Photocopying – Using microcapsules – Heating
Reexamination Certificate
2000-03-03
2002-06-04
Adams, Russell (Department: 2851)
Photocopying
Using microcapsules
Heating
C355S027000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06400446
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a thermally developing apparatus and the thermally developing method, and in particular, to a thermally developing apparatus and the thermally developing method wherein image formation is carried out by holding a material to be developed by heat (hereinafter referred to as a thermally developable material) around the outer circumferential surface of a heated drum.
Thermally developing apparatus have been developed which is capable of forming a visible image from an image which has been formed as a latent image by continuously supplying a sheet-shaped thermally developable material to the outer circumferential surface of a heated drum to cause a thermal reaction to occur in this thermally developable material (refer to TOKUHYOHEI 10-500497 and TOKUHYOHEI 10-500506). According to these thermally developing apparatus, a sheet-shaped thermally developable material is supplied to the outer circumferential surface of a drum rotating at a constant rotational speed, and after the drum has rotated for a predetermined rotary angle with the thermally developable material being held, the thermally developable material is detached from the outer circumferential surface of the drum, while a new thermally developable material is simultaneously supplied to the circumferential surface of the drum; hence, it is possible to heat sheet-shaped thermally developable materials efficiently.
However, it has been proved that sometimes thermal development can not be enough made to reproduce the gradation suitably in a thermally developing apparatus, wherein a thermally developable material which comprises photosensitive silver halide particles, an organic silver salt, and a silver ion reducing agent, and is to be thermally developed at a temperature equal to or higher than the lowest development temperature, which should be higher equal to or higher than 80° C., is thermally developed by heat generated by a heater.
In respect of this, for example, in the description of TOKUHYOHEI 10-500497 and TOKUHYOHEI 10-500506, the relationship between the maximum amount of heat generation that the heater in the thermal development section can generate while a sheet of thermally developable material is thermally developed and the heat capacity of the thermally developable material is not concretely described.
Further, a thermally developable material which comprises photosensitive silver halide particles, an organic silver salt, and a silver ion reducing agent, and is to be thermally developed at a temperature equal to or higher than the lowest development temperature, which should be equal to or higher than 80° C., is easy to have a density unevenness owing to the non-uniformity of the temperature in the order of ±0.5° C., which is different from the case of a usual thermally developable material.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of this invention to make it possible to make a stable gradation reproduction at a low cost and simply by carrying out thermal development stably.
The above object can be attained by the following structures.
(1-1) A thermally developing apparatus for thermally developing a thermally developable material by heating the thermally developable material to 80° C. or more, comprises:
thermally developing means having a heater and for thermally developing the thermally developable material with heat generated by the heater; and
a controller to control heat generation by the heater;
wherein the thermally developing means thermally develops the thermally developable material such that an amount M of heat given to the thermally developable material during thermally developing a single sheet of the thermally developable material satisfies the following formula for a maximum amount Hmax of heat generation of the heater:
0.07≦M/Hmax≦0.75
(1-2) In the thermally developing apparatus of (1-1), the thermally developing apparatus further comprises:
cooling means for cooling the thermally developing means.
(1-3) In the thermally developing apparatus of (1-2), the cooling means forcedly cools the thermally developing means.
(1-4) In the thermally developing apparatus of (1-1), the thermally developing means comprises a heating member heated by the heater and the thermally developing apparatus comprises temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature of the heating member, and wherein the controller controls heat generation of the heater in accordance with a temperature detected by the temperature detecting means.
(1-5) In the thermally developing apparatus of (1-4), the controller sets a target temperature for the heater and changes a set value of the target temperature in accordance with a timing when the thermally developing means develops the thermally developable material.
(1-6) In the thermally developing apparatus of (1-5), a set value of the target temperature for at least one heater provided to a region where all of the thermally developable materials passes is set higher at a timing when the thermally developable material is thermally developed than at the other timing.
(1-7) In the thermally developing apparatus of (1-5), a set value of the target temperature during a period from a time that a leading edge of the thermally developable material firstly comes in contact with the heating member to a time that a trailing edge of the thermally developable material firstly comes in contact with the heating member and a set value of the target temperature during the other period are smoothed by ramp processing.
(1-8) The thermally developing apparatus of (1-4), the heating comprises a metallic supporting member having a heating surface and the heater is a plane-shaped heater provided so as to come in close contact with a surface of the supporting member at a side opposite to the side of the heating surface.
(1-9) In the thermally developing apparatus of (1-4), the controller controls the heater by using at least one of a value corresponding to a time integral value of the temperature detected by the temperature detecting means.
(1-10) In the thermally developing apparatus of (1-4), wherein the controller controls the heater by using a value corresponding to a time differential value of the temperature detected by the temperature detecting means.
(1-11) In the thermally developing apparatus of (1-4), the heater is operated ON-mode or OFF-mode and the controller controls the heater by a duty ratio of the ON-mode to the OFF-mode.
(1-12) In the thermally developing apparatus of (1-4), the thermally developing means comprises a thermally developing section to thermally develop the thermally developable material, the thermally developing section has an inner section covered with a heat insulating member and the heater and the heating member are provided in the inner section.
(1-13) In the thermally developing apparatus of (1-4), the heating member is a rotating member which heats the thermally developable material while rotating on a condition that the thermally developable material is in close contact with a outer circumferential surface of the rotating member.
(1-14) In the thermally developing apparatus of (1-13), the rotating member is divided in the axial direction into plural regions and each of the plural regions is provided with the heater.
(1-15) In the thermally developing apparatus of (1-4), the thermally developing apparatus further comprises:
supplying means for supplying the thermally developable material to the heating member, and
discharging means for discharging the thermally developable material from the heating member.
(1-16) In the thermally developing apparatus of (1-4), the heating member heats the thermally developable material with
a development temperature higher than a lowest development temperature for a development time.
(1-17) In the thermally developing apparatus of (1-1), the thermally developing apparatus further comprises:
a rotatable roller urged onto the heating member.
(1-18) In the thermally developing apparatus of (1-1), an elastic layer having a thickness of 0.1 mm or more is provided on
Kashino Teruo
Okabe Hirofumi
Shimoji Masaya
Taguchi Akira
Tamakoshi Yasuaki
Adams Russell
Bierman, Muserlian and Lucas
Konica Corporation
Nguyen Hung Henry
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