JP2783354B2 - Photo processing equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a photographic processing apparatus.
More specifically, the present invention relates to a photographic processing apparatus capable of continuously transporting several types of strip-shaped photosensitive materials having different widths (hereinafter, roll paper).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 1 shows an example of a photographic processing apparatus. FIG.
Shows the present invention, but can also be used to explain the configuration of a conventional photographic processing apparatus except for the detection sensors 31 to 38 which are one configuration of the present invention. The photographic processing apparatus includes a printer unit 1 for printing a photosensitive material (hereinafter, referred to as paper) and a processor unit 2 for performing processing such as development on the printed paper.

A printer section 1 has a loading section 3 for transporting the paper to an exposure table, an exposure table 4 for performing printing exposure, and an apparatus for accurately transporting the paper to a predetermined length along a paper transport path. , A paper transport unit 7 capable of forming a loop 6 for adjusting the advance of the paper to be sent to the processor unit 2, and an outlet unit 8. Further, a processor rack section 9 is provided in a processing tank for performing color development, bleaching and stabilization of the processor section 2, a dryer section 10 is provided in a drying tank for performing paper drying, and a dryer section is provided near the outlet. Each of the cutter units 11 is provided.

The roll paper 13 pulled out from the paper magazine 12 installed in the printer unit 1 is conveyed by conveying rollers and sent from the loading unit 3 to the exposure table 4. The roll paper 13 exposed on the exposure table 4 is sent to the processor unit 2 through the advance unit 5, the paper transport unit 7, and the exit unit 8. In the processor section 2, the sheet is sent to the processor rack section 9, the dryer section 10, and the cutter section 11 in this order, and is cut off for each frame and discharged to a discharge port provided appropriately.

In this photographic processing apparatus, when a roll paper having a width different from that of a previously processed roll paper is inserted into the photographic processing apparatus, for example, when changing from a normal-size roll paper to a roll paper of a cabinet version. First, first, the exposed paper that has been sent out and the subsequent unexposed paper are separated by the first cutter 14 provided between the exposure table 4 and the advance unit 5. The exposed paper passes through the advance section 5, the paper transport section 7, and the exit section 8, is sent to the processor section 2, and the unexposed paper is rewound into the paper magazine 12 via the loading section 3. Then, the paper is sent out from the paper magazine of the roll paper having different widths.

In the above-described photographic processing apparatus, the loading section 3, the advance section 5, the paper transport section 7, the exit section 8, the processor rack section 9, the dryer section 10, and the cutter section 11 guide the paper to be transported, respectively. A width guide changing mechanism is provided.

[0007]

However, the conventional width guide changing mechanism is configured to simultaneously change the guide widths of all the width guides in the photographic apparatus. Therefore, when a roll paper having a width different from that of the previously inserted roll paper is inserted, the rear end of the preceding roll paper must come out of the width guide of the last cutter unit 11 before the subsequent roll paper. Cannot be changed to guide width. Therefore, there is a large gap between the trailing end of the preceding roll paper and the leading end of the succeeding roll paper, and there are many portions where the roll paper has not passed in the photo processing device, and running time increases due to wasted time. There is a problem that the cost increases.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and the guide widths of a plurality of width guides provided along the paper transport path are individually and sequentially changed so that the widths are different at short intervals. It is an object of the present invention to provide a photographic processing apparatus capable of increasing paper processing efficiency by enabling paper to be sequentially inserted.

[0009]

According to the present invention, there is provided a photographic processing apparatus comprising: (a) a width guide for guiding both sides of a photosensitive material; and (b) the width guide according to the width of the photosensitive material to be conveyed. Guide width changing means for changing the guide width of the
(C) A plurality of blocks each including a detecting unit for detecting the presence or absence of the photosensitive material passing through the width guide are provided along the conveying path of the photosensitive material, and the block including the photosensitive material from the width guide after the passage of the photosensitive material is completed. The guide width is sequentially changed.

In another aspect, the guide width changing means selectively takes out the paper to be processed from a plurality of set paper magazines and changes the guide width in accordance with the width of the paper. Have been.

[0011]

According to the photographic processing apparatus of the first aspect of the present invention, since the detecting means for detecting whether or not the paper has passed for each block is provided, even when the photosensitive materials having different widths are inserted, the above-mentioned processing is performed. There is no need to wait for the photosensitive material to pass through all blocks, and the guide width can be changed in that block immediately after passing through one block, so that photosensitive materials having different widths can be inserted quickly.

