JP2006171463A - Multichamber washing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To suppress wear of a driving shaft and a shaft sealing member which seals a gap between the driving shaft and a through-hole which the driving shaft penetrates. <P>SOLUTION: A through-hole 91 which a driving shaft 88 penetrates is formed in a bottom plate of a cell 50. A housing chamber 93 is formed to be continued from the through-hole 91. A shaft sealing member 92 is attached in the housing room 93 to seal between the through-hole 91 and the driving shaft 88. The surface of the driving axis 88 which is at least in contact with the shaft sealing member 91 is coated with a diamond like carbon (DLC) coating 130 having high hardness, low friction performance and chemical resistance, thereby wear of the driving shaft 88 and the shaft sealing member 92 is suppressed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention is used in a photosensitive material processing apparatus such as a printer processor, and includes a main tank in which a washing solution is stored, and a multi-chamber equipped with a washing chamber built-in rack that is set in the main tank and has a plurality of washing rooms. The present invention relates to a water washing apparatus.

  A photosensitive material processing apparatus such as a printer processor used in a photographic development facility includes an exposure unit that exposes and records an image on a photosensitive material such as photographic paper (color paper), and a development processing unit that performs a development process on the exposed photosensitive material. And a drying section for drying the photosensitive material after the development processing. The development processing section is provided with a plurality of processing tanks such as a color developing tank, a bleach-fixing tank, and a washing tank storing various processing solutions such as a color developer, a bleach-fixing solution, and a washing solution. Each process of development, bleach-fixing, and water washing is performed by sequentially passing through the processing solution.

  As a washing tank used in such a photosensitive material processing apparatus, for example, as described in Patent Documents 1 and 2, a partition member having a submerged squeeze portion such as a blade (seal member) is used. It is usual to use a multi-room flush tank partitioned into a plurality of dense (for example, 6) flush rooms. In this multi-chamber washing tank, by adopting a cascade structure that replenishes the washing solution from the most downstream washing chamber and flows down to the upstream washing chamber, it becomes more contained in the washing solution as it becomes the downstream washing chamber. The concentration of impurities (iron, silver sulfide, etc.) is reduced, and the replenishing amount of the washing solution is reduced while performing the washing treatment efficiently.

  Since each of these rinsing chambers is partitioned liquid-tightly, a transport rack that holds a pair of transport rollers is set in each rinsing chamber. Then, the photosensitive material is sequentially transported from the upstream rinsing chamber to the downstream rinsing chamber via the submerged squeeze portion, and subjected to a rinsing process. At this time, each transport rack is driven from the upper main body side and transmits drive to a pair of transport rollers in the liquid via a gear train or a vertical drive shaft, but each washing chamber is partitioned liquid-tightly. In this case, it is necessary to seal the drive system that transmits the drive. For this reason, in the case of gear train drive transmission, the seal becomes structurally complicated and difficult, and therefore, it is usual to employ a vertical axis drive transmission system in which the seal is simple. In the vertical axis drive transmission system, the vertical axis that is the drive axis passes through the partition member that partitions each flushing chamber, so the shaft seal is provided between the drive shaft and the through hole formed in the partition member. .

As described in Patent Document 3, the shaft seal forms a housing chamber on one end side of the through hole of the partition member, and presses the annular shaft seal member into the housing chamber. And it seals by fitting with the outer peripheral surface of a shaft seal member, and a housing chamber. There is also a method in which a flexible member such as a lip is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the shaft seal member, and sealing is performed by a repulsive force when the flexible member is compressed. Examples of the flexible member used for the shaft seal include silicon rubber and EPDM rubber. In addition, SUS316, nickel alloy such as titanium, Hastelloy, or the like is used for the drive shaft due to chemical resistance restrictions, but SUS316 is usually used due to cost restrictions.
JP 2003-084412 A (Pages 6-8, FIG. 1) JP 2003-084413 A (pages 4-6, FIG. 1) Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-205005 (pages 7-9, FIG. 1)

  By the way, since the surface hardness of SUS316 used for the material of the drive shaft is HV hardness 200 or less (about 20 degrees in terms of HRC), the hardness is less than the recommended hardness HRC30 degrees normally required for the shaft seal. Yes. For this reason, the drive shaft is worn by carbon or the like contained in the shaft seal member. If the drive shaft is worn once and the shaft surface is roughened, the seal shaft member may be worn. In particular, in the processing solution used in the photosensitive material processing apparatus, fine particles such as silver sulfide are present, which acts as a compound and promotes wear. As a result, there is a possibility that the sealing performance is lowered.

  Therefore, for example, (a) the material forming the drive shaft is replaced with martensitic stainless steel having higher hardness and strength than austenitic SUS316, (b) the drive shaft is quenched, (c) the drive shaft is Generation of wear on the drive shaft by hardening the surface of the drive shaft by nitriding, (d) hard chrome plating on the drive shaft, or (e) applying ceramic coating to the drive shaft There is a way to suppress this.

  However, since the martensitic stainless steel (a) does not have chemical resistance, the drive shaft may be corroded when immersed in the washing liquid. In the case of (b), SUS316, which is an austenitic stainless steel, does not become hardened and strengthened even if it is quenched unlike martensitic stainless steel. Furthermore, in the case of (c), a stable passive film mainly composed of chromium oxide is formed on the surface of SUS316, which is an austenitic stainless steel. For this reason, stable diffusion of nitrogen is hindered and nitriding cannot be performed easily. In this case, if a special method is used, the nitriding treatment can be performed, but the passive film is attacked, so that the chemical resistance is lowered. Moreover, since the hard chrome plating of (d) does not have chemical resistance, there is a possibility that it will be corroded and peeled off when immersed in the treatment liquid. Furthermore, in the case of (e), sufficient surface hardness is ensured, but since the irregularities peculiar to ceramics are formed on the peripheral surface of the shaft, wear of the shaft seal member is promoted. Therefore, the surface of the drive shaft cannot be hardened easily.

