JPH1073911A - Development processing method and development processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent residual of deformation on a photographic material and to increase speed of drying process of the photographic material. SOLUTION: A film F is heat-developed by carrying the film F and a processing sheet 60 laminated by a laminating roller 82 along heating plates 68A-68E. The film F is dried by carrying the film F separated from the processing sheet 60 after heat development on a straight line along a surface of a heating flat plate 106 for drying. The heating flat plate 106 for drying can increase of speed of drying processing as it is set at temperature higher than glass transition temperature of a base member of the film F, that is, temperature higher than conventional temperature for drying. In the meantime, no residual deformation is caused on the film F as the film F is carried on a straight line and no force works on the film F from outside.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a developing method and a developing apparatus, and more particularly, to a silver halide light-sensitive material to which an image has been exposed and a solvent for image formation has been applied, and to the silver halide light-sensitive material. A processing sheet containing an agent for forming an image thereon is bonded to the processing sheet, and the bonded silver halide light-sensitive material and the processing sheet are heated to a temperature suitable for development processing by a predetermined heating means, whereby the halogenation is performed. The present invention relates to a developing method and a developing apparatus for performing a developing process on a silver photosensitive material.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a photosensitive material called a lith film has been used for printing newspapers, magazines, and the like. In this squirrel film, each pixel represents a black point or a white point, and shades are expressed by the density of black points in a predetermined area of the squirrel film (so-called halftone processing is performed).

Using a lith film capable of expressing light and shade as described above, a manuscript expressing the shading of the cyan component, a manuscript expressing the shading of the magenta color component, and a yellow component of the target color image A total of four originals, that is, an original showing the shade of black and white and an original showing the shade of black, are created by exposure and development processing. And these four originals
2. Description of the Related Art There is known a technique of creating a printed matter on which a target color image is recorded by overlapping and printing using inks of respective colors.

[0004] In the above-mentioned technique, in order to prepare a manuscript representing the shading of a predetermined color, the lith film exposed with the shading image of the predetermined color is subjected to development, fixing and washing processes (so-called wet process). Processing).

[0005] However, such a developing process is complicated. Further, since a liquid containing a chemical such as a processing liquid is used, the management thereof is troublesome, and the deterioration of the developing processing device is caused by the contamination of the developing processing device.

Therefore, the applicant of the present application has proposed a developing apparatus capable of developing a photosensitive material such as a lith film on which an image is formed, without performing the above-mentioned wet processing. In this development processing apparatus, two types of materials are used: a photothermographic material having the property of being developed by heating, and a processing material containing an agent for forming an image on the photothermographic material. The heat-developable photothermographic material is adhered to the processing material and heated for a predetermined time, and the photothermographic material is peeled off from the processing material and dried (by performing a so-called dry process) to develop the photothermographic material. Processing is in progress.

In such a development processing apparatus, in order to evenly bond the sheet-form photothermographic material and the processing material, at least one of the photothermographic material and the processing material is subjected to image formation such as water before bonding. Solvent is applied. For this reason, the developing device is provided with a drying unit for drying the photothermographic material after the completion of the developing process. In this drying section, the photothermographic material was dried by blowing hot air at a predetermined temperature on the photothermographic material.

By the way, regarding the drying treatment, generally, the higher the drying temperature, the faster the drying treatment proceeds, and the shorter the drying treatment time. Therefore, it is conceivable to set the drying temperature higher in order to speed up the drying process.

However, polyethylene terephthalate (hereinafter, referred to as PET), polyethylene naphthalate (hereinafter, referred to as PEN), etc., which are actually used as a base member of a photothermographic material, have a predetermined temperature (glass transition temperature) corresponding to each. If the temperature exceeds the temperature Tg), there is a characteristic that deformation remains.

Therefore, for example, PET is used as the base member.
The temperature of the hot air for drying the photothermographic material using the method was set at about 40 to 50 ° C. so as not to exceed the glass transition temperature Tg (about 70 ° C.) of PET.

As described above, conventionally, the drying temperature of the photothermographic material is set under the constraint that the glass transition temperature Tg of the base member of the photothermographic material is not exceeded. It was difficult to plan.

[0012]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to speed up the drying process of a photosensitive material while preventing deformation from remaining on the photosensitive material. It is an object of the present invention to provide a developing method and a developing apparatus capable of performing the above-mentioned processes.

