JPH10239814A - Processing liquid heating device for developing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a processing liquid heating device to be attached to a circulation passage exchangeable only for a heat source member by assembling the heat source member detachably in a heat conducting body which surrounds the conduit of the processing liquid to conduct heat. SOLUTION: This processing liquid heating device 80 is provided with a processing liquid conduit 81 having an inlet 81a and an outlet 81b to be connected to a piping hose which constitutes the circulation passage 51, an aluminum heat conducting body 82 formed into substantially rectangular parallelepiped and cast integrally with the processing liquid conduit 81 to be fitted around the conduit 81, and a rod heater 83 as the heat source member attached in the heat conducting body 82. The heater 82 is attached to the attachment hole 82b as a recess formed in the heat conducting body 82 along the longitudinal axis 80a of the processing liquid heating device 80. Thereby, the heater 83 can be detached from the recess 82b, so that when the heater 83 is out of work, only the heater 83 has to be exchanged.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a processing tank for storing a processing solution for developing a photographic light-sensitive material, a sub-tank communicating with an upper part of the processing tank, a sub-tank and a lower part of the processing tank. And a circulating flow path for connecting the processing liquid to a processing liquid heating apparatus for a developing processing apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a developing apparatus for developing a photosensitive material such as a film or a photographic paper, a processing tank for developing, fixing and washing is filled with each processing solution such as a developing solution, a fixing solution and a washing water. In order to control the temperature of these processing liquids, a processing liquid heating device is used. Conventionally, the processing liquid heating device is configured by a cartridge type heater submerged in a sub tank communicating with the upper part of the processing tank, and the processing liquid in the sub tank heated by the heater is supplied to the processing tank through a circulation flow path. The temperature of the processing liquid in the processing tank is controlled by flowing.

Further, a processing liquid heating apparatus according to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-080479 discloses a molding die in which processing liquid circulation pipes are arranged at equal intervals from each other and at equal distances from a heater centering on a cylindrical heater as a heat source. Installed in the
Thereafter, the mold is manufactured by filling a molten metal serving as a heat conduction block into a mold. By mounting the processing liquid flow pipe of the processing liquid heating device manufactured in this way on the corresponding circulation path, the processing liquid flowing through the circulation path is heated in the region of the processing liquid flow pipe, and the heat energy is transferred to the processing tank. By carrying in, the temperature of the processing liquid in the processing tank is controlled.

[0004]

In the latter apparatus, the space for accommodating the cartridge type heater from the sub-tank can be omitted, the amount of evaporation of the processing liquid from the sub-tank can be reduced, and the processing liquid can be reduced. The advantage of gentle heat conduction is obtained, but the heater as a heat source and the processing liquid flow pipe are arranged in the mold of the heat conduction block and integrated by co-casting. Even if the heater breaks down, it is not possible to replace only the heater, and there is a disadvantage that the entire processing liquid heating device must be replaced. The purpose of the present invention is
It is an object of the present invention to provide a processing liquid heating apparatus of a type that can be replaced with a circulation flow path and that can replace only a heat source member.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, a processing liquid heating apparatus for a development processing apparatus according to the present invention comprises a processing liquid circulation device having an inlet and an outlet connected to a circulation flow path. The apparatus includes a tube, a heat conductor enclosing the processing liquid flow tube in a heat conductive manner, and a heat source member detachably mounted in a recess provided in the heat conductor.

In this configuration, since the heat source member can be freely removed from the recess, only the heat source member needs to be replaced when the heat source member fails. As a simple form of fixing the heat source member to the concave portion provided in the heat conductor, use of a set screw is firstly proposed in view of manufacturing cost.

As a preferred embodiment of the present invention, it is proposed that the heat conductor is formed in a divided structure and the heat source member is fixed in the recess by assembling the divided body. In this case, by configuring the heat source member to be sandwiched by the divided bodies, the inner surface of the concave portion and the heat source member can be firmly contacted, and good heat conduction from the heat source member to the heat conductor can be obtained.

