JP2000310815A - Optical printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a color printer easily carried. SOLUTION: This optical printer is equipped with instant film 40, a light source, a light transmission body 2 making light from the light source incident from one side end and emitting the light from its surface, a liquid crystal shutter 3 modulating and outputting the light from the body 2 in accordance with image information, scanning means (57 and 58) moving the light source, the body 2 and the shutter 3 in a direction along one side of the photosensitive surface of the film 40. Based on the image information, the shutter 3 is driven and the surface of the film 40 is exposed to form an image on the film 40.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an optical printer for exposing a recording medium having a photosensitive material such as an instant film to form an image on the recording medium based on image information.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the spread of digital still cameras and digital video cameras, the demand for color printers for printing image information has been increasing.

A printing method in a color printer is as follows.
Various, but small, high-quality color printers,
There is a sublimation type thermal transfer printer. A sublimation type thermal transfer printer uses a thermal head and a color ink ribbon coated with a sublimation dye. By heating the thermal head, the dye on the ink ribbon is sublimated and a color image is recorded on a receiving paper. It is.

The above-mentioned sublimation type thermal transfer printer requires an ink ribbon, a thermal head, and the like, and also requires a power supply unit for driving the thermal head. There was a drawback that portability was poor.

[0005]

However, in recent years,
With the integration of portable information terminals and communication, the spread of digital still cameras, and the like, it is desired that image information can be printed without any restrictions.

As a small and portable printer, an optical printer for printing image information on an instant film is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-90513 (G03B 27/0).
It is disclosed in 2). This printer forms an image on a photosensitive surface of an instant film using a lens array in which minute lenses are arranged.

In the above-described optical printer, the recording system is simplified and the size of the apparatus can be reduced by using the instant film. However, since a lens array in which minute lenses are arranged is used to scan the lens array to form an image on the photosensitive surface of the instant film, an expensive lens array is required.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a color printer which can be easily carried around in view of the above-mentioned conventional needs.

[0009]

According to the present invention, there is provided an optical printer comprising: a recording medium having a photosensitive material; a light emitting means; and a light guide for emitting light from the surface by receiving light from the light emitting means from one end. A light body, a scanning means for moving at least the light emitting means and the light guide in a direction along one side of the photosensitive surface of the recording medium, and a liquid crystal for modulating and outputting light from the light guide according to image information And a shutter means, wherein the liquid crystal shutter means is driven based on the image information to expose a recording medium to form an image on the recording medium.

Further, according to the present invention, a liquid crystal panel having a small number of pixels in the scanning direction of the scanning means is used as the liquid crystal shutter, and the liquid crystal panel is caused to scan together with the light emitting means and the light guide. it can.

Further, according to the present invention, the liquid crystal shutter may be constituted by an area-shaped liquid crystal panel having a size covering a photosensitive surface of a recording medium.

According to the present invention, a color liquid crystal panel can be used as the liquid crystal shutter, and white light can be emitted from the light emitting means.

Further, the present invention provides RGB light in a time-division manner, emits R light when the liquid crystal shutter is driven based on R image information, and emits the R light based on G image information. Is driving,
It can be configured to emit G light and emit B light when the liquid crystal shutter is driven based on the image information for B.

The light-emitting means includes a light-emitting element for R, a light-emitting element for G, and a light-emitting element for B, and a detecting section for detecting the brightness of each of the light-emitting elements. It is preferable to adjust the light intensity of each light emitting element.

Further, the light intensity of R, G, B can be adapted to correspond to the light sensitivity of R, G, B of the recording medium.

The light-emitting means may be a light-emitting element for R,
A light-emitting element for B and a light-emitting element for B, and a detection unit for detecting the brightness of each of the light-emitting elements, and a control time of the liquid crystal shutter is adjusted based on a detection result of the detection unit. it can.

By using the light source and the light guide as described above, the exposure optical system can be simplified, and a color printer excellent in portability can be provided.

[0018]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

A schematic configuration of the optical printer according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In this embodiment, a self-developing type instant film was used as a recording medium having a photosensitive material.

