JPH0339791Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a photosensitive material processing apparatus for immersing a photosensitive material in a processing liquid and then bringing it into close contact with a receiving photographic paper, thereby forming an image on the receiving photographic paper.

One of the image forming methods in which a photosensitive material is immersed in a processing liquid and then brought into close contact with a photographic paper to form an image on the paper is known as a diffusion transfer method. In this diffusion transfer method, for example, a negative image is formed on a photosensitive material provided with a photosensitive layer containing a silver halide emulsion by exposure, and then the photosensitive material is immersed in a processing solution containing, for example, sodium thiosulfate to remove halogen in unexposed areas. The silver halide is dissolved, and then the light-sensitive material is superimposed on, for example, photographic paper having an image-receiving layer consisting of a colloid layer, and these are pressed together, thereby removing the silver halide from the unexposed areas of the light-sensitive material. This is a method of obtaining an image on the photographic paper by diffusing and transferring the photosensitive material onto the photographic paper and then peeling off the photosensitive material from the paper.

As shown in FIG. 1, an example of a photosensitive material processing apparatus using a conventional diffusion transfer method has a photosensitive material inlet 11 and a paper receiving paper inlet 12 on one side, and an outlet on the other side. Processing liquid tank 1 having 13
and a pressure roller 2 provided in the processing liquid tank 1 so as to face the outlet 13, and the photosensitive material A and the photographic paper B fed through the photosensitive material inlet 11 and the photographic paper receiving paper inlet 12, respectively. Guide member 1
A device is known in which the processing liquid is passed through the processing liquid tank 1 along lines 4, 141, and 15 and sent to the pressure roller 2.
However, in a device with such a configuration,
Since the photosensitive material A and the photographic paper B move separately in the processing liquid tank 1, there is no guarantee that their tips will always be in alignment with each other when they are supplied to the pressure roller 2. There is a risk that the image may be misaligned with respect to the photosensitive material A.
Moreover, since it is necessary to perform a so-called positioning operation of inserting the receiving printing paper B at the appropriate timing, there is a drawback that the operation is troublesome.

As another example of the conventional apparatus, as shown in FIG. 2, a photosensitive material conveyance roller 3 and a photoreceptor paper conveyance roller 4 are provided in the processing liquid tank 1 at different heights, and the photosensitive material is The photosensitive material A from the storage table 30 is introduced into the processing liquid tank 1 through the photosensitive material conveyance roller 3, and the photosensitive paper B from the photosensitive paper storage table 40 is introduced into the processing liquid tank from the photosensitive paper conveyance roller 4. An apparatus is known in which the photosensitive material A and the photographic paper B are introduced into a pressure roller 2 along guide members 16 and 17 in a superimposed state. However, in an apparatus with such a configuration, not only a mechanism for conveying the photosensitive material A but also a mechanism for conveying the photographic paper B.
This method has the disadvantage that the structure of the device becomes complicated because it also requires a mechanism for transporting it.

The present invention has been devised to eliminate these drawbacks, and provides a photosensitive material processing device that has a simple structure and can always press the photosensitive material and photoreceiving paper together with their tips aligned. Its features include a photosensitive material transport mechanism including a transport roller that transports the exposed photosensitive material along a transport path passing through a processing liquid in a processing liquid tank; A pressure roller is provided on the transfer path of the photosensitive material that has passed through the processing liquid, an inclined paper support that allows the photosensitive paper to slide down in a straight line due to gravity, and a pressure roller that allows the photosensitive material that has passed through the processing liquid to reach the pressure roller. On the transfer path, receive the lower end of the receiving photographic paper from the receiving photographic paper base in a position above the liquid level of the processing liquid and intersecting the transfer path, and apply gravity to the receiving photographic paper together with the said receiving photographic paper base. and a lower end holding member for holding the photographic printing paper so as to stand still at a standby position against the pressure, and the end of the photosensitive material passing through the transport path is attached to the lower end of the photographic printing paper held stationary at the waiting position. The image is formed on the photographic paper by moving the photographic paper so that it overlaps the upper surface of the photosensitive material which is brought into contact with the photosensitive material and is supplied to the pressure roller.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the above-mentioned A conveyance roller 5 is provided for conveying the exposed photosensitive material A, for example, a diffusion transfer photosensitive material A, along the conveyance path P, and a conveyor roller 5 is provided for conveying the exposed photosensitive material A, for example, the diffusion transfer photosensitive material A. It's hot,
A pressure roller 2 is provided at the downstream end of the transfer path P, that is, near the upper end of the other side of the processing liquid tank 1, for pressure-bonding the photosensitive material A and the receiving photographic paper B, which will be described later, to each other.
A guide member 18 for guiding the exposed photosensitive material A from the transport roller 5 along the transport path P is provided in the processing liquid tank 1, and this and the transport roller 5 form a photosensitive material transport mechanism. Configure.