[0013]

In order to achieve the above object, a development processing method according to claim 1 comprises: a silver halide light-sensitive material to which an image has been exposed and an image-forming solvent has been applied;
A processing sheet containing an agent for forming an image is bonded to the silver halide light-sensitive material, and the bonded silver halide light-sensitive material and the processing sheet are heated to a temperature suitable for development processing by a predetermined heating means. Thus, in the developing method for developing the silver halide light-sensitive material, the silver halide light-sensitive material separated from the processing sheet after the development processing is completed, the base material of the silver halide light-sensitive material The silver halide photosensitive material is dried by being linearly conveyed along the surface of a heating flat plate for drying set at a temperature higher than the glass transition temperature and substantially the same as the temperature of the heating means. .

Further, according to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a developing apparatus, comprising: a coating means for applying an image forming solvent to a silver halide photosensitive material to which an image has been exposed; and a halogen having the image forming solvent applied by the coating means. A bonding means for bonding the silver halide photosensitive material and a processing sheet containing an agent for forming an image on the silver halide photosensitive material, and developing the silver halide photosensitive material and the processing sheet bonded by the bonding means. Heating means for heating to a temperature suitable for processing, separation means for separating the silver halide photosensitive material heated by the heating means from the processing sheet, and a silver halide provided adjacent to the heating means The temperature is set to be higher than the glass transition temperature of the base member of the photosensitive material and substantially the same as the temperature of the heating means, and the silver halide photosensitive material separated by the separating means is dried. The heating plate for drying, the silver halide photosensitive material and the processing sheet bonded together are conveyed along the surface of the heating means, and the silver halide photosensitive material separated by the separating means is separated from the heating plate by the drying method. And a transporting means for transporting linearly along the surface.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the developing apparatus of the second aspect, the drying flat plate is opposed to the drying flat plate by a transport path of the silver halide photosensitive material separated by the separating means. A fan for blowing hot air to the separated silver halide light-sensitive material is provided.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the developing apparatus according to the second or third aspect, wherein the halogen is provided on the downstream side of the heating flat plate in the transport direction of the silver halide photosensitive material. A cooling heating flat plate set at a temperature lower than the glass transition temperature of the base member of the silver halide photosensitive material is provided, and the silver halide photosensitive material is transported linearly along the surface of the cooling heating flat plate by the transporting means. It is characterized by doing.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a processing sheet comprising a silver halide light-sensitive material to which an image is exposed and coated with a solvent for image formation, and a chemical for forming an image on the silver halide light-sensitive material. And stick them together. And
The bonded silver halide light-sensitive material and the processing sheet are heated to a temperature suitable for development processing by a predetermined heating means. Since the silver halide photosensitive material has a property of being developed by heating, the silver halide photosensitive material is developed, and the exposed image is formed on the surface.
Thus, the development processing of the silver halide photosensitive material is performed.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the silver halide photosensitive material having undergone the development processing and separated from the processing sheet is linearly conveyed along the surface of the heating flat plate for drying. The silver halide light-sensitive material is dried. Here, the heating flat plate for drying is at a temperature higher than the glass transition temperature of the base member of the silver halide photosensitive material and substantially the same as the temperature of the heating means, that is, at a temperature higher than the temperature lower than the conventional glass transition temperature. Is set.

Since the silver halide light-sensitive material is conveyed along the surface of the heating flat plate for drying set at a higher temperature than in the prior art, the speed of drying the silver halide light-sensitive material can be increased. it can. On the other hand, when the silver halide photosensitive material is transported along the surface of the heating flat plate for drying, since the silver halide photosensitive material is transported linearly,
No force for deforming the silver halide light-sensitive material acts. Thereby, although the temperature of the silver halide photographic material becomes higher than the glass transition temperature, the silver halide photographic material does not undergo any deformation that remains.

Accordingly, it is possible to speed up the drying process of the silver halide light-sensitive material while preventing deformation from remaining in the silver halide light-sensitive material.

As a development processing apparatus for executing the above-described development processing method, the development processing apparatus according to claim 2 can be used. In the developing device according to the second aspect,
An image forming solvent is applied to the silver halide light-sensitive material to which the image has been exposed by a coating means, and the processing sheet is bonded to the silver halide light-sensitive material coated with the image forming solvent by a bonding means.

Then, the bonded silver halide light-sensitive material and the processed sheet are conveyed along the surface of the heating means by the conveying means. As a result, the bonded silver halide light-sensitive material and the processing sheet are heated so that the temperature of the silver halide light-sensitive material reaches a temperature suitable for the development processing, and at the same time, the chemical contained in the processing sheet acts to act on the silver halide light-sensitive material. The photosensitive material is developed and an exposed image is formed on the surface of the silver halide photosensitive material. The heating means may be, for example, a flat plate having a predetermined surface serving as a heating surface, or a drum having a predetermined surface heated by the outer peripheral surface.

The silver halide light-sensitive material thus developed is separated from the processing sheet by the separating means, and is linearly moved by the conveying means along the surface of the heating flat plate provided adjacent to the heating means. Transported to The heating flat plate for drying has a temperature higher than the glass transition temperature of the base member of the silver halide photosensitive material and substantially the same as the temperature of the heating means, that is, higher than the set temperature set lower than the conventional glass transition temperature. Set to temperature.

As described above, the silver halide light-sensitive material is conveyed along the surface of the heating flat plate for drying set at a higher temperature than in the prior art, so that the silver halide light-sensitive material is subjected to a drying treatment. It is faster than before. On the other hand, when the silver halide photosensitive material is transported along the surface of the heating flat plate for drying, the silver halide photosensitive material is transported linearly, so that the silver halide photosensitive material may be deformed. Does not work. Thereby, although the temperature of the silver halide photographic material becomes higher than the glass transition temperature, the silver halide photographic material does not undergo any deformation that remains.

Accordingly, it is possible to increase the speed of the drying process of the silver halide light-sensitive material while preventing deformation from remaining in the silver halide light-sensitive material.

Here, the effect of increasing the speed of the drying process will be described. As an example, conventional drying with 30 ° C. warm air and drying with a heating flat plate at 80 ° C. in the developing apparatus of the present invention will be compared. The vapor pressure of water is 4245 mmHg at 30 ° C and 47377 mmHg at 80 ° C (exhibition is a scientific chronology). As described above, since the vapor pressure of water at 80 ° C. is about 10 times the vapor pressure of water at 30 ° C., the amount of absolute water vapor contained in air at 80 ° C. is the same under the condition that the relative humidity is the same. , About 10 times the absolute water vapor contained in air at 30 ° C. That is, it can be said that the drying ability at 80 ° C. is about 10 times the drying ability at 30 ° C. In other words, when heating from 30 ° C. to 80 ° C., the drying process takes about 10
Twice as fast.

Next, in the developing device according to the third aspect,
A fan for blowing hot air to the separated silver halide photosensitive material is provided so as to face the drying flat plate with the conveyance path of the silver halide photosensitive material separated by the separating means as a boundary. The warm air from the fan is blown onto the silver halide photosensitive material conveyed through the conveying path, so that one surface of the silver halide photosensitive material is heated by the heating flat plate for drying, and the other surface is heated. It is dried by the warm air from the fan. As described above, since the silver halide photosensitive material compensates for the decrease in the surface temperature by the heating from the back surface by the warm air, the drying process can be performed efficiently.

In order to perform the drying process more efficiently, the temperature of the hot air from the fan is set to a temperature higher than the glass transition temperature of the base member of the silver halide photosensitive material and substantially the same as the temperature of the heating means. It is desirable to set.

Further, as in the developing apparatus of the present invention, the glass transition temperature of the base member of the silver halide photosensitive material is lower than the drying temperature of the flat plate in the transport direction of the silver halide photosensitive material. By providing a heating plate for cooling set to a temperature and conveying the silver halide photosensitive material linearly along the surface of the heating plate for cooling by the conveying means, the silver halide photosensitive material is heated by the heating plate for drying. After that, it is possible to avoid a situation in which the temperature is suddenly lowered by air cooling. That is, it is possible to prevent an abrupt temperature change from occurring in the silver halide light-sensitive material and prevent the silver halide light-sensitive material from being deformed.

As the silver halide light-sensitive material of the present invention, a sheet-shaped lith film having the property of being developed by heating can be used. However, in addition to this, a silver halide photosensitive material for forming a color image having a property of being developed by heating is also applicable.

