JPS63137228A - Developing device for photosensitive material - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain high processing efficiency by providing a guide groove where rear ends of guide path forming elements and front ends of following guide path forming element face each other and conveyor rollers which generate conveying forces operating on a photosensitive material. CONSTITUTION:A cartridge holding part 51 which holds a cartridge 50 containing, for example, a film to be processed, a guiding-in roller 52 which sends in the film led out of the cartridge 50, and a cutter 53 which operates when the film is all led out of the cartridge 50 are arranged on the entrance side of a leading-in guiding mechanism Gx. In this case, a photographic material conveyance path is composed of adjacent guide path forming elements G and conveyor rollers and a conveying force to the photosensitive material is generated by the upper and lower rollers 41 and 42 for conveyance on every turn. Consequently, the sent-in photosensitive material is securely moved along the curved conveyance path and moved forth while dipped in development processing liquid. High processing efficiency is therefore obtained.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Field of Application] The present invention relates to a developing device for developing a photographic material after exposure.

[Background of the invention]

Generally, in forming a photograph, a process of developing the photographic light-sensitive material after exposure processing is required, and in the case of black-and-white photographic materials, it is usually necessary to undergo processes such as development, fixing, and water washing. In addition, in the case of color photographic materials, it is usually done through processes such as color development treatment, bleaching treatment, fixing treatment, and water washing treatment, or a process in which bleaching treatment and fixing treatment are performed simultaneously. The desired photograph is formed.

In order to develop such photographic materials,
so as to be in contact with the processing solution in each development processing solution tank for a predetermined period of time.
It is necessary to pass the photographic material through the developing solution tank.

Conventionally, as a developing device for accomplishing such processing, appropriate guide rollers are arranged at upper and lower levels in relation to the developing processing liquid tank, and a path meandering up and down repeatedly through U-turns by these guide rollers. It is widely known and has been put into practical use that a belt-shaped photographic material is guided along a meandering path, and the lower part of this meandering path is positioned in a developing solution to achieve a desired development process.

However, in such a developing device, in order to obtain high processing efficiency, a deep or large developing solution tank is required. In order to obtain high processing efficiency while using a small processing solution tank, the radius of curvature of the U-turn by the guide roller must be made considerably small. As the resistance increases, an undesirable large deformation is forcibly applied to the photographic light-sensitive material, and the number of guide rollers that must be used increases, resulting in an expensive apparatus as a whole.

Furthermore, as a developing device that performs the developing process without using a meandering passage, there is one in which the passage for the photographic light-sensitive material is formed by a spirally wound sealed conduit.
It is known from the publication No. Although this development device is fairly expensive and would be useful in M applications, it uses a long leader that passes through a closed conduit to introduce the photographic material to be processed into the processing channel. There is a need to. In this case, the leader is not just an auxiliary device to ensure transport guidance of the photographic light-sensitive material, but also a leader for introducing the photographic material into a predetermined curved path, and is used to guide the photographic material throughout the development processing path. Therefore, it is not only necessary to develop photographic materials with an extremely long total length, but also when developing photographic materials with a relatively short total length, such as general-purpose films used for general exposure. This is very disadvantageous for development processing.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention has been made based on the above-mentioned circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to develop a photographic material developing apparatus that can achieve required development processing with high processing efficiency while using an extremely small developing processing solution tank. is to provide.

[Means to achieve the purpose]

The photographic light-sensitive material developing device of the present invention includes a strip-shaped guide path forming material in which guide grooves are formed to slidably receive both side edges of the strip-shaped photosensitive material to be developed so that at least one side of the strip-shaped photosensitive material is exposed. A loop-shaped material is formed by being curved in a spiral shape so as to be wrapped around the outer peripheral surface of an assumed horizontal cylinder, and one end of the guideway forming material and the other end approaching it are displaced in the axial direction of the spiral. A plurality of guide path forming elements are arranged in sequence, and the rear end of one guide path forming element and the front end of the subsequent guiding path forming element are opposed to each other via a conveying force action area located at the upper end. and a conveyance roller provided in the conveyance force action area that pinches the photosensitive material and rolls to apply a conveyance force to the photosensitive material so that it is guided by the guide path forming element. Preferably, at least a lower portion of the guide path forming element is immersed in a processing liquid in a developing processing liquid tank, and more preferably, the conveying rollers are arranged in adjacent conveying force action areas. They are characterized in that they extend in common, and the axes of the conveying rollers are parallel to the axes of the cylinders.

