US2878741A

US2878741A - Means for moistening the films of photographic film-supports

Info

Publication number: US2878741A
Application number: US384436A
Authority: US
Inventors: Limberger Walter
Original assignee: Messrs Lumoprint Zindler K G
Current assignee: Messrs Lumoprint Zindler K G
Priority date: 1953-10-06
Filing date: 1953-10-06
Publication date: 1959-03-24
Anticipated expiration: 1976-03-24

Description

. March 24, 1959 w. L'lMBERGER 2,878,741 mus FOR MOISTENING ms FILMS OF PHOTOGRAPHIC FILM-SUPPORTS Filed Oct. 6, 1953 INVFNUP United States Patent O p MEANS FOR MOISTENING THE FILMS F PHOTOGRAPHIC FILM-SUPPORTS Walter Limberger, Hamburg, Germany, assignor to Messrs. Lumoprint Zindler K. G., Hamburg, Germany Application October 6, 1953, Serial No. 384,436

2 Claims. (Cl. 95-94) ing roller is made movable to 2,878,741 Patented Mar. 24, 1959 of the treating liquid on the film-support is made considerably less.

Preferably, guiding devices are arranged with respect to the moistening roller such that the film-support at the time of its contact with the moistening roller runs in a curve concave to the roller. In this way, the contact of the film-support with the moistening roller is not in accordance with a line, but in accordance with a surface, whereby the effective time of the treatment liquid on the film of the film-support is increased. A preferable construction of the invention consists in that the moistena and fro on the film-support. In this way, it is attained that the film-support becomes moistened on one side only in the region where actual treatment of its light-sensitive film is required.

Furthermore, it is recommended to make the surface of the moistening roller of absorbent material in order These methods have the particular disadvantage for film supports with a paper base that the film-support takes up large amounts of liquid and hence becomes soft. This is of extreme disadvantage if the film-support consists of a long band, which must be guided in long lengths for carrying out the fixing and developing processes, even if it does not make this process impossible. A further disadvantage arises in that the chemical processes in the film are usually undesirably influenced by the liquids (e. g. paper felt) located in the film support. It is further disadvantageous in that the above-mentioned film supports at the end of the process have taken up a great deal of moisture and must first be dried before use, which is time-consuming and makes special treatments necessary.

The above-mentioned disadvantages have up to now made the manufacture of copying machines extremely troublesome if not even impossible. It was previously not possible to construct copying machines which manufactured copies according to the diffusion process such that the final product could be wound up in rolls in the uncut state.

One object of the invention is therefore to improve the treating of sensitized film supporting layers, sheets or strips with liquid fluid.

Another object of the invention is to shorten the time for treating sensitized film supporting layers, sheets or strips with a treatment liquid.

A further object of the invention is to shorten the time for drying the film supporting layer, sheet or strip after having treated said film and to improve the facilities for drying said film supporting means.

Yet a further object of the invention is to eliminate or to diminish the detrimental efiects of the film supporting sheet, layer or strip to the sensitized film intimately connected therewith.

A further object of the invention is to increase the concentration of the treating liquid without having recourse to increase the time of treating the film of said film supporting means and without increasing the danger of obtaining veils or hazes on the sensitized film.

In accordance with the invention, for removing these disadvantages, a moistening roller capable of being immersed in the treatment liquid is capable of being brought into contact with the film to be moistened while being subjected to a rotary movement. Only the light-sensitive film is thus moistened, whereas the back of the film-support does not come into contact with the treatment bath. The considerable advantage is so given that the film-support remains substantially dry and the chemical influence in this way to improve the conveyance of the treating liquid to the film of the film support.

