Method and apparatus for printing films

Abstract: A photographic printer which can process a plurality of films each housed in a separate cartridge concurrently with high efficiency. The printer has a base and a rotary table rotatably mounted on the base. Four cartridge holders (3) are mounted on the rotary table (2) along its circumference at angular intervals of 90°. Mounted on the base around the rotary table are a cartridge supply unit (6), a scanner unit (10) and a printing/exposure unit (30) which are arranged opposite to three of four cartridge holders, respectively. The scanner unit (10) and the printing/exposure unit (30) are provided separately from and driven independently of each other, so that the film processing steps in these units can be carried out concurrently.

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a method and apparatus for printing films housed in cartridges. One of known photographic printing apparatus for printing color images on films onto photosensitive material has a scanner unit, a printing/exposure means and a film carrier. The scanner unit optically reads printing conditions such as image densities from films. According to the data on printing conditions, the density of light from a light source is adjusted with a light adjustment filter for one of the three primary colors of right, that is, red, green and blue. The adjusted light is projected on a film to print its images onto a photosensitive material. Light from another light source than the one for printing/exposure means is projected on the scanner unit to allow an optical sensor to read the image information of the film. The image information is used to determine printing conditions, which are sent to the printing/exposure means in the form of electric signals. After reading the image information, the film is sent to the printing/exposure means by the film carrier and printed. Printing conditions are determined for each frame of a film using an average value of the image densities in all the frames of the film as a reference. In one conventional arrangement, films are manually inserted one by one into the printing apparatus. In another arrangement, a plurality of films are spliced together at their ends and wound on a reel. The thus spliced films are automatically fed into the printing apparatus through the film supply unit. The image information of the films inserted in the printing apparatus is read by the scanner unit provided along the feed path in the film carrier. Films are then printed under conditions determined based on the image information. Generally speaking, the time needed for reading the image density and determining the printing conditions is shorter than the time for printing. Because of such difference in processing time, while one film is being printed, the subsequent film is kept in a stand-by position without reading its image density. After the printing of the first film has finished, while the image density of the subsequent film is being read, no printing is done. In such an arrangement, it is impossible to process a plurality of films with high efficiency. One possible solution to this problem is to drive the scanner unit and the printing/exposure means independently of each other and to further provide a loop portion therebetween to adjust the feed of films. By feeding a plurality of films spliced together and wound on a reel into such a printing apparatus, it is possible to improve the processing speed and efficiency considerably. One problem of this arrangement is that only one reel for supplying film can be attached to the printing apparatus at a time. Namely, it is impossible to process a plurality of films wound on a plurality of reels at a time. Thus, the film processing speed is limited. In this regard, this arrangement has still room for improvement. It is an object of the invention to provide a method and apparatus for printing films in which a plurality of films each accommodated in a separate cartridge can be processed concurrently in a scanner unit and a printing/exposure unit without the need to separating films from cartridges or splicing them together. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION As a means to attain this object, this invention provides a method of printing photographic films each accomodated in a respective cartridge comprising the steps of moving a plurality of cartridges each accommodating a film along a circular path of a predetermined radius from a cartridge supply position until a first processing position, pulling the film out of one cartridge toward a scanner unit provided outside of the circular path and along a diametrical line that passes the center of the circular path, reading image data of the film by the scanning unit, setting printing conditions based on the image data, rewinding the film back into the one cartridge, moving the cartridge along the circular path to another processing position, pulling the film out of the cartridge toward a printing/exposure means provided outside of the circular path and along a diametrical line that passes the center of the circular path, and printing and exposing each frame of the film according to the printing conditions, wherein the steps are carried out concurrently for a plurality of cartridges by the scanning unit and the printing/exposure means provided independently of each other. As a device for embodying this method, there is provided a photographic printing apparatus comprising a base, a rotary table rotatably mounted on the base, a plurality of film cartridge holders mounted on the rotary