Further, according to the photographic processing apparatus of the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the above operation, it is possible to insert paper having different widths without replacing the paper magazine.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the photographic processing apparatus of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing an embodiment of the photographic processing apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an example of a width guide and a guide width changing mechanism applied to the photographic processing apparatus of FIG. Is a control block diagram of the photographic processing apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a control flowchart of the photographic processing apparatus of the present invention.

The structure of the photographic processing apparatus of the present invention can be a conventional one. Therefore, the configuration of the embodiment of the photographic processing apparatus of the present invention shown in FIG. 1 is the same as that described in the prior art.

The point of difference from the prior art of the present invention is that, for example, a loading section 3, an advance section 5, a paper transport section 7,
The guide width changing mechanism in the outlet section 8, the processor rack section 9, the dryer section 10, the cutter section 11 and the like is divided into blocks so as to be individually controllable. In addition,
The unit of this block is not particularly limited, and can be appropriately increased or decreased according to the steps in the photographic processing apparatus.

Next, the components of the guide width changing mechanism in one block of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

The paper 19 travels while being guided between the width guides 17 and 18 composed of a pair of members having a V-shaped cross section. The guide width changing mechanism 20 includes a drive motor 21, two moving screws 23 and 24 connected to the drive motor 21 by a timing belt 22, and female screw members 25, 26, 27 and 28 fixed to the width guides 17 and 18. Have been.

As the drive motor 21, a servomotor or the like capable of accurately adjusting the number of rotations is preferable in terms of fine adjustment of the movement amount of the width guide. The timing belt 22 transmits power, but may be a combination of a chain and a gear.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, power is transmitted to the two moving screws 23 and 24. For example, the same applies between the moving screw 24 and another moving screw (not shown). A number of moving screws may be driven by a single timing belt via a timing belt or the like, or an auxiliary roller or the like in which the timing belt meanders. In any case, the drive motor 21 is for simultaneously moving the width guides in one block, and at least one is required for each block.

Each of the moving screws 23 and 24 is divided into a right-handed thread and a left-handed thread around a substantially central portion. Female screw members 25 and 26 fixed to width guide 17 are movable screws 2
Female screw members 27 and 28 fixed to the width guide 18 are screwed into left screw portions of the moving screws 23 and 24, respectively. As a result, when the moving screws 23, 24 rotate, the female screw members 25, 26, 27, 28 move in opposite directions, so that the guide width L between the width guides 17, 18 is changed. The moving screws 23, 24
The configuration of the right-hand thread portion and the left-hand thread portion may be reversed, and one of the thread portions is fixed so that one width guide (eg, 17) is fixed and only the other width guide (eg, 18) is moved. The same effect can be exerted even if only this is used.

Each block is provided with a paper detection sensor. In FIG. 1, for example, a loading section 3, an advance section 5, a paper transport section 7, an exit section 8, a processor rack section 9, a dryer section 10, a cutter section 11
Is a constituent unit of each block, as shown in FIG. 1, paper detection sensors are provided at positions 31 to 38.

It should be noted that one paper detection sensor is provided for each block.
Only a single unit may be provided, or a block having a long process such as the processor rack unit 9 may be provided at both the entrance and the exit.

The processor rack 9 may be divided into three or four blocks.

Next, the operation of the photographic processing apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
It will be described based on.

The roll paper 13 stored in the paper magazine 12 is conveyed by conveying rollers and sent from the loading unit 3 to the exposure table 4. The roll paper 13 exposed by the exposure table 4 is cut off by the first cutter 14, passes through the advance unit 5 and the paper transport unit 7, forms a loop 6 according to the processing status of the processor unit 2, and stands by. Then, when the processor unit 2 can be processed, it is sent to the processor unit 2 via the outlet unit 8. In the processor section 2, the paper (the paper cut off by the first cutter 14) is sent in the order of the processor rack section 9, the dryer section 10, and the cutter section 11.

When it is desired to process paper having a width different from that of the previously processed paper, first, the exposure of the previous paper is completed, and after the exposed portion passes through the exposure table 4, the first cutter 14 To separate the exposed portion of the paper. The separated exposed portions are sequentially conveyed to the processor unit 2 side, and the unexposed portions are rewound to the paper magazine 12 by the reverse rotation of the conveying rollers of the loading unit 3. At this time, since the detection sensor 31 of the loading section 3 detects that the paper has run out, the guide width changing mechanism 20 adjusts the width guides 17 and 18 according to the width of the roll paper having the different width to be conveyed next. , The roll paper 16 of the paper magazine 15 having a different paper width is guided by a width guide corresponding to the width and is conveyed to the exposure table 4.

