JP3201211B2 - Conveyor for photo printing 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 transport apparatus for transporting a film stored in a cartridge to a photographic printing apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, a photographic printing apparatus for printing a film image on a photosensitive material takes out a film from a cartridge (patrone), sends the film by a linear conveying device, and preliminarily uses a scanner unit in the middle of the conveying device. The printing is performed by adjusting the exposure state of the printing exposure means based on the read image data.

When a large number of films are continuously printed by such a photographic printing apparatus, it is generally inefficient to manually feed the films one by one. Is spliced into a continuous form, which is continuously fed to a printing exposure means for processing.

[0004]

However, in the above-described conventional photographic printing method, it takes time and effort to splice the film, and the work efficiency cannot be improved.

Further, since the films are connected in a continuous manner, the reading operation of the image data by the scanner and the printing process from the film to the photosensitive material by the printing exposure means are mutually affected. That is, generally, the image data is not read by the scanner unless the printing process by the printing exposure unit is completed, and the printing process is stopped while the image data is being read.

Therefore, in order to be able to perform printing processing by the printing exposure means and image data reading by the scanner independently, a loop guide is provided between the two means, and the film from which the image data reading has been completed is slackened. A method has been proposed in which the printing process is performed independently and continuously by a printing exposure unit in a standby state.

However, this method is suitable for processing a film by splicing the film continuously, but is not applicable for processing a film in a cartridge. Regarding the method of processing film in a cartridge, a rotating table type photographic printing apparatus has been proposed by the present applicant in an earlier application to solve the following problems, and adopted in this earlier application. Have been.

In the conventional method of splicing a film and connecting the film, the film is cut off from the patrone and subjected to a baking process. After the baking process, the film is generally cut into lengths of several frames, and then cut into a sheet-like film holder. The method of putting in and giving to a customer is adopted. Therefore, an extra operation such as inserting the film into the film holder again is necessary, and there is a problem that the storing operation is troublesome.

Therefore, in the prior application, a rotary table is provided between the scanner and the printing and exposure means, and a plurality of cartridges are fed onto the rotary table to read image data by the scanner and print exposure processing in parallel. A photographic printing apparatus capable of keeping a cartridge in a cartridge has been proposed.

On the other hand, the applicant of the present invention separates the above-mentioned rotary table type photographic printing apparatus from the conventional printing apparatus, in which a conventional film is spliced and printed by a scanner and printing exposure means along a linear conveying device. A prior art application proposes a photographic printing apparatus having a cartridge storage section for supplying a large number of cartridges to a typical photographic printing processing apparatus while the film is stored in the cartridge and performing continuous printing processing. I have.

In the earlier application, the cartridge accommodating section supplies the film directly from the cartridge to the photographic printing apparatus of the present application. Is also conceivable.

However, in this case, a transport device for supplying the cartridge taken out from the cartridge storage section to the photographic printing apparatus of a rotary table type is required. Therefore, such a transport device must be adapted to transport the cartridge discharged from the cartridge storage to the table of the photographic printing apparatus.

The present invention is capable of continuously transporting a cartridge which is fed from the lateral direction while containing a film and continuously transports the cartridge to the photographic printing apparatus, while keeping in mind the above-mentioned problems of the conventional photographic printing apparatus. It is another object of the present invention to provide a transport device capable of returning a cartridge in which a film having undergone a printing process has been wound to the original position through the same transport path.

Still another object is to provide a transfer device in which a mechanism for holding and locking an arm is provided on the transfer device, and the operation is reliable and all the operations can be basically constituted by mechanical means. And

[0015]

As a means for solving the above-mentioned problems, a first aspect of the present invention is to provide a guide unit provided along a transport path with a transport vehicle holding a cartridge containing a film and sending the cartridge to a photographic printing apparatus. A photographic printing apparatus comprising: a guide unit for reciprocating by a drive unit; a guide unit for feeding a cartridge; and a transport vehicle configured to hold and transport the cartridge by an openable / closable arm. This is the configuration of the transporting device for use.

In the transfer device, the transfer vehicle includes a cartridge holding mechanism including a support plate and an arm for holding the cartridge, and an arm lock mechanism for locking the arm in a closed state via the cartridge holding mechanism. Preferably, it is provided.

Further, in the above-mentioned transport apparatus, it is preferable that the feeding section includes a cartridge insertion section for manually inserting a cartridge into the transport path.

[0018]

According to the first aspect of the invention, when a cartridge containing a film is supplied from a lateral direction, the cartridge is held by an arm of a transport vehicle and sent to a photographic printing apparatus along a transport path. The cartridge holds the film and is held by the arm, and reliably sends the film to the processing device without damaging the film. The film-processed cartridge is returned again along the same transport path and returned to the device that stores the cartridge.

In the second invention, a cartridge holding mechanism and an arm lock mechanism are provided in the carrier, and the cartridge is held by the arm with the arm locked, and the locked state is released by releasing the lock. The cartridge is sent to the printing device. All the transport vehicles can hold and transport the cartridge by a mechanical configuration. Therefore, the electrical control is only required to perform the transporting and returning operations of the carrier, and the overall configuration is extremely simple.

In the third aspect of the invention, the cartridge is conveyed to the processing apparatus and the cartridge is manually fed into the arm of the conveyance vehicle from the cartridge insertion portion during the processing.

[0021]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The transport device B of the embodiment transports the film of the cartridge from the cartridge storage device A that stores a large number of cartridges containing the film and continuously supplies the film of the cartridge. It is provided in front of a photographic printing apparatus C which sends a film to a rotary table and performs photographic printing.

The cartridge accommodating device A is constructed as described in Japanese Patent Application No.
FIG. 2 shows one of several types of cartridge housings of the photographic printing apparatus shown in the specification and drawings of US Pat. Instead, it may be any of the other cartridge storage units in the above application. Here, the illustrated one is shown as an example.

The illustrated cartridge storage device A includes a pair of sprockets 102 in a cartridge storage case 101.
Is provided on the outer periphery of the endless belt 103 so that the cartridge X can be rotatably moved in the cartridge storage case by providing a concave portion into which the cartridge X is fitted.

A rotating shaft 104, which appears to protrude from the side wall of the cartridge storage case 101, fits into one of the sprockets 102 and drives the sprocket 102 to rotate. The rotating shaft 104 is mounted on a common base 105 as shown in FIG. It is connected to the output shaft of the installed motor 106.

Therefore, the above-described cartridge storage device A
Is manually attached to the rotating shaft 104 after manually storing a large number of cartridges X in the storage case 101 (the side of the case can be opened) with the common table 105 (A) removed in advance, and Set on top.

When the cartridges X are individually supplied from the cartridge accommodating device A, as shown in FIG. 2, a movable lever 107 that can move in a direction perpendicular to the common base is provided in the groove 108. The cartridge X is held by the lever 107 and sent out in a direction orthogonal to the storage case 101.

As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG.
The cartridge X is sent in a direction parallel to the cartridge storage device. The transport device B will be described later in detail.

The photographic printing apparatus C has basically the same mechanism as that of the embodiment of the patent application of Japanese Patent Application No. 5-178133, and its content will be briefly described. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the photographic printing apparatus C is provided on a common table 105 (C) extending in a direction orthogonal to the feed direction of the transport apparatus B, and includes a rotary table 200 and a scanner unit 21.
0, printing exposure means 220.

The rotary table 200 is provided with a common table 105.
(C) is rotatably provided so that the upper surface is the same as the upper surface, and a cartridge receiving portion 201 that receives four cartridges at intervals of 90 ° is provided on the table. A cartridge fixing portion 201a for fixing and holding the cartridge is provided at the tip of the cartridge receiving portion 201.
Is provided. A drive unit 202 is provided on the side of each receiving unit 201 for applying a rotational force for opening and closing a cover plate of a film entrance and exit of the cartridge or for feeding and inserting a film (details are not shown).

Further, in this embodiment, the rotary table 20
0 is rotatable by transmitting a rotational force from a drive motor 207 to a support shaft 204 rotatably supported by a support arm 203 via a pulley 206 with which an endless belt 205 is engaged. It is provided so that it becomes.

The drive section may be formed so as to be transmitted through a gear mechanism provided on the back side of the rotary table.

In the longitudinal direction of the common table 105 (C), a scanner unit 210 and a printing exposure unit 220 are provided on a straight line. A light source (not shown) is placed below the scanner opening 211 of the scanner unit 210, and a scanner unit is installed above the scanner opening 211. Each frame of the film is irradiated with the frame stopped above the opening to read the image data of the film. .

