The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jan. 21, 2003
Filed:
Dec. 28, 2001
Thomas H. Whitesides, Rochester, NY (US);
John H. Hone, Harrow, GB;
Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, NY (US);
Abstract
The present invention is directed to a photothermographic imaging element comprising at least one silver halide imaging layer containing a fluorophore. The imaging element can be exposed and then processed by heating to form an image in which the intensity of the fluorescence from the element is modulated imagewise to yield a fluorescent image of the light intensities to which the element was exposed. The present invention is also directed to a method of processing photothermographic film that has been imagewise exposed in a camera, which method in order comprises thermally developing the film step without any externally applied developing agent, comprising heating said film to a temperature greater than 80° C., preferably in an substantially dry process, and detecting the luminescence latent image emitted by a fluorescent dye associated with at least one imaging layer and, based thereon, providing a digital electronic record, wherein substantial amounts or all of the silver and silver halide salts in the film are not removed before detection. A preferred embodiment of the invention is directed to a color photothermographic film.