Abstract: The printing apparatus has: a recording medium holding device which holds a recording medium; a recording information acquisition device which acquires data relating to recording information recorded on the recording medium; a storage device which stores data relating to character images; an automatic determination device which automatically selects the character image corresponding to the data relating to the recording information recorded on the recording medium, from the character images stored in the storage device; and a printing device which prints the character image selected by the automatic determination device, onto a surface of the recording medium.

Abstract: The printing apparatus has: a recording medium holding device which holds a recording medium; a recording information acquisition device which acquires data relating to recording information recorded on the recording medium; a storage device which stores data relating to character images; an automatic determination device which automatically selects the character image corresponding to the data relating to the recording information recorded on the recording medium, from the character images stored in the storage device; and a printing device which prints the character image selected by the automatic determination device, onto a surface of the recording medium.

Abstract: The inkjet recording apparatus comprises: a light emitting device which illuminates filled ink with light; a measuring device which measures a spectral characteristic of one of the light transmitted through the filled ink and the light reflected by the filled ink; and a determining device which determines whether the filled ink is a specific ink according to the spectral characteristic measured by the measuring device.

Abstract: The invention provides a method of preparing a hard copy by forming a transparent coating layer on a recording medium in areas where image has been recorded. The invention has the first step of causing clear droplets to fly from a recording head toward the areas where image has been recorded and the second step of curing the droplets while they are in flight and the third step of depositing the cured droplets in the image-recorded areas of the recording medium so as to form the coating layer. According to the invention, a clear coating layer over color layer can reproduce an even more accurate gloss than in the prior art and presents the desired surface properties in the absence of steps even if there is unevenness in image recording density, whereby the image has a sufficiently improved texture to look more real.

Abstract: In the transfer apparatus, accumulated maximum transmittance of the color filters in each of ranges, in which respective spectral transmittance curves of the color filters overlap each other, is set smaller than a predetermined value. Alternatively, a light source is produced so that a light emission peak exceeding a predetermined size does not exist in each range in which at least two of red, green, and blue spectral sensitivities of a photosensitive recording medium overlap each other. Still alternatively, at least one of wavelength and light quantity of light passing through the image display device is controlled to thereby control gray tone to be recorded on the photosensitive recording medium.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a densitometry device that can perform suitable densitometry with minimum required light amounts and can achieve space savings. An angle ? between a reference optical axis of a light source, which is an LED chip, and an optical axis, according to a photoelectric conversion element, of a density measurement optical system is set to, for example, 52°. Light-emitting chips, which emit each of red, green and blue light, are provided inside a cannon shell-shaped light-emitting portion. These light-emitting chips are arranged in a straight line along a direction of conveyance of a color patch chart. Consequently, inclination angles of the light-emitting chips with respect to a measurement axis of the density measurement optical system will always change consistently with each other, and no difference between the inclination angles of the different colors will occur.

Abstract: A surface treatment apparatus which can efficiently form fine depressions and protrusions on a sheet selected from an inkjet sheet, a thermosensitive recording sheet, a heat developing sheet, an electrophotographic sheet, and a silver halide photographic sheet, and an image-forming apparatus incorporating this surface treatment apparatus, are provided. For this purpose, a surface treatment apparatus incorporating a sheet heating unit which heats a sheet having at least a thermoplastic resin layer, and a sheet depression and protrusion-forming unit disposed on the downstream process side of the sheet heating unit which forms depressions and protrusions on the thermoplastic resin layer, is provided.

Abstract: The inkjet recording apparatus comprises: a light emitting device which illuminates filled ink with light; a measuring device which measures a spectral characteristic of one of the light transmitted through the filled ink and the light reflected by the filled ink; and a determining device which determines whether the filled ink is a specific ink according to the spectral characteristic measured by the measuring device.

Abstract: The invention provides a method of preparing a hard copy by forming a transparent coating layer on a recording medium in areas where image has been recorded. The invention has the first step of causing clear droplets to fly from a recording head toward the areas where image has been recorded and the second step of curing the droplets while they are in flight and the third step of depositing the cured droplets in the image-recorded areas of the recording medium so as to form the coating layer. According to the invention, a clear coating layer over color layer can reproduce an even more accurate gloss than in the prior art and presents the desired surface properties in the absence of steps even if there is unevenness in image recording density, whereby the image has a sufficiently improved texture to look more real.

Abstract: A surface treatment apparatus which can efficiently form fine depressions and protrusions on a sheet selected from an inkjet sheet, a thermosensitive recording sheet, a heat developing sheet, an electrophotographic sheet, and a silver halide photographic sheet, and an image-forming apparatus comprising this surface treatment apparatus, are provided. For this purpose, a surface treatment apparatus comprising a sheet heating unit which heats a sheet. having at least a thermoplastic resin layer, and a sheet depression and protrusion-forming unit disposed on the downstream process side of the sheet heating unit which forms depressions and protrusions on the thermoplastic resin layer, is provided.

