US3138437A - Speed film dryer and method of drying radiograph film negatives - Google Patents

Description

June 23, 1964 A, w, BUCK 3,138,437

SPEED FILM DRYER AND METHOD OF DRYING RADIOGRAPH FILM NEGATIVES Filed Sept. 24, 1962 J 2 I z II JL 1W x K a I 323k I0 I l I I 1/ i "1 Z I l x I i Z L Z .6.

a i z 3 mmvrox. ARTHUR m BUCK S A T TOR/YEKS United States Patent 3,138,437 SPEED FILM DRYER AND METHOD OF DRYlN G RADEQGRAPH FILM NEGATIVES Arthur W. Buck, 8709 Xograph Ave, St. Louis 36, M0. Filed Sept. 24, 1962, Ser. No. 225,592 2 Claims. (Cl. 3413) The present invention relates to a speed film dryer and method for radiograph film negatives, and more particular- 1y to such a dryer and method in which the film negative is inclined and in which supplementing heated air is passed over the lower portion of the film negative.

At the present time radiographs or X-rays are widely used as diagnostic aids for determining the condition,

position, etc. of parts within the human body which are not visible by exterior examination. It is the common practice to develop the radiograph film negative, to dry it, and to then inspect it after it is dried.

It ofiten happens that it is highly desirable for the person basing an opinion on the radiograph to give that opinion as soon as possible after the radiograph is taken, and a great part of the time consumed between the taking of the radio graph and its presentation to the person giving the vopinion in suitable, dry state is in the drying of the film negative. It has been found that water tends to flow to the bottom margin of the film negative, and so this part remains wet for the longest time. Of course, it is entirely unsuitable that a negative which is only partially dried be presented for viewing, as the water remaining thereon casts serious'doubts about the accuracy of the image which is being studied.

In some cases it has been known that water droplets will remain in the parts of the dryer which support the film negative, even'when the film has been substantially dried, and when the dryer is opened or the film rack removed from the dryer, a force applied to the negative holder or hanger will dislodge the water droplets, and where these droplets have been adhering'to a part of the supporting structure above the film negative, a disturbance or shaking of. the dryer or its parts or of the negative holder or hanger will dislodge the water droplet and cause it to fall downwardly onto the film negative. Such a water drop let will appear as a streak or a small area differentiated in color or shading from the surrounding image. Such a streak or area has been known to result in an erroneous interpretation of the negative. For example, in instances where X-rays have been taken of the lungs, such a water droplet may appear as a spot on the lung, indicating a disease, disturbance or infection, where in fact the lungs are actually healthy and normal.

Because of the known tendencies of the film negative dryers heretofore used to give results which are suspect, as above discussed, it is the practice among many physici-ans to give only a preliminary opinion within a short time after the radiograph has been delivered to them from the dryer, and defer their firm opinion until a great amount of time has elapsed. Thus, in many instances it is the practice not to give a firm opinion regarding a radiographic study until several days has elapsed.

The deficiencies herein noted have existed, even though attempts have been made to correct them, such as by the addition of more heaters. However, mere increase in heating capacity has not achieved the desired results.

An object of the present invention is to provide a film dryer which will completely dry film negatives with great rapidity.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a film dryer which will enable film negatives to be dried with great rapidity, which film dryer is economical to manufacture.

Yet another object of the present invention is the pro- 3,138,437 Patented June 23, 1964 ice that the film is compleely dry throughout its area.

Other objects and many of the attendant advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following specification and drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a film dryer inaccordance with the present invention, with one part thereof in disassembled position.

FIG. 2 is an elevational sectional view taken along line 2-2 in FIG. 1 of a film hanger positioned in accordance with the present invention, with surrounding parts in phantom line.

Referring now to the drawings, wherein like or corresponding reference numerals are used to designate like or corresponding parts throughout the several views, there is shown in FIG. 1 a film dryer'10 comprising a cabinet 11 having groups of inlet openings 12, 13 and 14, and a group of outlet openings 16. In the top of the cabinet 11, mounted on hinged plates 17 and 18, are a pair of motors 19 whichare placed exterior-1y, of the cabinet, motors 19 driving fans 21 which are within the cabinet and beneath the groups of inlet openings 13 and 14. Below the fans 21 is a'heater 22,heater 22 being in the nature of a resistance element.

The front of the cabinet 11 is provided with-an access opening 25 which may be closed by a door 26 shown for clarity as leaning against the cabinet 11, but in use will be understood to be structurally connected to-a drawer-like rack generally designated 27. Rack 27 is carried by a pair of spaced supports which are'mounted within the cabinet 11- on opposite sides of access opening 25 and which extend within cabinet 11 awayzfrom the access opening 25. The supports for the drawer-like rack 27 are in the nature of known drawer support structures, anda part of one of them is shown near the left edge of access opening 25, and is designated 28, it being understood that a similar support member extends within cabinet 11 adjacent the right hand edge of access opening 25.

Rack 27 contains a plurality of grooves 29 for receiving film negative hangers 30, a large number of which may be placed in the dryer 10 at the same time for simultaneous drying thereof.

Referring now to FIG. 2, it may be seen that the film negative hanger 30 is carried by the rack 27, and that the upper bar 31 thereof is inclined to the horizontal, the angle of inclination beign as hereinbelow set forth. The inclination of the hanger 30 is due to the fact that the support 28 is somewhat higher than the corresponding other support for rack 27, this being accomplished by shims or other suitable means. The hanger 30 includes a plurality of clips 32 which are used to securely grip and hold the film negative. It will be understood that diiierent size film negatives are processed, from time to time, and that in order to accommodate them hangers are provided which have identical top bars 31, but which are of different sizes to accommodate the film negatives of differing sizes. It is common at the present time to provide such negatives in various sizes, and three of these sizes are indicated by the dashed line rectangles designated A, B and C.

