Radiation imagery chemistry: process – composition – or product th – Radiation sensitive product – Identified radiation sensitive composition with color...
Reexamination Certificate
2000-02-24
2001-06-12
Le, Hoa Van (Department: 1752)
Radiation imagery chemistry: process, composition, or product th
Radiation sensitive product
Identified radiation sensitive composition with color...
C430S363000, C430S383000, C430S963000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06245496
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a color light-sensitive material that has rapid-processability and suitability for both surface exposure and high-intensity-scanning exposure, and that is excellent in both remaining (residual) color and sharpness. Further, the present invention relates to a method of forming an image using the light-sensitive material.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Color photographs, which are now widespread, have become more and more rapidly and easily obtained owing to progress of both light-sensitive materials themselves and processing techniques. Particularly in the field of color prints, production that complies with a variety of purposes has been practiced owing to the development of a centralization processing system based on a production point, called a color lab, which has high-speed printers and large-size processors for mass production (large-volume processing), and a dispersion processing system using small-size printer processors, which are called mini-lab and are set up at the front of shops. In recent years, light-sensitive materials using a high silver chloride emulsion, and processing methods therefor, have been put to practical use, so that color prints have become more rapidly and more easily obtained.
Further, recently color prints have been provided using digital image data formed by reading a negative or positive image by means of a scanner. By changing image information into a digital form, such corrections as gradation retouching, cover printing, and introduction of a letter or character at the time of production of postcards, can be done on the monitor of a computer, without a lith film. Consequently, this contributes to improvement in productivity and quality of the color print. Further, it is also possible to receive image data via the Internet and prepare a color print using the image data. Such a system is expected to be more widespread in the future. In order to obtain a color print using digital image data, a scanning exposure has been carried out by one pixel using a light source, such as a cathode ray (CRT) and a laser, in place of a conventional surface exposure through a negative film.
As to rapid processing, U.S. Pat. No. 4,840,878 discloses a method of processing a color photographic light-sensitive material containing a silver halide emulsion having a high silver chloride content, with a color developer substantially free from sulfurous acid ions and benzyl alcohol.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Rapid-processability (faster processing speed) can be improved by increasing the reaction speed of silver halide during color development according to the above-described method. However, it was found that, when the processing time was further reduced, remaining color became a serious problem, which should be solved. If the processing time is simply shortened, remaining color occurs particularly due to rinse inadequacy of an anti-irradiation dye, which results in stain on the white background. On the other hand, if a coating amount of the anti-irradiation dye in a light-sensitive material has been preliminarily reduced, the remaining color is also lowered. However, sharpness is deteriorated, thereby causing a problem in the quality of a print.
Further, when a color print is prepared by the above-mentioned scanning exposure, if a photosensitive material is exposed to a light exhibiting the same intensity of illumination as in a surface exposure, the same exposure time as in the surface exposure is required for every pixel. Accordingly, exposure is carried out using a very strong (high illumination intensity) light, to shorten the exposure time per pixel. This is called a “high-illumination-intensity scanning exposure.” Such a scanning exposure further deteriorates sharpness in comparison with conventional surface exposure. Consequently, the high intensity scanning exposure prevents the improvement of properties of a color print obtained using digital image data. In a high silver chloride light-sensitive material that is used to produce a color print by carrying out an ordinary surface exposure, soft gradation enhancement occurs by a high-illumination-intensity, short-time scanning exposure. This is a cause of deteriorated sharpness. The soft gradation enhancement due to the high-intensity, short-time scanning exposure can be improved by containing a metal ion belonging to group VIII of the periodic table into photosensitive silver halide grains, as described in JP-A-7-104448 (“JP-A” means unexamined published Japanese patent application), column 74, lines 19 to 44, and JP-A-7-77775, column 46, line 30, to column 47, line 5. However, the use of only such a technique is insufficient to improve sharpness obtained by a scanning exposure up to the level achieved by a surface exposure. It is possible to produce a higher contrast photosensitive material that exhibits satisfactory sharpness by a high-illumination-intensity scanning exposure, in disregard of the gradation that is necessary for a lower-intensity surface exposure. However, this technique necessitates respective two photosensitive materials for use with each of surface exposure and scanning exposure. Consequently, this technical policy unpreferably increases stored photosensitive materials in a color lab. Further, when digital image data are exposed by a scanning exposure, the exposure amount is not a continuous value but an intermittent (discontinuous) one. Therefore, if the gradation of the photosensitive material is too hard, an intermittent change in density can be seen with the naked eye, undesirably. Such problems are involved with scanning exposure.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a color light-sensitive material that has not only an excellent rapid processability and suitability for both surface exposure and high-illumination-intensity scanning exposure, but also reduced remaining color and excellent sharpness.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method of forming an image by using the above-described light-sensitive material, which enables rapid formation of a good-quality image by either surface exposure or high-illumination-intensity scanning exposure.
Other and further objects, features, and advantages of the invention will appear more fully from the following description.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
As a result of intensive investigation, the present inventor has found that the above-described objects of the present invention are achieved by the following means:
(1) A silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material having, on a support, at least one silver halide emulsion layer containing a yellow dye-forming coupler, at least one silver halide emulsion layer containing a magenta dye-forming coupler, and at least one silver halide emulsion layer containing a cyan dye-forming coupler, wherein at least one layer of the silver halide emulsion layers contains light-sensitive silver halide grains which have a silver chloride content of 95 mol % or more and which contain a metal ion belonging to group VIII of the periodic table, wherein the total amount of a hydrophilic binder in photographic constitutional layers of the light-sensitive material is 6.7 g/m
2
or less, wherein the maximum optical density in the visible region of 400 nm to 800 nm of the light-sensitive material is from 0.2 to 0.7, and wherein the following relations are established with each of the characteristic curves of yellow, magenta, and cyan images, which images are obtained by subjecting the light-sensitive material to exposure and then a color processing (which includes color-development and subsequent steps, such as bleach-fixing, washing and/or stabilizing):
0.7≦log (
E
1
/E
2
)≦1.3, and
0.7≦log (
E′
1
/E′
2
)≦1.3, and
−0.2≦log (
E′
1
/E′
2
)−log (
E
1
/E
2
)≦0.2
in which E
1
represents an exposure amount necessary to obtain a color density of Dmin+1.8 in each of the characteristic curves of yellow-, magenta-, and cyan-colored images obtained by a
Birch Stewart Kolasch & Birch, LLP.
Fuji Photo Film Co. , Ltd.
Le Hoa Van
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