Apparatus and method for thermal film development and scanning
First Claim
1. An apparatus for thermal development comprising a receiver for receiving an imagewise exposed thermal film element, an accumulator for gathering said thermal film element, a drive for advancing said thermal film element from said receiver to said accumulator, a heater located between said receiver and said accumulator for developing said thermal film as it passes between said receiver and said accumulator, a compound image scanner for scanning said thermal film after it has been thermally developed, said scanner having a first light source and a first sensor placed for forming a first electronic record of the image formed on the developed thermal film element by reflection, a second light source and a second sensor placed for forming a second electronic record of the image formed on said developed thermal film element by an opposing reflection, and a third sensor and a third light source placed for forming a third electronic record of the image formed on said developed thermal film element by transmission, wherein said third sensor may be the same or different than said first sensor and said third light source maybe the same or different than said second light source, a light-tight container for said receiver and said heater, and wherein said apparatus comprises a stand alone imaging station.
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Abstract
The invention relates to an apparatus for thermal development having a receiver for receiving an imagewise exposed thermal film, an accumulator for gathering the film, a drive for advancing the film from the receiver to the accumulator, a heater located between the receiver and the accumulator for developing the film, a compound image scanner for scanning the film after it has been thermally developed, the scanner having a first light source and a first sensor placed for forming a first electronic record of the image formed on the developed film by reflection, a second light source and a second sensor placed for forming a second electronic record of the image by an opposing reflection, and a third sensor and a third light source placed for forming a third electronic record of the image formed by transmission, and a lighttight container for the receiver and the heater.
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Citations
45 Claims
- 1. An apparatus for thermal development comprising a receiver for receiving an imagewise exposed thermal film element, an accumulator for gathering said thermal film element, a drive for advancing said thermal film element from said receiver to said accumulator, a heater located between said receiver and said accumulator for developing said thermal film as it passes between said receiver and said accumulator, a compound image scanner for scanning said thermal film after it has been thermally developed, said scanner having a first light source and a first sensor placed for forming a first electronic record of the image formed on the developed thermal film element by reflection, a second light source and a second sensor placed for forming a second electronic record of the image formed on said developed thermal film element by an opposing reflection, and a third sensor and a third light source placed for forming a third electronic record of the image formed on said developed thermal film element by transmission, wherein said third sensor may be the same or different than said first sensor and said third light source maybe the same or different than said second light source, a light-tight container for said receiver and said heater, and wherein said apparatus comprises a stand alone imaging station.
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4. An image forming method comprising scanning an imagewise exposed and developed silver halide color film element, wherein said scanner comprises a scanner capable of communicating and receiving information relating to said imagewise exposed and developed silver halide color film element, wherein said element comprises red, green, and blue light sensitive layer units, wherein said layer units form reflective images of substantially similar color on development or wherein said element is substantially free of color forming components, to form a first electronic record of the image formed on the developed film by reflection, a second electronic record of the image formed on the developed film by an opposing reflection, and a third electronic record of the image scanned on the developed film by transmission;
- digitizing said first electronic record of the image formed on said developed film by reflection, said second electronic record of the image formed on said developed film by opposing reflection, and said third electronic record of the image formed on said developed film by transmission to form a corresponding digital file representation of an image formed on the film by exposure and development;
communicating said information relating to said element to said scanner, wherein said information relating to said element is suitable for correcting said first electronic record of the image formed on the developed film by reflection, said second electronic record of the image formed on the developed film by an opposing reflection, and said third electronic record of the image scanned on the developed film by transmission into a combined electronic record of the image formed on the film; and
combining and processing the digitized first electronic record of the image formed on the developed film by reflection, the digitized second electronic record of the image formed on the developed film by an opposing reflection, and the digitized third electronic record of the image scanned on the developed film by transmission with said information relating to said element to form a corrected digital file representative of the scanned image. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
- digitizing said first electronic record of the image formed on said developed film by reflection, said second electronic record of the image formed on said developed film by opposing reflection, and said third electronic record of the image formed on said developed film by transmission to form a corresponding digital file representation of an image formed on the film by exposure and development;
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15. An apparatus for thermal development and scanning comprising a receiver for receiving an imagewise exposed film element, an accumulator for gathering said film element, a drive for advancing said film element from said receiver to said accumulator, a developing station located between said receiver and said accumulator for developing said film element as it passes between said receiver and said accumulator, a compound image scanner for scanning said film element as it develops, wherein said scanner comprises a scanner capable of communicating and receiving information relating to said imagewise exposed and developed silver halide color film element, said scanner having a first light source and a first sensor placed for forming a first electronic record of the image formed on the developed thermal film by reflection, a second light source and a second sensor placed for forming a second electronic record of the image formed on the developed thermal film by an opposing reflection, and a third sensor and a third light source placed for forming a third electronic record of the image formed on the developed thermal film by transmission, wherein said third sensor may be the same or different than said first sensor and said third light source maybe the same or different than said second light source;
- a digitizer for digitizing said first electronic record of the image formed on the developed thermal film by reflection, said second electronic record of the image formed on the developed thermal film by reflection, and said third electronic record of the image formed on the developed thermal film by reflection to form a corresponding digital file representation of an image formed on the film by exposure and development, a magnetic reader for communicating said information relating to said element to said scanner, wherein said information relating to said element is suitable for correcting said first electronic record of the image formed on the developed film by reflection, said second electronic record of the image formed on the developed film by an opposing reflection, and said third electronic record of the image scanned on the developed film by transmission into a combined electronic record of the image formed on the film; and
a processing unit for combining and processing the digitized first electronic record of the image formed on the developed film by reflection, the digitized second electronic record of the image formed on the developed film by an opposing reflection, and the digitized third electronic record of the image scanned on the developed film by transmission with said information relating to said element to form a corrected digital file representative of the scanned image. - View Dependent Claims (16)
- a digitizer for digitizing said first electronic record of the image formed on the developed thermal film by reflection, said second electronic record of the image formed on the developed thermal film by reflection, and said third electronic record of the image formed on the developed thermal film by reflection to form a corresponding digital file representation of an image formed on the film by exposure and development, a magnetic reader for communicating said information relating to said element to said scanner, wherein said information relating to said element is suitable for correcting said first electronic record of the image formed on the developed film by reflection, said second electronic record of the image formed on the developed film by an opposing reflection, and said third electronic record of the image scanned on the developed film by transmission into a combined electronic record of the image formed on the film; and
- 17. A duplitized light sensitive silver halide color film element comprising a support having thereon red, green, and blue light sensitive layer units wherein the layer units form reflective images of substantially similar color on development or wherein the element is substantially free of color forming components, and wherein said red, green, and blue light sensitive layer units are applied to both sides of said support.
- 22. A light sensitive silver halide color film element comprising red, green, and blue light sensitive layer units, wherein the layer units form reflective images of substantially similar color on development or wherein the element is substantially free of color forming components, and comprising incorporated light insensitive organic silver salts or an incorporated developing agent, wherein at least one of said layer units comprises at least two separate light sensitive silver halide emulsion layers.
- 29. A light sensitive silver halide color film element comprising red, green, and blue light sensitive layer units wherein the layer units form reflective images of substantially similar color on development or wherein the element is substantially free of color forming components, said element further comprising at least one incorporated developing agent.
- 32. A light sensitive silver halide color film element comprising red, green, and blue light sensitive layer units wherein the layer units form reflective images of substantially similar color on development or wherein the element is substantially free of color forming components, said element further comprising at least one interlayer substantially free of filter dye.
- 34. An image forming method comprising developing an imagewise exposed light sensitive silver halide color film element comprising red, green, and blue light sensitive layer units, wherein the layer units form reflective images of substantially similar color on development or wherein the element is substantially free of color forming components, and wherein said layer units comprise incorporated light insensitive organic silver salts or an incorporated developing agent, by contacting said film element with a treating element.
- 37. A image forming method comprising developing a light sensitive silver halide color film element comprising red, green, and blue light sensitive layer units wherein the layer units form reflective images of substantially similar color on development and wherein a layer unit comprises a single dye-forming coupler which produces micro-crystalline dye deposits on development by contacting said film element with a treating element.
- 39. A light sensitive silver halide color film element comprising red, green, and blue light sensitive layer units wherein the layer units form reflective images of substantially similar color on development and wherein a layer unit comprises a single dye-forming coupler which produces micro-crystalline dye deposits on development.
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44. An image forming method comprising thermally developing a light sensitive silver halide color film element comprising red, green, and blue light sensitive layer units wherein the layer units form reflective images of substantially similar color on development and wherein a layer unit comprises a single dye-forming coupler which produces micro-crystalline dye deposits on development.
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45. An image forming method comprising scanning an imagewise exposed and developed light sensitive silver halide color film element comprising red, green, and blue light sensitive layer units, wherein said layer units form reflective images of substantially similar color on development, wherein a layer unit comprises a dye-forming coupler which produces micro-crystalline dye deposits on development to form a first electronic record of the image formed on the developed film by reflection, a second electronic record of the image formed on the developed film by an opposing reflection, and a third electronic record of the image formed on the developed film by transmission.
Specification