Further, as one of preferred embodiments, the concave portion is formed so as to elastically change its cross-sectional area,
Some heat source members are fixed in the recesses by the elastic force of the heat conductor. For example, if the concave portion is formed as a hole opened by a slit extending in the longitudinal direction, the cross-sectional area of the hole is reduced by tightening the screw so as to reduce the interval between the slits. And fixed. Also in this embodiment, the heat source member is detachably attached to the heat conductor, and good heat conduction from the heat source member to the heat conductor is obtained.

Further, as one preferred embodiment, the cross section of the concave portion is formed to be larger than the cross section of the heat source member, and the heat source member applies a spring to both the heat conductor and the heat source member. Some are fixed in the recess through members. For example, a double-wound wound leaf spring is proposed as such a spring member. The outer diameter of this wound leaf spring is set to be larger than the inner diameter of the concave portion of the heat conductor and the inner diameter of the wound leaf spring is increased. Is designed to be smaller than the outer diameter of the heat source member. Thus, the heat source member is closely supported on the inner peripheral surface side of the wound leaf spring, and the outer peripheral surface side of the wound leaf spring is closely adhered to the concave portion of the heat conductor. Also in this case, the heat source member is detachably attached to the heat conductor, and good heat conduction from the heat source member to the heat conductor is obtained. Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the embodiments with reference to the drawings.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows an overall configuration diagram of a developing apparatus 1 equipped with a processing liquid heating apparatus according to the present invention. The development processing apparatus 1 includes a film insertion unit 3 for loading a film 2 as a photographic photosensitive material having a leader connected to a tip, a film development unit 4 for developing the film 2 fed from the film insertion unit 3, and a development unit. A film drying unit 5 for drying the processed film 2 and a film receiving unit 6 for temporarily storing the dried film 2 are provided.

A transport roller 3a is provided in the film insertion section 3.
A film cutter 3b for cutting the rear end of the film 2 which has been pulled out from the patrone 7, and a film cutter 3b
The film cutting solenoid 3c that slides one of the blades, the idle roller 3e for pressing the film 2 against the transport roller 3a, and the idle roller 3e are moved up and down to transfer the film 2 to the transport roller 3a. A crimp solenoid 3d for switching between a crimping state and a crimping release state is provided.

Film 2 drawn from patrone 7
Is transported while being sandwiched between the transport roller 3a and the idler roller 3e, and sent to the film developing section 4. In order to sequentially perform development processing such as development, bleaching and fixing, the film development section 4 forms seven compartments filled with processing liquids such as a developer, a bleaching liquid, a fixing liquid, and a stabilizing liquid. A tank 40 and a transport roller unit 4b for transporting the film 2 in the film developing section 4 are provided.

As shown in FIG. 1, a film drying section 5 located downstream of the film transport section of the film developing section 4 has a drying heater 5a for drying the film 2 and directs warm air toward the film transport path. Drying fan 5b to send
A temperature sensor 5c for measuring the air temperature in the film drying unit 5 is provided. The film 2 is gradually dried while being conveyed in the film drying unit 5 and sent out to the film receiving unit 6.

FIG. 2 shows only the film developing section 4 extracted. An optical sensor 10 is provided at the entrance of the film developing unit 4, and detects the film 2 sent from the film insertion unit 3. The optical sensor 10 is connected to the control device 100. The development processing tank 40 has seven compartments 41 to 47, and the first deep tank in the order of the loading direction of the film 2 is the developer compartment 41. Bleaching solution compartment 4
2, the next two are fixer compartments 43 and 44, and the three shallow tanks are stabilizer compartments 45 to 47. Each compartment has a different depth, but has substantially the same structure. FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the developer compartment 41, and FIG. Due to size considerations, a plan view of only the developer compartment 41 and the bleach compartment 42 adjacent thereto is shown.

A sub-tank 41a is provided beside the upper region of the developer compartment 41. This sub tank 41a
A temperature sensor 12 for detecting the temperature of the developer,
An overflow pipe 14, a liquid level sensor 15 for detecting the liquid level of the developer, and a filter 16 are provided. Although schematically shown in FIG. 2 and FIG.
A replenishing pipe 70 is connected to a, and a replenishing pump 71 is operated at an appropriate time in order to keep the performance of the developing solution constant, and a replenishing solution is supplied from the replenishing tank 72 to the sub-tank 41a.

The upper region of the compartment 41 and the upper region of the sub tank 41a can be circulated by cascade connection. Further, the filter 16 is cylindrical, and a pipe 17 provided with a large number of slits 17a is inserted into the center hole thereof. Filtered liquid flows through the slit 17a and flows through the pipe 17, but the pipe 17 Is connected to the bottom of the compartment 41 by a circulation channel 51, and a circulation pump 61 and a processing liquid heating device 80 are provided in the circulation channel 51. That is, from the upper part of the developer compartment 41, the circulation flow path 5 including the sub-tank 41a, the filter 16, the circulation pump 61 and the processing liquid heating device 80.
A circulation line is formed through 1 to the bottom of the developer compartment 41, whereby the processing liquid (here, the developer) is circulated and heated in the developer compartment 41. The configuration of the sub-tank and the circulation line is the same for the other compartments, and the description of each compartment is omitted here.

In this embodiment, the processing liquid heating device 80
Is mounted between the sub tank 41a and the circulation pump 61, but may be mounted between the circulation pump 61 and the developer compartment 41. What is important is that the processing liquid heating device 80
Is mounted on the circulation channel 51. As a result, the processing liquid forced to flow through the circulation flow path 51 by the circulation pump 61 is heated.
Local heating of the processing liquid, which occurs when the processing liquid is heated by the cartridge heater mounted in a, can be avoided.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the processing liquid heating device 80 includes a processing liquid flowing pipe 8 having an inflow port 81a and an outflow port 81b connected to a pipe hose constituting the circulation flow path 51.
1, a substantially rectangular parallelepiped aluminum heat conductor 82 integrally cast with the processing liquid flow pipe 81 so as to fit the processing liquid flow pipe 81, and mounted on the heat conductor 82 And a rod-shaped heater 83 as a heat source member. In order to attach the processing liquid heating device 80 to the photoprocessing device 1 at an appropriate position, the heat conductor 82 has a mounting bracket 82a.
Is also formed. Since the heater 83 is mounted on the heat conductor 82 in the mounting hole 82 b as a concave portion provided along the longitudinal axis 80 a of the processing liquid heating device 80, the heater 83 applies heat over substantially the entire length of the processing liquid flow pipe 81. be able to. In this embodiment, the fixing of the heater 83 in the mounting hole 82b is performed by a set screw 85. Therefore, the heat conductor 82 is provided with a screw hole 82c extending from the surface to the mounting hole 82b. ing.

Reference numeral 84 denotes a safety thermosensor 84 for preventing overheating.
2 is sent to the control device 100, and the control device 100 transmits the detection signal via a driver (not shown).
The driving power supplied to the terminal 83a of the heater is controlled for adjusting the temperature of the processing liquid, that is, for operating the heater 83 properly.

FIG. 7 shows another embodiment of the processing liquid heating device 80. Here, the heat conductor 82 has a two-part structure, and is divided into a left half-half body 82A and a right half-half body 82B. A part of a mounting hole 82b for the heater 83 and a mounting hole 82d for the processing liquid flow pipe 81 are formed in each of the half-broken bodies 82A and 82B,
When both half-split bodies 82A and 82B are assembled,
Each mounting hole has such a shape as to receive the heater 83 and the processing liquid flow pipe 81. Half-split bodies 82A and 8
Each mounting hole 8 generated when 2B is assembled exactly
The cross sections of 2b and 82d are smaller than the cross sections of the corresponding heater 83 and the processing liquid flow pipe 81, and the half screws 82A and 82B are separated by the connection screw 86 and the screw holes 82e provided in the respective half chips 82A and 82B. By tightening
The heater 83 and the processing liquid flow pipe 81 are firmly fixed to the heat conductor 82.

