The present invention relates to an improvement of a photographic exposure apparatus for recording on a photosensitive material image data from an image projecting means as well as image data from a negative film.
As shown in FIG. 15, a conventional photographic exposure apparatus comprises a negative image exposure means 31 and a CRT image exposure means 32 arranged in a row and provided with respective exposure stations 33 and 34. For an exposure operation, a sheet of printing paper P is advanced to the exposure station 33 where it is exposed to an image emitted through a negative film and then to the exposure station 34 where it is exposed to a CRT image data projected from the CRT means 32. It is however a disadvantage of such conventional apparatus that overall dimensions thereof are large since exposure station 34 for the CRT image exposure means 32 requires a considerable amount of space.
A modification of such photographic exposure apparatus is shown in FIG. 16, in which a mirror 43 is used for moving to and from the path of exposure light to switch between a negative image exposure means 41 and a CRT image data exposure means 42. Such modification still requires considerable space for forward and backward movements of the mirror 43, thus failing to minimize overall dimensions of the apparatus. Also, the backward movement of the mirror 43 from the light path takes an extra length of time and thus retards the switching operation across the light path. For such backward movement, the mirror 43 is turned about a pivotal support 43A. This operation causes the mirror 43 to move with poor stability and to produce vibrations during the printing process. In addition, movement of a lens unit and a CRT is controlled for varying the length of the light path to have a desired print size of the CRT image, adding another structural difficulty to the apparatus. It is possible to replace the movement of the lens unit with the exchange of different lens units which is a difficult task for an operator. Furthermore, as the printing of a CRT image requires a sizable portion of the time of the printing process, it largely affects the operational efficiency of the apparatus.
It is an object of the present invention, in view of the foregoing disadvantages, to provide a photographic exposure apparatus capable of switching the light path rapidly, while forward and backward movements of a mirror are eliminated, thus saving space.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a photographic exposure apparatus in which a mirror is securely held, thus minimizing vibration during printing, and an exposure lens may be exchanged with another simply and readily.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a photographic exposure apparatus having a lens switching means of simple construction.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a photographic exposure apparatus that includes a lens switching means, without increasing the overall dimensions of the apparatus.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a photographic exposure apparatus capable of printing an image projected from an image display means during a cycle of a period of printing a negative film image.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds