GB1559200A

GB1559200A - Apparatus for processing photographic film

Info

Publication number: GB1559200A
Application number: GB43410/76A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Kreonite Inc
Current assignee: Kreonite Inc
Priority date: 1976-02-02
Filing date: 1976-10-19
Publication date: 1980-01-16
Also published as: FR2339882A1; AU1925776A; LU76097A1; AU509622B2; IT1075786B; SE7612076L; CH618526A5; BE847875A; NL7612077A; CA1063413A; DE2649498A1; JPS5295226A

Description

(54) APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING PHOTOGRAPHIC FILM (71) We, KREONITE, INC., a Corporation organised and existing under the laws of the State of Kansas, United States of America, of 715 East Tenth Street, Wichita, Kansas, United States of America, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: This invention relates generally to an apparatus for processing film using magnetic attraction to guide the film though a series of vertical elongated tanks mounted in a housing, the tanks containing film treating fluid agents.

Heretofore in the developing of black and white and color photographic film, the film is processed in a darkroom wherein the film is passed from one treating solution to another. The treating solutions are contained in large individual tanks. When this process is completed the film is washed and dried.

Each step of this type of film developing is done by hand, therefore, the process is time consuming. Because the equipment may require adjustment and changes done in the darkroom, this also requires additional time.

Also the open top tanks allow the sensitive treating agents to be exposed to excessive oxidation, thereby causing added expense in replacing the agents.

Recently a photographic film developing apparatus was introduced using a spirally wound tube wherein each convolution contains a selected film treating fluid agent. A carriage having a magnetic element mounted thereon is used to traverse the spiral tube pulling the film behind. The carriage is guided through the convolutions of the tube using a vertically reciprocating bar magnet which is magnetically responsive to the magnetic element on the carriage. Also, in our Application No. 42188/76 (Serial No.

1559199) the carriage is guided through the tube using a magnet attached to a conveyor belt disposed adjacent the inner circumference of the convolutions of the tube. The subject invention as herein described is similar in some aspects to these photographic film developing apparatuses but provides additional advantages never disclosed heretofore.

In particular, the invention provides apparatus for processing photographic film, including a film carrier having a magnetically responsive element; a housing: a series of vertical elongated tanks mounted in said housing, said tanks disposed adjacent to each other, said tanks having a bottom portion, an open top portion, and a common planar side wall, said magnetically responsive element of said carrier being adapted to move in sliding contact with the interior surface of said common planar side wall, each of said tanks being adapted to contain a selected film treating fluid agent; said carrier being dimensioned to traverse the interior of said tanks: a releasable grip mounted on said carrier for releasably gripping one end of a length of film with the film maintained in trailing relation to said carrier: and an endless chain mounted on chain sprockets adjacent said common planar side wall of said tanks, and having at least one magnet attached thereto for movement in sliding contact with the exterior surface of said common planar side wall of said tanks for guiding said carrier through the elongated lengths of said tanks thereby subjecting the film to a succession of the film treating fluid agents in said tanks in predetermined order.

The subject invention minimizes waste and oxidation of the sensitive film treating agents, and is adaptable for both black and white or color film having various lengths and widths such as 8mm to 70mm roll film as well as 4 inch by 5 inch sheet film. The apparatus is easy to clean and maintain and operates efficiently to greatly reduce the handling time required to process film. The subject invention also eliminates processing film by hand and the inadvertent treating of film with the wrong film treating agent or the mixing together of the different film treating agents.

In one embodiment, tanks containing in dividual film treating agents are automatically replenished according to the size film. Also the temperature of the tanks is controlled by circulating pumps and heat exchangers.

Continuous lengths of film can be processed without film drag. In a preferred embodiment film drag is eliminated through the use of drive and idler rollers coacting with the film carrier as the film traverses the lengths of the individual tanks.

The film attached to the carrier can be self-threading in the tanks to eliminate the need of splicing a leader to one end of the film prior to processing the film.

The length of travel of the film in each individual tank can be adjusted so that a process can be used to compensate for a film that has been over exposed or under exposed.

