JP2007041021A - Sensitive material drying device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an inexpensive sensitive material drying device which dries a sensitive material processed to be developed while conveying it and which hardly causes irregularity on an emulsion surface side after drying the sensitive material. <P>SOLUTION: Among conveying rollers 21a, 21b, 21c and 21e forming a conveyance path R in a drying part 20, the conveying roller 21e positioned between ducts 23 and 24 sending a warm current of air to the upstream side and the downstream side of the conveyance path R and disposed on the emulsion surface side of photographic paper 5 is formed of metallic material. The surface roughness of the outer peripheral surface of the conveying roller 21e is set to Rz≤0.8μm. Then, the blowoff port 24a of the duct 24 is provided so that the warm current of air may directly blow off the conveying roller 21e. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a photosensitive material drying apparatus for drying a photosensitive material while transporting it along a transport path in a drying unit.

  Conventionally, as a photosensitive material drying apparatus for drying while conveying a photosensitive material, the photosensitive material is dried by blowing hot air of a predetermined temperature against the photosensitive material while conveying the photosensitive material by a conveying roller in a drying unit. What is configured to be known is known. In such a photosensitive material drying apparatus, the conveying roller is generally formed of a foam material such as urethane foam or silicon foam.

On the other hand, in recent years, in order to improve the drying efficiency, a so-called heat roller that heats a conveyance roller that is in direct contact with a photosensitive material has been used. A coating is known.
JP-A-9-197616

  By the way, as in the former conventional example, when warm air is sent into a drying apparatus and the photosensitive material is dried only by the heat of the warm air, it is difficult to uniformly dry the entire photosensitive material. When a conveyance roller made of a foam material comes into contact with a portion of the photosensitive material that has not yet been dried, fine irregularities on the surface of the conveyance roller are transferred to the emulsion surface of the photosensitive material and appear as unevenness after drying. There is.

  In contrast, if the photosensitive material is heated by bringing the heat roller into contact with the photosensitive material as in the latter conventional example, the entire photosensitive material can be dried almost uniformly. Unevenness after drying can be made difficult to occur. However, in a conventional heat roller configuration, a dedicated heat source is required inside the heat roller, and it is necessary to control the heat source so that the temperature of the outer peripheral surface of the roller becomes a predetermined temperature. Since a control device for that purpose is also required, there arises a problem that the cost of the entire device is increased.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a photosensitive material drying apparatus for drying a photosensitive material that has been subjected to development processing on the emulsion surface side after drying the photosensitive material. An object of the present invention is to provide an inexpensive drying apparatus that is less likely to cause unevenness.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the photosensitive material drying apparatus according to the present invention, hot air is blown and heated on the outer peripheral surface of the conveying roller disposed on the emulsion surface side of the photosensitive material, so that the photosensitive roller can also be sensitized. The material was allowed to dry.

  That is, the invention of claim 1 is directed to a photosensitive material drying apparatus for drying a developed photosensitive material while transporting it along a transport path in a drying section. The drying unit includes a plurality of conveying rollers arranged to face a conveying path of the photosensitive material, and a blowing unit that blows warm air toward the conveying path. It is assumed that hot air is blown against the outer peripheral surface of the conveying roller disposed on the emulsion surface side of the photosensitive material among the conveying rollers.

  With this configuration, the outer peripheral surface of the conveyance roller on the emulsion surface side of the photosensitive material is heated by warm air, and the photosensitive material is dried not only by the warm air sent into the drying unit but also by the heat of the conveyance roller. Therefore, the entire photosensitive material can be dried uniformly and rapidly, and the occurrence of unevenness after drying can be prevented. In addition, since the photosensitive material can be efficiently dried without providing a heat source inside the transport roller or controlling the temperature of the outer peripheral surface of the transport roller by a control device as in the prior art, the cost of the entire apparatus can be reduced. Can be reduced. Furthermore, when a heat source is provided inside the conveyance roller as in the prior art, the amount of heat generated by the heat source differs slightly depending on the site, so that the temperature distribution on the outer peripheral surface of the conveyance roller cannot be made uniform and uneven heating occurs. However, as described above, when warm air is applied to the outer peripheral surface of the transport roller to heat the outer peripheral surface, if hot air is applied uniformly in the longitudinal direction of the transport roller, The entire outer peripheral surface of the transport roller can be heated uniformly, and the photosensitive material can be dried without unevenness.

