JPH04213454A - Photosensitive material processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce or eliminate the replenishment of a processing soln. and to efficiently use water and a processing agent in the photosensitive material processor having a processing tank in which a photosensitive material is dipped. CONSTITUTION:A device 4 is provided to add a powdery processing agent to the processing soln. in a processing tank, the device 4 has a tank 40 for separately storing the powdery processing agents of different kinds and a member 41 for quantitatively transferring the agents discharged from the tank 40 to a discharge part 43, and the member 41 and the discharge port 404 of the tank 40 are positioned in a dehumidified space. Consequently, the agent is easily transferred in the device 4 and discharged from the device, and the agent is quantitatively added to the processing soln. The agent is effectively added to a second processing tank.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a photosensitive material processing apparatus, and more particularly to an apparatus having features in a replenishment system for the processing liquid used.

0002

[Prior Art] Conventionally, to take an example of a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material, in a color light-sensitive material, after exposure, color development,
It is processed through processes such as desilvering, water washing, and stabilization. Color developing solution for color development processing, bleaching solution, fixing solution, bleach-fixing solution for desilvering processing, tap water, well water, chemically or physically treated water, ion exchange water, distilled water, stabilizing treatment for washing. Stabilizers are used for each. On the other hand, black-and-white sensitive materials are processed by black-and-white development, fixing, and water washing instead of color development. The temperature of each processing solution is usually controlled at 20 DEG to 50 DEG C., and color or black and white sensitive materials are immersed in these processing solutions for processing.

[0003] In order to carry out such processing of sensitive materials commercially, it is necessary to reduce costs and manual labor, reduce pollution loads, make processing equipment more compact, and further improve product value. It is required to obtain stable and excellent processing performance with a processing liquid, and it is also desired to reduce the amount of replenisher required during processing. In response to these demands, methods have been taken to increase the concentration of the replenisher in order to reduce the amount of replenisher, but there is a limit to the concentration of the replenisher because the solubility of the processing agent is limited.

[0004] In order to further reduce the amount of replenisher, an effective method is to directly add a powdered processing agent to the mother liquor of the processing solution for replenishment. For example, in the case of the second processing tank, the swelling of the photosensitive material in the first processing tank is large, so the amount of liquid brought into the second processing tank is large, and the pH of the processing liquid brought in is high. The salt concentration of the treatment liquid in the second treatment tank, which has a low pH, becomes high. In addition, since the amount of processing liquid taken out from the second processing tank is small, there is little substantial decrease in the amount of liquid. For this reason, there is a demand for direct addition of the powdered processing agent, particularly in the second processing tank.

However, when powdered processing agents are directly added, each time several types of processing agents are added to the mother liquor, it is necessary to measure them in a predetermined proportion, which makes replenishment work rather time-consuming. Furthermore, when adding, it is preferable to automatically mix and add powdered processing agents at a predetermined ratio, but since the processing agent itself has strong water absorption, there is a problem that the processing agent may clog at the outlet etc. and become unusable. There was.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a photosensitive material processing apparatus which eliminates the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, allows the addition of a powdered processing agent, and requires a small amount of replenisher replenishment. It is in.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems] Such objects are achieved by the present invention as described below. That is,

(1) In a photosensitive material processing apparatus having a processing tank filled with a processing solution for immersing a photosensitive material, an auxiliary tank is provided through which the processing solution flows through the processing tank, and the processing solution contains a powdered processing agent in a solvent. What is claimed is: 1. A photosensitive material processing apparatus, characterized in that an addition device for adding the powdered processing agent to the auxiliary tank is provided.

(2) In a photosensitive material processing apparatus having a processing tank filled with a processing solution for immersing the photosensitive material, the processing solution is a powdered processing agent dissolved in a solvent, and the processing solution is not applied to the processing tank. An addition device for adding the powdered processing agent is provided, and the addition device includes a tank that separately stores different types of the powdered processing agent at a predetermined ratio and has an outlet for the powdered processing agent, and the tank. It is composed of a conveyance section that conveys a fixed amount of the powdered processing agent discharged from the conveyance section, and a discharge section that can be opened and closed to discharge the powdered treatment agent conveyed by the conveyance section, and the discharge port and the conveyance section are sealed. A photosensitive material processing device characterized in that it is installed in a dehumidified space.

(3) In a photosensitive material processing apparatus having a processing tank filled with a processing solution for immersing the photosensitive material, the processing solution is a powdered processing agent dissolved in a solvent, and the processing solution is An addition device for adding the powdered processing agent is provided, and the addition device includes a tank that separately stores different types of the powdered processing agent at a predetermined ratio and has an outlet for the powdered processing agent, and the tank. It is composed of a table that receives the powdered processing agent discharged from the discharge port, a rotating body provided between the table and the discharge port, and a discharge section that is openable and closable and opens on the table. The body has a transfer part that transfers a fixed amount of the powdered processing agent received by the table by rotation to the discharge part, and a processing agent transport system from the discharge port of the tank to the discharge part is provided in a sealed dehumidifying space. A photosensitive material processing device characterized by:

[0011]

[Operation] The photosensitive material is processed by being immersed in a processing solution in a processing tank. The processing liquid is prepared by dissolving a powdery processing agent in a solvent, and replenishment of the processing liquid is performed by directly adding the powdery processing agent to the processing liquid. The powder treatment agent is metered and added by an addition device.

When adding the powdered processing agent, it is added to an auxiliary tank provided in the processing tank. Since the auxiliary tank can communicate with the processing tank, the dissolved processing agent mixes with the processing liquid in the processing tank to compensate for loss or fatigue in the processing liquid composition.

[0013] The tank containing the powdered processing agent of the above-mentioned addition device is divided appropriately for each component of the powdered processing agent, and when discharged from the outlet of the tank, each component is separated. Contact. The conveyance section conveys the powdered processing agent discharged from the tank in fixed amounts and transfers it to the discharge section. Here, since the outlet of the tank and the conveyance section are located in a sealed dehumidifying space, troubles such as clogging of the powdered processing agent at the outlet are reduced.

[0014] The discharge port of the tank is blocked by a rotating body, and when the rotary body rotates and the transfer portion of the rotary body comes to a position corresponding to the discharge port, the powdered processing agent is transferred from the tank to the transfer portion. is discharged. The discharged powder processing agent accumulates on a table supporting a rotating body, and as the rotating body rotates, the transfer section sends the powder processing agent to the discharge section.

[0015]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An example of the structure of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing the bleaching tank of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is an overall perspective view of the processing tank. The photosensitive material processing apparatus of this embodiment has a plurality of processing tanks in which the photosensitive material S, which is a color negative film, is sequentially immersed. In the example of FIG. 2, a developing tank 20 and a bleaching tank 21 are shown. Each of the processing tanks is filled with a developing solution and a bleaching solution, and a conveying means (not shown) transports the photosensitive material S into the processing solution.
are sequentially immersed and transported.

As shown in the figure, an auxiliary tank 3 is attached to the developing tank 20 and the bleaching tank 21, into which a powder processing agent is added from an addition device 4, which will be described later. It communicates with the tank 20 and the bleaching tank 21 so that liquid can flow therethrough.

A dosing device 4 is arranged above the auxiliary tank 3. The addition device 4 will be explained in detail below. Figure 3
7 to 7 show the addition device 4. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the main parts of the addition device 4, FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the main parts showing the conveyance section 41 and the discharge section 43, and FIG. 6 is a side cross-sectional view showing the conveyance section 41 and the discharge section 43, and FIG. 7 is a side sectional view showing the tank 4.
FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view showing the storage state of the powdered processing agent in the container.

The addition device 4 includes a tank 40 that mainly stores the powdered processing agent, a transport section 41 that transports the powdered processing agent discharged from the tank 40 in fixed quantities, and the powdered processing agent transported by the transport section 41. and a discharge section 43 for discharging the agent to the supplementary tank 3.

The tank 40 is formed in a hopper shape, and a fan-shaped outlet 404 is provided at the bottom, and the lower part is tapered in diameter toward the outlet 404. tank 4
The inside of 0 is divided vertically into three storage sections 401 and 402.
, 403, and powder processing agents A, B, and C having different compositions are separately stored in each storage section 401, 402, and 403, respectively. The outlet 404 of the tank 40 is located in a sealed case 42, and the bottom surface of the case 42 is
A table 46 receives the powdered processing agent discharged from the discharge port 404. A substantially rectangular opening 461 is formed in the table 46, and the discharge duct 44 is connected to the lower side of the opening 461. A discharge section 43 that opens and closes is provided within the discharge duct 44.

The tank 40 is placed on the table 46.
A disc-shaped rotating body 47 is disposed between the discharge port 404 and the discharge port 404, and this rotating body 47 extends over the discharge portion 43. The rotary body 47 has approximately the same thickness as the gap formed between the table 46 and the discharge port 404, and the discharge port 404 is closed by the rotary body 47. A rotating shaft 470 of the rotating body 47 passes through the table 46, and a gear 50 is provided at the tip of the rotating shaft 470. A drive mechanism 5 for rotating the rotating body 47 is arranged below the table 46. The drive mechanism 5 of the device of this embodiment is composed of a drive motor 51 and gears 50 and 52. A drive motor 51 is fixed to the lower side of the table 46 , and a gear 52 attached to the drive shaft of the drive motor 51 meshes with the gear 50 , forming a mechanism in which the rotating body 47 is rotated by the drive of the drive motor 51 . It has become.

On the other hand, a fan-shaped transfer portion 471 is formed in the rotating body 47. The shape and size of the transfer portion 471 are substantially the same as those of the outlet port 404 of the tank 40 . Normally, the discharge port 404 of the tank 40 is blocked by the rotary body 47, but when the rotary body 47 rotates and the transfer portion 471 is located below the discharge port 404, as shown in FIG. Powder processing agents A, B, and C are discharged into the transfer section 471 as shown in FIG. The discharge amount of the powder processing agent is determined by the thickness of the rotating body 47 (the distance between the table and the discharge port). At this time, since the transfer part 471 is formed by punching, the amount of the discharged powder processing agent can be accurately regulated without spilling outside by the outer edge part 472, for example.

Further, when the rotating body 47 rotates, the powder processing agents A, B, and C are transferred together with the rotating body 47 while being accommodated in the transferring section 471. When the transfer section 471 reaches the opening at the upper end of the discharge duct 44, the powdered processing agents A, B, and C within the transfer section 471 fall into the discharge section 43. In this way, the powder processing agent conveying section 41 is composed of the table 46 and the rotating body 47.

Next, the discharge section 43 will be explained. The discharge section 43 is located within the discharge duct 44 . An inclined surface 431 is provided in the discharge duct 44, and the opening/closing body 48 is supported on the opposite surface side of the discharge duct 44 so as to be vertically swingable in opposition to the inclined surface 431. The opening/closing body 48 is plate-shaped and comes into contact with the tip side of the inclined surface 431 in the closed state. A biasing mechanism 491 is provided on the lower surface of the opening/closing body 48 and includes a rod and a spring mounted around the rod. The biasing mechanism 491 moves the opening/closing body 48 to the inclined surface 431
The inside of the case 42 becomes a sealed space. A rod 492 is further connected to the lower surface of the opening/closing body 48 , a rack is provided on the rod 492 , and the rod 492 is inserted through the hole 441 to reach the outside of the discharge duct 44 . A pinion 493 that meshes with the rack of the rod 492 and a motor 494 that drives the pinion 493 are provided on the outside of the discharge duct 44 . A roller 495 is supported on the opposite side of the pinion 493, and supports and guides the rod 492 from below.

The drive mechanism 5 and the motor 494 are interlocked, and when the drive mechanism 5 is driven and begins to transfer the powdered processing agent to the discharge section 43, the motor 494 is driven and the opening/closing body 4 is moved.
Open 8. Powder processing agent A that fell from table 46
, B, and C pass through the discharge section 43 and fall within the discharge duct 44. The lower end of the discharge duct 44 is located above the auxiliary tank 3, and the powder processing agent is added from the lower end of the discharge duct 44. A dehumidifying device 45 is provided on the ceiling of the case 42, making the inside of the case 42 a sealed dehumidifying space. As a result, the outlet 40 of the tank 40
4 is prevented from clogging, and smooth conveyance of the powdered processing agent by the rotating body 47 is ensured.

The replenishment of the powdered processing agent by the addition device 4 configured as described above will be explained. As shown in FIG. 2, in the developer tank 20, as the photosensitive material S is conveyed, the developer adheres to the photosensitive material S and is taken out, reducing the amount of processing liquid. Here, if a high-concentration replenisher is added as in the past, the processing components will also flow out with the overflow, resulting in waste of the processing components and the need for drainage treatment.

Therefore, the supplementary tank 3 is added by the addition device 4.
Powder processing agent is added to the tank, and water is replenished in an amount equal to the amount removed and evaporated. Therefore, a water supply port 34 is provided on the auxiliary tank 3 of the developer tank 20. In this way, the processing components in the processing liquid are only replenished and not discharged, and there is no need for drainage treatment.

Here, to give a specific example of the powder processing agent stored in the tank 40, the powder processing agent A stored in the storage section 401 has a composition of about 5 to 20 wt% of sodium sulfite, potassium carbonate, etc. Approximately 60 to 95 wt%, potassium bromide approximately 0.5 to 3 wt%, nitrile triacetic acid 3 to 20 wt%
%, the powder processing agent B stored in the storage section 402 is a preservative such as hydroxylamine sulfate, and the powder processing agent C stored in the storage section 403 is 4-[N- A developing agent such as ethyl-N-β-hydroxyethyl amino]-2-methylaniline sulfate. The weight mixing ratio of these powder processing agents A, B, and C is A:B:C=6.
~10:0.3~1:1. Each storage section 40
The area ratio of the discharge ports 1, 402, and 403 is formed to be the same as the above-mentioned mixing ratio, so that the powdered processing agent can be transported and discharged at the above-mentioned ratio at all times. The reason why the powder processing agent is stored separately in the tank 40 as described above is to prevent it from reacting before being added in the powder state.

[0029] In the present invention, the term "powder" refers to not only primary particles but also granulated secondary particles.
It refers to powder with a particle size of about 2 to 2 mm. Also,
Such a powder processing agent may contain a small amount of liquid component.

As shown in FIG. 2, the bleaching tank 21 has processing liquid brought in from the developing tank 20 of the front bath and carried out to the rear bath as the photosensitive material S is transported. The processing solution in the bleaching tank 21 becomes thinner little by little even if it is not replenished. To compensate for this, it is possible to keep the concentration of the solution constant by adding a highly concentrated replenisher, but as more components are discharged by overflow by the amount of added replenisher, there is a loss of processed components. becomes larger. For this reason, the powdered processing agent, which is a component of the processing solution, is directly added without adding a replenisher. By directly adding the powdered processing agent in this manner, there is no need to replenish the replenisher, the amount of water used for processing the photosensitive material can be reduced, and the processing agent can be used effectively.

Here, to give a specific example of the powder processing agent stored in the tank 40, the composition of the powder processing agent A stored in the storage section 401 is ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid ferric ammonium dihydrate. It is a bleaching agent and a chelating agent of about 85 to 95 wt% and about 5 to 15 wt% of secondary sodium salt of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid.
%, ammonium nitrate 5 to 25 wt%, bis(
The bleaching accelerator such as dimethylaminoether) disulfide dihydrochloric acid is about 0.05 to 0.5 wt%.

The powder processing agent added as a bleaching agent is divided into two parts and stored in the tank 40 as described above. The weight mixing ratio of these powder processing agents A and B is A:
B=about 1:1. The area ratio of the discharge ports of each storage section 401, 402 is formed to be the same as the mixing ratio. Note that when adding two types of powder processing agents as in this case, the discharge section of the storage section 403 is closed with a lid material or the like. As described above, each addition device 4 is filled with a powdered processing agent corresponding to each processing tank, and is added as needed.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of a processing tank showing another example of the construction of the supplementary rib tank 3. As shown in FIG. The auxiliary tank 3 is divided into a plurality of chambers arranged in the vertical direction by a partition plate 33, and each chamber has a communication hole formed on the opposing inner wall side, which prevents the smooth flow of the processing liquid and prevents the flow of water between the chambers. It has a structure that aims to dissolve the processing liquid added to it. Channels 30 and 31 communicating with the processing tank 21 are connected to the auxiliary tank 3, and the processing liquid Q located below the processing tank 21 flows to the upper part of the auxiliary tank 3 through the channel 30. The water is returned from the lower part of the supplementary rib tank 3 to the vicinity of the processing liquid level in the processing tank 21 through the flow path 31. A circulation device 32 is installed in the auxiliary tank 3, and the processing liquid Q in the processing tank 21 is circulated by this device. The circulation device 32 includes a motor 321 and a screw 322 attached to the tip of the drive shaft of the motor 321. As shown in the figure, the screw 322 is sunk in the uppermost chamber in the auxiliary tank 3,
As the screw 322 rotates, the processing liquid in the supplementary tank 3 is sent from above to below. Furthermore, the addition device 4
When more powdery processing agent is added, the stirring action of the screw promotes dissolution of the powdery processing agent into the processing liquid. Moreover, as already mentioned, the powdered processing agent can be completely dissolved in the process of successively passing through the chambers in the auxiliary tank 3.

In the above-described addition device 4, a so-called table type feeder is used as the feeding mechanism for the powdered processing agent, but a screw type feeder or the like may be used as long as it has a mechanism that can quantitatively convey the powdered processing agent. Feeders of other mechanisms may also be used.

It goes without saying that the addition device 4 described above can be used in processing devices other than color negative film processing devices.

Furthermore, even when a method of replenishing the replenisher is adopted, if the addition device 4 is used to prepare the replenisher, the powdered processing agent is dissolved in water and refilled immediately before replenishment. This eliminates the need to provide a space for accommodating a replenisher tank in the processing apparatus as in the conventional case, and it is possible to downsize the apparatus. At this time, what is required is the supply and distribution of water as a solvent, and it is preferable to provide a distributor for distributing replenishment water to each treatment tank.

FIGS. 9 and 10 are a plan sectional view and a side sectional view of the distributor 6. As shown, the distributor 6 is provided inside a circular outer container 60 with a switching body 6 also having a circular shape.
1 is rotatably provided. Branch pipes 601, 602, 603, and 604 are provided on the circumferential surface of the outer container 60 in four directions, and water at different flow rates is distributed and flows out from the branch pipes 601, 602, 603, and 604, respectively. The ring-shaped peripheral surface of the switching body 61 is provided with communication holes 611a and 611b having different diameters. In the distributor 6 of this embodiment, the diameter of the communication hole 611a is 1/2 of the diameter of the communication hole 611b. Furthermore, a cylindrical operating portion 62 is provided at the center of the switching body 61 and protrudes outward from the center of the outer container 60 . A connecting tube 63 is provided at the tip of the operating portion 62.
are connected in a liquid-tight and rotatable manner, and a connecting pipe 6
A water supply pipe 64 is connected to the tip of the pipe 3 . Water supplied to the photosensitive material processing apparatus is supplied to the distributor 6 from the operation section 62 side.
Go inside.

The switching body 61 is rotated within the outer container 60 by pinching and turning the operating portion 62. Then, the above-mentioned communication hole 611 is connected to each branch pipe 601, 602, 603, 604.
By adjusting the flow rate, the desired flow rate can be supplied to each branch pipe. In addition, the part of the flow hole 611 is made into a branch pipe 601, 6.
02, 603, and 604, it is also possible to stop water distribution. If such a distributor 6 is provided,
The number of water supply systems can be reduced, and the size of the treatment device can be further reduced.