The film fed from the cartridge receiving portion 201 is fed by a feed roller 212 and wound on a film winder 213. In the course of this, image data is read by the scanner unit and a bar code detector 214, Each information is read by the magnetic head 215 and the perforation detector 216. When reading is completed for one film in the cartridge, the film is rewound into the cartridge X again, and proceeds to the next step with the rotation of the rotary table 200.

Another light source is provided below the exposure opening 221 of the printing exposure means 220 on the side opposite to the scanner section 210, and a photosensitive material is fed above to perform printing exposure (not shown).

The film unwound from the cartridge receiving portion 201 is fed by a feed roller 222 and wound up by a film winder 223, and printing exposure is performed by the printing exposure means 220 on the way. 224 is a perforation detector and 225 is a magnetic head.

Now, the transport device B for sending the cartridge X from the cartridge storage device A to the photographic printing apparatus C having the above configuration will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG.
It comprises a transport vehicle 10, a guide section 40 for guiding the transport vehicle 10, and a drive section 50 for reciprocating the transport vehicle 10.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the guide section 40 is provided along the common platform 105 (B) along the traveling direction of the carrier 10.
The guide side plates 41, 41 are provided upright, and a guide opening 42 is provided in an appropriate range along the length direction at an upper height position of the guide side plates 41, 41. The guide roller 11 of the transport vehicle 10 fits into the guide opening 42 and moves slidably. Further, the guidance to the opening 42 is inserted position detection lever 12 fixed to the transport vehicle 10 detects the position in cooperation with the photoelectric sensor PH _1, PH ₂ provided at an appropriate position of the guide plate. The position detection lever 12 will be described later in detail.

Further, openings 43 through which the cartridge can pass are provided near the center of the guide side plates 41, 41 in the longitudinal direction thereof, and FIG. 1 shows one of the openings. Reference numeral 44 denotes a cartridge insertion portion at the time of manual operation, which is used when it is desired to insert a cartridge individually for processing. After the processing is completed, the cartridge is pushed out of the insertion portion 44 by the moving lever 107.

As shown in FIG. 3, the transport vehicle 10 comprises a case 13 having a substantially U-shaped cross section, and a plurality of guide rollers 11 are provided at appropriate intervals above both side plates of the case 13.
As described above, it is fitted in the guide opening 42 of the guide side plates 41, 41.

An arm 14 for holding the cartridge X is provided in the carrier 10. The arm 14 engages a horizontal support pin 15 fixed to the arm with a groove 16 provided on a side plate of the case 13. It is opened and closed by rotating about this horizontal support pin 15.

A cartridge holding mechanism 17 for holding a cartridge is connected to the bases of the arms 14, 14, and an arm lock mechanism 18 for locking the arm in a closed state via the cartridge holding mechanism 17 is provided horizontally. It is provided under a suitable support plate 19.

As can be seen from FIG. 3, the support plate 19 is substantially T-shaped.
A bent lever 2 is attached to a pin 21 which is formed in a U-shape and is horizontally supported by an ear plate 20 erected on the tip (arm side) side.
2 is engaged, and the distal end of the bending lever 22 is connected to the arm 14 by a pin 24 engaging through a long hole 23. Further, an L-shaped long hole 25 is provided near the center of the bending lever 22, and a bending support pin 26 is inserted through the long hole 25.

The bending support pin 26 is fixedly supported by the side plate of the case 13. The bending support pin 26 guides the bending lever 22 so that the bending lever 22 moves forward and backward and rotates about the pin 21. The arm 14 is always pulled by a spring 27 that engages with the pin 24 when rotating about the horizontal support pin 15. In the state shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the bending lever 22 is bent by the bending support pin 26. Is held in a horizontal state against the tensile force of the spring 27.

The arm lock mechanism 18 provided below the support plate 19 is provided on a horizontal movement support plate 28 as shown in FIGS. Is movable in the direction of the arrow on the base plate 29 fixed on the bottom plate. And the arm lock mechanism 18
The vertical pin 31 inserted in the long hole 30 provided in the horizontal movement support plate 28 and supported by the nut inserted in the recess provided through the case bottom plate and the base plate 29, and the horizontal movement support plate 28 A hook 35 which is elastically supported by a spring 33 in the vertical direction on another standing vertical pin 32 and which can be elastically rotated by a spring 34.