  Therefore, in order to suppress the wear of the drive shaft, it is necessary to form the drive shaft from titanium or MA plasthard (made by Mitsubishi Materials) having high hardness and wear resistance and chemical resistance, but these are expensive. Since the processing is difficult, the manufacturing cost of the apparatus becomes high.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a multi-room water washing treatment apparatus having a shaft seal structure with excellent wear resistance.

  The multi-room water rinsing apparatus of the present invention includes a main tub in which rinsing liquid is stored, a partition member that is set in the rinsing liquid in the main tub, and forms a plurality of liquid-tight rinsing chambers, between the rinsing chambers. A squeeze part that allows passage of the photosensitive material and prevents the flow of the washing solution, and a transport unit that transports the photosensitive material, and a rack with a built-in washing chamber that sequentially passes the photosensitive material through the plurality of washing chambers; A through hole formed in the partition member, a drive shaft inserted into the through hole and transmitting rotation to the photosensitive material conveying means, a housing chamber formed in the partition member at one end of the through hole, A shaft seal member provided in the housing chamber and sealing between the through hole and the drive shaft, and a diamond-like carbon coating formed on a peripheral surface of the drive shaft contacting at least the shaft seal member. And wherein the door.

  The diamond-like carbon film preferably has a maximum surface roughness Ry of less than 1.0 μm. Preferably, at least one intermediate layer is provided between the diamond-like carbon film and the peripheral surface of the drive shaft. Furthermore, it is preferable that the total thickness of the diamond-like carbon film and the intermediate layer is 1 to 10 μm. The intermediate layer preferably has chemical resistance.

  The rack with a built-in flush chamber is provided with at least one bearing for rotatably holding the drive shaft, and a portion of the peripheral surface of the drive shaft that is in contact with the bearing is the diamond-like carbon coating film. It is preferable that it is covered with. In addition, two or more flushing chambers are formed in the vertical direction by the partition member extending in the horizontal direction, and a drive source for rotating the drive shaft extending in the vertical direction is disposed on the upper surface of the main tank, and the drive It is preferable that the peripheral surface of the shaft that is in contact with the liquid surface of the washing solution is covered with the diamond-like carbon coating. The drive shaft is preferably formed from a metal having chemical resistance.

  The multi-room flush treatment apparatus of the present invention includes a main tank in which flush liquid is stored, a flush chamber built-in rack having a plurality of flush chambers partitioned by a partition member, a through hole formed in the partition member, A drive shaft that is inserted into the through hole and transmits the rotation to the photosensitive material conveying means; a housing chamber formed in the partition member at one end of the through hole; and the through hole and the drive provided in the housing chamber A shaft seal member that seals between the shaft and a diamond-like carbon film formed on at least a peripheral surface of the drive shaft that is in contact with the shaft seal member can prevent wear of the drive shaft. it can. Further, the wear of the shaft seal member can be suppressed and the durability thereof can be improved. Thereby, since the replacement frequency of the drive shaft and the shaft seal member can be reduced, the operator's work can be reduced, and the consumable cost of the apparatus can be reduced.

  In addition, since the maximum roughness Ry of the surface of the diamond like carbon coating is less than 1.0 μm, the wear of the shaft seal member can be further reduced.

  Furthermore, since at least one intermediate layer is provided between the diamond-like carbon coating and the peripheral surface of the drive shaft, the adhesion force of the diamond-like carbon coating to the drive shaft is strengthened and a high load is applied. It is possible to prevent the diamond-like carbon film from peeling off even if it is applied.

  Further, since the portion of the peripheral surface of the drive shaft that contacts the bearing that holds the drive shaft is covered with the diamond-like carbon film, the drive shaft is prevented from being worn by sliding contact with the bearing. be able to.

  In addition, the peripheral surface of the drive shaft, which is in contact with the liquid surface of the washing liquid, is covered with the diamond-like carbon coating, so that the drive shaft corrodes near the liquid surface where the components of the washing liquid are concentrated. Can be prevented. As a result, it is not necessary to form the drive shaft with an expensive and difficult material such as titanium, so that the manufacturing cost of the apparatus can be reduced.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a photosensitive material processing apparatus 10 embodying the present invention is provided with a supply unit 11 for supplying exposed color paper (hereinafter simply referred to as paper) 9 as a photosensitive material on one side surface. It has been. On the right side of the supply unit 11, a color developing tank 12 in which a color developer is stored, a bleach-fixing tank 13 in which a bleach-fixing liquid is stored, a water-washing tank 14 in which a water-washing liquid is stored, and paper 9 that is dried by hot air drying. The part 15 is provided in order. Further, on the side surface of the drying unit 15, a discharge port 16 for discharging the paper 9 after drying and a product stock unit 17 for receiving the discharged paper 9 are provided. In this embodiment, the paper 9 is cut into sheets for each image and sent to the color developing tank 12. Further, instead of the supply unit 11, a printing exposure unit that prints and exposes an image on a sheet-like photosensitive material may be provided. In addition, instead of the sheet-like paper, a belt-like paper may be supplied. In this case, the paper is separated by a cutter (not shown) at the boundary of each image and discharged from the discharge port 16 to the stock unit 17.

