US3624728A

US3624728A - Photographic apparatus

Info

Publication number: US3624728A
Application number: US777324A
Authority: US
Inventors: Charles W Clark
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1967-11-20
Filing date: 1968-11-20
Publication date: 1971-11-30
Anticipated expiration: 1988-11-30
Also published as: CH482219A; GB1216477A; FR1592399A; DE1810044A1

Abstract

Automatic development apparatus for dipping a sheet of exposed photosensitized sheet material successively into liquids contained in a number of process tanks by use of a carrier suspended from a conveyor which follows a sinuous or zigzag path. The apparatus includes control device whereby the exposed sheet is fed through rollers into a carrier, the carrier is moved by the conveyor to dip the sheet and the developed sheet is withdrawn from the carrier by rollers and delivered from the apparatus.

Description

United States Patent [72] Inventor Charles W. Clark I 2,157,128 5/1939 Hershber'gW." 95/89 D King: Grove, Maidenhead, Berkshlre, 2,258,422 10/1941 Rodman et a1... 95/89 D England 2,386,781 10/1945 Daly 95/89 D [2]] Appl. No. 777,324 3,088,610 5/1963 Pianowski 95/89 D [22] Filed NOV. 20, 1968 FOREIGN PATENTS [451 "1"? ""3" :2 312,030 2/1930 Great Britain 95/89 D ma 330,550 6/1930 Great Britain 95/14 5 0 9 n 3 098 12/192 GreatBr1ta1n 95/14 7. Primary Examiner-Samuel S. Matthews Assistant Examiner- Richard M. Sheer [54] PI-IOTOGRAPIIIC APPARATUS Attorney-Watson, Cole, Grind1e. & Watson 5 Claims, 9 Drawing Figs. [1.5. CI. Automatic development'apparatus for a p sheet of exposed photosensitized sheet material successively [51 :Il- Cl. "i; b into contained in a number ofproceu tanks use ofa of Se. in D carrier suspended from a con eyor follo s a sinuous or :I zigzag path. The apparatus includes control device whereby [56] N EN the exposed sheet is fed through rollers into a carrier, the car- U [TE T Es AT Ts rier is moved by the conveyor to dip the sheet and the 2,915,976 12/1959 pp s 3| 95/39 D X developed sheet is withdrawn from the carrier by rollers and 3,131,621 5/1964 Murray 95/89 D delivered from the apparatus.

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ATTORNEY,

PATENTEnunv 30 197i SHEET 3 BF 7 INVENTOR cum. wmum Cum ATTORNEYS PATENTEBNHVBOIBYI 3,624,728 SHEET w 7 INVENTOR CROSS REFERENCES Preferably the conveyor is arranged to wipe the carrier on the edge of the tank as the carrier is withdrawn to wipe surplus liquid from the carrier. This forms the subject of my copending application Ser. No. 777,323 filed simultaneously with this application and entitled AUTOMATIC PHOTOGRAPHIC APPARATUS.

BACKGROUND OF THE IVENTION This invention relates to automatic photographic treatment apparatus comprising a number of process tanks, at least one carrier to hold an exposed sheet of photosensitive material and transfer means arranged to dip the carrier successively into the process tanks. Such apparatus is used particularly in automatic photographic units or kiosks which are arranged to be brought into operation by actuation of initiating mechanism and, upon such actuation, as by insertion of a coin in a slot, applies to photosensitive sheet material in an exposure position a latent image of a subject, such as a person, occupying an appropriate position, as by being seated on a stool in a sitters compartment, the exposed photosensitive sheet material then being passed to the treatment apparatus to develop and fix the image and finally being delivered as a fixed photograph.

One form of treatment apparatus of this kind has been disclosed in British Pat. No. 780,707. In this apparatus the process tanks are arranged in a circle around transfer apparatus that is used to dip carriers successively into the tanks. The transfer apparatus is arranged to reciprocate the carriers axially and to index them round through successive steps, each of a fraction of a revolution so that each carrier is lowered into a tank, raised from the tank, indexed round, lowered into the next tank and so on. The machinery necessary to effect this movement reliably and efficiently is complex and requires a large number of accurately machined parts. It is accordingly extremely expensive and also requires skilled and frequent servicing.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the invention to provide treatment apparatus which is both simple and cheap and yet is extremely reliable.

According to the present invention, the transfer means comprises a continuous conveyor from which the carrier is suspended, the conveyor following a sinous path such that, during advance of the conveyor, the carrier is dipped into and withdrawn from the tanks in succession.

This arrangement is simple and it is possible to arrange for the carriers to be efi'ectively dipped into the process liquids without the conveyor itself contacting the liquids.