In accordance with the invention, the advance of the film-support as well as the rotation of the moistening roller are forcibly effected, where the rotational velocity of the roller is made different from the velocity of travel of the film-support, so that there is a relative velocity between the film-support and the roller. Preferably the rotational velocity of the roller is made considerably greater than the velocity of travel of the film-support I is continuously renewed and in this Way and its direction of rotation can be so chosen that along the contact plane the direction of travel of the film-support and the rotation of the roller are equal, also such that the travel of the film-support and of the rotation of the roller along the contact plane have opposing directions. In this way, it is attained that the film-support floats on the liquid contacting the moistening roller. which is conveyed with a greater rotational velocity and a very intensive treatment of the photographic film-support is ensured.

It has further been shown that by the continuous rcnewal of the treatment bath or baths a speeding up of the difiusion process is obtained which enables the concentration of the treating liquid to be substantially increased with respect to the previously available concentration, without any halation of the light-sensitive film with halation-sensitive films having to be feared.

Whilst this curtailing of the treating time already represents a considerable advantage, it is of particular importance for the treatment of those films and methods whose long treating duration previously prevented practical employment, particularly such methods which are based on the solarisation eifect. As far as such films require several treating to connect two or more invention together.

The treating liquid is moved forward in the way described by the moistening roller substantially more quickly than the film-support. Should a single filmsupport strip of restricted length be concerned, as is fre quently the case, there is a risk that the film-support of the rear edge of the film-support strip will be swept over with treating liquid. To avoid this disadvantage, it is recommended to allow the moistening roller to run at least at the region of the rear end of the film-support strip such that the travel of the film-support strip and the rotation of the moistening roller at the contact surfaces are directed oppositely.

It has been shown that the film-support, without being provided with additional guiding devices, wraps itself round a part of the circumference of the moistening roller, if pairs of conveying rollers are only arranged before and behind the moistening roller. The adhesion of the film-support with the treating liquid supplied by the moistening roller plays the definite part, in which this baths, it is possible for instance of the devices according to the 3 effect is augmented such that, at the start at least, if the pair of conveying rollers succeeding the moistening roller have still not engaged the film-support, the direction of the rotation of the moistening roller is in agreement with the direction of travel of the film-support. In order to avoid the already mentioned risk of the rear edge of the film-support being swept over, it is recommended to arrange the film-support with respect to the moistening roller such that it moves upwards in the plane of contact.

Further improvements and preferred constructions of the invention are described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which some embodiments of the invention are illustrated diagrammatically.

Fig. 1 shows a diagrammatic representation of the invention showing a single moistening roller;

Fig. 2 shows a cross-section through another embodiment of the invention for treating the film of the filmsupport with two kinds of liquid;

Fig. 3 shows a cross-section through a further embodiment of the invention in combination with a contact printing device;

Fig. 4 shows a cross-section through a further embodiment of the invention, likewise in combination with a contact printing device; and

Fig. 5 shows a cross-section through a further embodiment with another contact printing device.

According to Fig. 1, a pair of conveying rollers 60 are provided at the beginning and a pair of conveying rollers 61 are provided at the end which are indicated as pairs of tension rollers. A stripper 62 serves to remove the film-support 59, which touches the surface of the mois tening roller 57 between the two pairs of

rollers

60 and 61, from the roller.

As Fig. 1 shows, the film-support 59 moves upwards between the two pairs of

rollers

60 and 61, whereby the risk that the liquid will spill over the support and hence moisten its back is reduced.

According to Fig. 2, two

moistening rollers

57 and 64 are provided with a further pairof rollers 65. Whereas a developing liquid 58 is contained in the first trough 56, the second trough contains a fixing liquid 67. Strippers are indicated at 68 and 69 and it can be seen from Fig. 2 that the film-support moves upwardly so that reversal of the direction of the

rollers

57, 64 can be dispensed with.

According to Fig. 3, the embodiment according to Fig. 1 is provided in a common housing 71 with a contact printing device, which consists of a transparent roller 72 in which an illuminating device, for example an incandescent tube, is arranged in a manner not shown in detail. By means of

rollers

73, 74, 75 and an endless band 78 the film-support to be illuminated may be guided around the lower part of the roller 72. The inlet opening is indicated at 76; at 77 the copy and the film-support are taken out and then fed at 79 into themoistening device.