The apparatus preferably includes an enclosed housing having an infeed port and a discharge port. Inside the housing are mounted open top vertical tanks, disposed adjacent to each other and adapted to contain selected film treating agents. Each of the terminal tanks are adjacent the infeed port and discharge port of the housing. A mganetic carrier having a releasable film clip mounted thereon is used to guide the film in a trailing relation through the infeed port.

The carrier with the trailing film is magnetically guided through the elongated lengths of the tanks by a magnet attached to an endless chain mounted on motor driven chain sprockets.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure I is a side view of the photographic film processing apparatus housing.

Figure 2 is a top view of the housing.

Figure 3 is a top view of the housing taken along section lines 3-3 shown in Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a side view of the housing taken along section lines 44 shown in Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a front view of the housing taken along section lines 5-5 shown in Figure 2.

Figure 6 is an enlarged sectional view showing the carrier, film, film clip. and a portion of the endless chain with the magnet mounted thereon.

Figure 7 is a front view of the housing.

Figure 8 is a rear view of the housing.

Figure 9 is a rear view of the housing.

Figure 10 shows a bottom view of the tank divider and idler roller mounted in the tank.

Figure 11 is a sectional view of the drive roller rotatably mounted to the upper chain sprocket.

Figure 12 is a front sectional view of the housing showing the tanks having the same lengths with adjustable dividers mounted therein.

In Figure 1 the film treating apparatus is characterized by general reference numeral 10. The apparatus 10 includes an enclosed housing 12 with elongated vertical tanks 14 mounted adjacent to each other and shown in Figures 2, 3 and 4. Each individual tank 14 is adapted to contain various types of film treating agents. Upper idler chain sprockets 18 and lower idler chain sprockets 19 are mounted on a side portion 16 of the tanks 14. An endless chain 20 is mounted on the sprockets 18 and 19. A drive motor which is not shown in the drawings is attached to a drive sprocket 22 which is used in driving the chain 20 at a constant speed on the sprockets 18 and 19. Magnets 24 are rotatably attached to the endless chain 20 in a spaced relationship. The magnets 24 are disposed against the side portion 16 of the tanks 14 and are magnetically responsive to a film carrier shown in Figure 2.

In Figure 1 it can be seen that the upper chain sprockets 18 and lower chain sprockets 19 are positioned in various positions depending on the length of the tanks 14. The endless chain 20 travels in a serpentine fashion adjacent the side portion 16 of the tanks 14 starting at the top of the tanks 14, down the length of the tanks 14, around the lower chain sprockets 19, upward along the length of the tanks 14, and around the upper chain sprockets 18. Through the use of the serpentine type of travel by the endless chain 20, the attached magnets 24 guide the film carrier inside the tanks 14 and through the various lengths of the tanks 14.

An infeed ramp housing 26 is attached to a front portion 28 of the housing 12. A film supply reel 30 is rotatably mounted on a hinged portion 32 of the ramp housing 26. A discharge ramp housing 34 is attached to a rear portion 36 of the housing 12. A film takeup reel 38 is rotatably mounted on the discharge ramp housing 34 for receiving the developed film from the apparatus 10.

The housing 12 is completely enclosed except for the infeed port and discharge port which are shown in Figure 4. In Figure 1 a side of the housing 12 has been cutaway to show the endless chain 20 and sprockets 18 and 19 attached to the sides 1;6 of the tanks 14.

In Figure 2 a top view of the apparatus 10 is shown with the top of the housing 12 removed to expose an open top portion 40 of the tanks 14. Drive rollers 42 are positioned above and between each tank 14 and are attached to the sides of the housing 12 and rotatably attached to the upper chain sprockets 18.

In this view a film carrier 44 can be seen attached to a trailing film 46 as it starts to ride over a drive roller 42. Also another film carrier 44 can be seen positioned on an infeed ramp 48. In this position the film carrier 44 is ready to start a new film 46 into the apparatus 10 to be developed.

Shown in dotted lines is the hinge portion 32 of the infeed ramp housing 26, and the supply reel 30 pivoted away from the front of the infeed ramp housing 26. In this position various sizes and lengths of film can be fed into the apparatus 10 without having to use the supply reel 30.

An opposite side portion 50 of the housing 12 is shown with film treating agent filters 52 mounted therein. The filters 52 are used to filter any foreign particles from the film treating agents as the agents are circulated and replenished in the tanks 14.

