JP2885229B2 - Recording device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording apparatus such as a typesetting machine, a type setter, and an imagesetter, which can handle both heat-sensitive materials and chemical-process light-sensitive materials.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A recording apparatus forms a latent image by irradiating a film-shaped photosensitive material with laser light in a main scanning direction and transporting the photosensitive material in a sub-scanning direction. Thereafter, the photosensitive material on which the latent image has been formed undergoes a developing process by a developing machine.

Here, these photosensitive materials are roughly classified into a photosensitive material for heat treatment in which only heat treatment is performed without performing chemical treatment at the time of development, and a photosensitive material for chemical treatment which carries out chemical treatment at the time of development.
By the way, when a photosensitive material for chemical treatment is used, waste liquid is generated after the chemical treatment, so that waste liquid treatment at the time of development requires a great deal of labor and cost. However, photosensitive materials for chemical treatment have been widely used, and developing machines for photosensitive materials for chemical treatment have been widely used. Also, the power of the laser beam when forming a latent image on the photosensitive material for chemical processing may be relatively small.

On the other hand, the heat-sensitive material for heat treatment does not emit waste liquid, and is therefore desirable in consideration of development processing. But,
The number of developing machines for heat-sensitive materials is very small as compared with those for chemical processing. When a heat-sensitive material for heat treatment is used, the power of laser light is required to be approximately 1000 times that of a light-sensitive material for chemical treatment when forming a latent image.

[0005]

[0007] Considering the labor and cost of development processing, it is originally more efficient to use only the heat-sensitive material, but in view of the actual prevalence, it is difficult to use the chemical processing material. At present, it is necessary to use wood. For this reason, there is a demand for a recording apparatus that can support both the heat-sensitive material and the chemical-process light-sensitive material, and can use the heat-sensitive material if possible, and can otherwise use the chemical-process light-sensitive material. .

However, in the conventional heat-sensitive material for heat treatment,
Since the required laser beam power was about 1000 times that of the photosensitive material for chemical treatment, virtually the same recording device
It was extremely difficult to handle both heat-sensitive materials and chemical-process light-sensitive materials. Therefore, the conventional recording apparatus has only a recording apparatus dedicated to the photosensitive material for chemical treatment and a recording apparatus dedicated to the photosensitive material for heat treatment, and cannot meet the above demand.

[0007] Recently, however, heat-sensitive materials capable of forming a latent image with a laser beam power several times to several tens times that of a chemical processing light-sensitive material have been developed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a recording apparatus which can handle both heat-sensitive materials and heat-sensitive materials for chemical treatment.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A recording apparatus according to the present invention is a recording apparatus for recording on a light-sensitive material by using a laser beam. Laser light scanning means for scanning laser light at a predetermined position, conveying means for conveying a photosensitive material to the predetermined position, and recording control means for controlling the laser light irradiation means to record on the conveyed photosensitive material And intensity switching means for switching the intensity of the laser light emitted at the predetermined position according to the type of the photosensitive material, and a synchronous sensor disposed outside a recording area for the photosensitive material on a scanning line by the laser light scanning means. A synchronizing signal generating means for generating a synchronizing signal for a recording operation based on an output from the synchronizing sensor, wherein the recording control means detects It is characterized in that to start recording to the sensitive material at a timing corresponding to the kind of photosensitive material.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording apparatus for performing recording on a light-sensitive material by using a laser beam, comprising: a laser beam irradiating unit for generating a laser beam; Laser light scanning means for scanning at a predetermined position, conveyance means for conveying the photosensitive material to the predetermined position, recording control means for controlling the laser light irradiation means to record on the conveyed photosensitive material, An intensity switching unit for switching the intensity of the laser light irradiated at the predetermined position according to the type of the photosensitive material, a synchronization sensor arranged outside a recording area for the photosensitive material on a scan line by the laser light scanning unit, and Synchronizing signal generating means for generating a synchronizing signal for a recording operation based on an output from a sensor, and a synchronizing signal delay means for delaying the synchronizing signal by a time corresponding to the type of the photosensitive material Has the door, said recording control means
The recording on the photosensitive material is started according to the output from the synchronization signal delay unit.

[0011] Still another aspect of the present invention is a recording apparatus for performing recording on a photosensitive material by using a laser beam, comprising: a laser beam irradiating unit for generating a laser beam; Laser light scanning means for scanning, conveying means for conveying the photosensitive material to the predetermined position, recording control means for controlling the laser light irradiation means to record on the conveyed photosensitive material, and type of the photosensitive material Intensity switching means for switching the intensity of the laser light irradiated at the predetermined position, a synchronization sensor disposed outside a recording area for the photosensitive material on a scanning line by the laser light scanning means, and an output from the synchronization sensor. Synchronizing signal generating means for generating a synchronizing signal for a recording operation by the recording control means by comparing the reference signal with a predetermined reference value; And means for switching the predetermined reference value in said recording control means, said synchronization signal
The recording on the photosensitive material is started according to the output from the generating means.