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural view showing an optical printer of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing a recording system of the optical printer of the present invention. In this example, light from a light source 1 composed of a cold cathode tube, a light emitting diode element, an organic EL (electroluminescence) element and the like is exposed on a self-developing type instant film 40 using a light guide 2 and a liquid crystal shutter 3. Then, image information is recorded on the instant film 40.

As shown in FIG. 2, in this embodiment,
The light guide 2 is formed of a translucent flat plate having a wedge-shaped cross section, and the light source 1 is disposed on one of the side end surfaces of the light guide 2. Light from the light source 1 is provided to the light guide 2. Light that has entered the light guide 2 from the light source 1 is propagated without being biased to the entire region due to total reflection in the translucent flat plate. A part of the propagated light is diffused and reflected by the light scattering reflector provided on the surface of the light guide 2 opposite to the surface facing the instant film 40, and the light is diffused from the light guide 2 at a angle smaller than the critical angle. Is released as

The light emitted from the light guide plate 2 is desired to be as parallel as possible in order to form an image from the liquid crystal shutter 3 on the photosensitive surface of the instant film 40. For this reason, although not shown, for example, parallel light is formed by using two lenticular lens sheets superposed at right angles. That is, a lens sheet having a triangular prism type lenticular lens projection on one surface and a smooth surface on the other surface is superposed at right angles, and the light converging action of the lens is used to spread the diffused light at a desired angle. Diffuse uniformly and isotropically within the range.

A liquid crystal shutter 3 composed of a liquid crystal panel is provided close to or in close contact with the light exit surface of the light guide 2.

As will be described later, the liquid crystal shutter 3
The transmission / non-transmission of light from the light guide 2 is controlled by a signal from the LCD driver 55 according to the image information, and the photosensitive surface of the instant film 40 is exposed.

In this embodiment, the liquid crystal shutter 3 is composed of a linear liquid crystal panel composed of one line of pixel dots.

The liquid crystal shutter 3 is sequentially supplied with R, G, and B three-color light from the light source 1 in a time-division manner, and the instant film 40 is exposed three times. For this reason, the light source 1 modulates a white light source into light of each color through three color filters, or uses an LED or an organic EL.
A light source 1 composed of light emitting elements of three colors using is prepared. When a color liquid crystal panel is used as the liquid crystal shutter 3, a white light source is used as the light source 1.

First, in this embodiment, a case where a monochrome liquid crystal panel is used as a liquid crystal panel will be described. For example, the photosensitive surface 40a of the instant film 40
Is 54 × 46 mm, a 640-dot linear liquid crystal panel is used.

The light source 1, the light guide 2, and the liquid crystal shutter 3
Forms a printer head 20, and the printer head 20 is scanned by an instant film 40
Is scanned over the photosensitive surface. The scanning means includes, for example, a stepping motor (not shown), rollers 57, 57 and a belt 58, and the printer head 20 is mounted on a belt 58 mounted on the rollers 57, 57 driven by the stepping motor. Then, under the control of the CPU 50, the motor driver 59 drives the stepping motor to move in the direction of the arrow in the drawing to perform scanning.

Then, image data photographed by a digital still camera or the like is stored in a flash memory, FD, or the like, and the data is captured by the CPU 50 via the data interface 51. The CPU 50 stores the captured image data in the image memory 52. CPU5
0 converts the image data stored in the image memory 52 into RGB image signals suitable for exposing the instant film 40 to light, and the converted RGB image data is stored in the buffer memory 54. For example, when the instant film 40 is exposed three times with R light, G light, and B light, first, R image data is supplied to the buffer memory 54 line by line. The light source 1 emits R light, and the R light is given to the light guide 2.

On the basis of the R image data supplied to the buffer memory 54, the LCD driver 55 drives the liquid crystal shutter 3, and exposure of one line of R light corresponding to the image data is performed on the surface of the instant film 40. Will be Thereafter, image signals are sequentially input, the printer head 20 is scanned by the motor driver 59, and when exposure of all the lines for the R image data is completed, the printer head 20 returns to the initial position. Subsequently, exposure of G light and B light is sequentially performed. That is, as shown in FIG.
The instant film 40 is scanned with R light (a), subsequently scanned with G light (b), and further scanned with B light (c).

When all the exposures have been completed, the instant film 40 is unillustrated by pins,
It is extruded to 6. Then, the CPU 50 drives the motor by the motor driver 53. This roller 56,
By 56, the instant film 40 is discharged.
When passing through these rollers 56, 56, the developing solution is spread on the emulsion surface of the instant film 40, and the instant film 40 is developed, and an image appears.

Further, the next instant film 40 in the film pack 4 is biased by a spring and is located at a fixed position facing the liquid crystal shutter 3.

In order to prevent light other than exposure from the liquid crystal shutter 3 from being exposed to the photosensitive surface of the instant film 40, a light-shielding curtain is provided between the film pack 4 and the liquid crystal shutter 3 to perform exposure. Only when necessary, the light-blocking curtain may be opened to supply light from the liquid crystal shutter 3. If the distance between the liquid crystal shutter 3 and the instant film 40 must be long due to the configuration of the device, an SLA may be used between the two.

Next, the configuration of the optical printer of the present invention will be further described.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing an exposure optical system of the optical printer of the present invention. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, as the light source 1, LED elements 10 R, 10 R, 10
G, 10B, and each LED element 10R ...
Is provided to the light incident surface of the light guide 2.

When exposing the R light, the R LED element 10 R emits light and the R light is given to the light guide 2. When exposing G light, the G LED element 10G emits light,
Light is provided to the light guide 2. When exposing B light,
The B LED element 10 </ b> B emits light, and B light is given to the light guide 2. By switching the LED elements that emit light in this way,
Exposure corresponding to each image is performed.

The light guide 2 is formed of a translucent flat plate having a wedge-shaped cross section, and one of the side end surfaces of the light guide 2 is provided with R, G, and B LEs.
D10R, 10G, and 10B are respectively arranged. The R, G, and B light that has entered the light guide 2 from the light source 1 is propagated without being biased to the entire region by total reflection in the translucent flat plate. A part of the propagated light is diffused and reflected by the light scattering reflector provided on the surface opposite to the surface of the light guide 2 opposite to the surface of the instant film 4. The light is emitted as diffused light from the provided diffusion plate 21. As the light guide plate 2, a lenticular lens sheet 22, 23 is superposed at a right angle. The lens sheets 22 and 23 having a triangular prism type lenticular lens projection on one surface and the other surface being a smooth surface are superposed at right angles, and the diffused light of the lens is utilized as desired by utilizing the light focusing effect of the lens. Emit uniformly and isotropically within the angular range.

A liquid crystal shutter 3 composed of a liquid crystal panel is provided close to or in close contact with the light exit surface of the light guide 2. The R light, G light, and B light emitted from the light guide plate 2 form an image on the photosensitive surface of the instant film 40 from the liquid crystal shutter 3, and expose the instant film 40.

In the above embodiment, the liquid crystal shutter 3 is constituted by a liquid crystal panel for one line, but a liquid crystal shutter 3 comprising a plurality of lines may be used. That is, by using the liquid crystal shutter 3 composed of a plurality of lines such as two lines and three lines, and exposing a plurality of lines of the same color, and simultaneously exposing a plurality of lines, the scanning time of the printer head 20 is reduced. Can be shortened.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, a printer head 20R for R and a printer head 20G for G are used.
And a printer head 20 in which a printer head 20B for B is integrally formed. Each printer head is composed of a light source 1, a light guide 2, and a liquid crystal shutter 3, and light of each color is optically separated so that no light is given to liquid crystal shutter portions of other colors. When the printer head 20 configured as described above is used, color printing can be performed by one scan by sequentially providing the R, G, and B image data to the liquid crystal shutter 3 as shown in FIG.

Further, one pixel of the liquid crystal shutter 3 is
When a white light source is used as the light source 1 and the liquid crystal shutter 3 is driven and controlled according to image information, color scanning can be performed in one scan. Printing is possible.

