US2919637A

US2919637A - Film processing tank unit

Info

Publication number: US2919637A
Application number: US755679A
Authority: US
Inventors: John W Carr
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1958-08-18
Filing date: 1958-08-18
Publication date: 1960-01-05
Anticipated expiration: 1977-01-05

Description

Jan. 5, 1960 J. w. CARR FILM PROCESSING TANK UNIT 3 Sheet 1 Filed Aug, 18 8 E w. N we m M W WY Jan. 5, 1960 J. w. CARR FILM PROCESSING TANK UNIT 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 18, 1958 M NDNW J. W. CARR FILM PROCESSING TANK UNIT 'Illllllllll VII/III Filed Aug. 18, 1958 FIG. 6.

, I INVENTOR.

JOA/N 4a 0099 3 BYW/ United States Patent 2,919,637 FILM PROCESSING TANK UNIT John W. Carr, Pacific Palisades, Calif. Application August 18, 1953, Serial No. 755,679 11 Claims. (Cl. 951-89) This invention relates to film processing tanks and particularly to an X-ray processing tank adapted to be operated between two rooms and commonly known as a throughwall processing tank. 'X-ray' films come in various sizes and are generally processed as soon as exposed. "The present processing tank accommodates films of various sizes, provides for the illumination of the films for observation and inspection, and provides a light-tight hypo or wash tank which permits a film to be placed in the tank in a dark room and removed from. the tank in a lighted room, the dark room being protected from light at all times. This -throughwall operation permits the rapid processing of the film by having only the technicians in the dark room, the doctors being in the lighted room where they may quickly remove the film from the hypo tank for observation even before washing, where speed is essential to a diagnosis of many ailments. Where many films are being processed, the separation of the technicians and doctors in different rooms expedites the processing and provides higher quality films.

To provide the lightproof safety feature, the doors or lids of the hypo or wash tank are rubber-gasket sealed and only one door in one room can be opened at a time. This is accomplished by a sliding latch which when in a position to permit the opening of one door, locks the other door so that the dark room cannot be lighted through the hypo or wash tank.

The principal object of the invention, therefore, is to facilitate the processing or developing of X-ray films. Y

Another object of the invention is to provide a dciveloping unit which may extend between a dark room and a lighted room to expedite the processing of films.

A further object of the invention is .to provide an improved X-ray processing tank unit which provides observation means and a safety lightproof hypo or wash tank portion accessible frorntwo separate rooms .at mutually exclusive times.

A better understanding of this invention may be had from the following detailed description when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view ,of a processing tank unit embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view, partially exploded, of the safety latch used in the invention.

Fig. 3 is a side elevational ,view of the proc ssing tank unit of Fig. 1 and shown partially in cross-section.

Fig. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view showing the lightproof doors of the hypo or wash tank portion of the invention.

Fig. -5 is a cross-sectional detail view of the lightproofing construction of the doors of the hypo or wash tank section.

Fig. 6 is a detail view of the holding latch for the hypo showing the ground glass mounting for the drip-free viewing screens.

Referring, now, to the drawings in which the same reference numerals indicate the same elements, the unit is of a generally rectangular configuration with a hack-splash wall 4, the outside walls and partitions being composed of plywood 5 on which is attached sheet metal 6. Several serially-arranged tanks or compartments are provided in the unit. As mentioned above, the tank unit extends between two rooms, the room partition being in contact with the center tank partition 8 on which are mounted door latches 9 and 10. The unit may have removable front and end panels to provide access to the interior elements, such as the plumbing, not shown.

The left hand side of the tank, as shown in Fig. 3, is in a dark room and has hanger rails for developing and shortstop tanks if used, one of which 'is shown at '11 in Fig. l. Another rail is shown at 12. The large compartment of the tank in the left contains temperature-controlled water 13 and in which are tanks 14 and 15 mounted on the hanger rails and containing films 17 and 18 mounted on the standard type of supporting rods20 and 21. A developing solution is contained in tank 14 and a shortstop solution is contained in tank 15. A

central tank compartment 23 contains the hypo solution which in some instances may be wash water, the hypo tank being in water 13, while the tank portion 24 contains the usual Washing water. Although a shortstop tank 15 is shown, some processors do not use it but simply wash the film in water 13. i

As mentioned above, light is excluded from the room containing the left-hand portion of tank 23 by a pair of lightproof doors or

lids

26 and 27 having

respective brackets

28 and 29 mounted thereon. On a top horizontal section 31 of the central tank is a plate 32, side guides 33 and 34, and a plate 35, all of which may be' fastened to the platform 31 by screws such as shown at 36.

Mounted between the

plates

32 and 35 and between the guides 33 and 34 is a bar 38 slidable between rooms and having handles 39 and 40 at the ends thereof, these handles being threaded into the ends of bar 38 and having hand-

protective flanges

41 and 42, respectively, thereon. The bar 38 is slightly undercut at 43 to form rails on which the bar can slide without binding. The lower portion of the handles are adapted to fit in end notches, such as shown at 44, in the plate 35. Thus, when the bar 38 is in .the position shown in Fig. 3, door 26 cannot be opened but door 27 may beopened. When the bar is in the position shown in Fig. 4, door 27 cannot be opened but door 26 can be opened and latched as shown by the dotted'lines 46 in Fig. 4. Latching is accomplished by the use of

door handles

67 and 68 which fit into notches in .the latches 9 and 10, the latches pivoting on pins 69 and 7.0. (See Fig. 6.) The door handles are-fastened to .the doors by screws or bolts so they may be removed during transportation of the .unit.

As shown in Fig. 5, the doors have an outer skin withdepending flanges '96 and 97 and underplates 9 8 and 99 to which are attached v by any suitable means such as welding, Z-shaped members 51 .and 51. To th i ne flanges of me b rs 5: rn 5 is a slat 5. attached by screws 86, the plate 56 the surfaces of time 2 Whe 8 nd 9.15 z-sh be brs' ,5 1]anjg1. 51' being coated with neqnrene .rubberfIOO to protect the inner .suriaces of the doors frorri'hyptx fumes, Reinforcing ribs for the dqo r s shown -at an a 10 To exclude light from the ,tank 23,

rubber gaskets

49 and 53 extend around the lower and side edges oflea'ch of ,ljespective doors. 27an d 26, these ruhber gaskets having a. hollow circular section and a flat base section,

shown at 50 in Fig. 7, and which are held in position by plates 98 and 99 and Z-shaped members 51 and 51'. When the doors are in closed position, the circular portion of each gasket is compressed into an oval shape as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, while its normal configuration is as shown in Fig. 7. This insures a good light seal.

The door 26 is hinged with a piano-type hinge 54 and door 27 is hinged with a similar type hinge 55. To provide a lightproof connection at the upper edges of the doors when the

doors

26 and 27 are closed, the outer lining 95 of each door (see Fig. is bent into L-shaped brackets 57 and 58 which are adapted to be inserted in lower U-shaped sections 60 and 61 depending from the section 31. To increase the lightproofing, the upper sheet of door 26 has a depending flange 65, while the upper sheet of door 27 has a depending flange 66.

Two illuminating or viewing units 71 and 72 are in each section of the back wall of the tank, these units consisting of film-

holding brackets

74 and 75, light sources 76 and 77, and three-

sided frame units

78 and 79 to make them drip-free. As shown in Fig. 8, opal glass or opal plastic plates 8%) and 81 are held in position by the U-shaped

frame units

78 and 79 which have one long leg 82 and a short leg 83 fastened by a screw 84 threaded into the back wall. (See Fig. 8.) The opal glass plates 80 and 81 are fiush with the back wall, and since there are no lower sections of the frames, hypo or water from the wet film may drain back into the tank. Although one illuminator is shown in the dark room and one in the light room, it is to be understod that more than one may be in the lighted room and none in the dark room.

A safe light may be positioned at 89 in the end wall of the tank, while the desired switches may be mounted at 91 and 92 and a thermometer at 94.

To operate the tank, film is placed in the developer in tank 14 for the necessary period and then into a shortstop bath in tank 15, or in water 13 as a rinse water, the water being held at the desired temperature to maintain the developer and shortstop bath at the required temperature. The plumbing to accomplish this may be placed behind the back wall or in the front of the tank unit behind the removable panels.

The door 26 of the hypo tank 23 is now opened, which means that bar 38 is to the right, locking door 27, and the film placed therein. After the required period of time, the door 27 is opened, which means that bar 38 is to the left, locking door 26 so that no light can enter the dark room. The film is then taken out of the hypo or wash tank, observed at the illuminator 72, and placed in the wash section 24.

If the inspection of the film from the hypo tank is desired in the dark room, it can be done at illuminator 71. Thus, many films may be rapidly processed through the entire tank at different stages by having a section of the hypo tank in one room and another section in an adjoining room with safety light-excluding doors. The construction of the doors facilitates their opening and closing, the locking feature preventing errors in not having one door closed before the other is opened.

I claim:

1. A developing tank unit for sheet film adapted to have a portion thereof in one room and another portion thereof in an adjoining room separated by a wall comprising a unit having a plurality of serially arranged compartments adapted to contain liquids, a centrally disposed compartment in said unit having a portion in one of said rooms and a portion in said adjoining room, and a door in each room to provide access to said central compartment, said doors being at an angle of approximately 45 degrees to the horizontal and hinged along their top edges, a bracket being provided on each door and a locking bar being mounted on said compartment and having an end thereof extendable into each of said roomsjat mutually exclusive times, each end moving over and com tacting a respective bracket, said bar in one position thereby locking one door and permitting the opening of the other door, another position of said bar locking said other door and permitting the opening of said firstmentioned door.

2. A developing tank unit in accordance with claim 1 in which means are provided on said wall for holding said doors in open position above said compartment.

3. A developing tank unit in accordance with claim 1 in which a resilient gasket is positioned around the bottom and two side edges of each door to seal said doors and exclude light from said central compartment when said doors are closed, the weight of said doors compressing said gasket to tighten said seal.

4. A developing tank-unit in accordance with claim 3 in which an interleaved light trap is provided at the upper edge of each door where said doors are hinged to exclude light from said central compartment.

5. A film processing tank unit having a plurality of serially arranged compartments, one of which has a. portion in a dark room and another portion in an adjoining lighted room, said room being separated by a wall, comprising a developing compartment in said dark room and a hypo compartment extending into both rooms, a door in each room providing access to said hypo compartment, and locking means for said doors to permit the opening of only one of said doors at mutually exclusive times, said doors being positioned at approximately 45 degrees to the horizontal, hinged along their top edges, provided with a gasket along their bottom and side edges, and provided with a light trap seal along the top edges thereof.

6. A film processing tank unit in accordance with claim 5 in which said unit has a back wall, at least-one illuminator unit for films being positioned in said wall.

7. A film processing tank unit in accordance with claim 6 in which each of said illuminating units has only upper and side panels and a viewing plate positioned flush with said back wall.

8. A sheet film processing tank unit comprising serially positioned tanks containing fluids for processing films by moving said films from one tank to another, certain of said tanks being in one room and certain other of said tanks being in an adjacent room, said rooms being separated by a wall, one of said tanks being partially in one of said rooms on one side of said wall and partially in said other room on the other side of said wall, a first door providing access to said one tank from one of said rooms, a second door providing access to said one tank from the other of said rooms, said doors being hinged along their upper edges, means for preventing the opening of both of said doors at any one time, and means attached to said wall for holding said doors in open position.

9. A sheet film processing tank unit in accordance with claim 8 in which said first-mentioned means includes a bracket on each of said doors and a bar slidable between said brackets and adapted to contact each of said brackets at mutually exclusive times.

10. A sheet film processing tank unit in accordance with claim 8 in which said doors include resilient gaskets along the sides and both edges thereof and an interleaved light trap at the upper edges thereof to lightproof said one tank when said doors are closed.

11. A sheet film processing tank unit in accordance with claim 10 in which said tank unit includes a back wall and film illuminators mounted therein, said illuminators having upper and side panels and light diffusing plates flush with said wall and held in position by said panels.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,500,345 Spurrier July 8, 1924 2,222,495 Battis Nov. 10, 1940 2,764,920 Harper Oct. 2, 1956