  Crossover racks 20, 21, and 22 are provided above the tanks 12, 13, and 14, and transport racks 23, 24, 25, and 26 are provided in the tanks 12 to 14, respectively. The crossover racks 20 to 22 include a transport roller pair 27 for transporting the paper 9 and a transport roller pair 28 that also serves as a squeeze portion that removes the processing liquid attached to the surface of the paper 9. The crossover racks 20 to 22 supply the paper 9 into the respective tanks 12 to 14, and send the paper 9 discharged from the respective tanks 12 to 14 to the next tanks 13 and 14 and the drying unit 15. Note that the squeeze portion may be provided separately from the conveying roller pair 28.

  The transport racks 23 to 26 transport the paper 9 in the liquid in the tanks 12 to 14. And these conveyance racks 23-26 hold | maintain the some conveyance roller pair 35,36,37 which clamps and conveys the paper 9, respectively. The pair of transport rollers 27, 28, and 35 to 37 of the crossover racks 20 to 22 and the transport racks 23 to 26 are rotationally driven by a motor.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the flush tank 14 includes one flush tank body 39 and a partition plate 40, and two flush chamber built-in racks 41. The washing tank main body 39 is configured in a box shape, and includes a main tank 42 as a main tank, circulation sub-tanks 43 and 44 as sub-tanks, a sub-tank 45 for washing liquid replenishment, and a sub-tank 46 for washing liquid overflow. . The circulation sub tanks 43 and 44 are provided on one side of the main tank 42, and the washing liquid replenishment sub tank 45 and the overflow sub tank 46 are provided on the other side of the main tank 42. The circulation sub tanks 43 and 44 communicate with the main tank 42 through vertical communication grooves 43a and 44a. Washing liquid 47 (see FIG. 3) is stored in each of these tanks 42-46. The washing solution 47 is prepared by mixing a sterilizing tablet with deionized water, but a rinse solution may also be used.

  The partition plate 40 is set in the vertical direction at the center of the main tank 42 and partitions the main tank 42 into two. A flush chamber built-in rack 41 is set in the two flush chambers partitioned by the partition plate 40. The water washing room built-in rack 41 has two sets of box-shaped cells 50 and 51 opened at the top, and transport racks 25 and 26 attached to the cells 50 and 51, and each has three water washing rooms in the vertical direction. It is divided into. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, the main tank 42 of the rinsing tank main body 39 is partitioned into six rinsing chambers by the partition plate 40 and the two rinsing chamber built-in racks 41. Hereinafter, these washing chambers are referred to as first to sixth washing chambers 42a to 42f in the order in which the paper 9 passes.

  As shown in FIG. 3, a seal member 54 is disposed at a vertical connecting portion of each cell 50, 51, and the flushing chambers 42 b and 42 e in the cell 51 are held in a liquid-tight manner by this seal member 54. The The seal member 54 is preferably made of silicon rubber, fluorine rubber, nitrile rubber, hydrogenated nitrile rubber, ethylene / propylene rubber, olefin elastomer, hydrogenated styrene elastomer, or the like.

  Further, a submerged squeeze portion 55 that allows passage of the paper 9 and prevents the flow of the washing liquid 47 is provided at the bottom of each cell 50, 51, and a similar submerged squeeze portion is also provided below the partition plate 40. 55 is provided. The submerged squeeze portion 55 includes an elastic blade 56 as a seal member. The elastic blade 56 is made of an elastomer having chemical resistance such as thermosetting polyurethane or silicon rubber, or a metal such as stainless steel, titanium, hastelloy, or Inconel. The elastic blade 56 is attached to the cells 50, 51 or the partition plate 40 so as to be inclined with respect to the squeeze passage 57, and the tip is elastically in contact with the wall surface of the squeeze passage 57. By this contact, the squeeze passage 57 is closed in a liquid-tight manner, and the flow of the washing liquid 47 is prevented. Further, when the paper 9 passes, the elastic blade 56 is elastically deformed, and the paper 9 passes between the side walls of the squeeze passage 57. Note that two elastic blades 56 may be used instead of one. In this case, the tips are elastically brought into contact with each other to allow the paper 9 to pass and prevent the washing liquid 47 from flowing. To do.

  Further, a check valve 58 is provided between each of the water washing chambers 42a to 42f, and each of the check valves 58 allows the water washing liquid 47 to flow in a direction from the sixth water washing chamber 42f to the first water washing chamber 42a. In the opposite direction from the first flush chamber 42a to the sixth flush chamber 42f, the flow of the flush liquid 47 is stopped.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the horizontal width of the upper cell 50 is made larger than the horizontal width of the lower cell 51, so that one side surface of the cells 50 and 51 is the same vertical plane in the vertical direction. When assembled flush with each other, the other side is in a state of protruding sideways. The side lower surface protruding laterally is hereinafter referred to as a stepped portion 50a. A connecting nozzle 59 (see FIG. 4) protruding downward is formed on the stepped portion 50a. Moreover, the receiving tank part 39a is formed in the washing tank main body 39 in the position which faces the step part 50a. A through hole 60 is formed in the receiving step portion 39a at a position corresponding to the connection nozzle 59 of the washing chamber built-in rack 41 set in the washing tub main body 39. When the connection nozzle 59 is fitted into the through hole 60, the first washing tank 42a and the overflow sub tank 46 are communicated with each other.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the overflow sub tank 46 is provided so as to cover the stepped portion 50a, and the washing liquid 47 stored in the tank overflows from the discharge port 46a. A waste liquid tank 61 is connected to the discharge port 46a via a pipe (not shown).

  As shown in FIG. 5, the washing liquid replenishment subtank 45 is configured in the same manner as the overflow subtank 46. The washing water replenishment sub tank 45 communicates with the sixth washing chamber 42f through two nozzles, a replenishing nozzle 65 and a circulation nozzle 66, so that the washing tank 47 can be circulated in addition to the washing liquid 47. The washing liquid replenishment subtank 45 is provided with a replenisher temperature control circulation system 67. The temperature control circulation system 67 includes a pump 68, a heater 69, a pipe 70 that communicates these, and a temperature sensor 73. Note that a filter may be disposed between the circulation nozzle 66 and the pump 68 as necessary.

  At the time of the water washing process, fresh water washing liquid 47 is replenished to the sixth water washing chamber 42f through the replenishing tank 71 and the replenishing sub tank 45, and this is supplied to the sixth to first water washing chambers via the check valve 58 shown in FIG. It flows sequentially to 42f-42a. Then, the washing solution 47 that has passed through the first washing chamber 42 a and overflowed from the discharge port 46 a of the overflow sub-tank 46 is discharged to the waste solution tank 61. Thus, in the present embodiment, a cascade structure using the check valve 58 in the washing tank 14 is employed.

  Moreover, as shown in FIGS. 2-5, the 1st-3rd washing chamber 42a-42c is provided with the 1st washing liquid temperature control circulation system 75a (refer FIG. 4), and the 4th-6th washing chamber 42d. ˜42f is provided with a second washing water temperature adjusting circulation system 75b (see FIG. 5). As shown in FIG. 4, the first washing liquid temperature adjusting circulation system 75a includes a filter 80a, a pump 81a, a heater 82a, a pipe 83a connecting these, and the like. The first circulation sub tank 43 communicates with the main tank 42 via a communication groove 43a (see FIG. 2).

  The pump 81a is connected to a discharge port 84a with a filter 80a provided in the rinsing tank main body 39 below the first to third rinsing chambers 42a to 42c, and the rinsing liquid 47 sucked from the discharge port 84a is supplied to the heater 82a. To the circulation sub tank 43. In the sub tank 43, a temperature sensor 85a and a liquid level sensor 86a are provided. The outputs of these sensors 85a and 86a are sent to a controller (not shown). In addition to comprehensively controlling the photosensitive material processing apparatus 10, the controller controls the heater 82a so that the washing solution 47 is within a predetermined temperature range. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the controller replenishes a replenishment sub-tank 45 as a sub-flush tank from a replenishment tank 71 with a fixed amount of fresh water washing liquid 47 according to the processing amount. The liquid level sensor 86a also detects the ion concentration in addition to the liquid level detection, and sends it to the controller. The controller issues an alarm when the liquid level or ion concentration falls outside a certain range.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the second water washing liquid temperature adjusting circulation system 75b is composed of a filter 80b, a pump 81b, a heater 82b, and a pipe 83b in the same manner as the first water washing liquid temperature adjusting circulation system 75a. The washing liquid 47 is circulated in the same manner as the washing liquid temperature control circulation system 75a.

  Moreover, although illustration is abbreviate | omitted, the air washing | cleaning room built-in rack 41 of this embodiment is provided with the air bleeding and drain mechanism. This air venting and drain mechanism is used when the washing chamber built-in rack 41 is inserted into or removed from the main tank 42. The air venting and draining mechanism includes an operation rod and a valve. The operation rod is provided so as to penetrate each of the washing chambers 42a to 42c and 42d to 42f. The valve is provided at the bottom of each cell 50, 51 and is opened and closed by operating the operating rod.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, a transport rack 25 is attached in the cells 50 and 51. In each transport rack 25, two pairs of transport rollers 37 are held side by side in the vertical direction in the figure. The transport racks 26 are attached to the lower surfaces of the cells 51 forming the second flush chamber 42b and the cells 51 forming the fifth flush chamber 42e, respectively. Each transport rack 26 holds three transport roller pairs 37 so as to change the transport path P by 90 ° from the vertical direction to the horizontal direction (or vice versa). And in this embodiment, since each cell 50 and 51 and the conveyance racks 25 and 26 are attached so that it may become line symmetrical about the partition plate 40, the conveyance path | route P of the paper 9 is in the washing tank main body 39. It is configured in a substantially U shape.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, each conveyance roller pair 37 is driven by a drive shaft (vertical axis) 88 rotated by a motor 87 provided on the upper surface of the washing tub main body 39 and a drive transmission unit 89. Get and rotate. The drive shaft 88 is rotatably supported by a plurality of bearings 90 (see FIG. 6) provided in the washing tub main body 39, and penetrates the cells 50 and 51 in the vertical direction. And the through-hole 91 (refer FIG.8 and FIG.9) in which this drive shaft 88 is inserted is formed in the baseplate part of the cells 50 and 51. As shown in FIG. A housing chamber 93 to which an annular shaft seal member 92 (see FIGS. 8 and 9) is attached is formed at the lower end of the through hole 91. The shaft seal member 92 seals between the through hole 91 and the drive shaft 88, which will be described in detail later. Although not shown, stirring fins are attached to both ends of each conveyance roller pair 37. Then, the stirring fins are rotated together with the rotation of the conveying roller pair 37, so that the washing liquid 47 in each of the washing chambers 42a to 42f is efficiently stirred.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the drive transmission unit 89 includes a worm 95 provided on the drive shaft 88, a worm wheel 96 meshing with the worm 95, an intermediate gear 97 provided coaxially with the worm wheel 96, and the intermediate gear 97. It is comprised from the drive gear 98 which meshes | engages. The drive gear 98 is fixed to one roller shaft end portion 99 a of the transport roller pair 37.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 7, the interlocking gears 100 are fixed to the other roller shaft end portion 99b. When the interlocking gears 100 are engaged with each other and rotated, the conveying roller pair 37 rotates oppositely. Further, an intermediate gear 101 is engaged with the interlocking gear 100 at the roller shaft end portion 99 b, and this intermediate gear 101 is engaged with the interlocking gear 100 of the other transport roller pair 37. Therefore, the rotation of the drive shaft 88 is transmitted to the upper transport roller pair 37 via the drive transmission unit 89, the transport roller pair 37, the interlocking gear 100, and the intermediate gear 101, and these rotate together. In addition, the other conveyance rack 26 is also comprised similarly to the conveyance rack 25, The duplicate description is abbreviate | omitted using the same code | symbol for the same structural member. Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the transport rack 26 holds three pairs of transport rollers 37, and as shown in FIG. 7, two intermediate gears 102 are used to drive these transport roller pairs 37 together. Accordingly, by rotating the drive shaft 88, all the conveyance roller pairs 37 are rotated in the direction in which the paper 9 is conveyed.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the drying unit 15 includes a heater, a duct 104, a blower fan, and the like (not shown), and dries the paper 9 conveyed by a plurality of conveyance roller pairs 105. The dried paper 9 is discharged and collected from the discharge port 16 to the product stock unit 17. A well-known sorter unit may be provided in place of the product stock unit 17, and in this case, the dried paper is collected separately for each print order.

  Next, a shaft seal structure in which the drive shaft 88 is shaft sealed by the shaft seal member 92 will be described with reference to FIGS. Here, FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing the shaft seal structure of the present embodiment, and FIG. 9 is an exploded cross-sectional view of the shaft seal structure of FIG. In addition, in this description, description will be made by taking as an example what is provided in the bottom plate portion of the cell 50, and the other structure is the same, and the description is omitted.

  As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the shaft seal member 92 includes a core member 120, a cap-shaped seal body 121, and a substantially annular lip 123. The core material 120 is formed from a metal material having chemical resistance or a synthetic resin material. Further, the seal body 121 and the lip 123 are formed of chemical-resistant silicon rubber, ethylpropylene (EPDM) rubber, or the like.

  Further, a through hole 91 into which the drive shaft 88 is inserted and a housing chamber 93 to which the shaft seal member 92 is attached are formed in the bottom plate portion of the cell 50. The housing chamber 93 is formed with an inner peripheral surface 93a and an end surface 93b having an outer diameter that allows the shaft seal member 92 to be lightly press-fitted and attached. Further, a screw hole 126 for fixing the pressing plate 125 is formed around the housing chamber 93 of the cell 50 so that the shaft seal member 92 does not fall off. After the shaft seal member 92 is lightly press-fitted into the housing chamber 93, the shaft seal member 92 is pressed against the housing chamber 93 by the metal pressing plate 125 and the mounting screw 127. The holding plate 125 and the mounting screw 127 are made of SUS316 (stainless steel), titanium, hastelloy or the like having chemical resistance.

  When the shaft seal member 92 is press-fitted into the housing chamber 93, an annular O-ring 128 is set between the shaft seal member 92 and the end surface 93 b of the housing chamber 93. The O-ring 128 is made of, for example, silicon rubber, ethylpropylene (EPDM) rubber, or the like. When the shaft seal member 92 is press-fitted into the housing chamber 93, the O-ring 128 is compressed and deformed, and the repulsive force seals between the shaft seal member 92 and the end surface 93 b of the housing chamber 93.

  The drive shaft 88 is shaft-sealed using such a shaft seal member 92, but in this embodiment, the drive shaft 88 is formed of SUS316 due to cost constraints. Since the surface hardness (HRC 20 degrees) of this SUS316 is lower than the hardness necessary for the shaft seal (HRC 30 degrees) as described above, it is worn by carbon or the like contained in the shaft seal member 92. Further, when the peripheral surface of the drive shaft 88 is worn, the shaft seal member 92 is worn away, and the durability and the sealing performance may be deteriorated.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, at least a peripheral surface of the peripheral surface of the drive shaft 88 that is in contact with the shaft seal member 92 is coated (coated) with a diamond-like carbon (hereinafter simply referred to as DLC) coating 130. The DLC film 130 in FIGS. 7 and 8 and FIG. 11 to be described later is shown thicker than the actual thickness so that it can be easily discriminated.

  Since the DLC coating 130 has a hardness very close to diamond (HV1000 or more) and is excellent in wear resistance, heat resistance, and anti-seizure resistance, the surface hardness of the peripheral surface of the drive shaft 88 can be increased. it can. As a result, the wear resistance of the drive shaft 88 can be improved, so that wear of the drive shaft 88 due to fine particles such as carbon contained in the shaft seal member 92 and silver sulfide contained in the washing liquid 47 can be reduced. . Thereby, the wear of the shaft seal member 92 can be reduced and its durability can be improved. Furthermore, since the DLC film 130 is excellent in chemical resistance and corrosion resistance, there is no possibility that the DLC film 130 is corroded in the washing solution 47 and peeled off.