table along circumference thereof at regular angular distances, and a film cartridge supply means, a film scanning unit and a printing/exposure means, all of which are mounted on the base around the rotary table, the cartridge supply means and the scanning unit being positioned so that when the rotary table is in a predetermined position, one of the cartridge holders faces one of the cartridge supply means and the scanning unit, whereas another cartridge holder faces the other, the scanning unit and the printing/exposure means being positioned relative to each other so that when the rotary table is turned by a predetermined angle from the predetermined position, the one of the cartridge holders moves from the scanning unit to the printing/exposure means, the scanning unit and the printing/exposure means being provided separately from and driven independently of each other, whereby the film in a plurality of cartridges accommodated in the plurality of cartridge holders can be processed concurrently. In this arrangement, the scanning unit and the printing/exposure means may be positioned so as to be opposed at opposite ends of a diametrical line of the rotary table. Otherwise, the center-to-center distance between the scanner unit and the printing/exposure means may be substantially equal to the center-to-center distance between them in a non-rotary type photographic printing apparatus, and the rotary table may be detachable from the base, whereby the rotary table is replaced with a carrier unit in the non-rotary type printing apparatus. In either case, each cartridge holder preferably has a means for automatically opening and closing a light shield lid of a cartridge, and driving means for feeding a film out of the cartridge and rewinding the film into the cartridge. Such a photographic printing apparatus may further comprise a storing means provided near the cartridge supply means for storing a plurality of cartridges and automatically feeding them one by one. Also, such a printing apparatus may further comprise bar code detectors each mounted on a top plate of the each cartridge holder for reading a cartridge number indicated on each cartridge in the form of a bar code, and a printing means for printing the cartridge number thus read on the back side of a photosensitive material when printing film images on the photosensitive material. According to the present invention, a plurality of films each housed in a separate cartridge are fed along a circular path. While they are being fed, the scanner unit provided along the circular path reads necessary data of the films such as image densities. When each film proceeds to the printing/exposure unit provided also along the circular path, it is printed under printing conditions determined by use of the data obtained in the scanner unit. Since the scanner unit and the printing/exposure unit are operated independently of each other, a plurality of films housed separately in a plurality of cartridges can be processed at the same time. Thus, printing can be done with high efficiency. Other features and objects of the present invention will become apparent from the following description made with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a plan view of the photographic printing apparatus of one embodiment; Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the cartridge holder and the cartridge supply unit; Fig. 4 is a plan view of the same; Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the same taken along line V-V of Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is a sectional view of the same, showing the operation; Fig. 7 is a sectional view of a stocker; and Fig. 8 is a sectional view of a stocker of a different type. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Now description is made of the embodiment of the invention with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 is a plan view of the photographic printing apparatus of the embodiment. Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II of Fig. 1. As shown in Fig. 1, the photographic printing apparatus includes a base 1 on which are mounted various parts of the apparatus. A rotary table 2 is rotatably mounted at the center of the base 1. Four cartridge holders 3 are mounted on the rotary table 2 along its circumference and along its two diameters that intersect each other at a right angle. The cartridge holders 3 are driven by individual driving units 4, which we will describe in detail later. Numeral 5 in Fig. 2 is a driving unit for driving the rotary table 2. Numeral 6 indicates a cartridge supply unit provided on the base 1. A cartridge accommodating a film is fed into one of the cartridge holders 3 while the cartridge holder 3 is resting at an opposite position, or otherwise a processed cartridge is ejected from this holder. A scanner assembly 10 is provided outside the rotary table 2 along the line that passes the center of the rotary table 2 and the cartridge holder 3 that is angularly displaced by 90° in the direction of arrow of Fig. 1 from the cartridge holder 3 located opposite the cartridge supply unit 6. As shown in Fig. 2, the scanner assembly 10 comprises a scanner unit 10' and a film unwinding unit 10". The former is a conventional one. Light from a light source 11 is projected on a film F through a filter 12, a shutter 13, a mirror tunnel 14 and an opening 15 formed in the base 1. The light passing through the film is then reflected by a reflecting mirror 16, passes through a lens 17 and is received by a scanner 18. The film unwinding unit 10" comprises a