US3181449A - Data processing system - Google Patents

Description

5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 22. 1961 URN-UM E MIME T m WT RN w m m A M 2: m- NQ N2 y Emma BugkLEs ATTORNEYS.

May 4, 1965 M. WRIGHT 3,131,449

DATA PROCESSING SYSTEM Filed Aug. 22. 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 !;ALOR WRIGHT INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS.

BY BLAlR BUCKLE$ May 4, 1965 M. WRIGHT DATA PROCESSING SYSTEM 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Aug. 22, 1961 MALOR WRlGHT INVENTOR.

BY B AN BUCKLES ATTORNEYS.

May, 4, 1965 M. WRIGHT DATA PROCESSING SYSTEM 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Aug. 22, 1961 MALOR WRIGHT 1N VEN TOR.

BY Bum: Q BucKLES ATTORNEY;

i.. Ext on 8 3 WPk ammo-G55 mm mm um v 2 ow Q oh=z E; v H 3 v: ammo-min m- I 5:2. mm 5t; we w- May 4, 1965 M. WRIGHT DATA PROCESSING SYSTEM 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Aug. 22, 1961 MALOR WRIGHT v INVENTOR.

BY Bum: i E -K s AT TORNE Y5.

"achiev'e' a well=defined and iii silt bl United States Patent 3,181,449 DATA PROCESSING SYSTEM Malor Wright, Lexington, Mass, assignor to Itek Corporation, Lexington, Mass., a corporation of Delaware Filed Aug. 22, 1961, Ser. 133,210 5 Claims. (Cl. 95-89) The present invention relates to methods and apparatus for rapid, automatic processing, and more particularly to methods and apparatus for automatically developing high acuity film sheets.

Recently there has arisen a sharply increased need for a method and an apparatus capable of rapidly and uniformly processing high acuity photographic film sheets to a very high standard of resolution. Such sheets are needed, frequently with all due haste and in large numbers in aerial photography, quality control work, microfilming, recordation of digital data, in computer-electrooptical system work and in other photographic memory work. The equipment should preferably be capable of intermittent operation yet still provide constant precision from sheet to sheet.

In order to achieve the precise processing required, a tightly controlled chemical activity of the developing solutions is necessary. This, in turn, requires precise control over temperature, concentration of reagents, time of exposure of the film to the reagents, mechanical agitation. of the film emulsion-contacting solution and. rate renewal at the interface of reagent and film. It is also essential that each of these factors'be held constant over 0 the entire area of the film being processed.

Various prior systems for rapid, high,resolution filmi development have not provided. thedesirdishlts. K For example, in the spray, processing teehniq 'e, variations atmospheric. 1 oxidation occ nd it is qpit ditficultto" film-developer interface,,' Iii add t on the spray'jet has.to begcontiiiuouslymo 'd' patterns ,dueto uiieven developing Tank processing is objectionable or a mber of rea-' sons. Since each processing ,step must, be completed in a few seconds to achieve rapid prbcessingv v gorous 'agitaa tion is essential, especially during ,.the ffirst sec'ondf 'or two of treatment. In addition, a large'transport mechanism' 3,181,449 Patented May 4, 1965 A further object is to provide a process of the above character which will automatically control the contrast value and provide high constancy and uniformity in the finished film.

It is a further object of the invention toprovide a process of the above character which is entirely automatic.

Another object is to provide apparatus which can eificiently accomplish the above process. I

Another object is to provide a method and apparatus of the above character for automatically controlling the temperature, volume and concentration of the developing fluids in the automatic, rapid and accurate processing of highacuity film. v

Another object is to provide an apparatus and method of the above character which wet only the emulsion side of the film so' as to eliminate the possibility of undesirable reaction with coatings frequently found on the uncoated base side of the film. v i v Another object is to provide apparatus of theabove character having controls which can be adjusted to provide different photometricresponse. i I

A further object is to provide an apparatus and a method of the above character having a'dry-to-dry developing time of seconds or less.

is required to direct the individual 'film sheets through the developing, fixing, washingfanddrying chambers.

Roller processing presents difliculties because uniformity and completeness of developing, fixing and washing is difficult to attain.

