JP2001296642A - Belt-type transport apparatus for photosensitive material - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a belt type transport apparatus for photosensitive materials which can transport the photosensitive materials correctly toward guide means on a downstream side, even if the photosensitive materials including photographic paper run to a state of coming into tight contact with an endless belt, when the direction of the photosensitive materials previously cut in advance into prescribed sizes is changed during the course of transportation in order to transport the photosensitive materials to the downstream side provided with plural processing vessels after the exposure. SOLUTION: This device has a rotational drive roller 35, which has a rotationally driven outer peripheral surface 35a for changing the direction, guides 47 which guide a photographic paper P discharged from a discharge side, a shaft body 49 which is disposed near the discharge side, a first rotating member 51 which is pivotally supported by the shaft body 49, an endless belt body 50 which is spread by the first rotating member 51 and carries the photosensitive materials in a pinchingly held state in follow up to the rotational drive roller 35 and a second rotating member 52 which has a large radius diameter and is pivotally supported by the shaft body 49.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a belt-type conveying apparatus for photosensitive material, and more particularly to a method for cutting a photographic paper, which is a photosensitive material, into a predetermined size and then sequentially conveying the photographic paper toward a processing tank storing a predetermined processing liquid. The present invention also relates to a technique for changing the direction of photographic paper and transporting the photographic paper.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art After exposing an emulsion surface of a photographic paper which has been cut in advance to a predetermined size, an image is sequentially passed through a processing tank called a processor which contains processing liquids for development, bleaching and washing with water. Various photographic processing apparatuses configured to be formed and discharged to the outside after drying have been put to practical use.

As a photographic processing apparatus of the type for cutting into a predetermined size as described above, for example, US Pat.
The device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,114 is known. In this disclosure, a continuous roll paper-like paper built in by blocking light in a paper magazine is cut in advance by a cutter unit into a desired cut size, and thereafter, the exposure unit is exposed with the emulsion side of the paper facing up. After being exposed to a desired size by the film set in the scanner, the film is conveyed to the downstream side, and is sequentially conveyed through a processing tank containing a processing liquid for development, bleaching, and washing, and then dried. To discharge to the outside. When exposing to a desired size, this apparatus rotates the photographic paper by 90 degrees when it is necessary to rotate the photographic paper in the exposure printing unit, and performs a function of performing exposure printing and a function of developing a film. Are provided integrally.

On the other hand, by providing a transport mechanism that is previously cut into a desired cut size and distributes the exposed photographic paper into two rows on the left and right, the inside of a processing tank containing a processing liquid for development, bleaching, and washing is reduced. A photographic processing apparatus whose processing ability has been improved to nearly twice by passing the light sequentially in rows has been put to practical use. However, according to the apparatus having such improved processing ability, the photographic paper exposed in the exposure unit can be used. It is necessary to quickly transport to the processing tank side. In addition, the time required to sequentially pass through the processing tank containing the processing liquid for development, bleaching, and washing is considerably longer than the time required for exposing the emulsion surface of the photographic paper in the exposure section. If the number of exposed photographic papers exceeds the number of photographic papers processed in the processing tank,
It is necessary to provide a buffer function for holding the photographic paper after exposure.

Accordingly, the applicant of the present application has disclosed a patent 293518.
In No. 4, in a photographic processing apparatus provided with a transport device for transporting a photographic paper previously cut to a predetermined size to an exposure unit, and after exposure to a downstream side provided with a plurality of processing tanks, A photographic printing process that has a buffer function that is required when the number of exposures exceeds the processing capacity of the processing tank and that can be immediately transferred to the processing tank when processing in the processing tank becomes possible. It proposes a transport means for the device.

FIG. 6 shows one of the transport mechanisms disclosed above.
FIG. 4 is a front view showing a configuration in which a direction change is performed while a photographic paper P as a photosensitive material is being conveyed along a conveyance path formed between guide members 47. In this figure, an outer peripheral surface 13 is driven by a motor in one direction and changes direction.
A plurality of rotating members 151 are rotatably supported on the outer peripheral surface of the rotation driving roller 135 having the rotating member 5a, and the endless belt 150 is stretched between these rotating members 151 as shown in FIG. The photographic paper P is transported in a state of being sandwiched between the outer peripheral surface 135a and the endless belt 150 so as to follow the drive roller 135, and is discharged toward the guide 47 on the downstream side. Further, the emulsion surface Pa of the photographic paper P is brought into contact with the endless belt 150 to protect the emulsion surface.

