JP2007041041A - Photographic processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the throughput of a photographic processing device by shortening standby time without increasing power consumption in a photographic printing and developing machine (photographic processing device) equipped with a drying part 12 which dries photographic paper processed with processing solution while conveying it along a predetermined conveyance path. <P>SOLUTION: The drying part 12 is provided with a drying time changing means to change drying time being a time from photographic paper's advance into the drying part 12 to its ejection therefrom in accordance with the temperature of the drying part 12. The drying time changing means moves a turn roller 23 by a supporting plate driving motor 42 so as to change the length of the conveyance path, whereby the drying time is changed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention belongs to a technical field related to a photographic processing apparatus including a drying unit that dries photographic paper processed with a processing liquid while being transported along a predetermined transport path.

  In general, in a photographic developing machine, a long photographic paper wound in a roll is cut to a length corresponding to the print size, and then each cut photographic paper is sequentially placed at a predetermined interval. In the middle of the conveyance, baking, development and drying are performed, and the sheet is discharged to the outside. That is, the negative image of the negative film is exposed and printed on the emulsion surface of the photographic paper in the printing section, and then the photographic paper is sequentially conveyed to a processing tank provided in the developing section and containing various processing liquids. The photographic paper processed with these processing liquids is transported to the drying unit, and is dried by hot air or the like sent to the drying unit while being transported by the drying unit.

In the photographic developing machine as described above, the temperature of the drying section is controlled to a set temperature that does not cause insufficient drying or overdrying of the photographic paper. However, when the temperature of the drying section starts to rise when the temperature of the drying section is lower than a predetermined temperature, such as when the photographic developing machine is started to operate, the temperature of the drying section is set to the above set temperature. On the other hand, it takes a certain amount of time, but if the drying process is performed during the temperature increase, insufficient drying occurs. For this reason, for example, as shown in Patent Document 1, until the temperature of the drying section reaches a set temperature, the drying process is not performed and the apparatus is kept on standby.
JP-A-9-265166

  By the way, since the waiting time until the temperature of the drying section reaches the set temperature as described above is very useless, it is conceivable to shorten the waiting time as much as possible by using, for example, a large heater. .

  However, in the method using such a large heater, there is a problem that the power consumption is greatly increased. Therefore, it is very difficult to shorten the useless standby time without increasing the power consumption.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a standby time without increasing power consumption in a photographic processing apparatus having a drying unit such as the photographic printing and developing machine. In order to improve the processing capability of the photographic processing apparatus.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a drying time changing means for changing a drying time, which is a time from the entry of the photographic paper into the drying section to the discharge, in accordance with the temperature of the drying section. It was made to provide.

  Specifically, the invention of claim 1 is directed to a photographic processing apparatus provided with a drying section that dries photographic paper processed with a processing liquid while being transported along a predetermined transport path.

  The drying unit includes a temperature detection unit that detects the temperature of the drying unit, and a time period from the entry of the photographic paper into the drying unit to the discharge according to the detected temperature detected by the temperature detection unit. It is assumed that a drying time changing means for changing a certain drying time is provided.

  With the above configuration, the drying time of the photographic paper can be changed to an appropriate time by the drying time changing means even if the temperature of the drying section is lower than the set temperature, and the photographic paper is insufficiently dried. And overdrying can be suppressed. As a result, even when the temperature of the drying unit is in the middle of the temperature rise until the set temperature, the photographic paper can be appropriately dried, thereby shortening the standby time without using a large heater. be able to. Accordingly, it is possible to improve the processing capability of the photographic processing apparatus while suppressing the occurrence of insufficient drying or overdrying of the photographic paper and the increase in power consumption.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the drying time changing means includes a conveying path length changing means for changing a length of the conveying path in the drying unit, and the conveying path length is changed. It is assumed that the drying time of the photographic paper is changed by changing the length of the conveyance path by the changing means.

  As a result, the drying time can be increased as the length of the transport path is increased, and the drying time can be easily changed.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, the conveyance path length changing means is configured to shorten the conveyance path as the detected temperature increases.

