JPH11133567A - Photographic processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce flicker caused by the on/off of a heater for the temperature control of processing solution in a photographic processing device. SOLUTION: Respective processing tanks 31 to 36 are respectively provided with plural heaters 71, 72... and the heater 72 is turned on when specified delay time elapses after the heater 71 is turned on by a control circuit 60A, so that all the heaters 71, 72... are not turned on at the same time. Then, the sum of the capacities of all the heaters 71, 72... is made nearly coincident with the necessary capacity.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to temperature control of a processing solution and a drying chamber in a photographic processing apparatus and measures against flicker.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a photographic processing apparatus, the temperature of a processing solution such as a developing solution or a fixing solution and the temperature of a drying chamber are controlled within a certain range. Therefore, in a conventional photographic processing apparatus, a heater and a temperature sensor having a predetermined capacity are provided in each of the processing liquid tanks and the drying chamber, and a control circuit compares a temperature measured by the temperature sensor with a predetermined set temperature. On / off is controlled.

[0003]

Generally, the capacity of a heater used for each processing tank or drying chamber of a photographic processing apparatus is several hundred watts or more. Therefore, turning on / off (especially on) the heater results in a large load change for the power supply, and a large current change (especially a decrease in current). for that reason,
There has been a problem that a lighting device or the like that shares a power supply with a photo processing device has an instantaneous change in brightness, that is, a phenomenon called flicker occurs.

Further, in the conventional photographic processing apparatus, the temperature is controlled using a large-capacity heater, so that the rate of temperature rise is high, and the heater must be turned on and off frequently and the temperature must be increased. However, there is a problem that it is difficult to finely adjust the temperature and the accuracy of the temperature control is low.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and is capable of finely adjusting the temperature of a processing solution, having high precision in temperature control, and at least turning on a heater. It is an object of the present invention to provide a photographic processing device with reduced flicker.

[0006]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a photographic processing apparatus according to the present invention has at least one section where temperature control is performed, and a plurality of heaters are provided in each section.
The heaters are turned on at different timings.
That is, using a plurality of heaters having a small capacity, the required predetermined heating capacity is achieved, and the timing of turning on each heater is shifted so that the heaters do not turn on at the same time. Load fluctuations of the power supply at the time of turning on are reduced. As a result, a change in current is small, and flicker can be reduced. In addition, since a plurality of heaters are sequentially turned on, it is possible to smoothly increase and decrease the amount of heat generation, thereby enabling fine adjustment of temperature and improving accuracy of temperature control. Become.

In the above structure, the section is preferably a tank filled with a processing solution for developing the exposed photosensitive material. With such a configuration, the target temperature range when controlling the temperature of the processing solution such as the developing solution and the fixing solution can be narrowed, and the variation in the quality of the processed photograph can be reduced.

Further, the section is preferably a drying chamber for drying the developed photosensitive material. With such a configuration, it is possible to reduce flicker when the heater in the drying chamber is turned on.

Further, a temperature sensor is provided in each section, and the time for turning on and off each heater is calculated using the temperature measured by the temperature sensor. Each heater changes the phase of the calculated on time and off time. May be configured to be controlled. With such a configuration, it is possible to control on / off of each heater while monitoring the temperature measured by the temperature sensor, and it is possible to narrow the range of the temperature control. As a result, for example, a processing solution such as a developing solution is maintained at a substantially constant temperature, and the quality of a developed photograph can be maintained at a constant level.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of a photographic processing apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a photographic processing apparatus of the present embodiment.

The photographic paper 10 wound into a roll is fed from the upper part of the photographic processing apparatus 1 into the dark room 2, cut into a predetermined size by the cutter 4, and the cut photographic paper piece is placed on the ground. It is placed on an exposure table 3 provided at an angle of approximately 45 degrees. The stretching lens unit 20 is provided so that the optical axis L of the stretching lens is orthogonal to the exposure table 3, that is, approximately 45 degrees with respect to the ground in a direction opposite to the exposure table 3. Lens unit 2
A shutter 21 for controlling an exposure time is provided at an end of the exposure table 3 on the side of the exposure table 0.

The light source 11 is provided via a mirror unit 12 so as to be substantially perpendicular to the optical axis L of the stretching lens unit 20. A film transport mechanism (not shown) for transporting the negative film is provided between the light source 11 and the stretching lens unit 20. The light source 11 and the enlargement lens unit 20
, An operation panel 13 and a monitor device 14 are provided.