A control panel 54 is shown mounted on the rear portion 36 of the housing 12 for operating the film treating apparatus 10. Adjacent the takeup reel 38 is a discharge ramp 53 which receives the carriers 44 from the discharge port.

In Figure 3 a sectional view of the apparatus 10 is seen taken along lines 3-3 shown in Figure 1. In this view a bottom portion 56 of the tanks 14 can be seen with a sectional view of tank dividers 58 mounted in the middle of each tank 14.

The lower idle sprockets 19 attached to the outside of the side portion 16 of the tanks 14 are disposed adjacent the lower portion of the tank dividers 58. Also seen in this view is a top view of temperature control boxes 60 used for controlling the temperature of the film treating agents.

Figure 4 is a cross sectional view of the apparatus 10 taken along lines 44 4 shown in Figure 2. In this view a continuous length of film 46 can be seen being fed from the supply reel 30, through an infeed port 57, traversing down and up the various lengths of tanks 14, through a discharge port 59 and received on the takeup reel 38.

Each of the tanks dividers 58 are mounted in the center of each tank 14. Idle rollers 64 are mounted on a lower end portion 62 of the tank dividers 58. By adiusting the length of the dividers 58, the distance between the idle rollers 64 and the drive rollers 42 is varied. Bv adiusting the dividers 58 and the lower idle sprockets 19 the length of time the film 46 is exposed to the film treating agents in any particular tank 14 can be increased or decreased. As mentioned above the drive rollers 42 are driven by the upper chain sprockets 18. The idle rollers 64 are not connected to the lower chain sprockets 19, but are adjacent thereto to aid the carrier 44 in guiding the film 46 through the lower portion of the tanks 14.

In Figure 4 the tanks 14 include a terminal tank 14a which is used for holding a developer solution.- The next tank 14b is used for a bleaching agent. Tank 14c is used for a rinse solution. Tank 14d contains a fixer solution. Tank 14e includes a wash solution. Tank 14f contains a stabilizer agent. The last tank is terminal tank 14g which is used for drying the film 46.

While the above described tanks 14 disclose one process for developing the film 46 is should be understood there are other types of film developing agents and processes that could be used equally well in conjunction with a greater or lesser number of tanks 14. The tanks 14 are shown having various lengths. As described under Figure 12 the tanks 14 may all be of the same length for simplicity in manufacturing and interchangeability.

In Figure 5 a front sectional view of the apparatus 10 is shown and taken along lines 5-5 shown in Figure 2. In this figure a side view of the chain 20, upper idle sprocket 18, lower idle sprocket 19, and the magnet 24 attached to the chain 20 can be seen. Adjacent to the magnet 24 and on the inside of the tank 14 is the carrier 44 with the film 46 in a trailing relationship. By magnetic attraction between the carrier 44 and the magnet 24 attached to the endless chain 20 the film has been guided down the tank 14, around the idle roller 64, and moved uDward toward the drive roller 42 which will be used to aid the carrier 44 in guiding the film 46 into the next adjacent tank 14.

In Figure 6 an enlarged view of the film carrier 44 is seen. The carrier 44 includes a base 66 which houses a metallic element that is magnetically responsive or a magnetic element therein. A carrier arm 68 is integrally formed in the base 66 and extends outwardly therefrom. The arm 68 is positioned transverse to the length of the tank 14 and includes grooved portions 70 around its annular surface for receiving a film clip 72.

The film clip 72 includes a first end portion 74 which is used to releasably grip the trailing film 46. A second end portion 76 includes a semi-circular ring for releasably securing the clip 72 to the grooved portion 70 of the arm 68. Depending on the si7e and length of the film 46 a single clip 72 or a plurality of clips 72 can be attached to the grooved portions 70 of the carrier 44.

The base 66 of the carrier 44 includes à flat surface 78 having small buttons 80 protruding outwardly therefrom. The but tons 80 ride against an inside surface 82 of the tank 14 and reduces the friction as the carrier 44 slides against the inside of the tank 14.

The maFne,t 24 is enclosed in a magnet housing 84. The housing 84 includes a snap; on cover 86 which can - be replaced due to frictional wear from rubbing against the sides of trunks 14. The housing 84 includes an integrally formed arm 88 which is rotat ably pinned to a chainlink 90. The chainlink 90 is attached to the endless chain 20.