When the hook 35 is viewed in the plan view of FIG. 4, the hook 35 is unlocked by the pin 31 inside the curved portion (the state of FIG. 4 shows the locked state). Is provided. The release member 35a is formed so as to project obliquely inside the hook curved portion in plan view as shown in FIG. 4, and the end thereof is lifted obliquely as shown in FIG.

Further, the front end 28a of the horizontal movement support plate 28 is bent in an L-shape, and a spring formed between the L-shaped front end 28a and the base plate 29 has a spring. 36 are provided. Further, the front end 28a is bent slightly obliquely on the left and right as shown in the plan view of FIG.
It is formed so that the cartridge X can be smoothly taken in and out.

The driving of the transport vehicle 10 having the above configuration is performed by the endless belt 5 of the driving unit 50 shown in FIGS.
1 is performed. The belt 51 transmits the rotation of the pulley 52 as shown in FIG. 1, and is stretched between the tension adjusting roller 53 and the most advanced roller 54 on the way. Is transmitted.

In the belt 51, the base of the position detection lever 12 is provided above the case 13 of the transport vehicle 10 so as to extend in the horizontal direction. As shown in FIG. 5, they are connected at a crossing position, whereby a driving force for moving the carrier 10 forward and backward is given.

The operation of the embodiment configured as described above will be described below. First, the basic operation will be described with reference to FIG. 4, FIG. 5, and FIG. 6 to FIG.

In the state of FIGS. 4 and 5, the cartridge X fed from the cartridge storage device A of FIG.
Is held between the arm 14 and the front end 28a of the horizontal movement support plate 28. Accordingly, the cartridge receiving portion 20 on the rotary table 200 of the photographic printing apparatus C is changed from this state.
After being transported to 1, the state shown in FIG. 6 is obtained.

When the cartridge X shown in FIG. 5 is fed laterally between the arm 14 and the front end 28a of the horizontal movement support plate 28, the cartridge X is inserted so as to slightly press the front end 28a of the support plate 28. The cartridge X can be reliably held.

6 shows the moment when the cartridge X comes into contact with the cartridge receiving portion 201. In practice, the driving force of the belt 51 causes the transport vehicle 10 to move further leftward than in the state shown in FIG. Pressed. It should be noted that FIG.
As shown in FIG. 7, the hook 35 of the arm lock mechanism 18 is engaged with the pin 31 to keep the arm closed and locked.

When the transport vehicle 10 is further pushed leftward from the state shown in FIG. 6, the cartridge X cannot be moved because it is stopped by the cartridge receiving portion 201. Therefore, as shown in FIG. Further cartridge X
It moves further to the left and pushes back the front end 28a of the horizontal movement support plate 28 by the reaction force from the cartridge X.

Therefore, the spring 36 between the front end 28a and the base plate 29 is compressed. This is because the driving force moving leftward by the belt 51 is applied to the case 13 via the position detection lever base.
Is transmitted to the case 13, the case 13 and the base plate 29 are integrally formed, whereas the horizontal movement support plate 28 is
Because it is movable inside.

When the horizontal movement support plate 28 is pushed back against the case 13 as described above, the hook 35 moves with respect to the pin 31 of the arm lock mechanism 18 and is lifted obliquely via the release member 35a (FIG. 7). (A)). At this time, since the elastic force of the spring 34 is applied to the hook 35, as shown in FIG.
5a comes to overlap with the upper end of the pin 31, and the locked state by the hook 35 is substantially released.

In this state, the bending lever 22 is still held linearly with the arm 14 by the bending support pin 26. Thereafter, when the belt 51 is moved rightward in FIG. 7 in the opposite direction, the arm 14 contacts the cartridge X again, and the spring 36 extends while the front end of the horizontal movement support plate 28 contacts the cartridge X. The base plate 29 moves to the right together with the case 13 by that amount.

Therefore, when the base plate 29 is pushed back to the right by the elastic force of the spring 36, the pin 31 recedes linearly with respect to the hook 35 and is completely released from the hook 35. At the same time, since the bending point of the long hole 25 of the bending lever 22 passes through the bending support pin 26, the retreat of the arm is pulled downward by the elastic force of the spring 27, and the support pin 24 is moved to the bending lever 22.
Moves in the long hole 23 on the distal end side of the arm, and eventually the bending lever 22 is also pulled down at the distal end.
4 is bent to the state shown in FIG. Since the arm 14 is bent, the arm 14 engaged with the cartridge X is released from the cartridge X.

The above is the basic operation of opening and closing the cartridge X by the arm 14 of the transport vehicle 10. The transport vehicle 10 performing the basic operation continuously operates the cartridge X by the operation shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 as follows. Transport to

FIG. 9A shows a state in which the carrier ₁₀ receives and holds the _first cartridge X1 at the standby position for receiving the cartridge X sent from the cartridge storage device A of FIG. I have. Although accepting cartridge X ₁ while arm 14 is a closed conveyance vehicle 10, arm 14 may not be closed even必Razushi.

[0061] As later described, since the arm 14 open must repeat state twice if accepting cartridge X ₁ the feed of the cartridge X ₁ in the (flexion) occurs, the closing order to improve the efficiency of possible tasks It is decided to start from the state of. The open / closed state of the arm 14 can be freely selected by manually pressing the front end 28a of the horizontal movement support plate 28 when setting the apparatus for the first time.

As shown in (a), when the first cartridge X ₁ is received, the belt 51 is driven, the cartridge X ₁ is held by the transport vehicle 10 and transported in the direction of the arrow in the figure.

[0063] As (b), when the cartridge X ₁ comes into contact with the cartridge receiving portion 201 of the rotary table 200, as described above, the front end of the horizontal moving support plate 28 2
8a is pressed, the spring 36 is compressed, and the horizontal movement support plate 2 is pressed.
The arm lock mechanism 18 is released by displacing the arm 8 relative to the case 13. As (c), when the guided vehicle 10 after the arm locking mechanism 18 is released is retracted, the holding arms 14 are opened cartridge X ₁ is released,
(D), the cartridge X ₁ is remained still guided vehicle to the cartridge receiving portion 201 is retracted.

FIG. 10 (e) shows that the carrier 10
4 shows a state in which the _second cartridge X2 is received with the cartridge 4 open. In this case the work is to be done automatically, it is impossible to close the arms 14 relative to the cartridge X _2.

Then, the transport vehicle 10 transports the cartridge X ₂ to the cartridge receiving portion 201 by pushing the front end 28 a of the movable support plate 28. However, (f), the the cartridge X ₂ abuts against the cartridge receiving portion 201, the spring 36 is compressed by being pushed front end 28a of the horizontal moving support plate 28, the arm lock mechanism 18 is again locked , the cartridge X ₂ is held by an arm 14 for flexion of the arm 14 also returns to the original horizontal state.

Accordingly, the robot moves in the direction indicated by the arrow (f), returns to the initial standby position, and advances again as indicated by the arrow g. This advance is just the first cartridge X ₁
And corresponds to a state to start conveying the cartridge receiving portion 201 of the cartridge X ₂ of the second by the advancing
Can be passed to

[0067] Incidentally, in the operation of the (f) from (g) is set to return the cartridge X ₂ to the initial standby position,
It is not necessary to return the transport vehicle 10 to the first standby position. If the control operation permits, the transport vehicle 10 moves slightly to the right after the arm 14 is closed in the state of FIG. The arm may be opened by contact.

By the time the state (e) or (f) starts, the first cartridge X ₁ on the rotary table is sent by the rotation of the rotary table 200 and the next cartridge receiving section 201 is on standby. Shall be.

After the _second cartridge X ₂ has been fed in this way, the third and fourth cartridges are sequentially fed to the cartridge receiving portion 201 on the rotary table by the same operation as that for the _second cartridge X _2. . Since the rotary table 200 on the four sets of cartridge holders 201 are provided in this embodiment, before feeding a cartridge X ₅ of the fifth rotary table 2 first cartridge X ₁
It needs to be removed from 00.

[0070] when I sent the four eyes of the cartridge X ₄ is, the arm 14 of the transport vehicle 10 is retracted in an open state.
Thus, instead of feeding immediately fifth cartridge X ₅ when returning to the initial standby position, it is advanced once again remain open arms 14. Immediately before keep back first cartridge X ₁ on the conveying line.

When the carrier 10 contacts the cartridge X ₁ , the arm 14 closes and holds the cartridge X _{1. In} this state, the carrier 10 is returned to the initial standby position, and X ₁ is sent back to the cartridge storage device A. . Thereafter, the fifth cartridge X ₅ is sent out from the printing / storage device A, held and transported by the transport vehicle 10 of the transport device B, and delivered to the cartridge receiving portion 201.

