JP2007041035A - Developing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a developing apparatus, wherein the time for color development is shortened to attain rapid development. <P>SOLUTION: The developing apparatus includes: a color developing tank 51 which reserves a color developing liquid to develop colors of an exposed photosensitive material P; and a conveying unit 10a, 10b which sends the photosensitive material P to the color developing tank 51 and conveys while immersing the material in the color developing liquid, wherein an IR ray irradiating means 9 is disposed near the conveying unit, and the IR ray irradiation means 9 irradiates the photosensitive material P with IR rays to heat the photosensitive material. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention comprises a color developing tank storing a color developer for color-developing an exposed photosensitive material, and a transport unit for feeding the photosensitive material to the color developing tank and transporting the photosensitive material while being immersed in the color developer. The present invention relates to a development processing apparatus provided.

  The development processing section of most conventional development processing apparatuses is configured as described above. More specifically, in addition to the color development tank, the development processing section is equipped with a bleach-fixing tank and a stable processing tank. The processing tanks are arranged adjacent to each other in this order, and a turn conveying unit for sending the photosensitive material from each tank while inverting it to the adjacent tank is arranged between the upper positions of the respective tanks.

  At present, in the photographic printing industry, not only photographic film but also a memory card mounted on a digital camera that directly generates photographed image data is handled as a print source. When making photographic prints from memory cards, there is no development processing of photographic film unlike photographic film, and because it competes with color printers that have become popular in the home, etc., without waiting for customers quickly There is a strong demand for print output. In order to enable such a rapid print output, it is necessary to rapidly develop the photosensitive material exposed to the photographed image.

  In order to perform high-speed development processing, a first color developing tank containing a standard developing solution for standard processing and a low replenishing rapid developing solution with a smaller replenishment amount and a shorter processing time than the standard developing solution are accommodated. A second color developing tank; a bleaching tank containing a bleaching solution; a fixing tank containing a fixing solution; first and second washing tanks containing washing water; and a stabilizer. There is known a development processing apparatus composed of a stabilizing tank. The development processing apparatus is further provided with an introduction path for introducing the photosensitive material to the first color developing tank and an introduction path for introducing the photosensitive material to the second color developing tank, and the first color developing tank or the second color developing tank. A guide path for guiding the photosensitive material from the color developing tank to the bleaching tank is also provided separately (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP-A-6-51480 (paragraph numbers [0075] to [0077], FIG. 1)

  As in Patent Document 1, in order to realize two processing modes of standard development processing and rapid development processing, a first color developing tank and a second color developing tank are provided, and these color developing tanks are provided. Providing a separate introduction path and a guide path to the bleaching tank leads to an increase in the size of the apparatus and a complicated control, leading to an unacceptable high cost.

  On the other hand, it is known that in the color development process among the development processes, the process is accelerated when the temperature of the color developer rises. Therefore, it is conceivable to heat the color developer tank in order to raise the temperature of the color developer, but in this case, the amount of the color developer that evaporates increases, and there is a problem of heat resistance of the color developer tank, There is a problem that the treatment liquid cannot be raised above a certain temperature.

  The present invention has been made paying attention to such problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a development processing apparatus capable of shortening the time required for color development processing and achieving rapid development processing.

In order to achieve the above object, a first characteristic configuration of the development processing apparatus according to the present invention includes a color developing tank storing a color developing solution for color-developing an exposed photosensitive material, and the photosensitive material as the color developing tank. In a development processing apparatus provided with a transport unit that transports while being immersed in the color developer and
An infrared irradiation unit is disposed in the vicinity of the transport unit, and infrared rays are irradiated by the infrared irradiation unit so as to heat the photosensitive material toward the photosensitive material.

  As in this configuration, the color development processing can be promoted by irradiating the photosensitive material with infrared rays to increase the temperature of the photosensitive material and the color developer near the photosensitive material. As a result, the time required for the color development processing can be shorter than before, and the transport speed in the color developer can be increased and the transport path can be shortened. Moreover, since the heating is performed while aiming at the photosensitive material, evaporation of the color developer can be suppressed, and the problem of heat resistance of the color developer tank can be avoided. In this way, rapid development processing can be achieved with a simple configuration in which the infrared irradiation means is arranged with respect to the conventional apparatus.

  A second characteristic configuration of the development processing apparatus according to the present invention is a temperature detection unit that detects a temperature in the vicinity of the conveyance unit, and an irradiation control unit that controls the infrared irradiation unit based on the temperature detected by the temperature detection unit. It is a point equipped with.

  In particular, when the infrared irradiation means is immersed in the color developer, this configuration keeps the temperature of the color developer in the vicinity of the conveyance section where the photosensitive material is conveyed at a predetermined temperature, for example, the optimum temperature for color development processing. can do. Specifically, if the temperature detected by the temperature detecting means is lower than the optimum temperature, the infrared irradiation is performed. If the temperature is higher than the optimum temperature, the infrared irradiation is stopped. As a result, the temperature of the color developer near the conveyance section, that is, only the surface of the photosensitive material and the portion of the color developer in contact with the surface can be maintained at the optimum temperature, and the color developer is heated excessively. And the evaporation of the color developer is suppressed.

  A third characteristic configuration of the development processing apparatus according to the present invention is that the infrared irradiation means is disposed immediately before being fed into the color developer.

According to this configuration, since the infrared irradiation means is disposed immediately before being fed into the color developer, the color developer is not heated, and therefore the color developer is not evaporated by infrared irradiation. . Further, by directly irradiating infrared rays toward the photosensitive material and heating and immersing it in a color developer, the color development processing can be promoted, and the time required for the processing can be shortened.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of embodiments using the drawings.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
As shown in FIG. 1, the development processing apparatus 1 includes a photographic paper magazine 2 for storing a roll-shaped photographic paper P as a photosensitive material, and a rectangular photographic paper drawn from the photographic paper magazine 2 and cut by a cutter 3. An exposure unit 4 that exposes an image to P with a laser engine 4a, a development processing unit 5 that includes a plurality of processing tanks for developing the exposed photographic paper P, and a photographic paper P that has undergone development processing And a drying processing unit for drying.

  The development processing unit 5 stably processes the photographic paper P with a color developing solution (CD), a color developing tank 51 for processing the photographic paper P with a bleach-fixing solution (BF), and a stable processing of the photographic paper P. Each of the tanks is provided with a transport rack 10 that transports the photographic paper P by a transport roller in each processing liquid. Further, the drying processing unit includes a drying rack 6 having a plurality of transport rollers 7 for transporting the photographic paper P toward the upper outlet, a blower 8 for sending warm air to the drying rack 6, and the like.

  The detailed configuration of the development processing unit 5 will be described. From the upstream side to the downstream side in the conveyance direction of the photographic paper P, one color developing tank 51 that stores the color developer, and one bleach that stores the bleach-fixing solution. The fixing tank 52 and the four stable processing tanks 53 storing the stable processing liquid are provided in this order. The submerged rack 10A constituting the lower part of the transport rack 10 is substantially immersed in the processing liquid, while the overhead rack 10B constituting the upper part of the transport rack 10 is a horizontal liquid for each processing liquid. The printing paper P is handed to the submerged rack 10 </ b> A on the downstream side.

  FIG. 2 shows a color developing tank 51, a part 10a of a submerged rack 10A (hereinafter referred to as a submerged transport unit) disposed in the color developing tank 51, and an overhead rack 10B for feeding a photosensitive material into the color developing tank. The enlarged view of the feed rack 10b which is a part is shown. The submerged transport unit 10a and the feed rack 10b constitute a transport unit. As shown in FIG. 2, three far-infrared heaters 9 as infrared irradiating means are arranged on each of the left and right sides in the vicinity of the submerged transport unit 10a along the transport direction of the photosensitive material. The irradiation direction of these far-infrared heaters 9 is directed to the in-liquid transport unit 10a. Further, a temperature sensor S as a temperature detecting means is disposed adjacent to each of the far infrared heaters 9 so that the temperature of the color developer in the vicinity of the in-liquid transport unit 10a can be detected. The far-infrared heater 9 is waterproofed such as covering its surface with glass, so that far-infrared irradiation can be performed even in liquid. In addition, the wavelength which an infrared irradiation means irradiates to a photosensitive material uses the wavelength which a photosensitive material does not react, for example, wavelength of 750 nm or more.

  Irradiation by the far-infrared heater 9 is controlled by a control device 11 as irradiation control means based on temperatures detected by the adjacent temperature sensors S. For example, if the temperature detected by the adjacent temperature sensor S is lower than the optimum temperature T on the basis of the temperature T (hereinafter referred to as the optimum temperature) at which the color development processing is most accelerated, far infrared irradiation is performed. If the temperature is higher than the optimum temperature, the far infrared irradiation is controlled to stop. As a result, the temperature of the color developer near the submerged transport unit 10a is maintained at the optimum temperature T, so that the color developing process is promoted, the time required for the process can be shortened, and the transport speed is increased. And rapid development processing can be achieved. Further, the entire color developer is not excessively heated, and evaporation of the color developer is suppressed. Note that, as described above, the temperature detection means may not be disposed adjacent to the infrared irradiation means, but may be disposed, for example, in the vicinity of the in-liquid transport unit and between the infrared irradiation means. Further, the irradiation control of the infrared irradiation means based on the temperature detection means is not performed by each infrared irradiation means as described above, but may be performed in units of several infrared irradiation means.

In the above-described embodiment, the far-infrared heater 9 is disposed in the color developer in the color developer tank 51. However, as shown in FIG. 3, the far-infrared heater 9 is positioned immediately before the photographic paper P is fed into the color developer. A heater 9 'may be arranged. In this case, the color developer is not heated by irradiation with far infrared rays, and therefore the color developer is not evaporated by irradiation with far infrared rays. Further, by directly irradiating far infrared rays toward the photosensitive material and heating, the color development processing is promoted, and the time required for the processing can be shortened.
Of course, the infrared irradiation means may be arranged both immediately before being fed into the color developer and in the color developer.

  When the infrared irradiation means is arranged immediately before the photosensitive material is fed into the color developer as described above, if the infrared irradiation means always irradiates infrared rays, the photosensitive material conveyed at a certain interval Infrared rays leak from the gap, and as a result, the member at the irradiation destination may be heated and damaged. For this reason, a pair of optical sensors may be installed immediately before and after the conveying direction of the photosensitive material with respect to the irradiation range of the infrared irradiation means, and control may be performed to irradiate infrared rays based on the presence or absence of the photosensitive material in the irradiation range. good. Further, this can be protected by placing a protective member far from the photosensitive material as viewed from the infrared irradiation means.

  As an application example of the development processing apparatus according to the present invention, a development processing apparatus that develops a photographic paper P that has been exposed to a photographed image, in particular, in order to cope with a quick photographic print output that is strongly desired by customers who produce photographic prints from memory cards Of course, the features of the present invention may also be applied to a development processing apparatus for developing a photosensitive material other than the photographic paper P, such as a photographic film.

  Although the present invention is applied to the color developing tank, it can also be applied to processing tanks other than the color developing tank, that is, a bleach-fixing tank and a stable processing tank.

Schematic cross-sectional view of a development processing apparatus according to the present invention Expanded cross-sectional schematic diagram of the color developer tank Enlarged cross-sectional schematic view of a color developing tank in another embodiment

Explanation of symbols

P: Photographic paper (photosensitive material)
S: Temperature sensor (temperature detection means)
51: Color developing tank 10a: Submerged transport section (transport section)
10b: Feed rack (conveying section)
9, 9 ': far infrared heater (infrared irradiation means)
11: Control device (irradiation control means)

Claims (3)

A developing process comprising a color developing tank storing a color developing solution for color-developing an exposed photosensitive material, and a transport unit for feeding the photosensitive material to the color developing tank and transporting the photosensitive material while being immersed in the color developing solution. In the device
While arranging the infrared irradiation means in the vicinity of the transport unit,
A development processing apparatus for irradiating infrared light so as to heat the photosensitive material toward the photosensitive material by the infrared irradiation means. Temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature in the vicinity of the conveying section;
The development processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: an irradiation control unit that controls the infrared irradiation unit based on a temperature detected by the temperature detection unit.   The development processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the infrared irradiation unit is disposed immediately before being fed into the color developer.

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