With this configuration, it is possible to realize a recording apparatus that can support both a heat-sensitive material and a chemical-process light-sensitive material.

[0013]

A recording apparatus according to claim 1 is a recording apparatus for performing recording on a photosensitive material by using a laser beam, comprising: a laser beam irradiating means for generating a laser beam; Laser beam scanning means for scanning a laser beam to be scanned at a predetermined position, transport means for transporting a photosensitive material to the predetermined position, and recording control for controlling the laser beam irradiating means to record on the transported photosensitive material. Means, intensity switching means for switching the intensity of the laser light emitted at the predetermined position according to the type of the photosensitive material, and a synchronous sensor disposed outside a recording area for the photosensitive material on a scanning line by the laser light scanning means. And a synchronizing signal generating means for generating a synchronizing signal for a recording operation based on an output from the synchronizing sensor, wherein the recording control means detects the synchronizing signal, and It is characterized in that to start recording to the sensitive material at a timing corresponding to the kind of photosensitive material.

With this configuration, even when the intensity of the laser beam input to the synchronous sensor differs depending on the type of the photosensitive material, recording can always be performed at a predetermined timing. Can be used for both sensitive materials.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording apparatus for performing recording on a light-sensitive material by using a laser beam, wherein the laser beam irradiating means for generating a laser beam and a laser beam generated from the laser beam irradiating means are provided. Laser light scanning means for scanning light at a predetermined position, conveying means for conveying the photosensitive material to the predetermined position, recording control means for controlling the laser light irradiating means to perform recording on the conveyed photosensitive material, An intensity switching means for switching the intensity of the laser light emitted at the predetermined position according to the type of the photosensitive material, and a synchronization sensor disposed outside a recording area for the photosensitive material on a scan line by the laser light scanning means, A synchronizing signal generating means for generating a synchronizing signal for a recording operation based on an output from the synchronizing sensor; and a synchronizing signal for time-delaying the synchronizing signal according to the type of the photosensitive material. And an extension unit, the recording control means is characterized in that to start recording to the sensitive material in accordance with an output from the sync signal delay means.

With this configuration, even when the intensity of the laser beam input to the synchronization sensor differs depending on the type of the photosensitive material, a synchronization signal can be always obtained at a predetermined timing.
A single recording device can support both heat-sensitive materials and chemical-process light-sensitive materials.

Further, a recording apparatus according to a third aspect of the present invention is a recording apparatus that performs recording on a photosensitive material by using a laser beam, wherein the laser beam irradiating means for generating a laser beam and a laser beam generated from the laser beam irradiating means are provided. Laser light scanning means for scanning light at a predetermined position, conveying means for conveying the photosensitive material to the predetermined position, recording control means for controlling the laser light irradiating means to perform recording on the conveyed photosensitive material, An intensity switching means for switching the intensity of the laser light emitted at the predetermined position according to the type of the photosensitive material, and a synchronization sensor disposed outside a recording area for the photosensitive material on a scan line by the laser light scanning means, A synchronizing signal generating unit that compares an output from the synchronizing sensor with a predetermined reference value to generate a synchronizing signal for a recording operation by the recording control unit, and according to a type of the photosensitive material. Serial and means for switching the predetermined reference value in the synchronization signal generating means, said recording control means, which is characterized in that to start the recording to the sensitive material in accordance with an output from said synchronizing signal generating means It is.

With this configuration, even when the intensity of the laser beam input to the synchronization sensor differs depending on the type of the photosensitive material, the synchronization signal is always obtained at a predetermined timing by switching the reference value for generating the synchronization signal. Thus, a single recording apparatus can be used for both heat-sensitive materials and heat-sensitive materials for chemical treatment.

(First Embodiment) Next, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Here, FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the recording apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, a light-sensitive material 2 made of a heat-sensitive material or a chemical-processed light-sensitive material having different amounts of light necessary for exposure and different development processes after exposure is rolled in a horizontally long photosensitive material box 1. It is wound and stored. At a predetermined position on the front surface of the photosensitive material box 1, a bar code label 3 is attached. The bar code of the bar code label 3 is determined by the type of the light-sensitive material and the size (width, etc.) of the light-sensitive material 2 in the light-sensitive material box 1 indicating whether the light-sensitive material 2 is a heat-sensitive material or a chemical processing light-sensitive material. Sensitive material information including information is displayed.
Bar code reader 4 as means for detecting the type of photosensitive material
Read by.