plurality of pairs of feed rollers 19 and a film winder 20. The film F in the cartridge X set in each cartridge holder 3 is fed by the rollers 19 toward the winder 20 and temporarily wound therearound. When all the images on the film F are read by the scanner unit 10', the film is rewound back into the cartridge X in the cartridge holder 3. Numeral 21 indicates a bar code detector, 22 a magnetic head, and 23 a perforation detector. Provided across the rotary table 2 from the scanner assembly 10 is a printing/exposure means 30, which comprises a printing/exposure unit 30' and a film unwinding unit 30". The printing/exposure unit 30' is a conventional one. Light from its light source 31 passes through a heat absorbing filter 32, a light adjusting filter 33, a mirror tunnel 34 and an opening 35 for printing formed in the base 1, and projected onto the film F. The light passing through the film F proceeds through a lens 36 and is projected on a photosensitive material PC supported on a paper mask 37 to print the film images onto the photosensitive material. The film unwinding unit 30" is basically of the same structure as the film unwinding unit 10" of the scanner assembly 10. Namely, it comprises feed roller pairs 39 and a winder 40. Numeral 41 designates a perforation detector, and 42 does a magnetic head. The scanner assembly 10 and the printing/exposure means 30 are independently provided and driven. The center-to-center distance between the scanner assembly 10 and the printing/exposure means 30 may be set equal to the distance between the scanner assembly and printing/exposure means of a conventional photographic printing apparatus of the type in which films are fed longitudinally with a film carrier. With this arrangement, the printing apparatus of this embodiment can be easily converted into the conventional type simply by removing the base 1 including the rotary table 2. Of course, the conversion in the other way around is also possible. Figs. 3-6 show the details of the cartridge holder 3, its driving unit 4 and the cartridge supply unit 6. The cartridge holder 3 is a box-shaped member comprising side walls 301 and a pivotable top plate 302. The top plate 302 is pivoted to open and closed positions by a small motor 303 in this embodiment. But it may be pivoted by any other unit. Numeral 304 indicates a bar code detector. The driving unit 4 is movable toward and away from the cartridge holder 3. For example, its casing 400 may be moved by an air cylinder 401 along a guide 402. The turning torque of a motor 403 is transmitted through a belt 404 to a rotary shaft 405. The driving force of a solenoid 406 is transmitted through a link bar 407 to a rotary shaft 408. The rotary shafts 405 and 408 are positioned such that when the driving unit 4 is connected to the cartridge holder 3, their free ends will protrude through the side wall 301 into the holder and engage in holes of the cartridge housed in the holder. The cartridge supply unit 6 has a pillow-shaped slide 601 slidably received in a radial groove 602 formed in the rotary table 2 to support the cartridge X. As shown in Fig. 5, mounted under an apron 601a of the slide 601 is a driving unit for feeding the cartridge X into the cartridge holder 3. It comprises a motor 603, a pinion 604 driven by the motor 603, and a rack 605 in mesh with the pinion 604. The cartridge X illustrated has the shape of a snail shell but it may be of any other shape. In the illustrated example, the cartridge X has a core a around which a film is to be wound, a light shield lid c , and a shaft b for opening the light shield lid. Holes a' and b' are formed in the core a and shaft b near their ends. A bar code d is printed on the outer surface of the cartridge X. We will now describe the operation of the photographic printing apparatus of this embodiment. When one of the cartridge holders 3 stops at position (A), that is, the position opposite the cartridge supply unit 6, the driving unit 4 is moved away from the holder 3, the top plate 302 is opened, and the slide 601, which has been accommodated in the cartridge holder 3, is pushed out toward the cartridge supply unit 6 by the motor 603. If there is a cartridge X whose film has already been printed, the cartridge is removed from the slide 601. Then, a new cartridge X is set on the slide 601. Though not shown in the figures, a cartridge in the holder may be automatically ejected with a cylinder having a pushrod. This cylinder is necessary if a cartridge stocker, which we will describe later, is used. When the necessary film processing steps in the other three positions have finished, the cartridge X is fed into the cartridge holder 3 together with the slide 601. The top plate 302 is then closed to fix the cartridge X in position, and the driving unit 4 is moved into abutment with the cartridge holder 3. In this state, the rotary table 2 is turned 90° to bring the cartridge X to the scanner assembly 10 (position B). After closing the top plate 302, the cartridge number indicated by the bar code d on the cartridge X is read by the bar code detector 304. At the scanner assembly 10, the film F is pulled out of the cartridge X to read out the image density and magnetic data of the film F. In this state, the end of the rotary shaft 408 of the driving unit 4 is engaged in the hole b' of the shaft b . Thus, the light shield lid c of the cartridge X can be opened by turning the rotary shaft 408 by activating the solenoid 406. After opening the lid, the motor 403 is started to feed the film F by turning the core a through the belt 404 and rotary