One fundamental problem encountered in most systerns, including those above mentioned, is the distortion of the gel layer which holds the photo-sensitive particles in place. This layer is very carefully manufactured to provide a constancy of optical properties over its entire area. When it is wetted by the various developing and fixing reagents, it softens and is easily shifted by manipulation of the film or violent agitation of .the chemical solutions. As a result, the index of refraction of the layers, as well as its thickness, varies from point to point, with consequent ditfusion of light passing th'erethrough. Blurring of images and loss of resolution istherefore attendant on the use of these systems.

While the steel plate technique normally used in astronomy prevents such distortion of the gel layer and hence provides the high resolution required, several hours are needed to develop these plates, and, accordingly, the technique is not suited for rapid processing.

An object of the present invention is to provide a rapid process for developing high acuity film.

Another object is to provide a process of the above character for uniformly finishing film of very high resolution, e.g., a resolution of 100 lines/mm. or better.

,Other objects of the invention. will in part be obvious 7 and will, in part appear hereinafterrifj The, ir 'ventiolnfaccordingly comprises the several (steps and the relationllofoneorinoreZ of such steps ivith respect h'rs,'and the apparatus.efiibodying feafl.

, ction, cqmbinatidnloi elements] and a ranger'ne'nt' of'pa'rts which "aie'adapte'd to 'e'llectjsuch steps; ll. a emm iiiediaie lew s detailed lfisclosuiil a thescopeoft veritiori'will b v pp and control system, H I FlG. 3 is an isometric view of afilrn transportmechanism useful in this invention as it appears whenfremov ing a film sheet from the input 'magaiine, f I FIG. 4 is a fragmentary side plan view of the film transport mechanism as it appears when transferring the' selected film sheet to the sheet-supporting platen of one of the processing stations, q I

FIG. 5 is a perspective viewpartly in phantom of a processing station, j

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of the replenishment and temperature control systems for'the developing and fix- 1, the present invention includes a method and an ap.-,

paratus wherein the film sheets are picked up from a film magazine 10, carried to a process station 12 where they are automatically and rapidlydeveloped and dried, and then carried to a finished or processed film magazine. 14.

To insure uniformity in the finished film, the reaction conditions are automatically and tightly controlled, while the processing fluids are continuously replenished to maintain themat constant strength.

For a more detailed description of the over-all system, reference is now made to FIG. 2. As shown therein, a film or transport 16 removes one of the film sheets from the 3 magazine and transports it to a load and unload station or position 18 of the turntable 60. It is then loaded onto process station 12 where it is held with the emulsion side exposed to sequential flows of various developing, fixing, rinsing and drying fluids. Alternately, the emulsion side may be exposed to a monobath type processing solution. In either case, the solutions are fed into the process station by way of an inlet manifold 22. After the film has dried, it is returned to the load and unload station 24 from which it is carried by a film transport 26 to the processed film magazine 14. -Here it is ready for use as dry, fully processed film.

After the film sheets to be processed have been deposited at the process station 12, a control unit 62, which controls the various functions of the system, causes a developer supply 28 to issue developer to the inlet manifold 22via pipe 29. From the manifold 22 the developer passes to the process stations 12 through pipes 30. It leaves the process station 12 by way of pipes 32 into an outlet manifold 34, to return to the developer supply 28 through a developer return pipe 36.

Afterdeveloping, a small amount of rinse is passed through the process station, via line 49 and controller 48 to act' as a separator between developer and fixer.

Immediately following the circulation of said rinse plug, fixer, from a fixer supply 38 is then circulated through the system, via line 40, passingthrough the manifold 22,

pipes-"30,statio1is 12, pipes 32, manifold 34 and afixer etu p n? 4- After fixing hasbeen accomplished', the filmsheets in he t tisnsllsre w s ed. y water m a pp y 46 ahd pipefl'49jf jFinallyQ-the film [sheets'are dried by air and air issuing: from, the manifold 34 are discarded via line's-54am 56. v

' Irithe'exemplary system, there are four processing stationsl12. As shown in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, each processing station has'a platen 58. The platens are preferably diametrically arranged on and hingedto an indexably rotated turntable 60, which is actuated by the control unit 62.

At the beginning of an operating cycle, turntable 60' successively brings each platen 58 to the load station 18, wherea film sheet is transferred from the film transport mechanism 16 to the platen with the emulsion side of the film facing down or away from the platen. The turntable 60 is'then indexed until the next platen 58 is in loading position.

After 'each plate'n 58 has a film sheet, table 60 is rotated to register the platens withthe respective process stations 12 and position the film sheets for processing in a manner described below.

More specifically, as seen in FIG. 3, the transport mechanism includes a movable carriage 64, driven by a motor 66 through a rack and pinion gearing 68. Attached to the carriage is an arm 70 which supports, by means of pivot 72, a finger 74 and hand 76. Finger 74 rides in a slot 78 in hand 76. Vacuum slots 80 and 82 in the finger and'hand, respectively, act as vacuum grips for removing film sheets 84 from the magazine 10 and holding them as required.

An angled'bracket or positioner 86', attached to a stationary plate 88, and a retractable holding pin 90 accurate- 1y position the hand 76 in its film sheet pickup position. Near corner 92 ofthe hand 76 is a cam follower 94 which rides in anogee curved cam groove 96 in a cam plate 98. As carriage 64 moves back and forth through the loading cycles, a-pin 100 projecting therefrom successively engages the actuating arms of switches 102, 104 and 106 to initiate various stages of the loading operation in a manner to be described presently.

Operation of the transport 16 is as follows. First assume movement of the carriage 64'to the left (FIG. 3), with vacuum slots 80 having arrived over the film sheet 84.. The switch 102 has just been actuated, thereby stop- -fron j-a supply 50,warmed'by a heater 52 and then passed via "pipe53, inlet manifold 22 and pipe 30. The water ping the motor 66 and reversing its direction of rotation. At the same time, a vacuum line (not shown) is connected to the slots by a solenoid-operated valve (not shown), thereby lifting the sheet 84 and attaching it to the underside of the finger '74.

When the carriage 64 moves toward the holding pin 90, it trips switch 104 which providesa signal to a solenoid (not shown) to retract holding pin 90. The film sheet 84 is now over the slots 82, and the switch 104 provides a further signal to supply vacuum to the slots 82. The sheet 84 is therefore now attached to the hand 76. As the carriage continues to the right, the hand swings downwardly by coaction of the cam follower 94 and the ogee curve 96 in cam plate 98. The hand assumes the position shown in FIG. 4.

The vacuum hand is then driven toward the platen 58 by a solenoid until contact is made with the platen.

The film sheet 84 is now engaged by a vacuum groove 112 in the plate 58 (see FIG. 4). Actuation of the switch 1&6 by the pin now cuts off the vacuum from the hand and supplies it to the groove 112 by way of a vacuum line 114. p The film sheet is thus transferred to the platen 58.

The hand is now retracted from contact with platen 58 and moved out of the way of turntable 60. Then an index pulse is applied to the turntable 60 to position the platens thereon for film processing or for the pickup of more film sheets, asthe case may'be. Also, the' motor 66 is reversed to move the carriage 64 to the left (FIG.

3) for another loading cycle. When theswitch 164 is. passed in this direction, it is actuatedtoprojectfthe *pin' After the-film haslbeen;.processed,laslexplaiuedf,iuQdeQ tric timing control having a plurality ofswitches operatedby a clock motor.

Referring now to FIG. 5, the film-engagingsurface 116, bounded by the vacuum grooves 112 of the platens 58, are as flat as practicable. This, in turn provides fiatness of the emulsion surfaces of thefilm sheets 84, which face away from the platens, a requisitefor evenprocessing, as will be apparent from the description below. Vacuum admitted from the opposite faces through the vacuum lines 114, is applied through appropriate maze channels 118 in the platen to the groove 112. This arrangement provides satisfactory control over the vacuum, so that it will not upset the smoothness of the films held by the platens 58.

The platens 58 are preferably hinged to the turntable 60 and raised and lowered by air operated pistons controlled by solenoid valves. Accordingly, when the platens 58 have all been loaded with filmsheets, the turntable is indexed to bring them to the respective processstations 12' where they are then lowered to engage seals 120 therein and to form the tops of shallow processing chambers I Still referring to FIG. 5, each tank is provided with fan-shaped, narrow lipped, vertical inlet and outlet ports 124 and 126, respectively, whose elongated openings communicate with opposite sides of the chamber 122.

The angle of fanning is gentle, e.g., such as 7 to the axial line ofthe passage, so as to avoid turbulence. Indeed, the entire fan-shaped, narrow-lipped passage is so designed that a substantially laminar flow of liquid will emerge therefrom. With the platen 58 in place, holding a film sheet on its undersurface, the path of the process ing fluids will be up through inlet passage 124, across sheet both high resolution, continuous tone photography and digital (graphic) information.

To attain the desired high resolution characteristics, an extremely fine grain film was used, to wit Eastman Kodak Experimental Test Film 57-1. The emulsion of this film was slow, extremely fine grained, and thin; and thus would produce, with full development, a very high gal ma, i.e., asleep slope of the density v. exposure curve. These characteristics are common with the Lippmann class of materials. The particular film had an Eastman Type 548 emulsion on a 0.00525 inch grey base.

Since a positive of the negative film was to be viewed through a projection-type viewer, having a limited intensity of illumination, image densities greater than 2.5 would yield virtually no discernable brightness diiference on the viewing screen. Accordingly, some over-exposure of the film and considerable under-development was permitted in order to achieve the required lower gamma which was necessary to view the low maximum density.

The slope and ultimate maximum value of the density exposure plot increased with greater development time. v It might be noted that, for a given exposure, with increasing development time, gamma at first slowly rises and then rapidly increases as development increases. See, for example, Berg, Exposure, The Focal Press, 381 Fourth Avenue, New York, New York, 1950, p. 145.

For the particular application indicated, it was necessary to accurately stop development while gamma was rapidly increasing, which required unusually precise control of development time as well as temperature and concentration of the developing fluid. And due to intermittent operation of the system, it was necessary to maintain close control of these factors over long periods of time.

it should be apparent that some of the input information will-,urider these conditions, be recorded on the toe and shoulder of the characteristic plot of negative density v. logarithm of exposure. Therefore, even though a lower contrast film would be superior in linearity of response, it was believed that such lower contrast films would sacrifice more information because of their coarser grain structure. Thus, the very fine grain material having a somewhat less linear photometric response was sclected. But this introduced the aforementioned problem of precisely controlling the development time to maintain the gamma at a low level.

The process and apparatus of the present invention gave excellent results even under these stringent conditions. Residual fog was heldto a minimum; transverse processing uniformity across the width of the film fell within a tolerance of':0.02 density unit at a density of 1.0 on a uniformly exposed film. Lengthwise, uniformity was held to a variation of approximately 1. 0.05 at adensity of 1.0, Gamma control was very close, :till about a target value of 1.5

These excellent results were achieved and on a dry-to I dry basis in approximately 30 seconds. A resolution'of 100 lines per millimeter wasreadily obtained, with spe-' cial films, 400 lines per millimeter could be similarly very easilyobtained. It is believed that under ideal conditions aresolution of even 1,500 lines per millimeter is, possible. i I

In summary, there has been disclosed'a method for rapidly processing film sheets, which method has been illustrated by aparticular novel apparatus. The method comprises broadly the steps of transporting the film to be.

developed to aprocessing station; holding the film at the processingstation with'the emulsion side of the film exposed and with the film held in a very even position; passing asuitably conditioned developer fluid at uniform velocity over the entire'surface of the emulsion side of the filth in a direction parallel totheffilm surface, followed by a similar flow of fixer solution similarly c0nditioned,'a

of warmed air'for drying the film, all passing across the film at the processing station. After the film is thus processed and dried at the processing station, the film is transported to a finished film rack or magazine.

In a system wherein more than one sheet of film is to be processed at the same time, a plurality of sheets are transported to separate processing stations, and then simultaneously processed and dried; they are then sequentially transported to the finished film receptacle.

While a particular embodiment'of the processing station has con shown, it is evident that other forms of processing stations including other configurations of inlet and outlet ports 124 and 1% may likewise be utilized. The principal requirement is that the inlet and outlet passages provide gentle transformation of the flowing stream from the configuration of the ordinary inlet pipe to the broad shallow processing chamber. This will prevent the. occurrence of uneven turbulence and mixing of sequential.

solutions. It is, of course, preferable that the cross-sectional area of the processing chamber be substantially constant throughout, for the reasons explained above.

it will thus be seen that the objects set forth above,

. among those made apparent from the preceding description, are erficiently attained, and, since certain changes may be made in carrying out the above methods and in the constructions set forth without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific fea- 1 tures of the invention which, as a matter of language,

might be said to fall therebetween.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new means for removing each of said film sheets from said respective stations after processing.

t 2. The film processing system of claim '1, further comprising means for maintaining the temperature, of said processing fluids substantially constant.