  In the above-described configuration, the blowing section includes a first blowing section that blows warm air toward the upstream side of the conveyance path in the drying section, and a second blowing section that blows warm air toward the downstream side of the conveyance path. A conveying roller on the emulsion surface side of the photosensitive material is disposed between the first blowing portion and the second blowing portion, and at least one blowing portion of the first and second blowing portions. Is configured to blow warm air on the outer peripheral surface of the transport roller (invention of claim 2).

  Thus, when the photosensitive material is located between the first blowing portion and the second blowing portion, that is, in a state where the emulsion surface of the photosensitive material is not yet sufficiently dried, the surface is heated by hot air. Since the heated conveying roller comes into contact with the photosensitive material, the photosensitive material is entirely dried without unevenness, and it becomes difficult for the conveying roller to have contact marks. Therefore, it is possible to reliably prevent unevenness after the photosensitive material is dried.

  Further, among the conveying rollers, the conveying roller disposed at least on the emulsion surface side of the photosensitive material is preferably formed so that the outer surface has a surface roughness Rz of 0.8 μm or less. Invention of 3). As described above, if the surface roughness of the outer peripheral surface of the conveying roller disposed on the emulsion surface side of the photosensitive material is 0.8 μm or less in terms of Rz, the emulsion surface side is not sufficiently dried. Even if the conveying roller comes into contact with the roller, there is almost no contact mark, so that it is possible to reliably prevent the emulsion surface from becoming uneven after drying due to the influence of the outer peripheral surface of the conveying roller.

  Furthermore, in the above-described configuration, it is preferable that the outer peripheral surface portion of the transport roller is made of a metal member, and the outer peripheral surface is coated with fluorine (Invention of Claim 4). In this way, the outer peripheral surface portion of the transport roller is formed of a metal member and is coated with fluorine, so that the outer peripheral surface can be smoothed more reliably. Thus, unevenness after drying can be more reliably prevented. Moreover, even if only the outer peripheral surface portion of the transport roller is made of metal, it plays the role of a heat roller by blowing warm air, so that the entire roller is made of metal as in the conventional case and a heat source is provided inside the metal. Can also reduce costs.

  As described above, according to the photosensitive material drying apparatus of the present invention, among the plurality of conveying rollers disposed to face each other to convey the developed photosensitive material, the conveying roller that contacts the emulsion surface side of the photosensitive material. When the outer peripheral surface is heated by blowing warm air, the photosensitive material can be uniformly dried without unevenness and the drying efficiency can be improved. In addition, it is possible to obtain a drying device that is less expensive and less heated than a conventional heat roller having a heat source inside.

  In particular, when there are two blow-off sections for blowing warm air to the conveyance path in the drying section, if the conveyance roller positioned between them is configured as described above, the photosensitive material can be evenly and quickly without unevenness. Therefore, it is possible to more effectively prevent unevenness after drying due to contact marks of the conveying roller.

  Further, by setting the surface roughness of the transport roller to Rz 0.8 μm or less, even if the transport roller comes into contact with the emulsion surface side of the light-sensitive material, the transport surface is transported to the emulsion surface side. It is possible to more reliably prevent the contact marks of the rollers from sticking, and to reliably prevent unevenness after the photosensitive material is dried.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that the following description of the preferred embodiment is merely illustrative in nature and is not intended to limit the present invention, its application, or its use.

  FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a photographic printing apparatus P provided with a drying apparatus C according to an embodiment of the present invention. The photographic printing apparatus P is for making a photographic print from a negative film or the like. The photographic printing apparatus P is an exposure apparatus A that performs exposure processing on the photographic paper 5 (photosensitive material), and develops the photographic paper 5 that has been subjected to the exposure processing. A development processing device B for processing and a drying device C (photosensitive material drying device) for drying the transported photographic paper 5 while being conveyed are provided.

  Specifically, the exposure apparatus A includes a cutter 6 that cuts one of the photographic papers 5 drawn out of the roll-shaped photographic papers 5 and 5 stored in the two photographic paper magazines 5M and 5M into a print size, and a light source. An optical system that guides the light beam from the unit 1 to a negative film (not shown) set on the film carrier 2 and expands the light beam transmitted through the negative film by the optical lens 3 and projects it onto the exposure unit 9 by opening the shutter 4. The system 8 and the photographic paper 5 cut by the cutter 6 are conveyed to an exposure unit 9 on which an image from the optical lens 3 is projected, and the photographic paper 5 exposed by the exposure unit 9 is conveyed to the development processing apparatus B. And a mechanism 7.

