JPH07199442A - Storage container for solid agent for photographic material - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To ensure that solid agents are easily discharged regardless of the swelling due to moisture absorption of the solid agents stored in a storage container. CONSTITUTION:In a hollow storage container in the form of an almost rectangular solid capable of storing solidified agents J for photographic material, concerning dimensions for limiting a solid-agent storage area in a storage container main body 101 for storing the solid agents J, the internal wall of the storage container, which extends in a direction almost perpendicular to the direction in which the solid agents are discharged out of the storage container main body 101, is of a cross section whose length (Y) and/or width (X) near the solid-agent discharge opening 101 of the storage container main body 101 are greater than the cross-sectional width (X2) of the portion of the storage container main body 101 upstream of the direction in which the solid agents are discharged.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a storage container for a solid photographic processing agent for replenishing processing liquid components for processing a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventional processing agents for automatic developing machines for processing silver halide photographic light-sensitive materials are composed of various components so as to exert good performance during photographic processing, and these components are in contact with each other. If left in a state, it may cause an unexpected reaction for a long time.
It is divided into two or more parts agents and made into a kit. At the time of use, these are dissolved in a certain amount of water and poured into each treatment tank for use. The kitted parts agent is
It is put in a container such as a bottle or a bag, and these are put together in a cardboard box or the like, and sold as a unit. Since it is necessary to mix each component in each of these parts agents, it is necessary to check the amount and content for making sure that there is no mistake, and to check the contents, and it is also highly skilled to dissolve in water using a container. Is required, and the work is troublesome.

[0003]

As described above, conventionally, when the treating agent is put into the treating tank, it is often necessary to mix, dissolve, and put the above parts agents without mistake. It required skill and required manpower. For this reason, the industry does not require much skill,
Further, from the viewpoint of labor shortage, it has been desired to develop a processing agent that does not require much labor in working time and is error-free. The present invention has been made in view of the above point, that is, it has been necessary to prepare the powder or crystalline processing agent as a packaged or part agent because it has been used so far. This can be achieved by storing this in a solid photographic processing storage container.

However, it has been discovered that the seemingly epoch-making construction of storing the tablets and dropping them into the processing machine causes the following problems.

That is, among the solid processing agents arrayed and stored in the storage container, the solid processing agent in the front row or the second row near the discharge opening is mounted on the solid processing agent storage container loading device of the processor. Since the inside of the processor with the open / close lid is under high humidity, it easily absorbs moisture and swells. The swelled and increased volume of the solid processing agent occludes the inner wall of the container and causes discharge failure. Due to this defective discharge, the processing liquid capacity in the processor is lowered, and the quality of the photosensitive material is deteriorated.

[0006]

A solid processing agent storage container for a photosensitive material of the present invention which achieves the above object is a substantially rectangular parallelepiped capable of storing a solid processing agent obtained by solidifying a processing agent for a photosensitive material into a substantially tablet shape. An eggplant storage container, wherein the cross-section length of the inner wall of the storage container in a direction substantially perpendicular to the solid processing agent discharge direction of the storage container with respect to the size that regulates the solid processing agent storage region in the storage container that stores the solid processing agent The dimension and / or the cross-sectional lateral dimension are characterized in that they are formed in the vicinity of the solid processing agent discharge opening of the storage container to be larger than the sectional size of the storage container on the upstream side in the solid processing agent discharge direction. is there.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT An embodiment of the storage container according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 7 shows various shapes of the tablet type solid processing agent J. FIG. 7 (A) is a cross-sectional view of a flat solid processing agent J having a circular cross section (a rounded chamfer (r) is formed at a corner, and FIG. 7 (E) is the solid processing agent J. 7B is a cross-sectional view of a drum-shaped solid processing agent J having a circular cross-section, the upper and lower surfaces of which are flat and the circumferential surface of which is a convex radius R, and FIG. C) is a cross-sectional view of a go-stone solid processing agent J having a circular cross section and upper and lower surfaces having a spherical shape,
FIG. 7D shows a donut-shaped solid processing agent J having a hollow hole.
FIG. FIG. (F) shows a spherical solid processing agent, and FIG. (G) shows a rectangular solid processing agent.

