JPH0462551A - Heater for processing solution of automatic developing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To decrease the assembly man-hour, to attain a high efficiency at the assembly operation and to contrive the improvement in reliability to the quality by housing a temp. detection element, a heater for heating, a temp. fuse and a thermostat integrally in a housing pipe, and attaching it in a processing bath. CONSTITUTION:On an automatic developing device 50, a developing bath 52, a fixing bath 54, a water washing bath 56 and a drying room 58 are provided. The photosensitive material 60 is inserted and pulled out from the developing bath 52 to the drying room 58 successively to perform the development processing. In the developing bath 52, the cycling passage 62 is provided and the developer is circulated and agitated. Also in the developer 52, the heater 10 on the processing solution is provided. The heater 10 for the processing solution is provided with two housing pipes 22 of an internally housing pipe 18 housing the heater 12 for heating, the temp. fuse 14 and the thermostat 16 and an internally housing pipe 22 housing a temp. detection element. Hence in the case that the temp. detection element measures a temp. of the developer and the temp. of the developer is within a specified range, the heater 12 for heating is not energyzed and in the case of lowering from the specified range, it is energyzed and the temp. range is kept at the specified value. Also when there happens a wire cut accident, etc., at the temp. sensor section 40, the thermostat 16 interrupts the heating current.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention is used in an automatic developing device that automatically transports photosensitive materials and performs development, fixing, washing, etc. of the photosensitive materials, and maintains the processing solution temperature constant. The present invention relates to a processing liquid heater for an automatic developing device.

[Prior art]

In an automatic developing device, in order to ensure proper development processing capacity, the temperature of processing liquids such as a developing solution, a fixing solution, and washing water must be maintained within a predetermined temperature range.

The temperature of the processing liquid is controlled by detecting the temperature of the processing liquid with a temperature sensor and adjusting the heating amount of the heater, and overheating of the processing liquid is prevented by a separately provided thermostat.

Further, such a temperature sensor and a heating heater are inserted into a mounting hole provided on the side surface of the processing tank, and a gasket is used to prevent liquid leakage.

However, if the temperature sensor, heater, and thermostat are installed separately, the number of assembly steps will increase.
Assembly work cannot be made more efficient. Furthermore, since there are many component parts, reliability in terms of quality decreases.

Furthermore, there was a problem in that liquid leaked from the attachment hole of the processing tank.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above facts, and an object of the present invention is to provide a processing liquid heater that integrates a temperature sensor, a heater, and a thermostat and can be easily attached to a processing tank.

[Means to solve the problem]

The processing liquid heater of the automatic developing apparatus according to the present invention includes a heating means for heating the processing liquid, a detection means for detecting the temperature of the processing liquid and controlling the heating temperature of the heating means, and a setting for setting the processing liquid. an intermittent control means that interrupts or connects the flow of current to the heating means to maintain the temperature, and a cutoff means that interrupts the current flow to the heating means due to heat generation due to excessive current;
It is characterized by having a storage tube that houses and seals the heating means, the detection means, the intermittent control means, and the cutoff means.

[Effect]

In the processing liquid heater of the automatic developing device having the above configuration, the detection means detects the temperature of the processing liquid, and based on the signal sent from the detection means, the temperature of the processing liquid is kept within a predetermined range.
The processing liquid is heated by a heating means, or the heating is interrupted.

Further, if the processing liquid becomes overheated, the intermittent control means cuts off the current flowing to the heating means.

Further, when an excessive current flows through the circuit, the circuit is interrupted by the interrupting means.

These heating means, detection means, intermittent control means, and cutoff means are all housed in the storage pipe, so they can be easily attached to the processing tank, and the efficiency of the working process can be improved.

〔Example〕

FIG. 3 shows an automatic developing device 50 to which the first embodiment of the present invention is applied.

This automatic developing device 50 includes a developing tank 52, a fixing tank 54,
A washing tank 56 and a drying chamber 58 are provided. The photosensitive material 60 is sequentially inserted and pulled out from the developing tank 52 to the drying chamber 58 by a transport means (not shown), and is subjected to development processing.

A circulation path 62 that communicates the upper and lower parts of the developer tank 52 is provided on the outside of the processing tank.
The developer is discharged from the upper part of 2 and flows back into the lower part,
The developer circulates in the developer tank 52 and is stirred so that the processing capacity of the developer in the developer tank 52 is uniform.

A processing liquid heater 10 is arranged in this developing tank 52.
The processing liquid is maintained within a predetermined temperature range.

As shown in FIG. 1, this processing liquid heater 10 is
Two storage tubes are provided: a storage tube 18 that contains a heating heater 12, a temperature fuse 14, and a thermostat 16, and a storage tube 22 that contains a temperature detection element 20. For these storage tubes 18, 22, it is preferable to use a corrosion-resistant metal material such as 5US316 in consideration of heat resistance and prevention of corrosion by processing liquid, but it is also possible to use a heat-resistant resin material.

As shown in FIG. 1.2, the storage tubes 18, 22 arranged in parallel have bottom covers 18A, 22A integrally formed at their tips to prevent the processing liquid from entering the tubes. The bottom lids 18A and 22A can be installed using the following methods: If the storage tube 18.22 is made of SUS 316, for example, the bottom lid 18
SUS 316 is used as the material for A and 22A, and they are integrally formed with the storage pipes 18 and 22 by argon welding. Further, the bent portion is bent at a right angle to form an arc shape from near the center, and further bent from near the rear end, and the rear end is fixed to the L-shaped plate 24.

This plate 24 is attached to the upper edge of the developer tank 50 with screws 26.

A cable 28.30 routed into the storage tube is taken out from the rear end of the storage tube 18.22. In addition, this rear end portion is attached to a box-shaped rubber mold 3 together with the plate 24.
2 and has a waterproof structure.

As shown in FIG. 4, a thermistor is used as the temperature detection element 20 built into the tip of the storage tube 22, forming a temperature sensor part 4D.

This temperature detection element 20 is connected to a control means 36 by a cable 30.
It is connected to the.

The temperature detection element 20 has an electrical resistance value that changes depending on the liquid temperature, and the temperature of the processing liquid is detected by a control means 36 connected to the temperature detection element 20 via a cable 30.

The storage tube 18 has a built-in heater 12 extending from its tip to the vicinity of the center to form a heat generating section 38, which heats the processing liquid to a predetermined temperature.

Note that the rear end of the heat generating section 38 is partitioned off by a heat insulating plate 42 to prevent the heat of the heater 12 from being directly transmitted to the temperature fuse 14 and the thermostat 16. The temperature detection element 20 is designed to prevent the heat from the heating heater 12 from being directly transmitted and making it impossible to measure the actual processing liquid temperature.
It is arranged in consideration of the distance to the heating heater 12.

A temperature fuse 14 and a thermostat 16 are built in near the bend of the storage tube 18.

The thermostat 16 uses a temperature-sensitive operating element such as a bimetal, and opens and closes electrical contacts to intermittent heating current and prevent the heating heater 12 from overheating. Here, the temperature sensitivity of the thermostat 16 is set to, for example, 55°C.

The temperature fuse 14 is designed to melt and open the circuit due to heat generation when a current of more than -window flows through the circuit.

Next, the operation of the embodiment of the present invention constructed as described above will be explained.

The photosensitive material 60 is sequentially conveyed from the developing tank 52 to the drying chamber 58 through each processing tank and drying chamber, and is subjected to development, fixing, washing, and drying processes.

In the developer tank 52, the developer is discharged from the upper part of the developer tank 52 by the driving force of the circulation pump 64 and flows back into the lower part of the developer tank 52, so that the developer circulates in the developer tank 52 and is stirred.

In the processing liquid heater 10 installed in the developing tank 52, the temperature detection element 20 measures the temperature of the developing liquid, and the control means 36 controls the processing liquid heater 12 when the temperature of the processing liquid is within a predetermined range. is not energized, and when the temperature of the processing solution drops from a predetermined range, the heating heater 12 is energized to maintain the temperature range of the processing solution at a predetermined value.

In addition, if there is a disconnection accident in the temperature sensor part 40, the thermostat 16 cuts off the heating current by opening an electrical contact, stops heating the heating heater 12, and sets the temperature range of the developing solution to a predetermined range. Maintain value.

Note that when a current exceeding a certain level flows through the circuit during startup, etc., the temperature fuse 14 generates heat and blows out, opening the circuit and protecting the wiring.

In this embodiment, the temperature fuse 14, thermostat 16, and heating heater 12 are housed in the same housing tube 18, and the temperature detection element 20 is housed in the other housing tube 22.
As shown in FIG. 5, the temperature fuse 14 and thermostat 16, the heating heater 12, and the temperature detection element 20 may be housed in three storage tubes, and as shown in FIG. 14, thermostat 1
6 and the temperature detection element 20 may be housed in two storage tubes.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 7, all the devices may be wired in series and housed in one housing tube to be integrated.

Note that this processing liquid heater 10 can also be applied to a fixing tank, a washing tank, and other processing tanks.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, the processing liquid heater of the automatic developing apparatus according to the present invention integrally houses the temperature detection element, the heating heater, the temperature fuse, and the thermostat in the storage tube, and can be easily attached to the processing tank. As a result, the number of assembly steps can be reduced, the efficiency of assembly work can be improved, and reliability in terms of quality can be improved. Moreover, at the same time, liquid leakage in the processing tank can be eliminated.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a storage tube shown in an embodiment of a processing liquid heater of an automatic developing apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing how the processing liquid heater is installed in a developing tank. Fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram showing the processing tank portion of the automatic developing device, Fig. 4 is an electric circuit diagram of the processing liquid heater, and Figs. 5 to 7 show modified examples of the storage pipe shown in this embodiment. FIG. 12... Heating heater (heating means), 14... Temperature fuse (cutting off means), 16... Thermostat (intermittent control means) 18. 22... Storage tube.

Claims (1)

[Claims] a heating means for heating the processing liquid; a detection means for detecting the temperature of the processing liquid and controlling the heating temperature of the heating means;
an intermittent control means that interrupts or connects the flow of current to the heating means in order to maintain the processing liquid at a set temperature; a cutoff means that interrupts the current flow to the heating means due to heat generation due to excessive current; and these heating means; A processing liquid heater for an automatic developing apparatus, comprising a storage tube that houses and seals a detection means, an intermittent control means, and a cutoff means.