The silver halide light-sensitive material for forming a color image includes, on a support, at least a light-sensitive silver halide, a binder, and a color material having a function of releasing or diffusing a diffusible dye imagewise. There is a photosensitive material having at least three types of photosensitive layers having different photosensitive wavelength regions and different hues after development of the coloring material. Further, on a support, at least three types of photosensitive layers containing at least a photosensitive silver halide, a binder, and a dye-donating coupler, and having a different photosensitive wavelength region and a different hue of a dye formed from the dye-donating coupler. A photosensitive material having the following formula can also be applied.

[0032]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

First Embodiment A first embodiment according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the internal structure of a developing apparatus 10 according to the present invention. The development processing apparatus 10 performs development processing of a squirrel film that forms a black-and-white image (binary image) used for printing newspapers, magazines, and the like.

In the following, an example will be described in which the development processing apparatus 10 performs development processing on a lith film on which a gray-scale image of a cyan component has already been exposed for a color image to be printed. The squirrel film to be processed is hereinafter referred to as a film F.

The film F corresponds to the silver halide light-sensitive material of the present invention, and is formed on a support by a light-sensitive silver halide emulsion having a silver chloride content of at least 70 mol%, a hydrophilic binder, and a poorly soluble in water. Of a basic metal compound. As the support, for example, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is used.

As shown in FIG. 1, the main body 12 of the developing apparatus 10 is formed in a box shape. In addition, the development processing apparatus 1
On the right side (in the direction of arrow R) of 0, an exposure device 11 for exposing and discharging an image on the film F is provided. Body 1
A slit-shaped insertion port 14 for inserting an undeveloped film F is provided on the right side surface of 2, and a discharge port 16 for discharging the developed film F is provided on the upper part. In addition,
A tray 18 that receives the film F discharged from the discharge port 16 to the outside of the main body 12 is formed at an upper portion of the main body 12.

A door (not shown) is provided on the left side of the main body 12 in the direction of the arrow L. The door can be opened and closed to expose the inside. On the other hand, on the right side inside the main body 12, there is provided an insertion buffer unit 24 for temporarily suspending the film F inserted from the insertion opening 14. The insertion buffer unit 24 includes a transport roller 26 and a branch guide 2.
8. The transport rollers 30 are sequentially arranged. The transport roller 26 is rotated by a motor 32, and the transport roller 30 is rotated by a motor 34.

The branch guide 28 is switched by a solenoid 36 between a horizontal state shown by a solid line in FIG. 1 and a vertical state shown by an imaginary line. 26 and transport roller 3
The film F can be loosened between zero and zero. In addition,
An insertion sensor 38 for detecting the film F is provided between the insertion port 14 and the transport roller 26.

With such an insertion buffer section 24, a speed difference between the processing speed of the developing processing device 10 (for example, 30 mm / sec) and the processing speed of the exposure device 11 (for example, 100 mm / sec) can be absorbed. .

On the downstream side in the transport direction of the film F with respect to the transport roller 30, a photosensitive material carry-in section 40 and a water application section 4 as an application means for applying water applied as a solvent for image formation are provided.
2 are installed. The water is not limited to so-called pure water, but includes water in a widely and generally used sense. Further, a mixed solvent of water and a low boiling point solvent such as methanol, DMF, acetone, diisobutyl ketone and the like may be used. Further, a solution containing an image formation accelerator, an antifoggant, a development terminator, a hydrophilic heat solvent, a preservative, a fungicide and the like may be used.

The photosensitive material loading section 40 is provided with a plurality of transport rollers 44 for transporting the film F transported from the insertion buffer section 24 to the water application section 42.
Further, the photosensitive material loading section 40 is provided with a standby sensor 46 for detecting the film F at an intermediate portion of the film transport path.

One water application section 42 has an application tank 48
Is arranged. The application tank 48 is formed in a dish shape, and the inside is filled with water as a solvent for image formation. The application tank 48 is provided with an arc-shaped guide 51 for immersing the film F in water.

On the upper side of the coating tank 48, the film F is composed of rollers 50A and 50B arranged horizontally.
A squeeze roller 50 that removes excess water adhering to the sheet and conveys it upward is provided. The rotation center of the roller 50A and the rotation center of the roller 50B are on the same horizontal plane,
The squeeze roller 50 conveys the film F right above. In addition, the water application section 42 includes an application tank 48
The tank is provided with a replenishing tank and a pump (both not shown) for refilling water.