  The development processing apparatus B includes a color development tank 10a for storing a color development processing liquid, a bleach-fixing tank 10b for storing a bleach-fixing processing liquid, and a stabilization tank 10c for storing a stable processing liquid. The photographic paper 5 exposed in the unit 9 is configured to be developed while being continuously conveyed to the plurality of processing tanks 10a to 10c.

  The drying device C is configured to dry the photographic paper 5 developed by the development processing device B in the drying unit 20 while transporting it. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, the drying apparatus C includes a transport mechanism 21 including a large number of transport rollers 21 a, 21 a,... For transporting the photographic paper 5 in the drying unit 20, and the transport mechanism 21. The blowers 22 and 22 for sending warm air to the conveyance path R (the one-dot chain line in the figure) of the photographic printing paper 5 constituted by the above-mentioned, and the warm air sent from the blowers 22 and 22 to the predetermined position of the conveyance path R , 24a, 24a,... Are provided with ducts 23 and 24 (first and second blowing portions) provided with a plurality of blowing ports 23a, 23a,.

  The transport mechanism 21 is arranged such that a pair of transport rollers 21a and 21a arranged so as to sandwich the transported photographic paper 5 in the thickness direction thereof are arranged in the vertical direction, and the vertical direction of the photographic paper 5 is A transport path is formed, and a transport roller 21b is provided above the transport path so as to change the extending direction of the transport path of the photographic paper 5 to the horizontal direction. Rollers 21c and 21c are provided. As shown in FIG. 2, among the pair of transport rollers 21a, 21a, the transport roller 21a located on the opposite side of the transport roller 21b across the transport path R is located above the other roller 21a. It is positioned. As a result, the photographic paper 5 that has passed through the pair of transport rollers 21a, 21a always proceeds obliquely upward on the transport roller 21b side (left side in FIG. 2). Here, the conveying rollers 21a, 21a,... Are usually made of a foam material such as urethane foam or silicon foam.

  Further, conveyance guides 21d, 21d,... For smoothly conveying the photographic paper 5 upward are provided between the upper and lower sides of the conveyance rollers 21a, 21a forming a conveyance path extending in the vertical direction. Yes. Each conveyance guide 21d is made of, for example, a metal or resin plate member, and has a substantially L-shaped cross section extending in the width direction of the drying device C. The conveyance guide 21d has a bottom portion extending to the opposite side of the conveyance path R, that is, the vertical wall portion faces the conveyance path R, and the vertical wall portion approaches the conveyance path R. It is arranged in a tilted state. Thereby, the conveyance guide 21d receives the photographic paper 5 conveyed obliquely upward by the pair of conveyance rollers 21a and 21a, and the photographic paper 5 is conveyed between the conveyance rollers 21a and 21a from the conveyance path R in the drawing. It plays the role of a guide that prevents it from moving to the left.

  Each of the blowers 22 and 22 is provided with a nichrome wire heater (not shown) in the vicinity of the outlet, and is configured to send heat generated by the nichrome wire heater into the drying unit 20 as warm air. ing.

  The ducts 23 and 24 are resin members, respectively, and are arranged so as to send warm air to the upstream side and the downstream side of the conveyance path 5 of the photographic paper 5. The ducts 23 and 24 have blowout ports 23a, 23a,..., 24a, 24a,... On one end side, and the other ends are connected to the blowers 22 and 22, respectively. Yes.

  The air outlets 23a, 23a,..., 24a, 24a,... Are arranged so that warm air is blown from the entire width direction of the drying device C to the transport path R of the photographic paper 5 extending in the vertical direction. It is formed in a long hole shape extending in the width direction of C.

  Further, the blowout ports 23a, 23a,..., 24a, 24a,... Have ducts 23, 24 at the peripheral portions of the blowout ports so that warm air can be reliably blown against the conveyance path R of the photographic paper 5. Are formed in a nozzle shape extending toward the transport path R, and are arranged in a line at substantially equal intervals in the vertical direction so that the photographic paper 5 is efficiently dried.

  A temperature sensor (not shown) for measuring the temperature of the hot air blown from the blowers 22 and 22 is provided in the ducts 23 and 24 near the outlets of the blowers 22 and 22, respectively. The operations of the blowers 22 and 22 are controlled based on the temperature of the warm air measured by the sensor. That is, the blowers 22 and 22 are subjected to feedback control so that the temperature of the hot air blown against the photographic printing paper 5 conveyed through the conveyance path R becomes the target set temperature (60 to 70 degrees).

