JPH0323898B2 - - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an automatic processing apparatus for developing photographic light-sensitive materials such as photographic film and photographic paper, and particularly to a drying apparatus for drying the light-sensitive materials after processing. This relates to an automatic processing apparatus equipped with a.

[Conventional technology]

Generally, automatic processing equipment processes photographic material that has already been photographed and then dries it.
In particular, for sheet-shaped photographic materials such as color photographic paper, X-ray film for direct photography, film for printing, etc., it is desired that the processing apparatus be compact, stable in processing, and easy to operate.

Automatic processing equipment that processes silver halide photosensitive materials such as photographic film and photographic paper usually has processing tanks for developing, fixing, washing, etc. (the contents, order, number, etc. of the photosensitive materials to be processed). The photosensitive material is sequentially transported through each processing tank by transport means such as transport rollers, developed with each processing solution, and then transported into the drying chamber where it is heated. After being blown dry, it is discharged outside the machine.

FIG. 4 shows an example of such an automatic processing apparatus, in which 1 is the main body of the apparatus, 2 is a developer tank, 3 is a bleach-fix tank, and 4 to 6 are washing tanks, each containing a developer solution and
Filled with bleach-fix solution, washing solution or stabilizing solution. 7 is a drying room into which warm air for drying is sent by a blower. The photosensitive material is inserted through the insertion port 8, developed, bleached and fixed, washed with water, dried, and discharged from the discharge port 9 as a completed processed photosensitive material.

In the conventional automatic development processing apparatus, the processing tanks 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 are arranged horizontally, and the drying chamber 7 is also arranged adjacent to the washing process.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

In recent years, research and development of color image recording devices has become active, and there is a particular demand for compact recording devices and processing devices that achieve high image quality. One effective means for this purpose is a process of forming an image on color photographic paper and automatically developing it (Japanese Patent Application No. 59-262492). There has also been a demand for miniaturization of the automatic processing equipment used for this, and it has become necessary to minimize the installation area of each processing equipment. However, in the method of arranging each processing tank and drying device side by side in a horizontal line, as in the conventional automatic processing apparatus, there is a limit to minimizing the installation area.

Additionally, if the drying process is built into the processing equipment and integrated, the hot air and heat transfer wires of the drying process, which have a higher temperature than other processing processes, will go around to other processing processes (developing, fixing, etc.) and Adversely affects temperature regulation.

Furthermore, in order to carry out processes such as developing and fixing, which must be performed in a dark room, and a drying process, which should normally be performed in a bright room, in the same apparatus main body, the light shielding of the apparatus main body becomes complicated. If the drying process were to be carried out in a dark room like other processing processes due to light shielding, the drying process would not allow visual inspection of the photosensitive material sheet being carried out of the apparatus body, which would slow down confirmation. There is a risk that detection of poor adjustment during a previous process, such as exposure, will be delayed, resulting in defective losses.

[Means for solving problems]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems and provide an automatic developing apparatus equipped with a drying apparatus that performs stable and efficient drying and is compact and requires a small installation area.

The automatic processing apparatus of the present invention that achieves the above object is an automatic processing apparatus that automatically processes a sheet-like photographic material with a processing solution such as developing, fixing, and water washing. Processing tanks for processing photographic light-sensitive materials are arranged in sequence, and a large number of conveyance rollers for transporting the sheet-like photographic material are arranged in the processing tanks, and the processed sheet-like material is placed above the final processing tank. A drying device for drying the sheet-like photographic material discharged from the outlet after the development process is removably installed on the top plate of the main body of the automatic processing apparatus, which is provided with an outlet for photographic light-sensitive material;
In the drying apparatus, the sheet-shaped photographic material is conveyed in the opposite direction to the conveyance direction in each of the processing tanks, and the drying hot air is directed in the opposite direction to the conveyance direction of the sheet-shaped photographic material. The drying device is characterized in that the air is exhausted from the insertion port for the sheet-like photographic material, and that a part of the upper plate of the drying device is made transparent.

