GB1216477A - Photographic apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

1,216,477. 477. Photographic apparatus. C. W. CLARK. Nov.20, 1968 [Nov.20, 1967], No.52749/67. Heading G2A. Photographic developing apparatus, e.g. for use in an automatic photographic kiosk Fig.1, (not shown), comprises eight processing tanks 41; a pair of continuous chain conveyers 33 above the tanks, from between which chains carriers 70 for exposed photo-sensitive sheets are suspended in pendulum fashion; and upper and lower rows of sprockets 31, 32 defining a zig-zag path for the lower run of the chains 33 such that each carrier is dipped into and withdrawn from the tanks in succession as the chains advance. Sequence of operations. After a length of photosensitive material is exposed by the kiosk camera, it is fed towards feed in rollers 52 and the exposed length cut off. The strip trips a micro-switch (M7) Fig. 7, (not shown) which causes a switching unit to switch on a cam motor, which in turn starts the conveyer drive motor. The chains 33 are advanced until a switch 72, forming part of a carrier 70, trips a micro-switch (M8) indicating that a carrier is correctly positioned to receive the cut off sheet. Tripping this switch (M8) stops movement of the conveyer and starts a motor (101) to drive rollers 52, 53, 54 to feed the sheet into the waiting carrier. As the sheet clears the rollers 54 it trips a microswitch (M9) stopping the motor (101); starting the conveyer motor via the cam motor; and feeding a positive pulse to a counter. The chains 33 are advanced to dip the filled carrier in the left hand tank 41. Then another stud 72 trips a microswitch M14 causing the conveyer motor to stop with the sheet in the tank. Then ensues a dwell period of four seconds before the cam motor, now rotating continuously, restarts the conveyer motor to withdraw the filled carrier from the tank, while the next carrier enters the tank. During the ensuing dwell period the first carrier drains into the first tank. This stepwise movement continues until the carrier reaches the right hand end of the apparatus, when the upper ends of the carrier are carried along the conveyer upper run 34 while the carrier engages a shield 90 thereby inclining the sheet. The upper edge of the sheet eventually trips a micro-switch (M10) to start a feed out motor (105), the sheet being withdrawn from the carrier and fed out by rollers 55-58. The feed out motor is stopped after its associated driving chain has completed one revolution. As the sheet leaves rollers 58 it trips a micro-switch (M12) which delivers a negative pulse to the counter. When the resultant pulse summed by the counter is zero, it causes the switching unit to switch off the cam motor. Hence the next time M14 is activated to switch off the conveyer motor, it will not be restarted after four seconds.