JPH09120137A - Automatic development processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make it possible to easily deal with liquid agent specification sand table specifications as well by constituting the automatic development processing device in such a manner that the specifications are for the liquid agent when a first unit is mounted at the first mounting section of a body unit and the specifications are for the tablets when a second unit is mounted in the second mounting section. SOLUTION: A replenishing tank is connected via a replenishing pipe to a sub-tank 3 in order to replenish respective processing tanks 2 with development processing agents in the case of the liquid agent specifications. A tablet unit 5 is mounted at the flank in the side where the sub-tanks 3 of the main body unit 1 line up in the case of the tablet specifications. This tablet unit 5 is removed from the main body unit 1 and an external cover is mounted in the part where the unit is removed to prevent the viewing of the inside construction in the case of the liquid agent specifications. The upper surface part of the sub-tank 3 is provided with an opening and the liquid agent and tablets are replenished from this opening. Since the tablet unit 5 is mounted at the outside of the main body unit 1, the internal construction of the main body unit 1 is necessitated to be merely designed for the liquid agent specifications.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a development processing tank for developing a photographic light-sensitive material, and an automatic development processing apparatus including a main unit having a sub tank.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An automatic development processing apparatus is equipped with a development processing tank for developing a photographic light-sensitive material such as film or photographic paper. This development tank is for color development, bleaching,
Divided into processing tanks for fixing and stabilizing. Then, the amount of processing liquid in each processing tank decreases due to evaporation of the processing liquid by heating with a heater or the like, and removal of the processing liquid of the photographic photosensitive material itself from the processing tank during development processing of the photographic photosensitive material. As it does, it deteriorates. Therefore, it is necessary to replenish each processing solution in order to keep the performance of the processing solution constant. The development processing agent used for replenishing such a processing solution is either a liquid agent or a solid agent, but the conventional automatic development processing apparatus has a specification in which only the liquid agent can be used (hereinafter, referred to as a liquid agent specification. ), Or specifications that allow only solid agents (hereinafter referred to as tablet specifications).

[0003]

By the way, whether a liquid agent or a solid agent is used as the development processing agent, most of the parts constituting the main body unit including the development processing tank and the sub tank are common. Therefore, it has been desired to easily support both the liquid agent specifications and the tablet specifications based on such a main body unit.

An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic development processing apparatus which can easily meet both liquid agent specifications and tablet specifications. Another object of the present invention is to provide an automatic development processing apparatus capable of easily changing from a liquid agent specification to a tablet specification.

[0005]

The features of the present invention for achieving the above object are as follows. That is, in an automatic development processing apparatus including a development processing tank for developing a photographic light-sensitive material and a main body unit including a sub tank, the first main body unit is provided for supplying a development processing agent made of a liquid to the sub tank. It is provided with a first mounting portion for mounting the unit, and a second mounting portion for mounting the second unit for replenishing the sub-tank with a developing agent made of a solid agent. With this configuration, both the first unit and the second unit can be attached to the main body unit. In other words, if the first unit is attached to the first mounting portion of the main unit, it becomes a liquid agent specification,
If the second unit is attached to the second mounting portion of the main body unit, the tablet specification is obtained. As a result, it is possible to easily meet both the liquid agent specifications and the tablet specifications.

Another feature of the present invention is that the second unit can be attached to the outside of the main unit. According to this configuration, the inside of the main unit is
It can be used as a space for mounting and housing the unit. As a result, it is possible to prevent the size of the entire apparatus from increasing.

Another feature of the present invention is that the volume of the sub tank can be changed. Generally, unlike the sub-tank capacity required for liquid agent specifications and the sub-tank capacity required for tablet specifications, the latter requires a larger capacity than the former. With this configuration, the sub-tanks suitable for the respective specifications can be obtained, and the sub-tanks can be shared.

