Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G03—PHOTOGRAPHY; CINEMATOGRAPHY; ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ELECTROGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY
  • G03C—PHOTOSENSITIVE MATERIALS FOR PHOTOGRAPHIC PURPOSES; PHOTOGRAPHIC PROCESSES, e.g. CINE, X-RAY, COLOUR, STEREO-PHOTOGRAPHIC PROCESSES; AUXILIARY PROCESSES IN PHOTOGRAPHY
  • G03C7/00—Multicolour photographic processes or agents therefor; Regeneration of such processing agents; Photosensitive materials for multicolour processes
  • G03C7/30—Colour processes using colour-coupling substances; Materials therefor; Preparing or processing such materials
  • G03C7/3017—Colour processes using colour-coupling substances; Materials therefor; Preparing or processing such materials with intensification of the image by oxido-reduction
  • G03C7/302—Colour processes using colour-coupling substances; Materials therefor; Preparing or processing such materials with intensification of the image by oxido-reduction using peroxides
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G03—PHOTOGRAPHY; CINEMATOGRAPHY; ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ELECTROGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY
  • G03C—PHOTOSENSITIVE MATERIALS FOR PHOTOGRAPHIC PURPOSES; PHOTOGRAPHIC PROCESSES, e.g. CINE, X-RAY, COLOUR, STEREO-PHOTOGRAPHIC PROCESSES; AUXILIARY PROCESSES IN PHOTOGRAPHY
  • G03C5/00—Photographic processes or agents therefor; Regeneration of such processing agents
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G03—PHOTOGRAPHY; CINEMATOGRAPHY; ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ELECTROGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY
  • G03C—PHOTOSENSITIVE MATERIALS FOR PHOTOGRAPHIC PURPOSES; PHOTOGRAPHIC PROCESSES, e.g. CINE, X-RAY, COLOUR, STEREO-PHOTOGRAPHIC PROCESSES; AUXILIARY PROCESSES IN PHOTOGRAPHY
  • G03C5/00—Photographic processes or agents therefor; Regeneration of such processing agents
  • G03C5/26—Processes using silver-salt-containing photosensitive materials or agents therefor
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G03—PHOTOGRAPHY; CINEMATOGRAPHY; ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ELECTROGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY
  • G03C—PHOTOSENSITIVE MATERIALS FOR PHOTOGRAPHIC PURPOSES; PHOTOGRAPHIC PROCESSES, e.g. CINE, X-RAY, COLOUR, STEREO-PHOTOGRAPHIC PROCESSES; AUXILIARY PROCESSES IN PHOTOGRAPHY
  • G03C7/00—Multicolour photographic processes or agents therefor; Regeneration of such processing agents; Photosensitive materials for multicolour processes
  • G03C7/30—Colour processes using colour-coupling substances; Materials therefor; Preparing or processing such materials
  • G03C7/407—Development processes or agents therefor

Definitions

• METHOD OF PHOTOGRAPHIC PROCESSING This invention relates to a method of processing a photographic silver halide material.
• an imagewise exposed photographic silver halide material is processed in one or more aqueous processing solutions.
• a negative colour image is formed in a film and a colour print is made by exposing a colour negative paper to the negative image.
• the paper is then processed in a colour developer to form a silver image and corresponding dye image in each of three colour layers thus together forming the desired full colour image.
• a typical second processing stage is a bleach-fix solution which bleaches the unwanted silver image and removes undeveloped silver halide.
• Photographic materials not containing silver halide layers are also known which are neverthless processed with solutions.
• the processing steps are usually accomplished by immersing the photographic material in the processing solutions, often in a processing machine, for a particular length of time at a particular temperature.
• time and temperature determines the extent of the processing.
• the time and temperature have to be accurately controlled.
• the present invention provides a method of controlling the amount of processing solution components entering the layer or layers of a photographic material hence controlling the processing itself by novel means.
• a method of processing a photographic material comprising a support bearing at least one swellable layer which method comprises contacting the material with a processing solution containing a component which limits the swell of the layer so that its ta e—up of processing solution components is controlled by the degree of said swell.
• the photographic material may be a black—and—white or colour material and may contain a photosensitive silver halide layer comprising a hydrophilic colloid binder, eg gelatin, a gelatin derivative or polyvinyl alcohol.
• a hydrophilic colloid binder eg gelatin, a gelatin derivative or polyvinyl alcohol.
• Non-hydrophilic binders may also be used especially in non—silver halide systems.
• the material may be one for use in physically developed systems including both photosensitive and non—photosensitive materials, for example, materials for the silver salt diffusion transfer process.
• the material may be for the diazo, dye transfer or dye bleach process.
• the solution containing the swell limiting compound is preferably aqueous but this is not essential.
• Non—aqueous solutions for example comprising an alcohol, glycol, glycol ether or hydrocarbon solvents may also be employed.
• the photographic material is successively contacted with a number of processing solutions each one containing swell—limiting components in such amounts that the swell of the layer is increased with each solution so that further processing solution components are successively taken up by said layer.
• the present invention provides a controlled way of processing photographic products using small amounts of liquid. Processing times can be shortened as concentrations can be higher. More even processing can be achieved for surface applied solutions and processing normally undertaken above room temperature in a deep tank can be achieved at room temperature itself.
• the component that limits the swell of the emulsion layer may be a salt, particularly an alkali metal or ammonium salt.
• Such salts may be chlorides, sulphates or carbonates. Examples of particular salts are sodium chloride, potassium sulphate, potassium carbonate, ammonium sulphate, etc.
• the salt is chosen so as not to interfere with the processing function. Hence, for developers, potassium carbonate or sulphate would be suitable.
• the developing agent is added separately this could be from an acid solution while the remainder of the necessary components could be added subsequently with sufficient alkali to provide the desired pH for processing.
• the processing solutions may contain a thickener and hence be viscous, such solutions being suitable for surface application.
• the processing solution may contain any of the many components used in photography, for example as described in "Modern Photographic Processing” by Grant M. Haist, John Wiley and Sons, 1979.
• the processing solution may be an amplification solution containing a colour developing agent and a redox amplification oxidant, e.g. a peroxide, periodate or cobalt (III) complex as described in US Patents 3 674 490 or 3 862 842. In such a case it is convenient to keep and apply the developing agent and the oxidant in separate solutions as a solution of them both is unstable.
• the photographic material to be processed may be of many different kinds and contain a variety of additives as described in Research Disclosure Item 17643 December 1978 pages 22-31, Kenneth Mason Publications, Havant, Hampshire, UK.
• silver halide emulsion layers comprise gelatin as binder which is hardened to a conventional extent. Such a hardened layer is however still able to swell in aqueous solutions.
• Other binders and polymers may also be present as described in the Research Disclosure article cited above. The following examples are given for a better understanding of the invention. All processing was carried out at 20°C.
• Example 1 Conventional Colour Processing
• the density of the yellow Dmax (blue sensitive) area was used to measure the extent of development in a two stage process.
• samples of a colour negative paper comprising pure silver chloride emulsions were used.
• the paper was dipped into a test base solution (see table below for composition) for 20 seconds to allow the paper's gelatin layers to swell to their maximum extent (this was established using a swellmeter).
• the potassium carbonate is present to control the swell of the paper gelatin in the base solution.
• solution 1 the density is inferior to the experiment with carbonate and hydroxide (solution 2). The results also indicate that the presence of carbonate gives a more even result. Solution 3 was used to demonstrate that extra base contributed by the carbonate was not responsible for all the density gain shown by solution 2.
• a negative colour paper which contained a low silver coating weight (as silver chloride) was used.
• the paper was then dipped into a third solution containing 50 mls/1 30% hydrogen peroxide for 3 seconds before blotting for the last time.
• the sample was allowed to stand for 30 seconds (again the reaction appeared complete in 5 seconds) before washing in water for 3 minutes and then drying at room temperature.
• the sample was read at 10 random points, using a Macbeth densitometer, with a blue status A filter in the reflection head. From the 10 readings a mean and standard deviation (a measure of the evenness of the process) were calculated.

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• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Silver Salt Photography Or Processing Solution Therefor (AREA)

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Publications (2)

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• 1989
  • 1989-08-16 GB GB898918723A patent/GB8918723D0/en active Pending
• 1990
  • 1990-08-09 DE DE90913132T patent/DE69001610T2/de not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1990-08-09 EP EP90913132A patent/EP0487616B1/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1990-08-09 JP JP2512130A patent/JP2690396B2/ja not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1990-08-09 WO PCT/EP1990/001314 patent/WO1991003005A1/en active IP Right Grant

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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