3; The film processing system of claim 1, further com--v prising means for replenishing said processing fluids to maintain a constant concentration of said processing fluids in said system.

4. The film processing system of claim'l wherein said means for applying processing fluids to said film sheets comprises means for pumping said fluids across said sheets.

at a uniform velocity over the entire'erea of said sheets.

5. A fluid passage for applying processing fluids with" controlled turbulence to a film surface, comprising a closed shallow processing chamber having an inlet aperture at a first end of said chamber andan outlet aperture at-the opposite end of said chamber, said'chamber having a substantially rectangular, uniform cross-section in the plane normal to the flow of processing fluid from said inlet aperture to said outlet aperture, each of said inlet and-outlet apertures being of substantially the same area and shape as said chamber cross section, and a fluid turbulence control passage connecting each of said apertures to a respective fluid line, said control passages being of substantially the same cross-sectional area as said processing chamber andchanging gradually along their length from "the cross-sectional configuration of said apertures in said chamber 122 and down outlet passage 126, as indicated by the arrows in FIG. 5. The processing fluids are sequentially supplied to the port 124 by way of the inlet manifold 22 and pipe 30, and they are removed from outlet port 126 via outlet pipe 32 and outlet manifold 34, as described above.

The fluid path in the chamber 122 should have a constant cross-sectional area, so that the localized turbulence at the surface of the film sheet 84 is uniform. This turbulence is solely relied upon to cause agitation of the processing fluids, and therefore it should be uniform in order to have uniform chemical activity over the surface of the film sheet. Also, the advancing and trailing edges of each dose of processing fluid should be perpendicular to the flow path to provide uniform exposure of all portions of the film sheet to the fluids. To this end and also to maximize the localized turbulence, the chamber 122 is made quite shallow, preferably having a depth of the order of capillary dimensions.

,In one model, the flaring edges of port 124" were inclined about 7- from the axis of pipe 30, the processing chamber 122 was approximately .022 inch in depth and the fluid flow through the chamber was 20 feet per second. This resulted in very uniform processing over the entire gel face of the film sheet. It will, of course, be understood that for various films, exposure, desired contrasts and processing solutions, these particular values will not necessarily be optimum. For example, the height of the chamber 122 has been raised from .010 to .20 inch, and the flare of the inlet and exit ports has been varied from 5 to 20.

In the usual procedure, after the platen 58 is sealed in place, the control system 62 (FIG. 2) successively connects developer supply 28, water'supply 46, fixer supply 38, water supply 46, and air supply 50 to inlet pipe 30 via inlet manifold 22 for continuous flow through the processing chamber 122. Each flow of fluid continues for a predetermined desired time set by the control system. For example, in one instance, developing fluid, a small plug of water, fixer fluid, a water rinse and drying air were pumped acrossthe chamber 122, without interruptions or voids, for periods of 7, 1, 8, and 10 seconds, respectively. At the end of this cycle, thefilm was completely developed and dried and ready for immediate use. Obviously, other time periods are suitable for other situations. It has been generally found that rinsing, de-' veloping and fixing times may be .2 to 20 seconds, and drying times may be 5 to 50 seconds.

As the various fluids are received at the outlet manifold 34, the control system 62 separates them sequentially to appropriate return lines 36 and 44 and waste lines 54 and 56. Thus, just prior to the arrival of the 1 second plug of water between developer and fixer, the control unit switches the last segment of developer flow from developer return line 36 to waste line 54, to insureagainst contamination or dilution of the developer solution. A small volume of developer is actually lost for each film sheet processed.

J In like manner, the first small portionof fixer to arrive at manifold 34" isdischarged through waste conduit 54.

put of the pump is fed through a pressure switch 132" and a filter 134 into the inlet manifold 22. It then passes through the process station 12 in the manner described above and returns to the conditioning system.

A by pass pipe 136containing solenoid valve 138 permits circulation aroundthe manifold and process stations so that the fluid may, at all times, be circulated, whether or not the processing chambers are on stream. Solenoid valves 14-0 and 142 within inlet and outlet manifolds 22 and 34 connect the system to station 12.