The photosensitive material 2 is pulled out vertically upward from the photosensitive material box 1 to form a horizontal feed roller 5 and a feed roller 5.
And is transported in the sub-scanning direction Y. The feed roller 5 is driven by a feed motor 7 as a transport unit, and rotates in a direction to feed the photosensitive material 2 in the sub-scanning direction Y.

Next, the laser beam irradiation means will be described. The laser irradiator 8 outputs a laser beam having a power corresponding to the heat-sensitive material for heat treatment, and this laser beam is scanned in the main scanning direction by a polygon mirror 9 as a laser beam scanning means. The light passes through the lens 12 and becomes a spot light, which is emitted from the photosensitive material box 1 onto a horizontal line (predetermined position) at a certain height. A filter plate 31 is provided between the laser irradiator 8 and the polygon mirror 9, and the shaft 31 shown in FIG.
It rotates around a. Further, as shown in FIG. 7, two slits 31 b, 3
1c is provided, and a filter for attenuating the laser light output from the laser irradiator 8 is attached only to the slit 31b side. The filter switching unit 32 sets either the slit 31b or the slit 31c on the optical path of the laser beam in accordance with the type of the photosensitive material 2 so that the slit 31b is formed when the photosensitive material 2 is a chemical processing photosensitive material. The laser light attenuated by the filter through the filter, and the laser light that is not attenuated through the slit 31c in the case of the heat-sensitive material,
The photosensitive material 2 is irradiated.

On this horizontal line and on the left side of the photosensitive material 2, a mirror 13 for reflecting spot light and a mirror 1
A line sensor 14 for receiving a spot light whose optical path has been changed in 3 is arranged.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the recording apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 2, the CPU
Reference numeral 17 controls other components according to the flowchart shown in FIG. RAM as data storage means
18 is accessed by the CPU 17 and the RAM 18
The data of each line is stored as image data configured as shown in FIG.

In FIG. 3, FIG. 3A shows the structure of one line of image data in the case of a heat-sensitive material, and FIG. 3B shows the structure of one line of image data in the case of a chemical processing light-sensitive material. It is. Here, the head address A0 (B0) of one line
To the data left end address A1 (B1), white data unrelated to the print data is stored, and print data from the data left end address A1 (B1) to the data right end address A2 (B2) is stored in the forward direction. That is, from the start address A0 (B0) to the data left end address A1 (B1)
The white data stored until is the data corresponding to the length from the line sensor 14 to the left end of the photosensitive material 2, and
Reference numeral 17 sets the white data according to the size of the photosensitive material 2. The reason why the length of the white data differs by m between the heat-sensitive material and the chemical processing light-sensitive material is that the rising timing of the line sync signal a differs depending on the type of the light-sensitive material as described later.

Now, referring to FIG.
Reference numeral 9 is for exchanging information with an external host (not shown) to which the recording apparatus is connected. Also,
The motor control unit 20 includes a motor driver, and includes a CPU
Under the control of 17, the polygon motor 10 and the feed motor 7 are driven. As a result, the polygon mirror 9 rotates in the direction of arrow N in FIG. 1, and the motor control unit 20 rotates the feed motor 7 to convey the photosensitive material 2 in the sub-scanning direction Y.

The comparison circuit 21 outputs a line sync signal a based on the output from the line sensor 14. As shown in FIG. 6, two types of outputs V1 (in the case of a heat-sensitive material) or V2 (in the case of a chemical processing light-sensitive material) are output from the line sensor 14, depending on the type of the light-sensitive material 2. That is, in the case of the heat-sensitive material for heat treatment, the line sensor 14 is irradiated with a relatively strong laser beam as compared with the case of the light-sensitive material for chemical treatment, so that the output V1 is larger than the output V2.

The comparison circuit 21 generates a line sync signal a at a timing when the output from the line sensor 14 exceeds a predetermined level L. Accordingly, as is apparent from FIG. 6, the rising time t1 of the line sync signal a with respect to the rotation cycle of the polygon mirror 9 in the case of the heat-sensitive material,
There is a time difference n at time t2 in the case of a photosensitive material for chemical processing.
Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, the CPU 17 switches the length of the white data to adjust the margin from the rising of the line sync signal a to the start of printing.