[0039]

Effects of the Invention As explained above, according to the photosensitive material processing apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to add a powdered processing agent in an accurate ratio, and a small amount or almost no replenishment solution is required. This has the effect that agents can be used with high efficiency.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing a bleaching tank of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partial perspective view of a processing tank.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of essential parts of the addition device.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of main parts showing a conveyance section and a discharge section of the addition device.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing the conveyance section of the addition device.

FIG. 6 is a side cross-sectional view showing a conveyance section and a discharge section of the addition device.

FIG. 7 is a partial cross-sectional view showing how the powdered processing agent is stored in the tank of the addition device.

FIG. 8 is a side sectional view of a bleaching tank showing another embodiment of the auxiliary tank.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional plan view of the distributor.

FIG. 10 is a side cross-sectional view of the distributor.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Photosensitive material processing equipment 2
Processing tank 20 Developing tank 21 Bleaching tank 3 Auxiliary tank 30
Channel 31 Channel 32 Circulation device 321 Motor 322 Screw 33 Partition plate 34 Water supply port 4 Addition device 40 Tanks 401 to 3 Storage section 404 Discharge port 41 Transport section 42 Case 43 Discharge section 431 Inclined surface 44 Discharge duct 441 Hole 45 Dehumidification device 46 Table 47 Rotating body 470 Rotating shaft 471 Transfer section 472 Outer edge section 48 Opening/closing body 49 Opening/closing operation section 491 Biasing mechanism 492 Rod 493 Pinion 494 Motor 495 Roller 5 Drive mechanism 50 Gear 51 Drive motor 52 Gear 6 Distributor 60 Outer container 601 ~4 Branch pipe 61 Switching body 611 Distribution hole 62 Operation section 63 Connecting pipe 64 Piping A, B, C Powder processing agent Q Processing liquid S Photosensitive material

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A photosensitive material processing apparatus having a processing tank filled with a processing solution for immersing a photosensitive material, provided with an auxiliary tank through which the processing solution flows through the processing tank, and the processing solution contains a powdered processing agent in a solvent. What is claimed is: 1. A photosensitive material processing apparatus, characterized in that an addition device for adding the powdered processing agent to the auxiliary tank is provided. 2. A photosensitive material processing apparatus having a processing tank filled with a processing solution for immersing a photosensitive material, wherein the processing solution is a powdered processing agent dissolved in a solvent, An addition device for adding a powdered processing agent is provided, and the addition device separately stores different types of the powdered processing agent in a predetermined ratio, and includes a tank having a discharge port for the powdered processing agent, and a tank that separately stores different types of the powdered processing agent in a predetermined ratio, and a tank having a discharge port for the powdered processing agent, and It is composed of a conveyance section that conveys a fixed amount of the discharged powder processing agent, and a discharge section that can be opened and closed and that discharges the powder treatment agent conveyed by the conveyance section, and the discharge port and the conveyance section are sealed. A photosensitive material processing device characterized in that it is installed in a dehumidifying space. 3. A photosensitive material processing apparatus having a processing tank filled with a processing solution for immersing the photosensitive material, wherein the processing solution is a powdered processing agent dissolved in a solvent, and An addition device for adding a powdered processing agent is provided, and the addition device separately stores different types of the powdered processing agent in a predetermined ratio, and includes a tank having an outlet for the powdered processing agent, and a tank that separately stores different types of the powdered processing agent at a predetermined ratio. The rotating body is composed of a table for receiving the powdered processing agent discharged from the discharge port, a rotating body provided between the table and the discharge port, and a discharge part that is openable and closable and opens on the table. has a transfer section that transfers a fixed amount of the powdered processing agent received by the table by rotation to the discharge section, and a processing agent conveyance system from the discharge port of the tank to the discharge section is provided in a sealed dehumidifying space. A photosensitive material processing device characterized by: