US2786401A - Developing and printing apparatus - Google Patents

Description

March 26, 1957 A. BRIGGS ET AL 2,786,401

DEVELOPING AND PRINTING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 11, 1953 v Inventors LLOYD A. BRIGGS WILLIAM M, Ls hRER BURTON DEISNER M fin March 26, 1957 L. A. BRIGGS ETAL 2,786,401

DEVELOPING AND PRINTING APPARATUS Filed June 11, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventors JLLOYD A. BRIGGS WILLIAM M. LEhRER BURTON D. EISNER United States Patent DEVELOPING AND PRINTING APPARATUS Lloyd A. Briggs, William M. Lehrer, and Burton D. Eisner, Chicago, lll., assiguors, by mesne assignments, to American Photocopy Equipment Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application June 11, 1953, Serial No. 361,052

1 Claim. (Cl. 95-89) This invention relates to improvements in developerprinters, and more particularly, to a novel construction of the means utilized for guiding an exposed undeveloped negative sheet and a sheet of positive print paper through the developer-printer.

The developer-printer embodying the present invention is designed to receive an exposed undeveloped negative sheet and a sheet of photo-sensitive print paper, with their emulsion sides facing each other, and immersing the sheets in a developing and fixing solution as they pass through the machine, after which they are engaged between wringer-feed rollers which pull the sheets through the solution and press them together tightly so as to squeeze substantially all of the solution therefrom and discharge substantially dry sheets. The discharged developed sheets (positive and negative) then are peeled apart and left to dry out completely.

The developer-printer apparatus is provided with novel guide means to hold the two sheets spaced apart while they are moving through the solution and to bring them substantially into face-to-face contact prior to their becoming engaged between the wringer-feed rollers. When said guides consist of relatively wide straps of stiff material, over the surfaces of which the sheets are moved, experience has established that the wide contact surface of the strap-guides is not conducive to good photo copies, primarily because said straps become coated with solids in the solution, some of which adhere to the back faces of the sheets and cause discoloration. The apparatus of this invention includes guides which are so arranged that only minimum surface contact is had with the sheets. It is, therefore, an object of the invention to provide a developer-printer with such guide means.

Another object of the invention is to provide a guide structure which is very rugged and most unlikely to become damaged, should it be mishandled.

Another object is to provide a guide structure including associated guide straps arranged edgewise so as to reduce the amount of surface contact and, consequently, friction between the guides and the sheets of paper being guided thereby.

Another object of the invention is to provide a guide assembly to receive sheets of paper initially spaced apart which assembly progressively carries said sheets toward one another, so that they are substantially in face-to-face contact when leaving the guides, to thereby insure their joint eng gement between associated wringer-feed rollers without slipping.

Another object is to provide a guide frame assembly which is not expensive to manufacture, is easy to assemble and mount in place, and is highly efficient in operation.

Wi h the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the descrintion proceeds, the invention consists of certain novel fe tures of construction, arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter fully described, il-

lustrated in the accompanying drawings, and particularly pointed out in the appended claim, it being understood that various changes in the form, proportion, size and minor details of the structure may be made without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the invention.

For the purpose of facilitating an understanding of the invention, we have illustrated in the accompanying drawings a preferred embodiment thereof, from an inspection of which when considered in connection with the following description, our invention, its mode of construction, assembly and operation, and many of its advantages, should be readily understood and appreciated.

Referring to the drawings in which the same characters of reference are employed to indicate corresponding or similar parts throughout the several figures of the draw- 1ngs:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a developer-printer embodying the features of the invention and showing the cover removed.

Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical sectional view, taken substantially on line 22 of Fig. l and showing the cover in position.

Fig. 3 is a front elevational view of the guide members embodying the features of the invention.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of the guide members.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, the developerprinter comprises a substantially rectangular, shallow housing having a hingedly mounted cover thereon, the latter being provided with a longitudinally extending slot to admit into the housing interior an undeveloped exposed negative sheet and a sheet of print paper, and a second longitudinal slot constituting an exit opening for said sheets. More specifically, the housing 11 is substantially rectangular in shape and may have formed on its bottom wall a plurality of foot-bearing protuberances 12, each carrying a cushioned pad 13, affording means for supporting the housing upon a surface. The top of the housing is open and is adapted to be closed by a cover 14, the latter having an oblong configuration and being provided with a depending marginal flange 15 to embrace the upper margins of the housing walls when in closed position.

It is preferred that the cover be hingedly mounted to the housing, as at 16, so that it may be swung easily and quickly into open and closed positions. Means is provided also, in the form of a digitally operable latch 17, whereby the cover may be detachably locked in closed position. The cover 14 has a pair of longitudinally extending slots 18 and 19 formed thereon. The slot 18 is located adjacent the front or latched edge of the cover and it constitutes the entrance opening for the sheets to be processed. The other slot 19 is located substantially midway between the front and back edges of the cover 14 and constitutes the exit opening through which the processed sheets are discharged. Beth slots may have their edges curved or arched inwardly, as shown, so as to resent a stre mline appearance to the apparatus as a whole, and further. to avoid injury such as might be caused were sharo edges present.

The housing 11 constitutes an enclosure for a container 21. This container is substantially rectan ular in shape and preferably includes a flat bott m wall 22 and an inclined front wall 23. The container may be fabricated from any suitable sheet stock and is adapted to contain a developing and fixing solution, the norm l level of wh ch is located substantially along the line 24 (Fig. 2). The container 21 is removably mounted in the housing 11, preferably by means of studs 25 which are mounted in and extend upwardly from the bottom wall' of the housing It. Eachstud 25 has a reduced diameter which fits into a socket 26 carried by the container bottom wall 22. It should be quite evident that when the cover 14 is swung into an open position, the container 21 may be lifted out of the housing. This mode of assembly has proven to be very advantageous because it enables the operator to remove the container for disposal of the solution therein without disturbing the housing and other elements carried thereon. When the apparatus is in use the cover is closed.

It has been stated previously that apparatus is adapted to receive for immersion into the developing and fixing solution an exposed, undeveloped negative sheet and an unexposed sensitive sheet of positive print paper. The practice of this so-called one-step developing process requires that the two sheets be fed simultaneously into the solution at a predetermined rate of speed and that said sheets be held out of contact with each other, while immersed, until such time as such sheets have absorbed a required amount of the developing-fixing solution. The feeding of the sheets into the solution is done manually through the entrance slit 18, and when the sheets rea'th a predetermined position within the apparatus they are engaged by wringer-feed rollers. These rollers, later described in detail, eject the sheets from the apparatus through the exit slot 19 after pressing them tightly together and wringing substantially all of the solution therefrom. For this purpose a novel sheet guide and wringer-feed mechanism is mounted within the container 23. This mechanism is embodied in a novel frame structure that is removably supported within said container 23 and may be secured in place therein.

Upon referring to Figs. 1 and 2, the frame structure includes end plates 27 held in spaced relation by a tierod 28 and bars or channel members 29 and 31. The channel member 29 is mounted upon the top edges of the end plates 27, said edges being formed with perpendicular flanges 32, to which the channel 29 is secured as by screws 33. The channel member 31 is secured by screws 34 to flanges 35 formed on the ends of the end plates 27 adjacent to the channel 29. It will be noted that the side flange 36 of the channel 29 aligns substantially with one edge of the entrance opening 18 in cover 14, and that the other channel 31 is disposed below said opening. This disposition of the channels is effected by mounting the frame structure in the container 21 angu larly, as best shown in Fig. 2. When so mounted, the longitudinally protruding ends 28a (Fig. l) of the tierod 28 are seated in sockets formed on the upper edges of brackets 37 secured to the end walls of the container 21 and extending upwardly therefrom.

The channel 29 has firmly secured thereon, as by means of screws 38, a strap 39, the ends of which are offset inwardly toward the channel side flange 36 so as to locate the intermediate portion of said strap spaced a suitable distance from said flange. The strap 39 has formed integrally therewith a guide means in the form of a plurality of fingers 41, which project downwardly from the lower edge thereof and have their end portions bent slightly in the direction of the channel 29, as indicated at 42. The purpose of these fingers will become apparent as the description proceeds.

The channel 29 is also provided with another guide means in the form of a plurality of depending members or guide elements 43 uniformly spaced apart longitudinally. Each of these members consists of a piece of sheet stock having a strap-like body portion 44 flanged as at 45 (Fig. 4) to permit spot-Welding, or otherwise securing them to the channel 29. Each member 43 terminates at its lower end in a perpendicular portion 46, and has a curved edge 47 merging with a straight edge 48 as it approaches its extreme end. A tie-bar 49 bridges all of the members 43 adjacent their free ends andis secured to each of saidmembers in any suitable manner, so as to impart rigidity thereto and to maintain said members spaced apart uniformly.

The other channel 31 is provided with still another guide means in the form of a plurality of guide members or elements 50, each of which includes a main portion 51, which is welded or otherwise firmly secured to the channel 31 in such manner as to dispose portions thereof above and below the channel 31. The portions of the members it) which extend above the channel 31 project into the entrance opening 18. Each of the members 50 has a perpendicular portion 52, each of which extends downwardly and rearwardly to underlie one of the curved perpendicular portions of the members 43. The upper edge of each of the portions 52 of members 50 is curved so as to gradually reduce the space between said edge and the edges 74S of the related guide member 43 as the extreme terminal of the member 43 is approached. This is perhaps best illustrated in Fig. 2 where it will be observed that at the terminal portion 53 of the guide member prrtion 52, the space between the opposed edges cf the ports 43 and St) is reduced considerably, as compared to the space between said parts in the region of the channels 29 and 31. A tie-bar 54 welded or otherwise secured to the terminal portion 53 of members 52 aidSin holding the portions against displacement.

When the sheets which have been inserted through the entrance opening 18 are pushed downwardly between the guides 4-1, and 50 into the solution, they ultimately are carried rearwardly and upwardly, as viewed in Fig. 2, into position for engagement by the wringing-feed rollers 5556. These rollers 55 and 56 extend longitudinally between the frame end plates 27 and are journaled therein adjacent the upper portion thereof as illustrated. They are geared together as by means of gears 57 and 58.

Any power-operated or manually-actuated means may be provided to rotate the rollers 55 and 56. It is preferred, however, that a suitable electrically powered motor 59 be mounted in the housing 11. The motor is, of course, enclosed Within a casing which has an opening 61 therein, through which one of a train of gears enclosed in the casing may be exposed to mesh with a gear 62 carried on the projecting end 63 of the shaft supporting the roller 56. This construction affords easy and ready removal of the guide frame assembly without requiring dismantling of the motor casing. It should be quite evident that re-assembly of the guide frame structure and container may be accomplished very readily by simply locating the projecting end portions 28a of the tie-rod 23 in the recesses provided therefor in the brackets 37 on the end walls of the container 21 and permitting the frame assembly to then drop into position; the gear 62 automatically meshing with corresponding gear of the gear train.

It is believed that our invention, its mode of construction and assembly, and many of its advantages should be readily understood from the foregoing Without further description, and it should also be manifest that while a single preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown and described for illustrative purposes, the structural details are nevertheless capable of wide variation within the purview of our invention as defined in the appended claim.

What we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

A photographic processing apparatus comprising a container for holding a photographic processing solution, a pair of mutually engaging rollers rotatably mounted within the container, drive means for rotatingsaid rollers, and a plurality of spaced guide means for guiding photographic strips or sheets in a path extending down- Wardly into said solution and then upwardly out of said solution and between said rollers, one of said guide means comprising a plurality of flat planar elements mutually spaced from each other in a direction transverse to said path, each of. said elements lying in a plane perpendicular to said path and parallel to the planes of said other elements, said elements being relatively wide in the direction parallel to said planes and being relatively thin in the direction perpendicular to said planes, each of said elements having a relatively thin curved edge along the upper surface thereof for contacting and guiding the lower surface of a photographic strip or sheet, said curved edges being parallel to each other throughout their lengths and extending substantially throughout said path, a second of said guide means comprising a plurality of flat planar elements mutually spaced from each other in a direction transverse to said path, each of said elements of said second guide means lying in a plane perpendicular to said path and parallel to the planes of the other of said last-recited elements, said last-recited elements being relatively wide in the direction parallel to said planes and being relatively thin in the direction perpendicular to said planes, each of said last-recited elements having a relatively thin edge along the lower surface thereof for contacting and guiding the upper surface of a photographic strip or sheet, said last-recited edges being curved throughout a substantial portion of their lengths and being parallel to each other throughout their lengths and extending substantially throughout said path, a third of said guide means comprising a plurality of fingers rnutually spaced from each other in a direction transverse to said path and extending downwardly from above the level of said solution to a point below said level, said fingers being shorter than said elements and extending through only the initial portion of said path, each of said fingers lying in a common plane parallel to said path, said fingers being relatively wide in the direction parallel to said last-recited plane and being relatively thin in the direction perpendicular to said last-recited plane, each of said fingers having relatively flat planar upper and lower surfaces for contacting and separating the adjacent surfaces of a pair of superimposed photographic strips or sheets.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 717,021 Pollak Dec. 30, 1902 1,261,926 Greene Apr. 9, 1918 1,493,866 Parkes May 13, 1924 l,832,297 Greene Nov. 17, 1931 2,657,618 Eisbein Nov. 3, 1953 2,664,801 Eisbein Jan. 5, 1954 2,685,831 Standberg Sept. 7, 1954 2,688,281 Bornemann Sept. 7, 1954 2,732,778 Limberger Jan. 31, 1956 2,742,838 Paulas Apr. 24, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 269,199 Switzerland Oct. 2, 1950 804,890 Germany May 4, 1951 515,587 Belgium Oct. 29, 1952 848,013 Germany Dec. 11, 1952

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