The dot clock generation circuit 22 includes a CPU 1
7 starts to generate a high-frequency clock, and sends a dot clock d to the print control unit 23.
Output as

The print controller 23 receives the print permission signal e from the CPU 17, reads out the data stored in the RAM 18 only when the print permission signal e indicates "permission", and outputs the data as a laser control means. The print data f is output to the control unit 24. The laser control unit 24 outputs the laser lighting signal g to the laser irradiator 8 based on the print data f, and receives the forced lighting signal b from the CPU 17 irrespective of the print data f.
Lights up. In addition, when the photosensitive material type of the photosensitive material information acquired from the barcode reader 4 is a photosensitive material for chemical processing, the CPU 17 determines that the slit 31b of the filter plate 31 is located on the optical path of the laser light. Is controlled, and in the case of a heat-sensitive material, control is performed such that the slit 32c is positioned on the optical path.

FIG. 4 is a control flowchart of the recording apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a timing chart of the recording apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Next, the operation of the recording apparatus of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. First, in step 1, the CPU 17 waits until the photosensitive material 2 is correctly set. Then, when set, in step 2,
The light-sensitive material information is acquired from the barcode reader 4 and the light-sensitive material type of the light-sensitive material 2 is checked. In step 3, when the photosensitive material 2 is a photosensitive material for chemical treatment, a slit 31b with a filter is provided. When the photosensitive material 2 is a photosensitive material for heat treatment, a slit 31c without a filter is provided. The filter switching unit 32 is controlled so as to be located on the optical path of light.

Next, in step 4, the process waits until there is a print start instruction from an external host via the interface 19. When there is a print start instruction, the received print data is written to the RAM 18 at step 5. At this time, when the photosensitive material 2 is a heat-sensitive material for heat treatment, FIG.
In the case of a photosensitive material for chemical processing, as shown in FIG. 3B, white data corresponding to the size of the photosensitive material 2 is added to each line. Then, a printing process to be described later is performed on all data written in the RAM 18 (step 6).

This printing process follows the time chart of FIG. The CPU 17 activates the compulsory lighting signal b until 0.95 × T1 (T1 is one cycle) from the rise of the line sync signal a until the rise of the next line sync signal a. Lighting signal g
Turns on. That is, here, the laser irradiator 8 is forcibly turned on outside the printing area by the line sensor 14 in order to achieve horizontal synchronization.

When the spot light enters the line sensor 14, the line sync signal a becomes active. At this timing, the CPU 17 activates the clock generation signal c (LO active) and the print permission signal e. Note that the time from the rise of a certain line sync signal a to the rise of the next line sync signal a is the cycle T1 of the printing process for one line.

Here, since the clock generation signal c becomes active, the dot clock generation circuit 22
In response to the notification of No. 17, the output of the dot clock d of the cycle t1 to the print control unit 23 starts. Further, since the print permission signal e becomes active, the print control unit 23 reads out the print data for one line from the RAM 18. However, at this time, reading is performed from the head address A0, and the data is white data, so that the laser lighting signal g reflects only the forced lighting signal b. Next, when the spot light passes through the line sensor 14, the line sync signal a becomes non-active, and in synchronism therewith, the CPU 17 makes the forced lighting signal b non-active.

Next, the address of the RAM 18 becomes the data left end address A1, and thereafter, exposure recording reflecting print data is performed in accordance with the dot clock d. Then, at a timing when a certain time (0.95 × T1) obtained by multiplying the period T1 by a certain coefficient (0.95 in this embodiment) from the rise of the line sync signal a has passed, in preparation for horizontal synchronization of the next line. Activate the forced lighting signal b.

In the embodiment, the power of the laser light is switched by a filter between the case of the heat-sensitive material and the case of the chemical material, but this is due to the power of the laser light itself emitted from the laser irradiator. May be switched.

Further, in the present embodiment, in the case of a heat-sensitive material for heat treatment, the laser light from the laser irradiator 8 is irradiated to the light-sensitive material 2 without attenuating. Due to the relationship of the operating point, the slit 31c
In addition, there is no problem even if a filter having a smaller attenuation rate than the filter of the slit 31b is attached.

(Embodiment 2) Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

In the second embodiment, the comparison circuit 21
A delay circuit 81 is provided between the CPU 17 and the CPU 17. As in the first embodiment (FIG. 6), an output V1 or V2 corresponding to the incident laser light is output from the line sensor 14 (FIG. 6).
In the comparison circuit 21, the output V1 or V2 is set to a predetermined level L
, A rectangular wave i having a predetermined width is output. The square wave i is shifted by a time n with respect to the rotation cycle of the polygon mirror 9 in the case of the photosensitive material for heat treatment and the photosensitive material for chemical treatment.

Therefore, when the photosensitive material 2 is a heat-sensitive material, the delay circuit 81 delays the rectangular wave i by the time n in accordance with the instruction from the CPU 17 and outputs it as a line sync signal a. Thus, the line sync signal a is always output to the CPU 17 at a predetermined timing with respect to the rotation cycle of the polygon mirror 9 regardless of the type of the photosensitive material 2, and therefore, as in the first embodiment, There is no need to switch the length of the white data in the image data according to the type of the material 2.

(Embodiment 3) In the case of the third embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIGS.
At 1, the reference level for generating the line sync signal a is switched. That is, the CPU 17 sets the reference level to L1 when the light-sensitive material 2 is a heat-sensitive material, or sets the reference level to L2 when the light-sensitive material 2 is a chemical processing light-sensitive material, and the line sync signal a always has the same timing. Output.

In the practice of the present invention, not only the case where the above-described embodiment is implemented alone, but also a combination of these embodiments can be considered.

[0044]

The present invention is configured as described above.
The heat-sensitive material for heat treatment that does not require waste liquid treatment and the widely used light-sensitive material for chemical treatment can be used without any problem.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a recording apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a recording apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a data configuration diagram of one line according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a control flowchart of the recording apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a timing chart of the recording apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an output of a line sensor of the printing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram of a filter plate according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a recording apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a recording apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an output of a line sensor of a printing apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Sensitive Material Box 2 Sensitive Material 3 Barcode Label 4 Barcode Reader 5 Feed Roller 6 Guide Roller 7 Feed Motor 8 Laser Irradiator 9 Polygon Mirror 10 Polygon Motor 11 Fθ Lens 12 Long Lens 14 Line Sensor 17 CPU

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (56) References JP-A-4-337763 (JP, A) JP-A-7-250229 (JP, A) JP-A-7-212530 (JP, A) (58) Survey Field (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B41J 2/44 G02B 26/10

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A recording apparatus for recording on a photosensitive material by a laser beam, comprising: a laser beam irradiating unit for generating a laser beam; and a laser beam scanning a laser beam generated from the laser beam irradiating unit at a predetermined position. Scanning means, transport means for transporting the photosensitive material to the predetermined position, recording control means for controlling the laser beam irradiation means to record on the transported photosensitive material, and the predetermined position depending on the type of the photosensitive material. An intensity switching means for switching the intensity of the laser light to be irradiated, a synchronous sensor arranged outside a recording area for the photosensitive material on a scanning line by the laser light scanning means, and recording based on an output from the synchronous sensor. Synchronizing signal generating means for generating a synchronizing signal for an operation, wherein the recording control means detects the synchronizing signal, and at a timing corresponding to the type of the photosensitive material, Recording apparatus characterized by starting the recording on the wood. 2. A recording apparatus for performing recording on a photosensitive material by a laser beam, comprising: a laser beam irradiating unit for generating a laser beam; and a laser beam scanning a laser beam generated from the laser beam irradiating unit at a predetermined position. Scanning means, transport means for transporting the photosensitive material to the predetermined position, recording control means for controlling the laser beam irradiation means to record on the transported photosensitive material, and the predetermined position depending on the type of the photosensitive material. An intensity switching means for switching the intensity of the laser light to be irradiated, a synchronous sensor arranged outside a recording area for the photosensitive material on a scanning line by the laser light scanning means, and recording based on an output from the synchronous sensor. A synchronizing signal generating means for generating a synchronizing signal for operation, and a synchronizing signal delaying means for delaying the synchronizing signal by a time corresponding to the type of the light-sensitive material; The recording apparatus characterized by starting the recording onto the sensitive material in accordance with an output from the sync signal delay means. 3. A recording apparatus for performing recording on a photosensitive material by a laser beam, comprising: a laser beam irradiating unit for generating a laser beam; and a laser beam scanning a laser beam generated from the laser beam irradiating unit at a predetermined position. Scanning means, transport means for transporting the photosensitive material to the predetermined position, recording control means for controlling the laser beam irradiation means to record on the transported photosensitive material, and the predetermined position depending on the type of the photosensitive material. Intensity switching means for switching the intensity of the laser light to be applied at a time, a synchronous sensor arranged outside a recording area for the photosensitive material on a scanning line by the laser light scanning means, and an output from the synchronous sensor and a predetermined reference A synchronizing signal generating means for comparing values and generating a synchronizing signal for a recording operation by the recording control means; and a predetermined synchronizing signal generating means according to the type of the photosensitive material. And means for switching the reference value,
The recording apparatus, wherein the recording control unit starts recording on the photosensitive material in accordance with an output from the synchronization signal generating unit.