cell hook lens array constituting an imaging optical system used in the VFPH of the present invention.

Image printer body 1 to which the present invention is applied
As shown in FIG. 1, the image information captured by the scanner 5 is recorded in the recording unit 6 on the photographic paper 4 drawn out from the photographic paper magazine 2 by the transporting means 3 and then transported to the developing processing unit 7 for development. The paper is processed, cut by a cutter 8 into a predetermined size, and can be discharged onto a paper discharge tray 9. Needless to say, the cutting may be performed before the sheet is conveyed to the developing unit 7.

As shown in FIG. 2, the recording section 6 is pulled out by driving rollers 3a and 3b rotating in connection with a driving source (not shown), and a color silver halide photosensitive material stretched and supported between the rollers. Is transported in the direction of the arrow, a red light source print head 10 having an LED array
a, a green light source print head 10b and a blue light source print head 10c having a vacuum fluorescent tube array are subjected to exposure control in accordance with image data by a print head control unit 11 so that a predetermined position of the photographic paper 4 is exposed for each color. Will be When the exposure process is completed, the photographic paper 4 is conveyed to the developing unit 7 as described above, and an output image is obtained through a predetermined developing process.

As shown in FIG. 3, each of the print heads
A plurality of recording elements arranged in an array of one row or a plurality of rows are used, and a red light source print head 10a combines an LED array 12 having a recording element density of 300 dpi with a cell hoc lens array as an imaging optical system 13a. Is adopted.

The green light source print head 10b and the blue light source print head 10c include vacuum fluorescent tube arrays 14a and 14b of 300 dpi and a cell hook lens array combined as imaging optical systems 13b and 13c. A combination of filters 15a and 15b for color separation is employed.

The vacuum fluorescent tube arrays 14a, 14b here
A combination of the above and the cell hook lens array (imaging optical system) 13 is referred to as the above-mentioned “VFPH”. It is characterized by the provision.

The details of the VFPH of the present invention are shown in FIGS. That is, the substrate in the high vacuum container 16 (the container 16
The light emitting dot row 19 in which the phosphors 18 are arranged in an array of one row or a plurality of rows on 17 and a plurality of wire-shaped wires stretched over the light emitting dot row 19 are formed. A cathode 20 and an insulating layer 21 covering at least a part of the substrate near the light emitting dot row 19 are provided. The insulating layer 21 mainly covers the wiring 23 connecting the phosphor 18 and the driver IC 22 so as not to be affected by the amount of electrons emitted from the cathode 20.

The phosphor 1 constituting the light emitting dot row 19
Numeral 8 emits light when hit by the electrons emitted from the cathode 20, and as shown in FIG. 5, is reflected by the reflecting plate 24 and passes through the image forming optical system 13 composed of a cell hook lens array to form photographic paper (silver halide color). (Photosensitive material) 4. The imaging optical system 13 is provided outside the container 16, and a driver IC 22 which is a driving element of the light emitting dot row 19 is also provided outside the container 16 to constitute the recording unit 6.

The driver I as the light emitting dot driving element
The reason for providing C22 outside the container is that it is possible to draw a high vacuum while the inside of the container 16 is at a high temperature, and that the gas component adhering to the surface of the driver IC 22 has a high vacuum. Regulates being brought into the container 16,
This is to eliminate the cause of the decrease in luminance of the phosphor due to the presence of the gas component in the container.

When the driver IC 22 is provided outside the container, the horizontal size is enlarged in proportion to the structure. However, as shown in FIG. In addition, there is an additional effect that a long focal length (7 mm or more) cell hoc lens array can be used as the imaging optical system 13, that is, there is an advantage that the depth of focus can be increased.

As the image forming optical system 13 of the recording element, a roof mirror lens array or the like may be used in place of the cell hook lens array. However, the cell hook lens array is used for realizing miniaturization and cost reduction of the whole apparatus. There are benefits that can contribute.

The long focal length (7 mm or more) cell hook lens array has a lower light quantity than the conventional 5 mm cell hook lens array.
As described above, it is effective to form a bright and high resolving power by using four staggered rod lenses 26. If more light is required, the voltage of the light emitting dot electrode (anode) may be increased.

In the VFPH of the present invention, the cathode 20
Although a plurality of the electrodes are arranged side by side, this is effective for increasing the amount of electrons emitted from the cathode 20. Further, in the case where the phosphors 18 are arranged in a plurality of rows, if the cathodes 20 are provided corresponding to each of the rows, the electrons emitted from the cathodes have less mutual interference between the rows, so that the cathodes always have a constant value. This is effective in that a light emission amount can be obtained.