[0007]

However, when the photographic paper P is discharged while changing its direction as described above, when the photographic paper P is discharged from the discharge side of the outer peripheral surface 135a, the emulsion surface Pa is in close contact with the belt. Therefore, there is a problem that the sheet cannot be conveyed correctly toward the guide 47 on the downstream side.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and conveys a photosensitive material, which has been cut in advance to a predetermined size, to an exposure unit, and after exposure, a downstream side provided with a plurality of processing tanks. Belt-type transport of photosensitive material that can be correctly transported to the guide means on the downstream side even when the photosensitive material including photographic paper is in close contact with the endless belt when the direction is changed during transport to transport it It is intended to provide equipment.

[0009]

Means for Solving the Problems To solve the above-mentioned problems,
In order to achieve the object, according to the present invention, the photosensitive material is disposed between an exposure unit that exposes the photosensitive material and a processing unit that stores a processing solution for performing each processing after the exposure, and transports the photosensitive material. A belt-type transport device for a photosensitive material including a transport unit that transports from upstream to downstream along a road, wherein the transport unit includes:
A rotary drive roller having an outer peripheral surface that is driven to rotate in one direction and changes the direction of the transport path, and guides the photosensitive material toward an introduction side of the outer peripheral surface and discharges the photosensitive material from a discharge side of the outer peripheral surface. Guide means for guiding the photosensitive material to be supplied, a shaft body disposed in the vicinity of the discharge side, a first rotating member supported by the shaft body, and stretched by the first rotating member. An endless belt that follows the rotary drive roller and conveys the photosensitive material in a state of being sandwiched between the outer peripheral surface, and a thickness dimension of the endless belt that is a radius dimension of the first rotating member. It has a radius larger than the added dimension and is constituted by a second rotating member which is supported by the shaft.

Further, the endless belts for a plurality of belts are individually stretched by the first rotating member, and the second rotating member is arranged between the first rotating members. It is characterized by guiding both side edges of the endless belt body.

[0011]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First, FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing a main part of the entire structure of the photo processing apparatus 1 in which a cover detachably provided to a housing 2 is removed, and is set as an option. The state where the left paper magazine left storage unit on the left side is added is shown. The device 1 is configured to be as flat as possible in the front and back sides of the paper to minimize the occupied area after installation, while allowing easy access to main parts from the front.

[0013] This paper magazine left storage unit is provided with the device 1
The paper magazines 3 and 3 can be installed simultaneously with the cutter unit 4 so that the two paper magazines 3 and 3 can be simultaneously loaded as shown in the figure. In this way, the photo processing apparatus 1 delivered and installed in a state where only the right paper magazine right storage unit is provided is installed first so that the paper magazine 3 can be appropriately added, and the frequency of use after the installation is established. The left storage section of the paper magazine can be appropriately added based on the consumption of the photographic paper including the panorama photograph.

On the other hand, a photographic paper P on which a color developing emulsion is previously coated on the photographic printing surface side is wound as a continuous long roll paper having a predetermined width (for example, 89 mm width) and completely shields light. It is set in a state and is rotatably built in the paper magazine 3. This paper magazine 3
The left and right paper magazine left storage section and the paper magazine right storage section are configured in a symmetrical shape as shown in the drawing to allow common use for the left storage section and the paper magazine right storage section. (Not shown) are provided. Further, an automatic opening / closing mechanism for opening the built-in roll paper P in the direction of arrow P1 outside the magazine 3 is provided, and the magazine is inserted into either the right storage section of the paper magazine or the left storage section of the paper magazine. In such a case, the components are automatically opened and closed in the same manner, thereby making the components common and improving the usability.

