EP0078772B1 - Processing device for exposed photographic material - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a treatment device for exposed photographic material in sheet form, which comprises a cassette of the type described in the preamble of claim 1.

Many photographers prefer to develop and copy their own exposed photographic materials such as sheets and films at home without the expense of a darkroom. Therefore, copying and other processing methods and equipment have recently been developed which operate in a normally bright or illuminated room, e.g. can be used in a kitchen or bathroom without having to darken this room. There are photographic enlargement devices with a closed cover on the market which are used as bright room devices.

Cassettes are used in these devices in which an exposed photographic sheet material e.g. can be inserted inside the bright room enlarger, and then in the closed state, with the exposed sheet therein, are subjected to development and other treatment. Narrow cassettes, e.g. in French Patent Nos. 333504, 368677 and 430920 or as X-ray film cassettes in U.S. Patent No. 1879498, however, none of these cassettes can be loaded with the exposed photographic material if it is within the confined space of the interior of one Bright room enlarger should happen.

Bath containers for the further treatment of exposed, enclosed photographic film or paper material with liquid circulation are described in US Pat. Nos. 2,226,438 and 3,538,835, but none of these devices could use the particularly simple cassette of the treatment device according to the invention. This would also not be satisfactorily possible with the bath container of CH-PS No. 245703, which above all requires flow through a cassette from bottom to top.

Finally, US Patent No. 3886575 describes a processing device for cassettes loaded with photographic material, but each of which contains a plurality of frames with sheets of photographic material. This known device requires the presence of drive means, lifting means and even a counter and is intended for a device of completely different sizes and is therefore completely unsuitable for domestic use.

It is therefore a main object of the present invention to realize a treatment device of the type described in the introduction, in which a cassette is used which can be loaded particularly easily inside one of the aforementioned bright room devices with exposed photo material, which is nevertheless light-tight and yet also a post-production one Treatment, especially the development and further processing of the photographic material inside the light-tight closed cassette enables.

The invention further aims to implement a treatment device of the type described in the introduction, in which the cassette can be used in the desired direction of flow without difficulty, with the fastest possible treatment of the exposed photo material used being possible with the smallest possible amounts of bath liquid.

This object is achieved according to the invention and the stated purposes are achieved in a treatment device of the type described at the outset, which has the features listed in the characterizing part of claim 1.

Preferred embodiments of the treatment device have one or more of the features described in subclaims 2 to 4 or 6 to 11 and 13.

In this case, such a band made of rubber or a corresponding elastic plastic is preferably used as the elastic band. Opaque parts, such as in particular the housing parts of the lower and upper part of the cassette, are preferably made of polystyrene, polypropylene or acrylonitrile / butadiene / styrene copolymer, which are loaded with carbon black filler.

The treatment device according to the invention thus comprises a cassette as defined in claims 1 to 4 and / or 5 to 9, as well as a device in which such a cassette can be placed for the purpose of processing the material contained therein.

Preferably, each of the cassettes is provided with a tongue or the like at its upper end to facilitate handling of the cassettes, which also ensures that the cassette is inserted into the frame in the correct position.

As a pump e.g. a ball valve pump, which is attached to the upper end of the pump chamber and draws up the liquid from the bottom area of the bath container and conveys it into the upper end chamber above the upper end of the cassette, is particularly suitable. A battery-operated so-called Archimedean screw pump, the drive of which is attached to the upper end of the pump chamber, is also recommended, with guide vanes or the like interacting with the screw, which are arranged axially parallel in the pump chamber with the screw can be used. The liquid is conveyed in the same way as described above.

In practical implementation, the cassette slides completely into a bath container of the treatment device according to the invention, the bath container being dimensioned such that only the grip part of the cassette looks out of it at the top. The narrow cassette preferably fits so tightly into the bath container that as little as possible Space remains between the cassette wall and the inner wall of the bath container, so that practically all of the liquid is forced to flow through the cassette from top to bottom. Preferably, when a single bath container is present in the treatment device according to the invention, the treatment liquid is pumped from the bottom space of the bath container through the pumping space upwards into the upper end space of the bath container above the cassette and then flows from this space into the upper end of the cassette and through it into the Floor space of the bath container back.

