JPS5968742A - Picture forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily recover remaining developer in a means which develops a long film one frame by one frame, by installing a narrow groove extended from the wall of a developer flowing-out side passage to a developer recovering section and absorbing the developer utilizing the capillary action. CONSTITUTION:A rolled long film F is fed from the exposure means 8 to the fixing means 10 via developing means 9 of a picture forming unit 7. In the developing means 9, a developer 17 supplied through an inlet 12 hits a plate 18 and ascends along an ascending slope 13 to a space between a protruded surface 2, which is arranged to intersect the film F and to develop one frame of the film, and the film 1 by capillary action. The developer then flows down along a descending slope 14 to a recovering port 15. One or more narrow grooves 16 extended from the surface 2 to the recovering port 15 is installed to the descending slope 14, so that the developer can be absorbed by capillary action and can easily be taken out. When such a device is used, oozing out of the developer to the front and rear parts of the one frame to be developed is prevented and pictures having no uneven development, etc., can be obtained with a simple constitution.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus using photographic film, and particularly to an image forming apparatus that uses photographic film to expose a roll of long film frame by frame.
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that can form a visible image through a developing and fixing process.

2. Description of the Related Art A photographic film developing apparatus that includes an exposure means, a developing means, and a fixing means sequentially along a film feeding path through which a long film is passed is known as an apparatus for turning document materials into microfilm, for example. In such an apparatus, the developing means for visualizing one frame's worth of latent image formed by the exposing means generally performs development by supplying a developer in the direction of the film latent image. The developer flows between the film surface and the passage wall surface formed in a direction substantially perpendicular to the film feeding direction between the injection part and the collection part.

By the way, in the conventional apparatus, the wall surface of the passage through which the above-mentioned developing solution flows is recessed from the surface 2 which is in contact with the exposed surface (surface to be developed) la of the film l, as shown in FIG. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 2, it is formed as a part 3a on a plane 3 parallel to the film 1 and partitioned on both sides by partition members 4.4. However, in the example shown in FIG. 1, there is a very narrow gap 5 between the surface 2 and the film surface 1a.
Similarly, in the example shown in FIG. 2, a narrow gap 6 is formed between the partition members 4, 4 and the filter surface 1a, so that the developer oozes out due to capillary action as shown by the arrow. This proverbial developer solution spreads over more than one frame of film.

When a specific frame of the film fed to the developing section is exposed and the film is processed with both sides or one side of the frame unexposed, the oozing of the developer due to the capillary phenomenon described above will cause the unexposed frame to be exposed. It damages the film and becomes a fatal flaw. Unfortunately, even if all the frames of the film fed to the developing section have already been exposed, this oozing will cause uneven development in the next frame to be developed.

As a method to eliminate this drawback and to flow the developer solution only for one exposed frame, it is possible to consider a method that reversely utilizes capillary phenomenon. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the developer passage wall surface 2 is formed in a direction perpendicular to the film feeding direction between the developer injection part (not shown) and the collection part (not shown). is uniformly raised toward the film surface la to form a narrow gap 17 exhibiting capillary action of the developer between the film surface and the film surface. By forming this gap 17, the developer flows only through the gap 17, so that development for only one frame can be achieved.

After development, the developer can be drained by using a blower and pushing the airflow into the gap to release the remaining developer by υ1", or by using a vacuum pump instead of the blower to drain the remaining developer. A method of suctioning the liquid may be considered, but such a structure has the disadvantage of complicating the developing section and increasing costs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to remove the developer remaining between the film and the wall of the passage, and to do so with a simple structure.

In order to achieve these two objectives, the inventors conducted repeated studies and finally came up with the idea of reapplying the capillary phenomenon.

To summarize the present invention, a groove is formed extending from the passage wall surface on the developer outflow side to the developer recovery section, and the capillary action of the developer that moistens the groove provides a downward pulling force, which is combined with the action of gravity. This feature is characterized in that the developing solution adhering between the passage wall surface and the film surface is allowed to fall naturally.

The following will explain based on examples.

FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view of the image forming unit 7 as an example. The image forming unit 7 is integrally constructed with an exposing means 8, a developing means 9, and a fixing means 10, and these means 8, 9, and 10 are arranged in sequence along the feeding direction F of the film 1. .

The exposure means 8 includes a shutter means (not shown) located on the back side of the image forming unit 7, a photographic lens, and an exposure aperture 8.
a, and image information such as document material is imprinted onto the film 1 through the exposure aperture 8a using a photographing lens. During photography, this area constitutes a darkroom.

The photographic latent image for one frame formed in the exposure means 8 is visualized by a developer in the next developing means 9. The developer is injected into the inlet 1 formed in the recess above the film feed path.
Supplied from 2. The developing means 9 has this inlet 12 and
From the injection port 12 to the exposure opening 8a, there is a ball surface portion 13 formed toward the same surface 11, and the surface portion 13 is uniformly raised from the surface 11.

A developing solution passage wall surface 2 facing the oriented film l with a narrow gap, an unfavorable surface portion 14 formed continuously with the passage wall surface 2 toward a lower recessed portion of the film feeding path, and an unfavorable surface portion 14 that A developer recovery port 15 is formed at the end.

A groove 16, which is a feature of the present invention, is formed in this disadvantageous surface portion 14. Groove 16.16. . . . extends from the passage wall surface 2a on the developer outflow side along the disadvantageous surface portion 14 toward the developer recovery port 15.

Preferably, a plurality of grooves 16 are provided. This is because it is not certain whether the developing solution will remain in the gap in a shape like a lever, so no matter what shape the groove takes, the lower end of the remaining developing solution is brought into contact with the tip of one of the grooves. However, only one groove 16 may be formed at the center position. This is because there is a very small possibility that the residual developer will be scattered all around the passage wall surface 2.

Although the grooves 16 are shown to be substantially parallel in the illustration,
They may be formed radially when viewed from the recovery port 15. Then, the lower ends of the respective grooves 16 may be combined and connected to one groove having a slightly larger groove width. In this way, the developer flowing down during development can be quickly removed, and the developer that may remain in the groove 16 can be removed before the developer remains in the gap. can.

FIG. 5 shows an end face cut along lines A and -A in FIG. 4, and shows a preferred mode of use. That is, the image forming unit 7 is installed so that the disadvantageous surface portion 14 is parallel to the vertical plane.The gravity acting on the developer is maximized, and the developer can flow down smoothly. In the figure,
When one frame's worth of developer 17 is supplied to the pressure inlet 12 from a controllable supply pump (not shown) through a pipe (not shown), the developer hits the liquid passage plate 18. , falling down;
It flows down the peg face part 13. When you reach the top of gap 3,
The developer is drawn into the gap 3. Then, due to capillary action, it immediately spreads to the lower end of the gap 3. At this time, the developer is uniformly supplied to the developing surface while flowing down in the direction of the latent image corresponding to one exposed frame. The developed developer flows out from the lower end of gap 3 and flows out from the lower end of gap 3.
4 and groove 16, and is collected at collection 1'' 15.

As is clear from FIG. 5, the lower end 2 a of the passage wall surface 2
overlaps the lower edge of film l (widthwise edge of the film that is not involved in latent image formation) with gap 3 in between, and if developer remains in gap 3, the residual developer will follow the slope. Due to the action of gravity, it falls almost to the position of this lower end portion 2a. The remaining developer comes into contact with the tip of the groove 16 here. The vortex 16 is wetted by the developer that has flown down earlier, and adsorbs the falling (residual) developer. The developer is rapidly drawn into the groove 16 by capillary action based on surface tension. At the same time, it flows downward due to the action of gravity. The residual developer in gap 3 is in groove 1.
6 and all flows out.

In this embodiment, a roll film is used as the long film l, and the take-up shaft is driven to take it up from the reel on the supply side via the film feed path. Now you can start/stop each frame. Such a roll film is preferably stored in a cassette case like an audio cassette tape or a VTR tape.

The above embodiments can also be applied to silver salt films as photosensitive materials, but are particularly suitable for electrophotographic films. That is,
A high-resolution electrophotographic film with an organic semiconductor layer formed on a film base via a conductive layer has already been developed.
Microimages are formed using a well-known electrophotographic method.

In this case, the exposure means 8 in FIG. 4 is provided with means for pre-charging the film before exposure (a fine bare wire that applies a high voltage to cause corona discharge is connected to the exposure aperture 8a and to the photographing lens. (Stretched vertically △ in the middle of The developer flowing into the developing means 9 is one in which toner is dispersed in a carrier liquid. Further, a fixing agent, a charge control agent, a dispersion stabilizer, etc. may be added to this carrier liquid as necessary. Then, in the fixing means 10, an opening is provided here, and the undried film fed frame by frame is dried with heat rays by lighting a lamp.
Take root.

As described above, according to the present invention, the capillary phenomenon is applied in reverse to form a groove extending from the lower end of the developer passage wall surface facing the film positioned in the film feeding path to the developer recovery section. By doing so, it is now possible to remove the developing solution that adheres and tends to remain between the film surface and the passage wall surface. Moreover, since it has an extremely simple structure of forming a groove, there are concerns about cost performance, and the practical measurement is difficult.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figures 1 and 2 are cross-sectional views of a conventional example of a developing section, and Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of a developing section in which the wall surface of the developer passage is uniformly raised to form a narrow gap with the film surface. figure,
FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view of an embodiment according to the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a cut end view taken along the line A--A in FIG. l...Film, 2...Aisle wall surface, 8...
- Exposure means, 9... Developing means, 10... Fixing means, 12... Developer inlet, 13...
- Peg surface, 14... Disadvantageous surface, 15... Developer collection port, 16... Groove. Patent applicant Agent: Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd.
Patent attorney Aoyama Aoyama and 2 others (11) Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) An exposing means, a developing means, and a fixing means are sequentially provided along a film feeding path through which a long film is passed, and the developing means leads from a developer injection part to a collection part. image formation in which a developer solution for approximately one frame is flowed along a wall surface of a passage formed in a direction substantially perpendicular to the film feeding direction between the two, and a latent image for one frame formed by the exposure means is visualized; In the apparatus, extending from a passage wall surface on an outflow side of the developer to the recovery section,
An image forming apparatus characterized in that at least one groove is formed for sucking a developing solution adhering between a film surface and a passage wall surface using capillary phenomenon.