  By doing so, the drying time of the photographic paper can be ensured to an appropriate time without causing insufficient drying or overdrying.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the second or third aspect of the invention, the drying section winds the photographic paper so that a winding angle is about 180 °, and reverses the conveying direction of the photographic paper. The conveyance path length changing means has a turn roller, and the conveyance path length changing means moves the conveyance roller in a direction substantially along the conveyance direction of the photographic paper that enters or is sent to the turn roller. It is assumed that the length of the road is changed.

  As a result, the amount of change in the length of the conveyance path can be doubled by the amount of movement of the turn roller, and the change range of the drying time can be increased even if the amount of movement of the turn roller is small.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the drying time changing unit includes a conveying speed changing unit that changes a conveying speed of the photographic paper, and the conveying speed changing unit conveys the photographic paper. It is assumed that the drying time of the photographic paper is changed by changing the speed.

  According to the present invention, the drying time can be lengthened as the conveying speed is lowered, and the drying time can be changed more easily than the invention of claim 2.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the fifth aspect of the present invention, the transport speed changing means is configured to increase the transport speed as the detected temperature increases.

  As a result, the drying time of the photographic paper can be ensured to an appropriate time without causing insufficient drying or overdrying.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the fifth or sixth aspect of the present invention, a liquid processing unit is provided for processing the photographic paper with the processing liquid while transporting the photographic paper along a predetermined transport path. The photographic paper transported from the transport path of the liquid processing section to the transport path of the drying section and sent from the transport path of the liquid processing section to the transport path of the drying section, It is assumed that a loop part for absorbing a difference from the conveyance speed in the drying part is formed.

  As a result, even if the conveyance speed of the photographic paper is different between the liquid processing unit and the drying unit, the difference in speed can be easily absorbed by the loop unit, and the photographic paper can be removed from the conveyance path of the liquid processing unit. Can be smoothly fed into the transport path.

  As described above, according to the photographic processing apparatus of the present invention, the drying time is changed to the drying unit, which is the time from the entry of the photographic paper into the drying unit to the discharge according to the temperature of the drying unit. By providing the changing means, it is possible to appropriately perform the drying process of the photographic paper even in the middle of the temperature rise until the temperature of the drying section reaches the set temperature, and standby without increasing the power consumption. The processing time of the photo processing apparatus can be improved by shortening the time.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 shows a photographic developing machine as a photographic processing apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. The photographic developing machine has a main body case 1, and on the upper side of the main body case 1, a long photographic paper 4 (hereinafter, the photographic paper is simply referred to as paper) has an emulsion surface outside (that is, an emulsion surface). A paper magazine 2 is provided which is housed in a rolled state (with the base surface on the opposite side inside). In the main body case 1, a printing unit 10, a developing unit 11, and a drying unit 12 that perform printing, developing, and drying processes on the paper 4 are provided.

  The long paper 4 drawn out from the paper magazine 2 into the main body case 1 is cut into a length corresponding to the print size by the cutter device 5. The cut paper 4 (hereinafter, the cut paper 4 is referred to as paper 4a) is transported to the exposure position of the exposure table 6 provided in the printing unit 10 and held there.

  A light source device 7 having a light source 7 a inside is provided at a corner between the upper surface of the main body case 1 and the left side surface in FIG. 1, and the light from the light source 7 a of the light source device 7 passes through the reflector 8 The negative film F held on the negative mask 9 is irradiated, and the negative image is printed on the emulsion surface of the paper 4a held at the exposure position. Instead of irradiating the negative film F with light and printing the negative image on the emulsion surface of the paper 4a in this way, the negative image is converted into digital data in advance and, for example, a laser engine is used based on the data. The negative image may be printed on the emulsion surface of the paper 4a by scanning the laser beam emitted from the paper 4a.

  The printed paper 4a is sent to the developing unit 11, while the paper 4a cut by the cutter device 5 is transported to the exposure position of the exposure table 6 and stopped and held on the new paper 4a. The paper 4a subjected to the baking process in this manner is sequentially sent to the developing unit 11 with a predetermined interval between the paper 4a and the paper 4a before and after the paper 4a. In FIG. 1, a conveyance path of the paper 4 a from the printing unit 10 to a paper outlet 18 described later is indicated by a two-dot chain line.

  The developing unit 11 is provided with a plurality of processing tanks 16 each containing various processing liquids (including water), and the paper 4a sent from the printing unit 10 is transported along a transport path. However, development processing is performed by sequentially immersing in the processing liquid of the processing tank 16. Thus, the developing unit 11 corresponds to a liquid processing unit for processing with the processing liquid while transporting the paper 4a along a predetermined transport path. Of the plurality of treatment tanks 16, the treatment tank 16 located on the most downstream side of the transport path contains water for washing away the treatment liquid adhering on the upstream side.

  Further, a squeeze rack 13 is provided at the downstream end of the transport path of the developing unit 11, and the squeeze rack 13 is provided with two sets of squeeze rollers 14 including a driving roller 14a and a driven roller 14b. By sandwiching the paper 4a by the squeeze roller 14, the developed paper 4a is drained.

  The paper 4 a that has passed through the squeeze rack 13 is conveyed upward and sent into a drying chamber 17 formed in the drying unit 12. Then, the drying unit 12 introduces hot air into the drying chamber 17 while transporting the paper 4a that has been processed by the processing liquid and passed through the squeeze rack 13 in the drying chamber 17 along a predetermined transport path. It is configured to dry.

  Here, the configuration of the drying unit 12 will be described in detail. As shown also in FIG. 2, the paper 4a is wound around the upper part in the drying chamber 17 of the drying unit 12 so that the winding angle is about 180 °, and the transport direction of the paper 4a is reversed (see FIG. 2). In other words, the turn roller 23 is changed from upward to downward), three driven rollers 24 pressed against the outer peripheral surface of the turn roller 23 by a spring (not shown), and three guide plates 25 for winding the paper 4a around the turn roller 23. And are provided.

  In the drying chamber 17, a plurality of sets of pressure-type conveying rollers 26 including a driving roller 26 a and a driven roller 26 b are provided on the upstream side of the conveying path of the turn roller 23 to convey the paper 4 a upward to the turn roller 23. On the downstream side of the conveyance path of the turn roller 23, there are provided a plurality of sets of pressure-type conveyance rollers 27 including a drive roller 27a and a driven roller 27b that convey the paper 4a sent from the turn roller 23 downward. .

  The downstream end of the conveying path in the drying chamber 17 is located in the middle in the vertical direction of the drying chamber 17, and the paper 4a is wound around the downstream end so that the winding angle is about 90 °. The winding roller 30, the guide roller 31, the guide plate 32, and the driving roller 33a and the driven roller for discharging the paper 4a to the outside of the drying chamber 17 in a substantially horizontal state. A discharge roller 33 including a roller 33b is provided. The paper 4a after the drying process discharged to the outside of the drying chamber 17 is discharged as it is from the paper outlet 18 provided in the main body case 1 as it is.

  A heat ray heater 35 is disposed in the vicinity of the upstream side portion of the conveying path in the drying chamber 17, and heat from the heat ray heater 35 is applied to a portion of the heat ray heater 35 opposite to the conveying path. A reflecting plate 36 to be reflected is provided, and the paper 4a located in the upstream portion of the conveying path in the drying chamber 17 is intensively heated by radiant heat from the heat ray heater 35 and the reflecting plate 36. Yes.

  In the vicinity of the turn roller 23 in the downstream portion of the reflection plate 36 on the conveyance path, a blowout portion 37 a for blowing hot air into the drying chamber 17 is provided. This blow-out portion 37a is provided in a duct 37, and this duct 37 is connected to a cross flow fan (not shown), and hot air provided in the cross flow fan and the suction port of the cross flow fan. Heated air (hot air) is blown out through the duct 37 into the drying chamber 17 by the generator heater.

  The drying chamber 17 is provided with a temperature detection sensor 39 as temperature detection means for detecting the temperature of the drying chamber 17, and an output value of the temperature detection sensor 39 is input to a controller (not shown). This controller is configured to control ON and OFF of energization to the hot wire heater 35 and the hot air generating heater based on the output value (temperature detected by the temperature detection sensor). That is, when the temperature detected by the temperature detection sensor is lower than a set temperature (for example, about 80 ° C.), energization of the hot wire heater 35 and the hot air generating heater is turned on. The energization to the generating heater is turned off.

  The turn roller 23, the driven roller 24 and the guide plate 25 are supported by a support plate 41. A rack gear 41 a is formed on the side of the support plate 41, and the rack gear 41 a meshes with a drive gear 43 and an intermediate gear 44 that are rotatably fixed to the rotation shaft of the support plate drive motor 42. ing. As a result, the support plate 41 is moved in the vertical direction by the support plate drive motor 42, that is, in a direction substantially along the conveyance direction of the paper 4 a that is entered or sent out with respect to the turn roller 23. As the support plate 41 moves, the turn roller 23 moves in the vertical direction together with the driven roller 24 and the guide plate 25. As a result, the distance between the turn roller 23 and the transport rollers 26 and 27 adjacent to the upstream and downstream sides of the turn roller 23 is changed, and therefore the length of the transport path in the drying unit 12 is changed. Will be. When the length of the transport path is changed in this way, the drying time, which is the time from entry of the paper 4a into the drying unit 12 (drying chamber 17) to discharge, is changed. As a result, the support plate drive motor 42 constitutes a drying time changing means for changing the drying time of the paper 4a, and changes the length of the conveying path in the drying unit 12 (drying chamber 17). Means. 2 shows a state where the turn roller 23 is positioned at the lowermost side (state where the conveyance path is the shortest), and FIG. 3 shows a state where the turn roller 23 is positioned at the uppermost side (the conveyance path is Shows the longest state).

  The turn roller 23 is driven by a roller drive motor 51. That is, a drive pulley 52 is rotatably fixed to the rotation shaft of the roller drive motor 51, and a driven pulley 53 is rotatably fixed to one end portion of the rotation shaft of the turn roller 23. A belt 54 is wound around 52 and the driven pulley 53. The belt 54 is also wound around a tension pulley 62 of an auto tensioner 61 for adjusting the tension of the belt 54. That is, the auto tensioner 61 has a rotation lever 63 whose base end portion is rotatably supported, and the tension pulley 62 is supported at the distal end portion of the rotation lever 63 so as to be rotatable. The rotation lever 63 is urged in a direction in which the tension pulley 62 presses the belt 54 by a spring (not shown). With this configuration, the belt 54 is pressed by the tension pulley 62 of the auto tensioner 61 even if the belt 54 is loosened by moving downward from a state where the turn roller 23 is located on the uppermost side (see FIG. 3). The tension of the belt 54 is kept constant with almost no decrease.

  In addition to the turn roller 23, the roller drive motor 51 includes drive rollers 26 a and 27 for the transport rollers 26 and 27, a winding roller 30, and a drive roller 33 a for the discharge roller 33 via a gear (not shown). Driven and controlled by the controller. In this embodiment, the roller drive motor 51 is driven and controlled so that the conveyance speed of the paper 4 a in the drying unit 12 is the same as the conveyance speed of the paper 4 a in the developing unit 11.

  The support plate drive motor 42 changes the length of the conveyance path of the drying chamber 17 in accordance with the detected temperature detected by the temperature detection sensor 39 under the control of the controller. Specifically, from when the temperature of the drying chamber 17 is started in a state where the detected temperature is lower than a predetermined temperature (a temperature slightly higher than room temperature) such as when the photographic developing machine is started to operate. Until the set temperature is reached, the transport path is shortened as the detected temperature increases. That is, at the start of the temperature increase in the drying chamber 17, the turn roller 23 is positioned on the uppermost side, and the turn roller 23 is moved downward as the detected temperature increases, so that the detected temperature becomes the above set temperature. When this happens, the turn roller 23 is positioned on the lowermost side. After the detected temperature reaches the set temperature, the turn roller 23 remains at the lowest position while the detected temperature is controlled to reach the set temperature. The relationship between the detected temperature and the amount of movement of the turn roller 23 is stored in advance in the controller as a table. Further, the turn roller 23 is performed until a certain paper 4 a is sent out from the turn roller 23 and the next paper 4 a enters the turn roller 23. In other words, a predetermined interval between the front and rear paper 4a is set so that the turn roller 23 can move during this time.

  Therefore, in the first embodiment, the length of the conveyance path of the drying chamber 17 is changed according to the temperature of the drying chamber 17 to change the drying time of the paper 4a. That is, when the temperature of the drying chamber 17 is low, While the conveying path is lengthened and the drying time is lengthened, when the temperature of the drying chamber 17 is increased, the conveying path is shortened to shorten the drying time. Therefore, the temperature until the temperature of the drying chamber 17 reaches the set temperature. Even during the temperature increase, the paper 4a can be prevented from being insufficiently dried or excessively dried, and the paper 4a can be appropriately dried. Therefore, the standby time can be shortened without using a large heater.

  In the first embodiment, the length of the conveyance path is changed by moving the turn roller 23. However, any configuration may be used for changing the length of the conveyance path. For example, the set of transport rollers 26 may be moved in a direction perpendicular to the transport path.

(Embodiment 2)
FIG. 4 shows a second embodiment of the present invention (note that the same parts as those in FIG. 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals and detailed description thereof is omitted), and instead of changing the length of the conveyance path in the drying chamber 17. In addition, the drying time of the paper 4a is changed by changing the conveying speed of the paper 4a in the drying chamber 17.

  That is, in this embodiment, there is a roller driving motor 51 that drives the driving roller 26a, 27a of the turn roller 23, the conveying rollers 26, 27, the winding roller 30, and the driving roller 33a of the discharge roller 33 (roller driving motor 51). However, there is no support plate drive motor 42 for moving the turn roller 23, and the turn roller 23 does not move. Further, the turn roller 23 may be driven by a gear or the like other than the belt, and even when driven by the belt, the auto tensioner 61 as in the first embodiment is not necessary.

  In this embodiment, the roller drive motor 51 changes the rotation speed of the roller drive motor 51 according to the detected temperature detected by the temperature detection sensor 39 under the control of the controller described in the first embodiment. The conveyance speed of the paper 4a is changed. When the transport speed of the paper 4a is changed in this way, the drying time of the paper 4a is changed. As a result, the roller drive motor 51 constitutes a drying time changing means for changing the drying time of the paper 4 a and also constitutes a conveying speed changing means for changing the conveying speed of the paper 4 a in the drying chamber 17.

  Specifically, the roller drive motor 51 moves the drying chamber 17 in a state where the detected temperature is lower than a predetermined temperature (a temperature slightly higher than room temperature), such as when the photographic developing machine is started to operate. From the start of temperature to the set temperature, the transport speed is increased as the detected temperature increases. That is, at the start of the temperature increase in the drying chamber 17, the transport speed is set to the slowest, the transport speed is increased as the detected temperature increases, and when the detected temperature reaches the set temperature, the transport speed is set to It is set to the same conveying speed of the paper 4a in the developing unit 11. Then, while the detected temperature reaches the set temperature, the transport speed is kept the same as the transport speed of the paper 4a in the developing unit 11 while the detected temperature is controlled to be the set temperature. The relationship between the detected temperature and the conveyance speed is stored in the controller in advance as a table.

  In the present embodiment, as described above, the conveyance speed of the paper 4a in the drying chamber 17 and the conveyance speed of the paper 4a in the developing unit 11 are different. Therefore, in order to absorb the speed difference, the conveyance path of the developing unit 11 A loop 4b for absorbing the speed difference is formed on the paper 4a that is fed to the conveying path of the drying chamber 17. That is, between the drying chamber 17 and the squeeze rack 13 of the developing unit 11, a state extending in the vertical direction, that is, a state along the conveyance path (a state indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 4), and a substantially horizontal direction are extended. The rotation guide plate 71 is provided so as to be capable of rotating with respect to each other (the state indicated by the solid line). The rotation guide plate 71 is formed by the paper 4a fed from the squeeze roller 14 on the downstream side. Until the drive of the most upstream conveying roller 26 and nipping between the driven rollers 26a and 26b, the paper 4a is in a state along the conveying path and plays a role of guiding the paper 4a to the conveying roller 26. When the conveyance roller 26 is driven and sandwiched between the driven rollers 26a and 26b, the rotation guide plate 71 is extended in a substantially horizontal direction. Then, since the conveyance speed of the paper 4a in the drying chamber 17 is slower than the conveyance speed of the paper 4a in the developing unit 11, the paper 4a is slackened and the loop portion 4b is formed.

  Therefore, in the second embodiment, the drying time of the paper 4a is changed by changing the conveyance speed of the paper 4a in the drying chamber 17 according to the temperature of the drying chamber 17, so that the same as in the first embodiment. In addition, even during the temperature rise until the temperature of the drying chamber 17 reaches the set temperature, the paper 4a can be appropriately dried, and the waiting time is shortened without increasing the power consumption. The processing capability of the processing apparatus can be improved. In addition, since a mechanism for moving the turn roller 23 is not required, a simpler configuration than that of the first embodiment is sufficient.

  In the first and second embodiments, when changing the drying time of the paper 4a, either the length of the conveyance path or the conveyance speed of the paper 4a is changed. However, the length of the conveyance path and the paper are changed. You may make it change both the conveyance speeds of 4a.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention is useful for a photographic processing apparatus including a drying unit that dries photographic paper processed with a processing liquid while being transported along a predetermined transport path, such as a photographic developing machine.

1 is a schematic view showing a photographic developing machine as a photographic processing apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. It is an expanded sectional view of a drying part which shows a state where a conveyance way is the shortest. FIG. 3 is a view corresponding to FIG. 2 illustrating a state in which the conveyance path is the longest. FIG. 3 is a view corresponding to FIG.

Explanation of symbols

4 Paper (photographic paper)
12 Drying unit 17 Drying chamber 23 Turn roller 39 Temperature detection sensor (temperature detection means)
42 Support plate drive motor (drying time changing means) (conveying path length changing means)
51 Roller drive motor (drying time changing means) (conveying speed changing means)

Claims (7)

A photographic processing apparatus provided with a drying unit for drying photographic paper processed with a processing liquid while transporting along a predetermined transport path,
The drying unit includes a temperature detection unit that detects a temperature of the drying unit, and a drying time that is a time period from the entry of the photographic paper into the drying unit to the discharge in accordance with the detected temperature detected by the temperature detection unit. A photographic processing apparatus comprising a drying time changing means for changing the time. The photographic processing apparatus according to claim 1,
The drying time changing means has a conveyance path length changing means for changing the length of the conveyance path in the drying unit, and by changing the length of the conveyance path by the conveyance path length changing means, A photographic processing apparatus configured to change a drying time of the photographic paper. The photographic processing apparatus according to claim 2,
The photographic processing apparatus, wherein the conveying path length changing unit is configured to shorten the conveying path as the detected temperature increases. The photographic processing apparatus according to claim 2 or 3,
The drying unit includes a turn roller that winds the photographic paper so that a winding angle is about 180 ° and reverses the conveyance direction of the photographic paper,
The transport path length changing means changes the length of the transport path by moving the turn roller in a direction substantially along the transport direction of the photographic paper that enters or is sent out to the turn roller. A photographic processing apparatus configured to do the above. The photographic processing apparatus according to claim 1,
The drying time changing means has a conveying speed changing means for changing the conveying speed of the photographic paper, and the drying time of the photographic paper is changed by changing the conveying speed of the photographic paper by the conveying speed changing means. A photo processing apparatus configured to be changed. The photographic processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein
The photographic processing apparatus, wherein the conveying speed changing means is configured to increase the conveying speed as the detected temperature increases. The photo processing apparatus according to claim 5 or 6,
A liquid processing unit for processing with the processing liquid while transporting the photographic paper along a predetermined transport path;
The photographic paper is sent from the transport path of the liquid processing section to the transport path of the drying section, and is applied to the photographic paper sent from the transport path of the liquid processing section to the transport path of the drying section. A photographic processing apparatus characterized in that a loop portion for absorbing a difference between a conveyance speed in a section and a conveyance speed in a drying section is formed.

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