Inside the main body 12, a processing sheet unwinding section 52 is provided on the left side, and a processing sheet winding section 54 is provided above the processing sheet unwinding section 52. A supply shaft 58 rotated by a motor 56 is detachably provided in the processing sheet unwinding section 52, and a long processing sheet 60 is wound around the supply shaft 58 in a roll shape. The processing sheet 60 in the first embodiment has a layer containing a complex forming compound for metal ions constituting a basic metal compound, a physical development nucleus, and a silver halide solvent on a support.

In one processing sheet winding section 54, a winding shaft 64 rotated by a motor 62 is detachably provided, and the processing sheet 60 sent from the supply shaft 58 is wound around the winding shaft 64. To take. The supply shaft 58
The take-up shaft 64 can be removed from the main body 12 by opening a door (not shown) provided on the left side surface of the main body 12.

At a substantial center of the main body 12, a heat developing section 66 as a heating means is provided. In the thermal developing section 66, a plurality of hot plates 68A to 68E are arranged in an arc shape. Each of the heating plates 68A to 68E incorporates a flat heater (not shown) and a temperature sensor, and the heating plates 68A to 68E.
Is heated by a heater so as to have a temperature suitable for the development processing of the film F.

Below the lowermost hot plate 68A, a roller 70 is disposed on the right side of the transport path of the film F indicated by a dashed line. A heating flat plate 10 for heating and drying the film F is provided beside the uppermost hot plate 68E.
6 are arranged along the transport path of the film F,
On the right side of the drying flat plate 106, a roller 72 is disposed below the transport path of the film F. The heating flat plate 106 will be described later in detail.

An endless belt 74 that comes into contact with the back surface of the film F is wound around the roller 70, the hot plates 68A to 68E, the heating flat plate 106, and the roller 72. The endless belt 74 further includes rollers 76 and 78.
Is wrapped around. Rollers 70, 72, 76, 78
Are connected to each other by a timing belt (or a chain or the like) (not shown), and are rotated by a motor 80.

Below the roller 70, a bonding roller 82 composed of a roller 82A and a roller 82B is arranged. The roller 82B is rotated by a motor 84, and the roller 82A is urged toward the roller 82B by a spring (not shown).

The roller 70 and the roller 90A
1 and the lower end of the heating surface (left surface in FIG. 1) of the hot plate 68A are disposed on a tangent passing through a contact P1 between the rollers 82A and 82B. By arranging in this manner, the film F and the processing sheet 60 bonded by the bonding roller 82 can surely and uniformly contact the first heating surface of the hot plate 68A via the rollers 70 and 90A. Thus, the bonded film F and the processing sheet 60 can be uniformly heated.

A roller 86 around which the processing sheet 60 is wound is disposed below the supply shaft 58. The processing sheet 60 sent out from the supply shaft 58 is wound around the roller 86, and then the above-described laminating roller. It is transported along the hot plates 68 </ b> A to 68 </ b> E via 82.

At positions facing the hot plates 68A to 68E,
An urging device 88 for urging the bonded film F and the processing sheet 60 toward the hot plates 68A to 68E is provided. The biasing device 88 includes rollers 90A, 9
0B, 90C and these rollers 90A, 90B, 90
C and the processing sheet 60 is heated by the hot plates 68A-68.
And an endless belt 92 that urges the outer peripheral surface of E. The rollers 90A, 90B, and 90C are connected to each other by a timing belt (or a chain or the like) (not shown), and are rotated by a motor 94. In the biasing device 88 having such a configuration, the endless belt 92
The film F and the processing sheet 60 are urged toward the hot plates 68A to 68E by the tension between the rollers 90A to 90C.

Above the urging device 88, a processing sheet drying section 96 is provided. The processing sheet drying section 96 is provided with drying heating flat plates 98A and 98B for heating and drying the processing sheet 60 along the transport path of the processing sheet 60, and the drying heating flat plates 98A and 98B.
Between them, a fan 100 that incorporates a heater (not shown) and blows warm air to the processing sheet 60 is provided. A nip roller 102 for transporting the processing sheet 60 so as to contact or approach the heating flat plates 98A and 98B is provided downstream of the heating flat plate 98B in the transport direction.

On the other hand, a film drying unit 104 is provided downstream of the thermal developing unit 66 in the transport direction of the film F. In the film drying section 104, the above-mentioned heating flat plate 106 for drying is provided along the conveyance path of the film F, and a fan 108 that incorporates a heater (not shown) and blows warm air to the film F is provided. The heating plate 106 is provided so as to face the drying heating plate 106 with a transport path as a boundary.