According to another characteristic construction of the present invention, the second unit is provided with a charging port for charging a tablet, a conveying means for conveying the charged tablet, and a discharging port for discharging the tablet, The discharge port and the opening of the sub tank face each other. According to this structure, the member required for tablet specifications is incorporated in the second unit, and the discharge port for discharging the tablet faces the opening of the sub tank. Therefore, if this opening is also used as a liquid agent inlet, the structure of the sub-tank can be commonly used for both liquid agent specifications and tablet specifications.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The automatic film processor 100 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, a film insertion part 13 for loading a film 11 which is an example of a photographic photosensitive material having a leader connected to the tip thereof.
And the film 11 fed from the film insertion portion 13
Film developing processing section 14 for developing processing, film drying section 15 for drying film 11 after developing processing, and film receiving section 1 for temporarily storing dried film 11
6 are provided.

The configuration of each part will be described below. The film insertion portion 13 includes a transport roller 13a, a film cutter 13b for cutting the rear end of the film 11 that has been pulled out from the cartridge 10, and a film cutting solenoid 13c for slidingly moving one blade of the film cutter 13b.
And a free-rolling roller 13e for pressing the film 11 to the transport roller 13a, and a pressure bonding for moving the free-rolling roller 13e up and down to switch between the state in which the film 11 is pressed against the transport roller 13a and the state in which the pressure is released. Solenoid 13
d and are provided. The film 11 pulled out from the cartridge 10 has a transport roller 13a and an idle roller 13
It is conveyed while being sandwiched between e and e and sent to the film development processing section 14.

In the film development processing section 14, seven development processing tanks 2a, 2b, 2c, each of which is filled with a plurality of different types of development processing solutions, are provided in order to sequentially perform development processing including development, bleaching, fixing and stabilization. 2d and the film development processing unit 14
A transport roller 12 for transporting the film 11 therein, and an opening 3 for replenishing the developing treatment tank 2 with the developing treatment liquid.
A sub tank 3 having A (not shown in FIG. 1) is provided. The development processing tank 2 includes a color development (CD) tank 2a, a bleaching (BL) tank 2b, and a fixing (FI) tank.
X) tank 2c and stable (STB) tank 2d. As shown in FIG. 2, the development processing tank 2 and the sub-tank 3 communicate with each other at the top, and a circulation pump 42 is provided in a circulation path 43 that communicates the bottoms of the two tanks 2 and 3 with each other. The circulation pump 42 operates so as to send the developing solution in the sub tank 3 into the developing tank 2 from the circulation path 43. As a result, the development processing liquid in the development processing tank 2 flows into the sub tank 3, and a flow as indicated by an arrow in FIG. 2 is generated. A filter 31 is incorporated in the sub tank 3, and the filtered development processing liquid that has passed through the filter 31 flows from the slit 33 of the pipe 32 penetrating the filter 31 into the pipe 32 and reaches the circulation path 43.

Further, inside the sub-tank 3, there are provided a heater 34 for heating the developing treatment liquid and a temperature sensor 35 for detecting the temperature of the developing treatment liquid.
The operation of the heater 34 is controlled based on the detection signal of No. 5. As shown in FIG. 3, the heater 34 and the temperature sensor 3
5 is disposed in the left-right direction with respect to the flow direction of the developing treatment liquid, and a partition plate 36 is provided between the heater 34 and the temperature sensor 35. The partition plate 36 is the inclined portion 3
7, the inclined portion 37 guides the development processing liquid flowing in the sub tank 3 toward the filter 31. A guide plate 40 is provided between the lower part of the partition plate 36 and the lower part of the side wall of the sub tank 3. The guide plate 40 guides the development processing liquid flowing from the development processing tank 2 to the sub-tank 3 toward the temperature sensor 35, and brings the development processing liquid and the temperature sensor 35 into good contact with each other.

Further, as shown in FIG. 13, the sub tank 3
A block 25 is inserted inside. With this block 25, the volume of the sub tank 3 can be changed. The block 25 is made by blow molding and is used when the liquid agent is used. In the case of tablet specifications,
The block 25 is removed.