FIG. 1 shows a storage container (cartridge) 10 according to the present invention, FIG. 1 (A) is a plan view including a partially cutaway sectional view, and FIG. 1 (B) is a side view of the storage container 10. 2 is an overall perspective view, and FIG. 3 is a partially broken perspective view thereof. FIG. 4 is an exploded sectional view of the storage container 10.

The storage container 10 stores a plurality of tablet-type solid processing agents J and is capable of discharging the solid processing agents J and has a discharge opening 331F at the front and a discharge opening 101F at the rear opposite to the discharge opening 101F. Hollow quadrangular column-shaped container body 1 having an opening 101G
01, the fixed lid 102 for closing the opening 101G at the rear of the container body 101, and the rail portions 101R on both sides of the flange portion of the container body 101 to slide up and down to open and close the discharge opening 101F. And an opening / closing lid 103.

Inside the container body 101, three sets of projecting partition walls (projections) 101S are integrally fixed, and the inside of the container body 101 is divided into four substantial spaces to divide into compartments 101A and 101B. , 101C, 101D. The outer circumferences of the solid processing agent J are circumscribed in the respective compartments, and about 10 of the solid processing agent J can be housed in a column. That is, ten solid processing agents J1A to J1 are provided in the first compartment 101A.
0A has the same number of solid processing agents J1B in the second compartment 101B,
Similarly, J1C and J1D are stored in the same manner. The partition wall 101S does not have to be continuous from the top surface to the bottom surface inside the container, and may have a partition with such a length that the solid processing agent J can circumscribe each outer circumference and be accommodated in a column. .

However, it is preferable that at least a part of the partition wall 101S is continuous from the top surface to the bottom surface in terms of the strength of the container, the prevention of distortion during assembly in the manufacturing process, and the high manufacturing efficiency.

FIG. 5 is a front view of the container body 101 as seen from the discharge opening 101F side.

Of the plurality of partition walls 101S, the first partition wall 101S1 and the third partition wall 101S3 are container main bodies.
Upright wall surfaces projecting from the top and bottom of the inner surface of 101 are formed respectively, and there is no central part in the vertical direction, and a pair of upper and lower independent projections are formed. Central partition wall 101S
2 forms a continuous upright wall surface from the top to the bottom of the inner surface of the container body 101 and retains the strength of the container body 101, but from the discharge opening 101F to the vicinity of the central portion in the longitudinal direction of the container body 101, It is notched as shown in FIG. 4 (notch portion 101S2A). Each of the above partition walls 101S1, 101S
2, 101S3 are thin-walled, have elasticity, and have projection protrusions 101K on both wall surfaces. The protrusion 101K is connected to the side surface of the solid processing agent J by a wire to reduce side friction when the solid processing agent J is discharged.

A projecting strip 101E projects from the bottom of each compartment of the container main body 101 to make point contact with the outer peripheral surface of the solid processing agent J at each point to facilitate the movement of the solid processing agent J. The powder that has fallen off the agent J is dropped from the top of the protrusion 101E into the space at the bottom of the inner wall of the container body 101. Since the powder that has fallen off the solid processing agent J is collected in the groove portion below the protruding strip 101E, even if the powder adheres in this groove portion, the solid processing agent J moves on the protruding strip 101E without any problem. There may be two or more ridges 101E, or, contrary to the ridges, grooves.

On the inner wall surface of the container body 101, in addition to the bottom protrusion 101E, a top protrusion 101M on the inner surface and a protrusion 101N on both sides of the inner surface are formed.
By significantly reducing the area of contact with the inner surface of 01,
The contact resistance at the time of discharging the solid processing agent J can be reduced, and the storage container
Stability of taking out solid processing agent from 10 is stabilized.

The protrusions 101E, 101M, 101N and the protrusion protrusion 101K are formed substantially parallel to the longitudinal direction of the container body 101. It is desirable that the cross sections of these protrusions have a substantially R shape so that the contact resistance can be reduced. Further, the installation position of the protrusions should be formed in a portion where the solid processing agent J does not enter between the protrusions, and it is desirable that the number of protrusions is as small as possible. The width of the protrusion is tablet J
It is preferable that the diameter is 1/100 to 1/10 and the height is 1/100 to 1/10 in order to satisfy the above content. The cross-sectional shape of the ridge is substantially semicircular, trapezoidal, etc., and it is preferable to make it R-shaped so that the solid processing agent J does not easily get into the peripheral surface.

Further, the discharge opening 101F of the container body 101
A protrusion 101P is provided in the vicinity in the longitudinal direction and / or the lateral direction of the discharge opening 101F, and the powder of the solid processing agent generated from the solid processing agent during transportation or the like is the protrusion 101P.
It is received by the tank and accumulated, preventing it from going to the next process, and supplying a stable system.

A separate member may be installed on the container body 101 for the protrusion 101P, but it is desirable to integrally form the member with the container body 101 in view of productivity.

When the container is manufactured by injection molding, the protrusion 101P is undercut, but it can be manufactured integrally with the container body 101 by using polyethylene resin as a material. In that case, it is desirable that the height of the protrusion 101P be set in the range of 0.3 to 1.0 mm.

The storage container 10 for treating agent of this time is the container body 10
In any of the above cases, the mold core has an elongated shape because the inner surface is provided with the protrusion to form a plurality of substantial spaces. Here, the substantial space may be formed by forming protrusions continuously from end to end in the container, or the protrusions may be discontinuous or cut to form a substantial space.
Therefore, it is less likely that the core will fall over during injection molding,
In order to obtain a good molding, at least one notch is provided in the continuously formed protrusion, and the die core is connected to the die at this notch, so that the strength can be increased. . Therefore, a container for forming a plurality of substantial spaces by providing at least one notch in a protruding portion that is continuously formed in the container and obtaining good molding in which the collapse of the core does not easily occur is provided. can do.

The container body 101, the fixed lid 102, and the opening / closing lid 103 that form the storage container 10 are all made of a moisture-proof material described later. A fixed lid (rear lid) 102 is fixed to one end of the container body 101 by means of tape, adhesive, ultrasonic welding or the like, and the connecting portion has good moisture resistance. The fixed lid 102 may be integrally molded with the container body 101 as a bottomed container by injection molding or the like.

The solid processing agent receiving part of the processing machine has a high temperature,
It is likely to be in a high humidity state, so that even under the conditions of high temperature and high humidity, it is necessary to take out a predetermined amount of the solid processing agent from the storage container.

On the other hand, since the solid processing agent has a water-absorbing property, in the state shown in FIG. 1 in which a plurality of solid processing agents are stored in each substantial space in the container 10, the water content is the solid processing agent received by the processing machine. The solid processing agent gradually absorbs moisture from the vicinity of the portion through the opening of the storage container and enters the inside. In this case, the amount of water absorbed within a given time is
The solid treatment agent of 10 tablets is not uniform, and the solid treatment agent J near the opening of the storage container 10 near the receiving portion of the processor preferentially absorbs water. That is, the first tablet (J1) closest to the opening and then the second tablet (J2) adjacent thereto have a large water absorption amount. Solid processing agents J3 to J on the inner side of the container
Since 10 has a small amount of moisture absorption, the gap is reduced by setting the cross-sectional area of the solid processing agent J to a value close to the cross-sectional area of the substantial space of the absorption container 10 within a range in which the solid processing agent J can be discharged. Also, moisture absorption can be minimized.

FIG. 6 is a plan sectional view of the container body 101.

