JPH06175331A - Heat development processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent irregular development by releasing evaporated water vapor from a heat developable material in the midst of heat development. CONSTITUTION:A 1st roller 32a is arranged at the winding start position of a photosensitive material 20 on a heat roller 24 heated to a specified temperature, and collars 33 provided at both ends in a shaft direction come into contact with the heat roller, and a gap 37 having dimension equal to or above the thickness dimension of the photosenstive material is formed between a middle part in the shaft direction and the heat roller, and a 2nd roller 32B whose peripheral surface comes into contact with the peripheral surface of the heat roller with specified pressure is arranged near a winding finish position on the heat roller. The heat roller is rotated when driving force is transmitted from the rollers following the rotation of these rollers. While the photosensitive material 20 is carried in a state where it is wound and laid on the heat roller, it is heated and developed, and water vapor evaporated from the photosensitive material to the peripheral surface side of the heat roller is exhausted from the gap to which interposing force is not added.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention comprises a heat roller whose peripheral surface is heated to a predetermined temperature by a heat source, and adheres a heat-developable photosensitive material on which a latent image is formed to a part of the peripheral surface of the heat roller. The present invention relates to a heat development processing apparatus that forms a visible image by heating and developing by carrying while carrying.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A heat roller is generally used as a means for heat-treating a heat-developable light-sensitive material. That is, the heat-developable photosensitive material on which the latent image is formed is brought into close contact with a heat roller whose peripheral surface is heated to a predetermined temperature to heat and develop the heat-developable photosensitive material.

The heat-developable photosensitive material is, for example,
A two-component thermosensitive coloring medium in which two components are separated and arranged with a microcapsule containing a photocurable composition separated (see JP-A-52-89915), a vinyl monomer having an acidic group and a photopolymerizable composition. In which a layer containing a substance, a separation layer, and a layer made of an electron-donating colorless dye are laminated (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-123838), a plurality of photosensitive layers that develop different colors are provided, and each photosensitive layer is Those having a central wavelength (JP-A-1-224930, JP-A-2
No. 19710), etc. can be used.

Since the heat roller is in direct contact with the photothermographic material, other heating means (hot air, infrared heater, etc.)
The thermal efficiency is better than that of the conventional one, and the processing time is shortened, and the apparatus is compact.

However, when the heat-developable photosensitive material is heat-treated, the water contained in the heat-developable photosensitive material is vaporized and released as water vapor. For this reason, water vapor accumulates between the contact surfaces of the heat-developable photosensitive material and the heat roller, and this pressure causes a portion of the heat-developable photosensitive material that must be in close contact with the heat roller to float from the heat roller and cause uneven development. May occur.

In order to solve this problem, it is conceivable to remove water from the heat-developable photosensitive material in advance by blowing hot air or irradiating an infrared heater before it is wound around the heat roller and brought into close contact therewith (preheat). ).

However, in the above conventional means, it is necessary to provide a preheat zone for removing water in advance,
The processing time becomes long and the apparatus becomes large.

In consideration of the above facts, the present invention can provide a heat development processing apparatus which can surely release water vapor released from a heat development type photosensitive material during heat development and prevent uneven development. Is the purpose.

[0009]

In a heat development processing apparatus according to the present invention, a heat development type photosensitive material on which a latent image is formed is conveyed while being brought into close contact with the peripheral surface of a heat roller whose peripheral surface is heated to a predetermined temperature. By the above, in a heat development processing device for heat-developing the heat-developable photosensitive material, in one or both of the vicinity of the contact start position and the contact end position of the joy-developable photosensitive material to the heat roller. A backup roller is arranged to face each other between the heat rollers with a gap corresponding to the thickness of the heat-developable photosensitive material or more.

[0010]

In the heat development processing apparatus according to the present invention, the heat development type photosensitive material brought into close contact with the heat roller is imparted with a conveying force between the heat roller and the backup roller arranged around the heat roller. Transport. The heat roller applies heat to the photothermographic material by bringing the photothermographic material into close contact with the peripheral surface for a predetermined length.

According to the present invention, the backup roller is disposed in the vicinity of the contact start position and / or the contact end position of the heat-developable photosensitive material so as to face the peripheral surface of the heat roller, and the backup roller and the heat roller are disposed. There is a gap between them. As a result, water vapor evaporated from the inside of the heat-developable photosensitive material heated by being brought into close contact with the heat roller is utilized by utilizing the fact that this gap does not generate a nip force between the heat roller and the backup roller. It can be squeezed out between the photosensitive material and the peripheral surface of the heat roller and discharged.

For example, around the heat roller heated by the heat source arranged at the axial center, a backup roller which is rotated by the driving force of the driving means at the winding start position and the winding end position of the photothermographic material. In a heat development processing apparatus in which a roller is arranged and a heat development type photosensitive material is sandwiched and conveyed between a backup roller and a heat roller, a heat development type is provided by providing a gap between at least one of the backup roller and the heat roller. Water vapor evaporated from the photosensitive material can be discharged from this gap. As a result, in the heat-developable photosensitive material that is in close contact with the heat roller, uneven development due to floating when vaporized water vapor stays between the heat-sensitive photosensitive material and the surface of the heat roller does not occur.

At this time, by providing a gap between at least one of the backup roller and the heat roller,
Although water vapor from the heat-developable photosensitive material can be discharged from between the heat-developable photosensitive material and the heat roller, a gap may be formed between both backup rollers. The mold photosensitive material may be brought into close contact with the peripheral surface of the heat roller.

Here, the size of the gap provided between the backup roller and the heat roller may be substantially equal to or larger than the thickness of the heat-developable photosensitive material, and more specifically, it may be any size. A size equal to or slightly larger than the thickness of the heat-developable photosensitive material is preferable. Considering the insertion angle of the heat-developable photosensitive material between the heat roller and the backup roller and the rigidity of the heat-developable photosensitive material, the heat roller and the backup roller give a conveying force to the heat-developable photosensitive material to ensure the heat-developable photosensitive material. It only needs to be transported. A gap is provided between the intermediate portion in the axial direction of the backup roller and the peripheral surface of the heat roller, and collars with a diameter larger than that diameter are arranged at both ends in the axial direction of the backup roller. By making contact with the surface, a constant gap can always be formed between the backup roller and the heat roller. Insert the photothermographic material into this gap and wrap it around the heat roller for close contact. You can do this.

When the heat-developable photosensitive material is wound around a heat roller and floating occurs due to retention of water vapor in a part of the heat-developable photosensitive material, wrinkles appear in the finished heat-developable photosensitive material. However, in the present invention, it is possible to prevent the retention of water vapor between the heat-developable photosensitive material and the heat roller, and to prevent wrinkles occurring in the heat-developable photosensitive material.

[0016]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a heat developing apparatus 10 of a plate inspection making apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

The plate inspection making apparatus includes Y plate, M plate, C plate and B plate.
To check whether there is a mistake in the layout of the original film, whether there is a color difference, or whether there is an error in the characters, etc. before actual printing using each original film that has been color-separated into K (Sumi) plate This is an apparatus for producing a color proof, wherein each original film is positioned one by one, sequentially superposed on an ultraviolet light-sensitive material and subjected to multiple contact exposure, and then heat-developed by a heat developing apparatus 10 to produce a color proof.

As shown in FIG. 1, the thermal developing device 10 is
It is mounted on a support base 14 that is hung between the upper ends of the pair of legs 12. The thermal development device 10 includes a casing 16
An insertion stand 18 is attached to the side surface of the photosensitive material insertion hole 10 </ b> A provided with the photosensitive material insertion hole 10 </ b> A. After the exposure, the photosensitive material 20 (see FIG. 2) is placed on the insertion table 18
It is configured to be placed on the sheet and sent to the heat developing device 10.

A tray 22 is attached between the pair of legs 12. The tray 22 is composed of a plurality of parallel rod-shaped frames 22A. The frame 22A is extended downward, and the extended tip portion is bent in a substantially U shape.

A support bar 22B is attached to an axially intermediate position and a bending tip position of the frame 22A, and the frame 22A is supported on the inner side surface of the leg 12 via the support bar 22B. Therefore, the photosensitive material 20 discharged from the photosensitive material discharge hole 10B (see FIG. 2) provided in the lower portion of the thermal developing device 10 is guided by the frame 22A to be below (front surface) the photosensitive material insertion hole 10A. It will be turned around and housed.

As shown in FIG. 2, a guide plate 26 for guiding the photosensitive material 20 between the photosensitive material insertion hole 10A and the internal heat roller 24 is attached on the downstream side of the insertion table 18. Therefore, when the operator pushes the photosensitive material 20 with the emulsion surface placed on the insertion table 18 facing upward, the leading end portion of the photosensitive material 20 is surely heated.
You will be guided to the 4th surface. A static elimination brush 27 is attached to the upstream end of the guide plate 26 in the photosensitive material conveying direction. The static elimination brush 27 has a role of removing static electricity charged in the photosensitive material 20 by contacting the photosensitive material 20 into which the tips of the brushes are inserted. The heat roller 24 has a cylindrical shape made of aluminum, and its peripheral surface is anodized. The heat roller is not supported by the casing 16.

A halogen lamp 28 as a heat source is attached to the axial center of the heat roller 24, and the heat of the halogen lamp 28 heats the peripheral surface of the heat roller 24. The thermistor 30 is in contact with part of the peripheral surface of the heat roller 24 so that the temperature of the peripheral surface of the heat roller 24 can be detected. Therefore, the temperature detected by the thermistor 30 is fed back to control the turning on and off of the halogen lamp 28, whereby the temperature of the peripheral surface can be maintained at a predetermined temperature. In this embodiment, the temperature of the peripheral surface of the heat roller 24 is 125.
The temperature is controlled to ℃ to 130 ℃.

Backup rollers 32 are axially supported by the casing 16 at a plurality of locations (three locations in this embodiment) on the circumferential surface of the heat roller 24. The backup rollers 32 contact the peripheral surface of the heat roller 24, and are rotatably supported by the backup roller 32, and are arranged at substantially equal intervals around the heat roller 24 (substantially with respect to the axis of the heat roller 24). Arranged every 120 °).

The backup roller 32 is made by coating the outer circumference of an aluminum pipe with foamed silicon.

The backup roller 32 has a role of supporting the heat roller 24 and giving a rotational driving force.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the rotation driving shafts of the backup roller 32 are fixed to the both ends of the backup roller 32 in the axial direction.
Is installed. First backup roller 3 for receiving the photosensitive material 20 inserted from the photosensitive material insertion port 10A
The second collar 33 has a height approximately equal to the thickness of the photosensitive material 20 from the roller surface, but the outer peripheral surface of the collar 33 of the other two backup rollers 32 is an extension of the roller surface. These collars 33 are attached to the heat roller 24.
Are in contact with the peripheral surface of each. A sprocket 35 is attached to one end of each backup roller 32 in the axial direction (see FIG. 2), and an endless chain 34 is wound around it. The endless chain 34 is also wound around an idle pulley 36 and a sprocket 38B attached to a drive shaft 38A of a motor 38.

Therefore, when the motor 38 is driven, each backup roller 32 rotates counterclockwise, and the rotation of the backup roller 32 causes the heat roller 2 to rotate.
4 rotates clockwise in FIG. The photosensitive material 2
The transport speed of 0 is 10 to 100 mm / sec.

The photosensitive material 20 guided and pushed by the guide plate 26 is a backup roller 32 disposed above the heat roller 24 and near the guide plate 26.
In the space surrounded by the peripheral surface of the heat roller 24 (hereinafter, referred to as the first roller 32A) and the peripheral surfaces of the collar 33 and the heat roller 24 at both ends thereof, the rotation of the heat roller 24 causes the first roller 32A to rotate. Transported, this first roller 3
The backup roller 32 (hereinafter referred to as the second roller 32B) disposed at a position of 120 ° clockwise with respect to 2A.
Is pressed against the peripheral surface of the heat roller 24 by the guide plate 44 and is wound around the peripheral surface of the heat roller 24 and conveyed. The second
The roller 32B of the backup roller 32 (hereinafter, referred to as the third roller 32) is in contact with the lower portion of the heat roller 24.
C) together with the heat roller 24 in the entire length direction along the axial direction, and the second roller 32B reliably nips the photosensitive material 20 with the heat roller 24. By contact with the first roller 32A, the second roller 32B, and the third roller 32C, the heat roller 24
The rotation driving force is reliably transmitted to.

A turn guide section 40 is provided at a position above the heat roller 24 where the photosensitive material 20 starts to contact. The turn guide portion 40 includes a pair of L
It is composed of a mold bracket 42 and a guide plate 44 hung between the L-shaped brackets 42. The guide plate 44 is urged by itself or by the elastic force of the L-shaped bracket 42 so as to come into contact with the peripheral surface of the heat roller 24, whereby the photosensitive material 20 is pressed against the heat roller 24 from its tip, and heat is applied. The roller 24 is conveyed in close contact with the peripheral surface thereof. Therefore, the photosensitive material 20 is sufficiently heated on the downstream side of the turn guide portion 40, and thermal development is promoted.

Here, since the guide plate 44 is in direct contact with the emulsion surface of the photosensitive material 20 (soft hydrophilic photosensitive layer), if the material is non-hydrophilic, the photosensitive material 2
There is no sticking of 0 or stick slip (a phenomenon in which sticking and peeling are repeated), and smooth conveyance is possible. Further, by selecting a material having a surface having an appropriate roughness, the emulsion surface is not scratched.

As the guide plate 44 of this embodiment, a fine fiber, for example, a glass woven material coated with Teflon, and attached to a flexible support is used. In this Teflon coated glass fabric,
The surface has periodic irregularities, and since it is non-hydrophilic due to Teflon coating, the paper-passing property of the photosensitive material 20 is improved, and since it is a fine fiber, scratches on the emulsion surface are also prevented. .

As a material other than the above that can be used as the guide plate 44, the surface of PET (polyethylene terephthalate) has an average roughness Ra of JIS standard.
(Μm) 0.5 to 5 (preferably 1.0 to 4.0) #
Roughened with 150 or # 400 sandpaper,
It has been found that aramid fiber felt, aramid fiber woven fabric, etc. can be used.

Here, the adopted range of the surface roughness of PET was determined for the following reasons.

For unprocessed PET, Ra = 0.06 μm or less. Therefore, when sandpaper of # 100, # 150, and # 400 is used to roughen the surface, Ra = 5.17 for # 100, Ra = 3.28 for # 150, and # 40, respectively.
0 became Ra = 1.34. These guide plates 44
As a result of observing the paper-passing property and the appearance of scratches by using, it was found that the roughened PET can be applied with the sandpaper of # 150 and # 400. From these, the average roughness Ra (μm) according to JIS standard is 0.5 to 5 (preferably 1.0 to 4.0).
It is conceivable that the one roughened with # 150 or # 400 sandpaper of No. 1) can be used.

When a woven fabric is applied to the guide plate 44 of this embodiment, not only the material of the fiber but also many requirements such as the thickness of the fiber, the thickness of the thread, the weave, the density of the thread, etc. are required. However, a woven fabric having 15 or more warps and 15 wefts can be applied.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, in the first roller 32A, the diameter of the roller between the collars 33, that is, the diameter of the roller facing the photosensitive material 20 is smaller than that of the collar 33, and the first roller 32A and the peripheral surface of the heat roller 24. A gap 37 is formed between them. The gap dimension of the gap 37 is designed to be substantially equal to or slightly larger than the thickness dimension of the applied photosensitive material 20. In this embodiment, the thickness of the support is 135 μm,
The thickness of the emulsion layer is 25 to 35 μm (total 160 to 17).
0 μm) photosensitive material is applied, and therefore, the gap size is about 0.17 to 0.18 mm. That is, the gap 37 allows the first roller 32A and the heat roller 2 to
4 is not applied to the photosensitive material 20 which enters between the photosensitive material 20 and the photosensitive material 20.

By the way, at the time of heat development, the moisture contained in the photosensitive material 20 is evaporated and released as water vapor. Since this water vapor is generated between the heat roller 24 and the photosensitive material 20, the pressure of the water vapor causes the photosensitive material 2 to move.
There may be a case where the image is floated at 0 (separated from the heat roller 24). However, in this embodiment, the first roller 32 is
A space between A and the heat roller 24 is non-sandwiched by a collar, and water vapor is discharged from the non-sandwiched portion to prevent the photosensitive material 20 from floating due to pressure.

As shown in FIG. 2, the second roller 32B
Are located almost right next to the heat roller 24, and tangents to each other are within a range of ± 30 ° with respect to a substantially perpendicular line.

Therefore, the photosensitive material 20 nipped and conveyed by the second roller 32 and the heat roller 24.
On the downstream side of the second roller 32B, is separated from the heat roller 24 or the second roller 32B by its own weight, and is fed in the hanging direction (self-weight direction) by the rotation of the heat roller 24. Guide portions 46 and 48 are provided on the downstream side of the second roller 32B so as to correspond to the front and back surfaces of the photosensitive material 20, respectively. The guide portion 46 on the emulsion surface side of the photosensitive material 20, that is, on the right side in FIG. 2, has its upper end bent in a substantially U-shape, and the bent portion is the second roller 3 described above.
It is arranged close to 2B. Also, this guide part 4
The lower end portion of FIG. 2 in FIG. 2 extends in the direction of the photosensitive material discharge hole 10B.

On the other hand, the guide portion 48 on the left side in FIG. 2 has an upper end portion gradually thinned, and the tip end thereof contacts the peripheral surface of the heat roller 24, and has a role as a scraper (hereinafter, referred to as a scraper). , This tip is called scraper part 48A). Generally, in the photosensitive material 20, the curl due to the heat development and the curl due to the winding around the heat roller 24 are canceled each other, and the photosensitive material 20 is separated from the heat roller 24 and the second roller 32B while maintaining the flatness. (In the tangential direction passing through the contact point between the heat roller 24 and the second roller 32B), if the adhesion to the heat roller 24 is strong,
Even after passing through the second roller 32B, it may be conveyed in a state of being in close contact with the heat roller 24. In such a case, the heat roller 24 and the tip of the photosensitive material 20 are separated from each other by the scraper section 48A at the tip of the guide section 48,
It is surely sent to the photosensitive material discharge hole 10B.

As described above, the photosensitive material 20 passing between the guide plates 46 and 48 is approximately ± 30 with reference to the hanging direction.
Since it is conveyed within the range of °, it hardly contacts the guide plates 46 and 48, and the photosensitive material 20 reaches the photosensitive material discharge hole 10B without being rapidly cooled. In addition, the photosensitive material 20 is discharged before reaching the photosensitive material discharge hole 10B.
Is gradually cooled, and the development is stabilized at the time when it is discharged from the photosensitive material discharge hole 10B.

The heat-developable photosensitive material 20 is discharged from the photosensitive material discharge hole 10B, and is accommodated in the tray 22 arranged below the photosensitive material discharge hole 10B.

The operation of this embodiment will be described below. When the exposed photosensitive material 20 is placed on the insertion table 18 by the operator and is inserted through the photosensitive material insertion hole 10A, the exposed photosensitive material 20 is guided by the guide plate 26 and positioned above the axial center of the circumferential surface of the heat roller 24. Contact. Since the first roller 32A is disposed at this position, the photosensitive material 20 is inserted between the first roller 32A and the heat roller 24. At this time, the heat roller 24 and the first roller 3
2A has a slight gap (gap 3
7) Since this gap 37 has a value corresponding to the thickness of the photosensitive material 20, there is no clamping force but a conveying force is applied to the photosensitive material 20. Therefore, the tip of the photosensitive material 20 is guided by the guide plate 44 to be brought into close contact with the peripheral surface of the heat roller 24, and is conveyed while being kept in close contact with the upper surface of the heat roller 24 for about 1/3 of its rotation. .

The photosensitive material 20 has a turn guide portion 40.
Guide plate 44 presses and urges against heat roller 24, and second roller 32B presses against heat roller 24, so that the heat from heat roller 24 is surely transferred to photosensitive material 20 for thermal development. It

Since the photosensitive material 20 contains a certain amount of moisture, this moisture evaporates during thermal development and becomes water vapor, which is released between the heat roller 24 and the photosensitive material 20. Due to the release of the water vapor, conventionally, the pressure between the photosensitive material 20 and the heat roller 24 increases, the photosensitive material 20 floats from the heat roller 24 against the pressing force of the guide plate 44, and uneven thermal development occurs. May occur. However, in this embodiment, the heat roller 24 and the first roller
Since the gap 37 is provided between the roller 32 </ b> A and the roller 32 </ b> A and no clamping force is applied, the water vapor can escape through the gap 37. As a result, the pressure between the photosensitive material 20 and the heat roller 24 does not increase, and the photosensitive material 20 can be reliably brought into contact with the peripheral surface of the heat roller 24 and conveyed.

Guide plate 44 of turn guide 40
Directly contacts the emulsion surface of the photosensitive material 20 wound around the heat roller 24, so that at least the contact surface is made non-hydrophilic so as to prevent sticking of the photosensitive material 20 and further damage the emulsion surface. It is preferable to select a material having a moderately rough surface.

Since the guide plate 44 of this embodiment is made of a material such as glass woven fabric coated with Teflon on a flexible support, it improves the paper-passing property of the photosensitive material 20 and is made of fine fibers. Therefore, scratches on the emulsion surface are prevented.

In addition to the material obtained by coating the above glass fabric with Teflon (referred to as material A in Table 1),
As a material applicable to the guide plate 44, PE
T (polyethylene terephthalate surface roughened with # 400 sandpaper (referred to as material B in Table 1), aramid fiber felt (material C), aramid fiber woven material (material D) The judgment result of PET (material E) applied as a conventional guide plate is shown.

[0049]

[Table 1]

[Materials] Material A: Teflon-coated glass woven fabric (applied to this embodiment, 150 yarns of 2 denier, both warp and weft are plain weave at 15 yarns / cm), Material B PET base roughened with # 400 sandpaper, material C; aramid fiber felt, material D; aramid fiber woven fabric (a yarn made of 500 pieces of 2 denier filament (fiber)) was plain woven at a density of 12.8 warps / cm. ), Material E: PET base (conventional), [evaluation legend] ◎: very good, ○: good, △: normal (no problem), ×: slightly problematic, XX: not applicable, see Table 1 As can be seen, the materials A to C have no sticking of the photosensitive material 20 and scarcely occur on the emulsion surface. Also in the material D, the photosensitive material 2
There is no problem in sticking 0, but there is a problem in other applicability (stick slip, roughening of emulsion surface). Also,
Regarding the material E, since the surface is flat, there is no roughening of the emulsion surface, but it can be seen that it is inferior in other applicability.

Photosensitive material 2 which has passed through the turn guide section 40
0 is a position where the second roller 32B has passed, and the transport direction is the hanging direction. The photosensitive material 20 between the heat roller 24 and the second roller 32B has a curl due to heat (curl with the emulsion surface inside) and a curl due to wrapping around the heat roller 24 (curl with the emulsion surface outside). ) And are canceled out, so that the flatness is maintained,
Normally, it is conveyed as it is in the hanging direction. On the other hand, when the adhesion to the heat roller 24 is strong, the second roller 32B
The winding state around the heat roller 24 may be maintained even after passing through. In such a case, the photosensitive material 20 is peeled off by the scraper portion 48A of the guide plate 48.
It is guided between 48 and reaches the photosensitive material discharge hole 10B.

The photosensitive material 20 between the guide plates 46 and 48 is
Immediately after being separated from the heat roller 24, the temperature is relatively high. For this reason, when it comes into contact with a relatively low temperature member around it, it is cooled rapidly, and the support of the photosensitive material 20 may contract non-uniformly or uneven development may occur. However, in this embodiment, the photosensitive material 20 that has passed between the second roller 32B and the heat roller 24 is peeled off from these due to its own weight, and the subsequent conveying direction becomes substantially vertical, so that the guide plates 46, 48 are provided. Even if there is contact with
The contact area is a short time or a small area.
Does not cool rapidly. Therefore, the guide plate 46,
The photosensitive material 20 is gradually cooled while passing between 48,
It is possible to prevent uneven contraction of the support and uneven development.

The photosensitive material 20 that has passed through the photosensitive material discharge hole 10B is discharged to the tray 22, but since the photosensitive material 20 at this time has already been cooled, it is supported by contact with the tray 22. There is no uneven shrinkage of the body or uneven development.

Although the heat roller 24 of this embodiment has a flat peripheral surface, the peripheral groove 50 may be formed on the peripheral surface of the heat roller 24 as shown in FIG. Good. That is, by providing the groove 50 shown in FIG. 5, the peripheral surface is intentionally roughened. This groove 5
0 may be a plurality of grooves parallel to each other along the axial direction of the heat roller 24, or may be spirally formed from one end to the other end in the axial direction.

By forming the uneven portion 50, the photosensitive material 20 is supported by the tip of the groove 50 when coming into contact with the peripheral surface of the heat roller 24.

As a result, the water vapor generated from the photosensitive material 20 can be efficiently discharged from the gap (gap 37) between the first roller 32A and the heat roller 24.

Further, in this embodiment, the guide plate 44
Although a Teflon-coated glass fiber woven fabric is used as the material, materials B to D described in Table 1 are also applicable. In this case, when periodical unevenness is formed on a woven fabric, the pitch thereof needs to be 3 mm or less. Also, Table 1
In addition to the materials shown in (1), aperiodic grain surface treatment may be performed. Further, the flat guide plate 44 may be embossed to form a minute uneven surface.

In this embodiment, a gap 37 is formed between the first roller 32A, which is the backup roller 32 arranged near the winding start position of the photosensitive material 20 around the heat roller 24, and the peripheral surface of the heat roller 24. However, as shown in FIG. 6, the first roller 32A is brought into close contact with the peripheral surface of the heat roller 24, and the gap 37 is formed between the second roller 32B and the peripheral surface of the heat roller 24. It may be formed.

As a result, when the photosensitive material 20 inserted into the heat developing device 10 is fed between the first roller 32A and the heat roller 24, it is nipped and conveyed by the first roller 32A and the heat roller 24 and guided. Plate 4
4 is guided by the second roller 32B and the heat roller 24.
Sent between the outer surfaces of. At this time, the water vapor evaporated from the photosensitive material 20 heated by the heat roller 24 is
The second roller 32B and the heat roller 24, which do not apply a holding force to the photosensitive material 20 by providing the gap 37,
It is released from between.

Further, as shown in FIG. 7, a structure may be used in which a gap 37 is provided in both the first roller 32A and the second roller 32B. At this time, the first roller 32A
Between the second roller 32B and the backup roller 32
A (fourth roller 32D) is arranged, and a guide plate 44A attached to the bracket 42 as a guide is provided on the downstream side of the first roller 32A. The guide plate 44A may be provided between the fourth roller 32D and the second roller 32B.

The first roller 32 constructed as described above
A, the fourth roller 32D, and the second roller 32B, the photosensitive material 2 conveyed while being in close contact with the heat roller 24.
0 is heated by being in close contact with the peripheral surface of the heat roller 24 between the first roller 32A and the second roller 32B. At this time, the water vapor evaporated from the photosensitive material 20 is heated by the first roller 32A, the second roller 32B and the heat roller 24.
Is discharged from the gap 37. With this configuration, the water vapor evaporated from the photosensitive material 20 can be more efficiently released from between the photosensitive material 20 and the peripheral surface of the heat roller 24.

In the present embodiment, the gap dimension of the gap 37 is made equal to the thickness dimension of the photosensitive material 20, but a slightly larger size than this is also applicable. For example, when the gap 37 is provided between the first roller 32A and the heat roller 24, the photosensitive material 2 is formed at an angle closer to the first roller 32A side than the tangential direction of the peripheral surface of the heat roller 24.
Since 0 is inserted, even if the gap dimension of the gap 37 is expanded by 1 mm from the thickness of the photosensitive material 20, the photosensitive material 2
0 was able to be smoothly conveyed, and uneven development was not caused in the photosensitive material 20. That is, according to the present invention, even if the gap dimension of the gap is larger than the thickness dimension of the photosensitive material, it depends on the insertion angle of the photosensitive material 20 into the gap (angle with respect to the tangential direction of the peripheral surface of the heat roller) and the rigidity of the photosensitive material. It is possible to set the photosensitive material to be conveyed by frictional resistance due to contact with either between the backup roller and the peripheral surface of the heat roller.

[0063]

As described above, the heat development processing apparatus according to the present invention can surely release the water vapor emitted from the heat development type photosensitive material during the heat development and prevent the development unevenness. Further, since only a part of the heat-developable photosensitive material does not float from the outer peripheral surface of the heat roller, there is an excellent effect that the heat-developable photosensitive material that has been heat-treated does not have wrinkles.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a heat developing apparatus according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing the internal structure of the heat developing device.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an arrangement state of a heat roller and a backup roller.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view around a heat roller and a backup roller.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a single heat roller having grooves formed on its peripheral surface.

FIG. 6 is a schematic configuration diagram around a heat roller and a backup roller showing a modified example of the present embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a schematic configuration diagram around a heat roller and a backup roller showing a modified example of the present embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 heat developing device (heat developing processing device) 20 photosensitive material (heat developing type photosensitive material) 24 heat roller 28 halogen lamp 32 backup roller 32A first roller 32B second roller 37 gap 40 turn guide portion 44 guide plate 46, 48 Guide

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A heat-developable photosensitive material having a latent image formed thereon is conveyed while being brought into close contact with the peripheral surface of a heat roller whose peripheral surface is heated to a predetermined temperature, whereby the heat-developable photosensitive material is heat-developed. A heat development processing apparatus, wherein the meat of the heat-developable photosensitive material is placed between the heat rollers at either or both of the vicinity of the contact start position and the vicinity of the contact end position of the joy-developable photosensitive material to the heat roller. A heat development processing apparatus characterized in that backup rollers are arranged to face each other with a gap corresponding to a thickness or more.