The rack 41 guides the movement of the film 11. The liquid surface detection sensor 38 detects the liquid surface level of the development processing liquid. Also, with the development process of the film,
Since the developing solution decreases and deteriorates, in order to keep the activity of the developing solution constant, the replenishing pump described later is operated at a suitable time to replenish the subtank 3 with the developing solution. The overflow pipe 39 is provided to collect the waste liquid overflowed by the replenishment of the development processing liquid in the waste liquid tank.

With reference to FIG. 12, the connection relationship between the developing treatment tank 2, the sub tank 3, the replenishment tank 4 (or the replenishment container 6), the waste liquid tank 9 and the replenishment water tank 8 in the liquid agent specification will be described. Details of the refill tank 4 and the refill container 6 will be described later. In the development processing tank 2, the color developing tank 2a and the bleaching tank 2b are both 1 tank, and the fixing tank 2c is 2 tanks.
The stabilizing tank 2d consists of three tanks. In each of the processing tanks 2a to 2d,
The sub tanks 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d are in communication with each other. Further, the replenishment tank 4 (or the replenishment container 6) is connected to the sub-tank 3 via the replenishment pipe 19 in order to replenish the processing baths 2a to 2d with the development processing agent. When the processing tank is composed of a plurality of tanks such as the fixing tank 2c and the stabilizing tank 2d, the replenishment tank 4 is connected to the processing tank on the downstream side. This is because the upstream processing tank is liable to get dirty because the developing processing solution in the processing tank of the previous step is introduced. Replenishment pumps 17a to 17d are provided in the midway of each replenishment pipe 19. By controlling the replenishment pump 17, the amount of the development processing liquid replenished from the replenishment tank 4 to the sub tank 3 can be controlled. In addition, each processing tank has a waste liquid tank 9
Is connected. The water replenishment tank 8 and the processing tanks 2 a to 2 d are connected via a water replenishment pipe 20. A water refilling pump 18 is provided on the way of the water refilling pipe. By controlling the water replenishment pump 18, the amount of water replenished into the sub tank 3 can be controlled. In addition, in case of tablet specifications,
The portion surrounded by the broken line 2 replaces the tablet unit. In the case of the tablet specification, the replenishment pipe 19 is not used, but the water replenishment pipe 20 is used.

First, the configuration of the liquid agent specification will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 6 and 9. FIG. 4 is a top view of the development processing tank. In the case of tablet specifications, the tablet unit 5 is attached to the side surface of the main unit 1 on the side where the sub-tanks 3 are lined up. In case of liquid type,
Since the tablet unit 5 is unnecessary, it is removed from the main body unit 1. Then, an exterior cover 26 is attached to the portion where the tablet unit 5 has been removed so as to hide the internal structure (see FIG. 5). The mounting portion of the exterior cover 26 to the main body unit 1 is
The tablet unit 5 can also serve as a mounting portion for the main body unit 1. As a result, the structure of the main unit 1 does not have to be complicated. As shown in FIG. 4, an opening 3A is provided in the upper surface portion of the sub-tank 3, and a liquid agent or a tablet is replenished through this opening 3A.

Next, the replenishment tank 4 used in the case of the liquid agent specification will be described with reference to FIGS. Refill tank 4
Has a unit shape as shown in FIG. Body 4
The inside of No. 4 is filled with a developing treatment agent made of a liquid agent. The tank lid 45 is rotatable around a pivot 45b, and the tank lid 45 is opened to replenish the replenishment tank 4 with the liquid agent. The tank lid 45 can be opened up to the position indicated by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. 6B (see reference numeral 45 ′). The tank lid 45 is provided with a stopper 45a, which comes into contact with the inner wall of the main body 44,
The opening direction is restricted. In addition, a predetermined amount of water is put into the replenishment tank 4 at the same time as the liquid agent, and it is stirred by the stirring rod 46. The liquid level sensor 47 detects the level of the liquid level in the refill tank 4. When it detects that the level of the liquid surface has dropped below a predetermined level, an external alarm is issued. The liquid level sensor 47 is, for example, a float switch sensor including a permanent magnet and a reed switch. The alarm to the outside is given by, for example, a monitor, a lamp, an LED, a buzzer, or the like provided in the main body unit 1.