In FIGS. 5 and 6, the first compartment 101A formed between the partition wall 101S1 and the inner wall of the container body 101.
In regard to the size for regulating the solid processing agent storage area in the storage container, the cross-sectional lateral dimension X1 of two tablets (J1A, J2A) of the solid processing agent inward from the discharge opening 101F is the third tablet or later (J3A). .About.J10A), which is set larger than the cross-sectional lateral dimension X2 (X1> X2). The above-mentioned X1 was set by experimentally obtaining the swelling amount of each photosensitive material processing tablet J within a predetermined time. The longitudinal dimension Y is set in the same manner. The enlargement of the inner wall size in the vicinity of the discharge opening 101F may be formed by enlarging the outer wall 101U of the container body 101 shown in FIG. 6, or the partition walls 101S1 to 1S1 forming a substantial space in the container.
It may be performed by changing the wall thickness of the protruding strips 101K, 101M, 101N of 01S3 in the vicinity of the discharge opening. Further, the portion of the container body 101 having the inner wall dimension X1 may be tapered to facilitate the removal of the core portion such as injection molding. Usually, when performing injection molding processing, a draft taper for releasing is required, but by utilizing this taper, the solid processing agent storage container (inner portion of outer wall 101U and partition wall 101S1) near the discharge opening is used. ~ 101S
The dimension X1 of 3) can be made larger than the dimension X2 of the back side portion of the container body 101. In this case, by providing the draft taper, the productivity of the container can be improved in addition to the achievement of the problem, and it is possible to efficiently and efficiently produce a highly accurate storage container. The method for regulating the solid processing agent storage area described above is the size of the inside of the storage container that substantially determines the storage space of the solid processing agent of solid processing agent, and in FIG. 5, J such as 101N, 101E, 101K is used. The size is obtained by excluding the portion on which the agent slides from the inner surface of the storage container.

Rail portions 101R are formed on both outer side surfaces of the flange portion of the discharge opening portion 101F, and the rail portions 101R are fitted into groove portions 103A formed on both side surfaces of the opening / closing lid (shutter) 103 so that they can slide. It has become. Further, the protrusions 103B projecting from both ends of the lower portion of the opening / closing lid 103 are used to automatically close the slide lid 103 by engaging with the opening / closing regulating member of the solid processing agent supplying means of the automatic developing machine.

Guide pins 101Q project from both sides of the container body 101 and are inserted into and removed from the guide grooves of the storage container loading means.

The back surface 102A of the fixed lid 102 is pressed by a pressing member having a spring property of the storage container loading means,
The storage container 101 is pressure-bonded to the reference surface of the supply means. Alternatively, the leaf spring presses the guide pin 101Q of the storage container 101 to press the storage container 101 against the reference surface. A plurality of identification protrusions 102B are integrally formed on the back surface 102A of the fixed lid 102 to prevent erroneous loading of another storage container 101 containing different solid processing agents.

A cushion piece 102C having a cushioning effect is integrally formed on the inside of the back surface 102A of the fixed lid 102 to prevent swinging and impact during storage or transportation of the storage container 101. In contrast, the solid processing agent J included
Is being prevented from being destroyed. It is desirable that the impact absorbing member 103C has a rounded portion in contact with the solid processing agent so as to relax the contact with the solid processing agent.

There is a notch in a part of the partition wall 101S in the container body 101, so that the mold core is prevented from falling down during the molding process, and a highly accurate and stable molded product can be obtained.

A reverse insertion preventing projection 101T is projected on the upper surface side of the container body 101, and if the storage container 10 is installed upside down on the loading portion surface, the reverse insertion preventing projection 101T is formed. Abutment on the loading surface prevents normal loading.

Further, since the plurality of identification protrusions (erroneous loading prevention pins, abbreviated as pins hereinafter) 102B are arranged so as to be offset from the center line in the vertical direction, the storage container 10 is reversely loaded in the container holding member 343. Making it impossible. Further, the number and arrangement position of the plurality of pins 102B are made different depending on the type of the solid processing agent J, and the five pins 102 shown in the figure are shown.
At least two predetermined pins 102B of B
The type is identified by to prevent erroneous loading.

