EP0846077A1

EP0846077A1 - Packaging for moisture-sensitive goods, especially for photographic films, and packaging containing at least one film

Info

Publication number: EP0846077A1
Application number: EP96929291A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Carlos Alberto Thiermann Elten; Hartmut Thiele; Peter Ulbricht; Rainer Redmann
Original assignee: Emtec Magnetics GmbH
Current assignee: Emtec Magnetics GmbH
Priority date: 1995-08-23
Filing date: 1996-08-21
Publication date: 1998-06-10
Anticipated expiration: 2016-08-21
Also published as: DE29614215U1; WO1997008077A1; DE29513546U1; DE59601621D1; AU6875296A; JP2000513302A; EP0846077B1

Abstract

The invention involves a form of packaging for moisture-sensitive goods and for photographic film in particular, and which comprises an inner chamber surrounded by an enclosing wall (5) and a cover (6) whereby the wall (5) and/or cover (6) are at least partly permeable to moisture and/or made of some hygroscopic material by means of circular apertures (7) or a diaphragm (8), that offsets or reduces any internal vapour pressure.

Description

Packaging for moisture-sensitive goods, in particular for photo films, and packaging with at least one film in it

description

The invention relates to a packaging for moisture-sensitive material, in particular for photo film material, consisting of wall and lid parts and an interior space enclosed by them, and a packaging with at least one film therein.

The film manufacturers pack photo films, in particular small-format, negative or positive films, in plastic cans with lids for vapor-tight storage. According to US 4,639,386 such a plastic can is e.g. made of a polymeric resin, which mainly contains polypropylene and which has a low moisture permeability of 2.3 mg / on the 1st day of a test series.

With DE-OS 40 14 680 a packaging for a 35 mm plastic box is known, which is in a water vapor-tight, e.g. contains weldable bags made of aluminum foil coated on both sides.

DE-GM 94 07 945 (OZ 0078/06175) by the applicant discloses a container for photo film consisting of cardboard, paper and / or plastic material or a multi-layer composite material, preferably by means of an intermediate heat-sealing film the container parts can be connected in order to achieve the additional advantage of water vapor impermeability or moisture protection from the outside.

The can and container designs described above have the common goal of achieving tropical suitability for protecting the film, that is, protection against the ingress of moisture from the outside.

However, the photo film materials change their properties under different climates, especially the sensitometric ones. In addition, high humidity, combined with high temperature, causes the film to age faster. This aging process can go so far that e.g. in the case of color negative photo films, the negatives can no longer be copied and are therefore useless.

Because the photo films through their manufacturing process a certain

If there is residual moisture, waterproof packaging can accelerate aging when stored in the warm lead what is known and against which a tempering of the Filmmater¬ material is carried out after the manufacturing process by some film manufacturers. A possibly associated artificial aging of the film material must then be accepted.

Annealing or tempering is understood to mean that, after the film has been produced, some of the residual moisture is expelled and the remaining moisture is uniformized over the film layers.

With EP-A 476 535 it is also known to pre-dry a silver halide photographic film material containing gelatin to a maximum percentage of 14 percent by weight based on the gelatin weight before copying in order to obtain photographically excellent results.

It is an object of the present invention to provide packaging in which the vapor pressure generated in the interior is at least partially reduced.

The object is achieved with packaging for moisture-sensitive material, in particular for unexposed photo film material, consisting of a closed interior and wall and cover parts surrounding it, in that the wall and / or cover parts are at least partially moisture-permeable and / or moisture-storing , so that a vapor pressure can equalize or reduce from the inside.

This saves annealing in accordance with the prior art, and the associated artificial aging of the film material is avoided.

In an expedient embodiment of the packaging, a liquid amount of approximately 10 to approximately 80 mg should be able to escape or be absorbed by the at least partially moisture-permeable or -storage part within 6 days at a heating cabinet temperature of 50 ° C., 20% RH.

As a result, an area is specified in which the sensitometric properties of the photo film, some of which are age-related and which influence the copying process, can be kept largely unchanged, even when stored for a long period under tropical conditions.

In a practical embodiment, the packaging consists of a can with a lid, at least one escape opening being provided for the moisture. This makes it possible to reduce the effort for the To keep the realization of the inventive packaging very low. It also makes sense to retrofit the escape opening to existing cans. It is also advantageous to cover the escape opening with a cover, in particular a film which is permeable to steam from the inside to the outside.

The escape opening can expediently be provided in the cover.

It is also possible to provide the escape opening (s) between the can and the lid, in particular at the edge of the can or the edge of the lid.

An escape opening can also be provided in a wall of the can.

In the case of a packaging according to the prior art, in which the wall and cover parts have the shape of a prism, it is advantageously possible to provide the escape opening on at least one wall part.

It is also expedient to design the material of the can, lid or prism container wall parts to be permeable to moisture.

A further embodiment is provided if cover means are provided, by means of which the escape opening can be at least partially covered.

Moisture-storing packaging can be realized if it is at least partially made of hygroscopic material or if it is located on wall or cover parts. The subject of the invention is also a packaging according to the invention with at least one film in it.

Exemplary embodiments of packaging according to the invention are shown in the drawing and described below on the basis of comparative examples.

The drawing shows in

Figure 1 is a packaging as a cylinder box with a lid

Figure 1 A is a longitudinal section through the can with a lid

Figure 1

Figure 1 B is a plan view of the lid Figure 1 C is a lid with a plurality of escape openings and separately shown cover therefor

Figure 1 D the lid with attached cover from Figure 1 C.

Figure 2 is a box or trapezoidal shape box

Figure 3 is a top view of a pentagon shape box

Figure 4 is a top view of a triangular shape can

5 shows a wall part with an integrated permeability ^■ location or storage location

6 to 8 show a prism-shaped container with permeability points or storage points

Figure 9 is a cylinder can

9 A shows a version with openings between the edge of the can and the lid

10 shows a cover with 2 escape openings, a passage opening and a cover plate

10 A shows the cover and the cover plate from FIG. 10 in cross section

Diagrams of AI, gradation and density values of films A A2, Bl and B2 or B in cans after storage in a cabinet

The cylinder boxes 5 with lids 6 according to Figures 1, 1 A and 9 are of a known external shape.

The cover 6 according to FIG. 1 is formed with a plurality, in particular 6, of circular openings 7 with a diameter of approximately 1 mm or smaller. As in the following test examples, a hole with 2.5-3.5 mm can also be used, which at 2.5 mm even corresponds approximately to the total area of the 6 holes with a diameter of 1 mm.

The cover 8 in FIGS. 1 C and 1 D can consist, for example, of plastic film material which is only permeable to water vapor on one side or of another material with the finest openings through which the water vapor pressure can escape. The Openings 7 in FIG. 1D can also be covered by a suitable, partially permeable self-adhesive film 8A. The cover 8 can also be suitably clamped in the cover 6. In FIGS. 2 to 4, a zone 15 of the cover 9-10 of the cans 12 to 14 is designed to be permeable to water vapor. Of course, instead of the cover parts (or), the wall parts of the cans 12 to 14 with any shape of passage openings or represent 15 A in Figure 3 of a suitable size.

FIGS. 6 to 8 show prism containers 16 to 18 with flat extensions for film ends. Permeability zones 19 are provided at 16 on a striking surface 20 of the roof prism, at 17 on a side surface 21 of the cuboid prism and on the upper side 22 of the trapezoidal prism.

FIG. 5 shows an arbitrary wall or cover part cutout 23 with a permeability or storage point 24 or 25. in the area of point 24, a special coating may or may not be present in order to produce the desired permeability. As storage location 25, e.g. a hygroscopic substance must be applied to this area, the absorption capacity of which should correspond approximately to the amount of liquid to be dispensed.

FIG. 9A shows escape openings formed as fine grooves 26 on the upper edge 27 of the can 5 under the cover edge 23. The number and design of the grooves 26 can be suitably dimensioned. Of course, the inner part of the lid edge 28 can also be formed with grooves or ribs with a smooth upper edge 27 of the can 5.

FIG. 10 finally shows a cover part 29 with escape openings 30 and a passage opening 31 as well as a flat turntable 32 with sector permeability points 33 and a pivot 34. In FIG. 10A the cover part 29 with the cover disc 32 is in the middle Cross section shown.

As indicated by dashed lines, the pivot pin 34 passes through a passage opening 31 and the turntable 32 is held on extensions. In this embodiment, it is possible to close or open the opening or openings 30 or also to open it partially. When the film content is exposed, a closed position of the pane 32 simultaneously represents an identifier for the exposure state. As a vapor and / or gas permeable cover for the escape opening (s), woven, knitted or nonwoven films are suitable, which have a basis weight of approximately 100-180 g / m ² and a fiber thickness of approximately 10 μm to have about 25 microns, with fiber weights of about 1.5 to about 5 g / 10,000 m. Synthetic fiber papers can also be used.

Specifically, the following cover materials were used in the examples (table on page 9):

For Li an acetate silk foil with glue

L _{2 is} a synthetic fiber paper (called "Fiberstock") L _{3 is} an acetate silk film with adhesive (type 80120 from Jackstätt GmbH, Wuppertal) with a basis weight of about 125 g / cm ² .

In principle, it is also possible to produce the packaging partially or completely from surface-coated paper or cardboard materials, the coating being intended to prevent or at least reduce the penetration of moisture from the outside and the paper or cardboard material and the coating from the inside out for Moisture should be permeable.

The moisture absorption capacity of paper and / or cardboard materials can also be exploited.

With moisture-storing chemical materials, e.g. Hygroscopic chemicals that are harmless in connection with photo film materials can be used as a layer in whole or in places on the inner wall and / or cover parts.

Such chemicals form with moisture e.g. solid components that can be removed from the packaging after use.

Of course, paper or cardboard materials also store moisture, provided that they are made from natural cellulose.

The behavior of commercially available color negative films from various manufacturers when stored in the heating cabinet was tested. Films A to F were all 100 ASA films, which were also comparable in terms of material. While at normal temperatures (20 ° C) and a relative humidity (RF) of 55 - 60% hardly any moisture leakage from the film materials can be observed, depending on the increase in temperature this increases sharply and can become one with very tightly closing 5 lid cans Microclimate within the lid can lead, which can have a lasting negative impact on the sensitometric properties of the film.

Storage temperatures of 40 ° C, 75% RH and 50 ° C, 10 20% RH over a period of up to 22 days were examined. These storage conditions are realistic options in practice, taking into account the temperatures in southern countries, un-air-conditioned storage rooms and transport, vacation trips by car in summer, etc.

15

Carrying out the experiments:

After a 6-day adaptation of the films (of the brands) A - F in sealed standard lid tins to the laboratory environment, the 20 films with the sealed lid tins were weighed using a weighing device (Sartorius handy H 51 electronic scale).

The standard lid tins were then opened, placed in the heating cabinet and, after the 7th, 15th and 22nd days after removal, closed and weighed and then opened again in the heating cabinet.

Results:

30

During the six-day adjustment phase (natural storage) there was only a very small loss of mass, corresponding to the loss of water.

35 - The loss of mass in the heating cabinet at elevated temperature occurred after an initial strong change in an asymtotic approximation to the final value. The samples differ greatly in terms of mass loss.

40 - The rate of mass loss is also temperature-dependent. With 40 ° C storage approx. 14 days and with 50 ° C storage less than 7 days are required to reach the final value. Here the studied material ^¬ differ lien barely.

45 When the acetate film base was examined, a clear relationship between the residual solvent content of the base and the mass loss that occurred was observed.

The average change in mass of films AF resulted in

It can therefore be assumed that depending on the duration of storage and the temperature of the heating cabinet, depending on the film brand, between 170 and 290 mg of water and other liquid or gas components will escape from the base and emulsion, which have negative effects on the film parameters, gradation, can exert minimal density and sensitivity of the film.

In order to determine such influences, said characteristic values for film A were determined.

The films A were stored in closed standard lid boxes without a hole and in lid boxes with a hole of 3 mm diameter for 14 days in a heating cabinet at 50 ° C., 20% RH. It was found that in all cases with perforated lids, the photographically effective sensitometric changes were less than when stored in the tightly sealed standard lidded box.

Film A had a particularly negative effect on the increase in fog (increase in the minimum density) and the decrease in the blackening curve (flattening of the gradation curve) as well as the sensitivity to the casting (which has an effect as a strong color shift to blue).

The tempering of the film A material before the standard lid box is closed brings about a significant reduction in the changes in the sensitometric parameters during storage in the heating cabinet.

It can be observed that the complex tempering and a hole in the lid can show effects of approximately the same size after 14 days of storage in the heating cabinet, while normally assembled materials (without tempering in the tight standard lid can) show a significantly higher deviation from the values when fresh ¬ gen.

The further experiments with partially permeable film labels and a hole with a diameter of approx. 2.5 - 3 mm can be found in the following.

Change in mass of differently packaged films (brands A and B) in the heating cabinet. Temp.: 50 ° C, RH = 20%

V * = packaging type g ≤ closed lid box o = open lid box

Ll = opening about 3 mm 0 covered with acetate silk

L2 = opening approx. 3 mm 0 covered with synthetic fiber paper

L3 = opening approx. 3 mm 0 covered with acetate silk

The following maximum mass change values result: So -J

O

H W o \

Os

When evaluating the results of the last table, it follows that the post-drying mass loss (difference between the mass loss of the tempered film from the non-tempered film, measured in each case after drying the heating cabinet in an open can) and the value of the mass loss achieved in the L3 version hole with Acetate silk foil cover comes closer, the longer the drying time of the cabinet. Was measured above when comparing the film A parameters after storage in the heating cabinet with an uncovered hole in the lid box.

