Radiation imagery chemistry: process – composition – or product th – Color imaging process – Color correcting
Reexamination Certificate
1999-10-28
2001-03-13
Le, Hoa Van (Department: 1752)
Radiation imagery chemistry: process, composition, or product th
Color imaging process
Color correcting
C430S349000, C430S359000, C430S360000, C430S363000, C430S404000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06200738
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an image forming method of photographic recording elements and in particular, to a technique for reducing noise due to residual silver which leads to deterioration of picture quality, when digitally reading a processed photographic element containing residual silver produced along with simplified processing.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Camera speed color photographic materials which are the most popular among photographic films comprise a unit recording blue light exposure to form a yellow dye image, a unit recording green light exposure to form a magenta dye image and a unit recording red light exposure to form a cyan dye image. In the development process of reducing silver halide grains containing latent images to silver, a developing agent is oxidized and the resulting oxidation product reacts with a dye forming coupler (or coupling) to form a dye image. Undeveloped silver halide is removed in the fixing step and developed silver is removed in the bleaching step. Obtained negative dye images are optically printed onto color photographic paper and a positive color print is obtained through developing, bleaching and fixing steps similar to the color photographic material.
The constitution of conventional color photographic films have been complicated. For example, the photographic films contain not only three kinds of light sensitive layers but also colloidal silver or dye to enhance spectral sensitivity of the three light sensitive layers, dye forming couplers, masking couplers to enhance faithful color reproducibility when printed onto a color photographic paper and fine silver particles or dye to prevent halation.
Recent popularization of personal computers and increased density of recording media have increased opportunity in which recording information of a processed photographic material is converted to electronic image information by means of an apparatus such as a film scanner and after subjected to processing such as image processing, is outputted onto silver salt paper or other recording materials. There are described in JP-A 10-111548 (herein, the term, JP-A means published and unexamined Japanese Patent Application) a color photographic recording element, an image forming method and an apparatus, which are suited for reading such image information.
Recently, further rapid access of processing is demonded. Of the processing steps, the desilvering process (including bleaching and fixing steps) accounts for about half of the total processing time.
There is also increased concern to take into account the influence of processing effluents on the environment. Specifically, in view of problems concerning processing effluent from the bleaching and fixing steps, a continued improvement for enhancing environmental suitability and shortening of the step is desired.
However, rapid access or shortening of the desilvering process results in rather large amounts of silver remaining in the processed color photographic material, producing factors deteriorating picture quality in the optical exposure onto color paper or in digitally reading by a scanner.
European Patent No. 526,931 describes rapid access of processing by digitally reading, instead of light exposure onto color paper from a processed color film. JP-A 6-266066 described a method of digitally reading information based on residual silver or developed silver, without forming dye images. JP-A 9-146247 describes a method suited both for projected light-exposure onto color paper from a processed photographic material still retaining silver and also for digital reading by means of a negative film scanner using diffuse light.
JP-A 6-28468 describes a method in which image information of the infrared wavelength region is employed in digitally reading information recorded in photographic materials for camera use. A technique employing this technique is known Digital ICE produced by Applied Science Fiction Corp, while a commercially available product known as LS 2000 is available from Nikon Corp. Thus, employment of the invisible image information (i.e., image information of the infrared wavelength region) is a technique for correcting surface defects to remove factors degrading picture quality, such as dust, flaws or mold on the surface of the photographic material. However, nothing is known with respect to a method for simplifying the processing steps by removal of residual silver employing image information of a wavelength region, in which a dye imagewise obtained upon development has no absorption, e.g., in the infrared wavelength region.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a novel image forming method in which a silver halide photographic material for camera use is allowed to complete processing, while developed silver is retained therein; dye image information imagewise obtained therefrom is digitally read; and then silver image information retained therein is removed by using recorded image information of the wavelength region in which the dye has no absorption, thereby improving image quality, simplifying the processing steps and shortening the processing time.
Thus, the present invention is to provide a method in which after digitally reading dye image information obtained from a processed photographic material retaining silver, silver image information retained in the photographic material is removed by using recording image information within the wavelength region in which the dye has no absorption, thereby enabling to reduce noise caused by residual silver.
The present invention is also to provide rapid processing.
The object of the present invention can be accomplished by the following constitution:
an image forming method comprising the steps of:
(a) exposing a photographic element comprising a support having on at least one side thereof one or more photographic component layers including a component layer containing light sensitive silver halide and a dye forming coupler, and
(b) subjecting the exposed photographic element to photographic processing to form a dye image, wherein the photographic processing is allowed to be completed, while the residual silver content in the photographic element, as defined below, is 5% or more,
and the method further comprises:
(c) subjecting the processed photographic element to image processing, which comprises
(c-1) reading image information in the visible light wavelength region and image information in the invisible light wavelength region corresponding to the residual silver and
(c-2) subjecting the read image information to operational calculus to reduce image information due to the residual silver,
Residual silver content=(Silver weight per unit area of a maximum exposure portion after subjected to the photographic processing/silver weight per unit area before subjected to the photographic processing)×100.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5747228 (1998-05-01), Bohan et al.
patent: 5804356 (1998-09-01), Cole et al.
patent: 5840470 (1998-11-01), Bohan et al.
patent: 0 526 931 A1 (1993-02-01), None
patent: 0 762 201 A1 (1997-03-01), None
Haraga Hideaki
Takano Hiroaki
Tashiro Kouji
Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner L.L.P.
Konica Corporation
Le Hoa Van
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