Image recording apparatus

An image recording apparatus in which an image on a light-sensitive photographic material is transferred to an image-receiving material by superimposing the materials to bring them into close contact with each other. The apparatus is provided with guide plates for guiding the materials to pinch rollers in such a manner that the materials are kept away from each other before they are fed to the pinch rollers which superimpose the materials and bring them into close contact with each other. Therefore, the materials can be prevented from coming into contact before they are superimposed.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus which is 
adapted to provide an image on an image-receiving material by transferring 
an image recorded on a light-sensitive photographic material to the 
image-receiving material. 
A known example of an apparatus for providing a colored image by employing 
a heat-developable light-sensitive photographic material is the apparatus 
disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 75247/1984. This apparatus is 
adapted to send a heat-developable light-sensitive photographic material 
to a heat-developing section of the apparatus after the material has been 
exposed to an image in an exposure section of the apparatus, and transfer 
the image to an image-receiving material by bringing the image-receiving 
material into close contact with the light-sensitive photographic material 
after the image on the light-sensitive photographic material has been 
heat-developed. 
With this image recording apparatus, it is possible to either perform the 
transferring process alone or simultaneously perform the developing and 
transferring processes, by bringing the light-sensitive photographic 
material into close contact with the image-receiving material after the 
light-sensitive photographic material has been subjected to development. 
In order to perform the developing process or the developing and 
transferring processes, the light-sensitive photographic material and the 
image-receiving material are brought into close contact with each other by 
means of pinch rollers. However, if the materials happen to come into 
contact inadvertently before they are deliberately brought into close 
contact, even if they are not heated, the contact between the 
emulsion-coated surfaces of these materials causes gradual development and 
transfer reactions, thus causing non-uniform treatment. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
In view of the above-described circumstances, an object of the present 
invention is to provide an image recording apparatus which is capable of 
holding the light-sensitive photographic material and the image-receiving 
material in such a manner that they are positively kept separated from 
each other without any risk of their coming into contact until immediately 
before they are deliberately brought into close contact. 
The present invention provides an image recording apparatus in which a 
light-sensitive photographic material and an image-receiving material are 
brought into close contact by pinch rollers of a superimposing section of 
the apparatus, and in which an image on the light-sensitive photographic 
material is transferred to the image-receiving material. The apparatus in 
accordance with the present invention is characterized by comprising guide 
means disposed immediately upstream of the pinch rollers of the 
superimposing section for holding the light-sensitive photographic 
material and the image-receiving material away from each other before they 
are superimposed. 
Therefore, the light-sensitive photographic material is held by the guide 
means in such a manner that it is positively kept away from the 
image-receiving material, thereby preventing the developing or 
transferring process from starting inadvertently. 
Preferably, the guide means may have guide plates disposed between the 
above-mentioned materials, and a pinching means imparting back tension to 
at least one of the light-sensitive photographic material and the 
image-receiving material. With this arrangement, since back tension is 
imparted to the materials, they can be kept tensioned as they are being 
sent, thereby preventing the materials from becoming loose and 
inadvertently coming into contact with each other before they are 
superimposed.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
FIG. 2 shows an image recording apparatus 10 in accordance with an 
embodiment of the present invention. 
The image recording apparatus 10 has a housing 12 in which a magazine 14 is 
provided to accommodate a heat-developable light-sensitive photographic 
material 16. The light-sensitive photographic material 16 is drawn out 
from the magazine 14 and cut by a cutter 18 into pieces of a predetermined 
length. Thereafter, the material 16 is wound around the outer periphery of 
an exposure drum 20 disposed within the housing 12 so as to be exposed by 
an exposure head 22, and is then scraped off the drum by a scraper 24. The 
material 16 is then sent to a water (solvent) coating section 26 wherein 
water, serving as an image-forming solvent, is coated on an 
emulsion-coated surface of the material 16, and thereafter, the material 
16 is sent to a superimposing section 28. 
A cassette 30 receives layers of an image-receiving material 32 which can 
be sent to the superimposing section 28 where the material 32 is 
superimposed on the light-sensitive photographic material 16 and then sent 
to a heat-developing/transferring section 34. A separating section 36 is 
provided downstream of the heat-developing/transferring section 34 and 
operates in such a way that, down stream of the separating section 36, the 
light-sensitive photographic material 16 is sent to a collecting device 38 
and the image-receiving material 32 is sent to an outlet 40. 
The superimposing section 28 will now be described with reference to FIGS. 
1 and 3. In this superimposing section 28, a pair of pinch rollers 42 and 
44, which serve as superimposing means, are disposed at the entrance of 
the heat-developing/transferring section 34 and operate in such a way that 
the light-sensitive photographic material 16 and the image-receiving 
material 32 sent thereto are superimposed and fed to the 
heat-developing/transferring section 34. For this purpose, the pinch 
rollers 42 and 44 are driven by the driving force of a motor (not shown) 
in the directions indicated by the arrows A. 
A guide plate 46 forming part of guide means is disposed immediately 
upstream of the pinch rollers 42 and 44. The guide plate 46 is formed of a 
thin plate material which is bent approximately into a V-shaped form, with 
a bent portion 46A in the middle thereof being disposed close to the 
portion of contact between the pinch rollers 42 and 44 in such a way that 
it points into the portion of contact. In addition, auxiliary guide plates 
47A and 47B are disposed in such a way that they face the sides of the 
approximately V-shaped guide plate 46, as shown in FIG. 1. 
In practice, the angle at which the guide plate 46 is bent approximately 
into the V-shaped form should preferably be between about 20 and 90 
degrees. 
By virtue of the provision of the guide plate 46 and the auxiliary guide 
plates 47A and 47B close to the pinch rollers 42 and 44, the 
light-sensitive photographic material 16, which is sent thereto after 
passing through the water-coating section 26, and the image-receiving 
material 32, which is sent thereto from the cassette 30, can be kept away 
from each other until immediately before they are pinched and superimposed 
by the pinch rollers 42 and 44, thereby preventing the risk of the 
developing process starting owing to inadvertent contact between these 
materials. 
A tension roller 48 is disposed close to one side of the guide plate 46 and 
the auxiliary plate 47B and operates in such a way that the 
light-sensitive photographic material 16 is sent to the guide path for the 
material 16 defined by the one side of the guide plate 46 and the 
auxiliary guide plate 47B, and also the material 16 is given a certain 
back tension which acts in the direction opposite to that in which the 
material 16 is being fed. This tension roller 48 first acts to send the 
light-sensitive photographic material 16, which has been sent from the 
previous process, forward between the pinch rollers 42 and 44, but once 
the forward end portion of the material 16 is pinched by these rollers 42 
and 44, it acts to impart a back tension to the material so as to make the 
material tensioned. This action of the tension roller 48 is produced by, 
for instance, rotating it at a speed lower than the feed speed of the 
material 16, stopping it, or rotating it in the directions indicated by 
the arrows B. Consequently, a portion of the material 16 which is 
immediately behind the pinched portion is slightly wound around the 
periphery of the pinch roller 44, thus further ensuring that 
light-sensitive photographic material 16 and the image-receiving material 
32 are held away from each other. 
Another tension roller which is similar to this tension roller 48 may also 
be provided and disposed adjacent to the other side of the guide plate 46 
and the auxiliary guide plate 47A to impart a back tension to the 
image-receiving material 32 as well. 
FIG. 3 shows the light-sensitive photographic material 16 being guided by 
the auxiliary guide plate 47B. Because the emulsion-coated surface of the 
material 16 has been coated with water in the water-coating section 26 of 
the previous process, that surface of the material is curled up in the 
longitudinal direction, as shown in FIG. 3 by the solid line. Therefore, 
there is a risk that this surface of the material 16 may be damaged when 
it comes into contact with the guide plate 46. However, after the material 
16 has come into contact with the auxiliary guide plate 47B, the curl of 
the surface is eliminated, as indicated by the virtual line in FIG. 3, and 
the material 16 is thus sent to the pinch rollers 42 and 44 in a condition 
in which the curled surface configuration has been corrected. The surface 
of the image-receiving material 32 may also curl owing to contraction of 
the gelatin layer caused by the effects of temperature and humidity. Such 
a curl of the material 32 can be eliminated by bringing the material 32 
into contact with the guide plate 46 or the auxiliary guide plate 47A, and 
the material 32 is thus sent to the pinch rollers 42 and 44 with its 
surface relieved of the curl. 
The operation of the apparatus in accordance with the embodiment of the 
invention will now be described. 
The light-sensitive photographic material 16 drawn out from the magazine 14 
is wound onto the exposure drum 20, and, after the material 16 has been 
exposed by the exposure head 22, the exposed surface of the material 16 is 
coated with water in the water-coating section 26, and the material 16 is 
then sent to the superimposing section 28. 
Meanwhile, the image-receiving material 32 which is received in the 
cassette 30 is sent therefrom to the superimposing section 28. After the 
image-receiving material 32 has been superimposed on the light-sensitive 
photographic material 16 in the superimposing section 28, the materials 16 
and 32 are sent to the heat-developing/transferring section 34 where the 
materials 16 and 32 are heated, and developing and transferring operations 
are performed. 
As stated before, in the superimposing section 28, since the guide plate 46 
holds the light-sensitive photographic material 16 and the image-receiving 
material 32 away from each other, the light-sensitive photographic 
material 16 and the image-receiving material 32 are prevented from 
inadvertently coming into contact with each other and starting the 
developing process before they are fed to the heat-developing/transferring 
section 34. 
The developing and transferring operations are performed in the 
heat-developing/transferring section 34 so that the image on the 
light-sensitive photographic material 16 is transferred to the 
image-receiving material 32. The light-sensitive photographic material 16 
is then sent to the collecting device 38, while the image-receiving 
material 32 is sent to the outlet 40. 
Although in the foregoing embodiment, it is the light-sensitive 
photographic material 16 that is coated with water, this is not 
limitative. The present invention may also be applied to an apparatus in 
which the image-receiving material 32 is coated with water. 
As described above, in the image recording apparatus in accordance with the 
present invention, a light-sensitive photographic material and an 
image-receiving material are brought into close contact by pinch rollers 
of a superimposing section of the apparatus, and an image on the 
light-sensitive photographic material is transferred to the 
image-receiving material. Since the apparatus comprises guide means 
disposed immediately upstream of the pinch rollers of the superimposing 
section for holding the light-sensitive photographic material and the 
image-receiving material away from each other, any risk that the 
light-sensitive photographic material and the image-receiving material may 
inadvertently come into contact with each other before they are 
superimposed for operations such as developing and transferring is 
prevented.