In the embodiment according to Fig. 4, the device of Fig. 2 is combined with a contact printing device. The contact printing device is supplied with the film-support through an inlet opening 80. The illuminating device consists of a curved transparent plate 81 over which an endless band 85 is guided by means of rollers or

shafts

82, 83, 84. Behind this transparent plate 81 a series of illuminating members 86 is provided. The illuminated film-support and the copy come out at 87 and the illuminated film-support is then guided at 88 into the moistening device. Removal occurs at 89.

In accordance with Fig. 5, the embodiment according to Fig. 1 is arranged in a common housing 90 with an illuminating device which consists of a transparent plate 91 under which the illuminating members 92 are arranged in a light-tight housing 93. Over the curved transparent plate 91, an endless band 96 is guided by means of

rollers

94, 95. The film-support and copy are fed to the contact printing device through an opening 97. Whilst the illuminated film-support is carried to the pair of rollers 60 the copy is led through a channel 98 to an outlet 99 in a way not illustrated in detail.

What I claim is:

1. Apparatus for treating a layer of sensitized film on one surface of sheet material with treatment liquid comprising a vessel containing a supply of the treatment liquid, 2. treatment roller driven at a predetermined surface speed, means rotatably supporting said roller partially submerged in said liquid so that the unsubmerged roller portion will have a film of the liquid adherent thereto, a first pair of feed rollers located in advance of said treatment roller at a level adapted to feed sheet material to said treatment roller at a point substantially below he upper vertex of the treatment roller, a second pair of feed rollers located in rear of said treatment roller vertically disposed above said first pair of feed rollers, said sheet material being engaged between said pairs of feed rollers for positive feeding motion past said unsubmerged treatment roller surface at a lesser surface speed than said treatment roller, whereby the circumferential speed of the treatment roller will be unidirected to that of the sheet material but being greater than the advance speed of the sheet material and whereby the sheet material will be guided to contact an arc of the surface of the treatment roller, without additional pressing on means, by the adhesive action of the agent on the treatment roller only, which are, as regards its sense of rotation, is positioned before the upper vertex of the treatment roller, so that the sheet material is moving upward in a contact surface and a stripper engaging said sheet material between said upper vertex and said second pair of feed rollers adapted to lift said material from said roller.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein at least two vessels containing the treatment liquid and two treatment rollers are arranged in the form of stairs one behind the other and additional feed rollers are provided between the treatment rollers.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,591,436 Salins July 6, 1926 1,847,833 Horst Mar. 1, 1932 1,852,662 Lord et al Apr. 5, 1932 1,916,108 Hall June 27,v 1933 2,142,318 Langsner Jan. 3, 1939 2,605,684 Nagels Aug. 5, 1952 2,732,778 Lim'berger Jan. 31, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 371,276 France Jan. 18, 1907 7,844 France Sept. 3, 1907 587,774 France J an. 22, 1925 337,029 Great Britain Oct. 20, 1930 337,442 Great Britain Oct. 22, 1930 605,951 Germany Nov; 22, 1934 823,233 France Oct. 11, 1937 632,823 Great Britain Dec. 5, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent N0a 2,878,741 March 24, L959 I Walter Limberger Q It is hereby certified that error appears in the above numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected belowo In the heading to the printed specification, between lines 6 and '7, insert Claims priority, application Germany October 8', 1952 Signed and sealed this 17th day of November 1959.,

(SEAL) Attest:

KARL H0 AXLINE ROBERT C. WATSON Attesting Officer Conmissioner of Patents UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Pement No 2,878,741 March 24, L959 Walter Limberger It is hereby certified that error appears in the above numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected belowo 1 In the heading to the printed specification, between lines 6 and '7, insert Claims priority, application Germany October 8-, 1952 Signed and sealed this 17th day of November 1959..

(SEAL) Attest:

KARL Ha AJQINE ROBERT C. WATSON Attesting Officer Cbmissioner of Patents