Marking control device, laser application device, marking control method, and computer-readable recording medium having marking control program

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9302524-B2
Application number	US-201414551749-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 24, 2014
Priority date	Oct 19, 2009
Publication date	Apr 5, 2016
Grant date	Apr 5, 2016

Abstract

A disclosed marking control device controls a marking device to mark a target image on a thermoreversible recording medium by applying a laser beam includes a marking position determination unit dividing the image into plural marking lines, and determining their marking positions; a marking order determination unit determining a marking order to mark the marking lines in mutually opposite directions; an adjusting unit adjusting a distance between a first ending point and a second starting point to be longer than a distance between a first starting point and a second ending point, or adjusting laser power applied to a second starting point side of the second marking line to be lower than the laser power applied to a second ending point side of the second marking line; and a marking instruction generator unit generating marking instructions including the marking positions of the marking lines and the marking order thereof.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A marking control device for controlling a marking device that marks a target image on a thermoreversible recording medium by applying a laser beam thereto, the marking control device comprising:
a marking position determination unit configured to divide the target image into a first marking line and a second marking line that are adjacent to each other, and determine a marking position of each of the adjacent first and second marking lines;
a marking line order determination unit configured to determine a marking order of the adjacent first and second marking lines for marking the target image such that the second marking line is marked by substantially reversing a scanning direction of the second marking line relative to a scanning direction of the first marking line;
an adjusting unit configured to adjust, when the first marking line is initially scanned and the second marking line is scanned adjacent and subsequent to the first marking line by substantially reversing the scanning direction for marking the second marking line to start from a location near a first ending point of the first marking line so that the first marking line and the second marking line are close enough together so as to fill the target image, laser irradiation energy received by the thermoreversible recording medium so that the laser irradiation energy received by a second starting point of the second marking line is lower than the laser irradiation energy received by a second ending point of the second marking line; and
a marking instruction generator unit configured to generate a set of marking instructions including the respective marking positions of the first and second marking lines and the marking order of the first and second marking lines.

2. The marking control device as claimed in claim 1 ,
wherein the adjusting unit divides an interval between a first starting point and a first ending point of the first marking line into plural unit line components and an interval between the second starting point and the second ending point of the second marking line into plural unit line components, and adjusts the laser irradiation energy received by the second starting point side of a unit line component of the second marking line to be lower than the laser irradiation energy received by the second ending point side of another unit line component of the second marking line subsequent to the unit line component thereof.

3. The marking control device as claimed in claim 1
wherein the adjusting unit adjusts the laser irradiation energy received by the thermoreversible recording medium by gradually lowering a marking speed to mark the second marking line from the second starting point of the second marking line to the second ending point thereof.

4. The marking control device as claimed in claim 1 ,
wherein the adjusting unit adjusts the laser irradiation energy received by the thermoreversible recording medium by adjusting laser output power of the laser beam applied to the second starting point side of the second marking line to be lower than the laser output power of the laser beam applied to the second ending point side thereof by gradually increasing the laser output power of the laser beam applied to the second marking line from the second starting point of the second marking line to the second ending point thereof.

5. The marking control device as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:
a laser light source used in image processing,
wherein the laser light source is at least one of a YAG laser light, a fiber laser light, and a semiconductor laser light.

6. The marking control device as claimed in claim 1 ,
wherein a wavelength of the laser beam for marking any of the marking lines is in a range of 700 to 1,500 nm.

7. The marking control device as claimed in claim 1 ,
wherein the thermoreversible recording medium on which the target image is formed includes:
a supporting member;
a first thermoreversible recording layer;
a photothermal conversion layer configured to absorb light having a specific wavelength and convert the absorbed light into heat; and
a second thermoreversible recording layer, the first thermoreversible recording layer and the photothermal conversion layer and the second thermoreversible recording layer being arranged in this order on the supporting member, and
wherein the first and second thermoreversible recording layers reversibly change respective colors thereof based on respective temperatures of the first and second thermoreversible recording layers.

8. The marking control device as claimed in claim 7 ,
wherein the first thermoreversible recording layer and the second thermoreversible recording layer include leuco dyes and reversible developers.

9. The marking control device as claimed in claim 7 ,
wherein a photothermal conversion material used for forming the photothermal conversion layer includes an absorption peak in a near-infrared region.

10. The marking control device as claimed in claim 9 ,
wherein the photothermal conversion material used for forming the photothermal conversion layer includes a phthalocyanine compound.

11. A laser application device comprising:
a laser oscillator configured to generate a laser beam;
a direction control mirror configured to control a direction of the generated laser beam;
a direction control motor configured to drive the direction control mirror; and
the marking control device as claimed in claim 1 configured to control an output power of the laser oscillator, and the driving of the direction control motor based on the set of the marking instructions.

12. The marking control device as claimed in claim 1 ,
wherein the adjusting unit adjusts the laser irradiation energy received by the thermoreversible recording medium at the second starting point side of the second marking line by reducing laser output power applied to the second starting point side of the second marking line compared to the laser output power applied to the second ending point side of the second marking line.

13. The marking control device as claimed in claim 1 ,
wherein the adjusting unit adjusts the laser irradiation energy received by the thermoreversible recording medium at the second starting point side of the second marking line by raising laser scanning speed applied to the second starting point side of the second marking line compared to the laser scanning speed applied to the second ending point side of the second marking line.

14. The marking control device as claimed in claim 1 ,
wherein the laser irradiation energy received by the thermoreversible recording medium is caused by at least both the end point of the first line and the start point of the second line.

15. A marking control method for controlling a marking device that marks a target image on a thermoreversible recording medium by applying a laser beam thereto, the marking control method comprising:
dividing the target image into a first marking line and a second marking line that are adjacent to each other, and determining a marking position of each of the adjacent first and second marking lines;
determining a marking line order of the adjacent first and second marking lines for marking the target image such that the second marking line is marked by substantially reversing a scanning direction of the second marking line relative to a scanning direction of the first marking line;
adjusting, when the first marking line is initially scanned and the second marking line is scanned adjacent and subsequent to the first marking line by substantially reversing the scanning dir

Assignees

• Yamamoto Kazutaka
• Ishimi Tomomi
• Kawahara Shinya
• Asai Toshiaki
• Hotta Yoshihiko
• Ricoh Co Ltd

Inventors

• Yamamoto Kazutaka
• Ishimi Tomomi
• Kawahara Shinya
• Asai Toshiaki
• Hotta Yoshihiko

Classifications

• B41M5/284 Primary

  Organic thermochromic compounds · CPC title

• B41J2/4753 Primary

  using thermosensitive substrates, e.g. paper · CPC title

• G06K15/1228

  involving the fast moving of a light beam in two directions (G06K15/1233 - G06K15/129 take precedence) · CPC title

• B41M5/34

  Multicolour thermography · CPC title

• G06K1/126

  by photographic or thermographic registration (recording apparatus for measuring instruments G01D15/00) · CPC title