Noritsu Koki Co., Ltd.

Hidetoshi Nishikawa

Kazunobu Shima

Masazumi Ishikawa

Yuji Yamamoto

Masasuke Funase

Kazuo Nagaosa

Masanori Inoshita

Masaki Nakamoto

Masayuki Kurematsu

Keigo Arimoto

Kunio Kanai

Yasutaka Kayama

Toshihiro Matsuoka

Kiyotaka Arai

Kazuya Tsukamoto

A heat fixing apparatus has a heating unit for heating a recording medium having a substrate, a fixing layer and a surface layer so as to sublimate sublimating ink applied in advance to the surface layer for transferring the sublimated ink to the fixing layer. The heating unit includes a heating transporting mechanism for transporting the recording medium within a heating space, a heater body for heating air, and a blower mechanism for supplying hot air heated by the heater body to the recording medium being transported by the heating transporting mechanism. The apparatus further includes a flat guide member for coming into contact with the surface of the recording medium being transported by the heating transporting mechanism and a heater for heating the guide member.

Heat fixing apparatus for sublimating and fixing sublimating ink to recording medium

An image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording medium by heating the medium having ink applied to its surface layer by a heater device, thereby to fix the ink applied to the surface layer to a fixing layer of the recording medium. A heating controlling section () for controlling the heater device () includes a fixing behavior evaluating means () for evaluating a fixing behavior of the ink to the fixing layer and then outputting a control amount to the heating controlling section () for controlling the heater device (). The fixing behavior evaluating means () includes such functions as a sublimation degree evaluating function for evaluating a sublimation degree of the ink in the recording medium (), a function for evaluating surface temperature distribution of the recording medium or a transferred energy evaluating function for evaluating transferred energy received by each area of the recording medium ().

Image forming apparatus

In a printing device which prints a color image on a photosensitive material by allowing an exposing head to modulate light from a light source for each pixel in accordance with image information, the exposing head is constituted by superposing three LCS's in the light-axis direction. The respective LCS's control the transmission and interruption of only the respective blue, green and red color components so that color tones in the respective pixels with respect to an image printed on printing paper are controlled based upon the subtractive color process. Therefore, it is possible to eliminate the generation of pixel offsets in an image printed on the photosensitive material by using a simple structure, and consequently to provide a printing device having a superior processability.

Printing device and photograph processing apparatus equipped with such a device

An image forming apparatus includes a printing unit having a print head for applying ink to a surface layer of a recording medium transported thereto; a loop-forming unit capable of temporarily storing the recording medium discharged from the printing unit; and a heating unit for heating the recording medium fed from the loop-forming unit for fixing the ink applied to the surface layer onto its fixing layer. The heating unit includes a preliminary heating subunit for heating the recording medium from a normal temperature level to a ink fixing temperature level, a main heating unit for heating the recording medium at the ink fixing temperature level and a slow cooling subunit for slowly cooling the recording medium to the normal temperature level.

An image forming apparatus fixes, by heating, an image formed on a sheet-like recording medium thereto with sublimating ink. The apparatus includes a heating fixing unit for receiving and heating the recording medium and then discharging the heat-fixed recording medium, the heating fixing unit including a heating space for heating the recording medium and a transporting mechanism for transporting the medium in the heating space. The apparatus further includes a smoothing-out mechanism for discharging the recording medium from the heating space while smoothing out or flattening the recording medium.

A photographic film developing apparatus maintains a photographic film, a developer solution and a second processing solution at a specific temperature while performing film development operation by directly applying the individual solutions to an emulsion side of the photographic film. After the developer solution and the second processing solution have been applied from respective processing solution application heads to the emulsion side of the photographic film, the quantity of each solution on the emulsion side is adjusted to form a layer of a specified thickness. While transfer belts advance each successive portion of the photographic film up to a processing solution wipe-out device, heaters provided close to the transfer belts heat the individual solutions applied to the photographic film through the transfer belts to maintain the solutions at the specific temperature.

Photographic film developing apparatus

A film scanner useful in a digital printing system. A first light source projects light onto film which holds an original image. A scanner registers an image corresponding to the original image by scanning light transmitted through the film. Insufficient light quantity caused by irregularities in the surface of the film is compensated. The compensation is preferably provided in a domain on a side of the film opposite the scanner. The compensation may be provided by a second light source having a plurality of light emitters having different respective spectral characteristics. Light quantity of the second light source is adjustable. Preferably the light emitters of the first light source have directivity in a plurality of directions intersecting with a light axis from the first light source to the scanner and the directivity of the light emitters is adjustable.