The arm 88 and chainlink 90 coact in allowing the magnet 24 to rotate outwardly as the chain 20 meshes with the upper sprockets 18 and lower sprockets 19. By allowing the magnet 24 to rotate outwardly the carrier 44 is provided with clearance as it is guided around the idle rollers 64 and drive rollers 42 with the film 46 in a trailing relationship.

Figure 7 illustrates a front view of the apparatus 10 showing front portion 28 of the housing 12. Attached to the front portion 28 is the infeed ramp housing 26. In this view the supply reel 30 has been pivoted on hinge portion 32 away from the front of the infeed ramp housing 26. A carrier 44 is shown mounted on the infeed ramp 48 and in position to be fed into the infeed port 57.

Figure 8 illustrates a rear view of the apparatus 10 showing the rear portion 36 of the housing 12. In this view the control panel 54 can be seen adjacent the discharge ramp housing 34. A carrier 44 can be seen on the discharge ramp 59 with the develoned film 46 suspended therefrom.

In Figure 9 an opposite side view of the apparatus 10 is seen illustrating side portion 50 of the housing 12. In this view the filters 52 can be seen mounted on the housing along with the temperature control boxes 60. film treating agent circulating pumps 92, and heat exchangers 94. The pumps 92 are used to continuously circulate the film treating agents in the tanks 14 and to replenish the tanks with additional film treating agents. The heat exchangers 94 are used to regulate the temperature of the film treating agents in conjunction with the temperature control boxes 60.

In Figure 10 a bottom view of the tank divider 58 with the idle roller 64 rotatably mounted thereon is seen. The divider 58 is slidably mounted inside the tank 14. It should be noted that both the idle roller 64 and the divider 58 are concave in design so that a minimum of surface area contacts the film 46. In this view a cross section of a portion of the film 46 is seen disposed ad jacent the divider 58. It can be seen that the surface area of the film 46 contacts only a portion of the divider 58 on the outer edges of the film 46.

In Figure 11 a sectional view of a portion of the side 82 of the tank 14 and the upper sprocket 18 is shown. The drive roller 42 includes a shaft 96 which extends through the side 82 of the tank 14.

The upper chain sprocket - 18 is attached to the shaft 96 and rotates the drive roller 42 as it is driven by the endless conveyor chain 20. Both the upper chain sprockets 18 and the lower chain sprockets 19 are positioned against the sides of the tanks 14 by a sprocket housing 98 which is bonded to the surface of the sides of the tanks 14.

Figure 12 is a sectional side view of the apparatus 10 and is similar to Figure 4. In Figure 12 the tanks 14 are illustrated with each tank having the same length. To determine the time that the film 46 is exposed to the film treating agent in any particular tank the tank divider 58 can be adiusted inside the individual tanks 14. In this figure a portion of the dividers 58 and the idle roller 64 are seen in dotted lines. This is to illustrate the adiustability of the apparatus 10 in overexposing or underexposing the film 46 to a particular film treating agent in one of the tanks 14. The length of travel of the film 58 and idle roller 64 and either inserting a longer or shorter divider 58.

For minor adjustments of length of travel the divider 58 can be simply moved up or down in the tank 14 and the adjacent lower chain sprocket 19 adjusted to be adjacent the new position of the idle roller 64.

In operation the apparatus 10 is started at control panel 54. The film 46 to be processed may be mounted on the supply reel 30 or fed into the apparatus 10 by hand.

One end of the film 46 is clipped onto the carrier 44 by film clip 72. The carrier 44 is inserted into the infeed ramp housing 26.

The base 66 of the carrier 44 is inserted into the infeed ramp 48. The carrier 44 is urged downward on the ramp 48 by magnetic attraction from the chain magnet 24.

The endless chain 20 with the magnets 24 rotatably attached thereto begin to traverse along the sides of the tank 14. The magnets 24 are guided past the infeed port 57. When this happens the magnet 24 attracts the magnets element of the carrier 44 through the side of the tank 14 and draws the carrier 44 with the trailing film 46 into the housing 12. The carrier 44 is now guided by the magnet 24 over a drive roller 42 and into terminal tank 14a. The carrier 44 with the trailing film 46 are guided down the tank 14a and past the idle roller 64 attached to the tank divider 58. The carrier 44 and the trailing film 46 now move upward on the opposite side of the tank 14a and the divider 58 until the carrier 44 is guided over a drive roller 42 which is positioned above the top of the open portion of the tank 14a.