The heating surface of the heating plate 106 for drying (FIG. 1)
The upper surface of the hot plate 68 is formed flat.
It is arranged on the same plane as the heating surface of E. Thus, the film drying unit 104 is configured so that the film F is linearly conveyed along the flat heating surface of the heating flat plate 106 for drying. That is, in the film drying unit 104,
Care is taken not to apply any force such as pressing force or bending force to the film F to be conveyed. The heating surface of the heating flat plate 106 is set to about 80 ° C., which is higher than the glass transition temperature Tg (about 70 ° C.) of PET which is a support constituting the film F. Thus, the heating flat plate 1 for drying
06 is set higher than the glass transition temperature Tg of PET, but since no external force such as pressing force or bending force is applied to the film F to be conveyed,
No deformation occurs in the film F.

A substantially U-shaped transport guide 112 is provided downstream of the film drying unit 104 in the transport direction of the film F. The film F heated and dried in the film drying unit 104 passes through the transport guide 112. , Transport roller 11
4 and the conveying roller 116 from the discharge port 16 to the main body 1
2 to the outside.

Next, the operation of the first embodiment will be described.
In the developing apparatus 10 having the above configuration, when the exposed film F discharged from the exposure device 11 is inserted into the insertion port 14, the film F is detected by the insertion sensor 38,
The transport roller 26 is driven at a speed corresponding to the speed at which the film F is inserted.
Is rotated, and the film F is transported inside.

Since the processing speed of the film F in the developing device 10 (after the transport roller 30) is lower than the insertion speed of the film F, when the leading end of the film F is nipped by the transport roller 30, the branch guide 28 is moved. The state is switched to the vertical state shown by the imaginary line, and the central portion and the rear end of the film F hang down, for example, as shown by the imaginary line in FIG.

The film F transported by the transport roller 30
Is transported to the water application section 42 by the transport roller 44 of the photosensitive material loading section 40. In the water application section 42, the film F
After being immersed in the water stored in the application tank 48, the excess water is removed by the squeeze roller 50 and transported directly above.

When a predetermined time elapses after the leading end of the film F is detected by the standby sensor 46, the endless belt 74
When the endless belt 92 and the processing sheet 60 are the film F
The film F coated with water and the processing sheet 60 are bonded together by a bonding roller 82 and then transferred to the heat developing unit 66.

In the thermal developing section 66, the bonded film F and the processing sheet 60 are urged toward the hot plates 68A to 68E by an urging device 88, and the hot plates 68A to 68E are urged.
Is conveyed while contacting the heating surface. Thereby, the film F is heated, the temperature rises, and reaches a temperature suitable for the development processing. As the temperature of the film F rises in this way and the complex forming compound, the physical development nuclei and the silver halide solvent contained in the processing sheet 60 act on the film F, the color image to be printed on the film F is reduced. A grayscale image of the cyan component is formed.

Incidentally, water adheres to the film F,
Since the endless belt 92 presses the processing sheet 60 against the film F, care is taken so that the film F and the processing sheet 60 are heat-developed evenly in a close contact state.

After the formation of the dark and light image of the cyan component on the film F as described above, the processing sheet 60 is separated from the film F by the roller 90C as a separating means. The peeled processing sheet 60 is placed in the processing sheet drying section 9.
In 6, the sheet is conveyed while being in contact with the heating heating flat plates 98 </ b> A and 98 </ b> B, and is dried by blowing hot air from the fan 100. Then, the dried processing sheet 60 is wound around a winding shaft 64.

On the other hand, the film F peeled from the processing sheet 60 is conveyed linearly along the surface of the heating flat plate 106 set at about 80 ° C. in the film drying section 104. Since the heating temperature is set higher than the glass transition temperature Tg of PET which is a support constituting the film F, that is, considerably higher than the conventional heating temperature for drying, the drying is accelerated. In the first embodiment in which the heating temperature is set to 80 ° C., the heating temperature is set to 30 ° C.
As compared with the case described above, an effect of speeding up about 10 times is obtained as described above.

The surface of the film F conveyed along the surface of the heating plate 106 for drying (the surface opposite to the surface in contact with the heating plate 106 for drying) is heated by the fan 108. Is blown. In this manner, since both sides of the film F are heated and dried, the film F can be dried very efficiently.