Preferred is a treatment device according to the invention, which not only one, but e.g. comprises three to four bath containers in a frame, the one bath container e.g. from a developer liquid, the second one previously treated with developer liquid then from a stop solution, and the third after the previous treatment with the aforementioned solutions is flowed through by a fixing solution, while e.g. in a fourth bath tank, a cassette that has already gone through all the other previous treatment stages is flowed through by washing water.

Instead of using a pump to flow with water, the pump can also be switched off and tap water can be fed continuously through the cassette.

In bath containers according to the invention, which have the feature of claim 12, an odd number of insert compartments for each bath container is preferred. As a result, the liquid, which is supposed to always flow through the cassette from top to bottom, can be pumped again from bottom to top in the second, fourth and every subsequent even numbered (2nth) bath container. A special pump device is provided at one end of the frame of the treatment device and can be attached to the last insert compartment of the frame and extend parallel to one long side of the cassette to be accommodated in this compartment.

A supply line extending from the pump housing across the insert compartments or compartments can convey the liquid to the upper end of the first compartment at the opposite end of the frame as seen from the pump device, from where the liquid downwards through the cassette inserted in this first compartment, then through the second compartment of the frame upwards, again downwards through the second cassette inserted in the third compartment, then upwards again in the fourth compartment and finally downwards in the last compartment adjacent to the pump device and again loaded with a cassette, whereupon they are removed from the bottom area of this compartment the pump is pumped back up into the feed line mentioned.

• Fig.1 eine Draufsicht auf die Innenseite des Unterteils einer Kassette, wie sie in einer bevorzugten Ausführungsform der erfindungsgemässen Bearbeitungseinrichtung für photographisches Material eingesetzt werden kann,
• Fig. 2 eine Draufsicht auf die Innenseite des Oberteils der Kassette, deren Unterteil in Fig. 1 gezeigt ist,
• Fig. 3 eine perspektivische Ansicht von links oben einer aus Oberteil und Unterteil zusammengebauten Kassette nach der Erfindung,
• Fig. 4 eine perspektivische Ansicht einer bevorzugten Ausführungsform einer Behandlungseinrichtung nach der Erfindung mit einem einzelnen, in einem Ständer aufrechtstehend gehaltenen Badbehälter zur Aufnahme der Kassette,
• Fig. 5 einen Längsschnitt durch eine solche Behandlungseinrichtung längs einer in Fig. 4 durch V-V angedeuteten Ebene, wobei eine in Draufsicht gezeigte Kassette nach Fig. 1 bis 3 eingeschoben ist,
• Fig. 6 eine andere Ausführungsform der erfindungsgemässen Behandlungseinrichtung, aber mit fünf Badbehältern, und
• Fig. 7 einen Querschnitt durch die gleiche Behandlungseinrichtung längs einer in Fig. 6 durch VII-VII angedeuteten Ebene,

Further details and advantages of the photographic processing device according to the invention will become apparent from the description of preferred embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which

• 1 shows a plan view of the inside of the lower part of a cassette, as can be used in a preferred embodiment of the processing device according to the invention for photographic material,
• 2 is a plan view of the inside of the upper part of the cassette, the lower part of which is shown in FIG. 1,
• 3 is a perspective view from the top left of a cassette according to the invention assembled from an upper part and a lower part,
• 4 shows a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of a treatment device according to the invention with a single bath container held upright in a stand for receiving the cassette,
• 5 shows a longitudinal section through such a treatment device along a plane indicated by VV in FIG. 4, a cassette shown in plan view according to FIGS. 1 to 3 being inserted,
• 6 shows another embodiment of the treatment device according to the invention, but with five bath containers, and
• 7 shows a cross section through the same treatment device along a plane indicated by VII-VII in FIG. 6,

represent.

The cassette C shown in FIG. 1 with a plan view of the inner surface of its base plate 1 has two outer flanges or ribs 2 and 2 a and 2, supported by the latter and perpendicular to the top of the cartridge, in the region of the two long sides of the base plate 1 inner flanges 13 and 13a, with all four flanges running parallel to one another so that the longitudinal grooves 14 and 14a are formed between them.

