JPH02230148A - Drying device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To shorten the drying time of sensitive material, to reduce energy consumption and to miniaturize the device by forming the inner space of an enclosure in the shape of a thin slit and specifying a humidity difference between the vicinity of a drying start part and the vicinity of a drying end part. CONSTITUTION:The inner space 3 penetrating from the inlet 4 to the outlet 5 of an enclosure 2 is provided in the enclosure 2 of the drying device, and is formed in the shape of a thin slit having a thickness T in the thickness direction of the passing sensitive material S. A pair of nozzles 8 communicating with the space 3 is provided in the vicinity of the inlet 4, blows out dried air sent by the operation of a fan 6 to form a high speed flow. Moreover, the relative humidity in the vicinity of the drying end part Y is higher than that in the vicinity of the drying start part X in the space 3, and the difference is equal to 30% RH or above. The temperature of the dried air can be set at a prescribed temperature or above.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a drying apparatus for drying a photosensitive material after wet processing.

BACKGROUND ART Photosensitive material processing apparatuses that perform wet processing include, for example, silver salt photocopiers, automatic processors, and the like.

A silver halide photocopier uses photosensitive material (
For example, a sheet of light-sensitive material is sent to the exposure section for exposure, and the exposed photosensitive material is sent to the processing section. The photographic material is sent to the photosensitive material, where it is sequentially subjected to development, bleaching/fixing, and washing, and the resulting photosensitive material is dried in a drying section to obtain a copy of the original image.

In addition, an automatic processor sequentially develops, bleaches, fixes, washes, and stabilizes photographed photosensitive material (for example, color negative film) in a processing section, then dries the photosensitive material in a drying section to produce a negative image. Or get a real image.

The drying device installed in the drying section of such a photosensitive material processing apparatus has a duct that surrounds the conveyance path of the photosensitive material, and a fan and a heater for supplying warm air into the duct. In this method, hot air is blown onto the wet photosensitive material being transported inside to dry it.

However, in such conventional drying equipment, although a large amount of hot air is supplied due to the large volume of the internal space of the duct, the amount of hot air that actually hits the surface of the photosensitive material and contributes to the removal of moisture is small. However, there is a drawback that the drying time is long.

Particularly in wet-type copying machines and automatic processors, the long drying time is a major obstacle to shortening the overall processing time.

It also heats a large amount of air. Therefore, it consumes a large amount of energy and releases a large amount of heat to the outside, which adversely affects the environment in which the equipment is installed, such as an increase in temperature and humidity.Furthermore, it takes time to heat up (preheat) when starting processing. There is also.

Note that since preheating takes a long time, the drying device must be turned on every time the photosensitive material is processed. Since the drying device cannot be turned off and must be kept running regardless of whether the photosensitive material is being processed or not, this also increases energy consumption.

Furthermore, the conventional drying apparatus has the following drawbacks regarding the emulsion layer of the photosensitive material.

In conventional drying devices, about 70 to 95% of the hot air that is supplied into the duct and contributes to drying is recovered and supplied into the duct again. Therefore, when a photosensitive material is processed continuously, it is dried with high-temperature air, and reticulation (
There is a drawback that film quality defects such as cracks occur.

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention> The purpose of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, and to provide a method that has good drying efficiency, particularly short drying time, consumes less energy, and can downsize the device. The purpose is to provide a drying device.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a drying device that can prevent film quality defects such as reticleation from occurring on the emulsion surface of a light-sensitive material.

Means to solve problems〉 Such objects are achieved by the present invention as described below.

That is, the present invention provides a drying device for drying a photosensitive material by passing the photosensitive material through the internal space of the housing while supplying a drying gas to the internal space of the housing, wherein the internal space of the housing is The photosensitive material has a slit shape with a thin thickness in the thickness direction, and the difference between the relative humidity near the drying start part and the relative humidity near the drying end part in the internal space is 30% RH or more. This is an I2 drying device characterized by:

Further, the present invention provides a drying device in which the drying device is provided with a control means for controlling the drying device to operate at the start of drying and stop its operation at the end of drying.

In these drying apparatuses, it is preferable that the temperature of the drying gas supplied to the side of the photosensitive material emulsion side of the internal space of the housing is 70° C. or higher.

Moreover, it is preferable that the drying apparatus has a dehumidifying means for removing moisture from the drying gas.

In addition, in the technical field similar to the present invention,
There is a drying apparatus for photographic processing disclosed in No. 44331.

This drying device for photographic processing is a device that performs hot air drying between a feeding roller and a feeding roller for photosensitive material, in which hot drying air is made to flow over the surface of the photosensitive material inside the hot air drying device to dry it. A drying device for photographic processing, characterized in that a discharge device is provided for discharging drying air containing moisture from a part of the hot air drying device after completing the drying process.

However, this drying apparatus for photographic processing is intended for short-time drying and for automatically conveying the photosensitive material within the conveying passage (corresponding to the slit-shaped internal space of the present invention) using air flow, and the purpose of this drying apparatus is It does not focus on the humidity difference between the drying section and the drying end section.

In particular, the total length of the conveyance path of this photoprocessing drying apparatus is short, being only about 2 to 3 times the total length of the blowing portions of the nozzles. Furthermore, there is no means for dehumidifying the supplied air. Therefore, in this drying apparatus for photo processing, the difference between the relative humidity near the drying start part and the relative humidity near the drying end part in the conveyance path is 30 %RH or higher, and therefore, reticulation on the surface of the emulsion of the light-sensitive material cannot be prevented.