Abstract: In the transfer apparatus, accumulated maximum transmittance of the color filters in each of ranges, in which respective spectral transmittance curves of the color filters overlap each other, is set smaller than a predetermined value. Alternatively, a light source is produced so that a light emission peak exceeding a predetermined size does not exist in each range in which at least two of red, green, and blue spectral sensitivities of a photosensitive recording medium overlap each other. Still alternatively, at least one of wavelength and light quantity of light passing through the image display device is controlled to thereby control gray tone to be recorded on the photosensitive recording medium.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a densitometry device that can perform suitable densitometry with minimum required light amounts and can achieve space savings. An angle &thgr; between a reference optical axis of a light source, which is an LED chip, and an optical axis, according to a photoelectric conversion element, of a density measurement optical system is set to, for example, 52°. Light-emitting chips, which emit each of red, green and blue light, are provided inside a cannon shell-shaped light-emitting portion. These light-emitting chips are arranged in a straight line along a direction of conveyance of a color patch chart. Consequently, inclination angles of the light-emitting chips with respect to a measurement axis of the density measurement optical system will always change consistently with each other, and no difference between the inclination angles of the different colors will occur.

Abstract: An exposure head is provided in which a deterioration in image quality, due to density non-uniformity or the like, of an image formed by using plural light beams can be suppressed. A microlens array is provided at a light-exiting side of a LED chip which has plural LED elements. The microlens array has microlenses of the same number as a number of LED elements. The microlenses are arranged in an array form at uniform intervals. The microlens array is lenses of an illumination system which, for example, limit spreading of light beams emitted from the LED chip. Light beams of homogeneous configurations and homogeneous profiles are illuminated onto a theoretical object plane at a time of focusing the light beams onto an exposure drum. In this way, the light beams emitted from the LED elements are illuminated with homogeneous configurations and at homogeneous light amount distributions onto illumination regions by the microlenses which function independently.

Abstract: The invention achieves high image recording ability with an ink jet recording method and an improvement in acquisition rate of proper images. On the basis of inputted image data for recording, an ejection signal for driving a recording head which records an image with an ink jet method is generated. Then, the head is driven and images are recorded successively on the recording material. Simultaneously, images thus outputted are read by a sensor. By comparing the output image data obtained by the reading to the corresponding image data for recording, or comparing output image data of output images with one another, whether phenomena including clogging of an ejection opening of the recording and a decrease in an ejection amount of ink droplets and the like have occurred is monitored. If any of the phenomena has occurred, a process for solving the phenomenon is performed.

Abstract: A system for monitoring the amount of light emitted from a surface emitting laser includes a beam splitter which is fixed to the surface emitting laser and splits a part of a laser beam emitted from the laser as a monitor light, and a photodetector which detects the monitor light.

Abstract: Scanning exposure for three pigments by three optical beams is carried out during a single main scanning. An angle of incidence and an angle between respective light beams are determined so as to prevent overlapping of scanning exposure. As a result, a single modulator can be used in modulating light beams. With respect to maximum swing angle of light beam by a flat mirror of a deflecting device, a image can be recorded (scanning exposure) on a sensitive material by a swing angle of about 1/5 by allocating swing width with respect to the center. Thus, a deviation of position of a focusing point and change in speed can be suppressed so that focusing, concentration and the like can be included within an allowable range.

Abstract: In a light beam scanning recording device, a color image is recorded on a recording material by scanning the recording material in a main scanning direction and a sub-scanning direction with light beams of three different wavelengths modulated according to an image signal. A light source which emits a plurality of light beams which form a predetermined number of beam spots on the recording material arranged in the sub-scanning direction is used as the light source for emitting light beams of each wavelength, whereby recording is effected simultaneously along the predetermined number of main scanning lines.

Abstract: A system for monitoring the amount of light emitted from a surface emitting laser includes a beam splitter which is fixed to the surface emitting laser and splits a part of a laser beam emitted from the laser as a monitor light, and a photodetector which detects the monitor light.

Abstract: Respective light-emitting elements are caused to emit light at the maximum rated outputs and densities of three colors developed by a photosensitive material are made substantially uniform. The maximum rated outputs at light-emitting central wavelengths, of the three-color light-emitting elements are respectively 2.4 mW, 0.04 mW and 1.2 mW. The ratio between the outputs is represented as R:G:B=60:1:30. On the other hand, the ratio between spectral sensitivities of the most-frequently used photosensitive material is represented as R:G:B=1:30:2. An exposure-value ratio on the photosensitive material, which is synthetically obtained from these, reaches R:G:B=2:1:2. Thus, the numerical ratio among the light-emitting elements, for making exposure values uniform becomes R:G:B=1:2:1. The numbers of the respective light-emitting elements are defined so as to reach the least numbers from the numerical ratio (i.e., one R-light-emitting element, two G-light-emitting elements and one B-light-emitting element).

Abstract: An image recording apparatus having a light source which illuminates light to one of a reflection original image and a transparency original image, and an imaging lens system which uses the light reflected or transmitted from the original image after being emitted from the light source to form an image on a photosensitive surface of a photosensitive material. A plurality of light emitting diodes are used as the light source. Accordingly, controlling the current to the diodes allows control of a quantity of light without changing the color. It therefore becomes unnecessary to provide a diaphragm mechanism for the imaging lens system. As a result, the apparatus can be made small.