shaft 405. The film F is fed by the feed rollers 19 and wound onto the winder 20. While the film is being fed, the image position is detected by the perforation detector 23, the magnetic data of the film are detected by the magnetic head 22, and the latent image bar code is detected by the bar code detector 21. Each frame of the film, whose position is detected by the perforation detector 23, is stopped momentarily over the scanner opening 15 to measure the image density. Since the manner of measuring the image density in the scanner assembly is conventional, its description is omitted. After reading the image densities in all the frames of the film, the feed rollers 19, driving motor 403 and winder 20 are turned in reverse to rewind the film into the cartridge X. The rotary table 2 is then turned another 90° to move the cartridge X to a calculation/communication position (C). In position (C), printing conditions are calculated and determined for each frame of the film based on the image density data, magnetic data and bar code data obtained. Determination of printing conditions may be made by stopping each cartridge at position (C) or while it is moving past position (C). After determining the printing conditions, the rotary table 2 is turned further 90° to a printing/magnetic data input position (D), and at the same time, the printing conditions determined are transferred to the printing/exposure means 30. At printing/magnetic data input position (D), the film end is pulled out of the cartridge by the rotary shaft a in a similar manner as in the scanner assembly 10. The film is further pulled out by the feed rollers 39 into the film guide. The perforation detector 41 detects the image position of the film being fed, while the data on printing conditions are inputted by the magnetic head 42. The film is stopped every time each image of the film, whose position has been detected by the perforation detector 41, comes to a position right over the opening 35 to print the image onto the photosensitive material PC. At the same time, the cartridge number (bar code) on the surface of the cartridge is read by the bar code detector 304 provided on the top plate 302 and printed on the back of the photosensitive material PC. This operation is repeated for the image in each frame of the film. The portion of the film that has been printed is temporarily wound onto the winder 40. When all the images of the film have been printed, the feed rollers 39, motor 403 and winder 40 are turned in reverse to rewind the film F back into the cartridge X. The light shield lid c is then closed. The rotary table 2 is turned by 90° again to carry the cartridge X to position (A) where the cartridge is ejected and a new cartridge is set. The above-mentioned steps in the respective four positions are carried out not one after another but at the same time. In other words, with this arrangement, it is possible to process four cartridges X housed in four cartridge holders 3 at the same time at four different positions. More specifically, since the scanner assembly 10 and the printing/exposure means 30 are provided separately from and driven independently of each other, it is possible to determine and transfer printing conditions for the film F housed in one cartridge X, and at the same time to detect the image density and magnetic data of the film F in another cartridge X, while printing the film F in still another cartridge X. Also, only the image density may be detected in the scanner assembly 10, whereas the magnetic data may be read by an additional magnetic head 22 provided on the base 1 at position (C). In the embodiment, cartridges X are manually set one by one onto the cartridge supply unit 6. But they may be set automatically using a stocker in the manner described below with reference to Figs. 3, 7 and 8. Dashed line in Fig. 3 indicates the outline of the stocker. Fig. 7 shows its section. In this embodiment, a stocker 7 is provided right over the cartridge supply unit 6. A plurality of cartridges X are stacked one on another in the stocker 7. Solenoids 7a having pins for supporting cartridges X are mounted on both sides of the stocker at two different levels. By retracting the pins of the lower solenoids 7a, while keeping the cartridges other than the lowermost cartridges supported on the pins of the upper solenoids 7a, it is possible to drop only the lowermost cartridge X onto the cartridge supply unit 6. A cylinder 8 having a pushrod 8a is provided at the side of the cartridge supply unit 6. The pushrod 8a is adapted to automatically eject cartridges X when they have been processed in the printing apparatus and returned to the supply unit 6. The cartridge X represented by solid line is pushed out by the pushrod 8a to the position shown by two-dot chain line. Fig. 8 shows a modified embodiment, which is the same in the structures of the stocker 7 and the cylinder 8 having the pushrod 8a but differs in that the stocker 7 is provided not right over the cartridge supply unit 6 but offset sideways therefrom. Thus, in this embodiment, each cartridge X is dropped onto the base 1 beside the cartridge supply unit 6 first and then pushed into the cartridge supply unit 6 by the pushrod 8. When ejecting a cartridge, it is pushed farther ahead. In the above embodiment, cartridge holders 3 are moved along the circumferential path of the rotary table 2. But they may be moved along a circular path provided on the base 1. Also, it is possible to modify the method and mechanism for feeding films in different ways within the scope of the present invention.