A container body 101 constituting the storage container 10,
The material of the opening / closing lid 103 and the fixed lid 102 is 30 ml / m ² · atm · 24hrs (25 ° C) or less, preferably 10 ml as a container.
The material should be selected so that it does not exceed / m ² · atm · 24hrs (25 ° C), and the moisture-proof property improves the storage stability of the solid processing agent to be stored. Further, it is preferable that these constituent members are made of molded products of substantially the same synthetic resin material having excellent impact resistance.

As the synthetic resin material, polyethylene (either high pressure method or low pressure method), polypropylene (either unstretched or stretched), polyvinyl chloride, polyvinyl acetate, nylon (stretched or unstretched), poly Vinylidene chloride, polystyrene, polycarbonate, vinylon, eval, polyethylene terephthalate (PE
T), other polyesters, acetic acid rubbers, acrylonitrile butadiene copolymers, and epoxy-phosphoric acid resins can be used.

The wall thickness of the container body 101 is thin in the range of 50 to 3000 μm, preferably 200 to 2000 μm, from the viewpoint of the moistureproof property of the contained solid processing agent and the difficulty of destruction.

Next, an automatic developing machine (photosensitive material processing machine) to which the storage container 10 is applied will be described with reference to FIG.

The solid processing agent replenishing device 20 for loading the storage container 10 and replenishing it to the processing tank of the automatic processor is installed above the processing tank 31, and is provided with a storage container loading device 21, a supply device 22 and a driving means.
23 and control means 24.

The opening / closing door 25 at the upper part of the main body of the automatic processor is opened in the direction A, and the storage container 10 is mounted / replaced. A predetermined storage container 10 is grasped and inserted from the direction B in the drawing to be mounted at a predetermined position of the loading device 21, and subsequently swung to automatically open the opening / closing lid 103, and the storage container 10 is opened at the opening of the supply device 22.
The discharge opening portion 101F is connected. The rotor 221 in the supply means 22 is rotated by the drive of the drive means 23, and the storage container 10
The solid processing agent J therein is sequentially transferred to the pocket portion of the rotor 221, and is put into the circulation tank 32 below. Solid treatment agent J
The control means 24 supplies the appropriate amount of the material in a timely manner.

FIG. 9 shows a storage container 10 and a storage container loading device 21.
FIG. 6 is a side sectional view for explaining the operation of the supply device 22 and the drive means 23.

The fixed frame 211 of the storage container loading device 21, the housing member 351 of the supply device 22 and the driving means 23 are fixed to the upper part of the main body.

A supporting shaft 212 is projected near the right end of the both side plate portions 211A of the fixed frame body 211 in the figure, and the storage container 10
The container holding member 213 is fitted in the holes near the lower end of the arm portions 213A fixed to both sides of the container holding member 213, and the container holding member 213 can swing about the support shaft 212. Further, since fixing pins are planted in the both side plate portions 211A and the arm portions 213A, respectively, and tension springs 214 are stretched, the container holding member 213 is provided with springs as shown by the one-dot chain line in the figure. The container holding member is urged and swings in the clockwise direction.
At the upper left position where the bottom portion of 213 abuts on the stopper portion 211B protruding to the upper right portion of the fixed frame body 211 in the figure, the container holding member 2
13 stops and maintains the state before loading the storage container 10.

Around the left end of both side plate portions 211A of the fixed frame body 211, there is a rising portion 211C, and an arcuate guide groove 211D centered on the support shaft 212 is bored therein. The storage container 10 is provided with a container holding member 213 of the storage container loading device 21.
When the container holding member 213 is swung about the support shaft 212 and the left end portion of the container holding member 213 is pushed down in the direction C in the drawing, the guide pin 101Q of the storage container 10 is pressed by the pressing spring 215. While being pressed, it advances in the guide groove 211D. The lowermost portion of the guide groove 211D is an L-shaped bent L
When the guide pin 101Q is formed in the groove portion 211E and is pushed by the pressing spring 215 and enters the L-shaped groove portion 211E, the front surface of the storage container 10 comes into close contact with the inlet portion 211A of the supply means 22.