After the fluid leaves the process station 12, or is bypassed around the station via pipe 136, it is passed through a radiator 146, atemperature sensor 148 and a heat exchanger 150. It is then fed back into stand pipe 128 for reuse. A make-up tank 152, containing a reserve supply of the developer, supplies fresh make-up fluid to compensate for the small portion of the fluid lost during each cycle of operation, as discussed above. Furthermore, the

solution is somewhat less active during each pass because of reaction with the film emulsion unless replenished.

In the preferred form of structure, the fluid kept in the make-up tank 152 is enclosed in a polyethylene bag in order to exclude air. a

The tank 152 is connected to the stand pipe 128 by pipe 154 containing solenoid valve 155. A fluid level sensing device 158 is positioned at an'over-flow outlet 160 in standpipe 128 at the desired maximum level of fluid so that the level and concentration of liquid can be corrected between each use of that particular liquid. That is: anadjustment is made while that particular cycle of liquid is oif stream.

The fluid level sensing device 158 comprises a pair of spaced, energized electrodes, Since the fluid in the reservoir is electrically conductive, the impedance between The fluid level in 123 rises until a small amount passes into the overflow outlet 160. When this occurs, the conductive liquid bridges the spaced electrodes, decreasing the impedance therebetween, which change in impedance is utilized in a well-known manner to valve 156. Ac-- c'ordingly, the volume and concentration of liquid in the 4 system are corrected after each cycle of film processing.

To achieve highly'uniform results in processing, it is necessary to. regulate carefully the temperatures of the processing fluids. illustrated. It will be recalled that pump13fl continuously circulates fluid from stand pipe 128 through radiator 146, temperature sensor 148 and heat exchanger150.

The radiator may usually take theform of a jacket of high thermal conductivity enclosing a portion ofthe pipe 36. generated by the action ofpump and bring its temperature just below the level desired for film processing.

After leaving the radiator 146, the fluid passes to a conventional temperature sensing element which pro- Only after the previous water plug is completely discarded, with a slight loss of fixer, is the flow switched.

over to the fixer return line 44 Similarly, the last small volume'of fixer is discharged through waste conduit 54.

Turning now to FIG. 6, a supply and conditioning system incorporated into one fluid supply will now be described in detail. By way of example, the system for developer solution will be described, it being understood that a similar system may be used'for the fixing of other solutions as desired.

. The conditioning system performs two functions, namely regulation of the fluid temperature and replenishment of the volume of fluid to maintain its concentration substantially constant. It includes a stand pipe 128 connected to a continuously operating pump 13th The outvides an output related to the temperature at the fluid. This output is supplied to a temperature er'ror'detector 162, which is of customary design, e.g., an ordinary dif-' ferential amplifier, supplied with'a reference signal. The output of the error detector 162 controls a heat exchanger 150. When" a difference exists between the reference signal and the output of the sensor 148, representative of the temperature of the fluid, the detector 162 directs heat exchanger to supply heat. When the fluid in the stand pipe 128 reaches substantially the desired equilibrium temperature, the heat supply system merely offsets the heat loss by radiation and conduction in the processing system. The temperature is therefore iat all timeskept relatively constant. p

Example:

Inone particular application of the present invention,

the equipment was used to reproduce on a single film I This is accomplished by the system The radiator 146 serves to remove heat from the fluid processing chamber to the general cross-sectional cenfiguration of their respective fluid lines.

References Cited by the Examiner V UNITED STATES PATENTS Former 239-594 Gammack 239-594 X Cohen 137392 Wolfner 137--392 Dart 95--14 Mitchell 9596 NORTON ANSHER, Primary Examiner. JOHN M. HORAN, EMIL G. ANDERSON, Examiners.

Claims (1)

1. A FILM PROCESSING SYSTEM COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION A PLURALITY OF PROCESSING STATIONS, A SUPPLY OF FILM SHEETS TO BE PROCESSED, FILM TRANSPORT MEANS FOR TRANSPORTING INDIVIDUAL FILM SHEETS TO RESPECTIVE ONES OF SAID PROCESSING STATIONS, MEANS AT EACH OF SAAID PROCESSING STATIONS FOR APPLYING PROCESSING FLUIDS AT A UNIFORM VELOCITY TO SAID FILM SHEETS SIMULTANEOUSLY AT AT LEAST TWO STATIONS, AND MEANS FOR REMOVING EACH OF SAID FILM SHEETS FROM SAID RESPECTIVE STATIONS AFTER PROCESSING.

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