JP2714856B2 - Automatic processing machine for rapid processing - Google Patents

Description

Description: FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an automatic processor for processing a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material, and more particularly, to an automatic processor for processing a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material for printing plate making. About.

[Background of the Invention]

In recent years, the demand for shortening the processing time of silver halide photographic light-sensitive materials (hereinafter referred to as light-sensitive materials) has been increasing in the printing and plate-making industry, and a system capable of ultra-rapid processing of Dry to Dry 60 seconds or less has been desired. In the industry, the work environment is rapidly improving, and it is required that automatic developing machines be quiet and energy saving.

When shortening the processing time of an automatic processor for printing plate making, which is usually 17 inches or more in width, the first problem is how to secure the drying property. Although development and fixing can be covered to some extent by shortening the time and increasing the processing temperature, increasing the drying temperature causes deterioration of the durability of the material or the external surface of the machine. Has heat,
The adverse effects such as an increase in room temperature occur. It is well known in the art that an extreme increase in temperature has a significant effect on dimensional stability, which is an important property of a photosensitive material for plate making.

Increasing the amount of the drying air is one of the means for improving the drying property, but it causes an increase in power for blowing and an increase in noise.

(Object of the present invention)

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to provide an automatic developing machine capable of drying with a drying temperature as low as possible and with a minimum drying air flow.

[Configuration of the invention]

The present inventor has a processing width of 17 inches or more, and Dry
to Dry is within 60 seconds and the immersion time in all liquids is Dry to Dry
Automatic processing machine with a linear velocity of 40-80% of
It has been found that the problem can be solved by an automatic processor characterized in that the drying air in the drying section is at an angle of 10 ° or more with respect to at least one film surface.

More preferably, it has been found that a more preferable result can be obtained by adding a configuration in which the drying air is blown out from the nozzle and the distance from the nozzle tip to the film surface is within 10 cm.

 Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail.

In the present specification, the drying air has an angle of 10 with the film surface.
The angle “°” or more refers to the angle between the vector of the drying air at the moment when the drying air hits the film surface and the vector perpendicularly projected to the film surface of the drying air, regardless of the transport direction of the film.

In order to increase the drying efficiency, it is effective to create an air flow that immediately removes moisture evaporated from the film surface. However, when air is blown in parallel to the film surface, for example, the wind pressure on the film surface decreases, and the drying property deteriorates.

In addition, when the wind hits the film surface at an angle almost perpendicular to the film surface, the evaporated water stays in the vicinity of the film surface. However, the staying can be reduced by setting the film conveyance speed to 1300 mm / min. Particularly preferred transport speed is 1500 mm / min or more.

A further advantageous configuration for drying properties is that the film is always exposed to dry air directly. For example, in the case of a configuration in which the wind blows from one side of the drying roller toward the other side, the windward side of the film has good dryness, but the leeward side of the film is wet with moisture evaporated on the windward side. The air hits and the drying property is poor.

Further, the wind pressure is reduced on the leeward side, which also causes an imbalance in dryness. There, the drying air is guided uniformly through the duct in the width direction of the film, and the nozzle is used to uniformly blow "fresh" drying air in the width direction of the film.

In the present invention, means for causing the drying air to strike the photosensitive material surface at an angle of 10 ° or more is not particularly defined. It is most preferable to adjust the angle according to the jetting angle from the nozzle.However, for example, a configuration is such that wind blown in parallel to the photosensitive material surface reflects on the plate and strikes the photosensitive material surface at an angle of 10 ° or more. It doesn't matter.

In the latter case, a wind parallel to the photosensitive material and a wind having an angle of 10 ° or more are mixed, but this does not matter.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, the present invention will be illustrated by way of examples. However, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to these examples.

1 (a) to 1 (g) are explanatory views showing the forms of a drying section which can be preferably used in the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a photosensitive material, and arrows indicate the direction of the drying air. Dried sections of various types and lengths as shown in FIGS. 1 (a) to 1 (g) were prepared. The width is 28 inches.