  With the above configuration, the photographic paper 5 is dried by the warm air from the blowers 22 and 22 in the conveyance path R extending in the vertical direction, and the dried photographic paper 5 passes through the conveyance rollers 21b and 21c. The paper is discharged to the conveyor 30 and accumulated on a tray (not shown).

  By the way, since the photographic paper 5 developed as described above is dried while being transported in the drying unit 20, the degree of drying of the photographic paper 5 differs depending on the position in the transport path R. That is, when the photographic paper 5 is located on the upstream side of the conveyance path R in the drying unit 20, the photographic paper 5 is almost not dried, but is located on the downstream side of the conveyance path R. If it is, the photographic paper 5 is almost dry. Therefore, on the upstream side of the transport path R, the photographic paper 5 is transported by the transport rollers 21a, 21a,... In a state where the photographic paper 5 has not yet been sufficiently dried. There is a risk of sticking. In particular, as described above, since the transport rollers 21a, 21a,... Are made of a foam material, the transport rollers 21a, 21a,. When contacted, minute irregularities on the surface are transferred, and unevenness tends to occur on the emulsion surface side after drying.

  Moreover, as shown in FIG. 2, when the two ducts 23 and 24 are arranged so as to blow warm air against the conveyance path R, the conveyance rollers located between them are still sufficiently dry. Since it comes into contact with the photographic paper 5 that has not been printed, the contact mark tends to cause unevenness after drying.

  Therefore, as a characteristic part of the present invention, among the conveying rollers 21a, 21a,..., It is disposed on the emulsion surface side between the two ducts 23, 24 for blowing warm air to the conveying path R of the photographic paper 5. The transport roller 21e is made of a metal such as aluminum, iron, or copper, and the outer peripheral surface has a surface roughness Rz of 0.8 μm or less. Thus, by reducing the surface roughness of the outer peripheral surface of the transport roller 21e to a smooth surface, even if the transport roller 21e comes into contact with the photographic paper 5 whose emulsion surface has not been sufficiently dried, the contact marks Can hardly prevent unevenness after drying. Here, as for the said conveyance roller 21e, all the rollers may be metal, and only the outer peripheral surface part may be metal.

  The outer peripheral surface of the transport roller 21e is buffed and then coated with fluorine. In this way, contact marks are less likely to remain on the emulsion surface side of the photographic paper 5 by coating the outer peripheral surface of the transport roller 21e with fluorine.

  And the warm air from the blower 22 is blown with respect to the conveyance roller 21e of the above structures. That is, of the air outlets 24a, 24a,... Provided in the duct 24 for blowing warm air to the downstream side of the transport path R, the air outlet 24a on the upstream side of the transport path is directly on the outer peripheral surface of the transport roller 21e. It is formed to blow warm air. Thereby, since the outer peripheral surface of the conveyance roller 21e is heated by warm air, the photographic paper 5 can be dried also by contact with the conveyance roller 21e. At this time, the photographic paper 5 is dried uniformly and quickly by the heat of the outer peripheral surface of the conveying roller 21e, so that the contact mark of the conveying roller 21e is prevented from sticking to the emulsion surface side of the photographic paper 5. Can do. As described above, if the outer peripheral surface of the transport roller 21e is made smooth, the heat transfer efficiency from the outer peripheral surface of the transport roller 21e to the photographic paper 5 can be improved, so that the drying efficiency is further improved. It is possible to prevent the contact marks of the transport roller 21e from being attached more reliably. Here, it is not limited to the above-described duct 22 that blows the hot air to the transport roller 21e, but may be the duct 23, or the hot air may be blown from both the ducts 23 and 24. .

  Further, as described above, the configuration in which the warm air is blown to the outer peripheral surface of the transport roller 21e eliminates the need to provide a dedicated heat source in the transport roller as in the conventional case, and also controls the heat source. Since a control device is not required, the cost can be reduced.

  Furthermore, in the conventional configuration in which the heat source is provided in the transport roller, the amount of heat generated varies depending on the position of the heat source, and the surface temperature distribution of the transport roller is likely to vary, but as described above, the warm air is blown. If it is the method of heating the outer peripheral surface of a conveyance roller, since there are few such dispersion | variations and an outer peripheral surface is heated uniformly, a drying nonuniformity can be reduced.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, in the drying device C for drying the developed photographic paper 5, the upstream side and the downstream side of the transport path R are respectively included in the transport rollers that transport the photographic paper 5. The transport roller 21e disposed on the emulsion surface side of the photographic paper 5 between the ducts 23 and 24 to be heated is made of metal, and the outer surface has a surface roughness Rz of 0.8 μm or less. In addition, it is possible to reliably prevent the transport roller 21e from coming into contact with the emulsion surface side of the photographic paper 5 and causing contact marks.

  Since warm air is blown onto the outer peripheral surface of the transport roller 21e and heated, the developed photographic paper 5 is also heated by contact with the transport roller 21e in addition to the warm air. Thus, the photographic paper 5 can be dried uniformly and rapidly, and the occurrence of unevenness after drying due to contact marks of the conveying roller can be more reliably prevented.

(Other embodiments)
The configuration of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and includes various other configurations. That is, in the above-described embodiment, the photographic printing apparatus P is configured to create a photographic print from a negative film. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and a photographic print is generated from digital data stored in a memory card or the like. It may be configured.

  Further, in the above embodiment, the conveying roller 21e disposed between the ducts 23 and 24 and on the emulsion surface side of the photographic paper 5 is formed of a metal member, and the surface roughness of the outer peripheral surface is set to 0. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the other transport rollers 21a, 21a,... May be configured similarly to the transport roller 21e. However, as in the above-described embodiment, the conveying roller through which the photographic paper 5 has not yet been sufficiently dried, that is, the conveying roller disposed between the ducts 23 and 24 and on the emulsion surface side of the photographic paper 5. The configuration as described above only for 21e can effectively prevent the contact marks of the conveying rollers from sticking to the photographic paper 5 and reduce the cost.

  Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the ducts 23 and 24 are provided in order to send warm air to the upstream and downstream sides of the conveyance path in the drying unit 20. On the side, a heating wire heater may be provided instead of the duct 23, and the photographic paper 5 may be heated by the heat. In this case, it is preferable to provide a reflecting material or the like so that the heat of the hot wire heater gathers around the conveyance path of the photographic paper 5.

  As described above, the photosensitive material drying apparatus according to the present invention blows warm air on the outer peripheral surface of the conveying roller that constitutes the conveying path in the drying section to heat the photosensitive material, so that the contact mark of the conveying roller is attached to the photosensitive material. Thus, it is possible to prevent unevenness after drying, and is particularly useful, for example, for a printing apparatus including a drying device for drying a photosensitive material.

1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a photographic printing apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the schematic internal structure of a drying apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

P Photo printing device R Conveying path A Exposure device B Development processing device C Drying device (photosensitive material drying device)
5 photographic paper (photosensitive material)
7 Transport Mechanism 20 Drying Section 21 Transport Mechanisms 21a, 21b, 21c, 21e Transport Roller 22 Blower 23, 24 Duct (first blowing section, second blowing section)
23a, 24a Outlet

Claims (4)

A photosensitive material drying apparatus that dries while developing a photosensitive material along a conveyance path in a drying unit,
The drying unit includes a plurality of conveying rollers arranged to face a conveying path of the photosensitive material, and a blowing unit that blows warm air toward the conveying path.
2. The photosensitive material drying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the blowing section is configured to blow warm air on an outer peripheral surface of a conveying roller disposed on the emulsion surface side of the photosensitive material among the conveying rollers. In claim 1,
The blowing section is composed of a first blowing section that blows warm air toward the upstream side of the conveyance path in the drying section, and a second blowing section that blows warm air toward the downstream side of the conveyance path,
A conveyance roller on the emulsion surface side of the photosensitive material is disposed between the first blowing portion and the second blowing portion, and at least one blowing portion of the first and second blowing portions is The photosensitive material drying apparatus is configured to blow warm air on the outer peripheral surface of the transport roller. In any one of Claim 1 or 2,
Among the plurality of transport rollers, at least the transport roller disposed on the emulsion surface side of the photosensitive material is formed so that the outer surface has a surface roughness Rz of 0.8 μm or less. Material drying equipment. In any one of Claims 1-3,
An apparatus for drying a photosensitive material, wherein an outer peripheral surface portion of a transport roller is made of a metal member, and the outer peripheral surface is coated with fluorine.

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