The supply means 22 is rotatably arranged on the housing member 221 and the inner peripheral surface of the housing member 221, and receives the fixed amount of the solid processing agent J in the storage container 10 from the inlet portion 221A and the outlet portion 221B. It is composed of a rotatable solid processing agent transport member (rotor) 222 having a pocket portion 222A to be moved to and a shutter member 223 capable of opening and closing the outlet portion 221B.

A frame-like elastic packing 228 is embedded in the end surface of the inlet portion 221A of the housing member 221 at the periphery of the opening, and the guide pin 101Q is pressed by the spring 215 to form the discharge opening portion 101F of the storage container 10. When it is brought into close contact with the inlet portion 211A, it blocks the outside air and enhances the moisture-proof effect.

When the storage container 10 is removed from the loading device 21, if the operating lever 216 is raised, the guide pin 101Q is pulled out from the groove portion 211E by the link mechanism 217, returns to the guide groove 211D, and is urged by the tension spring 214. The storage container 10 swings upward together with the container holding member 213, the guide pin 101Q escapes from the guide groove 211D, and the storage container 10
10 can be taken out from the container holding member 213.

In FIG. 9, the first tablet solid processing agent J1 is transported by the supply device 22 and dropped into the lower processing tank, and the second tablet solid processing agent J2 is rotatably transported in the rotor 222, and 3 tablets. The state where the solid processing agent J3 of the eye is on standby is shown.

The storage container 10 and the supply device 22 sequentially convey and supply the solid processing chemicals J arranged in four rows. However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and the replenishment amount It is possible to set the mechanism by appropriately selecting one or more columns corresponding to.

[0049]

As described above, the solid processing agent storage container of the present invention has a special shape in the vicinity of the discharge opening inside the container so that the tablet type solid processing agent swells due to moisture absorption. Prevents defective discharge due to blockage,
A predetermined amount of solid processing agent can be reliably supplied to the supply device side. In particular, with the storage container attached to the solid processing agent replenishing device of the photosensitive material processing device and the discharge opening opened, the supply failure due to the swelling of the solid processing agent is eliminated even under high temperature and high humidity conditions in the processing device. To be done.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view and a side view of a solid processing agent storage container according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an overall perspective view of the storage container.

FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway perspective view of the storage container.

FIG. 4 is an exploded sectional view of the storage container.

FIG. 5 is a front view seen from the discharge opening of the container body.

FIG. 6 is a plan sectional view of the container body.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view and a perspective view showing various shapes of a solid processing agent.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of an automatic processor.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the operations of loading the storage container and supplying the solid processing agent.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Solid processing agent storage container (storage container) 101 Container body 101A, 101B, 101C, 101D Branch chambers 101E, 101M, 101N Projection strip 101F Discharge opening (front opening) 101G Rear opening 101S Partition wall (projection) 101P Projection strip (protrusion) 101Q Guide pin 101R Rail section 101T Reverse-return prevention projection 102 Fixed lid (rear lid) 102B Identification projection 102C Impact absorbing member 103 Open / close lid (shutter) 104 Label 105 Packaging

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Office reference number FI technical display location B65D 85/84

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A storage container having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape capable of storing a solid processing agent obtained by solidifying a processing agent for a light-sensitive material into a substantially tablet shape, wherein the solid processing agent is stored in the storage container for storing the solid processing agent. With respect to the dimension for regulating the area, the cross-sectional longitudinal dimension and / or cross-sectional lateral dimension of the inner wall of the storage container in a direction substantially perpendicular to the solid treatment agent discharge direction of the storage container is near the solid treatment agent discharge opening of the storage container. A solid processing agent storage container for a photosensitive material, which is formed to be larger than a cross-sectional dimension of the storage container on the upstream side in the solid processing agent discharge direction.