Preparation of photosensitive material sample A photosensitive material having a Ag amount of 4.0 g / m ² was placed on a 100 μm-thick polyethylene terephthalate support subjected to latex subbing.
The coating was performed so that gelatin became 3.0 g / m ² (provided that a protective layer of gelatin 1.0 g / m ² was included). Also, as a so-called backing layer on the opposite side of the support, the amount of gelatin comprise a layer of gelatin 1.0 g / m ² as a protective layer include known dye
A publicly known hardener was added to each surface so as to obtain 3.0 g / m ^2, and the resultant was applied and dried to prepare a film.

The emulsion layer contains the following compounds (a) and (b), and the protective layers on the emulsion side and the backing layer side each contain a polymethyl methacrylate matting agent.

Example 1 Dry to Dry using the following combinations of developer and fixer
When the temperature is between 60 ° and 45 °, the various types of drying methods shown in FIG.
Room temperature is set at 30 ° C and 80%.
10 mm) was passed through continuously (at 4 ° intervals), and the dryness at the outlet of the drying section was determined by touch. The evaluation was performed on 7 ranks, and 3 or less was at a level unsuitable for practical use, and 5 or more was preferable. The results are shown in Table 2.

Dry to Dry is obtained by adding each drying time to this 35 seconds.
Time.

(Developer formulation)

(Composition A) Pure water (ion-exchanged water) 150 ml Disodium ethylenediaminetetraacetate 2 g Diethylene glycol 50 g Potassium sulfite (55% W / V aqueous solution 100 ml Potassium carbonate 50 g Hydroquinone 15 g 5-methylbenzotriazole 200 mg 1-phenyl-5-mercaptotetrazole 30mg Potassium hydroxide Amount to make pH of working solution 10.9 Potassium bromide 4.5g (Composition B) Pure water (ion exchange water) 3ml Diethylene glycol 50g Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid disodium salt 25mg Acetic acid (90% aqueous solution) 0.3ml 5-nitro Imidazole 110 mg 1-Phenyl-3-pyrazolidone 500 mg When using a developing solution, the above composition A and composition B were dissolved in 500 ml of water in that order, and used after finishing to 1.

(Fixing solution formulation)

(Composition A) Ammonium thiosulfate (72.5% W / V aqueous solution) 230ml Sodium sulfite 9.5g Sodium acetate trihydrate 15.9g Boric acid 6.7g Sodium citrate dihydrate 2g Acetic acid (90% W / W aqueous solution) 8.1ml Composition B) Pure water (ion-exchanged water) 17 ml Sulfuric acid (50% W / W aqueous solution) 5.8 g Aluminum sulfate (aqueous solution whose content in terms of Al ₂ O ₃ is 8.1% W / W) 26.5 g In 500 ml of water when using a fixing solution From composition A and composition B
And finished to 1 before use. PH of this fixer
Was about 4.3.

From the results in Table 2, when the drying method according to the present invention is used, Dr.
It turns out that it has sufficient drying property in 60 seconds or less by y to Dry.

Example 2 The same experiment as in Example 1 was carried out except that the pH of the developer fixing solution was changed to 11.5 and 5.0 and the developing temperature was raised to 38 ° C., and the same results as in Table 2 were obtained.

〔The invention's effect〕

As is clear from the examples, in drying having a width of 17 inches or more, apply air at an angle of 10 ° or more to the film surface, and by setting the line speed to 1300 mm / min or more, Dry to Dry 60 ° or less is sufficient. It can be seen that the dryness is further improved by blowing the drying air from the nozzles.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1a to 1g are explanatory views showing various drying modes according to the present invention. 1: photosensitive material

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A processing width of 17 inches or more, and a dry to
Dry is less than 60 seconds, and the immersion time in all liquids is Dry to Dry.
In an automatic processor that is 40-80%, the linear speed is 13
An automatic processor wherein the drying air in the drying section is at an angle of 10 ° or more with respect to at least one film surface. 2. A drying air in a drying section is blown out from a nozzle, and a distance from a nozzle tip to a film surface is 10 cm.
2. The automatic developing machine according to claim 1, wherein