The whole or a part of the insulating layer 21 is covered with a conductive shielding member 25. This limits the accumulation of charges on the surface of the insulating layer 21 and the insulating layer 2
When the electric charge is accumulated in the cell 1, a mutual interference action occurs between the accumulated electric charge and the electron newly emitted from the cathode, so that a necessary light emission amount cannot be obtained. It is.

The photographic paper 4 made of the silver halide color photosensitive material is moved relatively to the recording section 6 so that exposure is performed. Although the photographic paper 2 has been described as a roll, it may be cut paper.

The transport means 3 for the photographic paper 2 need not be limited to the drive rollers 3a and 3b shown in FIG. Also, in a method in which the printing head is moved while the photographic paper 2 is fixed,
A method in which the photographic paper and the print head move together may be used.

The recording operation of the VFPH of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The red light source print head 10a having the LED array 12, the green light source print head 10b having the vacuum fluorescent tube array 14a, and the blue light source print head 10c having the vacuum fluorescent tube array 14b are provided side by side in the transport direction of the photographic paper 4. When the exposure control according to the image data is performed by the print head control unit 11, the irradiation light forms an image on the photographic printing paper 4 by the cell hook lens arrays 13a, 13b, and 13c, and each color component is recorded.

The green light source print head 10b and the blue light source print head 10c have a yellow filter 15a and a blue filter 15b for color separation, respectively. An ND filter or the like for adjusting the amount of light may be added to each print head as needed.

A yellow filter 15a is used for the green color separation.
Is used because the yellow filter has higher transmittance of green light than the green filter. Generally, about 40 filters are used for blue, green and red color separation.
Approximately 5 in the visible light range from 0 nm to 700 nm.
A blue filter that mainly transmits wavelengths shorter than 00 nm,
A green filter mainly transmitting light between about 500 nm and 600 nm, and a red filter mainly transmitting light having a wavelength longer than about 600 nm are used.

The case of performing one-line color recording at point a of the photographic paper 4 will be described with reference to FIG. First,
The print head controller 11 transfers one line of red image data, green image data, and blue image data to each print head. The transport means 3 is a photographic paper 4 at a constant speed.
Are transported in the direction of the arrow, and when the point a reaches the image forming point of the red light source print head 10a, the red light source print head 10a responds to the image data under the control of the print head control unit 11. After exposure, red image data is recorded on the photographic paper 4.

As the photographic paper 4 is sequentially conveyed, the point a is the same as described above in accordance with the timing at which the point a reaches the image formation point of the green light source print head 10b and the image formation point of the blue light source print head 10c, respectively. Exposure control is performed to perform color recording on point a. By repeating such an operation for all lines, a color image can be recorded in a predetermined area on the photographic paper 4.

In FIG. 3, the printing operation has been described as an example of an array in which the printing elements are arranged for one line of image data.
Even in an array in which a plurality of recording elements are arranged or in a two-dimensional panel, a color image is recorded by appropriately controlling the image forming position of each print head with the recording position on photographic paper and performing exposure control. It can be performed.

As another embodiment of the present invention, LE
Similar effects can be obtained even when image recording is performed by combining a shutter array such as a backlight, a filter, a liquid crystal shutter array, and a PLZT (lead, lanthanum, zirconium, titanium, composite oxide) optical shutter array in addition to D. Is possible.

[0036]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, a conventional VFPH and a VFP of the present invention will be described.
Compare with H. Conventional VFPH; high vacuum container 71
A light emitting dot row 74 is formed by arranging phosphors 73 in two rows in a staggered manner on a substrate 72 inside, and a wire-shaped cathode 75 is extended over the middle of the light emitting dot row. And a driver I as a driving element of the light emitting dot row 74.
C77 is provided in the container 1, and the wiring connecting the light emitting dot row 74 and the driver IC 77 is covered with an insulating layer 76 (see FIG. 7).

VFPH of the present invention; a light emitting dot row 19 in which phosphors 18 are arranged in a staggered two-row array on a substrate 17 in a high vacuum vessel 16 is formed. One wire-shaped cathode 20 is extended above each of them, and a driver IC 22 which is a driving element of the light emitting dot row 19 is provided outside the container 16, and the light emitting dot row and the driver IC are connected to each other in the container. The wiring 23 is covered with an insulating layer 21 and the insulating layer 21 is further covered with a shielding member 25 (see FIG. 4).

Next, drive conditions are set. Cathode (filament) 6.4 Vrms 100 KHz Light emitting dot electrode (anode) 45 V Grid (not shown) 45 V Conductive shielding member (shield electrode) 5 V

The conventional VFPH and the VFP of the present invention
H, a printer leaving test was performed. At this time, (a) the developing solution is a single color of B, G, and R, and a condition is set in which the density of each of the Y, M, and C colors is 1.0. That is, B single color exposure → Y color → B density 1.00 G single color exposure → M color → G density 1.00 R single color exposure → C color → R density 1.00 (B, G, R density 1.00 , X-rite densitometer.)

(B) One month after standing, printing was carried out under the same conditions, and the density was measured. The following results were obtained (the developing solution was in the same standard state as in (a) above and the same color paper). Conventional VFPH VFPH of the present invention B concentration 0.92 B concentration 0.99 G concentration 0.90 G concentration 1.01 R concentration 1.01 R concentration 1.00 From the above results, the VFPH of the present invention is stable on standing. You can see that

[0041]

As described above, the present invention relates to a light emitting dot array in which a phosphor is arranged in one or a plurality of arrays on a substrate constituting a part of a container in a high vacuum container. When,
An imaging optic having a wire-shaped cathode stretched over the light emitting dot row, and an insulating layer covering at least a part of a substrate near the light emitting dot row, and forming light from the light emitting dot; A system is provided outside the high vacuum vessel, and a driver IC, which is the light emitting dot driving element, is provided outside the high vacuum vessel using a recording unit having an optical recording head. It is characterized by exposing the silver halide color photosensitive material that moves to a high vacuum when manufacturing a high vacuum container, and gas components are not brought into the high vacuum container, and Therefore, it is possible to provide a stable image forming apparatus in which the amount of light is less reduced.

Further, the invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that the focal length of the imaging optical system is 7 mm or more, so that the width of the recording section and the photosensitive material in the relative movement direction is small. The present invention has an excellent effect that it can be made compact and a high-quality print with a large depth of focus can be obtained.

Further, the invention according to claim 3 is characterized in that the image forming optical system is a self-hoc lens array, and therefore an excellent effect that the entire apparatus can be reduced in size and cost. Is played.

Furthermore, the invention according to claim 4 is characterized in that the cell hook lens array is constituted by quadruple staggered rod lenses, so that it is bright, has high resolution, and is sharp at high speed. This provides an excellent effect that a high-quality print with good properties can be obtained.

Further, the invention according to claim 5 is characterized in that a plurality of the cathodes are arranged in parallel, so that electrons emitted from each cathode have less mutual interference between the light emitting dot rows. That is, an excellent effect that a constant light emission amount is always obtained and a high-quality print with no unevenness in density is obtained can be obtained.

Further, the invention according to claim 6 is characterized in that a conductive shielding member that covers a part of the insulating layer is provided outside the light emitting dot row, so that the surface of the insulating layer is provided. This reduces the amount of charge accumulated in the charge, and reduces the mutual interference between electrons emitted from the cathode and the accumulated charge. It has an excellent effect that it can be performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of an image printer to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view in which a recording unit is enlarged.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged explanatory view showing the relationship between a silver halide color photosensitive material (photographic paper) and a recording unit.

FIG. 4 shows a part of the configuration of the VFPH of the present invention,
(A) is a cross-sectional view of a high-vacuum container, and (b) is a relationship diagram between a light emitting dot row and a cathode.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration of the VFPH of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a partial perspective view of a cell hoc lens array constituting an imaging optical system used in the VFPH of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a part of the configuration of a conventional VFPH.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image printer main body 2 Printing paper magazine 3 Conveying means 3a, 3b, drive roller 4 Printing paper (silver halide color photosensitive material) 5 Scanner 6 Recording part 7 Development processing part 8 Cutter 9 Discharge tray 10a Red light source print head 10b Green Light source print head 10c Blue light source print head 11 Print head control unit 12 LED array 13 (13a, 13b, 13c) Imaging optical system 14a, 14b Vacuum fluorescent tube array 15a, 15b Filter for color separation 16 High vacuum container 17 Substrate 18 Phosphor 19 Light emitting dot row 20 Cathode 21 Insulating layer 22 Driver IC 23 Wiring 24 Reflector 25 Shielding member 26 Rod lens

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A light emitting dot array in which one or more phosphors are arranged on a substrate constituting a part of a container in a high vacuum container, and a phosphor dot array above the light emitting dot line. A high-vacuum container, comprising: a wire-shaped cathode stretched over the substrate; and an insulating layer that covers at least a part of the substrate near the light emitting dot row. Using a recording unit having an optical recording head provided outside of the high vacuum container and a driver IC serving as the light emitting dot driving element, and moving relative to the recording unit. An image forming apparatus for exposing a color photosensitive material. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a focal length of said image forming optical system is 7 mm or more. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming optical system is a cell hook lens array. 4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the cell hook lens array is formed of four staggered rod lenses. 5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the cathodes are arranged in parallel. 6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a conductive shielding member that covers a part of the insulating layer is provided outside the light emitting dot row.