On the other hand, the photosensitive material A that has passed through the processing liquid in the processing liquid tank 1 is held by a holding member (described later) such that its tip, that is, its lower end faces the transfer path P leading to the pressure roller 2. A receiving paper table 6 is provided above the processing liquid tank 1 and is inclined toward the conveying roller 5 side, and the receiving paper table 6 is slid down in a straight line toward the receiving paper table 6. As a result of the sliding and falling of the photographic paper B (indicated by the dotted line), the photosensitive material A, which has passed through the processing liquid in the processing liquid tank 1, reaches the pressure roller 2 in the shape of a transfer path P, above the liquid level of the processing liquid. Receive the lower end of the printing paper B from the printing printing paper base 6 in a posture that intersects the transfer path P at ,
Along with this photographic paper base 6, there is provided a photographic paper lower end holding member (hereinafter also simply referred to as a "holding member") 7 that holds and waits the photographic paper B so as to stand still at a standby position against gravity. . This holding member 7
has a simple structure, for example, having a receiving surface 71 extending along the transport path P against which the lower end of the receiving photographic paper B comes into contact, and when the lower end of the receiving photographic paper B simply comes into contact with the receiving surface 71, the receiving photographic paper B comes into contact with the receiving surface 71. It holds B. A drive mechanism 8 is provided for driving the transfer roller 5 and the pressure roller 2 synchronously, and in this example, the drive mechanism 8 includes a motor 81 and a motor 8.
1. It consists of a drive belt 82 stretched between the conveyance roller 5 and the pressure roller 2. Further, a processing liquid circulation pipe 9 with a pump 91, a heater 92, etc. connected to the processing liquid tank 1 is attached to the processing liquid tank 1, and a processing liquid replenishment pipe 94 having a processing liquid replenishment pot 93 at one end is attached to the other end. These are connected to constitute a photosensitive material processing apparatus. T is a supply stage for supplying the photosensitive material, and 95 is a valve for discharging the processing liquid from the processing liquid tank 1.

In such an apparatus, the motor 81 is operated to drive the conveyance roller 5 and the pressure roller 2, and the photosensitive material A is supplied from the supply stage T to the conveyance roller 5 with the photosensitive layer facing upward. It is transferred along the transfer path P while being guided by the guide member 18. Then, before the photosensitive material A reaches the upper part of the holding member 7, the stamp-receiving photographic paper B is supplied to the stamp-receiving photographic paper table 6 so that its image-receiving layer is on the lower side, and the receiving-receiving photographic paper B is It is slid down in a straight line by gravity and its lower end is brought into contact with the holding member 7, and the receiving printing paper B, together with the receiving printing paper base 6, is stopped by the holding member 7 in a tilted position at a standby position against gravity. It is kept in a standby state so that the When the photosensitive material A is transported along the transport path P in this state, the leading edge of the photosensitive material A comes into contact with the lower end, that is, the leading edge in the transporting direction, of the printing paper B held stationary at the standby position. Due to the conveying force of the photosensitive material A, which is further advanced, the image-receiving layer side surface of the photosensitive paper B is moved so as to overlap the upper surface of the photosensitive material A, that is, the surface on the photosensitive layer side. That is, since the photosensitive material A is swollen due to being immersed in the processing liquid,
Due to the surface tension of the processing liquid, the surface of the image-receiving layer at the lower end of the printing paper B, that is, the leading edge in the transport direction, adheres to the surface of the photosensitive material A on the photosensitive layer side.
Furthermore, the receiving photographic paper B is moved along the transport path P while being sequentially overlapped with the photosensitive material A by the conveyance force of the photosensitive material A and the gravity acting on the receiving photographic paper B. The photosensitive material A and the photosensitive paper B are then fed to a pressure roller 2, whereby the photosensitive layer and the image receiving layer are brought into close contact with each other, and an image corresponding to the photosensitive material A is formed on the photosensitive paper B. Ru. and,
Thereafter, by peeling the photosensitive material A from the photographic receiver paper B, the photographic receiver paper B on which the image has been formed is obtained.

In the above-described embodiment, the photosensitive material A that has passed through the processing liquid in the processing liquid tank 1 is received by gravity on the transfer path P that reaches the pressure roller 2 via the slope of the inclined print receiving paper table 6. The photographic paper B is slid down in a straight line toward the holding member 7, and the photographic paper B is moved by gravity by the holding member 7 together with the receiving paper base 6 in a position intersecting the transfer path P above the level of the processing liquid. The photosensitive material A passing through the transport path P is brought into contact with the lower end of the photographic paper B, which is held stationary at the standby position. The photosensitive material A moves the photosensitive paper B so that it overlaps the upper surface of the photosensitive material A and supplies it to the pressure roller 2.
The leading edge of the printing paper B and the leading edge of the receiving photographic paper B are automatically aligned, so that alignment work becomes unnecessary. Furthermore, when the printing paper B is released from the holding member 7, it is pushed out by gravity, so that the printing paper B is easily transported together with the photosensitive material A, and therefore, before being supplied to the pressure roller 2. There is no risk of misalignment of the leading ends, and as a result, the photosensitive material A and the printing paper B can always be supplied to the pressure roller 2 with their leading ends aligned. Since the receiving photographic paper B held by the holding member 7 is conveyed by the conveying force of the photosensitive material A, there is no need to provide a special conveying roller or the like to convey the receiving photographic paper B. The structure becomes simple. Further, by driving the conveyance roller 5 and the pressure roller 2 in a synchronous relationship as in this embodiment, the conveyance state of the photosensitive material becomes stable.

As described above, according to the present invention, by simply providing the printing paper support 6 and the holding member 7,
The photosensitive material A and the photographic paper B can be aligned, then superimposed on each other, and transported in that state without the need for a special alignment mechanism or feeding mechanism that has movable members. This can be achieved automatically and reliably by simply transporting the That is, the printing paper base 6 may have a slope that allows the printing paper B to simply slide down in a straight line, and the holding member 7 may have a surface that simply abuts and supports the lower end of the printing paper B. That's fine. Therefore, the photosensitive material processing apparatus of the present invention is of very low cost.

Furthermore, as described above, the structure of the printing paper base 6 and the holding member 7 is simple, and because they are both provided in the space above the liquid level of the processing liquid, the supply of the printing paper B and the holding member 7 are simple. Holding in the standby position and subsequent desired operation can be reliably achieved.

In the present invention, in order to ensure that the printing paper B is pushed out smoothly and to prevent positional deviation between the tips, it is preferable that the receiving surface of the printing printing paper base 6 is sufficiently smooth. It is preferable that the receiving surface of the printing paper holder 6 be inclined at an angle of 25 degrees or more with respect to the horizontal plane.

It should be noted that the present invention may be applied to an apparatus for forming an image on photographic paper by a method other than the diffusion transfer method.

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a photosensitive material processing apparatus which has a simple structure and can always press a photosensitive material and a photoreceiving paper to each other with their leading edges aligned.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figures 1 and 2 are explanatory diagrams showing a conventional device, Figure 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, and Figure 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.
The figure is an enlarged explanatory diagram of the main part of the embodiment shown in FIG. 3. 1... Processing liquid tank, 2... Pressure roller, 14, 14
1, 15, 16, 17, 18...guide member, 3...
Conveying roller for photosensitive material, 4... Conveying roller for receiving photographic paper, 5... Conveying roller, 6... Print receiving paper stand, 7... Holding member, 8... Drive mechanism, 9... Processing liquid circulation pipe,
94... Processing liquid replenishment pipe, A... Photosensitive material, B...
Receiving printing paper, P...transport path.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] A photosensitive material transport mechanism including a transport roller that transports an exposed photosensitive material along a transport path that passes through a processing liquid in a processing liquid tank, and a photosensitive material that has passed through the processing liquid. A pressure roller installed on the material transfer path and gravity cause the paper to slide down in a straight line.
On the transfer path of the photosensitive material that has passed through the processing liquid to the pressure roller, the receiver is placed above the surface of the processing liquid and intersects with the transfer path. a photographic paper lower end holding member that receives the lower end of the photographic paper and holds and waits the photographic paper together with the photographic paper stand at a standby position against gravity; The leading end of the photosensitive material passing through the transport path comes into contact with the lower end of the photographic paper held by the transfer path, and as the photosensitive material advances further, the photographic paper is moved so as to overlap with the upper surface of the photographic paper, and is supplied to the pressure roller. 1. A photosensitive material processing apparatus characterized in that an image is formed on photographic paper by the above-described method.