According to the photographic light-sensitive material developing apparatus having such a configuration, although each loop-shaped guide path forming element constitutes a relatively long photographic light-sensitive material path, the loops can be arranged close to each other, so that the basic problem is improved. In addition, since a conveying force is applied to the photographic photosensitive material by the conveying rollers in the region extending from one guide path forming element to the following guide path forming element, the photographic photosensitive material can be reliably conveyed. Therefore, a sufficiently long processing path is ensured while using a small developing processing solution tank, and the developing processing of the photographic light-sensitive material can be achieved with high processing efficiency. Further, even when a leader is used, it is sufficient that the length slightly exceeds one guide path forming element, and it is not necessary to use a long leader that extends over the entire path.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory plan view showing the main parts of a photographic material developing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this diagram,
10 is a developing treatment liquid tank, and partition walls 11 and 1 extend diagonally.
2. The whole is divided into five parts by 13 and 14, and from the left side of the figure, a color development processing liquid tank 17, a bleaching/fixing processing liquid tank 18, a first stabilizing bath 19A, a second stabilizing bath 19B, and a third stabilizing bath 19B. A stabilizing bath 19C is formed.

In this developing treatment liquid tank 10, a guide mechanism constituted by a large number of guide path forming elements G is provided.

As shown in FIGS. 2(A) and 2(B), the guide path forming element G has projecting edges 2121 formed on both side edges of one surface of the elongated substrate 20 so as to protrude from the projecting edges 2121.
It is made of a band-shaped guide path forming material B in which guide grooves 22 and 22 are formed to extend in the length direction on the inner surfaces of the members 1 and 21 facing each other. In guideway forming material B,
The guide grooves 22 and 22 are for slidingly receiving both side edges of the photographic light-sensitive material F to be processed and guiding the photographic light-sensitive material F. Therefore, the distance a between the projecting edges 21 and the guide groove 22 The distance between the bottom surfaces of .22 is sized to match the width r of the photographic material to be processed. There is also a space S between the inner surface of the guided photosensitive material F and the substrate 20.
is preferably formed.

The guide path forming element G is formed by bending the above-mentioned band-shaped guide path forming material B into a loop shape, and specifically, as shown in FIG. Assuming P, guide path forming material B is placed along the outer surface of this cylinder P.
With the side wall 2L21 facing outward, it is wound approximately spirally and curved, and one end of the lx inner path forming material B is wound through a circumferential gap that corresponds to a band-shaped region R assumed at the top of the cylinder P. 23 and the other end 24 are located obliquely to each other, that is, the ends 23 and 24 that are close to each other are displaced in the direction of the axis X of the cylinder P. It is necessary that the pitch interval C of the spiral along which the guide path forming element G follows is larger than the width d of the guide path forming material B. Therefore, between one end 23 and the other end 24 of the guide path forming material B, Distance g in axis X direction
exists.

The guide path forming element G basically has the form described above, but in reality, as shown in FIG. 1, one end 25 and the other end 26 of the guide path forming material B are In other words, the upper end portions of the loop-shaped guide path forming element G, which extends at right angles to the upper end, have a gap at the upper end, and the degree of displacement in the axial direction (advanced angle or lead angle of the spiral) is zero. It is said that A plurality of guide path forming elements G are sequentially arranged adjacent to each other so that the rear end of one guide path forming element G is opposed to the front end of a subsequent guide path forming element in the circumferential direction.

To explain the example shown in FIG. 1 in detail, as shown in FIG.
The first guide path forming element G1 is arranged with one end 25 and the other end 26 at the upper end position, and the second guide path forming element G2 is arranged coaxially adjacent to the front end G2f. is in a state where it faces the rear end Glr of the first guide path forming element G1 and the cylinder P in the circumferential direction. In the same way, the guide path forming elements are sequentially arranged, in the example shown in the figure, a total of 11 guide path forming elements 01 to Gll are arranged. Specifically, a guide mechanism is configured to form a spiral photosensitive material path.

Each guide path forming element G is fixedly held in common by a trough-shaped connecting member 30 having a U-shaped cross section extending in the direction of the axis X, and this connecting member 30 is fixed to the peripheral wall of the developing processing liquid tank 10. As shown in FIG. 4, each guide path forming element G is arranged in the developing processing liquid tank 10 so that a portion including at least the lower half thereof is at a position below the liquid level L. The first four guide path forming elements 01 to G4 of the total 11 guide path forming elements Gl to Gll are in the color developing treatment liquid tank 1.
7, and the following four guide path forming elements 05 to G8
is located in the bleaching/fixing treatment liquid tank 18, and further three guiding path forming elements G9, GIO and Gll are located in the three stabilizing baths 19A, 19B and 19C, respectively, and the partition wall 11 is located in the guiding path forming element. Between G4 and G5, partition wall 1
2゜13 and 14 are guide path forming elements G8 and 0 respectively
9, between G9 and 010, and between GIO and 011.

Further, as shown in detail in FIG. 5, at a position corresponding to the band-like region R in the cylinder P, an upper roller 41 and a lower roller 42, each extending over substantially the entire length of the developing treatment liquid tank 10, are placed above and below each other. It is placed in pressure contact with the The lower roller 42 is constituted by a central shaft 43 whose position is fixed, and is housed inside the connecting member 30. - The upper roller 41 is movable up and down and restrained downward by a spring (not shown). It is constituted by a central axis 44. The upper roller 41 and the lower roller 42 form a circle along the outer circumferential surface of the cylinder P that passes through the guide grooves of these guide path forming elements in the circumferential gap between adjacent guide path forming elements so as to be continuous with each other. It is said to be located on the circumference. The upper roller 41 and the lower roller 42 are provided so as to pass through all of the circumferential gaps related to the guide path forming elements G that are adjacent to each other in the axial direction. This constitutes the conveyance roller. Further, as shown in FIG. 6, rubber O-rings 45 and 45 are fitted onto the upper roller 41 at positions that come into contact with both side edges of the photographic material F passing through each circumferential gap. ing.

In FIG. 1, Gx is an introduction guide mechanism, and cy is an ejection guide mechanism. On the entrance side of the introduction guide mechanism Gx, a cartridge holder that holds a cartridge 50 containing a film, which is a photographic material to be processed, for example, is provided. A section 51, an introduction roller 52 for feeding the film pulled out from the cartridge 50, and a cutter 53 which is activated when all of the film is pulled out from the cartridge 50 are provided. On the other hand, on the exit side of the discharge guide mechanism cy, a drying mechanism using, for example, warm air is provided to dry the discharged processed photographic material.

In the above, the shape of the loop of each guide path forming element G is as follows:
It does not need to be strictly along the outer peripheral surface of the cylinder P,
Any curved loop shape that does not hinder the progress of the photographic light-sensitive material is sufficient. Therefore, the word "cylinder" is used in a broad sense to refer not only to a true cylinder but also to a columnar body having various curved outer peripheral surfaces. should be understood as

In addition, the term "spiral" refers not only to a constant pitch and diameter, but also to a guideway forming element in which the lead angle or diameter changes, such as a part where the lead angle is zero as mentioned above. It may be something that does. Furthermore, it is not necessary that all the guide path forming elements used in the present invention have the same shape, and elements with appropriately modified shapes can be preferably used. For example, in the example of FIG. 1, the guide path forming elements Forming element G4 is guide path forming element 01 to G3.
Unlike the above, a type with a large lead angle is used.

According to the above-described device, the guide path forming elements G adjacent to each other through the circumferential gap and the conveyance rollers provided in the conveyance force acting area due to the circumferential gap,
A photographic light-sensitive material conveying path whose entire shape is roughly curved in a spiral shape is formed in the developing processing liquid tank 10, and each guide path forming element G does not exceed one turn of the spiral, and the photographic material is transported by a conveying roller for each turn. Since a conveyance force is applied to the photosensitive material, the introduced photographic photosensitive material is reliably moved along the curved conveyance path formed by each guide path forming element.

However, each guide path forming element G receives and guides both side edges of the photographic light-sensitive material through the guide grooves on its protruding edges, and the photographic light-sensitive material is guided with its surface exposed. Moreover, since the lower half and above of each guide path forming element G is below the liquid level of the developing solution tank 10, the photographic material guided through this portion is immersed in the developing solution. In the example of FIG. 0, the color development process is performed when passing through the lower part of the guide path forming elements G1 to G4, and the development process is performed as necessary. Bleaching and fixing processing is performed when passing through the lower portion of the guide path forming elements 09 to Gll, and stabilization processing is performed when passing through the lower portion of the guide path forming elements 09 to Gll, and development processing of the photographic light-sensitive material is accomplished.

According to the present invention, since the photographic light-sensitive material passage is basically spiral as a whole, the density of the photographic light-sensitive material passage in the development processing solution tank is high, and the path length in the development processing solution tank is increased. It can be set for a long time, and therefore, a predetermined development process can be achieved with high processing efficiency using a small developing process liquid tank. Moreover, since it is not necessary to form a portion with a small radius of curvature in the passage of the photographic material, the photographic material can be conveyed extremely smoothly without undesirably deforming the photographic material.

Further, the rear end of the preceding guide path forming element G and the front end of the following guide path forming element G, which are opposite to each other through the circumferential gap between adjacent guide path forming elements G so as to be continuous, are aligned so as to be located on a straight line, By using this circumferential gap as a conveying force acting area and providing a common conveying roller for each of them, a conveying force can be applied to the photographic photosensitive material at each turn of the spiral path with an extremely simple configuration. As a result, the photographic material to be processed can be transported reliably as described above, and the apparatus can be manufactured at low cost. In such a configuration, the advance angle of the spiral in this circumferential gap is zero, and is different from the other passage portions. Therefore, the photographic material is conveyed with a different advance angle when it passes through this circumferential gap and when it passes through other passages, and as a result, the photographic material is slightly deformed. state. However, this change in the advance angle is slight, and the deformation of the photographic material to absorb it occurs over a considerable length of time, so in reality there is no problem, and there is no risk of damaging the photographic material or transporting it. The smoothness of the process is not impaired.

When using the apparatus of the present invention, it may be preferable to connect a reader to the beginning of the photographic material to be processed;
Even in this case, since the conveying force of the conveying roller is applied every turn of the spiral path, it is sufficient to use a leader whose length is slightly longer than one turn.

FIG. 7 shows a modification of the guideway forming material B preferably used in the present invention. The guide path forming material B shown in FIG. 7(a) is the substrate 2 of the guide path forming material shown in FIG.
On the other side of 0, projecting edges 61, 61 having a smaller spacing than the side wall 21.21 on one side are formed to extend in the length direction, and similar guides are provided on the mutually opposing inner surfaces of the projecting edges 61.61. Grooves 62, 62 are formed therein. Further, the guide path forming material B shown in FIG. 7(B) has a structure in which a guide path forming material having a similar structure and having a different guide width is further integrally formed on one side edge of the guide path forming material shown in FIG. 2. have,
Specifically, the board 63 is formed in the width direction extension direction of the board 20, and the projecting edges 64, 64 are formed with guide grooves 65, 65.
one side is formed integrally with the protrusion 21. In this way, according to the guide path forming material having a plurality of guide paths with different guide widths, by selecting the path, it is possible to form a predetermined shape even for a plurality of types of photographic materials having different widths. A developing device capable of performing a developing process is obtained.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, the path of the photographic material to be processed is basically set to follow a spiral shape, and therefore, a sufficiently long processing path can be secured while using a small processing solution tank. Moreover, since the conveying force is applied by the conveying cola at each turn of the spiral, the photographic material can be conveyed reliably. Therefore, with a simple structure, it is extremely compact and can carry out the required development processing with high processing efficiency. It is possible to provide a photographic material developing device that can achieve the above-mentioned results.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory plan view showing the main parts of a photographic material developing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 2(a) and (b)
3 is an explanatory perspective view and an end view of the guide path forming material, FIG. 3 is an explanatory perspective view of the guide path forming element used in the present invention, and FIG. 4 is an explanatory longitudinal sectional view of the device shown in FIG. 1. , FIG. 5 is an explanatory sectional view of the circumferential gap and the conveyance roller, FIG. 6 is an explanatory front view of the conveyance roller, and FIGS. 7(a) and (b) are each preferably used in the present invention. FIG. 7 is an explanatory end view showing a modified example of the guide path forming material. 10...Development processing liquid tank 11, 12.13.14
...Partition wall 17...Color development processing liquid tank 18...Bleaching/fixing processing liquid tanks 19A, 19B, 19C...Stabilizing bath G, Gl~Gll...Guiding path forming element B...Guiding Path forming material 20... Substrate 21.6L64... Projection edge 22,62.65... Guide groove F... Photographic photosensitive material S... Space X... Axis
P...Cylinder R...Band-shaped region 23...One end 24...Other end g...Interval 25...
・One end 26...Other end 30...Connecting material L...Liquid level 41...Upper roller 42...Lower roller 43...Center shaft
44...Central axis 45...0 ring
Gx...Introduction guide mechanism ay...Ejection guide mechanism 5
0...Patrone 51...Patrone holding part 52
...Introduction roller 53...Cutter redoubt group 4 Figure 5

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1) A belt-shaped guide path forming material in which guide grooves are formed to slidably receive both side edges of the belt-shaped photosensitive material to be developed so that at least one side of the belt-shaped photosensitive material is exposed is provided. a loop-shaped guide path formed by spirally curving so as to wrap around the outer peripheral surface of a horizontal cylinder, with one end of the guide path forming material and the other end approaching the guide path being displaced in the axial direction of the spiral; A guide in which a plurality of forming elements are arranged in sequence, and the rear end of one guide path forming element and the front end of the subsequent guiding path forming element face each other via a conveying force action area located at the upper end. a mechanism, and a conveying roller provided in the conveying force action area that pinches and rolls the photographic photosensitive material to apply a conveying force to the photographic photosensitive material so that it is guided by the guide path forming element. A photographic light-sensitive material developing apparatus, wherein at least a lower portion of the guide path forming element is immersed in a processing solution in a processing solution tank. 2) The photographic photosensitive material developing device according to claim 1, wherein the conveyance rollers extend in common to mutually adjacent conveyance force action areas, and the axis of the conveyance rollers is parallel to the axis of the cylinder.