At the upper end of the cassette C in FIG. 1, the base plate 1 carries two ribs 3 and 4 which run parallel to one another transversely to the flanges 13, 13a and which can be formed as hollow ribs on the base plate 1, and each of which has the cross section of one with the head placed on the bottom plate 1, the rib 3 having the flanks 3a and 3b and the rib 4 having the flanks 4a and 4b. Recesses 5 are provided in the rib flank 4b, through which air, which is enclosed under sheet material inserted into the cassette, can escape upwards. On the base plate, pegs or the like. Elements 7 protruding from it are distributed, which prevent inserted sheet material from resting on the surface of the base plate 1 facing the cassette interior and adhering to it.

At the opposite ends of the ribs 3 and 4 of the base plate 1 there are between the inner flanges 13 and 13a an outer transverse wall 10 which is perpendicular to the base plate 1 and an inner transverse wall 11 which is parallel to the latter and which carries notches 15 on its inside, through which possibly under in the Cassette inserted sheet material trapped air can escape upwards. A transverse channel 9 is formed between the transverse walls 10 and 11. The outer longitudinal flanges 21 and 21 a protrude on the outside of the cover plate 20 and are provided at opposite points with notches 12 and 12a, which continue in the outside of the flanges 2 and 2a to the underside of the base plate 1.

In the inner flanges 13 and 13a there are notches 16 and 16a to the left and right of the transverse channel 9 and notches 17 and 17a forward, i.e. outside the outer transverse wall 10. As shown in FIG. 3, a circumferential rubber band 30 can be inserted into the notches 12 and 12a in order to hold the upper part of the cassette together with the lower part.

In Fig. 2 the inside of the upper part of the cassette with the upper cover plate 20 is shown, which along its long sides downwards, i.e. towards the base plate 1, wearing excellent flanges 21 and 21 a.

Extending transversely to these and between them, at the upper end of the upper cassette part in FIG. 2 from its cover plate 20, two ribs 23 and 24 of V-shaped cross section seated on the cover plate 20 with the foot end, which flanks 23a and 23b and Wear 24a and 24b.

When the upper part of the cassette is placed on the lower part, these ribs 23 and 24 must come to rest so that a narrow gap at 31 remains open between the inner flank 23b of the rib 23 seen from the end of the cassette and the outer flank 3a of the rib 3 of the lower part of the cassette, while the inner rib flank 24b correspondingly forms such a gap with the outer rib flank 4a. The ribs 3, 4, 23 and 24 thus form a light-tight closure which allows liquid to pass through.

At the opposite end of the ribs 23 and 24 of the upper part of the cassette, a thinner outer transverse wall 26 and a thicker inner transverse wall 27 extend between the longitudinal flanges 21 and 21a. When the upper part and the lower part of the cassette are joined together, the longitudinal flanges 21 and 21a of the upper part of the cassette lie down in the longitudinal grooves 14 and 14a (Fig. 3), and the transverse wall 26 is fitted into the notches 17 and 17a, while the transverse wall 27 comes to rest in the notches 16 and 16a and protrudes into the transverse groove 9.

The exact arrangement of the notches 16, 16a and 17, 17a and the exact fit of the transverse walls 26 and 27 of the width of the notches of corresponding thickness determines the position of the upper part and the lower part of the cassette relative to one another and prevents the longitudinal displacement of one against the other other part of the cassette, the gaps between the ribs 3, 4 and 23, 24 or between the transverse walls 26 and 27 and the side walls of the rib 9 are closed and the flow of bath or washing liquid through the cassette interior is thereby prevented.

On its inside, the cover plate 20 carries a number of protrusions 29 which are intended to prevent photographic sheet material in the cassette from lying directly against the inside of the cover plate 20 and adhering to it.

After placing the upper part of the cassette on its lower part, an elastic band 30, e.g. made of rubber, placed around the assembled cassette and is held in position in the notches 12 and 12a and also in a flush groove (not shown) which is aligned with them and runs transversely in the outside of the base plate 1.

The cassette can then be opened sufficiently by lifting the top at its end carrying the ribs 23 and 24 from the bottom while stretching the rubber band 30 and supporting the edge of the top at the end opposite the ribs on the bottom so that a sheet of photographic paper is inserted into the Cassette can be inserted.

In Fig. 3 the cassette composed of the upper part and lower part, which is held together with the elastic band 30, is shown in the closed state. With the upper part raised, a sheet of photographic paper is inserted or inserted into the gap formed between the ribs 23 and 3, as indicated by the arrow 31, the cassette being best held with the open end upward so that the sheet to be inserted is not stuck on the projections 7 or 29.