Photograph printing device, electronic image input device, film scanner, scratch recognition method, memory medium recording scratch recognition program, and image restoration method

A PBS for guiding light from a light source to a DMD as light modulating means as well as for guiding light modulated by the DMD to photographic paper is provided on an optical path between the light source and the DMD. The DMD is arranged so that light from the PBS perpendicularly enters itself, and is equipped with a plurality of micromirrors which swing in accordance with image data. This arrangement allows optical components to be disposed so that an angle of incidence of light with respect to the DMD is 0&deg;, thereby enabling tight layout of the light source section. In other words, there is no need to spread the optical components around the light modulating means like in the conventional cases where an angle of incidence with respect to the light modulating means is more or less required. Besides, since the micromirrors are positioned so as to be substantially symmetric with respect to an optical axis connecting the PBS and the DMD, respective distances from the light source to the micromirrors are substantially equal.

Photograph printing device

A plurality of LEDs are used as a light source for projecting light onto a film negative recording an original image. The LEDs have different respective spectral characteristics, and are provided so as to incline with respect to a light axis, so that light emitted thereby has directivity toward a light axis. By this means, the light emitted by each LED has directivity, thus increasing the light quantity of light projected onto peripheral areas of photographic paper. Accordingly, density unevenness and color unevenness on the photographic paper can be easily distinguished without scattering the light from each LED more than necessary, as was done conventionally. As a result, there is no need for control which attempts to obtain sufficient scattered light by increasing the exposure time or brightness of each LED. Further, there is no need to provide a large number of LEDs, thus simplifying control of the emitted light quantities of the respective LEDs.

A polarizing plate and a double refracting plate, which are allowed to rotate around an optic axis, are provided to the light-exit side of a liquid crystal layer. The double refracting plate splits incident light into an ordinary ray which travels along a straight optic axis and an extraordinary ray which travels along a refracted optic axis, and supplies the same to a printing paper. The double refracting plate is laminated to the polarizing plate in such a manner that the splitting direction of the former matches with the polarizing plate of the latter, thereby allowing only the extraordinary ray to exit from the double refracting plate. By rotating the two plates together as one body by, for example, 90 degrees around the optic axis and exposing the printing paper each time, resolution attained without displacing the liquid crystal layer or printing paper with respect to the other is nearly as high as the one obtained by displacing the liquid crystal layer or printing paper. Because the liquid crystal layer and printing paper do not have to be displaced, no adverse effect, such as vibration, is given to the liquid crystal layer, and the pixel displacement can be readily effected with not only a sheet paper, but also a roll of paper.

Photograph printing device having a light irradiation control mechanism that generates beams of light having different optic axes

A printer/processor for performing printing processes on both piece negatives taken out of a negative sheet and an elongate negative film. This printer/processor includes a negative sheet loader (2a) for receiving the negative sheet (10) containing the piece negatives (NP), a handling device (6) for drawing the piece negatives out of the negative sheet, an elongate negative film inlet (2c) for receiving the elongate negative film NF, a transport line (130) extending to an exposing section (110), and a branching device (8) selectively movable between a first position to form a passage for connecting the handling device and the transport line, and a second position to form a passage for connecting the elongate negative film inlet and the transport line.

Printer/processor

A photographic printing apparatus includes a pause transfer device disposed on a transfer passage between a printing station and a development station for holding temporarily an excess of printed sheets of a photosensitive material over that which can be handled by the development station and for transferring printed sheets of the photosensitive material to the development station one after another depending on the developing process.

Photographic printing apparatus

A photographic printing and developing apparatus includes a turnout device for separating a transfer path, along which sheets of printed paper are conveyed from a printing station to a development station, into a main transfer path and a branch transfer path. A joining device joins the branch transfer path to the main transfer path at a position downstream of the separating position. The turnout device selectively transfers sheets of printed paper of a given size to the branch transfer path.

Photographic printing and developing apparatus

An apparatus for vacuum absorption is provided which is quiet and simplified with maintaining an absorption power. The apparatus comprises: a tank for accumulating circulating water; a waterway for circulating the circulating water by a pump disposed at an absorption inlet side of the waterway and having an outlet disposed over the water surface of the circulating water in the tank; an aspirator disposed on the waterway; and a reverseflow prevention mechanism surrounding the outlet, having a small hole of the size to drain less volume of water than the volume flowing out of the outlet at the position sunk under the water, and comprising a buffer (hollow body) with drain windows at the position over the water surface. The apparatus serves to drain the circulating water into the water during the operation of the pump and to absorb air from the outlet into the vacuum vessel during the stoppage of the pump.

Growing community of inventors

Wakayama, Japan

Hidetoshi Nishikawa