In the present invention having such a configuration, the internal space of the housing through which the photosensitive material passes is formed into a slit shape with a thin thickness in the direction of the thickness of the photosensitive material, thereby significantly reducing its volume and reducing the size of the housing. A large amount of drying gas can be flowed at high speed, resulting in drying in a short time with a short conveyance path, saving energy,
It is also possible to prevent adverse effects on the indoor environment and downsize the device.

The difference between the relative humidity near the drying start part and the relative humidity near the drying end part in the internal space of the housing is 30%R.
Since it is H or higher, film quality defects such as reticulation do not occur on the emulsion surface of the photosensitive material.

In addition, even when drying with hot air, since the amount of drying gas to be heated is small, it can be preheated instantly. Therefore, it is possible to control the air blowing by starting air blowing immediately before drying starts and stopping air blowing after drying is completed. It can be carried out. As a result, air is blown only during drying, further reducing energy consumption and preventing adverse effects on the indoor environment in which the device is installed.

Preferred Embodiments Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the drying apparatus of the present invention shown in the accompanying drawings will be described in detail.

FIGS. 1 to 8 are longitudinal sectional views each showing an example of the structure of the drying apparatus of the present invention. Note that the same members in each figure are indicated by the same reference numerals, and descriptions of the same items will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 1, the drying device 1a of the present invention has a box-shaped housing 2 with a rectangular cross section.
An inlet 4 for the photosensitive material S is formed at the left end in the figure, and an outlet 5 for the photosensitive material S is formed at the right end in the figure. In this specification, the entrance 4 side is referred to as the "front" and the exit 5 side is referred to as the "rear".
It will be explained as follows.

The housing 2 has an internal space 3 penetrating from an inlet 4 to an outlet 5.
is formed, and this internal space 3 has a slit shape with a thin thickness T in the thickness direction (vertical direction in the figure) of the photosensitive material S passing through. That is, the cross section of the internal space 3 has a slit shape. The dimensions of this internal space 3 will be detailed later. In the illustrated example, the internal space 3 has a flat shape, but in the present invention, the internal space 3 may have an appropriately curved shape as long as the passage of the photosensitive material S is not hindered.

A pair of nozzles 8 that communicate with the internal space 3 are installed near the entrance 4 of the housing 2 on the SA side (emulsion side) and the SS side (upper and lower sides in the figure) of the photosensitive material S, respectively. ing.

A slit-shaped blowout opening is formed at the tip of these nozzles 8, and a fan (air blower) is formed at the base end of the nozzle 8.
6 exhaust ports 7 are connected.

Further, the nozzle 8 is installed with its tip inclined toward the rear, and a drying gas (air or other inert gas may be mentioned, hereinafter) is sent out from the exhaust port 7 by the operation of the fan 6. (represented by air) is ejected from the tip of the nozzle 8 into the internal space 3, forming a high-speed flow toward the rear in the internal space 3 of the housing. Air that has passed through the internal space 3 is discharged from the outlet 5.

In this way, while air is flowing from the front to the rear of the interior space 3 at high speed, the wet photosensitive material S supported and transported by a pair of transport rollers 30 is introduced into the entrance 4 and passes through the interior space 3. When this happens, the front surface SA and back surface S of the photosensitive material S
B is dehydrated and dried.

In this case, the humidity of the atmosphere inside the interior space 3 gradually increases from the front to the rear. That is, in the present invention,
The difference (absolute value) between the relative humidity near the drying start part X and the relative humidity near the drying end part Y is set to 30% RH or more, preferably about 50 to 90% RH.

This prevents poor film quality on the surface (emulsion surface) SA of the photosensitive material S, particularly reticulation. In the configuration example shown in FIG. 1, the drying start part X is located near the air inlet of the nozzle 8, and the drying end part Y
The position is near the outlet 5 of the housing 2. The second
When multiple pairs of nozzles are installed along the longitudinal direction of the housing, as in the configuration example shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 7, the position of the drying start part do.

In order to facilitate the introduction of the photosensitive material S, the entrance 4 is provided with a front side SA side and a back side S. An inclined surface that slopes toward the rear is formed on the side, and the inclined surface 4a
At the tip of the nozzle 8, there is a barb (stepped part) to prevent the air ejected from the nozzle 8 from flowing backwards and exiting from the air outlet 4.
is formed.

Further, it is preferable that the inclination angle α of the nozzle 8 is about 5# to 60''. If α is less than 5°, the size of the housing 2 will increase, making it difficult to design compactly. This is because if it exceeds the limit, backflow to the inlet 4 is likely to occur.

In this configuration example, by supplying air from the front side and the back side of the photosensitive material S, air is passed through the internal space 3 between the front side SA of the photosensitive material S and the inner wall 2a of the housing, and from the back side SA.
Air currents are formed between the inner walls 2a and 2b of the housing, respectively, and the photosensitive material S can be prevented from being secretly exposed to the inner walls 2a and 2b of the housing. When preventing such adhesion of the photosensitive material S, the shape and installation angle α of the nozzle 8 installed on the front side and the back side of the photosensitive material S are made symmetrical in order to maintain the balance of air flow. Preferably, the amounts supplied are also equal.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along line IX-IX in FIG. 1.

As shown in the figure, the width WH of the outlet of the nozzle 8,
Width W of photosensitive material S. It is preferable that the relationship W s < W s be satisfied.

As a result, the air ejected from the upper and lower nozzles 8 is
The flow hits the front surface SA and the back surface S of the photosensitive material S, and as shown by the arrows in the figure, the flow is shunted toward both ends of the photosensitive material S, so that the photosensitive material S, the inner wall 2a side of the housing, and the inner wall 2b of the housing
The balance of the air flow between the two sides is maintained, and the swinging of the photosensitive material S in the vertical and horizontal directions in the figure is suppressed and stabilized.

Although not shown, the IJ2a. 2b, for example, Japanese Patent Application No. 62-2
77678, or a flexible member (e.g., a loop-shaped fiber) that protrudes toward the inside, or as a means to prevent the photosensitive material from swinging, it is possible to provide a flexible member (e.g., a loop-shaped fiber) that protrudes toward the inside of the housing, or to provide a flexible member (for example, a loop-shaped fiber) that protrudes toward the inside of the housing, or to provide a flexible member (for example, a loop-shaped fiber) that protrudes toward the inside of the housing, or to provide a flexible member (for example, a loop-shaped fiber) on the inner walls 2a and 2b of the housing in the longitudinal direction of the housing as a means to prevent the photosensitive material from swinging. It is possible to provide protrusions, grooves, or other guide members that extend across the surface. The photosensitive material S is transported within the housing 2 in the following manner.

The length of the photosensitive material S is the length of the housing 2 (more precisely, the length of the entrance 4
distance between the side conveyance roller 30 and the exit 5 side conveyance roller 31)
If the length is longer, the rotational force of the conveyance rollers 30 and 31 is used.

That is, before the rear end (front end) of the photosensitive material S does not come off the transport roller 30, the leading end (rear end) of the photosensitive material S is supported by the transport roller 31, so that the photosensitive material S
is supported by at least one of transport rollers 30 and 31 and transported through the internal space 3 of the housing.

If the length of the photosensitive material S is shorter than the length of the housing 2,
After the rear end of the photosensitive material S comes off the conveyance roller 30, the photosensitive material S is conveyed backward by the high-speed air flow flowing through the internal space 3 (hereinafter referred to as air conveyance), and the leading end of the photosensitive material S is moved away from the conveyance roller 30. After reaching the roller 31, it is held and conveyed by the rollers 31. In addition, even in this case, the internal space 3
A pair of driven and rotating conveyance rollers, a roller conveyance system such as an endless conveyor belt that circulates IM, a belt conveyance system, or the like may be provided.

The width of the internal space 3 of the housing 2 is the width Wl of the photosensitive material S (
The thickness T of the inner space 3 is preferably about 3 to 1000 times, particularly about 5 to 100 times, the thickness of the photosensitive material S.

If the thickness is less than 3 times the thickness of the photosensitive material S, problems such as adhesion failure or scratches on the photosensitive material S are likely to occur during drying, and if the thickness exceeds 1000 times, the volume of the internal space 3 becomes large and drying This is because depending on the conditions, the effects of the present invention may not be fully exhibited.

Note that the thickness T of the internal space 3 may gradually increase or decrease from the front to the rear, that is, the internal space 3 may have a tapered shape.

This makes it possible to change the flow velocity of air in the longitudinal direction of the internal space 3. For example, if the air flow velocity in the first half of drying is high (T gradually increases toward the rear), the second half of drying will be slow drying, especially for light-sensitive materials with little hardening agent or with thick emulsion layers. It has the effect of preventing film quality deterioration for materials. In the opposite case (T gradually decreases toward the rear), the drying tends to be rather rapid even in the latter half of the drying period, and the drying bath (time) is particularly suitable for light-sensitive materials with thin emulsion layers because the drying bath (time) is short.

The drying device 1b shown in FIG. 2 has a configuration in which a plurality of nozzles are provided along the longitudinal direction of the housing 2. The drying device 1b shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, nozzles 8, 8' and 8'' are installed in the upper and lower parts of the housing 2 in order from the front to the rear, and a branch duct 9 branching from near the exhaust port 7 of the fan 6 serves as the nozzle. 8' and 8'' at their proximal ends.

The nozzles 8' and 8'' are similar to the nozzle 8 described above.

For the same reasons as mentioned above, it is preferable that the shape, installation angle, arrangement, etc. of each nozzle be symmetrical on the front and back sides of the photosensitive material S, and that the total amount of air supplied be equal.

In this way, when a plurality of pairs of nozzles are provided, when the air flow ejected from the nozzle 8 is attenuated due to pressure loss, new air is ejected from the nozzle 8' and the nozzle 8'' behind it. This can be recovered by doing this.

Therefore, such a configuration is advantageously applied when the length of the housing 2 is relatively long, when the photosensitive material S is conveyed by air, and when the drying efficiency is increased.

In addition, in the drying device 1b, the total length of the housing 2 is sufficiently long, preferably 30 times or more, more preferably 1
00 to 1000 times. Thereby, the humidity difference between the drying start section X and the drying end section Y described above can be easily achieved.

The drying devices 1c and 1d shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 are
It has a heating means for heating drying air, and dries the photosensitive material S with warm air. This improves drying efficiency compared to the drying devices 1a and 1b.

The drying device 1c includes a heater 10 in the exhaust port 7 of the fan 6.
is installed, and the air humidified by the heater 10 is ejected from the nozzle 8 into the internal space 3 of the housing 2 (
(See Figure 3).

