Radiation imagery chemistry: process – composition – or product th – Color imaging process – Using identified radiation sensitive composition in the...
Reexamination Certificate
2001-08-13
2003-03-04
Letscher, Geraldine (Department: 1752)
Radiation imagery chemistry: process, composition, or product th
Color imaging process
Using identified radiation sensitive composition in the...
C430S363000, C430S385000, C430S503000, C430S543000, C430S555000, C430S944000, C430S955000, C430S959000, C430S566000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06528241
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to a color photographic element comprising a multifunctional coupler in association with a developer enabling formation of an infrared color imaging dye, wherein the coupler has the property that it forms a distinctly colored dye with a different developer.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
U.S. Pat. No. 5,756,269 to Ishikawa et al. discloses the combination of three different developers with three different couplers. For example, a coupler “Y- 1” is used with a hydrazide developing agent to form a yellow dye. Ishikawa et al. does not mention, nor attach any significance to, the fact that the same coupler is a magenta dye-forming coupler if used with a common phenylenediamine developing agent.
Clarke et al., in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,415,981 and 5,248,739, showed that azo dyes formed from a blocked hydrazide developer are shifted to shorter wavelengths. This is perhaps not surprising since azo dyes derived from “magenta couplers” are known to be typically yellow and are used as masking couplers. The substitution pattern on the masking coupler is such that it can undergo further reaction with the oxidized form of a paraphenylene diamine developer to form a magenta dye.
Infrared dyes are used in the photographic area for certain applications. For example, motion picture soundtracks are typically an optically encoded signal that can be read by an infrared detector during projection. In many instances, this signal is encoded by developed metallic silver. However, some applications use and infrared dye for this signal so that the soundtrack can be developed in a chromogenic photographic developing process. The sound track technology is described by: Ciurca, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,178,183; Sakai, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,208,210, Osborn, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,250,251; Fernandez, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,233,389; Monbaliu, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,839,267 and Olbrecht, et al. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,030,544 and 5,688,959. Hawkins, et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,842,063 describes the use of non-visible color layers to carry collateral information such as sound or metadata in still pictorial images.
Takano, et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 6,200,738 describes the infrared scanning of developed and only partially desilvered conventional color films. In this approach, the infrared scanning signal is employed to identify the location of silver particles and the R, G, B scanned signal is digitally corrected for these defects. This procedure leads to reduced noise in the final image along with a concomitant loss of resolution because of the massive number of image interpolations employed. Accordingly, the approach is far from satisfactory.
None of these patents relate to the use of infrared dye-forming couplers, as one of three color channels, for the purpose of forming a color image by means of scanning without removing all of the silver in the film.
PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED BY THE PRESENT INVENTION
It has become desirable to limit the amount of solvent or processing chemicals used in the processing of silver-halide films. A traditional photographic processing scheme for color film involves development, fixing, bleaching, and washing, each step typically involving immersion in a tank holding the necessary chemical solution. Images are then produced by optical printing. By scanning the film image following development, some of the processing solutions subsequent to development could be eliminated for the purposes of obtaining a color image. Instead, the scanned image could be used to directly provide the final image to the consumer.
By the use of photothermographic film, it would be possible to eliminate processing solutions altogether, or alternatively, to minimize the amount of processing solutions and the complex chemicals contained therein. A photothermographic (PTG) film by definition is a film that requires energy, typically heat, to effectuate development. A dry PTG film requires only heat; a solution-minimized PTG film may require small amounts of aqueous alkaline solution to effectuate development, which amounts may be only that required to swell the film without excess solution. Development is the process whereby silver ion is reduced to metallic silver and, in a color system, a dye is created in an image-wise fashion.
In PTG films, the silver metal and silver halide is typically retained in the coating after the heat development. It can be difficult to scan through imagewise exposed and photo-processed silver-halide films when the undeveloped silver halide is not removed from the film during processing. The retained silver halide is absorptive, scattering and reflective. All three appear as density in a scanner to the point, in high-silver films, of making the film unsuitable for scanning. High densities result in the introduction of Poisson noise into the electronic form of the scanned image, and this in turn results in decreased image quality. The Poisson noise problem can be attacked by increasing scan time or by increasing scanner illumination intensity. Increasing scan time is unsuitable in terms of throughput considerations and in terms of customer frustration. If, on the other hand, a scanner is designed with a more powerful light source in order to negate the effects of the film turbidity, scanner cost is increased. In addition, the high reflectivity of a retained silver film can cause reflection of light back in the light source of the scanner, which can degrade the uniformity of the scanner illumination system or cause increased flare. Further, the retained silver and silver halide scatter light thus decreasing the sharpness of the formed image.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to improve the scanning of photothermographic film without removing the silver halide and/or metallic silver, or partially removing the same.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a light sensitive color photographic imaging element comprising at least two different chromogenic couplers including, in reactive association, a multifunctional coupler and a developer precursor liberating a developing agent enabling formation of an infrared imaging dyefrom the multifunctional coupler on development, wherein the multifunctional coupler has the property that it is capable of forming at least one other distinctly colored cyan dye with an oxidized form of the conventional developer 4-(N-ethyl-N-2-hydroxyethyl)-2-methylphenylenediamine. The latter developer (also known as “CD2”), which developer is widely used, is used herein as a standard means for the purpose of enabling a convenient color comparison, but other developers could have been substituted instead.
In a preferred embodiment, the light-sensitive silver-halide color photographic element has a red-light-sensitive silver-halide layer unit and a first blocked coupling developer, a green-light-sensitive silver-halide layer unit and a second blocked coupling developer, and a blue-light-sensitive silver-halide layer unit having a third blocked coupling developer, wherein at least one layer unit, or imaging layer in the layer unit, has a multifunctional coupler according to the present invention. The blocked developer can be different or the same in the different layer units, and the coupler can be different or the same in the different layer units.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
As mentioned above, the invention relates to a light-sensitive color photographic imaging element comprising at least two different chromogenic couplers including, in reactive association, a multifunctional coupler and a developer precursor that liberates a developing agent enabling formation of an infrared imaging dye from the multifunctional coupler on development, wherein the multifunctional coupler has the property that it is capable of forming at least one other distinctly colored dye with an oxidized form of the conventional developer 4-(N-ethyl-N-2-hydroxyethyl)-2-methylphenylenediamine. The developer precursor can liberates a phenylenediamine type of developer or an aminophenol type of developer, as descr
Eastman Kodak Company
Konkol Chris P.
Letscher Geraldine
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