A cutter unit 4 provided in close proximity to the paper magazine 3 is for cutting a continuously transported photographic paper P into a desired size before exposure. The photographic paper P cut into the cut size is first conveyed by the suction operation and the conveyance operation by the conveyance belt 12 on the exposure table 5 provided in the dark box 7 and temporarily fixed by suction to prepare for exposure. The film F is sequentially fed to the scanner 6, and the optical system 13 including a zoom lens or the like is automatically or manually adjusted to form an image of a desired size on the photographic paper P for exposure. It is configured as follows.
Further, a photographic paper rotating mechanism 11 is provided substantially at the center of the exposure printing table 5, and is capable of turning 90 degrees in the direction of arrow P2 after sucking the paper P by the suction pad 8.

More specifically, the photographic paper P cut by the cutter unit 4 is sucked to the table side without any gap by the suction action of a large number of holes formed on the table 5. After the exposure, the photographic paper P is transported toward the transport unit 10, and it is determined at a position indicated by an arrow P3 in the figure whether or not the paper is a large format PL. Thereafter, the photographic paper P is transported downstream. Here, when the photographic paper size is small (127 × 89 mm), the paper is conveyed while being divided into left and right, and conveyed in the processing tank 16 in two rows. Thus, the processing speed can be increased by carrying the paper in two rows. Also, in the case of a vertically long image such as a panoramic photograph (254 × 89 mm), it can be similarly conveyed in two rows.

On the other hand, when it is desired to perform exposure so as to be orthogonal to the transport direction of the film F loaded on the film scanner 6, the suction pad 8 is rotated 90 degrees to perform exposure. With the same type of photographic paper,
It is configured so that exposure processing can be performed on all of a plurality of different sizes.

After this exposure operation, the cutter unit 4
In order to transport the photographic paper P toward the transport section 10 disposed above the paper path, the transport path selecting mechanism operates to transport the photographic paper P toward the transport section 10 and arrows P3, P4, P5 , P
6, sequentially transported in the P7 direction, and transported to the processing tank side. The transport unit 10 is provided with a greeting unit (not shown) for exposing a greeting or the like to a photograph during the transport of the photographic paper so that the greeting unit can be easily attached and detached. For this reason, since it is necessary to frequently access the transport unit 10, the transport unit 10 is configured to be easily pulled out to the front of the housing 2.

On the downstream side of the transport section 10, processing tanks 16 indicated by broken lines for sequentially performing development, bleaching, and washing of the photographic paper after exposure are provided in a stepwise manner as shown in FIG. The printing paper is turned by a rack unit (not shown) configured to change the direction in the direction of the arrow by a reversing roll (not shown) provided between the processing tanks 16 and obtain power from an endless chain 18 shown by a dashed line. Is transported to near the bottom of the tank, and is subjected to a predetermined process in the course of being transported upward, sent to the drying unit 21, dried, and finally discharged to the upper tray 19 and the lower tray 20 outside the apparatus 1 by size. It is configured as follows. In order to discharge by size in this way, above the drying unit 21,
Selector 23 for determining the photographic paper transport path for each size
The upper roller 24 and the lower roller 25 are driven on the downstream side of the transport path, and the discharge roller (not shown) moves the arrow P from the discharge port 26 at high speed.
It is configured to be conveyed in the directions of P8 and P9.

On the other hand, a container 15 for replenishing the processing liquid is provided below the processing tank 16 by opening only a front cover (not shown), and further below the container 15. A refill tank 14 is provided and the refill tank 1
The diluted processing solution obtained by diluting the processing solution at 4 is supplied to each of the processing tanks 16.

A power supply unit is provided in the housing 2 occupying the space below the drying unit 21. On the power supply unit, various processing tanks 16 described above and various buffers related to a buffer function described later are provided. A processor control unit 22 for performing control is provided, and exchanges various control data with a main control unit (not shown) fixed to the left side of the dark box 7 and configured to transport photographic paper. It is configured to control the entire apparatus while performing the control.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the transport unit 10 shown in FIG. In this figure, the components already described in FIG. 1 are assigned the same reference numerals and their explanation is omitted. The transport unit 10 has a considerable weight and has been moved in the forward direction to be pulled out from the front. Later, the moving state can be maintained in the one-sided support state, so that the work of replacing the ink ribbon of the print head described later and the work of replacing each unit including the greeting unit described above can be simplified.

The transport section 10 is configured to be separated into an upstream transport section and a downstream transport section, and has a transport path having a substantially "N" shape as shown in FIG. Is increased so that a larger number of photographic papers can be stocked.

While each roller is provided as shown in the space between the two side plates,
Components such as a motor and a clutch are fixed to the outside of the side plate. The photographic paper P that has been exposed is conveyed upward by the conveyance path selecting mechanism, and is driven by the drive roller 30 and the idle roller 2 that rotates with the roller 30.
8 and a transport unit composed of a solenoid mechanism,
The photographic paper P conveyed from the exposure unit is introduced into the drive roller 31 in the upstream conveyance unit and the idle roller 28 that rotates with the roller 31. On the downstream side, a drive roller 32 and an idle roller 28 that rotates together with the roller 32 are provided, and the recording is performed by the print head on the rear surface of the paper held between the roller 31 and the roller 32. I have.

Downstream of the roller 32, a drive roller 33 and an idle roller 28 that rotates with the roller 33 are provided so that the above-mentioned greeting unit can be disposed. On the downstream side of the roller 33, a drive roller 34 and an idle roller 28 that rotates together with the roller 34 are provided. Further on the downstream side, a large-diameter rotary drive roller 35 as shown in FIG. An endless belt body that follows and rotates with the surface is provided, and the direction of the photographic paper P is changed as shown in the figure so that the photographic paper P is turned downward.

Next, the downstream transport section is provided with a pair of drive rollers 36 and a drive roller 37 for performing a distribution function and transport. After the distribution, a downstream large-diameter rotary drive is provided. The sheet is fed between a roller 38 and an endless belt provided so as to rotate with the roller 38 and is turned upward. A drive roller 39 and an idle roller 28 that rotates together with the roller 39 are provided downstream of the roller 38. A drive roller 40 and an idle roller 28 that rotates together with the roller 40 are provided downstream of the roller 39, and a drive roller 41 and an idle roller 28 that rotates together with the roller 41 are further downstream. Further, on the downstream side, a drive roller 42 and an idle roller 28 that rotates together with the roller 42 are provided, and a large-diameter rotary drive roller 43 on the downstream side and the idle roller 28 that rotates together with the roller 43 are provided. The printing paper is conveyed by the endless belt body and discharged to the processing liquid tank 16 side.

A guide 47, which is a guide member, is provided between the rollers so as to guide the printing paper between the rollers. By arranging the rollers as described above, it is possible to realize a conveyance path for a photographic paper having a sufficient length by using a substantially “N” -shaped conveyance path, and to perform a stock operation performed by holding the photographic paper by the conveyance rollers. Functions are ensured.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the rotary drive roller 35 provided so that the endless belt member follows the outer peripheral surface in FIG. 2, and the other rotary drive rollers 38 and 43 have substantially the same configuration. However, the following description will be made using the configuration shown in FIG. 3 as a representative.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line XX of FIG. In FIGS. 3 and 4, the rotation drive roller 35 having the outer peripheral surface 35a smoothed in order to change the direction of the photographic paper as described above and having the shaft 35b fixed as the rotation center axis is provided with the left and right bases 44. Are rotatably supported by bearings 60 fixed respectively. This shaft 35b
A toothed pulley 45 is fixed to one end of the pulley, and a toothed belt 46 meshes with the toothed pulley 45. The toothed belt 46 is driven in the direction of the arrow by a motor (not shown), and drives the rotary drive roller 35 to rotate in the direction of the arrow.

The outer peripheral surface 35a of the rotary drive roller 35
A guide 47 for guiding the photographic paper P toward the introduction side of the photographic paper P and a guide 47 for guiding the photographic paper P discharged from the discharge side of the outer peripheral surface 35a as shown by a broken line are fixed to the positions shown in the base 44, respectively. ing.

On the other hand, a shaft 49 is fixed to the base 44 in the vicinity of the discharge side of the outer peripheral surface 35a, and a first rotating member 51, a second rotating member 52 shown in FIG. And a spacer 53 shown in FIG. Further, the shaft 5
With respect to 5, 55, the base 44
, And the rotatable members 56, 56 are rotatably supported by the shaft bodies 55, 55. These rotating members are preferably formed from a so-called engineering plastic having excellent self-lubricating properties, such as a polyacetal resin material.