The drive roller 42 is positioned between the tank 14a and 14b. The drive roller 42 assists the carrier 44 in guiding the trailing film 46 into the next tank 14b and prevents the film 46 from dragging as it traverses the inside of the tanks 14. The carrier 44 and the film 46 now traverse down and up the adjacent tanks 14b, 14c, 14d, 14e, 14f, and finally to 14g where the carrier and the trailing film are dried and discharged out the discharge port 59. By magnetic at traction the carrier 44 is urged downward on the ramp 53 where the developed film 46 is removed from the carrier 44 and fed onto the takeup reel 38.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS:- 1. Apparatus for processing photographic film, including a film carrier having a magnetically responsive element; a housing: a series of vertical elongated tanks mounted in said housing, said tanks being disposed adjacent to each other, said tanks having a bottom portion, an open top portion, and a common planar side wall, said magnetically responsive element of said carrier being adapted to move in sliding contact with the interior surface of said common planar side wall, each of said tanks being adapted to contain a selected film treating fluid agent: said carrier being dimensioned to traverse the interior of said tanks: a releasable grip mounted on said carrier for releasably gripping one end of a length of film with the film maintained in trailing relation to said carrier: and an endless chain mounted on chain sprockets adjacent said common planar side wall of said tanks, and having at least one magnet attached thereto for movement in sliding contact with the exterior surface of said common planar side wall of said tanks for guiding said carrier through the elongated lengths of said tanks thereby subjecting the film to a succession of the film treating fluid agents in said tanks in predetermined order.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, including rollers disposed above the open top portions and in the bottom portions of said tanks, said rollers contacting the film and aiding in guiding said carrier through the elongated lengths of said tanks.

3. The apparatus of Claim 2, wherein said rollers include idler rollers disposed in the bottom portion of said tanks and drive rollers disposed above the top portion of said tanks and therebetween.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, including tank dividers disposed inside said tanks and having said idler rollers attached at the lower ends thereof, said dividers positioned in said tanks so that said carrier is guided down one side of said dividers and up the other side of said dividers.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein said tank dividers are adjustable along the length of said tanks so that said tank dividers adjust the length between the drive rollers and idler rollers thereby controlling the length of time the film is exposed to the film treating fluid agents in each tank.

6. The apparatus of any of claims 1 to 5, wherein said carrier includes a base and an elongated arm attached to said base and extending outwardly therefrom, said base having said magnetic element mounted therein, said base being adapted to be disposed adjacent an inner side of said common planar side wall of said tanks and magnetically responsive to said magnet attached to said endless chain disposed on the outer side of said common planar side wall of said tanks and adjacent thereto, said arm being positioned transverse to the length of said tanks.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein said releasable grip is a film clip, one end of said clip attached to said arm of said carrier, the other end of said clip releasably attached to one end of the length of film.

8. Apparatus for processing film substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. traction the carrier 44 is urged downward on the ramp 53 where the developed film 46 is removed from the carrier 44 and fed onto the takeup reel 38. WHAT WE CLAIM IS:-

1. Apparatus for processing photographic film, including a film carrier having a magnetically responsive element; a housing: a series of vertical elongated tanks mounted in said housing, said tanks being disposed adjacent to each other, said tanks having a bottom portion, an open top portion, and a common planar side wall, said magnetically responsive element of said carrier being adapted to move in sliding contact with the interior surface of said common planar side wall, each of said tanks being adapted to contain a selected film treating fluid agent: said carrier being dimensioned to traverse the interior of said tanks: a releasable grip mounted on said carrier for releasably gripping one end of a length of film with the film maintained in trailing relation to said carrier: and an endless chain mounted on chain sprockets adjacent said common planar side wall of said tanks, and having at least one magnet attached thereto for movement in sliding contact with the exterior surface of said common planar side wall of said tanks for guiding said carrier through the elongated lengths of said tanks thereby subjecting the film to a succession of the film treating fluid agents in said tanks in predetermined order.