The embodiment shown in FIG.
As a, an area-shaped liquid crystal panel that covers the photosensitive surface of the instant film 40 is used, and the light source 1 and the light guide 2 scan over the liquid crystal shutter 3a. When a black and white liquid crystal panel is used, the liquid crystal shutter 3a is sequentially supplied with light of three colors of R, G, and B from the light source 1 in a time-division manner, and the instant film 40 is exposed three times. Therefore, in the light source 1, the R light emitting element first emits light, then the G light emitting element emits light, and finally, the B light emitting element emits light, and scans in the directions indicated by arrows in the drawing. When a color liquid crystal panel is used as the liquid crystal shutter 3a, a white light source is used as the light source 1.

First, in this embodiment, a case where a black and white liquid crystal panel is used as a liquid crystal panel will be described. For example, when the size of the photosensitive surface of the instant film 40 is 54 × 46 mm, a 640 × 480 dot area liquid crystal panel is used.

Image data photographed by a digital still camera or the like is stored in a flash memory, FD, or the like, and the data is captured by a CPU via a data interface. The CPU stores the captured image data in the image memory. The CPU converts the image data stored in the image memory into RGB image signals suitable for exposing the instant film 40 to the image data.
GB image data is stored in the buffer memory. For example, R light, G light, B light and 3
In the case of performing multiple exposures, first, R image data is provided to the buffer memory.

The LCD driver 55 activates the liquid crystal shutter 3 based on the R image data given to the buffer memory.
Drive a. Then, the light source 1 scans with the R light emitting element emitting light. Exposure according to the image data is performed on the instant film 40 surface. After that, G light and B light exposure are sequentially performed.

When all the exposures are completed and the developing solution is spread on the emulsion surface of the instant film 40, the instant film 40 is developed and an image appears.

In the above embodiment, a color image is formed by three exposures using a black and white liquid crystal panel. However, if a color liquid crystal panel is used as a liquid crystal shutter, one exposure using a white light source is performed. Thus, a color image can be reproduced on an instant film surface. However, when the color liquid crystal panel and the monochrome liquid crystal panel have the same number of dots, the color liquid crystal panel has lower resolution.

The light source 1 described above is an LE as a light source.
Although D is used, it is also possible to use three color light sources in which organic EL elements are arranged in a line. Further, by using a cold cathode tube and providing a color filter around the cold cathode tube, it can be used as a light source.

FIG. 8 shows an example in which a cold cathode tube 10 is used as the light source 1. As shown in FIG.
RGB color filters 11 are provided so as to cover the periphery of. This color filter 11 is formed in a cylindrical shape,
It is divided into three colors of an R filter 11R, a G filter 11G, and a B filter 11B in the circumferential direction, and a cold cathode tube 10 is inserted into the color filter 11. A driven gear 12 is provided at an end of the color filter 11 and meshes with a gear attached to the filter motor 13. The color filter 11 is rotated by the driving of the motor 13, and when exposing the R color, the R color filter 11R is positioned so as to face the light incident surface of the light guide 2, and in this state, R Light exposure is performed. When exposing G light, the color filter 11 is driven by the driving of the motor 13.
To rotate. The G color filter 11G is located so as to face the light incident surface of the light guide 2, and in that state, the G light is exposed. When exposing the B light, the B color filter 11B is positioned so as to face the light incident surface of the light guide 2, and the B light exposure is performed in that state. The light source 1 configured as described above can be used instead of the above-described LED element.

It is desirable that the light coming out of the light guide 2 be as parallel as possible. Therefore, as described above,
9A, the light incident side end of the light guide 2 is formed in a lens shape as shown in FIG. 9A, or the light guide 2 is formed as shown in FIG. A reflective member such as aluminum or silver is provided by vapor deposition on the surface that is totally reflected, and the surface to be reflected is also provided with two or more angles to adjust the reflection direction and adjust the angle of the emitted light. It is better to take countermeasures such as adjusting and making parallel light.

When three color light emitting elements of RGB are used, the brightness of the light source in each light emitting element is different. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 10, a sensor 60 for detecting the amount of light from the light source 1 is provided near the surface of the instant film 40. Then, according to the output from the sensor 60, the driving current supplied to the light emitting element is controlled. That is, as shown in FIG.
In the ED element, the input current (If) and the output light amount are different from each other. Also, the output (V) of the sensor 60
Can calculate the light quantity. Therefore, a reference voltage value based on the light amount is determined and set. Further, a predetermined current value corresponding to each characteristic is set in advance for the RGB LED elements.

Then, as shown in FIG.
With this output, a voltage based on each light amount of RGB is obtained. This voltage is compared with a reference voltage by a comparator 61. According to the comparison result, the control circuit 62 lowers the drive current (If) if the voltage is higher than the reference voltage and raises the drive current (If) if the voltage is lower than the reference voltage. give.
In this way, taking into account the characteristics of the RGB light emitting elements,
The brightness of the light source can be adjusted and exposure can be performed.

The intensity of RGB light may be controlled by the CPU 50 so as to correspond to the respective sensitivities of RGB of the instant film 40, and the above-described drive current control may be performed. Instead of controlling the drive current, the drive time of the liquid crystal shutter 3 may be controlled, and the exposure time may be controlled and adjusted based on the intensity of RGB light detected by the sensor 60.

In the above embodiment, the case where an instant film is used as a recording medium having a photosensitive material has been described. However, the present invention can be applied to a recording medium having another photosensitive material. For example, the same effect can be obtained by using a recording medium of the Psychological method or the TA method.

[0055]

As described above, according to the present invention, by using a light source and a light guide, the exposure optical system can be simplified, and a color printer excellent in portability can be provided. it can.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an optical printer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing a recording system of the optical printer according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an exposure optical system of the optical printer according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an exposure scanning state of the optical printer according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view showing a recording system of an optical printer according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing an exposure scanning state of an optical printer according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic perspective view showing a recording system of an optical printer according to still another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing an example of a light source used in the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a schematic view showing the structure of a light guide used in the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an optical printer of the present invention.

11A is a diagram illustrating a relationship between an input current of a LED element and a light amount, and FIG. 11B is a diagram illustrating a relationship between a light amount and a sensor output.

FIG. 12 is a circuit diagram showing an example of an LED element driving circuit according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 light source 2 light guide 3 liquid crystal shutter 40 instant film

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2C162 AE23 AE28 FA05 FA17 FA34 FA48 FA70 2H088 EA22 EA33 HA12 HA26 HA28 MA20 2H106 AA22 AA47 AA77 AA80 AA85

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A recording medium having a photosensitive material, a light emitting means, a light guide for emitting light from a surface by receiving light from the light emitting means from one side end, and at least the light emitting means and the light guide Scanning means for moving the body in a direction along one side of the photosensitive surface of the recording medium; and liquid crystal shutter means for modulating light from the light guide according to image information and outputting the modulated light. An optical printer characterized in that an image is formed on a recording medium by driving a liquid crystal shutter means to expose the recording medium surface based on the driving. 2. The liquid crystal shutter according to claim 1, wherein a liquid crystal panel having a small number of pixels in a scanning direction of the scanning unit is used, and the liquid crystal panel is caused to scan together with the issuing unit and the light guide. Optical printer. 3. The optical printer according to claim 1, wherein the liquid crystal shutter comprises an area liquid crystal panel large enough to cover a photosensitive surface of a recording medium. 4. The optical printer according to claim 1, wherein said liquid crystal shutter comprises a color liquid crystal panel, and emits white light from a light emitting means. 5. The light emitting means emits RGB light in a time-division manner, emits R light when the liquid crystal shutter is driven based on R image information, and emits the R light based on G image information. When the shutter is driving,
4. The optical printer according to claim 1, wherein the optical printer emits G light and emits B light when the liquid crystal shutter is driven based on image information for B. 6. The light emitting means includes a light emitting element for R, a light emitting element for G, and a light emitting element for B, and a detecting section for detecting the brightness of each light emitting element. The optical printer according to claim 5, wherein the light intensity of each light emitting element is adjusted based on the light intensity. 7. The R, G, and B light intensities of the recording medium
6. A method according to claim 5, wherein the light sensitivity corresponds to G and B.
Or the optical printer according to 6. 8. The light emitting means includes a light emitting element for R, a light emitting element for G, and a light emitting element for B, and a detecting unit for detecting the brightness of each of the light emitting elements. 6. The optical printer according to claim 5, wherein the control time of the liquid crystal shutter is adjusted based on the control time.