The exposed photographic paper piece is conveyed to a developing unit 30 by a conveying mechanism 5 such as a belt, and developed, fixed,
After being subjected to various processes such as washing with water, it is dried by the drying unit 80 and discharged to the upper part of the apparatus 1. In the middle of the transport mechanism 5, a printer 40 for printing predetermined characters and the like on the back surface of the photographic paper piece is provided. A densitometer 50 for measuring the density of the test print is provided outside the photographic processing apparatus 1. Further, a control circuit 60 for controlling each of the above components is provided inside the photographic processing apparatus 1.

Next, the details of the developing unit 30 will be described. The developing unit 30 includes, for example, six processing liquid tanks, and the developing processing tank 3 filled with the developing liquid.
1. a fixing processing tank 32 filled with a bleach-fixing solution;
First to fourth stabilization tanks 3 filled with a stabilizing solution
They are arranged in the order of 3-36. Each processing tank 31 to 3
6, as shown in FIG. 2, the first and second heaters 71,
72 and a temperature sensor 73 are provided. Note that the number of heaters is not limited to two, and may be three or more.
Further, the capacity of each heater may be the same or different. That is, it is only necessary that the sum of the capacities of the respective heaters is substantially equal to the required capacity in a state where all the heaters are turned on.

The temperature sensor 73 is connected to the comparison section 63 of the control circuit 60A. Also, the first and second heaters 7
Reference numerals 1 and 72 are connected to the control unit 65 of the control circuit 60A. The control circuit 60A includes a setting unit 61, a storage unit 62, a calculation unit 64, and a timer 66 in addition to the comparison unit 63 and the control unit 65.

As the setting section 61, for example, predetermined keys on the operation panel 13 and the like in FIG. 1 are assigned.
Target temperature, temperature control range and first and second heaters 71,
A delay time for controlling the on / off timing of 72 is set. The storage unit 62 stores, for example, R
A memory such as an AM, which stores a set target temperature, a temperature control range, a delay time, and the like. The comparing unit 63 compares the temperature measured by the temperature sensor 73 with the target temperature and the temperature control range, and outputs a predetermined signal corresponding to the measured temperature to the arithmetic unit 64. When the measured temperature is within the temperature control range, the arithmetic unit 64 uses the signal corresponding to the difference between the measured temperature and the target temperature from the comparing unit 63 to perform the duty control described below. The on / off times of the heaters 71 and 72 are calculated, and a signal corresponding to those times is output. When the measured temperature is out of the temperature control range, the calculating unit 64
Outputs a predetermined signal for constantly turning on and off the first and second heaters 71 and 72. The control unit 65 uses the control signal from the arithmetic unit 64 and a signal from a predetermined clock signal from the timer 66 to control the first and second heaters 7.
On / off of 1,72 is controlled.

The control circuit 60A may be configured as a part of the control circuit 60 shown in FIG. 1, or may be provided independently for each of the processing tanks 31 to 36.

Here, for example, the necessary total capacity of the heater is 3
Assuming 00 w, one heater with a capacity of 300 w is provided in the conventional example, but in the present embodiment, for example, two heaters with a capacity of 150 w are provided. For this reason, in the conventional example, the load fluctuation of the power supply caused by one on / off of the heater is 300 w, whereas in the present embodiment, the first heater 71 and the second heater 72 are turned on at different timings. / By turning off, the first
The load fluctuation of the power supply caused by one on / off of the heater 71 or the second heater 72 is reduced to 150 w. Accordingly, a change in current is reduced, and a change in instantaneous brightness of an illumination device or the like that shares a power supply with the photographic processing device, that is, flicker is reduced.

Next, the temperature control according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 3 shows the temperature T measured by the temperature sensor 73 and the first and second heaters 71,
72 is a timing chart showing an on / off relationship of the reference numeral 72. As an example, when controlling the temperature of the developing solution filled in the developing tank 31, the target temperature is set to + 30 ° C. and the temperature control range is set to ± 1 ° C.

When the main switch of the photographic processing apparatus is turned on, the control unit 65 first turns on the first heater 71 to raise the temperature of the processing liquid in each of the processing tanks 31 to 36 to the target temperature. At the same time, the count of the clock signal from the timer 66 is started, and when the count number of the clock signal reaches a value corresponding to the set delay time, the second heater 72 is turned on. As the delay time, for example, 0.1
About 20 seconds is preferable.

The comparing section 64 uses a timing signal from a timer 66, for example, and outputs the temperature sensor 73 at regular intervals.
Is compared with the target temperature or the upper limit and the lower limit of the temperature control range.

The heat of the first and second heaters 71 and 72 raises the temperature of the processing liquid in the processing tanks 31 to 36,
When the temperature reaches the lower limit of the temperature control range by the temperature sensor 73, the calculation unit 64 and the control unit start duty control. With the start of the duty control, the control unit 65 sets the timer 6
6. The counting of the clock signal from 6 is started, and when the counted number of the clock signal reaches a value corresponding to the first predetermined time, the first and second heaters 71 and 72 are turned off. The flicker of the lighting device is remarkable when the power load increases and the current decreases. When the power load decreases and the current increases, the flicker does not cause much problem. Therefore, the timing of turning off the first and second heaters 71 and 72 may be simultaneous or different.

Next, the controller 65 counts the clock signal from the timer 66, and turns on the first heater 71 when the count of the clock signal reaches a value corresponding to the second predetermined time. Further, the control unit 65 includes the first heater 71
Is turned on, when the count number of the clock signal reaches a value corresponding to the set delay time, the second heater 7
Turn on 2. In parallel with this operation, the calculation unit 64 calculates the ON time and the OFF time of the first and second heaters 71 and 72 from the rate of increase in the temperature measured by the temperature sensor 73 and the like.

When the ON time calculated by the calculator 64 elapses, the controller 65 controls the first and second heaters 71 and 7.
Turn 2 off. In FIG. 3, the second heater 72 is turned off after a predetermined delay time has elapsed since the first heater 71 was turned off, but both may be turned off simultaneously. During this time, the operation unit 6
4 indicates the following first and second values in the hatched region S1 in FIG. 3 based on the maximum value of the difference between the measured temperature and the target temperature, the time during which the measured temperature is higher than the target temperature, and the like.
The on-time and off-time of the heaters 71 and 72 are calculated.

Hereinafter, similarly, the calculating section 64 calculates the areas S2 and S
.. Are calculated on and off times of the first and second heaters 71 and 72. In addition, the control unit 65
On / off control of the first and second heaters 71 and 72 is repeated based on the calculated on time and off time.
As a result, the difference between the value measured by the temperature sensor 73 and the target temperature gradually decreases, and the processing liquid can be maintained at a substantially constant temperature.

Next, the details of the drying unit 80 will be described with reference to FIG. The drying unit 80 is provided so as to oppose a belt transport mechanism 81 for transporting the developed photographic paper piece 90 and a transport surface of the belt transport mechanism 81, and dries the photographic paper piece 90 by blowing hot air. A blower 82 is provided. Inside the blower 82, first and second heaters 71 'and 72', a temperature sensor 73 'and a fan 84 are provided. Note that, as in the case of the processing tanks 31 to 36, the number of heaters is not limited to two, and may be three or more. Further, the capacity of each heater may be the same or different. That is, it is only necessary that the sum of the capacities of the respective heaters is substantially equal to the required capacity in a state where all the heaters are turned on.

The temperature sensor 73 'is connected to the comparison section 63' of the control circuit 60B. Further, the first and second heaters 71 ′ and 72 ′ are respectively connected to the control unit 6 of the control circuit 60B.
5 '. The control circuit 60B includes the comparing unit 6
3 ′, the control unit 65 ′, the setting unit 61 ′, the storage unit 6
2 ′ and a timer 66 ′. Since the temperature control in the drying unit 80 may be rougher than the temperature control of the processing liquid filled in each of the processing tanks 31 to 36 in the developing unit 30, it is not necessary to perform the duty control, and the calculation unit is unnecessary. .

As the setting section 61 ', for example, predetermined keys on the operation panel 13 or the like in FIG. 1 are assigned, and the temperature control range and the first and second heaters 71', 7 '
A delay time for controlling the on / off timing of 2 ′ is set. The storage unit 62 ′ is, for example, a memory such as a RAM of the control circuit 60, and stores a set temperature control range, a delay time, and the like. The comparison unit 63 'is provided with a temperature sensor 7
In order to turn on the first and second heaters 71 'and 72' when the measured temperature by 3 'is compared with the upper and lower limits of the temperature control range and the measured temperature is lower than the lower limit of the temperature control range. Is output, and when the measured temperature exceeds the upper limit value of the temperature control range, the first and second heaters 71 ′ and 7 ′ are output.
An off signal for turning off 2 'is output.

