Cutting – With product handling means – Initiated by means responsive to product or work
Reexamination Certificate
1996-07-02
2001-03-06
Dexter, Clark F. (Department: 3724)
Cutting
With product handling means
Initiated by means responsive to product or work
C083S076800, C083S102000, C083S210000, C083S371000, C083S649000, C083S948000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06196098
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a paper cutter for a photographic processing system which processes photographic materials while collating the photographic materials on the basis of identification (ID) marks which have been recorded in advance, by codes which can be read mechanically and visually, on at least one of a photographic film for image recording and an accommodating body which accommodates the photographic film, the paper cutter cutting an elongated photographic printing paper on which images recorded on a photographic film have been printed successively and on which an index print has been printed in succession with the printed images.
2. Description of the Related Art
A photographic film is subjected to developing processing, and images are printed onto a photographic printing paper on the basis of the developed photographic film. The photographic printing paper is elongated and wound in a roll form, and the respective images are printed successively thereon.
An index print is printed in succession with the images which are printed successively (i.e., the index print is printed either in front of or after the printed images). In the index print, the images recorded on one photographic film are arranged and displayed in a matrix form on a single sheet.
The respective prints of the images and the index print which have been printed in succession are cut and separated by a paper cutter. The paper cutter also detects the existence of an unsatisfactory mark applied to the image surface of a print of an image, so as to be able to sort the satisfactory prints and the unsatisfactory prints.
In recent years, systems have been proposed in which an ID mark is applied to each photographic material (such as the photographic film, the prints, the index print and the like), and the photographic materials are verified by using these ID marks. Usually, a bar code ID mark which can easily be read by machine and an ID mark which an operator can perceive visually are both used.
In cases in which processing is to be carried out automatically, the bar codes must be read automatically, and a bar code reader must be provided at each conveying system.
Because the prints of the respective images are sorted and conveyed per photographic film, collation thereof is easy. However, index prints of a plurality of photographic films are conveyed in a state of being bundled together. Therefore, in order to ascertain in after-processes the order in which the index prints are stacked, the ID marks must be read when the index prints are cut and must be stored on a recording medium such as an LSI card or the like for information exchange with the after-processes.
In this case, the bar codes recorded on the cut index prints could be read. However, it is difficult to determine the relative positions of the bar code recording portions of the sheet-shaped index prints and the bar code reader provided at a predetermined position. Accordingly, there are cases in which the bar codes cannot be read accurately.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the aforementioned, an object of the present invention is to provide a paper cutter for a photographic processing system in which, when an ID mark applied to an index print is read, the relative positions of the ID mark and an ID mark reading sensor can be maintained fixed so that the ID mark can be read reliably.
An aspect of the present invention is a paper cutter for a photographic processing system which processes photographic materials while collating the photographic materials on the basis of identification marks which have been recorded in advance, by codes which can be read by machine and by operator, on at least one of a photographic film for image recording and an accommodating body which accommodates the photographic film, the paper cutter cutting per print an elongated photographic printing paper on which images recorded on a photographic film have been printed successively and on which an index print has been printed in succession with the printed images, the paper cutter comprising: a loading section at which the elongated photographic printing paper is loaded; conveying means for withdrawing the photographic printing paper from the loading section and conveying the photographic printing paper; a verification section for verifying a finished state of prints, the verification section having a conveying/guiding portion, which linearly guides the photographic printing paper withdrawn from the loading section by the conveying means, and an unsatisfactory mark sensor, which, while the photographic printing paper is being conveyed by the conveying/guiding portion, detects unsatisfactory marks applied to the photographic printing paper; a cutter section for cutting the photographic printing paper which has passed through the verification section; control means for, on the basis of cut marks applied to the photographic printing paper in advance, temporarily stopping conveying of the photographic printing paper and operating the cutter section; a sorting section for sorting photographic printing papers cut by said cutter section; and an identification mark reading sensor disposed at the conveying/guiding portion and reading the identification marks while the conveying of the photographic printing paper is stopped.
In accordance with the present invention, the photographic printing paper loaded at the loading section is withdrawn, and is conveyed to the conveying/guiding portion by the conveying means. The conveying/guiding portion is provided with an unsatisfactory mark sensor which detects an unsatisfactory mark applied in advance on the image recording surface.
The control means controls the conveying means. On the basis of cut marks applied in advance, the control means temporarily stops the conveying by the conveying means, and operates the cutter section while the conveying is stopped, so as to cut the photographic printing paper. In this way, the photographic printing paper is cut per print (i.e., per image and per index print).
On the basis of the detection by the unsatisfactory mark sensor, the sorter section sorts the prints into satisfactory prints, unsatisfactory prints, and index prints.
The ID mark reading sensor is attached to the conveying/guiding portion. The ID mark reading sensor reads the ID mark applied to the index print due to the index print being stopped at the position at which the ID mark reading sensor is disposed. It is preferable that the ID mark reading sensor is disposed in a vicinity of the unsatisfactory mark sensor which has already been provided, so that there is no need to increase the mounting space.
The ID mark applied to the index print can easily be read by machine. A bar code, for example, is preferably used as the ID mark. Accordingly, a bar code reader can be used as the ID mark reading sensor.
The bar code reader usually reciprocally scans a laser light beam a plurality of times so that the bar code is read a plurality of times. In order to improve the accuracy in reading, the photographic printing paper must be stopped temporarily.
The bar code is usually applied to the index print along a direction orthogonal to the direction in which the photographic printing paper is conveyed at the paper cutter. For this reason as well, the photographic printing paper must be stopped temporarily.
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Hagiwara Naoaki
Takenaka Yuji
Dexter Clark F.
Fuji Photo Film Co. , Ltd.
Sughrue Mion Zinn Macpeak & Seas, PLLC
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