JPH11249277A - Automatic developing machine for silver halide photosensitive material and processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an automatic developing machine for photosensitive material and a processing method attaining rapid processing for the stable performance of photosensitive material, providing excellent preservation stability of the photosensitive material and excellent in maintainability without precipitation. SOLUTION: An automatic developing machine for processing silver halide photosensitive material is provided with two or one stabilizing processing tank in a process following a processing process with fixing ability, and has a control function of controlling time before entering a drying process after the contact of the photosensitive material with a color developer to be within 4 minutes, and a control means for controlling the total aerial time in processing in the processing process following the processing process with fixing ability to be within 15 seconds.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a photosensitive material automatic developing machine for processing a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material (hereinafter sometimes referred to as a "light-sensitive material") with a processing solution and a method for processing the photographic material.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, photographic processing is performed at a photographic shop, and then undeveloped or developed films are collected in a laboratory called a lab, and then developed and printed. It was a target.

However, in recent years, with the miniaturization and anhydrous washing of automatic developing machines, so-called mini-lab stores have been increasing in which the processing up to the development process is carried out at a store specializing in photography. Recently, this minilab shop has opened up into supermarkets other than photo specialty shops, and the decentralization and miniaturization of the lab has been spurred.

In such a minilab, a so-called one-hour photo service for providing simultaneous printing in 45 minutes to 1 hour, such as development processing and printing processing, is generally used.

However, as described above, as dispersion and miniaturization progress, the need for immediate processing of requesting development and then receiving it on the spot is further required, and the need for rapid processing is increasing.

[0006]

In order to perform such a rapid processing, it is conceivable to increase the concentration of the processing solution or raise the temperature to increase the activity. Although it is possible to shorten the processing time by such means, there is a limit, and deposition occurs in the processing tank, on the tank wall, on the rack, etc., resulting in poor transport, contamination of the photosensitive material, and deposition on the pump. Clogging of things occurs. Particularly, in the case of a processing solution having a fixing ability, thiosulfate and thiocyanate are generally used as a fixing agent, and these components are at the limit of increasing the concentration. You are in a difficult situation.

In order to solve these problems, means such as addition of a fixing accelerator and provision of strong stirring have been proposed.
There is a limit to this, and in the case of a fixing accelerator, there is a problem in the stability in the fixing solution, or when silver elutes from the photosensitive material during continuous processing and accumulates in the fixing solution, silver However, there was a problem that a hardly soluble salt was formed and precipitation occurred, and the solution had not been solved.

Further, it has been found that in the case of such a high-concentration fixing solution, deterioration of image dye due to storage which seems to suppress elution of components in the photosensitive material is observed.

[0009] It has been found that this problem becomes remarkable when the drying time is shortened by increasing the drying temperature, increasing the air volume, or removing the humidity, particularly in a rapid process.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic developing machine and a processing method for a photosensitive material which enables rapid processing of the photosensitive material with stable performance, and a photosensitive material which is excellent in maintenance without sedimentation or precipitation. An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic developing machine and a processing method for a photosensitive material, and an automatic developing machine and a processing method for a photosensitive material which provide excellent storage stability of the photosensitive material.

[0011]

The above objects of the present invention are as follows. In an automatic developing machine for processing a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material, the stabilization processing tank in the step following the processing step having a fixing ability is two tanks or one tank, and the photosensitive material is brought into contact with a color developing solution and then dried. Time before entering the process is 4
A control function for controlling the total air time during processing in the processing step following the processing step having the fixing ability to be within 15 seconds. Automatic developing machine for silver halide photographic materials,

2. 2. The automatic developing machine for silver halide photographic light-sensitive material according to 1 above, further comprising a control unit for controlling a processing time of a process subsequent to the process having the fixing ability to be within 60 seconds.

3. 2. The automatic developing machine for a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material as described in 1 above, further comprising control means for controlling a processing time of a step following the processing step having the fixing ability to be within 40 seconds.

4. Any one of the above-mentioned items 1 to 3, wherein the step following the processing step having the fixing ability is constituted by two stable processing tanks, and has an inflow means for flowing the stable processing tank from a rear bath to a previous bath. Automatic developing machine for silver halide photographic light-sensitive materials described in

[0015] 5. A replenishing means for replenishing a part or all of a processing solution in a step following the processing step having the fixing ability to a processing bath in an earlier step;
4. An automatic developing machine for a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material according to any one of 4.

6. The automatic developing machine for silver halide photographic light-sensitive material according to any one of the above 1 to 5, wherein the automatic light-sensitive material has a control means for controlling a time required for the light-sensitive material to pass through a drying step to be 50 seconds or less.

[7] 7. The silver halide photograph as described in any one of the above items 1 to 6, further comprising means for washing the back surface of the photosensitive material after the step following the processing step having the fixing ability and before the drying step. Automatic developing machine for photosensitive materials,

[8] 8. The automatic for silver halide photographic light-sensitive material as described in any one of the above items 1 to 7, wherein the radius of curvature of the extra-liquid turn portion from the processing step having the fixing ability to the subsequent step is from 0.9 cm to 3 cm. Developing machine,

9. The automatic developing machine for a photographic film according to any one of the above 1 to 8, wherein the automatic developing machine is configured to process a photosensitive material for photography.

[10] In the processing step of processing a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material, in the step following the step of processing with a processing solution having a fixing ability, the processing step is within two tanks, and after the photographic material is immersed in a developing solution, a drying step is performed. Wherein the total time in air of the photosensitive material during processing in the step following the step of processing with the processing solution having a fixing ability is within 15 seconds. Each of the methods for processing a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material.

The steps following the processing step having the fixing ability of the present invention are usually a stabilizing step, a preliminary washing step, a washing step and the like. Among them, in the present invention, a stabilizing step and a preliminary washing step are more preferable. That is, the replenishment amount is preferably 2 liters or less, more preferably 1.2 liters or less, per 1 m ^{2 of the} photosensitive material, and is in the range of 500 ml to 1000 ml in order to exhibit the effects of the present invention most effectively.

The aerial time during the processing of the present invention refers to the total of the aerial time from when the photosensitive material is immersed in the liquid of the relevant processing step to when it is immersed in the liquid of the next step. Therefore, when the processing step includes two or more processing tanks, the sum of the air time between the tanks and the air time until the next step is obtained.

When the subsequent step such as a stabilization step is a drying step, the processing time refers to a period from the time when the photosensitive material comes into contact with the processing solution in the processing step to a time when the photosensitive material enters the drying step and a time until the photosensitive material enters a drying box. . Therefore, the aerial time of the processing step refers to the aerial time between tanks in the case of a multi-tank and the time from when the liquid is discharged from the processing liquid in the processing step to when it enters the drying box.

In the present invention, a part or all of the processing solution in the step following the processing step having the fixing ability is replenished to the processing bath in the preceding step, but the processing in the step following the processing step having the fixing ability is described. The solution may be directly replenished to the previous bath by a pump or the like, or a method of once overflowing the solution and replenishing it as it is or a method of partially replenishing the former bath by a pump or the like may be used.

[0025]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The details of the present invention will be described below. The process following the fixing and bleach-fixing solution was conventionally a water washing process.However, in a minilab processor, an anhydrous washing process is common, and a large amount of water is used to wash the photosensitive material as in the conventional water washing process. No washing is performed,
Rinsing and stabilization of the dye are performed simultaneously with a small amount of processing solution, and this is also called a stabilization step or a rinsing step.

In this treatment step, a so-called countercurrent treatment is carried out in which three or more treatment tanks are used to flow from the post-bath to the pre-bath. In the third and fourth tanks, contamination components from the pre-bath are extremely low. In general, the amount of liquid used was very small and the washing efficiency was high.

However, the rapid processing, in particular, the wet processing time from dipping in the developing solution to entering the drying step is 4 hours.
It has been found that in a very short processing step of less than one minute, the fixing process can be speeded up by reducing the number of the stabilizing processing steps to two or less. In addition, it has been found that the effect is further enhanced by setting the air time to 15 seconds or less.

It has also been found that this effect can be further enhanced by pouring a part or all of the processing solution of the stabilizing solution into the fixing solution or the bleach-fixing solution. This effect is remarkable in a color light-sensitive material for photography, particularly in a color negative film.

When the stabilization step is reduced to two or less baths,
In some cases, components in the processing solution remain on the back surface of the photosensitive material and remain as stains. In that case, not only the image is affected, but also a recent new photosensitive material, a type in which a transparent magnetic layer is coated on the back surface, a clog occurs in a magnetic head that reads magnetic data, and reading failure may occur. .

In order to solve this problem, it is possible to solve the problem by providing a supply means for supplying a liquid to the back surface after the stabilization process, and supplying a replenisher or water to the back surface. The supplied replenisher or water may flow into the stabilization tank.

In the case of rapid processing, it is conceivable to increase drying efficiency and shorten drying time by increasing temperature, dehumidification, or air flow. In the case of rapid processing, there is a problem that the dye image is greatly deteriorated when the photosensitive material is stored for a long period of time. However, this problem can be solved by reducing the number of stable processing steps to two tanks or less and keeping the aerial time within 15 seconds. It has been found.

Further, it was found that the number of stabilizing steps (steps following the fixing and bleach-fixing steps) is more preferably two tanks, and the effect of the present invention can be remarkably achieved.

The processing time of the stabilizing step (the step following fixing and bleach-fixing) can be more effectively exhibited when the total processing time is 60 seconds or less, more preferably 10 to 40 seconds, and most preferably 15 to 30 seconds. Seconds. The aerial time of the stabilizing step is 15 seconds or less, and more preferably 10 seconds or less.

In the drying step, the effects of the present invention can be more effectively exhibited within 50 seconds, but more preferably within 45 seconds.
Most preferably, it is 10 to 40 seconds.

The so-called wet time from the developing step to the time before the drying step is less than 4 minutes in total, but the effect of the present invention is exhibited, more preferably 3 minutes and 30 seconds, most preferably 4 minutes.
0 seconds to 3 minutes.

Particularly, the processing time of the processing step having a fixing ability is 50 seconds or less, more preferably 40 seconds or less, and most preferably 10 to 30 seconds.

From the processing step having the fixing ability to the subsequent step, the radius of curvature of the extra-liquid turn part is from 0.9 cm to 3.0 c.
m is more preferable, and from the viewpoint of compactness of the automatic developing machine, occurrence frequency of jams and scratches of the photosensitive material, and effects of the object of the present invention, it is more preferably in the range of 1.2 cm to 2.4 cm.

It is preferable that the extra-liquid turn portion of the present invention has a plurality of portions formed with different radii of curvature. It is preferable that the photosensitive material is formed smaller than the central part in view of the frequency of occurrence of jams in the photosensitive material.
In the present invention, when there are a plurality of radii of curvature, the minimum radius of curvature is defined as the radius of curvature of the extra-liquid turn part.

The processing liquid used in the present invention may be any processing liquid as long as it has a general formulation, and includes a color developing solution, a processing solution having a bleaching ability, a processing solution having a fixing ability, Examples of the stabilizer include those described in JP-A-9-90585 and JP-A-9-212823.

In the processing solution having fixing ability, thiosulfate is usually used as a fixing agent, but it is more preferable to use thiocyanate in combination.

Examples of the light-sensitive material to be processed in the present invention include light-sensitive materials containing silver chloride, silver chlorobromide, silver bromide, and silver iodobromide. The photosensitive material preferably contains silver bromide.

The silver iodide content of the silver halide emulsion of the light-sensitive material processed in the present invention is from 0.5 mol% to 15 mol%.
% Is preferable.

The light-sensitive material processed in the present invention may have a silver halide emulsion layer having a multilayer structure, and the emulsion layer to be coated may be on one side or both sides of the support. Further, it may have a magnetic recording layer containing a magnetic material.

[0044]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. The automatic developing machine for a color negative film shown in FIG. 1 was used. The processing section of the automatic developing machine shown in FIG. 1 includes a rack 11 and a tank 12, and a processing liquid is held in a space formed by the rack and the tank. The photosensitive material 1 held in the patrone 2 is carried by a carrying means (not shown), introduced into the color developing tank CD from the photosensitive material insertion port 7, and carried by the carrying roller 3 and the opposing roller 4. When the photosensitive material is transported on the left side of the rack, the photosensitive material is transported downward in the figure, moved to the right side of the rack by the reversing roller 5 and transported upward.
L. Thereafter, the photosensitive material is similarly conveyed and the first fixing processing tank Fix-1, the second fixing processing tank Fix-2,
First stabilization tank STB-1, Second stabilization tank STB-2
Is sequentially discharged from the photosensitive material discharge port 8 and dried in a drying unit (not shown).

The number of tanks and the number of tanks in the stabilization process were changed to prepare one, two, and three tanks having the same total stabilization time. The radius of curvature of the portion extending from the fixing solution to the stabilizing solution was 2.0 cm. The air time of the stabilization process was changed as shown in Table 1 below by changing the liquid level. Further, the processing time was changed as shown in Table 1 by changing the transport speed of the film using a speed controller. The composition of the treatment liquid is shown below.

Processing Step Number of Processing Tanks Processing Time Replenishment Amount Temperature Color Developing 1 100 sec 420 ml / m ² 42 ° C. Bleaching 125 sec 100 ml / m ² 42 ° C. Fixing 250 sec 560 ml / m ² 38-42 ° C. Stable Table 140 840 ml / m ² 38-42 ° C. Drying—50 seconds—70 ° C. The fixing step was a two-tank countercurrent method, and the stabilizing step was a countercurrent method. Replenishment used tablets and water. As the replenisher for the fixing solution, the first tank solution of the stabilizing solution was pumped up and used. The film to be processed was Konica Color JX-400.

Further, the fixability was evaluated by measuring the red density of the unexposed portion of the processed film, and then treating with a Konica Color Negative CNK-4-J1 fixing solution for 1 minute, followed by washing with water for 2 minutes. After performing the drying for one minute and drying, the red density of the same portion was measured again, and the difference was determined.

The image storability was determined by measuring the blue density of the unexposed portion, storing the sample at 60 ° C. at 50% RH for 2 weeks, and re-measuring the difference.

[0049]

[Table 1]

As shown in Table 1, in the case of rapid processing, the processability can be satisfied by reducing the number of stabilizing tanks to two or less and shortening the aerial time of the stabilizing solution.

The above processing No. 1, No. In the treatment of No. 2, the drying time was changed as shown in Table 2 below.

[0052]

[Table 2]

As shown in Table 2, in the case of rapid processing, the image preservability can be further improved by setting the drying time to 50 seconds or less. Further, when the continuous processing was continued, a stain was generated on the back surface of the film. However, as shown in FIG. 2 (A) or (B), when a nozzle for supplying water to the back surface was attached before drying was started, the back surface became dirty. It was found to be improved. The configuration of the water supply nozzle shown in FIG.
The configuration is not limited to the configurations shown in (A) and (B).

A test similar to the above was carried out by using replenishing water for the fixing solution, tap water without using the stabilizing solution, and changing the air time in the stabilizing solution as shown in Table 3 to obtain the total processing time (Dr).
(yto Wet) was performed for 2 minutes and 45 seconds, the stabilization tank was set to 2 tanks, and the stabilization processing time was set to 40 seconds, and the fixability was similarly evaluated.

[0055]

[Table 3]

As is clear from Table 3, when the overflow of the stabilizing solution was used as the replenishing water for the fixing solution, the air-flow time of the stabilizing solution was shorter than that in the case where tap water was used. It can be seen that the effect of is more strongly exhibited.

Further, the radius of curvature of the outer turn from the fixing tank to the stabilizing tank was changed as shown in Table 4, the replenishing amount of the stabilizing solution was reduced to 420 ml / m ² , and the total replenishing amount was The film was continuously treated until it became 1.5 times, and the stain on the back surface of the film after the treatment was visually evaluated. (Evaluation criteria) ：: No contamination 汚 れ: Occurrence rate 5% or less △: Occurrence rate 20% or less ×: Occurrence rate more than 20% XX: Occurrence rate 90% or more

[0058]

[Table 4]

As shown in Table 4, it was found that when the curvature of the outer liquid turn section was high, especially when the replenishment amount of the stabilizing liquid was low, the back surface of the film was stained. In addition, the radius of curvature is 0.
In the case of 8 cm, it was found that a film conveyance jam occurred.

[0060]

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an automatic developing machine and a processing method for a photosensitive material which enables rapid processing of the photosensitive material with stable performance, and has excellent maintainability without precipitation or precipitation. In addition, the present invention can provide an automatic developing machine and a processing method for a photosensitive material, and an automatic developing machine and a processing method for a photosensitive material that provide excellent storage stability of the photosensitive material.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a preferred embodiment of a processing unit of an automatic developing machine for photosensitive materials that can be used in the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view and a sectional view of an embodiment of a water supply nozzle.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Photosensitive material 2 Patrone 3 Conveyance roller 4 Opposite roller 5 Judgment roller 6 Outer liquid turn part 7 Photosensitive material insertion port 8 Photosensitive material discharge port 11 Rack 12 Tank

Claims (10)

[Claims] In an automatic developing machine for processing a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material, two or one stabilization processing tanks are provided in a step following a processing step having a fixing ability, and the light-sensitive material is used in a color developing solution. After the contact, the control function to control the time before entering the drying process to be within 4 minutes,
An automatic developing machine for a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material, further comprising control means for controlling the total air time during the processing in the processing step following the processing step having the fixing ability to be within 15 seconds. 2. An automatic silver halide photographic material according to claim 1, further comprising control means for controlling a processing time of a process subsequent to the process having the fixing ability to be within 60 seconds. Developing machine. 3. An automatic silver halide photographic material according to claim 1, further comprising control means for controlling a processing time of a step following the processing step having the fixing ability to be within 40 seconds. Developing machine. 4. A process subsequent to the process having the fixing ability comprises two stabilizing tanks, and has an inflow means for flowing the stabilizing tank from the back bath to the preceding bath. An automatic developing machine for a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material according to any one of claims 1 to 3. 5. A replenishing means for replenishing a part or all of a processing solution in a step following the processing step having the fixing ability to a processing bath in an earlier step.
An automatic developing machine for a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material according to any one of the above. 6. A silver halide photographic light-sensitive material according to claim 1, further comprising control means for controlling a time required for the light-sensitive material to pass through a drying step to be 50 seconds or less. Automatic developing machine for materials. 7. A method according to claim 1, further comprising means for cleaning the back surface of the photosensitive material after the step following the processing step having the fixing ability and before the drying step. An automatic developing machine for a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material as described above. 8. The method according to claim 1, wherein a radius of curvature of the extra-liquid turn portion from the processing step having the fixing ability to a subsequent step is 0.9 cm to 3 c.
The automatic developing machine for a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein m is m. 9. The automatic developing machine for photographic films according to claim 1, wherein said automatic developing machine is configured to process a photosensitive material for photography. 10. In the processing step of processing a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material, in the step following the step of processing with a processing solution having a fixing ability, the processing step is within two tanks, and the light-sensitive material is immersed in a developing solution. After that, the time to enter the drying step is within 4 minutes, and the total air time of the photosensitive material during the processing of the step following the step of processing with the processing liquid having the fixing ability is within 15 seconds. A method for processing a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material, comprising: