JPH0588330A - Blade assembly and photosensitive material processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the conveying performance for a photosensitive material and to decrease the occurrence ratio of jamming. CONSTITUTION:The blade assembly 15 has block-shaped support members 16a and 16b and a narrow passage 20 where the photosensitive material S passes is formed between the wall parts 17a and 17b of the members 16a and 16b. A blade abutment part 18 which projects into the passage 20 is formed on the support member 16b nearby the entrance 21 of the passage 20. A slanting wall surface 19 is formed above the abutment part 18 continuously to the abutment part 18. The blade support part 161 of the support member 16a, on the other hand, is provided with a blade 22. Its tip part 24 enters into close contact to the blade abutment part 18 to shield the passage 20. A guide 25 consisting of a support part 26 and a slanting plate 27 is fitted to a blade support part 161 with screws at the support part 26 above the blade 22. The slanting wall surface 19 and the guide surface 271 of the guide 25 are lower in coefficient of friction than the surface of the blade 22.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a blade assembly which has a passage through which a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material passes, and which shields this passage with a blade, and a light-sensitive material processing apparatus having the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A silver halide photographic light-sensitive material after exposure (hereinafter, simply referred to as a light-sensitive material or a light-sensitive material) is processed according to its type. For example, a color light-sensitive material is sequentially developed, bleached, fixed (or bleach-fixed), washed with water and stabilized.

For such processing, a photosensitive material processing apparatus such as an automatic developing machine is usually used, and a developing solution, a bleaching solution, a fixing solution (or a bleach-fixing solution) contained in each of a plurality of processing tanks provided in the apparatus. ), Immersing the light-sensitive material in the washing water and the stabilizing solution in sequence.

In recent years, development of a small-scale processing system using a small developing machine called a minilab has progressed, and film development and printing have come to be carried out not only at a developing station equipped with a large-sized developing machine but also at a photo shop or the like. ing.

In such a small-scale processing system, the processing can be performed easily and quickly, the replenishment amount and the drainage amount of the processing liquid can be further reduced, and the processing efficiency is high.
It has been a subject to obtain excellent photographic properties and to downsize the device.

However, at present, it is not easy to satisfy both of these problems. For example, regarding the rinsing process, if a multi-stage cascade rinsing method is adopted, the rinsing property is improved and good photographic properties are obtained, but the amount of rinsing water replenishment and drainage is large, and the apparatus becomes large. On the contrary, if the replenishment amount and the drainage amount of the washing water are reduced, the washing time must be lengthened in order to obtain good washing performance.

In order to solve such a problem, the applicant of the present application discloses a photosensitive material processing apparatus having a processing tank having a processing chamber space formed by connecting a plurality of processing chambers with a narrow passage. (Japanese Patent Application No. 01-025132). According to this photosensitive material processing apparatus, by maintaining a favorable liquid composition gradient (concentration gradient) of the processing liquid in each processing chamber,
The processing efficiency of the photosensitive material is improved, and the replenishment amount of the processing liquid and the processing time can be shortened.

Further, the applicant of the present application discloses a photosensitive material processing apparatus in which a flexible blade for blocking the flow of the processing liquid is provided in each passage of the photosensitive material processing apparatus (patent application). No. 02-155667). In this photosensitive material processing device, a function of wiping off the liquid adhering to the surface of the photosensitive material when passing through it (hereinafter referred to as a squeeze function) and a function of interrupting the flow of the processing liquid (hereinafter referred to as a sealing function)
Is exhibited, the processing efficiency of the photosensitive material is further improved, and the replenishment amount of the processing liquid and the processing time can be further shortened.

By the way, the Japanese Patent Application No. 02-155667 mentioned above.
In the light-sensitive material processing apparatus described in No. 1, in order to convey the light-sensitive material well, when the light-sensitive material plunges between the blades, the tip of the light-sensitive material is the tip of the blade (in the case of a pair of blades, both blades It is preferable to match the contact surface).

However, in practice, when the photosensitive material plunges between the blades due to rocking or curling of the photosensitive material, the tip of the photosensitive material sometimes deviates from the tip of the blade in the thickness direction of the photosensitive material. At this time, the tip of the photosensitive material collides in the middle of the blade, then slides on the surface of the blade to reach the tip of the blade, and passes between the blades.

Since the blade is usually made of an elastic material such as rubber, the coefficient of friction of the surface is relatively high,
Therefore, the tip of the photosensitive material is not suitable for sliding on the surface of the blade.

In particular, when the deviation of the tip of the photosensitive material is large, that is, when the collision position of the photosensitive material is far from the tip of the blade, the incident angle with respect to the blade surface becomes large, and in some cases 70 ~ 85
In some cases, the frictional force with the blade (particularly the static frictional force) increases, and the surface of the blade cannot slide, causing the photosensitive material to bend and jamming.

Even if jamming does not occur, the tip of the photosensitive material may be damaged or deformed due to the impact of collision or high frictional force, or the blade may be scratched at the collision site.
Shorten the life of the blade. The breakage or deformation of the tip of the photosensitive material may cause jamming when passing between rollers and blades thereafter.

[0014]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a blade assembly and a photosensitive material processing apparatus capable of improving the transportability of the photosensitive material and reducing the occurrence rate of jamming accidents.

[0015]

The above objects are achieved by the present invention described in (1) to (3) below.

(1) A narrow passage formed by a pair of opposing wall portions through which a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material passes, and a blade formed near the passage inlet of one wall portion and protruding into the passage. An abutment portion, an inclined wall surface formed on the side opposite to the passage via the blade abutment portion, and supported near the passage entrance of the other wall portion, and its tip abuts against the blade abutment portion. A blade that shields the passage, and a guide that is installed adjacent to the blade and guides the silver halide photographic light-sensitive material to the tip of the blade by means of the inclined guide surface, and the inclined wall surface and the guide. Each of the guide surfaces has a coefficient of friction lower than that of the surface of the blade.

(2) The blade assembly according to (1), wherein the distance between the blade contact portion and the tip of the guide in the passage width direction is 0.5 to 3 mm.

(3) A light-sensitive material processing apparatus which has a processing tank having a plurality of processing chambers, and which successively dipped a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material into a processing solution contained in each processing chamber to process the silver halide photographic light-sensitive material. The blade assembly according to claim 1 or 2 is installed between processing chambers adjacent to each other in the passage direction of the silver halide photographic light-sensitive material, and the processing chambers are connected by a passage of the blade assembly. A photosensitive material processing apparatus characterized by the above.

[0019]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A blade assembly and a photosensitive material processing apparatus according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the preferred embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional side view showing a structural example in which the photosensitive material processing apparatus of the present invention is applied to a water washing processing apparatus. As shown in the figure, the photosensitive material processing apparatus 1 of the present invention has a vertically long processing tank 2 having a predetermined volume. A rack 3 is removably loaded in the processing tank 2.

The rack 3 has a pair of side plates 31, 31, and members (hereinafter referred to as block bodies) 4 and 5 each having a block-shaped portion having a desired shape are installed between the side plates. .. In the illustrated example, the block body 5 is inserted into the block body 4.

These block bodies 4 and 5 are made of, for example, polyvinyl chloride, polypropylene, polyethylene, polyester resin such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), ABS resin, polyphenylene oxide (PP).
O), polyurethane resin, polyamide, polyacetal (POM), phenol resin, various resins such as fluororesin,
Carbon, various glasses, ceramics such as alumina, silica, apatite, stainless steel, Inconel, titanium,
It is made of a relatively hard material such as a titanium alloy or a metal having corrosion resistance such as Hastelloy. In particular, polyvinyl chloride, polypropylene, polyethylene, PPO, A from the viewpoint of excellent moldability, light weight, and sufficient strength.
It is preferably composed of plastics such as BS resin.

Although the blocks 4 and 5 are solid members in the illustrated example, they may be hollow members (for example, manufactured by blow molding).

A blade assembly 15 of the present invention, which will be described later, is inserted into the predetermined positions of the blocks 4 and 5 as described above. That is, the blade assembly 15 is adjacent to the photosensitive material S in the conveying direction, that is, in the vertical direction (hereinafter, simply referred to as "adjacent") processing chambers 6A and 6B, 6B and 6C and 6C.
It is installed between C and 6D and between 6D and 6E, respectively.

The blade assembly 15 is preferably installed in the rack 3 in a removable manner. Thereby, for example, when cleaning or replacing the blade 22,
This can be easily done by detaching the entire blade assembly 15. In this case, the attachment / detachment of the blade assembly 15 is
With the rack 3 being pulled up above the processing tank 2, the blade assembly 15 is slid laterally in FIG.

The block bodies 4 and 5 and the blade assembly 15 as described above form five processing chambers 6A, 6B, 6C, 6D and 6E which are spaces for washing the photosensitive material S with water. The adjacent processing chambers are connected to each other by a narrow passage 20 formed in the blade assembly 15.

A processing space for the photosensitive material S is formed by the processing chambers 6A to 6E and the passage 20, and the processing space is filled with washing water W.

In the structure shown in the figure, the volume of one processing chamber is preferably about 20 to 3000 ml.

Further, in the upper part of the processing chambers 6A and 6E,
Passage 2 for loading and unloading photosensitive material S, respectively
Passages 71 and 72 similar to 0 are formed.

A piece of blade 22 is installed in each passage 20. This will be described in detail later.

As shown in FIG. 1, processing chambers 6A, 6B, 6
A pair of transport rollers 8 are installed near the central portions of D and 6E, respectively, and three pairs of transport rollers 8 are installed in the processing chamber 6C. Further, a pair of conveying rollers 8 are installed above the passage 71 and above the passage 72, respectively.

Each of these conveying rollers 8 is rotatably supported by the side plates 31, 31, and one or both of the pair of rollers is driven and rotated by a driving system (not shown) so that the photosensitive material S is interposed between the rollers. The photosensitive material S is conveyed by sandwiching it.

A guide 9 for guiding the photosensitive material S is installed above or below the conveying roller 8 in the processing chambers 6A, 6B, 6D and 6E. This guide 9
It is composed of a pair of plate-shaped members, and is placed face-to-face with an interval through which the photosensitive material S can pass.

Further, between the transfer rollers 8 in the processing chamber 6C,
For example, the photosensitive material S is curved in an arc shape and along the curved portion.
A reversing guide 10 for reversing the direction is installed.

Further, curved plate-shaped guides 11 are installed between the passages 71 and 72 and the conveying roller 8 above them. With this guide 11,
The photosensitive material is turned about 90 degrees.

These guides 9 to 11 are made of, for example, molded plastic or metal plates. It is preferable that the guides 9 and 10 installed in the wash water W have openings (not shown) penetrating the guides, and the openings are preferably arranged uniformly. By installing such an opening, the washing water W can be circulated through the guide and the circulation of the liquid in the processing chamber is promoted.
The washing efficiency is improved.

The guides 9 to 11, the conveying roller 8 and the driving system thereof constitute a conveying means for the photosensitive material S.

The guides 9 to 11 may or may not be provided partially along the conveyance path as long as the conveyance of the photosensitive material S is not hindered.

The photosensitive material processing apparatus 1 is provided with means for supplying (replenishing) and discharging the washing water. That is, the processing tank 2 is provided with a liquid supply pipe 12 penetrating its side wall and communicating with the processing chamber 6E, and a drain pipe 13 communicating with the processing chamber 6A.

The liquid supply pipe 12 is for supplying (replenishing) the wash water W, and the drain pipe 13 is for discharging the wash water W that has been treated and exhausted due to overflow or the like.

In such a photosensitive material processing apparatus 1, the washing water W in the processing chambers 6A to 6E has an appropriate temperature (for example, 2).
A heater (not shown) for heating to 5 to 50 ° C. is installed.

As this heater, for example, an ordinary sheathed heater or ceramics heater can be used, and a sheet heating element as described in Japanese Patent Application No. 02-223768 can also be used. Such a sheet heating element has high thermal efficiency, and because of its shape, it does not take up an installation space and contributes to downsizing of the device.

The position where the heater is installed is not particularly limited, and for example, any processing chamber of the processing chambers 6A to 6E, the inner surface of the processing tank 2, the surface or the inside of the block bodies 4, 5, etc., each processing chamber. It can be installed in the circulation system (not shown) of the washing water or the replenishing system of the washing water installed in 6A to 6E. In particular, if the planar heating element is used, the installation position can be selected in a wide range, which is advantageous in design.

Further, in the present invention, any of the processing chambers 6A to 6A
A temperature sensor (not shown) for detecting the temperature of the washing water W is installed in E, the temperature of the washing water W is detected by this temperature sensor, and based on the detected value, a control means such as a microcomputer ( (Not shown)
It is also possible to control N / OFF and the amount of heat generation.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional side view showing a structural example of the blade assembly of the present invention. This figure is an enlarged view of the vicinity of the lower part of the processing chamber 6A of the photosensitive material processing apparatus 1 shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 2, the blade assembly 15
Has a pair of block-shaped support members 16a and 16b, and both support members 16a and 16b have opposing wall portions 17a and 17b, respectively. Both wall portions 17a, 1
A narrow passage 20 through which the photosensitive material S passes is formed between 7b.

The width Y of the passage 20 (effective slit width) Y is about 5 to 100 times (about 0.5 to 10 mm), particularly about 10 to 40 times (about 1 to 4 mm) the thickness of the photosensitive material S. Preferably. With such a width, the photosensitive material S is transported without any trouble.

In the illustrated construction, the length of the passage 20 is preferably about 10 to 200 mm, particularly about 10 to 30 mm.

As the constituent material of the supporting members 16a and 16b, the same materials as those of the blocks 4 and 5 can be used, and among them, particularly, polyvinyl chloride, polypropylene, polyethylene, PPO, ABS resin and the like can be used. Plastics are preferred.

The support members 16a and 16b may be integrally formed, or may be separate members fixedly, that is, connected at both end portions thereof so as to maintain the width Y. ..

A blade abutting portion 18 projecting into the passage 20 is formed in the vicinity of an inlet (entrance of photosensitive material) 21 of the passage 20 of the support member 16b. When the photosensitive material S does not pass through the blade contact portion 18, the blade 2
The tip ends 24 of the two abut and closely contact with each other, and the passage 20 is substantially shielded.

Further, the blade contact portion 1 of the support member 16b
The blade contact portion 18 is provided on the opposite side of the passage 20 through the passage 8.
A continuous inclined wall surface 19 is formed on the outer surface of the. The tip S ₀ of the photosensitive material S slides along the inclined wall surface 19,
It is guided between the blade contact portion 18 and the tip portion 24 of the blade 22.

The inclination angle of the inclined wall surface 19 (angle formed with the passage direction of the photosensitive material) is preferably about 5 to 30 °, more preferably about 10 to 20 °.

Although the inclined wall surface 19 is a flat surface in the illustrated example, it may be a slightly curved surface.

A blade support portion 161 for supporting and fixing the blade 22 is formed near the inlet 21 of the support member 16a. The blade support portion 161 is used for the blade 2
It is composed of an inclined surface so as to support 2 in a preferable state.

The inclination angle of the blade supporting portion 161 (the angle formed by the direction in which the photosensitive material passes) defines the installation angle of the blade 22, and is usually about 15 to 85 °, especially 2
The angle is preferably about 0 to 45 °.

A piece of blade 22 is installed on the blade supporting portion 161. This blade 22
Is composed of a base portion 23 and a thin-walled tip portion 24 whose thickness gradually decreases from the base portion 23 toward the tip, and the base portion 23 is formed so that the tip portion 24 closely contacts the blade contact portion 18. It is supported and fixed at.

In the illustrated example, the blade 22 is fixed to the blade supporting portion 161 by tightening a screw 30 to press the blade base portion 23 between the inclined surface of the blade supporting portion 161 and the supporting portion 26 of the guide 25 described later. , By sandwiching.

The blade support portion 16 of the blade 22
The method of fixing to 1 is not limited to screwing as shown in the figure, but may be fixed by methods such as adhesion, fusion, fitting, embedding, and integral molding.

Further, in the illustrated example, the tip portion (thin portion) 24 of the blade 22 is shaped so that its thickness gradually decreases toward the tip, but even if the thickness is substantially constant, Good.

The constituent material of the blade 22 is, for example, natural rubber, isoprene rubber, chloroprene rubber, butyl rubber, fluororubber, butadiene rubber, styrene butadiene rubber, ethylene propylene rubber, silicone rubber, chlorosulfonated polyethylene, urethane rubber, and many other materials. Various rubbers such as sulfurized rubber, acrylic rubber, epichlorohydrin rubber, silicone resin, soft polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene (particularly medium or low density PE), polypropylene, fluororesin, ionomer resin, thermoran,
Examples thereof include soft resins such as elastomers such as sunplane, milastomer, and hytrel.

Of these, materials having excellent durability are preferable, and in this respect, urethane rubber, fluororesin, natural rubber, butadiene rubber, chloroprene rubber, polypropylene or the above-mentioned various elastomers are preferable.

Rubber hardness of blade 22 (JIS K63
01) is about 30 to 80 degrees, especially 40 to 60 degrees.
It is preferably about the degree.

The blade 22 having the above-described structure has the following effects. That is, when the photosensitive material S does not pass through, the tip end portion 24 of the blade 22 comes into close contact with the blade contact portion 18 and substantially blocks the flow of the washing water W in the passage 20. Further, when the photosensitive material S passes through, the tip end S ₀ of the photosensitive material S spreads the tip end portion 24 of the blade that is in close contact with the blade contact portion 18, and the blade contact portion 18 and the blade tip portion 24 are The photosensitive material S passes through the space. At this time, the liquid adhering to the surface of the photosensitive material S is wiped off by sliding on the surface of the blade contact portion 18 and the inner surface of the tip portion 24, and is prevented from being carried into the next processing chamber.

The contact surface pressure of the tip portion 24 of the blade 22 is
0.001-0.1 kg / cm ² or so, especially 0.005-
It is preferably set to about 0.02 kg / cm ² . With such a contact surface pressure, a better squeeze function and sealing function can be obtained.

A guide 25 for guiding the photosensitive material S to the tip portion 24 of the blade 22 is provided on the upper portion of the blade 22 in FIG. This guide 25 supports
6 and the inclined plate 27, which are V-shaped. In the illustrated example, the guide 25 is fixed to the blade support portion 161 by screws at its support portion 26.

A guide surface 271 is formed on the side of the inclined plate 27 near the center of the passage 20, and the tip S ₀ of the photosensitive material S slides along the guide surface 271 and is guided to the tip 24 of the blade 22.

The inclination angle of the guide surface 271 (the angle formed by the direction of passage of the sensitive material) is preferably about 5 to 30 °, more preferably about 10 to 20 °.

The guide surface 271 is a flat surface in the illustrated example, but may be a slightly curved surface.

The tip 29 of the guide 25, that is, the guide surface 2
The end of the passage 71 on the passage 20 side projects into the inlet 21 toward the center of the passage 20.

In this case, the distance X between the tip 29 of the guide 25 and the blade contact portion 18 in the width direction of the passage 20 is X.
Is preferably 0.5 to 3 mm, more preferably 1 to 2 mm. If the separation distance X is less than 0.5 mm, the photosensitive material S that is passing may come into contact with the tip 29 of the guide 25 due to swinging, resulting in scratches.
If the thickness exceeds mm, the photosensitive material S may have the tip portion 24 of the blade 22.
The load at the time of rushing into the sheet becomes large, and the effect of improving the transportability of the photosensitive material decreases.

In the present invention, the inclined plate 27 may be a plate-like member which is continuous along the width direction of the photosensitive material S as shown in FIG. 3 or the width of the photosensitive material S as shown in FIG. The slit 28 may be intermittently formed along the direction, that is, a comb shape.

The slit 28 has a width (sensitized material width direction) of, for example, 90 to 350 mm with respect to the inclined plate 27.
About 8 to 34 pieces can be formed at a pitch of about 30 mm.

As the constituent material of the guide 25, especially the inclined plate 27, one having rigidity such that it is not easily deformed by the collision of the photosensitive material S is preferable. For example, polyvinyl chloride, polypropylene, polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate ( PET), polycarbonate, ABS
Resin, ionomer resin, polyphenylene oxide (PPO), polyamide, polyacetal (POM), phenol resin, fluororesin, polyphenylene sulfide (PPS), polyether sulfone (PES), polyether ketone (PEK), polyether ether ketone (PEEK) ), Various resins such as polytetrafluoroethylene, carbon, various glasses, ceramics such as alumina, silica, and apatite, corrosion-resistant metals such as stainless steel, Inconel, titanium, titanium alloys, and Hastelloy, or any combination thereof. I can list things.

In the present invention, the guide 25 is not limited to the one composed of the supporting portion 26 and the inclined plate 27 as shown in the drawing, but may be any one having an inclined guide surface 271. Alternatively, it may be a lump (block body) having the guide surface 271.

Further, the blade supporting portion 161 of the guide 25
The fixing method to the blade 22 and the supporting member 16a is not limited to screwing as shown in the figure, and may be, for example, bonding, fusing, fitting, or embedding, or the same material as the blade 22 or the supporting member 16a (two colors). It may be integrally molded by extrusion molding).

In the illustrated example, one blade 22 and one guide 25 are installed in each passage 20, but two or more blades and guides 25 may be installed in one passage 20. In this case, more excellent squeeze function and sealing function can be obtained.

In the blade assembly 15 as described above, the friction coefficients of the inclined wall surface 19 and the guide surface 271 of the guide 25 are lower than the friction coefficient of the surface of the blade 22, respectively. This reduces frictional resistance when the tip S ₀ of the photosensitive material S slides along the inclined wall surface 19 and the guide surface 271 and smoothly guides the tip of the photosensitive material, so that the tip S ₀ is deformed (curved, Bending, etc.) and damage (scratches, blurring, chipping, etc.) do not occur, and the incidence of jamming is greatly reduced.

Such inclined wall surface 19 and guide surface 27
The friction coefficient of 1 is adjusted by the support member 16b and the inclined plate 2
It may be performed by selecting the constituent materials of 7. Further, the inclined wall surface 19 and the guide surface 271 may be subjected to surface treatment such as surface polishing and chemical treatment. Furthermore, the inclined wall surface 1
9 and the guide surface 271 with a coating layer (not shown) made of a material having a lower friction coefficient and excellent durability such as polytetrafluoroethylene or fluororesin.
May be formed.

The static friction coefficient of the inclined wall surface 19 and the guide surface 271 thus adjusted is 0.05 to 0.4.
About 0.1 to 0.2 is preferable,
The dynamic friction coefficient is about 0.05 to 0.3, especially 0.1 to 0.3.
It is preferably about 0.2.

Next, the usage and operation of the photosensitive material processing apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIG.

When the processing of the photosensitive material S is started, the washing water W is supplied from the liquid supply pipe 12, and the processing space, that is, the processing chambers 6A to 6E and each passage 20 is filled with the washing water W.

At this time, as described above, since the blade 22 blocks the flow of the washing water W when the photosensitive material S is not passing, a sheet-like material which replaces the photosensitive material S when supplying the washing water W is used. It is preferable that the washing water W be smoothly fed to be supplied. Further, each processing chamber 6A to 6E may be provided with a liquid supply port (not shown) to fill the washing water W.

Further, while the treatment space is filled with the washing water W, a heater (not shown) is operated to adjust the temperature of the washing water W.

In this state, when the photosensitive material S is carried into the passage 71 through the guide 11, at the same time, the liquid supply pipe 12
The replenishment of the wash water W is started from.

The reason why the replenishment of the washing water W is started at the same time when the processing of the photosensitive material S is started in this way is that the photosensitive material S enters between the blade 22 and the blade contact portion 18 because of the sealing function of the blade 22. This is because a gap having a thickness of the photosensitive material S is formed on both side portions of the tip end portion 24 in the width direction of the photosensitive material, and the washing water W flows through the gap.

When the washing water W is replenished in the processing chamber 6E, approximately the same amount of washing water W as the replenishing amount is supplied from the processing chamber 6E to the passage 20.
Flow through the processing chambers 6D, 6C, 6B and 6A in this order, and are discharged from the drain pipe 13 by overflow.

On the other hand, the photosensitive material S is conveyed in the order of the processing chambers 6A, 6B, 6C, 6D and 6E as shown by the arrow in FIG. Therefore, the flow direction of the washing water W is
This is the opposite direction (counterflow) to the conveyance direction of. This also improves the washing efficiency.

When the photosensitive material S moves through the passage 20 to the adjacent processing chamber, it passes between the blade abutting portion 18 and the blade 22 installed near the inlet 21 of the passage 20. The behavior at this time will be described below.

When the photosensitive material S is conveyed such that the emulsion surface (photosensitive surface) of the photosensitive material S is inside the U-shaped path in FIG. 1 (on the side of the supporting member 16a), the photosensitive material S is curled. As a result, the emulsion surface side is usually curved so as to be wider than the opposite surface side, so that the leading end S ₀ of the photosensitive material S is brought into contact with the contact surfaces of the blade contact portion 18 and the blade tip portion 24 and the contact surface between the transport rollers 8 immediately before. Support member 1 from the line connecting
It shows a tendency to pass on the 6b side. Therefore, the leading edge S ₀ of the photosensitive material S delivered from the immediately preceding transport roller 8 first collides with the inclined wall surface 19 of the support member 16b, and the inclined wall surface 1
2 slides down in FIG.
Is introduced between the blade tip portion 24 and the blade tip portion 24, and the blade tip portion 24 is spread and passed between these.

Further, the photosensitive material S
Oscillates, and the tip S ₀ of the photosensitive material S moves to the blade contact portion 1
8 may pass through the support member 16a side from the line connecting the contact surfaces of the blade 8 and the blade tip portion 24 and the contact surfaces of the transport rollers 8 immediately before each other. In this case, the tip S of the photosensitive material S
₀ first collides with the guide surface 271 of the guide 25, slides down along the guide surface 271 in FIG. 2, contacts the tip end portion 24 of the blade 22 via the tip 29 of the guide, and immediately after that, the blade touches. It is introduced between the contact portion 18 and the blade tip portion 24, spreads the blade tip portion 24, and passes between these.

[0092] Thus, whatever the position the tip S ₀ of the photosensitive material S, the tip S ₀ of the photosensitive material S has a relatively small angle with respect to the photosensitive material passage direction, and relatively The blade 22 guided along the inclined wall surface 19 or the guide surface 271 having a low friction coefficient and having a relatively high friction coefficient.
The blade 21 has almost no contact with the blade 22 and does not collide with the blade 22 at a large angle.
The incidence of jamming in the vicinity is greatly reduced.

Further, the tip S ₀ of the photosensitive material S is the blade 2
2 does not abruptly collide at a large angle, so that the tip S ₀ of the photosensitive material S is prevented from being damaged or deformed, or the collision site of the blade is scratched or otherwise damaged. If the leading edge S ₀ of the photosensitive material S is damaged or deformed, jamming is likely to occur during the subsequent passage between the transport rollers 8 and the blade 22, but in the present invention, the occurrence rate of jamming is also increased in this respect. It can be reduced and the life of the blade 22 is extended.

The guide 25 has a secondary effect of preventing the blade from being turned up due to the backward movement of the photosensitive material S. In other words, if the photosensitive material S jams and is attempted to be pulled out upward in FIG. 2 from the state of being sandwiched by the blades 22 as shown in FIG. 2, the tip portion 24 of the blade also moves upwards accordingly. However, the blade 26 is deformed, but it is locked on the lower surface of the support portion 26 near the tip 29 to prevent the blade tip 24 from being deformed upward, that is, it is prevented from turning over. Therefore, the restoration work can be performed easily and quickly, which is advantageous, for example, when the photosensitive material is continuously processed.

When the processing is completed and the photosensitive material S is carried out from the passage 72 above the processing chamber 6E, the replenishment of the washing water W is stopped at the same time.

In such a case, each of the processing chambers 6A to 6A due to the carry-in of the chemicals adhering to the light-sensitive material S from the prebath or the like.
The degree of contamination of the rinsing water W in E is that the squeeze function of the blade 22 reduces the carry-in from the previous processing chamber to the subsequent processing chamber, and the blade 22 has an excellent liquid blocking property. Further, since the washing water W is supplied by the counter flow as described above, it is the largest in the processing chamber 6A, and is the largest in the processing chambers 6B, 6C, 6
D and 6E are becoming smaller. Then, such a concentration gradient (liquid composition gradient) in each of the processing chambers 6A to 6E
Is very well maintained.

Therefore, the washing efficiency is remarkably improved, and as a result, excellent photographic properties (sensitivity, gradation, etc.) are obtained, and the processing time is shortened and the washing water W replenishment amount and drainage amount are reduced. Can be planned.

The replenishment amount may be about the flow amount determined by the gap formed when the photosensitive material S passes through the blade 22.

Such replenishment amount mainly depends on the number of processing chambers (the number of passages), the material of the blade 22, and the physical characteristics (rubber hardness,
Shore hardness, flexural modulus, etc.), dimensions, contact surface pressure, various conditions such as the number of installations, the width and thickness of the photosensitive material S, and the conveying speed. Taking the case of processing color paper (thickness 0.24 mm) in the configuration of FIG. 1 as an example, the result is as shown in Table 1 below.

[0100]

[Table 1]

The replenishment amount illustrated in Table 1 is about 20 to 70% of the replenishment amount as compared with the conventional one, and even with such a small replenishment amount, stains are not generated at all due to poor washing with water.

In the photosensitive material processing apparatus 1 of the present invention, the washing efficiency can be improved, and as a result, the processing chambers 6A to 6E are
The volume and the like can be reduced, which contributes to downsizing of the device 1.

Further, when the light-sensitive material S is not passing through (non-processing), the flow of the washing water W between the adjacent processing chambers is substantially blocked by the blade 22, so that the washing water W is hardly mixed. It does not occur, and the concentration gradient in each of the processing chambers 6A to 6E is maintained as it is. As a result, even when the treatment is suspended for a long period of time and then restarted, the concentration gradient of the washing water W in each of the treatment chambers is maintained in a good condition, and therefore an efficient washing treatment should be performed immediately. You can

The control of the replenishment timing and the replenishment amount in the above may be performed by using known control methods and means.

The blade assembly of the present invention is not limited to the case where it is installed in the processing tank having the structure shown in FIG. For example, the processing tank in which the blade assembly is installed has a narrow continuous processing path (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 02-23).
No. 0144), or can be applied to a conventionally known single box-type treatment tank, a multistage cascade water washing system, or the like.

In the above, an example in which the photosensitive material processing apparatus of the present invention is applied to a water washing processing apparatus has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the same action and effect can be obtained when applied to stabilization processing. It can also be applied to other processes such as development, bleaching, bleach-fixing, fixing, adjusting, reversing and stopping.

Incidentally, the processing (eg, stabilization, fixing, adjustment, reversal, etc.) having a function of washing out unnecessary substances in the photosensitive material S may be the same as that of the photosensitive material processing apparatus 1.

Further, in a processing solution containing a compound which reacts with silver halide in the light-sensitive material S such as a developing solution, a bleaching solution, a bleach-fixing solution, and a fixing solution, the flow of the processing solution is different from that of the washing water. In order to improve the processing efficiency, it is preferable that the photosensitive material S is in the same direction (parallel flow) as the conveying direction. As for the processing liquid having a fixing function, a counter flow may be used because it has an effect of washing out unnecessary substances in the photosensitive material S as described above.

Even in the case of various processing apparatuses other than such a water washing, the squeeze function and the sealing function by the blade 22 can be obtained in the same manner as the water washing processing, and in any case, the processing efficiency is improved, the photographic property is improved, and the processing is improved. The time can be shortened, the amount of replenishment can be reduced, and the device can be downsized.

Various processing solutions such as washing water, stabilizing solution, black-and-white developing solution, color developing solution, bleaching solution, fixing solution, bleach-fixing solution, stop solution, adjusting solution and reversing solution used in the light-sensitive material processing apparatus of the present invention. May be any known one, and the details of these processing solutions are described in "Basics of Photographic Engineering" edited by The Photographic Society of Japan, published by Corona Publishing Co., Ltd. (1979) P299 "Chapter 4 Development Processing", etc. Can be referred to.

In the light-sensitive material processing apparatus of the present invention, the type of light-sensitive material S to be processed is not particularly limited, and may be either color or black-and-white light-sensitive material. Examples thereof include a color negative film, a color reversal film, a color positive film, a color photographic paper, a color reversal photographic paper, a plate-making photographic light-sensitive material, an X-ray photographic light-sensitive material, a black-and-white negative film, a black-and-white photographic paper, and a micro-photosensitive material.

The light-sensitive material processing apparatus of the present invention is, for example, various light-sensitive material processing apparatuses such as an automatic developing machine, a wet copying machine, a printer processor, a video printer processor, a photographic print making coin machine, and a color paper processing machine for plate inspection. Can be applied to.

Although the present invention has been described above based on the illustrated configuration examples, the present invention is not limited to these. In particular, the guide of the blade assembly may have any configuration and arrangement as long as it can guide the photosensitive material to the tip of the blade by means of an inclined guide surface. May be installed in an arrangement that maintains the relationship of.

[0114]

As described above, according to the present invention, the blade of the photosensitive material can be smoothly passed, so that the transportability of the photosensitive material can be improved and the occurrence rate of the jamming accident can be reduced. ..

Furthermore, the life of the blade is extended and the frequency of blade replacement is reduced.

Further, the squeeze function and sealing function of the blade make it possible to continuously obtain good processability and photographic property, shorten the processing time, reduce the replenishment amount of the treatment liquid and the drainage amount, and The size can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional side view showing a configuration example of a photosensitive material processing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional side view showing a configuration example of a blade assembly of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a configuration example of a guide in the blade assembly of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing another configuration example of the guide in the blade assembly of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Photosensitive material processing apparatus 2 Processing tank 3 Rack 31 Side plate 4, 5 Block body 6A-6E Processing chamber 71, 72 Passage 8 Conveying roller 9 Guide 10 Inversion guide 11 Guide 12 Liquid supply pipe 13 Drainage pipe 15 Blade assembly 16a, 16b Support member 161 Blade support part 17a, 17b Wall part 18 Blade contact part 19 Inclined wall surface 20 Passage 21 Inlet 22 Blade 23 Base part 24 Tip part 25 Guide 26 Support part 27 Inclined plate 271 Guide surface 28 Slit 29 Tip 30 Screw S Photosensitive Material S ₀ Tip W Wash water

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A narrow passage through which a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material is formed, which is formed by a pair of opposing wall portions, and a blade contact which is formed near the passage inlet of one wall portion and projects into the passage. A contact portion, an inclined wall surface formed on the side opposite to the passage through the blade contact portion, and supported near the passage inlet of the other wall portion, and the tip of the blade contact portion contacts the blade contact portion, A blade that shields the passage, and a guide that is installed adjacent to the blade and that guides the silver halide photographic light-sensitive material to the tip portion of the blade by the inclined guide surface, the inclined wall surface and the guide of the guide The faces are
A blade assembly having a coefficient of friction lower than that of the surface of the blade. 2. The blade assembly according to claim 1, wherein the distance between the blade contact portion and the tip of the guide in the passage width direction is 0.5 to 3 mm. 3. A light-sensitive material processing apparatus having a processing tank having a plurality of processing chambers, wherein silver halide photographic light-sensitive material is sequentially dipped in a processing liquid contained in each processing chamber to process. The blade assembly according to claim 1 or 2 is installed between processing chambers adjacent to each other in the passage direction of the silver halide photographic light-sensitive material, and the processing chambers are connected by a passage of the blade assembly. A photosensitive material processing device characterized by the above.