〔Example〕

The automatic processing apparatus of the present invention will be described below based on embodiments shown in the drawings, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

FIG. 1 is an external view of an automatic processing apparatus equipped with a drying device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view thereof. FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. 1. Regarding the reference numerals used in these drawings, the same structural parts as in FIG. 4 are given the same reference numerals.

A developing tank 2, a bleach-fixing tank 3, and stabilizing tanks (rinsing tanks) 4, 5, and 6 using a washing substitute solution or washing solution are provided in the automatic processing apparatus main body 1.
Each tank is removably equipped with a transport rack consisting of a transport roller and a drive gear train for transporting the photosensitive material to be processed.

An exposed photosensitive material in the form of a cut sheet or roll, such as color film, color photographic paper, black and white film, black and white photographic paper, etc., is inserted through the insertion slot 8 provided in the main body 1 of the automatic processing device.
It is held by a group of rotating feed rollers, moves downward, and is conveyed to the developer tank 2. In FIG. 3, the dashed-dotted line indicates the conveyance path of the photosensitive material. At the upper part of the developing tank 2, there are a photosensitive material receiving roller 2A and a feeding/squeezing roller 2B, and a plurality of guide rollers 2C are rotationally driven inside the developing tank 2 and the tank. The photosensitive material is transferred to these rollers 2A, 2B, 2
It moves while being held by C, is immersed in the developer D contained in the tank, is developed during the movement for a certain period of time, and is then transported to the next bleach-fix tank 3.

The bleach-fixing tank 3 includes a roller 3A for receiving and sending out the photosensitive material, and a guide roller 3B, and the developed photosensitive material is fixed by the fixing solution F in the bleach-fixing tank 3 and then transported out. Ru.

The photosensitive material that has undergone the above development and fixing process is
Subsequently, it is guided to a first rinse tank 4, a second rinse tank 5, and a third rinse tank 6. These rinsing tanks contain a washing solution W or a stabilizing solution W, and by passing the photosensitive material through each tank, the bleach-fixing solution F is washed away and a stabilized image is obtained. .

The photosensitive material that has been washed with water is squeezed and sent out by the final roller 6A, conveyed along the guide plate, and sent to the drying device 50 above.

Inside the drying device 50, there are transport rollers 51A, 51B, 5 that clamp and transport the photosensitive material that has been washed with water.
1C, 51D, and 51E are provided. These conveyor rollers are driven by geared motors (not shown) with reduced speed.
It is driven by the power of the processor, or the power connected and transmitted from the main body of the processing device. The paired conveyance rollers are provided with a spur gear or toothed pulley having a diameter similar to the roller diameter on at least one of the roller ends, and a spur gear train or toothed belt meshing with the spur gear or toothed pulley is provided on at least one of the roller ends. It is rotated in the direction of the arrow in FIG.

Also, when a pair of conveyor rollers is powered,
Rotation is sequentially transmitted to other conveying rollers by a gear train or a toothed belt.

Furthermore, a heater 52 and a fan motor 53 are provided on the right side of the drying device 50, which sucks outside air through an air intake port 54, heats it with the heater 52 controlled at a constant temperature, and generates hot air as shown in the drawing. , the air is blown to the left. Alternatively, a drying air delivery nozzle may be provided in the middle of the transport roller group, and the drying air sent from the nozzle may be sprayed onto the front and back surfaces of the photosensitive material.

The photosensitive material that has undergone the water washing process is transferred to the roller 6A.
and is guided upward by the guide plate 6B and discharged from the outlet 6C above the processing device, and further fed into the drying device from the inlet opening 55 below the drying device 50.

The wet photosensitive material carried into the drying device 50 is transported in the direction opposite to the direction in which it was transported in the developing, fixing, and rinsing processing steps, and is transferred to the transport rollers 51A,
It is held almost horizontally by 51B, 51C, and 51D, and is conveyed while being drained. This is the opposite direction to the overall conveyance direction (←). The photosensitive material is reversed by the U-turn guide member 56 near the heater 52, held by the conveyance rollers 51E, and discharged to the outside from the discharge port 57. The photosensitive material conveyed within this drying device first advances with the image recording surface facing downward, faces the heater side near the heater 52, and is finally discharged with the image recording surface facing upward near the discharge port 57. During this time, the photosensitive material is dried by a stream of hot air.