The printing paper P is held between the outer peripheral surface 35a and the paper P.
The endless belt body 50 for carrying the paper is integrally formed from a material having excellent durability such as cloth-containing polyurethane rubber and the like, and the carrying surface in contact with the emulsion surface is polished smoothly. As shown in FIG. 4, three endless belt members 50 are prepared, and the outer peripheral surfaces of the first rotating member 51 and the rotating member 56 which are supported by the shaft members 49, 55, 55. As a result, the inner wall side is supported, and the outer wall side is attached in a stretched state in which the outer wall side is in close contact with the outer peripheral surface 35 a of the rotary drive roller 35. As shown in FIG. 3, the second rotating member 52 has a radius r2 larger than the radius r1 of the first rotating member 51 plus the thickness t of the endless belt member.
have.

FIG. 5 is a partial sectional view taken along the center axis of the shaft 49 in FIG. 4. The same reference numerals are used for the components already described, and the description is omitted. Each of the above-described first rotating member 51 and second rotating member 52
Are rotatably supported, and a spacer 53
Is inserted into a groove 49a formed in the shaft body 49, and is set at a predetermined position by a retaining ring 54 attached to the groove 49a. As described above, the rotation members are individually rotatably supported so as to absorb the difference in rotation speed between the rotation members caused by the difference in radius.

As described above, the three endless belt members 50 are individually stretched by the first rotating member 51 and the rotating member 56, and the second rotating member 52 is connected to the first rotating member. By arranging them between 51, the side edges 50a of the endless belt body 50 are guided, so that left and right blurring can be prevented. Further, the printing paper P is configured to be conveyed in any range of W1, W2, and W3 in FIG.

According to the configuration described above, in order to discharge the photographic paper P while changing its direction in FIG. 3, when the photographic paper P is discharged from the discharge side of the outer peripheral surface 35a, even if the emulsion surface P is discharged.
a is in close contact with the endless belt body 50,
The close contact state is eliminated by the rotating member 52, so that the sheet can be correctly conveyed toward the guide 47 on the downstream side as shown by the broken line.

[0036]

As described above, according to the present invention,
A state in which the photosensitive material including photographic paper is in close contact with the endless belt after the exposure of the photosensitive material pre-cut to a predetermined size, when the direction is changed in the course of transport to transport the photosensitive material to a downstream side provided with a plurality of processing tanks. Thus, it is possible to provide a belt-type transport device for photosensitive material that can be transported correctly to the guide means on the downstream side.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a main part of an overall configuration of a photographic processing apparatus 1. FIG.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the transport unit 10 of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a front view around the rotary drive roller 35 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line XX of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a center sectional view of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a front view around a conventional rotary drive roller 135.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Photographic processing apparatus 2 Housing 44 Base 45 Toothed pulley 46 Toothed belt 47 Guide (guide means) 49 Shaft 50 Endless belt 51 First rotating member 52 Second rotating member

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An image forming apparatus, comprising: an exposure unit that exposes a photosensitive material; and a processing unit that stores a processing solution for performing each processing after the exposure, and transfers the photosensitive material from upstream to downstream along a transport path. A belt-type transport device for photosensitive material comprising transport means for transporting the photosensitive material toward the belt, wherein the transport means is rotationally driven in one direction, and has a rotary drive roller having an outer peripheral surface for changing the direction of the transport path. Guiding means for guiding the photosensitive material toward the introduction side of the outer peripheral surface and for guiding the photosensitive material discharged from the discharge side of the outer peripheral surface; and a shaft disposed near the discharge side; A first rotating member which is supported by a shaft, and which is stretched by the first rotating member to follow the rotary drive roller and to convey the photosensitive material in a sandwiched state with the outer peripheral surface; An endless belt member to be performed, and the first rotating member A second rotating member which has a radius larger than a radius obtained by adding a thickness of the endless belt to a thickness of the endless belt and is rotatably supported by the shaft. Transport device. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the endless belts for a plurality of endless belts are individually stretched by the first rotating member.
2. A belt-type conveying apparatus for photosensitive material according to claim 1, wherein said rotating member is disposed between said first rotating members to guide both side edges of said endless belt member.