The paper conveyed to the exposure table 4 is advanced when the detection sensor 32 of the advance unit 5 detects that the paper has run out and the guide widths of the width guides 21 and 22 of the advance unit 5 have been changed. It is sent to the unit 5. As described above, the rear end of the preceding paper 13 and the front end of the subsequent roll paper 16 having different widths only need to separate the advance section 5 (one block), so that the period in which there is no paper in each block is reduced. Processing efficiency is greatly improved.

Thereafter, the paper is similarly conveyed to the processor unit 2 via the paper conveying unit 7 and the outlet unit 8. In the paper conveying unit 7, when the processing of the processor unit 2 is delayed, a loop 6 is formed on the paper. It is possible to form and stand by, and it is not necessary to stop all the transporting devices in the printer unit 1.

Then, when the rear end of the preceding paper is sent to the dryer section 10, the guide width of the width guide of the processor rack section 9 is changed, and the loop of the succeeding paper is eliminated and the paper passes through the outlet section 8. It is sent to the processor rack section 9.

Next, a control block diagram of an arithmetic unit for automatically controlling the above-described guide width changing mechanism will be described with reference to FIG.

The paper detection sensors 31 to 38 detect the position of the paper (that is, the presence or absence of the paper). The detected paper position is input to the CPU. On the other hand, CPU
, The width information of the paper to be processed next by the insertion of the paper magazine or the input by the operator is input. When a plurality of paper magazines are set in advance, the processing order of paper is also input by an input by an operator or the like. Then, an appropriate guide width of each width guide is calculated, and the drive motor 21 of the guide width changing mechanism 20 is driven to drive the width guide 1.
The guide width L of 7 and 18 is changed to an appropriate value. The width of the paper may be individually detected by a width detection sensor or the like, and this information may be sent to the CPU.

Further, a control flowchart will be described with reference to FIG. When the guide width of the width guide is calculated, the guide width of each width guide is checked. If the width is appropriate, pass the paper as it is. If the width is not the proper width, the drive motor 21 of the width guides 17 and 18 is operated to change the width to the proper guide width L, and the guide width L is checked again. When the width becomes appropriate, the drive motor 21 is stopped to wait for the paper to pass. When the sensor detects the paper and the passage is confirmed, the width of the next paper arrives is calculated, the drive motor of the width guide is operated, the guide width of the width guide is changed, and the next paper passes. Wait for. As described above, since the guide width is automatically and sequentially changed, the paper can be continuously inserted into the photographic processing apparatus only after the time when the rear end of the paper passes through one block.

[0034]

In the photographic processing apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, since the guide width of each block can be changed independently, the guide width can be changed sequentially from the block where the previous paper has passed. Since the paper can be continuously inserted into the photographic processing apparatus only by providing an interval corresponding to the block path, the time efficiency is dramatically increased and the cost is also increased.

Further, in the photographic processing apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the above effects, it is possible to insert paper having different widths without replacing the paper magazine, so that the time efficiency is further improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing one embodiment of a photographic processing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating an example of a width guide and a guide width changing mechanism in the photo processing apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a control block diagram of the photographic processing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a control flowchart of the photographic processing apparatus of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

17, 18 width guide 20 guide width changing mechanism 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38
Detection sensor

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A guide width changing means for changing (a) a width guide for guiding both side portions of a photosensitive material and (b) a guide width of the width guide according to a width of a photosensitive material to be conveyed. And (c) a plurality of blocks each provided with a detecting means for detecting the presence or absence of the photosensitive material passing through the width guide, along a conveyance path of the photosensitive material, and a width at which the photosensitive material has passed. A photographic processing apparatus configured so that the guide width can be changed sequentially from the guide. 2. A width guide for guiding both side portions of the photosensitive material, and (b) a photosensitive material which is selectively taken out from a plurality of paper magazines, and the width is determined according to a width of the photosensitive material to be conveyed. A plurality of blocks including a guide width changing means for changing the guide width of the guide and (c) a detecting means for detecting the presence or absence of the photosensitive material passing through the width guide are provided along the photosensitive material transport path. A photographic processing apparatus provided so as to be able to sequentially change the guide width from the width guide through which the photosensitive material has passed.