JPH04362946A - Photosensitive material processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable the ultra high speed processing of a photosensitive material with high quality by wet processing and to miniaturize a processing device. CONSTITUTION:One part of a processing solution drawing-up roller 34 is immersed in processing solution in a processing tank. The photosensitive material 12 is carried at the upper part of the processing solution. The absolute value of the circumferential speed of the roller 34 is larger than the absolute value of the carrying speed of the material 12. The roller 34 is rotated at 150rpm or more. Since the processing solution is quickly exchanged on the surface of the photosensitive material even when the ultra high speed processing is executed, the excellent processing is enabled. Besides, since the used amount of the processing solution is little, the processing device can be miniaturized.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

[Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a wet processing apparatus for photosensitive materials, and more specifically, a novel photosensitive material processing apparatus for stably processing high quality photosensitive materials with excellent rapid processing performance. Regarding.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art A photosensitive material processing device is a device that performs processing such as development, bleaching, fixing, bleach-fixing, washing, stabilization, and drying on a photosensitive material after exposure to form an image on the photosensitive material. be. Among the above treatments, the water washing and stabilization treatment steps are also called cleaning steps. Usually, these treatments consist of a process in which the exposed photosensitive material is immersed in each processing solution while being transported.

As a recent trend, it is desired to simplify and speed up the processing of all photosensitive materials, but in the conventional processing liquid immersion method, if it is simplified (downsized), the immersion time will be reduced compared to the total processing time. There are obstacles such as a decrease in the ratio and a decrease in the actual processing time. As a means to compensate for this drawback, a cleaning device (water washing device) is proposed as a means other than immersion, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Nos. 62-240967 and 62-240969.
As described in the publication, there is a device for cleaning the surface of a photosensitive material with running water, and a device for cleaning the surface of a photosensitive material with running water, and a device for cleaning the surface of a photosensitive material with running water, and a device for cleaning the surface of a photosensitive material using running water, as well as Utility Model Application Publications No. 50-947 and No. 51-147.
As described in Japanese Patent Application No. 442, an apparatus has been proposed that performs washing by spraying washing water onto a photosensitive material.

0004

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, the above-mentioned processing cannot exhibit sufficient performance during rapid processing, and one of the reasons for this is that the processing solution located near the surface of the photosensitive material does not mix smoothly with the fresh processing solution. It is presumed that this is because it is not replaced. Further, a device having a transport path within the processing tank is not preferable because it requires a transport means or the like within the processing tank, which increases the size of the apparatus. For example, using the water washing process as an example, if a photosensitive material with a bleach-fix solution attached is dried as it is, processing solution components such as thiosulfate and silver thiosulfate complexes contained in the bleach-fix solution will precipitate as crystals on the film surface. Also, during storage, image silver and processing solution components react, causing the image to discolor or fade, and silver complex salts dissolved in the processing solution turn into silver sulfide, causing contamination. Therefore, water washing and stabilization are performed to remove the processing solution components on the surface of the light-sensitive material and inside the emulsion film.

[0005] In the method of immersing the photosensitive material in washing water and washing it with water, a transport means is required to transport the photosensitive material within a washing tank containing a large amount of washing water for immersing the photosensitive material, and In order to maintain a long immersion time, the conveyance mechanism becomes complicated and the device becomes large. Further, since the photosensitive material is immersed in the washing water for a predetermined period of time, the washing time becomes long in the commonly used multi-bath washing process. Furthermore, a device for immersing a photosensitive material in rinsing water in a slit-shaped rinsing tank described in JP-A No. 63-216050 can perform efficient rinsing with a small amount of rinsing water, but the device is complicated and requires maintenance. difficult.

[0006] Also, JP-A-62-240967, JP-A-62-240967;
In the apparatus described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 240969, which cleans the surface of a photosensitive material with running water, sufficient washing cannot be performed with only flowing washing water. Furthermore, JP-A-62-
The apparatus described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 240970, which substantially supplies flowing sewage water in multiple stages, is large and complicated, and maintenance is difficult. Furthermore, in the apparatuses described in Japanese Utility Model Application Publications No. 50-947 and No. 51-147442, which perform washing by spraying washing water onto a photosensitive material, it is difficult to perform sufficient washing with just a jet of washing water. I can't.

[0007] As is clear from what has been said above,
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and to provide a high-quality, simple, and ultra-quick processing apparatus for photosensitive materials.

[0008]

Means and Effects for Solving the Problems The above objects of the present invention are achieved by the processing apparatus described in (1) to (7) below.

(1) A processing liquid pumping roller is provided which supplies the processing liquid to the photosensitive material which is partially immersed in the processing liquid and is transported above the processing liquid, and the absolute value of the circumferential speed of the pumping roller is equal to the photosensitive material transport speed. A photosensitive material processing apparatus characterized in that the pumping roller rotates at a speed of 150 rpm or more.

(2) A processing liquid pumping roller is provided which supplies the processing liquid to the photosensitive material which is partially immersed in the processing liquid and is conveyed above the processing liquid, and the amount of processing liquid supported by the pumping roller and the photosensitive material. 1. A photosensitive material processing apparatus characterized by comprising means for increasing.

(3) A processing liquid pumping roller is provided for supplying the processing liquid to the photosensitive material partially immersed in the processing liquid and conveyed above the processing liquid, and a means for increasing the amount of processing liquid pumped up by the pumping roller is provided. A photosensitive material processing device characterized by:

(4) A processing liquid pumping roller is provided which supplies the processing liquid to the photosensitive material that is partially immersed in the processing liquid and is conveyed above the processing liquid, and the amount of processing liquid on the pumping roller after contact with the photosensitive material is reduced. A photosensitive material processing apparatus characterized in that it is equipped with means for reducing.

(5) A processing liquid pumping roller is provided which supplies the processing liquid to the photosensitive material which is partially immersed in the processing liquid and is conveyed above the processing liquid, and near the peripheral surface where the pumping roller rotates upward. 1. A photosensitive material processing apparatus characterized by comprising means for raising the liquid level of the liquid.

(6) A means for generating a jet of the processing liquid against the pumping roller, comprising a processing liquid pumping roller that supplies the processing liquid to the photosensitive material partially immersed in the processing liquid and conveyed above the processing liquid. A photosensitive material processing apparatus characterized by being provided with.

(7) A processing liquid pumping roller is provided which is partially immersed in the processing liquid and supplies the processing liquid to the photosensitive material being conveyed above the processing liquid, and the pumping roller has a rotation speed faster than the absolute value of the photosensitive material conveyance speed. 1. A photosensitive material processing device that rotates at a high speed and has a processing tank capacity of 450 ml or less.

The processing liquid is supplied to the surface of the photosensitive material by a processing liquid pumping roller capable of supporting the processing liquid, and at this time, by increasing the processing liquid between the photosensitive material and the pumping roller, the processing liquid is increased on the surface of the photosensitive material. It can be replaced quickly and can be processed efficiently. Pumping roller is 150
By rotating at a speed higher than rpm, a large amount of processing liquid is brought between the photosensitive material and the pumping roller to form a liquid film, and the photosensitive material can be processed satisfactorily without being damaged. The rotation direction of the pumping roller may be the same as or opposite to the photosensitive material conveyance direction, but the opposite direction is preferable.

When the direction of conveyance of the photosensitive material and the rotation direction of the processing roller are the same, and the conveyance speed and the circumferential speed of the roller are equal,
Since the photosensitive material and the processing roller do not slide along the transport direction, even if the photosensitive material and the processing roller are in contact with each other, no linear scratches are generated on the photosensitive material along the transport direction. Under such speed conditions, the processing roller also has the function of conveying the photosensitive material, but when reliable conveyance is required, the photosensitive material is pressed against the processing roller so that pressure is generated at the contact portion. Then, although the photosensitive material does not slide in the conveyance direction, it slides in the axial direction of the roller due to meandering, etc., so that scratches may occur in irregular directions. Scratches occur on the photosensitive material when the photosensitive material is being processed in contact with the processing roller, and this is because minute protrusions caused by the roughness of the processing roller surface come into pressure contact with or slide against the photosensitive material. be. Although scratches can be prevented by mirror-finishing the surface of the processing roller, mirror-finishing the roller to the extent that scratches do not occur is expensive and practically difficult.

Therefore, if the processing is performed in such a way that the processing roller does not come into contact with the photosensitive material, the photosensitive material will not be damaged. Specifically, when processing a photosensitive material with a processing roller, if a film of processing liquid is always formed between the photosensitive material and the processing roller, the photosensitive material can be processed without coming into contact with the processing roller. Ru. In order to always form a film of processing liquid between the photosensitive material and the processing roller, the rotation of the processing roller always brings the processing liquid between the photosensitive material and the processing roller so that a predetermined amount of processing liquid is always carried. Just do as it is. As the processing roller rotates, processing liquid is constantly brought between the photosensitive material and the processing roller, and the carried processing liquid is sequentially discharged from the surface of the photosensitive material while maintaining an amount that forms a liquid film with an approximately constant thickness. Therefore, the processing liquid can be exchanged quickly and good processing can be performed. The processing liquid film between the processing roller and the photosensitive material is set so as not to be destroyed even when the photosensitive material is pressed against the processing roller. If the rotation speed of the processing roller is extremely low, the amount of processing liquid brought between the processing roller and the photosensitive material is small, so the liquid film is thin and easily destroyed, and the photosensitive material and the processing roller come into contact and cause scratches. It sticks to me.

The amount of processing liquid carried between the processing roller and the photosensitive material depends mainly on the number of rotations of the processing roller. It is expected that the number of scratches mentioned above will increase further as the rotation speed of the processing roller increases, but in reality, as the processing roller rotates, the processing liquid around the processing roller moves in the same direction as the processing roller due to the action of viscosity. Since the amount of processing liquid brought between the processing roller and the photosensitive material increases, no scratches occur. The thickness of such a processing liquid film can be adjusted by factors such as the processing roller's rotational speed, circumferential speed, diameter, photosensitive material conveyance speed, etc.; however, the thickness of the liquid film is extremely influenced by the processing roller's rotational speed. The film thickness changes by adjusting the number, and the film thickness does not change much with other factors. Therefore, processing is carried out by rotating the processing roller at 150 rpm or more while conveying the photosensitive material by engaging the emulsion surface of the photosensitive material with the peripheral surface of the processing roller, which is at least partially immersed in the processing solution. As a result, the photosensitive material can be processed satisfactorily with a small amount of processing liquid during ultra-rapid processing, and the processing apparatus can be downsized. By rotating the processing roller at 150 rpm or more, a predetermined amount of processing liquid is carried between the processing roller and the photosensitive material to form a liquid film, and the photosensitive material is efficiently processed without coming into contact with the processing roller.

[0020] The rotation speed of the processing roller is 150 rpm or more, preferably 600 rpm or more. The above-mentioned rotational speed can be increased within a limit that does not cause splashing of the processing liquid. However, if the rotation speed of the processing roller is too high, problems will arise in the design of the machine, so in practice it is
2000 rpm is preferred. Processing roller at 150 rpm
The circumferential speed of the roller when rotated in the above manner is determined by the radius, but considering the actually set photosensitive material conveyance speed, the absolute value of the circumferential speed will never be smaller than the absolute value of the photosensitive material conveyance speed. The absolute value of the circumferential speed is 1.5 times or more the absolute value of the photosensitive material conveyance speed. The diameter of the processing roller used in the actual device is 0.5 to 20 cm, preferably 1.0 to 10 cm, more preferably 1.0 cm.
~7.0cm. When using a processing roller of such a size, the photosensitive material conveyance speed is 0.2 to 20 cm/
seconds is preferable, more preferably 0.5 to 10 cm/second,
Particularly preferred is 0.5 to 4 cm/sec. A slower conveyance speed has the advantage that the device can be made more compact. Further, the peripheral speed of the processing roller is 10 m/min or more, preferably 40 m/min or more, and more preferably 60 m/min or more. The higher the circumferential speed, the greater the processing effect such as cleaning, but there are also problems such as the drive motor becoming larger. Therefore, a practically preferable circumferential speed is 60 to 200 m/min. In fact, the effects of the present invention have been confirmed up to a circumferential speed of the processing roller of 150 km/hour.

At this time, the absolute value of the peripheral speed of the processing roller is at least 1.5 times the absolute value of the photosensitive material conveyance speed, and the effects of the present invention have been confirmed up to a speed ratio of 1500 times. The speed ratio is preferably 20 to 1000
times, more preferably 30 to 500 times, particularly preferably 6 times
It is 0 to 300 times. The larger this ratio is, the greater the amount of processing liquid carried and carried between the processing roller and the photosensitive material, and therefore the processing effect, especially the cleaning effect, is greater. The present invention is aimed at speeding up and simplifying processing, and is configured to increase the amount of processing liquid supplied to the photosensitive material by a pumping roller. In order to increase the amount of processing liquid, the liquid level can be raised or the contact time between the processing liquid and the photosensitive material can be increased to substantially equal to an increase in the amount of processing liquid.

The processing liquid carried by the pumping roller and in contact with the photosensitive material may react with the materials in the photosensitive material upon contact with the photosensitive material, or components may be eluted from the photosensitive material, resulting in changes in the properties of the liquid. It's coming. Most of the processing liquid carried on the pumping roller after contacting the photosensitive material is recovered into the processing tank by rotation of the pumping roller, but a portion remains carried on the pumping roller. therefore,
By providing a means for removing the processed processing liquid carried on the pumping roller, the processed processing liquid can be reliably removed from the surface of the pumping roller, and fresh processing liquid can be newly supplied to the photosensitive material. can. To remove the processing liquid, for example, the liquid film is destroyed by contact with a scraping blade or the like, or by a jet of gas or liquid. In addition, by providing a processing liquid jetting means near the liquid surface near the circumferential surface where the pumping roller rotates upward, the processing liquid level can be raised, and the processing liquid is carried by the pumping roller and placed between it and the photosensitive material. The amount of processing liquid brought in can be increased. The processing liquid ejecting means may be directed upward, but may also be directed toward the wall of the processing tank or the like.

[0023] Furthermore, the processing liquid is rotated along the circumferential surface of the pumping roller by spouting the processing liquid from directly below the pumping roller toward the circumferential surface of the pumping roller along the center direction of the roller. The direction of flow is upstream and downstream. Therefore, the liquid level can be raised and the processed liquid carried on the pumping roller can be removed at the same time. For convenience, the amount of processing liquid that is ejected is expressed as the amount of ejection per minute divided by the length of the pumping roller, and this value is 0.02
It is preferable that it is liter/cm·min or more, and the ejection distance is preferably in the range of 1 to 30 mm from the circumferential surface of the pumping roller. According to the present invention, for example, in the cleaning step, processing liquid components adhering to the photosensitive material are removed by the rapidly exchanged cleaning water, allowing efficient cleaning to be performed. Furthermore, in the developing process, the developer in contact with the emulsion surface of the light-sensitive material is quickly replaced with fresh developer, making it possible to speed up the development. In this way, processing steps such as cleaning and development can be speeded up, processing can be carried out efficiently with a small amount of processing liquid, and since there are few components, the equipment can be configured to be simple and compact. Maintenance is also easy.

[0024] The processing liquid pumping roller in the present invention is
It may be in substantial contact with the photosensitive material, or it may be configured such that it is not in contact with the photosensitive material when not being processed, but is in contact with the photosensitive material via the pumped processing liquid during processing. Furthermore, the rotation direction of the processing liquid pumping roller may be the same direction as the photosensitive material conveyance direction or the opposite direction, but it is better to rotate the processing liquid in the opposite direction because the processing liquid can be exchanged more quickly on the surface of the photosensitive material. is large. The processing liquid drawn up by the processing liquid pumping roller forms a liquid film or a liquid pool between the processing liquid and the photosensitive material. When the rotational direction of the pumping roller is the same as the photosensitive material conveyance direction, the amount of processing liquid that accumulates on the downstream side in the photosensitive material conveyance direction increases. Therefore, the resulting puddle of processing liquid remains on the surface of the photosensitive material. The liquid pool tends to move together with the photosensitive material, making it difficult to drain the processing liquid from the photosensitive material after processing. Furthermore, if the rotational direction of the pumping roller and the photosensitive material conveyance direction are opposite, the liquid pool formed on the upstream side in the photosensitive material conveyance direction is subjected to forces in two directions: the photosensitive material conveyance direction and the opposite direction. Since the rotation speed of the pumping roller is high, the liquid pool tends to move in the direction of rotation of the pumping roller. therefore,
The processing liquid can be exchanged very easily, and the processing liquid can be easily removed from the photographic material after processing. Therefore, in order to quickly exchange the processing liquid supplied to the surface of the photosensitive material, it is preferable that the processing liquid drawing roller rotate in the opposite direction to the direction in which the photosensitive material is conveyed.

According to the present invention, for example, in the cleaning step, the processing liquid components adhering to the photosensitive material are removed by the rapidly exchanged cleaning water, allowing for efficient cleaning. Furthermore, in the developing process, the developer in contact with the emulsion surface of the light-sensitive material is quickly replaced with fresh developer, making it possible to speed up the development. In this way, processing steps such as cleaning and development can be speeded up, processing can be carried out efficiently with a small amount of processing liquid, and since there are few components, the equipment can be configured to be simple and compact. Maintenance is also easy. In the present invention, the type of processing liquid is not limited as long as the photosensitive material is processed by contacting the processing liquid, but in particular, the photosensitive material wetted with a certain processing liquid is supplied with another type of processing liquid. It is suitable for cases where A photosensitive material in a wet state means, for example, a photosensitive material immediately after being removed from a developer, a bleach-fix solution, a bleach solution, a fixer, or the like.

[0026] In a method for applying liquids such as emulsions, it is known to use a coating roller that is in contact with the liquid and rotated in contact with the photosensitive material, but generally such a coating roller is used at a speed that is faster than the conveyance speed of the photosensitive material. It is rotated in the same direction as the conveyance direction at a circumferential speed approximately equal to . If the circumferential speed of the applicator roller is faster than the transport speed of the photosensitive material, problems such as scratching the surface of the photosensitive material and inability to maintain coating accuracy can be expected. It has not been realized to rotate the application roller at a rotation speed higher than the material conveyance speed. Furthermore, Photographic Science and Engineering, 7, 2
69 (1963) discloses a technique called "drum development" and "drum processing" as a rapid development method, but the specific description of the rotation speed of the drum and the description in the document are defined in the present invention. No rotation speed disclosed or implied. According to experiments conducted by the inventors, it has been found that there is a significant processing effect when the rotational speed exceeds a certain range, but the structure of the present invention cannot be easily estimated from the above report, and the It was also found that problems such as scratches on the photosensitive material occur in the area of text rotation speed. In addition, the device in this report has a structure that limits the amount of water that can be pumped up, so even if the pumping roller is rotated at high speed, the amount of water that can be pumped cannot be increased, and ultra-quick processing is not possible. Can not. However, as in the present invention, the transport speed of the photosensitive material is faster than the transport speed of the photosensitive material.
It was found that even when processing was carried out by rotating the processing roller at 50 rpm or more, no scratches were caused on the surface of the photosensitive material. This is because a film of processing liquid is formed between the processing roller and the photosensitive material, and the liquid is exchanged (flow) continuously and at high speed.
This is thought to be due to the presence of

[0027] As described above, rotating the processing roller at a high rotation speed is important from the viewpoint of liquid exchange, and is a completely new method that cannot be achieved by simply extending the concept of conventional coating means. It's a method. Although the rotation direction of the processing roller is not limited, it is preferable that the processing roller rotates in a direction opposite to the direction in which the photosensitive material is conveyed. The surface shape and material of the processing roller that can be used in the present invention are not particularly limited. Examples of the processing roller include a roller having concave portions or convex portions on its circumferential surface in order to be able to support the processing liquid, and a roller having water absorbing properties. The depth of the concave portion and the height of the convex portion on the circumferential surface of the processing roller are 0.1 to 5 mm.
is preferred. Furthermore, a so-called wire rod in which a wire is spirally wound may be used as the processing roller, and in this case, the diameter of the wire is preferably 1 to 5 mm. Furthermore, gravure printing rollers, flat rollers, and sponge rollers can also be used.

According to the present invention, good processing can be performed even with a small amount of processing liquid. Therefore, even if the capacity of the treatment tank is 450 ml or less, good treatment can be performed. Furthermore, even if the capacity of the processing tank is 45 ml or less, good processing can be performed by using the processing roller of the present invention. The lower limit of the capacity of the treatment tank is not particularly limited, but it may be any amount that includes the amount of substances that can be processed in each treatment. On the other hand, if the processing tank is made smaller by immersing the photosensitive material in the processing solution, it is necessary to slow down the photosensitive material transport speed to obtain a predetermined contact time with the solution. , unable to achieve rapid processing. Furthermore, if the transport speed is slow, the liquid near the surface of the photosensitive material cannot be exchanged well, and if the processing liquid is stirred to prevent this, the liquid level will not be stabilized and the immersion time will not be constant, resulting in uneven processing. Furthermore, in a configuration in which a photosensitive material is transported or reversed in a processing liquid, there is a limit to miniaturization due to the arrangement of each component. In particular, low replenishment,
Under conditions of quiet processing, the processing liquid is slow to reach the equilibrium concentration, leading to instability of the processing. To improve this, it is effective to downsize the processing tank and reduce the amount of processing liquid.

By supplying the processing liquid to the photosensitive material using the processing liquid pumping roller as in the present invention, even if the capacity of the processing tank is small, what is actually involved in processing is the pumped processing liquid. The device can be made smaller, and processing unevenness does not occur even when processing a photosensitive material with a small amount of processing liquid. When carrying out the present invention, it is preferable to seal the upper part of the processing liquid to prevent evaporation and oxidation of the processing liquid. When a processing roller that is at least partially immersed in the processing liquid is rotated, there are many opportunities for the processing liquid to come into contact with air, causing rapid evaporation and oxidation of the processing liquid, resulting in a decrease in processing function. In particular, in the rapid water washing process, the temperature of the washing liquid is often raised to speed up the process, which tends to accelerate evaporation and oxidation. Further, when cleaning is performed using a processing roller, if the amount of evaporation of the cleaning liquid is large, the liquid level may drop below the processing roller, causing problems such as damage to the photosensitive material.

[0030] In order to prevent these, it is preferable to substantially seal the upper part of the processing liquid. In order to prevent evaporation and oxidation of the processing liquid, it is preferable to prevent the processing liquid from coming into contact with air completely, but it is sufficient that the processing liquid is not completely sealed, but is substantially sealed. As one of the aspects of sealing,
There are configurations in which the space above the processing liquid is closed off with an airtight lid or the like, and configurations in which a floating lid or the like is provided to prevent contact between the liquid surface and air. For sealing, it is particularly important to seal the inlet and outlet of the photosensitive material and the degree of opening of the liquid surface, but being substantially sealed means that as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-84642, The maximum slit width is 1.5 mm for color developing solution, bleach-fix solution, bleaching solution, fixing solution and stabilizing solution, and 2.5 mm for cleaning solution. Further, an inert gas such as nitrogen gas or argon gas may be sealed inside the sealed device.

Processing solutions that can be used in the present invention include developing solutions, fixing solutions, bleach-fixing solutions, washing solutions, and stabilizing solutions for photosensitive materials. Furthermore, the pH of the processing liquid that can be used is 3 to 13, the viscosity is 500CP or less, and the surface tension is 15 to 75 dyne/
cm, specific gravity is 0.75 to 1.30, and any of these can be selected and used. When the present invention is applied to cleaning treatment, cleaning solutions that can be used include ion exchange water, tap water, etc., which contain preservatives, chelating agents, surfactants, pH buffers, optical brighteners, and anti-fungal agents. It may also contain a hardening agent and a hardening agent. Further, in the cleaning process, when a plurality of cleaning tanks are arranged to perform multi-stage cleaning processing, good cleaning can be performed by applying the configuration of the present invention to at least one of the plurality of tanks. Furthermore, in the multi-stage cleaning process, a so-called counter-flow system is preferable, in which the last stage tank is replenished with the cleaning liquid, and the cleaning liquid is sequentially replenished from the latter stage tank to the previous stage tank. Furthermore, the amount of cleaning liquid to be replenished to the last tank is 0.5 to 3 times the amount of cleaning liquid brought in from the previous tank by the photosensitive material.
Preferably, it is twice as large. Furthermore, the cleaning process time is 30
Preferably within seconds.

The light-sensitive material in the present invention may be any light-sensitive material that uses a processing liquid, such as black and white photographic materials for printing, medical use, and general use, and color photographs such as color negative film, color reversal film, and color paper. There are photosensitive materials. The processing of the present invention can process color prints by taking advantage of speed, and can be applied to intelligent color hard copy processing where speed is more desirable. In particular, in an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to intelligent color hard copies, it is preferable to scan and expose the photosensitive material using high-density light such as a laser (for example, a semiconductor laser) or a light emitting diode. Also,
The present invention includes embodiments of the present invention and Japanese Patent Application No. 1-23259.
Particularly excellent cleaning effects are exhibited when color photographic light-sensitive materials such as those described in the specification of No. 0 are cleaned in an extremely short period of time.

Silver halides used in the light-sensitive material according to the present invention include silver chloride, silver bromide, (iodine) silver chlorobromide,
Silver iodobromide etc. can be used, but especially for the purpose of rapid processing, silver chloride containing substantially no silver iodide can be used.
It is preferred to use silver chlorobromide or silver chloride emulsions with a mole % or more, more preferably 95% or more, particularly 98% or more. The photosensitive material according to the present invention includes a hydrophilic colloid layer in order to improve image sharpness etc.
No. 90A2 specification, pages 27 to 76, dyes that can be decolorized by processing (especially oxonol dyes) are used to prepare the photosensitive material whose optical reflection density at 680 nm is 0.7.
0 or more, or 12% by weight or more (more preferably 14% by weight) of titanium oxide surface-treated with a di- to tetrahydric alcohol (for example, trimethylolethane) in the water-resistant resin layer of the support. (wt% or more) is preferably contained.

Further, in the light-sensitive material according to the present invention, it is preferable to use a color image preservation improving compound as described in European Patent EP 0,277,589A2 together with a coupler. Particularly preferred is the combination with a pyrazoloazole coupler. That is, compounds that chemically bond with aromatic amine developing agents remaining after color development processing to produce chemically inert and substantially colorless compounds and/or aromatic amine compounds remaining after color development processing. For example, it is possible to use a compound that chemically combines with the oxidized form of a color developing agent to form a chemically inert and substantially colorless compound, either simultaneously or singly, to reduce the color developing agent remaining in the film during storage after processing. This is preferable in order to prevent the generation of stains and other side effects due to the formation of colored pigments due to the reaction between the coupler or its oxidized product and the coupler.

In addition, the photosensitive material according to the present invention has a preventive agent as described in JP-A No. 63-271247 in order to prevent various types of mold and bacteria that grow in the hydrophilic colloid layer and degrade images. It is preferable to add a fungicide. In addition, the support used in the light-sensitive material according to the present invention includes a white polyester support for displays or a support in which a layer containing a white pigment is provided on the support on the side having a silver halide emulsion layer. May be used. In order to further improve sharpness, it is preferable to coat an antihalation layer on the side on which the silver halide emulsion layer is coated or on the back side of the support. In particular, it is preferable to set the transmission density of the support in the range of 0.35 to 0.8 so that the display can be viewed with both reflected light and transmitted light.

The photosensitive material according to the present invention may be exposed to visible light or infrared light. The exposure method may be low-intensity exposure or high-intensity short-time exposure, and particularly in the latter case, a laser scanning exposure method in which the exposure time per pixel is shorter than 10 -4 seconds is preferred. Also, during exposure,
Preferably, a band stop filter as described in US Pat. No. 4,880,726 is used. This eliminates optical color mixture and significantly improves color reproducibility. The exposed light-sensitive material may be subjected to color development processing, but for the purpose of rapid processing, it is preferable to carry out bleach-fixing processing after color development. In particular, when the above-mentioned high silver chloride emulsion is used, the pH of the bleach-fix solution is approximately 6 for the purpose of promoting desilvering.
．． 5 or less is preferred, and about 6 or less is more preferred.

Silver halide emulsion and other materials (additives, etc.) and photographic constituent layers (layer arrangement, etc.) applied to the light-sensitive material according to the present invention, and the processing method applied to process this light-sensitive material As processing additives, the following patent publications, especially European patent EP 0,355,660A2
Those described in the specification (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2-139544) are preferably used.

[0038]

[Table 1]

[0039]

[Table 2]

[0040]

[Table 3]

[0041]

[Table 4]

[0042]

[Table 5]

[0043] Also, as a cyan coupler, JP-A-2-
In addition to the diphenylimidazole cyan coupler described in Publication No. 33144, European Patent EP 0,333,18
3-hydroxypyridine cyan couplers described in the specification of No. 5A2 (among them, the 4-equivalent coupler of coupler (42) listed as a specific example) has a chlorine leaving group.
Equivalent ones, couplers (6) and (9) are particularly preferred) and cyclic active methylene cyan couplers described in JP-A No. 64-32260 (particularly coupler example 3 listed as a specific example, 8,34 are particularly preferred)
It is also preferable to use

The color photographic material used in the present invention is preferably subjected to color development, bleach-fixing, and water washing treatment (or stabilization treatment). Bleaching and fixing may be carried out in one bath or in separate baths. The color developer used in the present invention contains a known aromatic primary amine color developing agent. Preferred examples are p-phenylenediamine derivatives, representative examples of which are shown below, but are not limited thereto.

D-1 N,N-diethyl-p-phenylenediamine D-2 4-amino-N,N-diethyl-3-methylaniline D-3 4-amino-N-(β-hydroxyethyl)
-N-Methylaniline D-4 4-Amino-N-ethyl-N-(β-hydroxyethyl)aniline D-5 4-Amino-N-ethyl-N-(β-hydroxyethyl)-3-methylaniline D -6 4-Amino-N-ethyl-N-(3-hydroxypropyl)-3-methylaniline D-7 4-amino-N-ethyl-N-(4-hydroxybutyl)-3-methylaniline D-8 4-Amino-N-ethyl-N-(β-methanesulfonamidoethyl)-3-methylaniline D-9
4-amino-N,N-diethyl-3-(β-hydroxyethyl)aniline D-10 4-amino-N-ethyl-N-(β-methoxyethyl)-3methyl-aniline D-11 4-amino- N-(β-ethoxyethyl)
-N-Ethyl-3-methylaniline D-12 4-Amino-N-(3-carbamoylpropyl-N-n-propyl-3-methylaniline D-13
4-amino-N-(4-carbamoylbutyl-N-
n-propyl-3-methylaniline D-14 N-(
4-Amino-3-methylphenyl)-3-hydroxypyrrolidine D-15 N-(4-amino-3-methylphenyl)
-3-(hydroxymethyl)pyrrolidine D-16 N-(4-amino-3-methylphenyl)
-3-pyrrolidinecarboxamide

Among the above p-phenylenediamine derivatives, exemplified compounds D-5, D-6, D-7, and D are particularly preferred.
-8 and D-12. Further, salts of these p-phenylenediamine derivatives with sulfates, hydrochlorides, sulfites, naphthalenedisulfonic acid, p-toluenesulfonic acid, etc. may also be used. The amount of the aromatic primary amine developing agent used is preferably 0.002 mol to 1 liter of developer solution.
0.2 mol, more preferably 0.005 mol to 0.1 mol
It is a mole.

In practicing the present invention, it is preferred to use a developer substantially free of benzyl alcohol. Here, "substantially not containing" preferably means 2
The benzyl alcohol concentration is below ml/liter, more preferably below 0.5 ml/liter, and most preferably contains no benzyl alcohol at all. It is more preferable that the developer used in the present invention does not substantially contain sulfite ions. The sulfite ion functions as a preservative for the developing agent, and at the same time has the effect of dissolving silver halide and reacting with the oxidized product of the developing agent to reduce the dye formation efficiency. Such an effect is presumed to be one of the causes of increased fluctuations in photographic characteristics due to continuous processing. Here, "substantially no content" means preferably 3.0 x 10
- a sulfite ion concentration of 3 moles/liter or less, most preferably no sulfite ions at all. However, a very small amount of sulfite ion used to prevent oxidation in a processing agent kit in which the developing agent is concentrated before being mixed into a solution for use is excluded.

The developer used in the present invention preferably contains substantially no sulfite ions, and more preferably substantially no hydroxylamine. This is because hydroxylamine functions as a preservative for the developing solution and also has silver developing activity itself, and it is believed that fluctuations in the concentration of hydroxylamine greatly affect photographic properties. Here, "substantially not containing hydroxylamine" preferably means 5.0 x 10-3
hydroxylamine concentration less than or equal to mol/liter;
Most preferably it does not contain any hydroxylamine.

It is more preferable that the developer used in the present invention contains an organic preservative instead of the hydroxylamine or sulfite ion. The term "organic preservative" as used herein refers to any organic compound that reduces the rate of deterioration of an aromatic primary amine color developing agent when added to a processing solution for a color photographic light-sensitive material. In other words, they are organic compounds that have the function of preventing oxidation of color developing agents by air, etc. Among them, hydroxylamine derivatives (excluding hydroxylamine; the same shall apply hereinafter), hydroxamic acids, hydrazines,
Hydrazides, phenols, α-hydroxyketones, α-aminoketones, sugars, monoamines, diamines, polyamines, quaternary ammonium salts, nitroxy radicals, alcohols, oximes, diamide compounds, condensed rings Formula amines are particularly effective organic preservatives. These are JP-A-63-4235 and JP-A-63-30.
No. 845, No. 63-21647, No. 63-44655
No. 63-53551, No. 63-43140, No. 63-56654, No. 63-58346, No. 63-
No. 43138, No. 63-146041, No. 63-44
No. 657, No. 63-44656, U.S. Patent No. 3,61
No. 5,503, No. 2,494,903, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 5
It is disclosed in various publications or specifications such as No. 2-143020 and Japanese Patent Publication No. 48-30496.

Other preservatives include JP-A-57-441
48 and 57-53749, salicylic acids as described in JP-A-59-180588, alkanolamines as described in JP-A-54-3532, JP-A-56- Polyethyleneimines described in Publication No. 94349, U.S. Patent No. 3,746,544
If necessary, aromatic polyhydroxy compounds described in the patent specification and the like may be contained. In particular, it is preferable to add alkanolamines such as triethanolamine, dialkylhydroxylamines such as diethylhydroxylamine, hydrazine derivatives, or aromatic polyhydroxy compounds. Among the above-mentioned organic preservatives, hydroxylamine derivatives and hydrazine derivatives (hydrazines and hydrazides) are particularly preferred, and details thereof can be found in JP-A-1-97953, JP-A-1-186939, and JP-A-1-1.
-186940, 1-187557, etc. Further, it is more preferable to use the above-mentioned hydroxylamine derivative or hydrazine derivative in combination with amines in terms of improving the stability of the color developer and further improving the stability during continuous processing. Examples of the amines include cyclic amines as described in JP-A-63-239447, amines as described in JP-A-63-128340, and other amines as described in JP-A-1-186.
Examples include amines such as those described in No. 939 and No. 1-187557.

When a color developer is used in the present invention, 3.5×10−2 chloride ions are added to the color developer.
The content is preferably 1.5 x 10-1 mol/liter. Particularly preferably 4 x 10-2 to 1 x 10-1
mole/liter. Chlorine ion concentration is 1.5×1
If the amount is more than 0-1 mol/liter, it has the disadvantage of delaying development, which is not preferable in achieving the object of the present invention of rapid development and high maximum density. Also, 3.5×10
-If it is less than 2 mol/liter, it is not preferable in terms of preventing fog. When a color developer is used in the present invention, it is preferred that the color developer contains 3.0 x 10-5 mol/liter to 1.0 x 10-3 mol/liter of bromide ions. More preferably, 5.0×10
-5 to 5 x 10-4 mol/liter. If the bromide ion concentration is more than 1 x 10-3 mol/liter, development will be delayed, maximum density and sensitivity will be reduced, and 3.0 x 10
If it is less than -5 mol/liter, fogging cannot be sufficiently prevented. Here, the chlorine ions and bromine ions may be added directly to the developer, or may be eluted from the photosensitive material into the developer during the development process.

When added directly to the color developer, examples of the chloride ion supplying substance include sodium chloride, potassium chloride, ammonium chloride, lithium chloride, nickel chloride, magnesium chloride, manganese chloride, calcium chloride, and cadmium chloride. Among them, preferred are sodium chloride and potassium chloride. Alternatively, it may be supplied from an optical brightener added to the developer. As a supply material for bromide ions, sodium bromide, potassium bromide, ammonium bromide, lithium bromide, calcium bromide, magnesium bromide, manganese bromide, nickel bromide, cadmium bromide, cerium bromide, thallium bromide Among these, preferred are potassium bromide and sodium bromide. When eluted from the light-sensitive material during the development process, both chloride ions and bromine ions may be supplied from the emulsion, or may be supplied from a source other than the emulsion.

[0053] The color developer used in the present invention preferably has a pH of 9 to 12, more preferably 9 to 11.0, and the color developer may contain other known developer component compounds. be able to. In order to maintain the above pH, it is preferable to use various buffers. Buffers include carbonate, phosphate, borate, tetraborate, hydroxybenzoate, glycyl salt, N,N-dimethylglycine salt, leucine salt, norleucine salt, guanine salt,
3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine salt, alanine salt, aminobutyrate, 2-amino-2-methyl-1,3-
Propanediol salts, valine salts, proline salts, trishydroxyaminomethane salts, lysine salts, etc. can be used. In particular, carbonates, phosphates, tetraborates, and hydroxybenzoates have excellent solubility and buffering ability in the high pH range of pH 9.0 or higher, and even when added to color developers, they improve photographic performance. It is particularly preferable to use these buffers because they have the advantages of not having any negative effects (fogging, etc.) and being inexpensive.

Specific examples of these buffers include sodium carbonate, potassium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate, potassium bicarbonate, trisodium phosphate, tripotassium phosphate, disodium phosphate, dipotassium phosphate, and sodium borate. , potassium borate, sodium tetraborate (borax), potassium tetraborate, sodium o-hydroxybenzoate (
sodium salicylate), potassium o-hydroxybenzoate, sodium 5-sulfo-2-hydroxybenzoate (sodium 5-sulfosalicylate), 5-sulfo-2
-potassium hydroxybenzoate (potassium 5-sulfosalicylate), and the like. However, buffering agents are not limited to these compounds. The amount of the buffer added to the color developer is preferably 0.1 mol/liter or more, particularly preferably 0.1 mol/liter to 0.4 mol/liter.

[0055] In addition, various chelating agents can be used in the color developer as agents for preventing precipitation of calcium and magnesium, or for improving the stability of the color developer. For example, nitrilotriacetic acid, diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, N,N,N-trimethylenephosphonic acid, ethylenediamine-N,N,N
',N'-tetramethylene sulfonic acid, transsilohexanediaminetetraacetic acid, 1,2-diaminopropanetetraacetic acid, glycol ether diaminetetraacetic acid, ethylenediamine orthohydroxyphenylacetic acid, 2-phosphonobutane-1,2,4-tricarboxylic acid , 1-hydroxyethylidene-1,1-diphosphonic acid, N,N'-bis(2-
Examples include hydroxybenzyl)ethylenediamine-N,N'-diacetic acid. Two or more of these chelating agents may be used in combination, if necessary. These chelating agents may be added in an amount sufficient to sequester metal ions in the color developer. For example, 0.1g to 1 per liter
It is about 0g.

[0056] Any development accelerator can be added to the color developer if necessary. As a development accelerator,
-16088, 37-5987, 38-782
6, No. 44-12380, No. 45-9019, and U.S. Pat.
p-phenylenediamine compounds disclosed in No. 9829 and No. 50-15554, JP-A-50-137
No. 726, Japanese Patent Publication No. 1973-30074, Japanese Patent Publication No. 1987-1
Quaternary ammonium salts disclosed in No. 56826 and No. 52-43429, etc., U.S. Patent No. 2,494,9
No. 03, No. 3,128,182, No. 4,230,
No. 796, No. 3,253,919, Special Publication No. 1977-
11431, U.S. Pat. No. 2,482,546, U.S. Pat. No. 2,596,926, U.S. Pat. No. 42-25201, U.S. Patent No. 3,128,183, Japanese Patent Publication No. 41-11431, No. 42-23883, and U.S. Patent No. 3,532,5
Polyalkylene oxides disclosed in publications or specifications such as No. 01, other 1-phenyl-3-pyrazolidones, imidazoles, etc. can be added as necessary.

Color developers that can be applied to the present invention include:
Any antifoggant can be added if necessary. As antifoggants, alkali metal halides such as sodium chloride, potassium bromide, potassium iodide, and organic antifoggants can be used. As an organic antifoggant,
For example, benzotriazole, 6-nitrobenzimidazole, 5-nitroisoindazole, 5-methylbenzotriazole, 5-nitrobenzotriazole, 5-chloro-benzotriazole, 2-thiazolyl-benzimidazole, 2-thiazolylmethyl-benzimidazole, indazole Typical examples include nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compounds such as , hydroxyazaindolizine, and adenine.

Color developers that can be applied to the present invention include:
Preferably, it contains an optical brightener. As the fluorescent brightener, 4,4'-diamino-2,2'-disulfostilbene compounds are preferred. The amount added is 0 to 5 g/liter, preferably 0.1 to 4 g/liter. Furthermore, various surfactants such as alkylsulfonic acids, arylsulfonic acids, aliphatic carboxylic acids, and aromatic carboxylic acids may be added as necessary. The processing temperature of the color developer that can be applied to the present invention is 30 to 50°C, preferably 35 to 50°C. Processing time is 5 seconds to 30 seconds, preferably 5 seconds to 20 seconds,
More preferably, it is 5 to 15 seconds. The smaller the amount of replenishment, the better, but 20 to 600 ml per 1 m2 of photosensitive material.
is appropriate, preferably 30 to 100 ml. When reducing the amount of replenishment, it is preferable to prevent evaporation of the liquid and air oxidation by reducing the contact area of the processing tank with the air. The contact area between the photographic processing solution and air in the processing tank can be expressed by the aperture ratio defined below. That is, aperture ratio=contact area between treatment liquid and air (cm2)/capacity of treatment liquid (cm3) The above aperture ratio is preferably 0.1 or less, more preferably 0.001 to 0.05. .

As a method for reducing the aperture ratio in this way, in addition to providing a shield such as a floating lid on the photographic processing liquid surface of the processing tank, there is also a method using a movable lid as described in JP-A No. 1-82033. , and the slit development method described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-216050. It is preferable to reduce the aperture ratio not only in both color development and black-and-white development, but also in all subsequent steps, such as bleaching, bleach-fixing, fixing, washing, and stabilization. Furthermore, the amount of replenishment can be reduced by using means for suppressing the accumulation of bromide ions in the developer.

Next, a desilvering process that can be applied to the present invention will be explained. The desilvering step may generally include any process such as a bleaching process-fixing process, a fixing process-bleach-fixing process, a bleaching process-bleach-fixing process, or a bleach-fixing process. The bleaching solution, bleach-fixing solution, and fixing solution that can be applied to the present invention will be explained below. As the bleaching agent used in the bleaching solution or bleach-fixing solution, any bleaching agent can be used, but in particular organic complex salts of iron(III) (e.g., aminopolycarboxylic acids such as ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid and diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid, aminopolycarboxylic acids such as ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid and diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid) Complex salts of phosphonic acid, phosphonocarboxylic acid, organic phosphonic acid, etc.) or organic acids such as citric acid, tartaric acid, malic acid; persulfates; hydrogen peroxide, etc. are preferred.

Among these, organic complex salts of iron (III) are particularly preferred from the viewpoint of rapid processing and prevention of environmental pollution. Aminopolycarboxylic acids, aminopolyphosphonic acids, or organic phosphonic acids or their salts useful for forming organic complex salts of iron(III) include ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid, 1,3-
diaminopropanetetraacetic acid, propylenediaminetetraacetic acid,
Examples include nitrilotriacetic acid, cyclohexanediaminetetraacetic acid, methyliminodiacetic acid, iminodiacetic acid, glycol ether diaminetetraacetic acid, and the like. These compounds may be sodium, potassium, lithium or ammonium salts. Among these compounds, iron(III) complex salts of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid, cyclohexanediaminetetraacetic acid, 1,3-diaminopropanetetraacetic acid, and methyliminodiacetic acid are preferred because of their high bleaching power. These ferric ion complex salts may be used in the form of complex salts, or ferric salts such as ferric sulfate, ferric chloride, ferric nitrate, ferric ammonium sulfate, and ferric phosphate. A ferric ion complex salt may be formed in a solution using a chelating agent such as aminopolycarboxylic acid, aminopolyphosphonic acid, or phosphonocarboxylic acid. Further, the chelating agent may be used in excess of the amount required to form the ferric ion complex. Among the iron complexes, aminopolycarboxylic acid iron complexes are preferred, and the amount added is 0.01
~1.0 mol/liter, preferably 0.05-0.
It is 50 mol/liter.

Various compounds can be used as bleach accelerators in the bleach solution, bleach-fix solution and/or their pre-bath. For example, US Patent No. 3,893,858, German Patent No. 1,290,812,
Compounds having a mercapto group or disulfide bond described in JP-A-53-95630, Research Disclosure No. 17129 (July 1978 issue), JP-A-45-8506, JP-A-52-20832
No. 53-32735, U.S. Patent No. 3,706,56
The thiourea compounds described in No. 1, etc., or halides such as iodine and bromide ions are preferred because they have excellent bleaching power. Other bleach or bleach-fix solutions that may be applied to the present invention include bromides (e.g., potassium bromide, sodium bromide, ammonium bromide) or chlorides (e.g., potassium chloride, sodium chloride, ammonium chloride) or iodine. Rehalogenating agents such as oxides (eg, ammonium iodide) can be included. 1 having a pH buffering capacity of borax, sodium metaborate, acetic acid, sodium acetate, sodium carbonate, potassium carbonate, phosphorous acid, phosphoric acid, sodium phosphate, citric acid, sodium citrate, tartaric acid, etc. as desired.
More than one type of inorganic acid, organic acid, alkali metal or ammonium salt thereof, or a corrosion inhibitor such as ammonium nitrate or guanidine can be added.

The fixing agent used in the bleach-fixing solution or the fixing solution is a known fixing agent, namely, a thiosulfate such as sodium thiosulfate or ammonium thiosulfate; a thiocyanate such as sodium thiocyanate or ammonium thiocyanate;
Ethylene bisthioglycolic acid, 3,6-dithia-1,
Water-soluble silver halide solubilizers such as thioether compounds such as 8-octanediol and thioureas,
These can be used alone or in combination of two or more. Further, a special bleach-fixing solution consisting of a combination of a fixing agent and a large amount of a halide such as potassium iodide as described in JP-A-55-155354 may also be used. In the present invention, the use of thiosulfates, particularly ammonium thiosulfates, is preferred. The amount of fixing agent per liter is preferably from 0.2 to 2 mol, more preferably from 0.3 to 1.0 mol. The pH range of the bleach-fixing solution or fixing solution is preferably 3 to 9, more preferably 4 to 8.

The bleach-fix solution may also contain various other fluorescent brighteners, antifoaming agents, surfactants, and organic solvents such as polyvinylpyrrolidone and methanol. Bleach-fix solutions and fixing solutions contain sulfites (e.g., sodium sulfite, potassium sulfite, ammonium sulfite, etc.), bisulfites (e.g., ammonium bisulfite, sodium bisulfite, potassium bisulfite, etc.), Metabisulfites (e.g. potassium metabisulfite,
Sodium metabisulfite, ammonium metabisulfite,
It is preferable to contain a sulfite ion releasing compound such as ). These compounds have approximately 0.0% in terms of sulfite ion.
The content is preferably from 0.2 to 1.0 mol/liter, more preferably from 0.04 to 0.6 mol/liter. As a preservative, sulfite is generally added, but ascorbic acid, carbonyl bisulfite adducts, carbonyl compounds, etc. may also be added. In addition, buffering agents, optical brighteners, chelating agents, antifoaming agents,
A fungicide or the like may be added as desired.

After desilvering treatment such as fixing or bleach-fixing, washing with water and/or stabilization treatment is generally performed. The amount of washing water in the washing step can be set over a wide range depending on the characteristics of the photosensitive material (for example, depending on the materials used such as couplers), the intended use, the washing water temperature, the number of washing tanks (number of stages), and various other conditions. Among these, the relationship between the number of flushing tanks and the amount of water in the multistage countercurrent method is described in the Journal of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers.
ty of Motion Picture and T
elevision Engineers) Volume 64,
p. 248-253 (May 1955 issue). Generally, the number of stages in the multistage countercurrent system is preferably 2 to 6, particularly preferably 2 to 5.

According to the multi-stage countercurrent method, the amount of washing water can be greatly reduced, for example, to 500 ml per 1 m2 of photosensitive material.
The following is possible, and the effects of the present invention are remarkable; however, the increased residence time of water in the tank causes problems such as bacteria propagation and the resulting floating matter adhering to the photosensitive material. As a solution to this problem, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-288
The method for reducing calcium and magnesium described in Japanese Patent No. 838 can be used very effectively. In addition, isothiazolone compounds and thiabendazoles described in JP-A No. 57-8542, JP-A No. 61-120145
Chlorine-based disinfectants such as chlorinated sodium isocyanurate described in JP-A No. 61-267761, copper ions, and others, Hiroshi Horiguchi, "Chemistry of antibacterial and anti-mildew" (1986) ) Sankyo Publishing, edited by Hygiene Technology Society, "Microbial sterilization, sterilization, and anti-mildew technology" (1982) Industrial Technology Society, edited by Japan Antibacterial and Mildew Society, "Encyclopedia of antibacterial and antifungal agents" (1)
986) can also be used.

Furthermore, in the washing water, a surfactant as a draining agent and a chelating agent typified by EDTA as a water softener can be used. Continue with the above washing process or
Alternatively, it is also possible to directly treat with a stabilizing solution without going through a water washing process. A compound having an image stabilizing function is added to the stabilizing solution, such as an aldehyde compound typified by formalin, a buffer for adjusting the membrane pH suitable for dye stabilization, and an ammonium compound. Further, in order to prevent the proliferation of bacteria in the liquid and to impart anti-mold properties to the photographic material after processing, the various disinfectants and anti-mold agents described above can be used. Furthermore, surfactants, optical brighteners, and hardeners can also be added. In the processing of photosensitive materials, when stabilization is carried out directly without going through a water washing process, JP-A-57-
No. 8543, No. 58-14834, No. 60-2203
All known methods described in Japanese Patent No. 45 and the like can be used. Others, 1-hydroxyethylidene-1,1
It is also a preferred embodiment to use a chelating agent such as -diphosphonic acid or ethylenediaminetemethylenephosphonic acid, or a magnesium or bismuth compound. A so-called rinsing solution is also used as a washing solution or stabilizing solution used after desilvering treatment.

[0068] The pH of the water washing step or stabilization step is preferably 4 to 10, more preferably 5 to 8. Although the temperature can be set variously depending on the use and characteristics of the photosensitive material, it is generally 20°C to 50°C, preferably 25°C to 45°C. Although the time can be set arbitrarily, a shorter time is preferable from the viewpoint of reducing processing time. Preferably it is 10 seconds to 60 seconds, more preferably 15 seconds to 45 seconds, particularly preferably 15 seconds to 30 seconds. The smaller the amount of replenishment, the better from the viewpoints of running costs, reduced emissions, ease of handling, and the like. A specific preferred amount of replenishment is 0.5 to 50 times, preferably 3 to 40 times, the amount brought in from the previous bath per unit area of the photosensitive material. Alternatively, the amount is 500 ml or less, preferably 300 ml or less per m2 of photosensitive material. Further, replenishment may be performed continuously or intermittently. The liquid used in the water washing and/or stabilization step can also be used in the previous step. An example of this is to reduce the amount of waste liquid by using a multi-stage counter-current system to reduce the overflow of the wash water into a bleach-fix bath, which is a pre-bath, and replenish the bleach-fix bath with concentrated liquid.

[0069]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment. FIG. 1 shows a silver halide photographic color paper processing apparatus to which the present invention is applied. This processing apparatus forms an image on the color paper by developing, bleach-fixing, washing with water, and drying a web-like color paper that has been exposed to light based on a positive original. The color paper (hereinafter referred to as a photosensitive material) processed by this processing apparatus is a color photographic photosensitive material that has at least one layer on a support of a silver halide emulsion containing 95 mol% or more of silver chloride. Color development is performed using a color developing solution containing a primary amine color developing agent.

The processing apparatus main body 2 is successively provided with a developing tank 4, a bleach-fixing tank 6, a washing section 8, and a drying section 10, and the exposed photosensitive material 12 is transferred to the drying section 1 after development, bleach-fixing, and washing.
0 and is dried and carried out from the main body 2. Developer tank 4
The bleach-fix tank 6 is equipped with a floating lid 14 to minimize the area of contact between the developer and bleach-fix solution in the tank and the outside air. The floating lid 14 is formed with a passage 16 through which the photosensitive material 12 is inserted, and this passage is opened and closed as appropriate by a liquid level shutter 18. In FIG. 1, the entrance passage for the developing tank 4 and the exit passage from the bleach-fixing tank 6 are connected to the shutter 1.
8 is closed, and the carrying-out passage of the developing tank 4 and the carrying-in passage of the bleach-fixing tank 6 are open. In addition, the developer tank 4
Below the bleach-fix tank 6, tanks 20 and 22 are provided for replenishing the developer tank 4 and the bleach-fix tank 6 with a developer replenisher and a bleach-fix replenisher, respectively. tank 20
, 22 is supplied to the pumps 24, 26 and the piping 28,
30, the developer tank 4 and bleach-fix tank 6 are replenished as appropriate.

The developer tank 4 and the bleach-fix tank 6 are provided with a pair of transport rollers 32 for nipping and transporting the photosensitive material 12 immersed in the developer and the bleach-fix solution. In the washing section 8, six washing tanks 8a to 8f are arranged, and each tank is arranged in cascade piping, and the cleanliness of the washing water becomes lower in order from the last tank to the front tank. The first stage tank 8a and the last stage tank 8f are provided with transport rollers 36 for transporting the photosensitive material 12 immersed in washing water. In addition, the intermediate tank 8b
- 8e are disposed a conveying roller 36 for horizontally conveying the photosensitive material 12 and a pumping roller 34 for supplying washing water in the tank to the emulsion surface of the photosensitive material 12 (lower side in the figure). Furthermore, a tank 38 is provided below the washing section 8 for replenishing the last stage tank with washing water. tank 3
The replenisher in the replenisher 8 is replenished into the last stage tank by the pump 40 and piping 42, and is also supplied to the transport roller 32 to clean the peripheral surface of the transport roller 32. A heating roller 50 in contact with the support of the photosensitive material 12 and a water-absorbing roller 52 in contact with the emulsion surface are arranged near the photosensitive material inlet 48 of the drying section 10. Further, downstream of the water-absorbing roller 52 and the heating roller 50, conveyance rollers 54 and 56 for conveying the photosensitive material 12 are provided. Furthermore, the drying section 10 includes
A duct 58 is provided for supplying hot air to the emulsion surface of the photosensitive material 12 from between adjacent rollers.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the water washing section 8. As shown in FIG. Each of the washing tanks 8a to 8f is arranged in cascade piping, and new liquid for replenishing washing water is appropriately replenished into the final stage tank 8f. Further, water is replenished from the last tank 8f to the previous tank 8e, and similarly, water is sequentially supplied from the latter tank to the front tank. The washing water overflowing from the overflow port 92 of the front-stage tank 8a is collected in a waste liquid tank or the like. Therefore, the cleanliness of the washing water increases toward the photosensitive material transport direction. It is preferable that the amount of washing water replenished into the final stage tank 8f is 0.5 to 3 times the amount of washing liquid brought in by the photosensitive material 12 from the previous stage tank 8e.

The photosensitive material 12 is transported through the washing water by transport rollers 36 in the first stage tank 8a and the last stage tank 8f, and in the intermediate tanks 8b to 8e, it is held and transported horizontally over the tanks by transport rollers 36, and then transported. It is guided between the rollers 36 by an upper guide member 70 and a lower guide member 72. The pumping roller 34 is partially immersed in the rinsing water, and its peripheral surface is substantially in contact with the photosensitive material 12. The conveyance roller 36 is preferably a rubber roller. The pumping roller 34 is formed to be able to carry and pump up the washing water, and uses a roller having an uneven circumferential surface, a Meyer rod, a gravure printing roller, a sponge roller, or the like. When the pumping roller 34 is a roller having unevenness on its circumferential surface, the depth of the concave portion and the height of the convex portion are preferably 0.5 to 5 mm. Moreover, when the pumping roller 34 is a Meyer rod, it is preferable that the diameter of the wire is 1 to 5 mm. Further, the pumping roller 34 can be rotated in the photosensitive material conveyance direction (forward direction) and reverse direction by a driving means (not shown).

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the vicinity of the pumping roller. The photosensitive material 12 is conveyed in the direction shown by arrow A at a speed υ1. The pumping roller 34 faces or contacts the emulsion surface of the photosensitive material 12 with a slight gap therebetween, and by rotating in the reverse direction shown by arrow B, for example, carries and pumps up the washing water. Here, the pumping roller 34 is 15
It rotates at 0 rpm or more, and the circumferential speed υ of the pumping roller 34 is
The absolute value of 2 is 1.2 of the absolute value of the photosensitive material transport speed υ1.
5 times or more, preferably 20 to 1000 times, more preferably 30 to 500 times, even more preferably 60 to 300 times
It's double. The pumped up washing water comes into contact with the photosensitive material 12 and washes the surface of the photosensitive material, and then passes through the pumping roller 34.
It is collected into the tank according to the rotation of the tank. Further, in the air on the downstream side of the rotation direction of the pumping roller 34, the pumping roller 3
The blade 1 is in contact with the circumferential surface of the roller 34 and draws up dirty washing water after contacting the photosensitive material 12 and removes it from the circumferential surface of the roller 34.
52 are provided. By removing the dirty washing water from the circumferential surface of the pumping roller 34 with the blade 152, the dirty washing water does not continue to be carried on the circumferential surface of the pumping roller 34, and the photosensitive material 12 is always in contact with clean washing water. and then washed.

During the rotation of the pumping roller 34, a liquid film is present between the pumping roller 34 and the photosensitive material 12, and the photosensitive material 12 and the pumping roller 34 are not substantially in contact with each other. The photosensitive material 12 is processed by this liquid film. When the pumping roller 34 rotates at high speed, a large amount of processing liquid is brought between the pumping roller 34 and the photosensitive material 12 due to its viscosity, and the resulting liquid film processes the photosensitive material 12. The processing liquid involved in processing the photosensitive material 12 is then collected into the tank as the pumping roller 34 rotates. Since fresh processing liquid is sequentially supplied between the photosensitive material 12 and the pumping roller 34 by the rotation of the pumping roller 34, the processing liquid is quickly exchanged on the surface of the photosensitive material 12. The thickness of the liquid film between the photosensitive material 12 and the pumping roller 34 is about 1 mm, but as the pumping roller 34 rotates at high speed and in the opposite direction to the direction in which the photosensitive material is conveyed, the processing liquid is applied to the surface of the photosensitive material. are replaced quickly and good processing is carried out in a short period of time.

However, if the rotational speed of the pumping roller 34 is low, a liquid film is not well formed between the photosensitive material 12 and the pumping roller 34, and the photosensitive material 12 is processed in contact with the pumping roller 34. When the photosensitive material 12 and the pumping roller 34 are provided in contact with each other, as long as the rotation speed of the pumping roller 34 is low, the photosensitive material 12 will have a straight line along the transporting direction, regardless of whether the rotating direction is the same as or opposite to the transporting direction. Abrasions occur. Further, if the pumping roller 34 rotates in the same direction as the conveyance direction and at the same speed as the conveyance speed, the photosensitive material 1
Since the roller 2 does not slide in the conveying direction with respect to the pumping roller 34, the linear scratches described above do not occur. However, photosensitive material 1
2 moves (meanders) in the axial direction of the pumping roller 34, causing scratches that are not constant in direction. In order to prevent the occurrence of such scratches, it is necessary to form a liquid film well between the drawing roller 34 and the photosensitive material 12.

The state of formation of the liquid film depends on the number of rotations of the pumping roller 34, the circumferential speed, the diameter, the conveyance speed of the photosensitive material, etc., but the number of rotations of the pumping roller 34 has a very large influence. Therefore, the thickness of the liquid film can be adjusted simply by adjusting the rotation speed of the pumping roller 34. If the rotation speed of the pumping roller 34 is low, the liquid film will not be formed well as described above and scratches will occur on the photosensitive material 12, but by rotating the pumping roller 34 at a high speed of 150 rpm or more, a large amount of liquid will be removed due to the action of viscosity. The processing liquid is pumped up and carried between the photosensitive material 12 and the pumping roller 34 to form a liquid film having a predetermined thickness or more. The rotation speed of the pumping roller 34 is set to 150 rpm or more, preferably 600 rpm or more. The preferred rotational speed of the pumping roller 34 in an actual device is 600 to 2000 rpm.

Here, the circumferential speed of the pumping roller 34 is 1
0 m/min or more is preferable, more preferably 40 m/min,
Particularly preferably, the speed is 60 m/min or more. Preferred circumferential speed that does not actually increase the size of the device is 60 to 200 m/min. Further, the conveyance speed of the photosensitive material 12 is 0.2 to 20 cm/
seconds is preferable, more preferably 0.5 to 10 cm/second,
Particularly preferred is 0.5 to 4 cm/sec. Further, the diameter of the pumping roller 34 is preferably 0.5 to 20 cm,
More preferably 1.0 to 10 cm, particularly preferably 1.0 to 10 cm.
It is 0 to 7.0 cm. Further, the absolute value of the circumferential speed of the pumping roller 34 is 1.5 times or more the absolute value of the photosensitive material conveyance speed, preferably 20 to 1000 times, more preferably 30 to 500 times, even more preferably 60 to 300 times. It is.

The processing by the pumping roller 34 is more effective than the processing in which the processing liquid permeates into the dry photosensitive material 12.
It is suitable for processing the photosensitive material 12 wetted with a processing liquid or the like with another processing liquid, and by exchanging the processing liquid on the surface of the photosensitive material or in the emulsion film, it is possible to remove the adhesion from the previous processing. This is effective for removing previously used processing liquid. Specifically, it is particularly effective for bleach-fixing and washing in FIG. The above-mentioned pumping roller 34 is placed in a state where it is partially immersed in the processing liquid, but the state where the pumping roller 34 is partially immersed in the processing liquid is the state where the processing liquid level crosses the pumping roller 34 when the apparatus is stopped. means.

As shown in FIG. 4, processing liquid spouting members 154a to 1 are applied to the pumping rollers 34 in the washing tanks 8b to 8e.
54c is provided. FIG. 4 shows the ejection members 154a to 154.
It is an explanatory view of the position where c is provided. Ejection means 154a-1
54c is configured to eject the processing liquid at high speed along the axial direction of the pumping roller 34. For example, a hole (or slit) may be provided in the pipe, and the processing liquid in the processing tank may be supplied to the pipe at high pressure using a pump and ejected from the hole. Although a plurality of ejection members 154a to 154c are provided in FIG. 4, at least one of these may be provided. The first ejecting member 154a is provided near the liquid level on the upstream side in the rotational direction of the pumping roller 34 and facing upward. The second ejection member 154b is provided near the liquid level on the upstream side in the rotational direction of the pumping roller 34, facing diagonally upward toward the wall surface. Moreover, the third ejection member 1
54c is provided directly below the pumping roller 34 and facing directly above.

[0081] Each of the ejection members 154a to 154c is provided for the purpose of raising the liquid level on the upstream side in the rotational direction of the pumping roller 34. The amount of processing liquid pumped up to the photosensitive material 12 by the processing liquid pumping roller 34 is determined by
It increases by raising the liquid level of the processing liquid by 54c. In particular, the effect of the ejection member 154a is great. To confirm this, a transparent polyester base was used in place of the photosensitive material 12, a jetting member 154c was provided to the pumping roller 34, and the amount of processing liquid being supplied from above through the polyester base was observed. The amount of processing liquid pumped up to the base can be determined by the width of the processing liquid along the conveyance direction on the base. The width of the processing liquid on the base when the ejection means 154c is not provided is 4 mm, whereas the width of the processing liquid on the base when the ejection means 154c is provided is approximately 8 to 15 mm. It can be seen that the amount of processing liquid used is increasing. As the liquid level on the processing liquid pumping side rises, the pumping roller 3
The amount of rinsing water supported by the photosensitive material 12 and the drawing roller 34 is increased, and accordingly, the amount of rinsing water held between the photosensitive material 12 and the drawing roller 34 is increased, and good cleaning is performed.

[0082] In order to raise the liquid level on the pumping side,
In addition to the first and second ejection members 154a and 154b,
A jetting member 154 may be provided near the liquid level toward the circumferential surface of the pumping roller 34. In addition to raising the liquid level using such a processing liquid ejecting member 154, other means may be used to raise the liquid level. For example, the liquid level may be raised by suctioning rinsing water from above the liquid level. The third jetting member 154c provided directly below the pumping roller 34 has the function of raising the liquid level on the upstream side in the rotational direction of the pumping roller 34, and the function of pumping up the washing water after contacting the photosensitive material 12 with the pumping roller 34.
It has the function of removing from. The washing water ejected from the third ejection member 154c flows along the circumferential surface of the pumping roller 34 toward the upstream and downstream sides in the rotational direction. The washing water flowing downstream can raise the liquid level, and the washing water flowing upstream advances in the opposite direction to the rotating direction of the pumping roller 34, so that the washing water dirty on the surface of the pumping roller 34 can be removed. Destroy the membrane. Further, the washing water jetted perpendicularly to the circumferential surface of the pumping roller 34 can reliably destroy the liquid film on the circumferential surface. Therefore, the third ejection member 154
Dirty washing water adhering to the pumping roller 34 can be reliably removed by the jet stream from c. By providing the third spouting member 154c, dirty washing water can be removed from the surface of the pumping roller 34 even if the processing liquid scraping blade 152 is omitted.

[0083] In this embodiment, the third ejection member 15
4c is a roller 34 that pumps up a jet hole with a diameter of 0.5 mm.
It consists of pipes installed at 5mm intervals along the axial direction of the
It is provided 10 mm apart from the pumping roller 34. For convenience, the ejection amount at this time is expressed as a value obtained by dividing the ejection amount per minute (10 liters) by the length of the pumping roller 34 (20 cm), and this value is 0.5 liters/cm·min. Note that the other jetting members 154a and 154b have the same jetting ability. The washing water pumped up by the pumping roller 34 is supplied to the photosensitive material 12, and the pumping roller 34, which is in sliding contact with the photosensitive material 12, scrapes off processing liquid components adhering to the surface of the photosensitive material 12, so that they do not adhere to the surface of the photosensitive material. The processing liquid components that were being washed fall into the tank along with the washing water. Further, the processing liquid components contained in the emulsion film of the photosensitive material 12 are also eluted into the washing water upon contact with the washing water, and fall into the tank together with the washing water. Therefore, efficient cleaning can be performed in a short time.

It is preferable that the pumping roller 34 is stopped until the photosensitive material 12 reaches the pumping roller 34. When the photosensitive material 12 reaches the pumping roller 34, the pumping roller 34 is driven in the reverse direction to perform cleaning. Note that the rotation direction of the pumping roller 34 is not limited to the constant reverse direction, but may be rotated in the forward rotation direction after the pumping roller 34 is rotated in the reverse direction for a predetermined period of time. Further, the pumping roller 34 may be rotated in the normal rotation direction from the time when the photosensitive material 12 reaches the pumping roller 34. Further, the pumping roller 34 may be rotated in the forward direction for a predetermined period of time and then rotated in the reverse direction. Further, the contact pressure of the pumping roller 34 against the photosensitive material 12 is adjusted so that no scratches are caused on the photosensitive material 12 due to sliding contact between the pumping roller 34 and the photosensitive material 12.

[0085] Also, the pumping roller 34
It does not have to be in contact with Even if the pumping roller 34 is located at a position slightly apart from the photosensitive material 12, when the pumping roller 34 rotates, the washing water is carried on the peripheral surface and supplied to the photosensitive material 12. Even if the pumping roller 34 is spaced apart from the photosensitive material 12, if a bead is formed between the pumping roller 34 and the photosensitive material 12, the photosensitive material 12
It is possible to supply rinsing water to Further, the pumping roller 34 only needs to be partially immersed in the washing water to the extent that it can draw up the washing water, but not completely immersed in the washing water. Note that in this embodiment, the water washing section 8
The intermediate tanks 8b to 8e are configured to wash only the emulsion surface of the photosensitive material 12, but in the first tank 8a and the last tank 8f, the photosensitive material 12 is immersed in washing water for cleaning. The support surface can also be cleaned. It is preferable that the time for all of these water washing steps is within 30 seconds.

In this way, a plurality of washing tanks are provided in cascade piping, and at least one washing tank is used to remove the photosensitive material 12.
The photosensitive material 12 is immersed in washing water and transported.
The emulsion side and the support side can be washed. However, in order to wash only the emulsion surface of the photosensitive material 12, it is not necessary to provide an immersion type washing tank. Further, in the embodiment described above, a plurality of washing tanks 8b to 8b equipped with a pumping roller 34 are provided.
Although the configuration has 8e, it is effective even if only one washing tank is used. Furthermore, the number of pumping rollers 34 in each of the washing tanks 8b to 8e is not limited to one, and each of the washing tanks 8b to 8e
A plurality of pumping rollers 34 may be provided. Next, a modification of the processing device will be described. In addition, in the following modified examples, the processing liquid ejecting member 154 is the pumping roller 34.
Although it is shown only just below the liquid surface, it may also be provided near the liquid level as shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a modification of the washing tank, in which each washing tank is provided with a pumping roller 34 and a squeeze roller 132. In each washing tank, the pumping roller 34 rotates at a much higher speed than the photosensitive material conveyance speed, so that the washing water is quickly exchanged on the film surface of the photosensitive material 12. Further, since the washing water adhering to the photosensitive material 12 is removed by the squeeze roller 132, the processing liquid components eluted into the washing water are reliably removed from the film. Further, by providing the squeeze roller 132 downstream of the pumping roller 34 in the same tank, dirty washing water will not mix into the subsequent tank.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of another modification of the washing tank, which is similar in configuration to that shown in FIG. 5, but differs in that the washing tanks are provided in a cascade manner. Each washing tank is provided with a pumping roller 34 and a squeeze roller 132. After the washing water is supplied to the photosensitive material 12 by the pumping roller 34, the washing water is supplied to the photosensitive material 12 by the squeeze roller 132.
It is now removed from Then, the last stage tank is replenished with fresh washing water, and the overflow liquid from the latter stage tank is sequentially supplied to the front stage tank. Therefore, the cleanliness of the flush water is higher in later tanks. The liquid level in the rear tank is set higher than the liquid level in the front tank so that the washing water easily overflows from the rear tank to the front tank.
2 is conveyed while rising slightly.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of a modified example of the washing tank, in which the photosensitive material 12 is conveyed in an arc shape along the circumferential surface of the pumping roller 34. The larger the winding angle of the photosensitive material 12 with respect to the pumping roller 34, the more processing liquid can be carried between the photosensitive material 12 and the pumping roller 34, so that faster and better processing can be performed. The washing water supplied to the photosensitive material 12 is similarly removed by the squeeze roller 132.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of another modification of the washing tank, in which two pumping rollers 34 are provided in one processing tank, and a squeeze roller 34 is provided downstream of the pumping roller 34 on the downstream side in the direction of transport of the photosensitive material. A roller 132 is provided.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of another modification of the washing tank, showing a configuration in which a large number of pumping rollers 34 are arranged in series within the processing tank. A squeeze roller 132 is provided downstream of the most downstream pumping roller 34.

Although each of the above-mentioned modifications relates to a washing tank, each modification can also be applied to other processing tanks, such as a developing tank, a bleach-fixing tank, etc.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view of the entire processing apparatus, in which a pumping roller 343 and a squeeze roller 132 are provided in the developing tank 4, bleach-fixing tank 6, and washing tank 8, respectively. The developing tank 4 and the bleach-fixing tank 6 are each provided with two pumping rollers 34.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of another modification of the processing apparatus, which is similar in configuration to the one shown in FIG. In the washing tank 8, the dipping step is omitted. Washing tank 8
In this case, the photosensitive material 12 can be cleaned well simply by supplying washing water to the photosensitive material 12 using the pumping roller 34.

FIG. 12 is a sectional view of another modification of the processing device, which is similar in configuration to that shown in FIG. Four washing tanks are provided, and a reverse osmosis membrane 134 is provided in the washing tank 8, and by reverse osmosis of the washing water, unnecessary components (especially fixing and bleach-fixing components) in the washing water are removed, which adversely affects the photosensitive materials. can be reduced. The water in the third washing tank is pumped to the reverse osmosis membrane 134 by the pump 142, and
The permeated water that has passed through the reverse osmosis membrane 134 is supplied to the fourth washing tank, and the concentrated water that has not passed through the reverse osmosis membrane 134 is returned to the third washing tank. In addition, each of the above-mentioned squeeze rollers 13
2 may be replaced with a squeeze blade or the like, and the configuration of the means for removing the processing liquid supplied to the photosensitive material 12 is not particularly limited.

FIG. 13 shows the specific shape of the pumping roller 34. (a) is a perspective view of a pumping roller 34 having grooves 136 along the circumferential direction on the roller circumferential surface. To provide the groove 136, a wire is wound around it or the groove 136 is carved. (b) is a perspective view of the pumping roller 34 having a groove 136 along the axial direction on the roller circumferential surface. The interval between the grooves 136 is preferably 2 mm or less, so that liquid splashing can be prevented. (c) is a perspective view of a pumping roller 34 having a flat circumferential surface. (d) shows a pumping roller 3 having a spiral groove 138 on its circumferential surface.
4 is a perspective view of FIG. The number of spiral grooves 138 may be one, but preferably five or more. Further, the inclination angle (angle with the circumferential direction) of the spiral groove 138 is preferably 5° or more. (e) is a perspective view of a pumping roller 34, which is a roller for gravure printing, and has irregularities 140 such as triangular and square shapes on its circumferential surface. (f) shows a spiral groove 138 on the circumferential surface and a groove 13 along the axial direction.
FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a pumping roller 34 with 6; Groove 13
6 improves the processing liquid supply capacity, and the spiral groove 138 improves the processing waste liquid discharge capacity.

The embodiments in which the present invention is applied to the water washing treatment of photosensitive materials have been described above, but the present invention also applies to the development treatment,
It can also be applied to bleaching, bleach-fixing, fixing, and stabilizing treatments. That is, by rotating the processing liquid pumping roller partially immersed in each of these processing liquids, the processing liquid can be well supplied to the photosensitive material, and the photosensitive material can be processed quickly and satisfactorily.

Next, the sealing structure of the upper part of the processing liquid will be explained. FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view of the processing tank with a sealing lid provided thereon. A sealing lid 144 is provided at the top of the processing tank, and the photosensitive material 12 is supplied with processing liquid while being conveyed through a substantially sealed space. Since the sealing lid 144 has an airtight function and requires a passage for the photosensitive material 12, a shutter means is provided to open and close the slit by, for example, a pair of flexible blades 146 whose free ends abut. Note that the structure of the shutter means is not limited to that shown in the drawings, and for example, the shutter means described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-161431 can be adopted. Since the upper part of the processing liquid is substantially sealed, evaporation and oxidation of the processing liquid do not proceed rapidly, and deterioration of the processing liquid can be prevented.

FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view of the processing tank with a floating lid. The floating lid 148 has a shape that closes off almost the entire liquid surface other than the immersed portion of the pumping roller 34. The floating lid 148 is provided with a funnel-shaped recovery means 150 for recovering the processing liquid scraped by the squeeze roller 132 into the processing tank.
will be provided. Since the processing liquid is blocked from contact with air by the floating lid 148, evaporation and oxidation of the processing liquid do not proceed rapidly, and deterioration of the processing liquid can be prevented.

[0100]

[Examples] The present invention will be specifically explained below with reference to Examples, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

Example 1 Color paper (Fuji Color Paper Super FA-II: manufactured by Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd.) was used as a sample as a photosensitive material. A sensitometer (FWH model manufactured by Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd.,
A light source color temperature of 3200° K) was used to provide gradation exposure of a three-color separation filter for sensitometry. The exposure at this time was carried out so that the exposure time was 0.1 seconds and the exposure amount was 250 CMS. The exposed sample was subjected to color development, bleach-fixing, and water washing in the following steps using a processor configured as shown in FIG. In this device, the conveyance speed of the photosensitive material is 0.9 cm/sec, the processing liquid pumping roller is of the type shown in FIG. The spiral groove has an inclination of approximately 10° with respect to the circumferential direction of the roller, and the rotation speed is 1000 rpm.
The direction of rotation is opposite to the direction in which the photosensitive material is transported.

[0102] In addition, a 3-tank countercurrent flow system was used for rinsing ■→■.

The composition of each treatment liquid is as follows.

[0104]

Rinse solution (tank solution and refill solution are the same) Ion-exchanged water (calcium and magnesium each at 3 ppm)
below)

As a comparative example, a standard processed product was prepared as a sample, which was subjected to CP40FA treatment (development, bleach-fixing for 45 seconds, washing with water for 90 seconds: manufactured by Fuji Photo Film) using Minilab FA (manufactured by Fuji Photo Film).

[0107] The images rapidly processed according to the present invention were sufficiently completed, and the images were similar to those of the standard processed product of the comparative example. Further, even when the finished sample was left at a temperature of 80° C. and a humidity of 70% for 7 days, the stain level remained the same as that of the standard processed product of Minilab FA, indicating that the photosensitive material was successfully cleaned by the present invention.

Example 2 The following parts were changed from Example 1. The processing device used had the configuration shown in FIG. 11. The transport speed of photosensitive material is 1.3
cm/sec, the pumping roller is of the type shown in Fig. 13(b), the diameter is 3.0 cm, the width and interval of the straight grooves with a semicircular cross section are 2 mm, the rotation speed is 850 rpm, and the rotation direction is the conveyance direction. and in the opposite direction. As a comparative example, minilab FA
(Manufactured by Fuji Photo Film) Water washing part (3 tanks total 90
A standard treated product was prepared as a sample.

[0109] The sample processed according to the present invention has a high level of white background of the image and a level of increase in stain when the sample after image formation is left at a temperature of 80°C and a humidity of 70%.
There was no difference from the standard processed product of MiniLab FA, and it satisfied the level recognized as a product.

Example 3 A processing apparatus shown in FIG. 12 was used. The conveying speed of the photosensitive material was 1.2 cm/sec, the pumping roller was of the type shown in FIG. 13(b) and had a diameter of 2.8 cm, the width and interval of the straight grooves with a semicircular cross section were 2 mm, and the rotation speed was 850 rpm. The rotating direction is opposite to the conveying direction. The parts changed from the second embodiment will be explained below. Rinse ■ was provided, and a four-tank countercurrent flow system was used from rinse ■ to rinse ■. At the same time, the time for each rinse tank was set to 5 seconds. Furthermore, the refill to rinse ■ was changed to rinse ■. The reverse osmosis membrane uses a spiral type RO module element DRA-80 (effective membrane area 1.1 m2, polysulfone composite membrane) manufactured by Daicel Chemical Industries, and is connected to the same company's plastic pressure-resistant vessel PV-032.
Loaded into type 1.

[0111] The reverse osmosis membrane treatment apparatus shown in Fig. 12 applies a liquid feeding pressure of 7 kg/cm2 to the reverse osmosis membrane using a pump, and performs the third rinse under conditions of a liquid feeding flow rate of 1.5 liters/min. The water in the tank was pumped, the permeate water was supplied to the fourth rinsing tank, and the concentrated water was returned to the third rinsing tank. As a comparative example, 4 tanks were used in the immersion method, total time 20 seconds (each tank 5
The same treatment as in Example 1 was carried out using the water washing apparatus shown in FIG. 12 except for the water washing process section. Table 6 shows the yellow density on a white background.

[0112]

[Table 6]

The above table shows that the cleaning effect of the present invention is greater than that of the comparative example.

Example 4 The apparatus shown in FIG. 12 was used in the same manner as in Example 3. The conveyance speed of the photosensitive material is 1.2 cm/sec, and the pumping roller 34
is the type shown in FIG. 13(d), the diameter is 3 cm, the width and interval of the spiral groove with a semicircular cross section is 2 mm, the spiral groove has an inclination of about 10° with respect to the circumferential direction of the roller, and the pumping roller 3
The processing was carried out by changing the rotation speed of 4, and the presence or absence of scratches on the photosensitive material was observed. The results are shown in Table 7.

[0115]

[Table 7]

The scratch resistance of a photosensitive material is thought to be related to the amount of processing liquid carried between the photosensitive material and the pumping roller, and when the rotation speed is 150 rpm or more, a water film is formed between the photosensitive material and the pumping roller. It can be seen that the photosensitive material has a scratch-preventing effect even though it is processed well.

[0117]

According to the present invention, when the processing liquid is supplied to the surface of the photosensitive material by the processing liquid pumping roller capable of supporting the processing liquid, the processing liquid between the pumping roller and the photosensitive material is increased, thereby increasing the amount of processing liquid between the pumping roller and the photosensitive material. By processing the material, the processing liquid is quickly exchanged on the surface of the photosensitive material, and efficient processing can be performed without damaging the photosensitive material. In addition, the process can be performed efficiently with a small amount of processing liquid, and there are few components, so
The device can be configured to be simple and compact, and maintenance is easy.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a photosensitive material processing apparatus equipped with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a photosensitive material washing section.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the vicinity of the pumping roller.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a modified example of the water washing section.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of another modification of the water washing section.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of another modification of the water washing section.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of another modification of the water washing section.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of another modification of the water washing section.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view of another modification of the water washing section.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view of a modification of the processing device.

FIG. 11 is a sectional view of another modification of the processing device.

FIG. 12 is a sectional view of another modification of the processing device.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a specific example of a pumping roller.

FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view of a processing tank equipped with a closed lid.

FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view of a processing tank equipped with a floating lid.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 Main body 4 Developing tank 6 Bleach-fix tank 8 Washing section 8a-8h Washing tank 10 Drying section 12 Photosensitive material 34 Pumping roller 36, 37 Conveyance roller 48 Loading entrance 50 Heating roller 52 Water absorbent roller 54, 56 Conveyance roller 58 Duct 60　Export exit 92 Overflow port 130 Guide member 132 Squeeze roller 134 Reverse osmosis membrane 136 groove 138 Spiral groove 140 Uneven part 142 Pump 144 Airtight lid 146 Blade 148 Floating lid 150 Collection means 152 Blade 154 Processing liquid spouting member

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A processing liquid pumping roller is provided which is partially immersed in the processing liquid and supplies the processing liquid to the photosensitive material being transported above the processing liquid, and the absolute value of the circumferential speed of the pumping roller is equal to the photosensitive material transporting speed. A photosensitive material processing apparatus characterized in that the pumping roller rotates at a speed of 150 rpm or more, and the pumping roller rotates at a speed of 150 rpm or more. 2. A processing liquid pumping roller that is partially immersed in the processing liquid and supplies the processing liquid to the photosensitive material that is conveyed above the processing liquid; A photosensitive material processing apparatus characterized by comprising means for increasing the amount of light. 3. A processing liquid pumping roller for supplying the processing liquid to the photosensitive material partially immersed in the processing liquid and conveyed above the processing liquid, and a means for increasing the amount of processing liquid pumped up by the pumping roller. A photosensitive material processing device characterized by: 4. A processing liquid pumping roller that is partially immersed in the processing liquid and supplies the processing liquid to the photosensitive material conveyed above the processing liquid, and the amount of the processing liquid on the pumping roller after contact with the photosensitive material is controlled. A photosensitive material processing apparatus characterized by comprising means for reducing the amount of light. 5. A processing liquid pumping roller that is partially immersed in the processing liquid and supplies the processing liquid to the photosensitive material being conveyed above the processing liquid; A photosensitive material processing apparatus characterized by comprising means for raising the liquid level. 6. A processing liquid pumping roller that is partially immersed in the processing liquid and supplies the processing liquid to the photosensitive material being conveyed above the processing liquid, and means for generating a jet of the processing liquid against the pumping roller. A photosensitive material processing device characterized by: 7. A processing liquid pumping roller that supplies the processing liquid to the photosensitive material partially immersed in the processing liquid and transported above the processing liquid, the pumping roller having a circumferential speed higher than the absolute value of the photosensitive material transport speed. The capacity of the treatment tank is 450.
1 ml or less.