Claims: A method of printing photographic films each accomodated in a respective cartridge comprising the steps of moving a plurality of cartridges each accommodating a film along a circular path of a predetermined radius from a cartridge supply position until a first processing position, pulling the film out of one cartridge toward a scanning unit (10') provided outside of said circular path and along a diametrical line that passes the center of said circular path, reading image data of said film by said scanning unit (10'), setting printing conditions based on said image data, rewinding said film back into said one cartridge, moving said cartridge along said circular path to another processing position, pulling said film out of said cartridge toward a printing/exposure means (30) provided outside of said circular path and along a diametrical line that passes the center of said circular path, and printing and exposing each frame of said film according to said printing conditions, wherein said steps are carried out concurrently for a plurality of cartridges by said scanning unit and said printing/exposure means provided independently of each other. A photographic printing apparatus cornprising a base (1), a rotary table (2) rotatably mounted on said base (1), a plurality of film cartridge holders (3) mounted on said rotary table (2) along circumference thereof at regular angular distances, and a film cartridge supply means (6), a film scanning unit (10') and a printing/exposure means (30), all of which are mounted on said base around said rotary table, said cartridge supply means (6) and said scanning unit (10') being positioned so that when said rotary table (2) is in a predetermined position, one of said cartridge holders (3) faces one of said cartridge supply means (6) and said scanning unit (10'), whereas another cartridge holder faces the other, said scanning unit (10') and said printing/exposure means (30) being positioned relative to each other so that when said rotary table (2) is turned by a predetermined angle from said predetermined position, said one of said cartridge holders (3) moves from said scanning unit (10') to said printing/exposure means (30), said scanning unit (10') and said printing/exposure means (30) being provided separately from and driven independently of each other, whereby the film in a plurality of cartridges (X) accommodated in said plurality of cartridge holders (3) can be processed concurrently. A photographic printing apparatus as claimed in claim 2 wherein said scanning unit (10') and said printing/exposure means (30) are positioned so as to be opposed at opposite ends of a diametrical line of said rotary table (2). A photographic printing apparatus as claimed in claim 2 or 3 wherein said rotary table (2) is detachable from said base (1). A photographic printing apparatus as claimed in one of claims 2-4 wherein said each cartridge holder (3) has a means for automatically opening and closing a light shield lid (C) provided in each (X) cartridge, and driving means (403) for feeding a film out of said cartridge (X) and rewinding the film into said cartridge (X). A photographic printing apparatus as claimed in any of claims 2-5 further comprising a storing means (7) provided near said cartridge supply means (6) for storing a plurality of cartridges (X) and automatically feeding them one by one. A photographic printing apparatus as claimed in any of claims 2-6 further comprising bar code detectors (304) each mounted on a top plate of said each cartridge holder (3) for reading a cartridge number indicated on each cartridge (X) in the form of a bar code (d), and a printing means for printing the cartridge number thus read on the back side of a photosensitive material when printing film images on said photosensitive material.

Inventors: YAMAJI YOSHIYUKI, YAMAJI, YOSHIYUKI
Applicants: NORITSU KOKI CO LTD, NORITSU KOKI CO., LTD.
Application year: 1995
Main classification: G03B27
IPC codes: G03B27