As the conventional film negatives are generally rectangular, as above mentioned, the edges thereof will be inclined, both the top and bottom edges and the side edges, and this will cause any water thereon to drain to the lower edge, which is the bottom right hand corner of any one of the film negatives A, B or C shown in FIG. 2. This drainage of the moisture to one point or one portion of the film negative will tend to dry more rapidly the remainder of the vided deflectors 36, 37 and 38.

"heater 33, which is also a resistance heater and is held spaced from the side wall of the cabinet 11, as shown. Adjacent and beneath and second heater 33, which exwardly along the wall of cabinet 11 to which heater 33 is adjacent towards the lower portion of a film negative carried by the hanger 30. Thus, the additional or supplementing heated air is directed against and over the film negative held by the hanger 30 at the lower portion of the film negative which is the portion of the film negative to which the water and moisture has drained.

In addition to the deflector 34, and in order to aid in the circulation of the heated air uniformly and rapidly throughout the interiors cabinet 11, there are also pro- The dryer is provided with a timer 41, a thermometer 42, a thermostat 43 and switches 44 and 45 for the fan motors '19 and the heaters 22 and 33. An indicator light 46 is provided, and the circuit arrangement is such that the fan motors 19 must be energized before the heaters 22 and 33 are energized It has been found that with presently used film materials, the most rapid and effective drying is achieved when the film negative is inclined approximately four degrees,

'tends from front to rear of the cabinet 11 and which is M beneath the lower ones of thesupports for rack 27, is a deflector 34 which serves to direct the air flowing down- It has been found that the structure and the resulting tioning of the film negative Within the dryer 10. This thereby permits the giving of opinions on medical matters with great rapidity after the taking of the radiograph, since the physician giving the opinion can do so with assurance ably dry state, within a very few minutes afterthe posiz that there is no moisture or water on the negative which would cause an erroneous opinion.

It will beobvious to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention and therefore the invention is not limited to what is shown in the drawings and described in the specification but only as indicated in the appeded claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A speed film dryer for a plurality of radiograph film negatives of the type having at least three corners comprising a cabinet having air inlet and outlet openings, motor driven fan means adjacent the top of said cabinet for blowing air downwardly in said cabinet, first heater means below said fan means, an access opening into said cabinet, horizontally spaced apart support means in said cabinet below said heater means at opposite sides of said access opening and extending within said cabinet away from said access opening, slidable rack means carried on said support means for sliding movement into and out of said cabinet, means on said rack means for supporting a plurality of radiograph film negative hangers transversely of said spaced support means, one said spaced support means being lower than the other an amount to give a lateral inclination to said film hanger and said rack means, second heater means in the lower portion of said cabinet generally beneath said one support means and deflecting means below said second heater means for directing air flowing downwardly past said second heater means toward the center of said cabinet, said negative being disposed in such a manner that one of the corners thereof nearest said second heater means is the lowest point of said negative while in said cabinet.

2. The speed film dryer of claim 1, wherein said lateral inclination of said film hanger and said rack means is ap proximately four degrees.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 525,921 Proctor- Sept. 11, 1894 1,349,568 Gammel Aug. 17, 1920 1,563,858 Ingve Dec. 1, 1925 1,589,642 Harris June 22, 1926 1,833,631 Wilsey Nov. 24, 1931 2,376,174 Munning et al May 15, 1945 v FOREIGN PATENTS 581,778 France Dec. 5, 1924 Germany et- June 15, 1959

Claims (1)

1. A SPEED FILM DRYER FOR A PLURALITY OF RRADIOGRAPH FILM NEGATIVES OF THE TYPE HAVING AT LEAST THREE CORNERS COMPRISING A CABINET HAVING AIR INLET AND OUTLET OPENINGS, MOTOR DRIVEN FAN MEANS ADJACENT THE TOP OF SAID CABINET FOR BLOWING AIR DOWNWARDLY IN SAID CABINET, FIRST HEATER MEANS BELOW SAID FAN MEANS, AN ACCESS OPENING INTO SAID CABINET, HORIZONTALLY SPACED APART SUPPORT MEANS IN SAID CABINET BELOW SAID HEATER MEANS AT OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID ACCESS OPENING AND EXTENDING WITHIN SAID CABINET AWAY FROM SAID ACCESS OPPENING, SLIDABLE RACK MEANS CARRIED ON SAID SUPPORT MEANS FOR SLIDING MOVEMENT INTO AND OUT OF SAID CABINET, MEANS ON SAID RACK MEANS FOR SUPPORTING A PLURALITY OF RADIOGRAPH FILM NEGATIVE HANGERS TRANSVERSELY OF SAID SPACED SUPPORT MEANS, ONE SAID SPACED SUPPORT MEANS BEING LOWER THAN THE OTHER AN AMOUNT TO GIVE A LATERAL INCLINATION TO SAID FILM HANGERS AND SAID RACK MEANS, SECOND HEATER MEANS IN THE LOWER PORTION OF SAID CABINET GENERALLY BENEATH SAID ONE SUPPORT MEANS FOR DEFLECTING MEANS BELOW SAID SECOND HEATER MEANS FOR DIRECTING AIR FLOWING DOWNWARDLY PAST SAID SECOND HEATER MEANS TOWARD THE CENTER OF SAID CABINET, SAID NEGATIVE BEING DISPOSED IN SUCH A MANNER THAT ONE OF THE CORNERS THEREOF NEAREST SAID SECOND HEATER MEANS IS THE LOWEST POINT OF SAID NEGATIVE WHILE IN SAID CABINET.

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