The material of the perforated cover L3 was an acetate-silk film (see p. 6), which allows the vapor pressure to pass through on one side (from the inside) and blocks the ingress of moisture from the outside.

In quantitative side analyzes it was demonstrated that more than 90% of the change in mass results from water loss during the drying process.

In the diagrams AI, A2 (film A) and B1, B2 (film B), the characteristic values after 14-day heating cabinet storage of the film samples with the hole covers L 1 - L 3 are now compared with those of the film samples in tightly closed lid cans:

The numbers on the abscissa mean:

0 film not tempered (cold storage)

1 film not tempered 14-day storage at 50 ° C, 20% RH (g) 2 films not tempered 14-day storage at 50 ° C, 20% RH (Ll)

3 films not annealed 14-day storage at 50 ° C, 20% RH (L2)

4 films not tempered 14-day storage at 50 ° C, 20% RH (L3)

The numbers on the ordinate mean the gradation or minimum density difference values related to the 0 state of the film.

Gradation difference values in the diagrams AI and Bl.

Minimum density difference values in diagrams A2 and B2.

The following symbols apply to the gradation and minimum density values

an upside down square for blue - a normal square for green a triangle for red Diagrams AI and A2 for film A and B1 and B2 for film B show the positive influence of the packaging variants according to the invention on the sensitometric values gradation and minimum density of films A and B as follows.

In the packagings L1-L3 according to the invention, the influences on gradation and minimum density of the film material could be substantially halved compared to the conventional storage of the non-tempered, unexposed film in standard lid tins.

The invention relates to packaging for moisture-sensitive material, in particular for photographic film material, consisting of an interior and wall and cover parts enclosing it, the wall and / or cover parts being at least partially moisture-permeable and / or moisture-storing, so that can equalize or reduce a vapor pressure from the inside.

Claims

claims

1. Packaging for moisture-sensitive material, in particular for photo film material, consisting of wall and / or lid parts (5, 6), and an interior space enclosed by them, characterized in that the at least partially (7,8,8A, 15, 19, 24 or 25) are designed to be moisture-permeable and / or moisture-storing, so that a vapor pressure can equalize or decrease from the inside.

2. Packaging according to claim 1, characterized in that by the at least partially moisture-permeable or storage part (7, 8, 8A, 15, 19, 24 or 25) within one day at a heating cabinet temperature of 50 ° C, 20% RH a liquid amount of about 5 mg to about 10 mg can escape or be absorbed.

3. Packaging according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it consists of a can (5) with a lid (6), at least one opening (7), in particular of 2.5 - 3.5 mm in diameter, to escape the Moisture is provided.

4. Packaging according to claim 3, characterized in that the at least one escape opening (7) through a cover

(8,8A, 15, 19, 24), in particular a one-sided, vapor-permeable film, is covered.

5. Packaging according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that the at least one escape opening (7) is provided in the lid (6).

6. Packaging according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that escape openings (26) between the can (5) and the lid (6), in particular on the can edge (27) or lid edge (28), are provided.

7. Packaging according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that the at least one escape opening (15A) is provided on a wall of the can (13).

8. Packaging according to claim 1, wherein the wall and cover parts have a prism shape (13), characterized in that the at least one escape opening (15A) is provided on at least one wall part of the prism shape.

9. Packaging according to claim 3 or 8, characterized in that that the material of the can, lid or prismatic container wall parts (5, 6, 12, 14, 16-18) is moisture-permeable.

5 10. Packaging according to claim 1 or 2 and one or more of claims 3 to 8, characterized in that cover means (8,8A) are provided, whereby the at least one Ent¬ soft opening (7) is at least partially covered.

11. Packaging according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the same at least partially consists of hygroscopic material (25) or is located on wall or lid parts.

15 12. Packaging according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that through the at least partially moisture-permeable or -saving wall and / or cover part

(7,8,8A, 15, 15A, 19,24 or 25) within 6 days at a heating cabinet temperature of 50 ° C, 20% RH and a not

A tempered film can escape or absorb a liquid amount of at least about 10 mg to about 80 mg.

13. Packaging according to claim 1 or 2 or 12, characterized gekenn¬ characterized in that by the at least partially moisture

25 permeable or storing wall and / or cover part

(7,8,8A, 15,15A, 19,24 and 25) after a period of 15 days at a heating cabinet temperature of 50 ° C, 20% RH and an unannealed film, an amount of liquid of at least about 20 mg to about 120 mg escape or be absorbed

30 can.

14. Packaging according to claim 1 and one or more of claims 2 to 13, characterized by at least one unexposed film contained therein.

35

Sign.

40

45 Packaging for moisture-sensitive goods, in particular for photo films, and packaging with at least one film in it

Summary