  Further, since the DLC film 130 has an amorphous structure and has no crystal grain boundary, the peripheral surface of the drive shaft 88 can be smoothed. As a result, the friction coefficient μ of the peripheral surface of the drive shaft 88 is lowered, so that the lubricity with the shaft seal member 92 can be improved. As a result, the wear of the drive shaft 88 can be suppressed, and the wear of the shaft seal member 92 can be suppressed to improve its durability. Further, it is possible to reduce the driving load when rotating the driving shaft 88. Furthermore, since the charge amount charged by the shaft seal member 92 slidingly contacting the drive shaft 88 can be reduced, it is possible to prevent foreign matters drifting in the washing liquid 47 from adhering to the shaft seal member 92.

  The coating of the DLC film 130 may be performed by various vapor deposition methods such as a physical vapor deposition method (PVD method) such as a sputtering method or an ion plating method, or a chemical vapor deposition method (CVD method) such as a thermal CVD method or a plasma CVD method. This is usually done using the method. At this time, the DLC film 130 has high hardness, but its deformability is extremely small. Moreover, the processing temperature at the time of coating is adjusted to low temperature (for example, 200 degrees C or less). Therefore, even if the DLC film 130 is directly coated on the peripheral surface of the drive shaft 88, the adhesion between the DLC film 130 and the drive shaft 88 is weak, so the DLC film 130 peels off when a high load is applied to the drive shaft 88. There is a risk that. Therefore, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 10, the intermediate layer 132 is formed between the DLC film 130 and the peripheral surface of the drive shaft 88, and the adhesion force of the DLC film 130 is strengthened. Here, FIG. 10 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the drive shaft 88.

  If the intermediate layer 132 formed between the DLC film 130 and the drive shaft 88 has good adhesion to both the DLC film 130 and the drive shaft 88 (SUS316), for example, Si, SiC, Cr, Ti, etc. You may form, and it is preferable to form with SiC which has chemical resistance among these. Although the illustration is omitted in detail, the intermediate layer to be formed is not limited to one layer. For example, the intermediate layer is composed of two or more layers in which a SiC layer or a C / Cr gradient layer is formed on a Cr layer. Also good. Further, the thickness of the intermediate layer 132 is not particularly limited as long as it can increase the adhesion of the DLC film 130.

  Similar to the DLC film 130, the intermediate layer 132 is also formed by vapor deposition such as PVD or CVD. Accordingly, when performing DLC coating, first, SiC or the like is coated by various evaporation methods to form the intermediate layer 132 on the peripheral surface of the drive shaft 88, and then the DLC film 130 is coated on the intermediate layer 132. . At this time, the thickness of the DLC film 130 to be coated is not particularly limited, but in this embodiment, the combined thickness of the DLC film 130 and the intermediate layer 132 is 1 to 10 μm depending on the application, the type of the paper 9 and the like. Thus, the thickness of each is adjusted.

  In this way, by forming the intermediate layer 132 between the DLC coating 130 and the peripheral surface of the drive shaft 88, the adhesion of the DLC coating 130 to the drive shaft 88 can be strengthened, so that a high load is applied. Also, the DLC film 130 can be prevented from peeling off.

  Further, when the DLC film 130 is coated, the shaft seal member 92 is worn if the surface roughness is rough. Therefore, as a result of making a drive shaft sample with a maximum roughness Ry (Rmax) of the surface of the DLC film 130 of 1.0 μm or more and a drive shaft sample of less than 1.0 μm and performing a comparative evaluation using a test apparatus, Ry It was confirmed that the shaft seal member 92 is less worn when the thickness is less than 1.0 μm. Therefore, in this embodiment, the wear of the shaft seal member 92 is reduced by adjusting various conditions during vapor deposition so that the maximum roughness Ry of the surface of the DLC film 130 is less than 1.0 μm.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, it is possible to prevent the drive shaft 88 from being worn by coating the peripheral surface of the drive shaft 88 with the DLC film 130. Further, the wear of the shaft seal member 92 can be suppressed and the durability thereof can be improved. Furthermore, the drive load at the time of rotating the drive shaft 88 can be reduced.

  Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, when the exposed paper 9 is supplied from the paper supply unit 11 to the photosensitive material processing apparatus 10, the paper 9 passes through the color developing tank 12 through the crossover rack 20 and the transport rack 23. Then, color development processing is performed. Similarly, the paper 9 passes through the bleach-fixing tank 13 and the bleach-fixing process is performed. The bleach-fixed paper 9 is conveyed to the washing tank 14 via the crossover racks 21 and 22. At the same time, the drive shaft 88 is rotationally driven, and all the transport roller pairs 37 held in the transport racks 25 and 26 in the water washing chamber built-in rack 41 are driven and transmitted by the drive transmission section 89 (see FIGS. 6 and 7). Is driven to rotate. Thereby, the paper 9 conveyed to the rinsing tank 14 is sequentially conveyed through the rinsing chambers 42 a to 42 f of the rinsing tank main body 39 and subjected to a rinsing process.

  In the water washing process, as shown in FIG. 5, the fresh water washing liquid 47 from the replenishing tank 71 is replenished to the replenishment sub tank 45 according to the processing amount of the paper 9. The replenished water washing liquid 47 is circulated through a replenishing liquid temperature control circulation system 67 through a replenishment sub tank 45, a replenishing nozzle 65, a sixth water washing chamber 42f, a circulation nozzle 66, a pipe 70, a pump 68, and a heater 69. Thus, the temperature of the washing liquid in the sixth washing room 42f is kept within a certain range. The rinsing liquid 47 in the sixth rinsing chamber 42f is sent in the order of the fifth to first rinsing chambers 42e to 42a via the check valves 58 (see FIG. 3) in a cascade flow. As shown in FIG. 4, the first flush chamber 42a communicates with the overflow sub-tank 46 through the connection nozzle 59, so that the excess flush liquid 47 is discharged from the discharge port 46a according to the amount of the supplemental flush liquid. The overflowed washing liquid 47 is sent to the waste liquid tank 61.