FIG. 8 shows still another embodiment of the processing liquid heating device 80. In this embodiment, the heat conductor 8
The slits 82f and 82g formed in the longitudinal direction so as to open the respective mounting holes to the outside are connected to the mounting holes 82b for the heater 83 and the mounting holes 82d for the processing liquid flow pipe 81 formed in FIG. Have been. This slit 8
The presence of 2f and 82g makes it possible to slightly expand the inner diameter of both mounting holes 82b and 82d by applying a force. Therefore, since the mounting hole 82b has an inner diameter slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the heater 83, the mounting hole 82b
The heater 83 pushed into b is firmly fixed to the mounting hole 82b by the elastic force of the heat conductor 82.
Similarly, since the mounting hole 82d has an inner diameter slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the processing liquid flowing pipe 81, the processing liquid flowing pipe 81 pushed into the mounting hole 82d is moved to the mounting hole 82d by the elastic force of the heat conductor 82. It is firmly adhered and fixed.

FIG. 9 shows still another embodiment of the processing liquid heating device 80. This embodiment is a modification of the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, and uses a wound leaf spring 87 instead of the set screw 85 when fixing the heater 83 to the mounting hole 82b. The outer diameter of this wound leaf spring 87 is
The inner diameter of the wound leaf spring 87 is designed to be larger than the outer diameter of the heater 83. Accordingly, the heater 83 is firmly fixed to the heat conductor 82 by pushing the wound plate spring 87 into which the heater 83 is mounted by being pushed into the inner peripheral surface thereof into the mounting hole 82 b of the heat conductor 82. Further, since the wound leaf spring 87 is made of a material having good heat conductivity such as special steel, heat conduction from the heater 83 to the heat conductor 82 is also good. If necessary, the processing liquid flowing pipe 81 may be mounted on the heat conductor 82 by a wound-plate spring method.

Although various embodiments of the processing liquid heating device 80 have been described above, it is also possible to adopt a configuration in which the respective modes are arbitrarily selected and combined. Further, although the description has been made so far with a single processing liquid flow pipe 81, a plurality of processing liquid flow pipes 81 may be provided on one heat conductor 82. In this case, a plurality of processing liquid flow pipes 81 may be provided. The liquid flow pipe 81 can be heated collectively.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a development processing apparatus equipped with a processing liquid heating device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view of a film developing section of the developing apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a developing tank.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line IV-IV in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of a processing liquid heating apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a part of the processing liquid heating device of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the processing liquid heating apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing still another embodiment of the processing liquid heating apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing still another embodiment of the processing liquid heating apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a part of the processing liquid heating apparatus of FIG. 9;

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 51 circulation flow path 80 processing liquid heating device 81 processing liquid flow pipe 82 heat conductor 82b recess (mounting hole) 83 heat source member (heater) 84 safety thermo 85 set screw

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A processing tank for storing a processing solution for developing a photographic light-sensitive material, a sub-tank communicating with an upper part of the processing tank, and a circulation passage connecting the sub-tank and a lower part of the processing tank. In a processing liquid heating device for a development processing device comprising: a processing liquid flow pipe having an inlet and an outlet connected to the circulation flow path, and the processing liquid flow pipe is wrapped in a heat conductive manner. And a heat source member removably mounted in a recess provided in the heat conductor. 2. A processing liquid heating apparatus for a developing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said heat source member is fixed in said recess by a set screw. 3. The developing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the heat conductor is formed in a divided structure, and the heat source member is fixed in the recess by assembling the divided body. Liquid heating equipment for 4. The concave portion is formed so as to elastically change its cross-sectional area, and the heat source member is fixed in the concave portion by the elastic force of the heat conductor. 2. A processing liquid heating device for the development processing device according to 1. 5. A cross section of the concave portion is formed larger than a cross section of the heat source member, and the heat source member is formed in the concave portion via a heat conductor and a spring member for applying an urging force to the heat source member. 2. The processing liquid heating apparatus for a development processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing liquid heating apparatus is fixed to the processing liquid.