When receiving the ON signal from the comparing section 63 ', the control section 65' turns on the first heater 71 'and starts counting the clock signal from the timer 66'. When the count reaches the value corresponding to the delay time,
The controller 65 'turns on the second heater 72'. On the other hand, when receiving the OFF signal from the comparison unit 63 ', the control unit 65' turns off the first heater 71 'and sets the timer 66'
To start counting the clock signal. When the count reaches a value corresponding to the delay time, the control unit 65 'turns off the second heater 72'. Hereinafter, this operation is repeated.

The control circuit 60B may be configured as a part of the control circuit 60 shown in FIG. 1 or may be provided independently of the drying unit 80. In the case of the drying unit 80, the temperature of the hot air for drying the photographic paper piece 90 may be, for example, about ± 10 ° C. However, unlike the case of controlling the temperature of each processing solution in the developing unit 30, the capacity of the heater to be turned on / off is large, so that the influence on flicker is large. Therefore, it is effective as a measure against flicker to control a plurality of heaters having small capacities by changing the ON timing of each heater as in the present embodiment.

In the above embodiment, the control circuit 60A
Is configured to perform the duty control for calculating the ON time and the OFF time of the first and second heaters 71 and 72 by using the calculation unit 64. However, when the temperature measured by the temperature sensor 73 is higher than the target temperature, First and second heaters 71,
Control may be performed so that the first heater 72 and the second heater 72 are turned on when the measured temperature is lower than the target temperature.

Further, in the above embodiment, the control circuit 60
The control unit 65 of FIG. 6A sets the delay time from when the first heater 71 is turned on to when the second heater 72 is turned on to the timer 6.
The control is performed by counting the clock signal from the control circuit 6. For example, a delay circuit such as a monostable multivibrator is provided in the second heater 72, and
An arrangement may be made in which an ON signal is simultaneously output to the heater 71 and the second heater 72.

[0033]

As described above, according to the photographic processing apparatus of the present invention, the photographic processing apparatus has at least one section in which the temperature is controlled, and a plurality of heaters are provided in each section, and the heaters are different from each other. Since the heaters are turned on at the timing, it is possible to reduce the load fluctuation and the current change of the power supply when the individual heaters are turned on, and it is possible to reduce flicker. In addition, since a plurality of heaters are sequentially turned on, it is possible to smoothly increase and decrease the amount of heat generation, thereby enabling fine adjustment of temperature and improving accuracy of temperature control. Become.

The target temperature range for controlling the temperature of a processing solution such as a developing solution or a fixing solution can be set by setting the division as a tank filled with a processing solution for developing the exposed photosensitive material. It can be narrowed, and it is possible to reduce variations in the quality of the processed photograph.

Further, by setting the section as a drying chamber for drying the developed photosensitive material, it is possible to reduce flicker when the heater of the drying chamber is turned on.

Further, a temperature sensor is provided in each section, and the time for turning on and off each heater is calculated using the temperature measured by the temperature sensor. Each heater changes the phase of the calculated on time and off time. By controlling the temperature, the ON / OFF of each heater can be controlled while monitoring the temperature measured by the temperature sensor, and the width of the temperature control can be narrowed. As a result, for example, a processing solution such as a developing solution is maintained at a substantially constant temperature, and the quality of a developed photograph can be maintained at a constant level.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of a photographic processing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a processing tank of a developing unit in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a timing chart showing a relationship between a measured temperature and ON / OFF of a heater in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration of a drying unit in the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 30: developing units 31 to 36: processing tanks 60A, 60B: control circuits 61, 61 ': setting units 62, 62': storage units 63, 63 ': comparing units 64: computing units 65, 65': control units 66, 66 ': Timer 71, 71': First heater 72, 72 ': Second heater 73, 73': Temperature sensor 80: Drying unit 81: Belt transport mechanism 82: Blower 84: Fan 90: Photographic paper piece

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A photographic processing apparatus having at least one section where temperature control is performed, a plurality of heaters provided in the section, and each of the heaters being turned on at a different timing. 2. The photographic processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said section is a tank filled with a processing solution for developing an exposed photosensitive material. 3. The photographic processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the section is a drying chamber for drying the developed photosensitive material. 4. A temperature sensor is provided in the section, and a time for turning on and off each of the heaters is calculated using a temperature measured by the temperature sensor, and each of the heaters has a calculated on time and off time. 3. The photographic processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the control is performed by changing the phase of the photographic processing.