  Since the third flush chamber 42c and the fourth flush chamber 42d are opened in the main tank 42, the water temperature is maintained within a predetermined range by each flush liquid temperature adjusting circulation system 75a, 75b. The other first and second flushing chambers 42a and 42b, the fifth and sixth flushing chambers 42e and 42f, and the third flush washing chambers 42c and 42d are each flushed liquid temperature control circulation system 75a. 75b does not directly adjust the temperature, but heat is transmitted through the cells 50 and 51, so that the water temperature is similarly maintained within a certain range.

  Further, when performing the water washing treatment, the shaft seal member 92 seals between the drive shaft 88 and the through hole 91 formed in the bottom plate portion of each of the cells 50 and 51 through which the drive shaft 88 passes. Further, the washing liquid 47 is prevented from flowing from between the through hole 91 and the drive shaft 88, and the respective washing chambers 42a to 42f are kept liquid-tight. As a result, the concentration of impurities (iron, silver sulfide, etc.) contained in the washing liquid is reduced as the downstream washing chambers 42b to 42f become, so that the washing process can be performed efficiently. The replenishment amount of 47 can also be reduced.

At this time, in this embodiment, the DLC film 130 having high hardness, wear resistance and chemical resistance and a low friction coefficient μ is coated on the peripheral surface of the drive shaft 88. Specifically, the DLC coating 130 is the following (1) to (4) (1) DLC coating process of Citizen Watch Co., Ltd. using low temperature plasma (2) Kobe Steel Co., Ltd. using UBM sputtering method (3) H-DLC, F-DLC, and HA-DLC coating treatment of Japan IT F. Co., Ltd. (4) DLC coating treatment of Nanotech Co., Ltd. using ionization deposition method The peripheral surface of the drive shaft 88 is coated using a coating method appropriately selected from the above. Thereby, the wear of the drive shaft 88 can be prevented. Further, the wear of the shaft seal member 92 can be suppressed and the durability thereof can be improved. As a result, since the replacement frequency of the drive shaft 88 and the shaft seal member 92 can be reduced, the operator's work can be reduced, and further, the consumables cost of the photosensitive material processing apparatus 10 can be reduced.

  In the present embodiment, since the intermediate layer 132 is formed between the DLC film 130 and the peripheral surface of the drive shaft 88, the adhesion force of the DLC film 130 to the drive shaft 88 is strengthened, and a high load is applied. It is possible to prevent the DLC film 130 from being peeled even if it is applied. Furthermore, in the present embodiment, since the maximum roughness Ry of the surface of the DLC film 130 is less than 1.0 μm, the wear of the shaft seal member 92 can be further reduced.

  In this manner, the paper 9 that has been subjected to the water washing process while being sequentially conveyed through the water washing chambers 42 a to 42 f is sent to the drying unit 15 by the conveyance roller pair 28 of the crossover rack 22. The paper 9 conveyed to the drying unit 15 is dried with hot air and then discharged to the product stock unit 17.

  In the present embodiment, in order to prevent the drive shaft 88 from being worn, the portion of the entire peripheral surface of the drive shaft 88 that contacts the shaft seal member 92 is coated with the DLC film 130. It is not limited to this. For example, since the drive shaft 88 is rotatably held by the bearing 90 as shown in FIG. 6, the drive shaft 88 may be worn by sliding contact with the bearing 90. In particular, in the uppermost flush chamber 42a where the concentration of the development processing solution or the bleach-fixing processing solution is high, the components of each processing solution adhering to the drive shaft 88 are concentrated near the liquid surface. There is a risk that the part in contact with will be corroded.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 11, the portion of the peripheral surface of the drive shaft 88 that contacts the bearing 90 or the portion that contacts the liquid surface of the rinsing chamber 42 a may be coated with the DLC film 130. As a result, it is possible to prevent the drive shaft 88 from being in sliding contact with the bearing 90 and being worn. In addition, the wear of the bearing 90 can be suppressed and its durability can be improved. Furthermore, corrosion of the portion of the drive shaft 88 that contacts the liquid surface can be prevented. This eliminates the need for the drive shaft 88 to be formed of a metal material having high hardness and chemical resistance such as titanium or MA plasthard, thereby reducing the manufacturing cost of the photosensitive material processing apparatus 10.

  Here, FIG. 11 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the water washing chamber 42a of FIG. 6. Although not shown, it is preferable that the peripheral surface in contact with the other bearings 90 is also coated with the DLC film 130 in the same manner. . Further, since the concentration of the developing processing solution and the bleach-fixing processing solution contained in the washing solution 47 becomes lower in the downstream washing chamber, the portion (peripheral surface) in contact with the liquid surface of the washing chamber 42f is coated with the DLC coating 130. do not have to. Further, instead of partially coating the peripheral surface of the drive shaft 88 with the DLC film 130, the entire peripheral surface thereof may be coated with the DLC film 130.

  Further, in this embodiment, the O-ring 128 is used to seal between the shaft seal member 92 and the end surface 93b of the housing chamber 93, but the present invention is not limited to this, and is annular and A seal member whose cross-sectional shape is V-shaped, Y-shaped, X-shaped, or other shapes may be used. Further, a seal member such as an O-ring 128 may be integrally formed on the upper surface of the shaft seal member 92 instead of being disposed between the shaft seal member 92 and the end surface 93 b of the housing chamber 93.

  In this embodiment, the shaft seal member 92 is pressed against the housing chamber 93 by the pressing plate 125 and the mounting screw 127. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the shaft seal is not limited thereto. A flexible member such as a lip may be formed on the outer peripheral surface of the member 92 so that the shaft seal member 92 does not fall off due to the repulsive force.

  Further, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, after the main tank 42 is divided into two using the partition plate 40, the water washing room built-in rack 41 is inserted into the divided main tank 42. The six flushing chambers 42a to 42f are formed by the above, but instead of this, although the illustration is omitted, the racks with built-in flushing chambers may be configured by using partition plates and cells of various shapes.

  In the embodiment, the flush room has a configuration of 6 rooms of 3 rows and 2 rows, but the arrangement and quantity of the wash chambers are not limited to this, and m rows x n rows (m and n are 2). The integer above) may be used. Note that n is preferably an even number. In this case, the supply and discharge of the paper to the washing tub main body 39 can be performed on the same upper side, and the configuration is simplified.

  In this embodiment, since the drive shaft 88 is formed of SUS316 having a surface hardness of HRC 20 degrees or less, the peripheral surface of the drive shaft 88 is covered with the DLC film 130. However, the drive shaft 88 is resistant to chemicals. In addition, it is not necessary to cover the peripheral surface of the shaft with the DLC coating 130 in the case of being formed of a metal material having an HRC of 40 degrees or more, such as titanium or MA plasthard (manufactured by Mitsubishi Materials). However, as described above, titanium and MA plasthard are expensive materials and difficult to process, and there is a problem that the manufacturing cost of the apparatus becomes high.

  In the present embodiment, the color developing tank 12 is divided into one room, the bleach-fixing tank 13 is divided into one room, and the washing tank 14 is divided into six rooms, but the number of sections is not particularly limited. In addition, the present invention has been implemented in the case where sealing is performed between a cell partitioning into each rinsing chamber and the drive shaft in the rinsing bath. In addition to this, the color developing tank 12 and the bleach-fixing tank 13 are provided in a plurality of processing chambers. When partitioning, the present invention may be applied to a seal between the partition member and the drive shaft. Further, the present invention is not limited to the photosensitive material processing apparatus 10, and can be applied to a multi-chamber liquid processing apparatus in which processing chambers in which various processing liquids are stored are partitioned by a partition member or the like.

It is the schematic of the photosensitive material processing apparatus of this invention. It is the perspective view which showed the rinsing tank main body, the rack with built-in rinsing chamber, and the partition plate. It is sectional drawing which showed the water-washing tank. It is sectional drawing which follows the IV-IV line in FIG. It is sectional drawing which follows the VV line in FIG. It is sectional drawing which follows the VI-VI line in FIG. It is sectional drawing which follows the VII-VII line in FIG. It is sectional drawing which showed the shaft seal structure of the drive shaft. It is sectional drawing which decomposed | disassembled and showed the shaft seal structure in FIG. It is sectional drawing which expanded and showed the cross section of the drive shaft. FIG. 7 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the most upstream water washing chamber shown in FIG. 6.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 9 Paper 10 Photosensitive material processing apparatus 14 Washing tank 25,26 Transport rack 29 Drive shaft 37 Conveyance roller pair 39 Washing tank main body 40 Partition plate 41 Washing chamber built-in rack 50,51 Cell 88 Drive shaft 91 Through-hole 92 Shaft seal member 93 Housing Chamber 130 DLC coating 132 Intermediate layer

Claims (8)

A main tank in which the washing liquid is stored;
A partition member that is set in the washing liquid in the main tank and forms a plurality of liquid-tight washing chambers, a squeeze portion that allows the photosensitive material to pass between the washing chambers and prevents the washing solution from flowing, and A washing chamber built-in rack that has conveying means for conveying the photosensitive material, and sequentially passes the photosensitive material through the plurality of washing chambers;
A through hole formed in the partition member;
A drive shaft inserted into the through-hole and transmitting rotation to the photosensitive material conveying means;
A housing chamber formed in the partition member at one end of the through hole;
A shaft seal member provided in the housing chamber and sealing between the through hole and the drive shaft;
A multi-room water-washing treatment apparatus comprising: a diamond-like carbon film formed on a peripheral surface of the drive shaft that is in contact with at least the shaft seal member.   2. The multi-room water-washing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the diamond-like carbon coating has a maximum surface roughness Ry of less than 1.0 μm.   The multi-room water-washing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising at least one intermediate layer between the diamond-like carbon coating and the peripheral surface of the drive shaft.   The multi-room water-washing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the total thickness of the diamond-like carbon coating and the intermediate layer is 1 to 10 µm.   The multi-room water-washing apparatus according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the intermediate layer has chemical resistance.   One or more bearings for rotatably holding the drive shaft are provided in the washing chamber built-in rack, and a portion of the peripheral surface of the drive shaft that is in contact with the bearing is covered with the diamond-like carbon coating. The multi-room water-washing treatment apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein   Two or more flushing chambers are formed in the vertical direction by the partition member extending in the horizontal direction, and a driving source for rotating the driving shaft extending in the vertical direction is disposed on the upper surface of the main tank, The multi-room water-washing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein a portion of the peripheral surface that is in contact with the liquid surface of the water-washing liquid is covered with the diamond-like carbon film. The multi-chamber water-washing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the drive shaft is made of a metal having chemical resistance.

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