The replenishment tank 4 is composed of the processing tanks 2a and 2a.
It is provided corresponding to b, 2c, and 2d (FIG. 9B).
Are indicated by reference numerals 4a, 4b, 4c and 4d. ). The replenishment tank 4 is connected to the sub tank 3 by a replenishment pipe 19 extending from the lower portion of the replenishment tank 4. A replenishment pump 17 is provided in the middle of the replenishment pipe 19. The replenishment pump 17 is a metering pump, and the replenishment amount per one rotation is constant. The replenishment tank 4 is attached to the main body unit 1 by an appropriate method. The attachment mechanism includes fastening with screws and fitting. With the replenishment tank 4 attached to the main body unit 1, the tank lid 45
Also, the periphery of the operating portion of the stirring rod 46 appears as an external appearance when the exterior cover 27a is opened. The exterior cover 27a
Can be opened around the axis 27b to the position of the broken line in FIG. Other parts are hidden by the exterior cover 27 as shown in FIG.

Next, regarding the structure of the tablet specifications, FIGS.
Description will be made based on 8 and 10. 4 and 7, the tablet unit 5 is attached to the main body unit 1. Installation is done by fastening with screws. As shown in FIG. 7, if the tablet unit 5 has a vertically long shape, the tablet unit 5 can be attached to the main body unit 1 by screws at the upper portion and the lower portion, respectively. Also, instead of screws, a hooking claw may be used for the mounting configuration. In the case of the tablet specification, it is not necessary to attach the above-mentioned replenishment tank 4 to the main body unit 1. The tablet unit 5 is attached to the outside of the main unit 1. Therefore, in the case of the tablet specification with the tablet unit 5 attached,
The size of the entire automatic development processing apparatus 100 is larger than that of the liquid agent specification. As the main body unit 1, the liquid agent specification described above can be used. In addition, since the tablet unit 5 is attached to the outside of the main body unit 1 in this manner, the internal structure of the main body unit 1 may be designed to have a liquid agent specification. Further, it becomes easy to manufacture a tablet-specific device based on the liquid-agent-specific device.

Next, regarding the internal structure of the tablet unit 5,
A brief description will be given based on FIG. The tablet cartridge 51 is
It has an elongated, substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and tablets 500 are charged through a charging port 50 provided on the upper portion thereof. Tablet 500
Has a substantially cylindrical shape. A slide lid 55 is provided at the lower end of the tablet cartridge 51. Further, a rotor 52 is provided below the tablet cartridge 51, and the rotor 52 moves the tablets 500 one by one from the tablet cartridge 51 to the bucket 53. The bucket 53 is configured to be capable of reciprocating in the direction of arrow A shown in FIG. The tablet shooter 54 discharges the tablets 500 discharged from the bucket 53 into the sub tank 3 through the opening 3A of the sub tank 3. Sub tank 3 opening 3
A and the discharge port 54b of the tablet shooter 54 are arranged so as to face each other.

The operation until the tablets 500 are discharged into the sub tank 3 will be briefly described. When the slide lid 55 of the tablet cartridge 51 is slid, the tablet cartridge 5
The tablet 500 located at the bottom in 1 moves to the rotor 52. Then, when the rotor 52 is rotated by a predetermined angle, the tablets 500 are discharged into the bucket 53. Tablet 5
The bucket 53 accommodating 00 is driven in the upward direction of arrow A. The driving is performed by a belt or the like (not shown). When the bucket 53 moves to a position facing the inlet 54 a of the tablet shooter 54, the tablets 500 are transferred to the bucket 5.
3 into the tablet shooter 54. This tablet 5
00 rolls in the tablet shooter 54 by its own weight and is discharged into the sub tank 3 through the opening 3A of the sub tank 3. After discharging the tablets 500, the bucket 53 moves downward in the arrow A and returns to the position close to the rotor 52. In the case of tablet specifications, as shown in FIG.
The block 25 is not inserted in the sub tank 3.

[Second Embodiment] The second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. Here, the package 6 is used instead of the refill tank 4. This package specification is an example of the liquid agent specification. This package 6 has four refill containers 6
It is a unit composed of a, 6b, 6c and 6d.
These replenishment containers 6a to 6d are connected to the respective sub tanks 3a to 3d by a replenishment pipe 19. In addition, replenishment pumps 17a to 17d are provided in the middle of the replenishment pipe 19, respectively. These replenishing containers 6a to 6d are filled with a development processing solution prepared in advance. Therefore, in this package specification, unlike the replenishment tank 4 in the first embodiment, neither the development processing liquid is prepared nor the liquid agent is replenished. These replenishment containers 6a
A float switch is provided on each of the through 6d so that it can be detected that the developing solution has run out. When the developing solution in any one of the four replenishing containers 6a to 6d runs out, the entire package 6 is replaced. To replace the package 6, as shown in FIG. 11B, the pull-out portion 7 may be pulled out.

Further, instead of replacing the entire package 6, any one of the replenishing containers 6a which has run out of the developing solution.
Only ~ 6d may be replaced individually. In this package specification, the space on the side surface of the sub-tank 3 is open, so that the tablet unit 5 as shown in FIGS. Therefore, even in a package specification which is an example of such a liquid agent specification, the main body unit 1 can be used in common with a tablet specification.

[Other Embodiment] Another embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the above-described embodiment, in the case of the tablet specification, the replenishment tank 4 is detached, but the tablet unit 5 may be further attached with the replenishment tank 4 attached to the main body unit 1. By doing so, an automatic development processing apparatus of both specifications can be obtained.
As a configuration in which the volume of the sub-tank 3 is variable, one of the wall surfaces forming the sub-tank 3 can be made movable so that the volume can be automatically changed. In this case, it is preferable that a sensor be used to detect whether or not the tablet unit 5 is attached, and the volume of the sub-tank 3 be automatically changed when the attachment of the tablet unit 5 is detected.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic overall view of an automatic development processing apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view showing the structure of a sub tank.

FIG. 3 is a top view of a sub tank

FIG. 4 is a top view of the automatic development processing apparatus.

[Figure 5] Longitudinal sectional view of liquid agent specifications

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of a refill tank.

FIG. 7 is a vertical sectional view of the tablet unit.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an internal structure of a tablet unit.

[Figure 9] Schematic diagram of liquid agent specifications

FIG. 10: Schematic diagram of tablet specifications

FIG. 11: Schematic diagram of package specifications

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing the connection relationship of each tank.

[Fig. 13] Diagram of sub tank in liquid chemical specifications

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Main body unit 2 Development tank 3 Sub tank 3A opening 4 Replenishment tank 5 Tablet unit 6 Package 6a-6d Replenishment container 11 Film 17 Replenishment pump 18 Replenishment pump 19 Replenishment pipe 20 Rehydration pipe 25 Block 50 Input port 51 Tablet cartridge 54 Tablet shooter 100 Automatic development processor 500 tablets

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An automatic development processing apparatus including a development processing tank for developing and processing a photographic light-sensitive material, and a main body unit having a sub tank, for replenishing the main body unit with a development processing agent comprising a liquid agent to the sub tank. An automatic development processing apparatus comprising: a first mounting portion for mounting the first unit of 1. and a second mounting portion for mounting a second unit for replenishing the sub-tank with the developing processing agent composed of tablets. 2. The automatic development processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second unit is attachable to the outside of the main body unit. 3. The automatic development processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the volume of the sub tank is changeable. 4. The second unit is provided with a charging port for charging a tablet, a conveying means for conveying the charged tablet, and a discharging port for discharging the tablet, and the discharging port and the sub-tank. 4. The automatic development processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the automatic development processing apparatus is configured so as to face the opening of the.