The temperature of the hot air supplied into the internal space 3 is not particularly limited, and may be, for example, about 40 to 150°C, but the temperature of the hot air supplied to at least the surface S1 of the photosensitive material S is 70°C or higher. It is preferable that

Further, the high temperature T1, .
and the minimum temperature T1,, T + a l n
is preferably about 20 to 100°C. This is because such a temperature difference (particularly 40° C. or higher) reliably prevents reticulation on the emulsion surface.

The drying device 1d includes panel heaters (planar heating elements) 1 on the outer walls of the front and back sides of the photosensitive material S of the housing 2, respectively.
1 is installed to heat the housing, and when the air ejected from the nozzle 8 passes through the internal space 3 where the panel heater 11 is installed, it receives heat from the internal wall of the housing and is heated. (See Figure 4). The temperature in this case is also the same as above.

Note that, from the viewpoint of improving drying efficiency and improving the film quality of the emulsion layer of the photosensitive material S, it is preferable that the panel heater 1l be installed at least in the first half of drying, that is, on the front side of the housing 2.

In such drying apparatuses IC and 1d, the drying temperature (drying air temperature) on the front side SA side and the back side S of the photosensitive material S may be made equal, but the drying temperature on the front side SA side is set to be the same as the drying temperature on the back side S. , it is preferable to set the drying temperature higher than the drying temperature on the side.

Specifically, the drying temperature on the back side SIl side is set to 40°C or higher and 70°C.
℃ or less, and the drying temperature on the surface SA side is 70℃ or higher and 150℃.
An example of this is when the temperature is below ℃.

The reason why the drying temperature is different between the front and back sides of a photosensitive material is, firstly, that the surface SA of the photosensitive material, which originally has an emulsion layer, is preferentially dried, and secondly, the curling of the photosensitive material The objective is to prevent this and improve the transportability within the housing 2.

In addition, the provision of a difference in the preferred value of the drying temperature and the drying temperature also applies to each of the configuration examples described later.

The drying devices 1e and 1f shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 are
It has a dehumidifying means for removing moisture from the drying air and a heating means for heating the drying air, and the air after drying is circulated and reused. By providing such a dehumidifying means, the above-mentioned humidity difference between the drying start section X and the drying end section Y can be easily achieved.

The drying apparatus 1e shown in FIG. 5 has symmetrical air circulation systems on the front side and the back side of the photosensitive material of the housing 2, respectively. This air circulation system has a duct 12, and a recovery port l3, which is the rear end of the duct 12, is installed near the outlet 5 of the housing 2. Further, a slit-shaped opening 121 through which the photosensitive material S passes is formed on the side thereof. This opening 121 has a convergent shape so that the photosensitive material S can easily pass therethrough and there is little air leakage.

A dehumidifier l4 is installed in the middle of the duct 12, and further in front of the dehumidifier l4, in the expanded internal space of the duct 12,
A propeller type fan 15 is installed. moreover,
A heater 16 is installed in the duct l2 in front of the fan 15, and the front end of the duct 12 is connected to the base end of the nozzle 8.

The dehumidifier 14 may be, for example, one using a normal refrigerant like an air conditioner, one using an electronic cooling element using the Peltier effect (Japanese Patent Application No. 63-221796), or one using a desiccant such as calcium chloride or silica gel. A variety of configurations can be used, including one with a simple configuration in which a moisture absorbent (hygroscopic agent) is placed and air containing moisture is passed through it.
Among these, the structure of a dehumidifier using an electronic cooling element will be representatively explained.

As shown in FIG. 10, the dehumidifier l4 has a hollow body 4.
0, and a Beltier element (electronic cooling element) 41 that utilizes the Beltier effect is installed in the main body 40. This Peltier element is arranged so that the right side in FIG. 10 is the heat absorbing part 42 and the left side is the heat radiating part 43.

Further, a Peltier element 41 is provided on the heat absorption part 42 side of the main body 40.
An opening 44 is formed at a position facing the main body 40 .
An opening 45 is formed on the heat dissipation part 43 side at a position facing the Bertier element 41 . A duct l2 is connected to these openings 44 and 45.

Further, a drain pipe 47 having a receiving tray 46 is installed at the lower end of the Peltier element 41 on the side of the heat absorbing section 42 .
7 to the outside of the main body 40 and stored in a tank 48.

In the dehumidifier 14 having such a configuration, as shown by the arrow in FIG.
It collides with the Beltier element 41 and is divided in the vertical direction in the figure.

This air is cooled as it passes through the heat absorbing section 42 and forms dew condensation on the surface of the Vertier element 41.

Water droplets generated by this condensation flow down due to their own weight and are stored in a tank 48 via a saucer 46 and a drain pipe 47. The air that has been cooled and dehumidified in the heat absorbing section 42 passes through the upper and lower curved portions of the main body, is guided to the heat radiating section 43, and is heated again here.

The dry air heated by the heat radiation section 43 is discharged to the outside of the main body 40 through the opening 45. The humidity of this exhausted air is
For example, the RH is 5 to 20%.

Note that the tank 48 may be provided independently for each dehumidifier, or may be common to each dehumidifier.

A dehumidifier using such an electronic cooling element is preferable because it is small, has a high dehumidifying ability, and consumes little power.

In such a drying apparatus 1e, air circulation is performed as follows. When the fan 15 is activated, the collection port 1
3 becomes a negative pressure, and the dried air discharged from the outlet 5 and containing a high amount of moisture is sucked into the upper and lower recovery ports 13 of the housing 2, passes through the duct 12, and reaches the dehumidifier 14. This air is dehumidified by a dehumidifier 14, then passes through a fan 15, and is heated preferably from 70 to 70 by a heater 16.
It is heated to about 150° C. and is again ejected from the nozzle 8 into the internal space 3 of the housing 2, forming a high-speed flow.

The drying device 1f shown in FIG. 6 is different from the drying device 1e in the structure of the dehumidifying means.

That is, openings 17 are formed on the front side and the back side of the photosensitive material on the rear side (the latter half of drying) of the housing 2, respectively, and these openings 17 have water vapor permeability or selective permeability as a dehumidifying means. A water vapor permeable member 18 is attached thereto. As a specific example of this water vapor permeable member l8,
For example, fine mesh materials made of fine metal wires or heat-resistant fibers (e.g., glass fiber, carbon fiber, etc.), woven fabrics, non-woven fabrics, asbestos, porous materials made of heat-resistant resins, unglazed plates, foamed ceramics, or other materials. Examples include heat-resistant, porous materials. In addition, when the temperature of the air passing through is low (especially below 60°C), heat resistance is not required. (For example, "Bolex" manufactured by Glossrock; Materials/ultra high molecular weight polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinylidene fluoride, etc.), microporous film (for example, "Celboa" manufactured by Sekisui Chemical Co., Ltd.)
;Material: polyolefin plastics) etc. can also be used. In such a drying device 1f, air circulation is performed as follows. The air ejected from the nozzle 8 removes moisture from both sides of the photosensitive material S, and the humidity increases toward the rear.

When this high-temperature air passes through the internal space 3 where the water vapor permeable member 18 exists, the water vapor in the air or a portion of the water vapor and air passes through the water vapor permeable member 18 and is discharged to the outside of the housing 2. .

As a result, the humidity in the air gradually decreases toward the rear, and low-humidity air is discharged from the outlet 5. Afterwards, this low-humidity air is transferred to the upper and lower collection ports that create negative pressure.
3 respectively, and pass through the duct 12 to the fan 15.
is heated to the same temperature as above by the heater 16, and is again ejected from the nozzle 8 into the internal space 3 of the housing 2,
Forms a high-velocity flow.

In this case, the drying end portion Y is located at the front end or front half of the water vapor permeable member 18.

Note that the water vapor permeable member 18 may be provided in an intermediate portion of the duct 12 (for example, the portion indicated by symbol A in FIG. 6). In this case, the drying end portion Y is near the collection port 13, and a gradient in which the humidity gradually increases is formed over the entire length of the housing 2, so that the humidity difference between the drying start portion X and the drying end portion Y described above is formed. becomes easier to obtain.

In such drying apparatuses 1e and 1f, the degree of dehumidification may be different between the front side and the back side of the photosensitive material S. In this case, it is preferable to supply air with lower humidity to the emulsion side of the photosensitive material S.

The drying devices 18 to 1f described above are categorized as follows: (1) The drying devices 1a and 1b are cold air supply open types that supply unheated room temperature air without circulation; (2) The drying devices IC and 1d are heated The drying devices 1e and 1f are of the open type for supplying warm air without circulating the air; (2) The drying devices 1e and 1f are of the circulating type for supplying dehumidified hot air, circulating and supplying dehumidified and heated air.

In addition, in the present invention, drying equipment other than the above-mentioned items 1 to 2, such as a dehumidifying cold air supply open type, a dehumidifying hot air supply open type, a cold air supply circulation type, a hot air supply circulation type, a dehumidifying cold air supply circulation type, or It goes without saying that a drying device that combines these may also be used.

The drying device 1g shown in FIG. 7 performs different types of drying in the first half and the second half.

The drying device 1g is located on the left side of the housing 2 in Figure 7 (first half of drying)
The photosensitive material has a symmetrical air circulation system on the front side and the back side, respectively.

This air circulation system has a duct 50, the rear end of which is
It is connected to the middle of the housing 2 via a collection port 51.

A dehumidifier 19 is installed in the middle of the duct 50, and a fan 6 similar to the above is installed in front of the dehumidifier 19.

Further, the exhaust port 7 of the fan 6 is connected to the base end of a nozzle 8, and the tip of the nozzle 8 is installed so as to communicate with the interior of the housing 2.

Further, a heater 10 is installed inside the exhaust port 7 of the fan 6.

Note that the dehumidifier 19 is similar to the dehumidifier 14 described above, and it is particularly preferable to use a dehumidifier using an electronic cooling element shown in FIG. 10.

Furthermore, a pair of relay conveyance rollers 32 are installed in the housing 2 near the collection port 51 of the duct 50. On the other hand, a pair of nozzles 8 similar to those described above are installed on the front side and the back side of the photosensitive material on the right side in FIG. 7 (the latter half of drying) of the housing 2.
A fan 6 is connected to the base end of the nozzle 8 via an exhaust port 7.

Further, a heater 10' is installed inside the exhaust port 7 of the fan 6.

In such a drying device 1g, in the first half of drying, the internal space 3 of the housing 2 and the duct 5 are
Air circulates inside 0.