On the other hand, when the film F is transported along the surface of the drying heating plate 106, the film F is transported linearly, so that a force for deforming the film F acts. do not do. Thus, although the temperature of the film F becomes higher than the glass transition temperature Tg of PET as a support, the film F does not undergo any deformation that remains.

Therefore, according to the first embodiment, it is possible to speed up the drying process of the film F while keeping the deformation from remaining on the film F.

The film F having been subjected to the high-speed drying process is discharged onto the tray 18 from the discharge port 16 via the transport guide 112, the transport rollers 114, and the transport rollers 116.

As described above, the film F on which the grayscale image of the cyan color component of the target color image is exposed
Is completed.

Thereafter, similarly, a film on which a gray image of a magenta color component of the target color image is exposed,
Developing processing is sequentially performed for each of the film on which the grayscale image of the yellow color component is exposed and the film on which the black grayscale image is exposed, and a total of four originals for cyan, magenta, yellow, and black Create Then, these four originals are printed in an overlapping manner using inks of the corresponding colors. As a result, a printed matter on which the target color image is recorded is created.

In the first embodiment, water as an image forming solvent is applied to the film F. However, the water may be applied to the processing sheet 60, or the water may be applied to the processing sheet 60. It may be applied to both.

[Second Embodiment] Hereinafter, referring to the drawings,
A second embodiment according to the present invention will be described. The second embodiment corresponds to the fourth aspect of the present invention. In the development processing apparatus 10 of FIG. 1 according to the first embodiment,
An example is shown in which a cooling unit 180 for preventing the temperature of the film F from suddenly changing after drying is provided on the downstream side of the heating flat plate 106 for drying.

First, the developing apparatus 10S of the second embodiment
Will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, in the developing apparatus 10S of the second embodiment, the cooling unit 18 is provided on the downstream side of the heating flat plate 106 for drying in the transport direction of the film F, that is, on the downstream side adjacent to the roller 72.
0 is set. As shown in FIG.
Numeral 80 denotes a cooling flat plate 180A whose heating surface (upper surface in FIG. 3) is set to 70 ° C., a cooling flat plate 180B whose heating surface is set to 60 ° C., and a cooling plate whose heating surface is set to 40 ° C. The heating flat plate 180C is composed of a total of three hot plates, and cooling heating flat plates 180A, 180B, and 180C are arranged in this order along the transport direction of the film F.

The cooling heating flat plates 180A,
The heating surfaces 80B and 180C are located on the same plane as the heating surface of the heating flat plate 106 for drying. Thereby, it is considered that no external force such as pressing force or bending force is applied to the conveyed film F.

Further, as shown in FIG.
The film F is transported in a substantially U-shaped conveyance guide 11
A transport roller 113 for transporting the paper toward the discharge port 16 via the second roller 2 is provided.

Next, the operation of the second embodiment will be described. Since the developing process and the drying process after the developing process are the same as those in the first embodiment, the description is omitted, and only the cooling process after the drying is described.

The film F is conveyed linearly along the surface of the heating flat plate 106 in the film drying section 104 and is dried by blowing hot air from a fan 108 on the upper surface in FIG. . The film F that has been dried to a high temperature of about 80 ° C. is further transported to the cooling unit 180. Then, in the cooling unit 180, the film F is heated to about 70 ° C.
The heating plate 180B for cooling at about 60 ° C. and the heating plate 180C for cooling at about 40 ° C. are conveyed linearly in contact with their surfaces in this order. Thereby, the film drying unit 104
The temperature of the film F, which has reached a high temperature of about 80 ° C., gradually decreases in the cooling unit 180.

As described above, the film F having a temperature higher than the glass transition temperature Tg (about 70 ° C.) of PET as the support is gradually cooled in the cooling section 180 to the glass transition temperature Tg (about 7 ° C.).
By cooling the film F to a temperature lower than 0 ° C.), it is possible to avoid a situation in which the film F, which has reached a high temperature of about 80 ° C. in the film drying unit 104, is air-cooled and the temperature suddenly drops. That is, it is possible to prevent a sudden temperature change from occurring in the film F, and prevent the film F from being deformed.

When the film F is cooled in the cooling section 180 (cooling heating flat plates 180A, 180B, 180C
When the film F is conveyed along the heating surface of (1), the film F in the high-temperature state is conveyed linearly, and no external force is applied. Needless to say.

The film F gradually cooled in the cooling section 180 as described above is conveyed to the substantially U-shaped conveyance guide 112 by the conveyance rollers 113, and thereafter toward the discharge port 16 by the conveyance rollers 114 and 116. Conveyed. When the film F arrives at the conveyance guide 112, the film F has already been transferred to the glass transition temperature Tg of PET.
(About 70 ° C)
Even if the film F is deformed into a substantially U-shape when the film F moves in the transport guide 112, the deformation does not remain.

According to the second embodiment, the film F having a glass transition temperature Tg (about 70 ° C.) higher than that of PET is used.
Gradually in the cooling section 180, the glass transition temperature Tg
By cooling to a temperature lower than (about 70 ° C)
It is possible to avoid a situation in which the film F, which has been in a high temperature state of about 80 ° C. in the film drying unit 104, is air-cooled and the temperature rapidly drops. That is, it is possible to prevent a sudden temperature change from occurring in the film F, and prevent the film F from being deformed.

In the developing apparatuses of the first and second embodiments, a film F whose support is made of PET is used as the silver halide photosensitive material of the present invention.
An example in which heating and drying are performed at a temperature higher than the glass transition temperature Tg (about 70 ° C.) of ET has been described. However, the support of the silver halide photosensitive material is not limited to PET. Various substances can be used, and the material may be dried by heating at a temperature higher than the corresponding glass transition temperature Tg.

[0083]

[Table 1]

[0084]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The effect is obtained that the drying process of the silver halide light-sensitive material can be speeded up while preventing deformation from remaining in the silver halide light-sensitive material.

In particular, according to the third aspect of the present invention, since the silver halide photosensitive material is supplied with heat from one side and dried on the opposite side with warm air, the drying process can be performed efficiently. The effect is obtained.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to prevent a rapid temperature change in the silver halide light-sensitive material and prevent the silver halide light-sensitive material from being deformed. Is obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a development processing apparatus according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an overall configuration diagram of a developing apparatus according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a cooling unit in a developing device of a second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Development processing apparatus 42 Water application part (application means) 60 Processing sheet 66 Thermal development part 68A-68E Hot plate (heating means) 82 Lamination roller (lamination means) 90C roller 100 Fan 106 Drying heating flat plate 108 Fan 180 Cooling Part 180A, 180B, 180C Heating flat plate F film for cooling (silver halide photosensitive material)

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A silver halide light-sensitive material to which an image has been exposed and coated with a solvent for image formation, and a processing sheet containing an agent for forming an image on the silver halide light-sensitive material are bonded to each other. A developing method for developing the silver halide photosensitive material by heating the silver halide photosensitive material and the processing sheet to a temperature suitable for the development processing by a predetermined heating means, wherein the development processing is completed. The silver halide photosensitive material separated from the processing sheet is placed on the surface of a heating flat plate for drying set at a temperature higher than the glass transition temperature of the base member of the silver halide photosensitive material and substantially equal to the temperature of the heating means. Wherein the silver halide photosensitive material is dried by transporting the silver halide photosensitive material linearly. 2. A coating means for applying an image forming solvent to an image-exposed silver halide light-sensitive material, a silver halide light-sensitive material coated with an image-forming solvent by said coating means, and said silver halide light-sensitive material. A laminating unit for laminating a processing sheet containing an agent for forming an image on the material, and a silver halide light-sensitive material and a processing sheet laminated by the laminating unit, for heating to a temperature suitable for a developing process. Heating means, separating means for separating the silver halide photosensitive material heated by the heating means and the processing sheet, and provided adjacent to the heating means, wherein the glass transition temperature of the base member of the silver halide photosensitive material is A heating flat plate for drying the silver halide light-sensitive material separated by the separating means, which is set to be substantially the same as the temperature of the heating means, and The silver halide light-sensitive material and the processed sheet are conveyed along the surface of the heating means, and the silver halide light-sensitive material separated by the separation means is linearly conveyed along the surface of the heating flat plate for drying. And a transporting means. 3. A fan for blowing warm air to the separated silver halide photosensitive material so as to face the drying flat plate with a conveyance path of the silver halide photosensitive material separated by the separating means as a boundary. 3. The developing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising: 4. A cooling heating flat plate which is set at a temperature lower than the glass transition temperature of the base member of the silver halide photosensitive material is provided downstream of the drying heating flat plate in the transport direction of the silver halide photosensitive material. 4. The developing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said transport means transports the silver halide photosensitive material linearly along the surface of said cooling flat plate.