JPH0642063B2 - Drying device for photosensitive material processing equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial field of application] The present invention is used in a photosensitive material processing machine, and in particular, the drying processing of a photosensitive material conveyed to the drying section by adjusting the temperature in the drying section with warm air. And a drying device for a photosensitive material processor.

[Prior art]

In a drying device used for a photosensitive material processor, particularly an automatic developing machine, outside air heated by the operation of a blower and a heater is sent into a drying section through a duct, and this heated outside air (hereinafter referred to as dry air). ), The inside of the drying section or the drying air is adjusted to a predetermined temperature.

When the photosensitive material is conveyed to the drying section, the moisture contained in the photosensitive material after development, fixing, and washing process evaporates, and the temperature inside the drying section drops, so the temperature inside the drying section is optimal for drying the photosensitive material. It is preferable to maintain the temperature, and the temperature (drying temperature) is preferably about 30 to 70 ° C., for example, about 55 ° C. ± 1 ° C. If the temperature deviates from this optimum temperature range, it will not dry or will be over-dried within a predetermined time.Therefore, a temperature detector is installed in the drying section, and the heater is turned on / off based on the output of this temperature detector. It is controlled to keep the temperature almost constant.

As another method, a method of arranging a temperature detector in the duct of the outlet of the dry air and controlling the on / off of the heater to control the drying temperature is used. In the former case, the temperature detector is far from the heater position, and rather than directly detecting the temperature of the drying air, it detects the temperature inside the drying unit, so it responds to the on / off operation of the heater. The sex is not good.

On the other hand, when the photosensitive material is not dried, that is, when it is not necessary to maintain the inside of the drying unit at the processing temperature, the drying temperature is relatively low and immediately after considering the life of the heater, running cost, etc. It is conceivable to keep the temperature at which it can be started up (called standby mode). When the predetermined drying temperature is 55 ° C., the temperature in the standby mode is preferably about 35 ° C. to 50 ° C., for example. As a result, the life and cost of the heater can be reduced, and when the photosensitive material is dried, the temperature can be immediately raised to a predetermined drying temperature, and workability can be improved.

However, if this temperature detector is placed in the drying section of the photosensitive material processing machine away from the heater as described above, it is difficult for the heater on / off operation to follow the detected temperature change in the drying section and the response is good. Absent. For this reason, it has been considered to attach a temperature detector near the heater of the duct and directly control the temperature of the warm air sent into the drying section. As a result, the responsiveness of temperature detection is improved, and the blowing temperature of the dry air can be accurately controlled.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

However, if a temperature detector is installed near the heater in the duct and the temperature in the drying section is controlled, the heater on / off operation in the standby mode becomes unnecessarily large,
This will shorten the life of the heater. That is, in the standby mode, it is preferable to relatively reduce the on / off operation of the heater by installing the temperature detector in the drying section. Therefore, in the standby mode and the processing mode (drying control mode when the photosensitive material is being dried), the optimal installation positions of the temperature detectors conflict with each other.

Therefore, it is conceivable to install the temperature detectors at two locations, inside the drying section and inside the duct, but the photosensitive material is continuously transported to the drying section or intermittently transported at relatively short intervals. In some cases, it may be difficult to process the photosensitive material for a long time, so it is difficult to determine when to select the temperature detector that applies to temperature control in each mode (when to switch between the processing mode and the standby mode). There is a problem.

In consideration of the above facts, the present invention is capable of controlling the temperature to an optimum temperature whether the photosensitive material is dried or not, and can extend the life of the heater. The purpose is to obtain a device.

[Means for Solving the Problems]

A drying device for a photosensitive material processing apparatus according to the present invention guides a drying air obtained by heating with a heater to a drying section via a drying air guide duct, and the drying air of the photosensitive material conveyed to the drying section by the drying air is guided. A drying device for a photosensitive material processing device for performing a drying process, comprising: a first temperature detector provided in the drying section; and a second temperature detector provided in the guide duct.
And the temperature of the inside of the drying unit before the drying process based on the output of the first temperature detector and during the drying process based on the output of the second temperature detector. And a temperature control means for controlling the blowout temperature of.

[Action]

When the temperature in the drying unit is controlled based on the output of the first temperature detector (hereinafter referred to as the standby mode), the temperature in the drying unit is controlled so as to reach the temperature at which the drying process can be performed in a short time. Start-up to processing temperature quickly,
Workability is improved. Since the first temperature detector is provided in the drying unit, the heater ON / OFF has a relatively slow followability to the temperature change in the drying unit, and avoids unnecessary repetition of ON / OFF operations. You can

On the other hand, when the photosensitive material is dried, the blowing temperature of the dry air is controlled based on the output of the second temperature detector (hereinafter referred to as the processing mode). The second temperature detector is
Since it is provided in the guide duct, the heater can be turned on and off well with respect to the temperature change of the drying air sent into the drying section, and the blowing temperature of the drying air can be controlled accurately. In this case, the actual temperature of the drying part is slightly lowered by drying the photosensitive material, but even if the photosensitive material is continuously processed, the drying air is kept so that the photosensitive material does not become undried or overdried. It is necessary to set the blowout temperature of.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1A shows an automatic developing device 10 according to this embodiment.

In the automatic developing device 10, a developing tank 14, a fixing tank 16, and a washing tank 18 are fixed to a machine frame 12 via a bracket 13, and a film 22 inserted from an insertion table 20 is arranged in these processing tanks. Conveying rollers 14A, 16A, 1
8A, sequentially dipped, and then taken out, drying section 2
After being dried by the drying air in Step 4, the film stocker 26
It is a structure taken out to.

Conveying racks are respectively arranged in the developing tank 14, the fixing tank 16 and the water washing tank 18, and both ends of the conveying rollers 14A, 16A and 18A are axially supported by these conveying racks, and a rotational driving force is generated by a driving means (not shown). Is transmitted and is designed to rotate.

A pair of guide rollers 28 are arranged between the developing tank 14 and the fixing tank 16 so as to guide the film fed from the developing tank 14 into the fixing tank 16. The guide roller 3 is also provided between the fixing tank 16 and the washing tank 18.
0 and 32 are arranged so that the film 22 sent out from the fixing tank 16 is guided and conveyed into the washing tank 18. A squeeze rack 34 is arranged between the water washing tank 18 and the drying unit 24. This squeeze rack 3
4 is provided with a plurality of rollers 35, and the washing tank 1
The water is squeezed out from the film 22 while the film 22 sent out from the film 8 is held and conveyed.

In the drying unit 24, a plurality of transport rollers 36 are arranged in a staggered pattern extending vertically, and the film 22 sent from the squeeze rack 34 is transported downward and from the discharge port 24A. It is designed to be sent to the film stocker 26. In the drying unit 24, a warm air blow-out pipe 37 arranged outside the transport roller 36 is arranged, and the heater 3 is provided via a conduit 38 which is a warm air guide duct.
9 and the drying fan 40, hot air is supplied to the surface of the film 22 which is supplied with warm air and is conveyed downward by the conveying roller 36.

Further, a first temperature detector 42 is arranged in the drying section 24. The first temperature detector 42 detects the temperature inside the drying section 24 and is connected to the control device 44 provided in the automatic developing device 10. Furthermore, a second temperature detector 43 is arranged in the conduit 38,
The temperature of the dry air conveyed to the drying section 24 in the conduit 38 is directly detected. The output signal line of the second temperature detector 43 is also connected to the control device 44.

As shown in FIG. 1 (B), the control device 44 is composed of an input / output port 62, a CPU 64, a RAM 66, a ROM 68, and a bus 70 such as a data bus or a control bus connecting these. Each of the first temperature detector 43 and the second temperature detector 44 has a contact 72 of a switching switch 72.
The common terminal 72C of the switching switch 72 is connected to the input / output port 62 via the A / D converter 74. The signal from the film detector 60 is input to the input / output port 62, and based on this signal, a switching signal is output from the input / output port 62 to the switching switch 72. Further, the output signals of the second temperature detectors 43 and 44 can be taken in. The heater 39 fan 40 is also connected to the input / output port 62.

A heat exchanger 46 is disposed on the machine frame 12 below the developing tank 14, the fixing tank 16, and the washing tank 18. The heat exchanger 46 is connected to the developing tank 14 through a pipe 50 via a circulation pump 48 on the way. Further, the heat exchanger 46 is connected to the pipe 52.
And communicates with the developing tank 14. Therefore, the developing tank 1
The developer inside the heat exchanger 4 is heated by the circulation pump 48.
6, is cooled by the heat exchanger 46, and is again sent into the developing tank 14. Further, a developing solution temperature detector 54 is arranged in the developing tank 14 to detect the temperature of the developing solution. The developer temperature detector 54 is connected to the controller 44 (not shown in FIG. 1B).

At the bottom of the automatic developing device 10, a developer replenishment tank 5
6. A fixer replenishment tank 58 is mounted. In these replenishment tanks, a developer replenisher and a fixing replenisher are contained, and the developer tank 14,
It is supplied to the fixing tank 16.

Further, in the automatic developing device 10, a film detector 60 is arranged on the downstream side of the insertion table 20 in the film transport direction, and the insertion of the film 22 is detected. As shown in FIG. 1 (B), the film detector 60 also has a controller 44.
Connected to the I / O port of.

The operation of this embodiment will be described below.

First, the main routine of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

First, when the power source of the automatic developing device 10 is turned on, each flag F, G, H is reset (0) in step 100, and the process proceeds to step 102, in which the film detector 60 is detecting the film 22. Determine whether or not. If the film 22 is not detected, it is determined that the film 22 has not been processed, and the process proceeds to step 104 to determine whether the flag F is set. If the flag F is reset, it is determined that the film does not exist in the automatic developing device 10, the process proceeds to step 106, the temperature control in the standby mode is performed, and the step 22 is detected until the film 22 is detected. Repeat 102, 104 and 106. The temperature control in the standby mode will be described later.

When the film 22 is detected in step 102, it is determined that the film is sent to the drying section 24 after the developing, fixing and washing processes, and the process proceeds to step 108. In step 108, the flag F indicating that the film 22 is present in the automatic developing device 10 is set, and then the process proceeds to step 110 to judge whether or not the flag H is set. This flag H is for continuing the processing mode temperature control when a plurality of films 22 are conveyed at relatively short time intervals.

If the flag H is in the reset state at step 110, the process proceeds to step 112, the processing mode temperature control is performed, and the steps 102, 108, 110 and 112 are repeated. The temperature control in the processing mode will be described later.

Next, after the film is detected, when the trailing edge of the film 22 passes through the film detector 60, the step 102
A negative determination is made in step S104, and the process proceeds to step 104. At this time, since the flag F has been set in step 108, the process proceeds from step 104 to step 114. At step 114, it is determined whether the flag G is set. When the flag G is reset, it can be determined that the film 22 has just passed the rear end,
Step 116 is entered and the timer is started. This timer coincides with the time required for the film 22 to finish passing through the drying section from the position of the film detector 60.
After the timer is started, the process proceeds to step 118 to set flags G and H, and then step 120.
Then, it is judged whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed since the timer was started. While the predetermined time has not passed, it is judged that the film has not finished passing through the drying section 24, the process proceeds to step 112 and the temperature control in the processing mode is continued, and the following steps 102, 104, 114, 120 and 112 are performed. Repeat in order.

Here, after a lapse of a predetermined time in step 120, it is judged that the film 22 has finished passing through the drying section 24, the process shifts from step 120 to step 122 to stop and reset the timer, and then in step 124, the flag F and the flag are reset. After resetting G, step 11
Go to 6 and switch to standby mode.

If the next film 22 is detected in step 102 before the predetermined time has elapsed, the process proceeds to step 108 and then to step 110. At step 110, since the flag H has been set at step 118 after the timer has started, the routine proceeds to step 126, where the timer is stopped and reset, and the first film is dried.
After switching to the temperature control in the standby mode even after passing through, the process proceeds to step 128, the flags G and H are reset, and the process proceeds to step 112 to continue the temperature control in the processing mode. After that, while the film detector 60 is detecting the film 22, the steps 102, 108, 110 and 112 are repeated, and the same control as the first film is performed.

In this way, by selecting the standby mode or the processing mode, even if only one film 22 is conveyed, or even if the film 22 is intermittently conveyed one after another in a relatively short time, the standby mode It is possible to reliably determine whether or not to perform the processing mode, and it is possible to reliably determine whether the two temperature detectors (the first and second temperature detectors 4 and
2, 43) can be effectively used.

Next, the temperature control in the standby mode will be described with reference to FIG.

First, in step 150, the first temperature detector 42
Temperature Th1 is detected from the above, and then the routine proceeds to step 152, where the minimum temperature level in the standby mode, for example, 35 ° C.
And the detected temperature Th1 are compared. If 35 ° C. ≧ Th1, it is judged that the temperature in the drying section 24 needs to be raised, and the process proceeds to step 154, the heater 39 and the fan 40 are turned on, and then the step Move to 156. In step 156, the maximum temperature level in the standby mode, for example 50 ° C., is compared with the detected temperature Th1. Here, if 50 ° C. ≦ Th1, the temperature in the drying section 24 has risen too much, so the process proceeds to step 158, the heater and fan are turned off, and the process proceeds to step 160. In step 152, 35
If ℃ <Th1, it is determined in step 156 that 5
Even when it is determined that 0 ° C.> Th1, it is determined that the previous operation of the heater 39 and the fan 40 may be continued, and the process proceeds to step 160.

The control after step 160 shown below is shown to protect the heater 39 from heat, and is controlled using the temperature Th2 detected by the second temperature detector 43 in the vicinity of the heater 39. That is, in step 160, the temperature Th2 is detected from the second temperature detector 43 in the conduit 38, and in the next step 162, 55 ° C. and Th2 are compared. Where 5
If 5 ° C ≤ Th2, the temperature has risen too much, so the process moves to step 164 and the fan 40 is turned on to 55 ° C>
Steps 162 and 164 are repeated until Th2 is reached. Here, when 55 ° C.> Th2, the process proceeds to step 166, the fan 40 is turned off, and then the process returns to the main routine. The steps 160, 162, 16
The heater protection control such as 4 is not always necessary. In this way, in standby mode, I tried to turn off the fan as much as possible without raising the frequency more than necessary,
The running cost can be reduced and the lives of the heater 39 and the fan 40 can be extended. Further, in the standby mode, since the temperature inside the drying unit 24 is directly detected and controlled, the startup to the processing mode is smooth and the workability is improved.

Next, the temperature control in the processing mode will be described with reference to FIG.

First, at step 200, the fan 40 is turned on. In the next step 202, the temperature Th2 is detected by the second temperature detector 43, and then the low side level 54 ° C. of the temperature that can be processed in step 204 is compared with the detected temperature Th2. Where 54 ° C ≧
In the case of Th2, the process proceeds to step 206 to turn on the heater 39, and then to step 208 to compare the high side level 56 ° C. of processable temperature with Th2. If 54 ° C. <Th2 in step 204, the temperature is controlled to 55 ° C.> Th2 in the standby mode, so it can be determined that the inside of the drying unit 24 is within the processing temperature range, and the fan 40 is turned on. Return to the main routine in the state.

In step 208, if 56 ° C.> Th2, it is determined that the heater 39 may be kept on, and the process returns to the main routine. If 56 ° C. ≦ Th2, the process proceeds to step 210, the heater 39 is turned off, and the process returns to the main routine.

As a result, in the processing mode, the blowing temperature of the dry air is 55 ±
By controlling the temperature to 1 ° C., the film can be surely dried.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, the drying device for a photosensitive material processing apparatus according to the present invention can control the temperature to an optimum temperature regardless of whether the photosensitive material is dried or not, and extend the life of the heater. It has an excellent effect that it can be done.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 (A) is a schematic sectional view showing an automatic developing apparatus according to this embodiment, FIG. 1 (B) is a control block diagram of the main part of this embodiment, and FIG. 2 is the main operation of this embodiment. 3 is a flow chart showing a routine, FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing a temperature control subroutine in the standby mode, and FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing a temperature control subroutine in the processing mode. 10 ... Automatic developing device, 24 ... Drying part, 38 ... Conduit, 39 ... Heater, 40 ... Juan, 42 ... First temperature detector, 43 ... Second temperature detector, 44 ... ... control device, 60 ... film detector.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A photosensitive material processing apparatus for guiding a dry air obtained by heating with a heater to a drying section through a dry air guide duct, and drying the photosensitive material conveyed to the drying section by the dry air. And a first temperature detector provided in the drying unit, a second temperature detector provided in the guide duct, and the first temperature detector before a drying process. For controlling the temperature in the drying section based on the output of the second temperature controller and controlling the blowing temperature of the drying air based on the output of the second temperature detector during the drying process. Drying device.