JP2647235B2 - Processing solution heater for automatic developing equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention is used in an automatic developing apparatus for automatically transporting a photosensitive material and performing development, fixing, washing and the like of the photosensitive material, and keeps a processing solution temperature constant. The present invention relates to a processing liquid heater of an automatic developing device.

(Prior art)

In the processing tank of the automatic developing device, in addition to the conductive heating means for heating the processing liquid in the processing tank, a temperature sensor that detects the temperature of the processing liquid and controls the conductive heating means, or the processing liquid decreases for some reason In order to prevent empty heating in the event of a fire, the shutoff means for shutting off the power supply to the conductive heating means is separately provided.

Therefore, this causes an increase in man-hours in manufacturing the automatic developing apparatus, and hinders work efficiency.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

In view of the above facts, the present invention according to the first aspect of the present invention stores the conductive heating means and the shutoff means in one storage pipe, reduces the number of assembling steps, and facilitates assembling to the processing tank. According to the second and third aspects of the present invention, it is an object of the present invention to easily assemble a processing liquid heater into a processing tank.

[Means for solving the problem]

The processing liquid heater of the automatic developing apparatus according to claim 1,
A metal storage pipe disposed in the processing tank and having a closed end, and a conductive heat generating means that is supplied to the front end side of the storage pipe and supplied with power by a cable introduced from a rear end opening side of the storage pipe, A cut-off means connected to the cable and stored at the rear end side of the storage pipe and configured to cut off power supply to the conductive heating means when the temperature of the storage pipe becomes equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature; and And a heat insulating plate for partitioning the blocking means from the blocking means.

The processing solution heater of the automatic developing apparatus according to claim 2,
A first storage tube made of metal disposed in the processing tank and having a closed end; and a conductive heating device that is stored in the first storage tube and supplied with power by a cable introduced from the rear end opening side of the first storage tube. Means, a metal second storage pipe disposed in the processing tank and having a closed end, and when the first storage pipe stored in the second storage pipe reaches a predetermined temperature or higher, to the conductive heating means via the cable. And a fixing means for fixing the rear end side to the upper edge of the processing tank while maintaining the relative positional relationship between the first storage pipe and the second storage pipe. And having the following.

The processing solution heater of the automatic developing apparatus according to claim 3,
A first storage tube made of metal, which is disposed in the processing tank and whose end is closed, and a conductive heating device which is stored in the first storage tube and supplied with power by a cable introduced from a rear end opening side of the first storage tube. A second storage pipe made of metal disposed in the processing tank and having a closed end, and when the temperature stored in the second storage pipe and equal to or higher than a set temperature is detected, the power supply to the conductive heating means is stopped. A temperature detection unit that outputs a signal and outputs a signal to start power supply to the conductive heating unit when a temperature equal to or lower than the set temperature is detected, and a relative positional relationship between the first storage tube and the second storage tube is maintained. Fixing means for fixing the rear end side to the upper edge of the processing tank in this state.

[Action]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the metal storage tube having a closed end is disposed in the processing tank. A conductive heating means is housed at the distal end of the storage tube, and when power is supplied by a cable introduced from the rear end opening side of the storage tube, heat is released from the storage tube to enter the processing tank. The stored processing solution is heated.

Here, for some reason, when the temperature of the conductive heat generating unit becomes abnormally high and the temperature in the storage tube becomes equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature, the cutoff device stored in the storage tube cuts off the power supply to the conductive heat generating unit. For this reason, the processing liquid heater does not go into a so-called empty firing state and does not burn the processing tank.

In addition, the conductive heat generating means and the shut-off means are separated from each other by a heat insulating plate so that the cut-off means is not directly affected by the conductive heat-generating means in a steady state, so that the conductive heat-generating means and the shut-off means can be stored in one storage tube. Can be stored.
As a result, the number of assembling steps of the processing liquid heater is reduced.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the conductive heat generating means is stored in the first storage pipe, and when the temperature of the first storage pipe becomes equal to or higher than the predetermined temperature in the second storage pipe, power is supplied to the conductive heat generating means via the cable. A shutoff means for shutting off is housed.

The first storage tube and the second storage tube have their rear ends fixed to the upper edge of the processing tank by fixing means while maintaining the relative positional relationship. By using such a fixing means, the processing liquid heater can be easily assembled at an appropriate position in the processing tank.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the conductive heat generating means is housed in the first storage pipe, and when a temperature equal to or higher than the set temperature is detected in the second storage pipe, a signal for stopping the supply of power to the conductive heat generating means is output. A temperature detecting means for outputting a signal for starting power supply to the conductive heat generating means when a temperature lower than the temperature is detected is housed.

The first storage tube and the second storage tube have their rear ends fixed to the upper edge of the processing tank by fixing means while maintaining the relative positional relationship. By using such a fixing means, the processing liquid heater can be easily assembled at an appropriate position in the processing tank.

〔Example〕

FIG. 3 shows an automatic developing apparatus 50 to which the first embodiment of the present invention is applied.

The automatic developing device 50 includes a developing tank 52, a fixing tank 54, a washing tank 56, and a drying chamber 58. The photosensitive material 60 is sequentially inserted and withdrawn from the developing tank 52 to the drying chamber 58 by a transport means (not shown) to perform a developing process.

The lower part and the upper part of the developing tank 52 are connected by a circulation pipe 62, and the developer is discharged from the upper part of the developing tank 52 to the lower part by the driving force of a circulation pump 64 arranged in the middle part of the circulation pipe 62. The developer flows again, and the developer circulates in the developer tank 52 and is stirred so that the processing capacity of the developer in the developer tank 52 becomes uniform.

In the developing tank 52, the processing liquid heater 10 is disposed, and the processing liquid is maintained within a predetermined temperature range.

As shown in FIG. 1, the processing liquid heater 10 includes a heating pipe 12 as a conductive heating means, a temperature fuse 14 as a cutoff means, and a storage pipe 18 as a first storage pipe containing a thermostat 16. And a storage tube 22 as a second storage tube in which a temperature detecting element 20 as a temperature detecting means is provided. It is preferable to use a corrosion-resistant metal material such as SUS316 for the storage tubes 18 and 22 in consideration of heat resistance and prevention of corrosion by the processing solution, but a heat-resistant resin material can also be used.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the storage tubes 18 and 22 arranged in parallel have bottom lids 18A and 22A integrally formed at their distal ends, so that the processing liquid does not enter the tubes. As a method of attaching the bottom covers 18A and 22A, when the storage tubes 18 and 22 are, for example, SUS316, SUS316 is used as the material of the bottom covers 18A and 22A, and the storage tubes 18 and 22 are formed integrally with the storage tubes 18 and 22 by argon welding. The bent portion is bent at a right angle from the vicinity of the center so as to form an arc shape, and further bent from the vicinity of the rear end, and the rear end is fixed to the plate 24 as L-shaped fixing means.

The plate 24 is attached to the upper edge of the developing tank 50 with screws 26.

From the rear ends of the storage tubes 18 and 22, cables 28 and 30 wired into the storage tubes are taken out. The rear end is covered with a box-shaped rubber mold 32 together with the plate 24, and has a waterproof structure.

As shown in FIG. 4, a temperature sensor 40 is formed by using a thermistor for the temperature detection element 20 built in the distal end of the storage tube 22. This temperature detecting element 20 is connected to a control means 36 by a cable 30.

The electric resistance of the temperature detecting element 20 changes according to the liquid temperature.
The control means 36 connected to 20 detects the temperature of the processing liquid.

The storage tube 18 has a built-in heating heater 12 extending from the tip to the vicinity of the center to form a heat generating portion 38 for heating the processing liquid to a predetermined temperature.

The rear end of the heating section 38 is partitioned by a heat insulating plate 42, and the heat of the heating heater 12 is transferred to the temperature fuse 14 and the thermostat.
16 is not directly transmitted. Temperature detection element 20
In order to prevent the fact that the heat of the heater 12 is directly transmitted and the actual temperature of the processing liquid cannot be measured,
It is arranged in consideration of the distance to 12.

A temperature fuse 14 and a thermostat 16 are built in the vicinity of the bent portion of the storage tube 18. The thermostat 16 uses a temperature-sensitive operating element such as a bimetal. The heating current is intermittently opened and closed by opening and closing an electric contact.
To prevent overheating. Here, the temperature sensitivity of the thermostat 16 is set to 55 ° C., for example.

When a certain amount of current or more flows through the circuit, the thermal fuse 14 is blown due to heat generation and opens the circuit.

Next, the operation of the embodiment of the present invention configured as described above will be described.

The photosensitive material 60 is sequentially conveyed from the developing tank 52 to the drying chamber 58 in each processing tank and the drying chamber, and each processing of development, fixing, washing and drying is performed.

In the developing tank 52, the driving force of the circulation pump 64
The developer is discharged from the upper part of 52 and re-enters the lower part,
The developer circulates through the developing tank 52 and is stirred.

The processing solution heater 10 mounted in the developing tank 52 has a temperature detecting element 20 for measuring the temperature of the developing solution, and the control means 36 controls the heating heater when the processing solution temperature is within a predetermined range.
When the temperature of the processing solution falls below a predetermined range, the heater 12 is energized to maintain the temperature range of the developing solution at a predetermined value.

If there is a disconnection accident or the like in the temperature sensor section 40, the thermostat 16 cuts off the heating current by opening the electrical contacts, stops heating the heating heater 12, and sets the temperature range of the developing solution to a predetermined value. To maintain.

If a certain amount of current flows through the circuit at startup, etc.
The thermal fuse 14 blows due to heat generation and opens the circuit to protect the wiring.

In this embodiment, the thermal fuse 14 and the thermostat are used.
16 and the heater 12 were housed in the same storage tube 18, and the temperature detecting element 20 was stored in the other storage tube 22. As shown in FIG. 5, the temperature fuse 14 and the thermostat 16, the heating heater 12, the temperature Each of the detecting elements 20 may be housed in three storage tubes. As shown in FIG. 6, the heating heater 12, the temperature fuse 14, the thermostat 16 and the temperature detecting element 20 are connected to each other.
It may be stored in a book storage tube.

Further, as shown in FIG. 7, all the devices may be wired in series and housed and integrated in one storage tube. The processing liquid heater 10 can be applied to a fixing tank, a washing tank, and other processing tanks.

〔The invention's effect〕

Since the present invention has the above configuration, the conductive heat generating means and the cutoff means are separated by a heat insulating plate and housed in one housing pipe. For this reason, the man-hour for assembling to the processing tank is reduced.
Further, since the conductive heat generating means and the cutoff means are separated by the heat insulating plate, the components can be completely integrated in the steady state without being directly affected by the heat of the conductive heat generating means.

Further, the first storage pipe containing the conductive heat generating means and the second storage pipe containing the shut-off means or the temperature detection means are fixed to the upper edge of the processing tank by fixing means, so that the processing liquid heater can be used. It can be easily assembled to a proper position in the processing tank.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a storage tube shown in an embodiment of a processing liquid heater of an automatic developing apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a state where the processing liquid heater is attached to a developing tank, FIG. 3 is a schematic structural view showing a processing tank portion of the automatic developing apparatus, FIG. 4 is an electric circuit diagram of a processing liquid heater, and FIGS. 5 to 7 show modified examples of the storage tube shown in this embodiment. It is a perspective view. 12 ... heater for heating (conductive heating means), 14 ... temperature fuse (cutoff means), 16 ... thermostat (cutoff means), 18 ... storage pipe (first storage pipe), 22 ... storage pipe (first 2 storage tube), temperature detecting element (temperature detecting means).

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Tomoyuki Takigami 1250 Takematsu, Minamiashigara-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Inside Fuji Kiki Kogyo Co., Ltd. (56) References JP, A)

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] An electric power is supplied from a metal storage tube disposed in a processing tank and having a closed end, and a cable stored at the front end of the storage tube and introduced from the rear end opening side of the storage tube. Conductive heating means; cut-off means connected to the cable and stored at the rear end of the storage pipe to cut off power supply to the conductive heating means when the inside of the storage pipe reaches a predetermined temperature or higher; and disposed inside the storage pipe. And a heat insulating plate for partitioning the conductive heat generating means and the shutoff means. 2. An electric power is supplied by a metal first storage pipe disposed in a processing tank and having a closed end, and a cable stored in the first storage pipe and introduced from a rear end opening side of the first storage pipe. A conductive heat generating means to be supplied; a second metal storage tube disposed in the processing tank and having a closed end; and a cable stored in the second storage tube when the first storage tube reaches a predetermined temperature or higher. Blocking means for blocking the supply of power to the conductive heat generating means, and a rear end side of each of the upper ends of the processing tank while maintaining a relative positional relationship between the first storage pipe and the second storage pipe. And a fixing means for fixing the processing liquid to the processing liquid. 3. A power storage device comprising: a first metal storage tube disposed in a processing tank and having a closed end; and a cable housed in the first storage tube and introduced from a rear end opening side of the first storage tube. A conductive heat generating means to be supplied; a metal-made second storage pipe disposed in a processing tank and having a closed end; and detecting a temperature higher than a set temperature stored in the second storage pipe to the conductive heat generating means. A temperature detecting means for outputting a signal for stopping power supply and outputting a signal for starting power supply to the conductive heating means when detecting a temperature lower than a set temperature; and a relative position between the first storage pipe and the second storage pipe. A fixing means for fixing a rear end of each of the processing tanks to an upper edge portion of the processing tank while maintaining the positional relationship, and a processing liquid heater for an automatic developing apparatus.