In use, the cassette is coated with unexposed photographic printing material, e.g. loaded with a sheet of unexposed photographic paper, e.g. placed in an enlarger. The sheet is then removed from the cassette within the enlargement device, with as complete a seal as possible against the ingress of light from the outside, and is then put back into the cassette. The reclosed cassette containing the exposed copying material can then be removed from the exposure device again in bright light. The cassette is then, as already described, placed in a bath container which contains bath liquid required for developing the exposed photographic material. This developer liquid is now circulated through the inside of the cassette C.

In one embodiment of a bright room enlarging device, the cassette C is attached to the device on the outside thereof in a light-tight manner. Exposed copying material can then be inserted into the cassette from the inside of the enlarging device and the cassette, which is closed again in a light-tight manner, can then be removed from the device in order to further process the exposed copier material contained therein, as described above.

In order to store copy material of different sizes safely in the cassette, insert pieces can be inserted into it if necessary.

As shown in FIG. 4, the treatment device according to the invention comprises one narrow bath container 40 with flat end wall 41 and parallel rear wall 42 and two narrow side walls 43 and 44. At its upper end, the bath container 40 has an elongated opening 45, while the bottom 46 of the bath container 40 is closed. As a result, the bath container 40 can serve as a liquid container. An inner partition 49 adjacent to the narrow side wall 44 and parallel to it divides the interior of the bath container 40 into a larger chamber 51 on the right in FIG. 5 intended for receiving the cassette C and a smaller chamber serving as a pump chamber 47 in which the screw conveyor 55 is one Pump 48 (for example, an Archimedean screw) is housed with guide members 57 mounted vertically on the inner wall of the pump chamber 47. Usual drive means are mounted in the housing of the pump 48 above the upper end of the pump chamber 47; Power supply lines for an electric drive are omitted for clarity.

Above the bottom 46 there is a reservoir 54 filled with a bath liquid or water in the bath container 40, the lower end of the screw conveyor 55 being immersed in the liquid; on the side wall 43 and the partition 49, support elements 53 are fastened, on which the cassette C introduced into the bath container 40 rests, preferably with its end facing away from the ribs 3, 4, 23 and 24. Liquid can now be sucked in from the reservoir 54 above the pump chamber 47 through the feed screw 55 and flow into the cassette C from above through a flow opening 58. The liquid then flows back into the reservoir 54 from the lower end of the cassette. The liquid flowing downward in the cassette leaves the chamber 51 of the bath container 40 containing the cassette through the lower open end thereof and passes the lower end of the partition wall 49 again into the pump chamber 47, in which it is conveyed upwards again.

On the other hand, the pump 48 can of course also press liquid from the pump chamber 47 down into the reservoir 54 and let it flow from below into the chamber 51 containing the cassette C if the cassette has an internal structure suitable for this.

During the treatment process described above, the bath container 40 is preferably inserted into a frame 50 with corresponding holders 57 for the simultaneous use of a plurality of bath containers 40, whereupon the required amount of developer liquid or another bath liquid or water is poured into the bath container 40 from above through the opening 45 . The exposed cassette C containing photographic paper is placed in the bath container 40 such that its grip part H protrudes upward. In practice, the handle part H only fits onto the cassette C if the liquid inlet end according to arrow 31 is in the correct position, e.g. when sucking liquid from the reservoir 54 through the pump 48, located above.

This is particularly the case if the spacers 7, which keep an inserted sheet of photographic paper at a distance from the inner surface of the base plate 1, are lower than the height of the rib 4 with a V-shaped cross section located adjacent to the interior of the cassette, and if the spacers 29 on the opposite cover plate 20 are higher than the distance of the ridge of the rib 4 from the inner surface of the cover plate 20, but lower than the distance of the spacers 7 of the base plate 1 from the latter surface of the cover plate 20. This ensures that a sheet , the length of which must of course be adapted to the length of the interior of the cassette, with its one end, the lower end of the cassette in the position shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 rests on the inner side surface of the inner transverse wall 11, while its upper edge on the inner side flank 4b of the rib 4 rests between the ridge and the foot end of the latter. In this case, the end of the cassette with the ribs 3, 4, 23 and 24 on the inside must be introduced into the bath container 40 and liquid must be flowed through from top to bottom. The surface of the sheet provided with a light-sensitive layer should face the cover plate 20 so that the liquid entering through the gap at 31 (FIG. 3) flows down over this layer.

With these cassettes, care must of course also be taken to ensure that there is sufficient clearance between the support plane for the uncoated side of a sheet determined by the spacers 7 and the level of the contact plane for the coated side of the sheet determined by the spacers 29 that there is sufficient space from above Treatment liquid flowing down over the coated side of the sheet presses the sheet away from the free ends of the spacers 29 and can thus flow down over the entire coated surface of the sheet in an uninterrupted flow.

Once the required treatment time has passed, the cassette C is taken out of the bath container 40 and inserted into the next bath container charged with another treatment liquid. After going through all the treatment stages, the cassette can be placed in a bath tank, which is connected to a water tap instead of a pump, so that washing water flows through the cassette for the required period of time.

The treatment device shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 comprises a treatment tank 60 which is divided into five bath containers 62 to 66 arranged next to one another by corresponding partition walls 62a to 66a. A chamber serving as a pump chamber 67 remains between the latter partition 66a and the adjacent outer wall 61 of the tank 60. While the Partitions 63a and 65a sit tightly on the bottom 68 of the tank 60, there are free passages between the lower edges of the partitions 62a, 64a and 66a, so that liquid from the pump chamber 67 can flow through all the sub-containers 62 to 66 of the tank 60 one after the other . In the pump chamber 67, in addition to the usual guide elements (not shown), on its inner wall there is a screw conveyor (for example an Archimedean screw) 69 with a known type of pump drive 70 mounted on the upper end of the pump chamber 67. Above or next to the upper ends of the container pairs 63, 64 and 65, 66 connected to one another, a liquid supply channel 71 is provided in the tank 70, through which, depending on the pumping direction, liquid is drawn off from the upper end of the bath container 62 and returned to the pump chamber 67 or liquid from the latter Space is pumped into the bath tank 62.

As shown in FIG. 6, a cassette 72 is placed in the bath container 63. When treating individual cassettes in this facility, they are preferably placed in this or one of the subsequent containers 64 or 65.

When a cassette is placed in one of the bath containers, its lower end rests on the corresponding support flanks 75 (FIG. 7); so that an unimpeded flow of liquid through the entire tank 60 is ensured. This would not be the case if the cassettes were seated on the bottom 68 of the tank.

One of the two possible flow directions is indicated by arrows in FIG. 7, the liquid pumped up by the pump in the pump chamber 67 firstly through the channel 71 into the bath tank 62 and then upwards through the tank 63, then downwards through the tank 64, again upwards through the container 65 and finally downwards through the container 66 and below the partition 66a from the latter back into the pump chamber 67, so that a satisfactory circulation of the treatment liquid is ensured.

In this arrangement, cassettes, which must be flowed through by the liquid from top to bottom, can of course only be introduced into the chambers 62, 64 and / or 66.

Claims (12)

1. Processing device for exposed photographic material in sheetform, comprising a cassette (C) of an opaque material consisting of a lower part containing a floor panel (1 ) and an upper part containing a top panel (20), with the upper part overlapping the lower part and the cassette (C) comprising on its opposing longitudinal sides formed by the floor panel (1 ) and the top panel (20) on their sides facing each other a plurality of sealing elements (13,14,13a, 14a; 21,21 a) forming a light-and liquid-tight seal in the closed state of the cassette, and with light-sealing means (3, 4, 23, 24; 10, 11, 26, 27) being provided on the opposing transverse sides of the cassette (C), which in the upright, closed state of the cassette form its upper and lower end, said light-sealing means permitting the flow of a liquid through the inside of the cassette and between the light-sealing means from one end of the cassette to the other, while a sheet of a photographic material is present in the cassette, characterized in that a rubber band (30) is placed around the upper and lower sides transversely to said longitudinal sides, preferably in a transverse zone located toward the lower end, whereby the upper part may be raised from the lower part at the upper end of the cassette while stretching the band (30) and forming an extended entry port (at 31 ), while the upper part is pivotally supported at its lower end on the lower part and a sheet of photographic material may be introduced through the entry port (31 ) into the cassette.

2. Processing device according to Claim 1, characterized in that a plurality of locking means (16, 16a, 17, 17a and 26, 27) which engage each other in the closed state of the cassette are provided, said locking means preventing the lon_- gitudinal displacement of the upper and the lower part with respect to each other and thus the blocking of the flow path of the liquid through the cassette.

3. Processing device according to Claim 2, characterized in that the rubber band (30) is located in notches (12) on the outside of the floor panel (1 ) and the upper side of the top panel (20).

4. Processing device according to Claim 2, characterized in that the light-sealing means comprise at one end of the cassette (C) formed by one transverse side, both at the floor panel (1 ) and the top panel (20), on their inner surfaces facing the inside of the cassette, a pair each of ribs (3, 4 and 23, 24) extending parallel to said transverse side, with a V-shaped cross-section seated on the V-shaped top end of the panel (1,20) involved, with one pair of ribs (3, 4) of one panel (1) being arranged offset with respect to the other panel (20) in the longitudinal direction of the cassette, in a manner such that in the closed state of the cassette the two pairs of ribs form a light-tight closure of the inside of the cassette against the outside, but that between the ribs of the one pair and those of the other gaps (at 31) remains, through which liquid may flow into the cassette.

5. Processing device according to Claim 4, characterized in that the light-sealing means at the end of the cassette opposite the cassette and equipped with the ribs (3, 4 and 23, 24) comprise a trough (9) extending transversely to the longitudinal direction of the cassette between transverse flanges (10,11) on the one panel (1 ) and at least one transverse flange (26, 27) of the other panel (20) entering said trough, whereby in the closed state of the cassette the trough (9) and the transverse flange or flanges (26, 27) engage each other in a light-sealing manner, while a passage for a liquid remains free between them.

6. Processing device according to Claim 5, characterized in that, on the inner surface of the panel (1 ) carrying the rib (4) located farthest in the direction of the inside the cassette, raised members (7) are provided to hold a sheet of photographic materials inserted in the cassette (C) at a distance from the inner surface of the panel smaller than the height of said rib (4), and that the inner surface of the other panel (20) carries projections (29) which hold the said sheet at a distance from the other panel (2), said other distance being larger than that of the ridge of the rib (4) from the other panel (20), but smaller than the distance of said raised members (7) from the other panel (20).

7. Processing device according to Claim 6, characterized in that the length of the cassette is chosen as a function of the length of the sheets of photographic material to be processed, so that an exposed sheet of a photographic material inserted in the cassette is resting with one end of a slide (4b) of the rib (4) located at the upper end of the upright cassette nearest to the inside of the cassette and protruding from the one panel (1 ), while the other end of the sheet is seated on the transverse flange (11) of the lower end of the cassette nearest to the inside of the cassette and protruding from the one panel (1 ), while the other end of the sheet is seated on the transverse flange (11 ) of the lower end of the cassette nearest to the inside of the cassette, so that the liquid introduced through the gap (at 31 ) at the upper end of the cassette is flowing down at least one side of the sheet and out through the lower end of the cassette.

8. Processing device according to Claim 1, characterized in that insert pieces are present in the cassette, whereby the size of the internal space of the cassette may be adapted to the size of the sheet of photographic material to be processed.

9. Processing device according to one of Claims 4 to 8, characterized in that the lower part and the upper part of the cassette (C) are connected with each other in a manner such that the two parts may be pivoted apart at their end equipped with the ribs (3, 4 and 23, 24) so that a sheet of photographic paper may be inserted through the extended port formed in this manner (at 31 ) into the inside of the cassette.

10. Processing device according to one of the Claim 1 to 9, characterized in that it comprises at least one thin sheath (40) having an orifice at its upper end into which the cassette fits exactly, abutment members (53) in the lower terminal area of the sheath (40) to prevent the seating of the lower end of the cassette on the bottom (46) of the sheath (40), and a pumping device (48, 55) whereby a liquid is circulated between the upper and the lower end of the bath reservoir, preferably from top to bottom, through the inside of the cassette.

11. Processing device according to Claim 10, characterized in that it comprises a single sheath (40) with a lateral liquid pump channel (47) and a pump (48) mounted at the upper end of said pump channel, above the upper end of the chamber (51 ) of the sheath (40) containing the cassette (C).

12. Processing device according to Claim 10, characterized in that it comprises a rack (50), into which two or more, preferably three, sheaths (40) may be inserted in series adjacent each other.

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