The sixth and subsequent cartridges X ₆ ... Can be continuously conveyed by repeating the same operation as in the case of the _fifth cartridge X ₅ .

FIG. 11 and subsequent figures show a transport device B 'of the second embodiment. The transport device B 'of this embodiment also includes a transport vehicle 10', a guide unit 40 ', and a drive unit 50, as in the first embodiment, but the drive unit 50 is exactly the same as in the first embodiment. In addition, the guide portion 40 'has a slightly different shape due to the configuration of the carrier 10' having a different type.

The guide section 40 'is similar to the first embodiment,
A guide side plate 41 'is provided (see FIG. 12, not shown in FIG. 11 for simplicity of illustration), and a guide rod 45 is supported by a guide support portion 46 in parallel with the guide side plate 41'. 4
Reference numeral 7 denotes a stopper, which mechanically stops a carrier 10 'described later.

Unlike the first embodiment, the transport vehicle 10 'is not provided with the guide roller 11, but instead, the side plate of the case 13 is partially cut open, and the guide portion 13a provided at the end is replaced with the guide portion 13a. The rod 45 is slidably fitted. A drive platform 12 ′ is provided between the guides 13 a and 13 a on the left side in the traveling direction of the carrier 10 ′ (arrow in FIG. 11).
3 is fixedly provided on the bottom plate 19 ', and the guide portion 13a extends along a guide rod 45 passing through the drive base 12'.
, Two elastic springs 13a are provided at the front and rear.

When the belt 51 'is driven by transmitting the power, the elastic spring 13b is provided with a stopper 4 at the beginning and end of the conveying path.
7, for absorbing the shock when the carrier 10 'or the cartridge X comes into contact with the receiving portion 201. A belt 51 'is running on the upper surface of the drive base 12', and the belt 51 'is driven by the fasteners 12b' and screws 12c '.
Fixed to 2 '.

An arm 14 'is rotatably provided near the front end of the case 13 via a horizontal support pin 15, and a cartridge holding mechanism 17' is provided at the base of the arms 14 'and 14'.
Are connected via pins 24. An arm lock mechanism is not provided in this embodiment.

Near the rear end of the case 13, a solenoid drive section 20 '(hereinafter abbreviated as "solenoid") is provided. The drive rod 20a' is connected to the cartridge holding mechanism 17 'via a pin 21. ing. The cartridge holding mechanism 17 ′ includes a bending lever 22 and an L provided near the center of the lever 22 for bending the lever.
It comprises a bent support pin 26 inserted through the long hole 25 and a spring 22a engaged with the pin.

The cartridge holding mechanism 17 ′ has its front end connected to the base of the arm 14 via a pin 24, and a force that constantly pulls the base of the arm 14 downward by a spring 27 locked to the pin 24. Is acting. The front end plate 28a is fixed to the bottom of the front end of the case 13.

According to the transport device B 'of this embodiment having the above-described configuration, the basic transport operation is the same as that of the first embodiment. FIG. 13 shows a state where the carrier 10 ′ is stopped at the insertion position of the cartridge X. In this state, the cartridge X is held between the arm 14 and the front end plate 28a.
, The cartridge X may be inserted and then closed as shown.

The opening and closing of the arm 14 is performed by moving the drive rod 20a 'of the solenoid 20' forward and backward. In FIG. 13, the drive rod 20a 'is retracted, and the arm 14 and the bending lever 22 are held horizontally.

When the cartridge X is held between the arm 14 and the front end 28 a, the transport vehicle 10 ′ is advanced through the belt 51 ′ of the drive section 50 and transported to the cartridge receiving section 201 of the rotary table 200.

When the cartridge X comes into contact with the receiving portion 201, the carrier 10 'stops at that position.

However, at this moment, since the power is still applied to the belt 51 ', the power pushes the drive base 12' in the forward direction, the movement amount thereof is absorbed by the spring 13b, and the belt 51 'stops after a short time. This is a photoelectric sensor PH not shown.
_{This is} because when the carrier 10 'is detected by ₂ ', the rotation of the drive unit 50 is stopped by the signal. This stopped state is shown in FIG.

When the carrier 10 'stops, the solenoid 20' is driven next, and when the drive rod 20a 'is protruded, the arm 14 is opened as shown in FIG.
When the drive rod 20a 'projects, the pin 21 and the bending lever 22 are pushed, and the pin 26 is located behind the elongated hole 25,
Therefore, the front end of the bending lever 22 is lowered. Then, the rear end of the arm 14 is also pulled down by the spring 27, and eventually the arm 14 is bent and opened.

When the arm 14 is released, the cartridge X
Is placed on the turntable 200, and then
When the transport vehicle 10 'is retracted and returned to the original cartridge insertion position, it comes into contact with the stopper 47 at the position shown in FIG. 13 and stops. Also in this case, the carrier _{1 is} detected by the photoelectric sensor PH ₁ ′.
0 'is detected, and the drive unit 50 is stopped by the signal. Then, when the cartridge X is inserted first while the arm 14 is open and then the arm 14 is closed, a state shown in FIG. 13 is obtained. Then, after that, the same operation as above is repeated and 2
The third and third cartridges X are sequentially fed.

In this embodiment, the opening and closing of the arm 14 is not performed by using the driving force for driving the carrier 10 as in the first embodiment, but the opening and closing of the arm 14 can be performed independently by the solenoid 20 '. Therefore, advantages are obtained that the configuration is simpler than that of the first embodiment, the operation is reliable, the operation is simple, and unnecessary movement is eliminated.

[0088]

As described above in detail, the transfer device according to the first invention of this application guides the transport vehicle by the transport unit and feeds the transport vehicle by the drive unit, and the transport vehicle holds the cartridge by the arm. Therefore, there is an advantage that the cartridge can be fed in from the lateral direction, held and held, and reliably supplied to the photographic printing apparatus, and the cartridge in which the processed film is wound can be sent back along the same path.

The transfer device of the second invention is provided with the holding mechanism for holding the cartridge between the arm and the support plate on the transfer vehicle, and the lock mechanism for locking the arm via this mechanism. Basically, all cartridges can be held and transported by a mechanical mechanism, so that there is a great advantage that the equipment is simple and the electric control is extremely simple and all can be automated.

The transport device according to the third aspect of the present invention is provided with a cartridge insertion portion for manually inserting a cartridge into the transport path in the feed portion. Therefore, a special cartridge which needs to be processed quickly while supplying the cartridge is required. Can be interrupted.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an entire appearance of a transfer device according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the above.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a transport vehicle.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the above.

FIG. 5 is a main sectional view of the above.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a basic operation of the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a basic operation of the above.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a basic operation of the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of a method of transporting a cartridge.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of a transport method according to the embodiment.

FIG. 11 is an external perspective view of a carrier according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a plan view of the above.

FIG. 13 is a sectional view of a main part of the above.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram of the above operation.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram of the above operation.

[Explanation of symbols]

A cartridge receiving device B carrying device C photographic printing apparatus PH _1, PH ₂ photoelectric sensor 10 conveying wheel 11 the guide roller 12 the position detecting lever 13 casing 14 arm 15 horizontal support pins 17 the cartridge holding mechanism 18 arm lock mechanism 19 supporting plate 20 ears Plate 21 pin 22 bending lever 23 long hole 24 pin 25 long hole 26 bending support pin 27 spring 28 horizontal movement support plate 28a front end 29 base plate 30 long hole 31 vertical pin 32 vertical pin 33 spring 34 spring 35 hook 35a release member 36 spring Reference Signs List 40 Guide part 41 Guide side plate 42 Guide opening 43 Opening 44 Cartridge insertion part 50 Drive part 51 Belt 52 Pulley 53, 54 Roller 55 Motor

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-4-123032 (JP, A) JP-A-4-223455 (JP, A) JP-A-5-19439 (JP, A) JP-A-6-1994 324467 (JP, A) JP-A-4-346346 (JP, A) JP-A-7-270933 (JP, A) JP-A-6-282058 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G03B 27/46 G03D 13/00

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A transport vehicle that holds a cartridge containing a film and sends it to a photographic printing apparatus is guided by a guide section provided along a transport path, and is reciprocally movable by a drive section. A transport unit for a photographic printing apparatus, comprising: a transport unit that transports the cartridge; and a transport vehicle configured to transport the cartridge while holding the cartridge by an openable / closable arm. 2. A cartridge holding mechanism comprising an arm and a support plate for holding the cartridge by the carrier;
2. The transport device for a photographic printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an arm lock mechanism for locking the arm in a closed state via the cartridge holding mechanism. 3. The transport device for a photographic printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the feeding portion includes a cartridge insertion portion for manually inserting a cartridge into a transport path.