That is, the air supplied for drying is introduced into the duct 50 from the recovery port 51, dehumidified by the dehumidifier 19 in the middle of the duct 50, heated to preferably 70° C. or higher by the heater 10, and then heated again. It is supplied from the nozzle 8 to the drying start section X.

Therefore, in the first half of drying, drying is performed using air at relatively high temperature and low humidity (for example, average humidity of about 1 to 20% RH).

On the other hand, in the second half of drying, the air taken in from the outside by the operation of the fan 6 is heated by the heater 10'.
It is supplied to the internal space 3 from the nozzle 8 , flows rearward within the internal space 3 , and is exhausted from the outlet 5 . Here, it is preferable that the temperature of the air heated by the heater 10' be lower than that by the heater 10. That is, the amount of heat generated by the heater 10' is made lower than that of the heater 10, or the heater 10' is turned off.
(cold air supply).

As a result, in the latter half of drying, the temperature is relatively low (room temperature to 60℃).
) and high temperature or medium humidity (for example, average humidity 40~
Drying is performed using air at a relative humidity of about 90%.

As described above, it is most preferable to dry at high temperature and low humidity in the first half of drying and at low temperature and high temperature W (medium finish B) in the second half of the drying period in order to prevent reticulation and the like on the surface of the emulsion of the light-sensitive material.

In the drying apparatus of the present invention, the constituent material of the housing 2 is not particularly limited, but in the case of a hot air supply type as in (1) and (2) above, a heat-resistant material is preferably used.
It is best to use one that has heat insulating properties. As a specific example, the housing 2 may be made of various ceramics such as alumina, zirconia, asbestos, and glass wool, or metal such as stainless steel, Hastelloy, copper, or a copper-based alloy, or the outer wall of the metal housing may be made of asbestos, Examples include bonding heat insulating materials such as felt, aluminum foil, and glass wool.

Further, the housing of the joint portion of the panel heater 11 in the drying device 1d shown in FIG. 4 is preferably made of a material with good thermal conductivity (for example, a metal such as copper or a copper-based alloy).

Preferred ranges of the average flow velocity (linear velocity) of air in the internal space 3 of the housing 2 in the drying device of the present invention are shown for each configuration example, as follows:
It is as shown in Table 1 below.

Note that the bottom row in Table 1 shows the average flow velocity of air in the duct in the conventional drying device.

Moreover, the average flow velocity of air in Table 1 is calculated from the following formula.

U=V/S U: Average flow rate of air ■: Air supply amount (flow rate) S: Cross-sectional area of internal space 3 Table 1 In addition, when performing air conveyance in drying devices 1a-1h, the values in Table 1 Preferably, the average flow rate is increased by 0 to 20%.

In the drying device of the present invention, since the internal space of the housing is in the form of a thin slit, its volume is significantly reduced compared to conventional devices. This allows a small amount of air to flow into the internal space of the housing at high speed (see Table 1).

When the photosensitive material S is passed through air flowing at high speed, the amount of air that collides with the surface of the photosensitive material per unit time increases, so it can be dried in a shorter time than in the past.
It is possible to dry the photosensitive material S even in a cold air supply type drying device such as the drying devices 1a and 1b.

In addition, since the amount of air used for drying is small, even when heating air with a drying device of 10 to 1 g, the energy consumption for heating is small (and the preheating time at the start of drying is short. Furthermore, drying device IC, 1d. l
As per g (second half), even if the hot air supply is open type, the amount of exhaust air and waste heat to the outside is small, so it may have negative effects on the indoor environment where the device is installed (hereinafter referred to as the indoor environment) (temperature rise, etc.) ).

In addition, in the case of circulation type dryers such as dryers 1e, 1f, and Ig (first half), the heat held by the air after drying is reused, which further reduces energy consumption.
Since there is almost no exhaust air or waste heat to the outside, there is no problem of adverse effects on the indoor environment.

Furthermore, when an iB removal means is provided, drying efficiency is greatly improved. In particular, when dehumidifying means and heating means are provided, drying is performed in high temperature, low humidity air at least in the initial stage of drying, which can lead to poor film quality such as reticulation (cracks) or poor gloss on the emulsion surface of the photosensitive material. It can be prevented.

The drying apparatus 1h shown in FIG. 8 is an example of a configuration in which a control means is provided to control the operation and stop of the drying apparatus in response to whether the five photosensitive materials S pass through the housing 2 or not. The configuration of this control means will be explained below.

A sensor 20 capable of detecting the presence of the photosensitive material S is installed near the entrance 4 at the front of the housing 2.
Be connected to l. The control unit 21 also controls the power source 22 of the dehumidifier 14, the power source 23 of the fan l5, and the electric power a2 of the heater l6 on the front side and the back side of the photosensitive material S.
'4 are connected to each other.

Note that the sensor 20 may be any type of sensor, such as a touch sensor or a light sensor.

When the leading edge of the photosensitive material S passes through the sensor 2o, the sensor 20 detects the presence of the photosensitive material S, and the detection signal is digitized and input to the control section 21. Based on this input signal, the control unit 21 controls each power line.
A command signal is output to turn on i22, 23, and 24. As a result, the dehumidifier 14, fan 1
5 and the heater 16 operate almost simultaneously, and drying begins.

The control unit 21 has a built-in timer that issues a command to turn off each power source 22, 23, and 24 after a certain period of time (hereinafter referred to as operating time) has elapsed since each power source was turned on. Output a signal. Note that the operating time is until the drying of the photosensitive material S is completed, that is, until the drying of the photosensitive material S
The time required for the rear end to pass through the exit 5 or a slightly longer time may be set in advance, for example, by taking into consideration various conditions such as the length of the photosensitive material S and the conveyance speed, for example, the longest one. Alternatively, it can be set manually or automatically each time depending on the conditions.

In the latter case, the control unit 21 may be configured to store a table of operating times according to the various conditions and select the optimum value.

Note that the timing for turning off each of the power supplies 22, 23, and 24 is not limited to the timer described above. ), and the sensor detects the photosensitive material S.
It is detected that the passage through the housing 2 has been completed, and based on this detection signal, the control unit 21 controls each power source 22, 23 and 2.
4 may be output and executed.

In addition, in the present invention, the configuration of the control means is not limited to one that detects the presence of the photosensitive material S, but for example, the rotation of the conveying rollers 30 and 31 is mechanically or electrically detected, and the same control unit as described above is used. 2l turns on each power source 22 to 24. O
It may also be configured to perform FF control.

Furthermore, the operation and stopping of the drying device is not limited to automatic control as in each of the above examples, but each power source 22 to 24 is turned on when drying of the photosensitive material S is started, and each power source 22 to 24 is turned on when drying is completed.
It is also possible to manually control the amount of 4.

In such control, each power source 22, 23 and 24
The ON and OFF operations are not limited to the case where they are all performed at the same time, and may be set at a time difference.

For example, if the dehumidifier 14 and the heater 16 are stopped and the fan 15 is controlled to be stopped after a predetermined period of time has elapsed, partial retention of moisture and heating within the duct 12 can be prevented, which is preferable. In addition, the fan 15 is operated at all times, and the dehumidifier 14 and heater 16 are turned on in the same way as above.
N, OFF control may be performed.

According to the drying device 1h having such a control means, since the device is operated only when drying the photosensitive material S, energy consumption is significantly reduced and there is no influence on the indoor environment.

The reason why such control is possible is as follows. In conventional drying equipment, since the volume of the duct through which the photosensitive material passes is large, it is necessary to heat a large amount of air, which requires a long time to preheat. was activated and could not be stopped.

On the other hand, with the drying device of the present invention, since cold air drying is possible as described above, there is no need to consider the preheating time, or even when using hot air drying, the amount of air to be heated is small. Since the preheating time is extremely short, it has become possible to start and stop the drying device each time the photosensitive material is dried.

The type of photosensitive material S to be dried by the drying apparatus of the present invention is not particularly limited, and examples include color negative film, color reversal film, color photographic paper, color body film, color reversal photographic paper, photosensitive material for plate making, X-ray Examples include various photosensitive materials such as photographic materials, black and white negative films, black and white photographic paper, and microphotosensitive materials.

Further, the drying device of the present invention can be used alone or in an automatic developing machine, a wet color copying machine (APC), etc. It can be used by being incorporated into various photosensitive material processing devices such as video printer processors and color paper processing machines for plate inspection.

Although the structure of the drying device of the present invention has been described above with reference to several structural examples, the present invention is not limited to these. For example, the structure of any of the drying devices 18 to 1h may be combined. or other configurations.

Further, the drying devices 1a to 1h are all for photosensitive material S.
The front SA side and the back SLL side each have independent air supply systems (fans, ducts, heaters, dehumidifiers), but are not limited to this. It may be configured such that air is supplied from the system to the nozzles 8 on the front side and the back side of the photosensitive material in a divided manner.

<Experimental Examples> Specific experimental examples of the drying apparatus of the present invention will be described below.

(Example 1 of the present invention) A drying apparatus having the structure shown in FIG. 2 was manufactured, and was used to dry a photosensitive material after wet processing. The conditions are as follows.

Housing/Total length: 1200mm Internal space width: 100++m Internal space thickness T: 4+++m Material: Stainless steel nozzle/Arrangement: 3 pairs, vertically symmetrical tilt angle α: 30° (same for each nozzle) Air outlet width W
N: 801Ql (each nozzle is the same) Total length of outlet: 3
ma+ (1 mm x 3) Drying gas / Supply air temperature: Normal temperature (approx. 24°C) Supply air humidity: Normal humidity (approx. 55% RH) Flow velocity in the housing: 12 m/s Photosensitive material / Type: Color manufactured by Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd. Paper type 03 Dimensions: Width: 89 mm x Length: 20 m x Thickness: 220 - Photosensitive material transport speed/l. Om/min (Invention Example 2) A drying apparatus having the structure shown in FIG. 3 was manufactured, and was used to dry a photosensitive material after wet processing. The conditions are as follows.

Housing / Overall length: 500mm Internal space width: 220mm Internal space thickness T: 3mm Material: Asbestos material Nozzle / Arrangement: 1 pair, vertically symmetrical Inclination angle α: 45° Air outlet width Ws: 190 + nm Air outlet length 1 mm Drying gas / Supply air temperature = 80°C Supply air humidity: Normal humidity (55% RH at 24°C) Flow velocity in the housing: 23 m/s Photosensitive material / Same as in Example 1 except that the width was 203 mm Photosensitive material transport speed / 0.5 m/min (Example 3 of the present invention) A drying apparatus having the structure shown in FIG. 7 was manufactured, and was used to dry the photosensitive material after wet processing. The conditions are as follows.

Housing/ Total length +60On+m Internal space width: 43mm Internal space thickness T: 5mm Material: Stainless steel nozzle/ Arrangement: 2 pairs, vertically symmetrical Inclination angle α: 30° (Each nozzle is the same) Air outlet width L
:25mm (same for each nozzle) Total length of outlet: 2mm
(]mmX2) Dehumidifier/Structure: Structure shown in Figure 10 Peltier element: NSELECOOL. manufactured by Nippon Steel Corporation. Model TECF-40.4
0W (34KCal/hour) DC 4A24V dehumidification capacity 1.1 1/10 hour drying gas (first half of drying) / Supply air temperature: 70℃ Supply air humidity: 2%RH or less (70℃) Flow rate inside the housing
: 20 m/s Drying gas (second half of drying) / Supply air temperature = 45℃ Supply air humidity 260%RH (normal temperature), 32%RH
(45°C) Flow rate in the housing: 13+o/s Same as inventive example 1 except that the photosensitive material/width was 35 mm Photosensitive material conveyance speed/0.5 m/min (Comparative example 1) The total length of the housing was 300 mm, Internal space thickness T is 40
mm (flow rate 1.2 m/s). Total length of nozzle outlet is 30
The photosensitive material was dried under the same conditions using the same drying apparatus as in Inventive Example 1, except that the photosensitive material was transported at a speed of 0.25 m/min.

(Comparative Example 2) The total length of the housing is 200 mm, and the internal space thickness T is 60 m.
m (flow velocity 1.1 m/s). The total length of the nozzle outlet is 1
The photosensitive material was dried under the same conditions using the same drying apparatus as in Inventive Example 2, except that the photosensitive material transport speed was 0.2 m/min, and the supplied air temperature was 60°C.

Regarding the above-mentioned invention examples 1, 2, and 3 and comparative examples 1 and 2,
Each 40 m of photosensitive material was continuously dried, and the relative humidity in the drying start area X and the drying end area Y was measured. The results are shown in Table 2 below.

The humidity can be measured using a precision digital thermohygrometer (main body TR).
}l-1OA. The test was carried out using a sensor THP-12).

Also, 1m, 3m, 10m from the rear end of the photosensitive material after drying.
The emulsion surface was observed using a magnifying glass at each of the 10 locations of m, and the occurrence of reticulation was investigated. The judgment criteria are shown below.

0... No reticulation at all O... Almost no reticulation △... Reticulation present ×... Considerable reticulation present invention examples 1 and 2
and 3, the humidity difference between the drying start part X and the drying end part Y is 30% RH or more.

On the other hand, in Comparative Examples 1 and 2, the value of the total length of the housing/total length of the nozzle outlet is small, and a dehumidifier is not installed, so the humidity difference is less than 30% RH.

Furthermore, in Inventive Examples 1, 2, and 3, no reticulation occurred, and especially in Inventive Example 3, which had a dehumidifier, no reticulation occurred at all.

On the other hand, in Comparative Examples 1 and 2, reticulation occurred, and in Comparative Example 1 in particular, the occurrence was remarkable.
This is a 30% humidity difference between drying start area X and drying end area Y.
This is thought to be because RH or higher was not achieved.

Effects of the Invention> As described above, according to the drying apparatus of the present invention, the drying efficiency is improved by forming the internal space of the housing through which the photosensitive material passes into a slit shape with a thin thickness in the direction of the thickness of the photosensitive material. well,
In particular, the drying time can be shortened.

In addition, the amount of heat given to the drying gas is reduced, and the O
N. Since OFF control etc. are possible, energy consumption can be reduced.

Furthermore, the size of the entire device can be reduced by thinning the casing and reducing the size of the fan, heater, etc. based on the reduction in the amount of drying gas supplied.

Furthermore, by setting the humidity and temperature conditions of the drying gas, reticulation on the emulsion surface of the photosensitive material can be prevented and the film quality can be improved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIGS. 1 to 8 are vertical cross-sectional views schematically showing configuration examples of the drying apparatus of the present invention. 9 is a sectional view taken along the line IX-IX in FIG. 1. FIG. 10 is a partially sectional front view showing a configuration example of a dehumidifier using an electronic cooling element. Explanation of symbols 18 to 1h...Drying device 2...Housing 2a, 2b...Housing inner wall 3...Inner space 4...Inlet 4a...Slanted surface 5...Outlet 6... Fan 7... Exhaust port 8, 8'8''... Nozzle 9... Branch duct 0, 10'... Heater 1... Panel heater 2... Duct 21... Opening 3... Recovery ports 4, 19...Dehumidifier 5...Fan 6...Heater 7...Opening 8...Water vapor permeable member 0...Sensor 1...Control unit 2, 23, 24... - Power supplies 0, 31, 32... Conveyance roller 0... Main body l... Peltier element 2... Heat absorbing section 3... Heat dissipating section 4, 45... Opening 46... Receiver 47...・Drain pipe 48...Tank 50...Duct 51,...Collection port S...Photosensitive material SA...Surface S,...Back side X...Drying start section Y...Drying end Section F I G.3

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A drying device for drying a photosensitive material by passing the photosensitive material through the interior space of the housing while supplying a drying gas to the interior space of the housing, wherein the interior space of the housing is a drying device for drying the photosensitive material. It has a slit shape with a thin thickness in the thickness direction, and the relative humidity near the drying start part in the internal space,
A drying device characterized in that the difference between the relative humidity near the end of drying and the relative humidity is 30% RH or more.