JPS6262364A - Automatic developing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate unevenness of processing caused by circulation of processing solution and obtain sufficient effect of circulation of processing solution by biasing the direction and position of discharging processing solution into a processing tank to the side of entrance of sensitized material on the processing tank. CONSTITUTION:Processing solution in a processing tank 1 is taken out from a take out port and spouted out into a tank parallel to a side board 11 of the tank from a discharge port provided on the center line of the processing tank 1 and circulated. A carrying rack 10 consists of a side board 11 and many carrying rollers 12 and immersed in the processing tank 1, and sensitized material passes through the rack 10 and processed. In this case, the direction and position of discharging the processing solution into the processing tank 1 are biased to the side of entrance of sensitized material carried by the rack 10.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Field of Application 1] The present invention relates to an automatic developing apparatus for developing silver halide photographic materials such as photographic film and photographic paper.

[Prior Art J] An automatic developing device that processes photographic light-sensitive materials such as photographic film and photographic paper is usually equipped with various processing tanks such as development, fixing, and water washing, and the photosensitive material to be processed is sequentially passed through these processing tanks. After the material is passed through and processed, it is dried in a drying section and discharged outside the machine as a processed photosensitive material.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of an automatic developing device, in which a photosensitive material to be processed is inserted through an insertion opening 21, conveyed by a number of conveyance rollers, and passed through a path indicated by F in the figure into a developing tank 22. , the fixing tank 23, and the washing 4fI24, and then the drying section 25 and the discharged outside the machine. The transport rollers are configured into one rack for each block.

Each processing tank is filled with a different processing solution, but in order to keep the characteristics of the processed photosensitive material appropriate and constant, the temperature of the processing solution, especially the developer, in each processing tank must be kept at a predetermined value. It is necessary to maintain a uniform temperature distribution within the tank.

One way to improve the uniformity of the liquid temperature distribution in the processing tank is to take out a portion of the processing liquid from one side of the processing tank and discharge it from the other side of the tank using a pump, etc. to constantly circulate the liquid. It is commonly practiced.

Figure 2 shows the commonly used circulation gcr! FIG. 1 is a side view seen from the X direction of FIG. 1 showing an outline of a processing tank having a processing tank 1, in which processing liquid S in the processing tank 1 is taken out from a liquid outlet 2, passed through a circulation pump 3 and a temperature control tank 4. It is ejected into the tank from a discharge port 5 provided on the center line of the processing tank in a direction parallel to the side plate of the tank and circulated. Reference numeral 10 denotes a transport rack for transporting the photosensitive material, which is composed of a side plate 11 and a number of transport rollers 12 (only one of which is numbered), and is immersed in the processing tank. The photosensitive material is processed by passing through a transport rack as shown in FIG.

[Problem to be solved by the invention 1 In the processing tank described above, the temperature distribution in the tank is maintained well by the circulation of the liquid, but because the flow of the liquid is unevenly distributed, so-called circulation unevenness occurs in the image. occurs. For this reason, there is a method of installing a diffusion plate at the liquid spouting port, and a rack f! Apply it at right angle to JAlfi,
The method used was to make the flow uniform by using circulation holes provided in the side plates of the rack and resistance such as rollers. FIG. 1 is a plan view of the processing tank shown in FIG. 2, but the members inside the rack, such as the transport a-ra, are omitted.

However, the effectiveness of each method varies depending on conditions such as the transport speed of the photosensitive material, the capacity of the processing tank, the amount of circulating liquid, the arrangement and number of circulation holes and rollers in the rack, and the occurrence of uneven processing cannot be completely prevented. It was difficult to do so.

The present invention provides an automatic processing device in which the occurrence of processing unevenness due to the circulation of processing liquid as described above is prevented.

[Means for solving the gap 1] As a result of various studies, the present inventors took out the processing liquid in the processing tank from one side of the processing tank and discharged it into the processing tank from the other side of the processing tank. In an automatic developing apparatus having a processing liquid circulation means for circulating a processing liquid in a processing tank, the direction and/or the position of discharge of the processing liquid from the processing liquid circulation means into the processing tank is determined according to the photosensitive material of the processing tank. The present inventors have discovered that the above-mentioned problem can be solved by an automatic developing device characterized by being biased toward the entrance side, and have arrived at the present invention.

That is, the circulating process qa is ejected at a certain angle against the side wall of the processing tank on the side where the photosensitive material enters.
Alternatively, by biasing the position of the discharge port toward the entrance side of the photosensitive material, the flow of the liquid is made smooth and the occurrence of processing unevenness due to liquid circulation is prevented. In this case, the deflection of the discharge port and the deflection of the discharge direction can be used in combination. The direction in which the liquid is discharged varies depending on the capacity, dimensions, structure, and circulation rate of the processing tank or rack, but it is determined that the center line of the processing tank is parallel to the side wall of the processing tank toward the entrance side of the photosensitive material (see Figure 1). It is preferable to incline within the range of 5° to 40° with respect to the middle line C).

The circulation device according to the present invention may be provided in any processing tank in the automatic developing device, and may be provided in a single tank or in a plurality of tanks.

[Example] In an automatic developing apparatus for black-and-white photosensitive materials having the configuration shown in FIG. 3, which is equipped with a developing tank having a processing liquid circulation device structured as shown in FIG. Figures A, B, C,
I created something configured like D. In A, the discharge direction of the liquid was biased toward the side where the photosensitive material entered, and the bias angle (θ in the figure) was set to 20'. In B, the discharge port was located near the side wall of the processing tank on the side where the photosensitive material entered. Both A and B are according to the present invention. In addition, C is a type in which the liquid is spouted from the discharge port on the center line of the processing tank parallel to the side wall of the tank, and D is a type in which the liquid is spouted towards the I wall on the photosensitive material discharge side of the processing tank. Both are for comparative testing. The liquid discharge angle in D (θ' in the figure) was 20°.

Each uniformly exposed sheet film was processed and the occurrence of uneven development was visually determined. The experiment was carried out four times with different combinations of photosensitive materials and developing solutions, and the results shown in Table 1 were obtained. 1: No unevenness was observed; 81: Weak unevenness; 81: Some clear unevenness was observed. Thing C1-3
Displayed in stages.

As shown in Table 1, when circulation devices A and B according to the present invention were used, uneven development was not observed at all (while no uneven development was observed in the light-sensitive materials when circulation devices C and D were used for comparison). Although there were differences in degree, unevenness was observed in all cases, confirming the effectiveness of the present invention.

In the above embodiments, only an automatic developing apparatus for black and white photosensitive materials in which a circulation device according to the invention according to the present invention is provided in the developing tank is given, but it goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to various automatic developing apparatuses such as those for color photosensitive material layers. stomach.

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, it has become possible to create an automatic developing apparatus that does not cause uneven processing due to circulation of the processing liquid under various developing conditions and can obtain a sufficient circulation effect of the processing liquid.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figures 1A and B are a processing liquid circulation section of an automatic developing apparatus according to the present invention used in Examples, C and D are schematic diagrams of the same circulation section used for comparison, and Figure 2 is a cross section showing the structure of the processing tank. 3 are schematic diagrams showing the configuration of an automatic developing device. Applicant Konishiroku Photo Industry Co., Ltd. Figure 1 5, Outlet

Claims (1)

[Claims] In an automatic developing apparatus having a processing liquid circulating means for taking out the processing liquid in the processing tank from one side of the processing tank and discharging it into the processing tank from the other side of the processing tank to circulate the processing liquid in the processing tank, An automatic developing apparatus characterized in that the direction and/or the position of discharge of the processing liquid from the processing liquid circulation means into the processing tank is biased toward the photosensitive material entrance side of the processing tank.