Further, on the upper surface of the drying device 50, the discharge port 5
A receiving surface 58 is formed on the outside of the photosensitive material 7, and the photosensitive materials discharged outward from the discharge port 57 are stacked one after another on this receiving surface 58 with the image recording surface facing upward.

A transparent plate 59, such as an acrylic plate or a glass plate, is fitted near the center of the receiving surface 58, so that the inside of the drying device 50 can be monitored. This makes it possible to visually check the conveyance status of the photosensitive material. Further, since the receiving table 58 has a sufficiently wide flat surface, it can also be used as a table for organizing discharged photosensitive materials.

Incidentally, the photosensitive material may be in the form of a sheet or a roll, but the sheet form is easy to handle and the conveyance status can be clearly checked from the transparent plate 59, or the drying chamber 5.
This is preferred because it can be stacked on top of 8.
In addition, the length of the sheet-like photosensitive material is preferably such that it covers two or more pairs of rollers for transportation.
It is preferable for the arrangement to be shorter than the receiving surface 58.

The drying device 50 mentioned above is formed separately from the processing device main body 1 and is placed in a removable manner. This can be easily done by removing the drying device 50, removing the top cover of the processing device main body, and further removing the inner lid at the top of the processing tank. Note that the drying device 50
may be removed from the main body 1 of the processing apparatus, but it may also be hinged such that the drying apparatus can be swung open.

Furthermore, by separating the drying device 50 from the processing device main body 1, hot air from the drying device 50 enters each processing tank in the processing device main body 1, which may adversely affect the temperature adjustment of the processing liquid or cause the processing liquid to evaporate. This will prevent you from doing anything.

〔Effect of the invention〕

The present invention has the following effects.

(1) The installation floor space can be minimized by placing the drying device above the main body of the processing device.

(2) Although the processing equipment is small, the drying distance can be sufficiently long, and the drying efficiency can be maintained evenly.

(3) Since a large amount of hot air from the drying device does not enter the processing tank in the main body of the processing device, the temperature of the processing liquid can be adjusted accurately and the processing liquid will not evaporate.

(4) Since the squeezed photosensitive material enters the drying device from the upper opening after washing, any moisture remaining on the photosensitive material falls back into the washing tank and does not wet the processing device. In addition, the drying properties are good, and washing water is less likely to be brought into the drying device.

(5) The drying device can be easily attached and detached, so the developer tank,
The fixing tank and washing tank can be cleaned and maintained easily and reliably.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an external view of an automatic development processing apparatus equipped with a drying device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view thereof, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view thereof. FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing an example of a conventional automatic processing apparatus. 1...Automatic development processing device main body, 2...Developer tank,
3... Bleach-fix tank, 4, 5, 6... Rinse tank, 5
0...Drying device, 51A, 51B, 51C, 51
D, 51E... Conveyance roller, 52... Heater, 5
3...Fan motor, 55...Inlet opening, 57...
...Discharge port, 58... cradle, 59... transparent plate.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In an automatic processing apparatus that automatically develops a sheet-like photographic material using processing solutions such as developing, fixing, and water washing, each processing tank for processing the undeveloped sheet-like photographic material is arranged in sequence. and an automatic developing process, in which a number of conveyance rollers for conveying the sheet-like photographic material are arranged in the processing tank, and an outlet for the processed sheet-like photographic material is provided in the upper part of the final processing tank. A drying device is removably installed on the top plate of the main body of the device to dry the sheet-like photographic material discharged from the outlet after the development process.
In the drying apparatus, the sheet-shaped photographic material is conveyed in the opposite direction to the conveyance direction in each of the processing tanks, and the drying hot air is directed in the opposite direction to the conveyance direction of the sheet-shaped photographic material. 1. An automatic processing apparatus, characterized in that exhaust is discharged from an insertion port for sheet-like photographic material, and a part of the upper plate of the drying apparatus is made transparent.