The carriers may be suspended from the conveyor in pendulum fashion so that when they hang free they are always generally vertical. The conveyor may comprise a chain trained over an upper row and a lower row of sprockets in zigzag fashion, and in the preferred arrangement there are two paral lel chains with carriers suspended between them, as by having loops hooked over studs projecting inwardly from the chains.

Preferably, the chains are roller chains of plastic material which is resistant to chemical action.

Preferably, the drive means for the conveyor is arranged to afford intermittent movement to the conveyor. In this way it is possible to provide a dwell period when the carriers are in the dipped position to allow the chemical action to take place and to provide another dwell period when the carriers are in the withdrawn position to allow process liquid to drain from the carriers and the sheets contained in them.

The conveyor may include an upper return pass and a guide below the return pass to engage the carriers being drawn along the 'upper pass so as to cause the lower ends of the carriers to lag on the upper ends to tilt the carriers and there is a pair of endless grippers such as rollers arranged to extract the photosensitive sheet from such a tilted carrier by passage of the sheet through the nip between the grippers. Rollers may also be provided for feeding sheets into the carriers.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention may be carried into practice in various ways but one form of automatic photographic kiosk incorporating automatic development apparatus in accordance with the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings which show in detail only those parts of the equipment which are important to an understanding of the invention. In the drawings:

FIG. I is a perspective view of the automatic photographic kiosk having a housing containing the apparatus shown in the remaining Figures of the drawings;

FIG. 2 is an elevation in the direction of the arrow II in FIG. 1 of the automatic development apparatus;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation in the direction of the arrow III in FIG. 1 of the apparatus shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a central vertical section of the development apparatus;

FIG. 5 is an end elevation of the apparatus shown in FIG. 4 taken from the right-hand end;

FIG. 6 is a side elevation of the infeed-outfeed unit shown in FIG. 4 taken from the opposite side to FIG. 4 and to a larger scale;

FIG. 7 is a side elevation of the infeed-outfeed unit and is similar to FIG. 6 but is taken from the opposite side;

FIG. 8 is a simplified side elevation of the apparatus shown in FIG. 4; and

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the control system of the apparatus.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIG. 1 shows a coin-operated photographic kiosk which consists of a main housing or free-standing cupboard I from which projects an arm 2 on which is fixed a seat 3 on which the subject to be photographed sits. The housing 1 supports a horizontal cover or roof portion 4 which has a cantilevered section on the underside of which there is a curtain rail 5 supporting a short curtain 6 which may be drawn round to conceal the head and shoulders of the person being photographed. In the wall of the housing I facing the subject there is a window 7 through which a camera contained within the housing may face the subject and there are three flash lamps 8 to illuminate the sitter. There is a slot 9 to receive a coin by which the subject sets the apparatus in operation.

The photographic equipment within the housing I shown in FIG. 1 is shown generally in FIGS. 2 and 3, FIG. 2 being the elevation which would be viewed by a subject on the seat 3 if the adjacent wall of the housing 1 was removed. The apparatus includes a framework 11 which supports a camera 12 the lens I3 of which faces to the right in FIG. 2 towards a vertical mirror 14 which is at 45 to the camera axis so that a subject will be viewed by the camera via the mirror I4 and the window 7. The camera is of the kind which operates with reversal film in strip form contained in a magazine 15 supported above the camera. Below the camera is a development and fixing apparatus 16 arranged to dip an exposed length of film cut from the strip successively into liquids contained in a series of tanks 17 which are supported on a platform 18 which may be elevated or lowered by a toggle-type screwjack 19.

When a person places a coin in the slot 9 a length of film is fed from the magazine 14 into the camera 12 and is there exposed, the lights 8 flashing at the appropriate time. The exposed film is then fed down automatically and is cut off. The exposed film now in the form of a severed sheet is fed into the development and fixing apparatus 15 which is shown in greater detail in subsequent figures and particularly FIGS. 4 and 5. The development apparatus consists essentially of an infeed and outfeed unit 21, a conveyor unit 22 and the tank unit 17 already referred to.

The conveyor unit 22 consists of two spaced-parallel rectangular frames each of which comprises a lower horizontal member 23, an upper horizontal member 24 and

columns

25 and 26. The two rectangular frames are mounted on the framework to leave a clear space between them. Each of the frames carries a row of upper sprockets 31 and a row of lower sprockets 32 and an endless chain 33 is trained over the sprockets in zigzag or sinuous fashion. The chains are roller chains and are preferably made of a plastic material which is resistant to chemical action. The chain passes from one end of the zigzag to the other along an upper pass 34 from an upper sprocket 35, past an idler sprocket 36 to a second upper sprocket 37. The chains can be driven in the direction indicated by the arrow 38 by an electric motor 39 which drives certain of the lower sprockets 32 via a gearbox 40 and a chain drive.

Immediately below the frame there is the tank unit 17 which comprises a row of eight rectangular open-topped contiguous tanks 41 alternate ones of which hold processing liquids and the remainder of which held water. The liquids are used for developing and fixing the image on the photosensitive sheet. As can be seen in FIG. the tanks 41 are wider than the con veyor and the frame supports a number of electric motors 42 which drive paddles 43 which dip into the tanks when the tanks are in their elevated positions. The frame also supports a number of electric immersion heaters 44 which likewise dip into the tanks when the tanks are elevated. When the screwjack 19 (FIG. 2) is unwound to lower the tank unit I7, the upper edges of the tanks drop below the level of the heaters and the paddles 43 so that the tanks can be removed laterally without interfering with the heaters and the paddles.

Mounted on the upper horizontal frame members and depending into the space between the two conveyors are two sideplates 51 one of which can be seen in FIG. 4 and which forms the basic structure of the infeed and outfeed unit 21. This unit is not shown in FIG. 5. Spanning between the plates 51 there are seven pairs of rollers. For infeed there are three

pairs

52, 53 and 54 while for outfeed there are four pairs of

rollers

55, 56, 57 and 58. The infeed and outfeed also comprise narrow sheet metal fixed guides 59, 60, 61, 62, 63 and 64.

The conveyor carries a plurality of sheet metal carriers 70 only six of which are shown in FIG. 4 of which there is a total of eight or l6. The carriers are suspended in pendulum fashion from studs 72 which project inwardly from the conveyors. Each carrier is formed from a bent sheet of stainless steel 73 and two

carrier arms

74 and 75 of bent square-section stainless steel wire having hooks 76 at their upper ends to engage the studs 72. The sheet metal portion is formed with a flat yoke section 77' and three

fingers

77, 78 and 79 depending therefrom. The two

outer fingers

77 and 79 have their outer edges bent forwardly and inwardly to form open-ended vertical grooves which face one another while the bottom end of the inner finger 78 is bent inwardly and upwardly to form a hook 80.

Located between the conveyor chains 33 there is a drainer shield 90 which is attached to the horizontal members 24 by brackets 91. The shield has a first upwardly inclined portion 92, a step 93 and a second downwardly inclined portion 94.

The apparatus described operates as follows. With the conveyor in the position shown and stationary, the sitter inserts a coin into the slot 9. The camera is operated and a sheet of exposed photosensitive paper is fed down from the camera 12 into the development apparatus as described above. The sheet is received between the guides 59 and 60 and is fed by the

rollers

52, 53 and 54 into a waiting carrier 70 which as this time will have the upper edges of its sheet metal portion immediately below the lower end of the

guides

61 and 62. The sheet is fed so that its outer edges engage in the grooves formed in the

fingers

77 and 79 of the carrier and its lower edge engages the hook 80 at the bottom of the inner finger 78. When the sheet is in position, the motor 39 is actuated to drive the conveyor forward a distance such that the carrier containing the photosensitive sheet is lowered until the studs carrying this carrier are close to the left-hand lower sprocket 32 and the carrier is in the position shown at the left-hand side of FIG. 4. The conveyor then stops and the carrier remains in this position for a short dwell period, during which the photosensitive sheet is contacted by the liquid in the left-hand tank 41. After the appropriate swell period, the conveyor moves on through a further step and the carrier is raised from the liquid and the next carrier is lowered into the liquid in the first tank. During the ensuing dwell period the carrier is held above the liquid in the first tank and allowed to drain. During the next step the carrier is transferred from the first tank and lowered into the second tank. This stepwise movement continues and the carrier passes successively through the tanks with a dwell period in each tank and a dwell period above each tank so that surplus liquid can drain into the tank.

The length of each carrier from hook 76 at the top to hook at the bottom is approximately equal to the distance between the tops of the upper sprockets 31 and the upper edge of the tanks 41. This is illustrated by the carrier 70a shown in chain-dotted lines in FIG. 4. The tanks are so located relative to the sprockets that as a carrier is raised from a tank it makes the last part of its movement in contact with and almost parallel with the side wall of the tank. This procedure a wiping action wiping surplus liquid from the

fingers

77 and 79. The period of dwell occurs in the position shown by the carrier 70a and almost all the liquid on the surface of the carrier and the photosensitive sheet will drain back into the tank. However, there will almost inevitably be drops at the bottom ends of the fingers of the carrier and these will not drain off under gravity. At the commencement of the next step, the studs supporting the carrier will move round the upper sprockets and will draw the lower end of the carrier over the edge 95 of the tanks and this wipes the last drops from the bottoms of the fingers. I

As can be seen in FIG. 4 the upper edges of the right-hand walls of the tanks 41 are formed with lips 96 which overlie the upper edges of the left-hand walls of the next succeeding tanks so that liquid wiped off in the manner described drains back into the tank from which it has been withdrawn.

The photosensitive sheet in the carrier is successively lowered into and raised from each of the processing tanks 41 and finally arrives at the right-hand end of the conveyor as viewed in FIG. 4. The upper ends of the carrier are then carried to the left along the upper path of the conveyor and the carrier itself engages the inclined portion 92 of the shield 90 and is tilted as the conveyor moves to the left so that the sheet lies at an angle to the horizontal with the photosensitive coating on the upper side. One carrier which has just begun to engage the shield 90 is shown in FIG. 4. During its passage along this guide the last traces of moisture drain from the photosensitive sheet. Its leading edge is then engaged between the rollers 55 of the feed-out unit. The sheet is thus withdrawn from the carrier and is passed between the guides 63 and 64 and is advanced by the

rollers

56, 57 and 58 and is discharged from the apparatus into a feed out slot 103 seen in FIG. I where it may be received by the person whose photograph has been taken. After the photosensitive sheet has been withdrawn from the carrier, the carrier leaves the upwardly inclined portion 92 of the shield 90, drops down the step 93 on to the downwardly inclined portion 94 and progressively returns to its initial position ready to receive a further photosensitive sheet.

The means by which the sequence of operations is performed will now be described in more detail with reference particularly to FIGS. 6 to 9.

The feed-in

rollers

52, 53 and 54 are driven by a motor and gear box 101 through a drive sprocket 102 (FIG. 6) and a drive chain 103 which is tensioned by an adjustable guide I04. The feed-out

rollers

55, 56, 57 and 58 are driven by a motor and gearbox 105 through a sprocket 106 (FIG. 7) and a drive chain 107 which is tensioned by an adjustable guide 108. The conveyor chains 33 are driven by the motor 39 shown in FIG.

5 and in more detail in FIG. 8. The motor 39 dives the gearbox '40 which drives a chain 110 which passes around

sprockets

111, 112 and 113 on the same axles as three adjacent sprockets 32 of the lower row of sprockets over which the conveyor chain 33 is trained. The central sprocket 112 is free on its respective axle but the

sprockets

111 and 113 are fixed to their axles so that the conveyor chain sprockets 32 are driven by the motor 39. Also fixed on the axle on which the sprocket 113 is fixed is another chain sprocket which drives a chain 114 which in turn drives a sprocket 115 which is fixed on another axle on which one of the lower conveyor chain sprockets 32 is fixed. Thus three of the sprockets 32 are driven by the motor 39.

As can be seen from FIG. 8, the frame 11 supports a cam motor 120 which drives a cam. 121 the cam follower 122 of which is arranged to operate a microswitch M13.

The feed-in motor 101 is controlled by switching means 125 shown in the block diagram of FIG. 9 and this in turn is controlled by two microswitches M8 and M9 shown in FIG. 7. The microswitch M8 is operated by a finger 126 which is positioned to be engaged by one of the studs 72 on the conveyor chain 33 and supporting one of the carriers 70 when such carrier is positioned with its lower sheet-carrying section immediately below the feed-out rollers 54 and is in a position to receive a sheet. The microswitch M9 has a finger 127 positioned to be engaged by paper passing through the feed-out rollers 54.

The feed-out motor 105 has a switching unit 128 (FIG. 9) which is under the control of two microswitches M10 and M11 shown in FIG. 7. The microswitch M10 is operated by a finger 129 positioned to be engaged by a sheet of paper approaching the feed-out rollers 55. The microswitch M11 has a finger 131 positioned to be engaged by a stud 132 on the feedout drive chain 107.

The cam motor 120 is controlled by a switching unit 133 under the control of a microswitch M7 and a counter 13A which is supplied with signals along a line 135 from the microswitch M9 and with signals from a microswitch M12 adjacent the feed-out rollers 58. The microswitch M7 (FIG. 7) has a finger 136 located to be engaged by a piece of paper fed from the camera to the feed-in rollers 52. The microswitch" M12 has a finger 137 positioned to be engaged by a finished photograph leaving the apparatus through the feed-out rollers 58. The switching unit 133 also receives signals directly from the microswitch M9 along a branch line 138 and from the microswitch M8 along a line 139.

The conveyor drive motor 39 is controlled by a switch unit 140 which in turn is controlled by the cam-operated microswitch M13 and a microswitch M14 (FIG. 4) which has a finger 141 positioned to be engaged by the studs 72 on the conveyor chain 33.

The sequence of operation is as follows. After a length of sensitized strip is exposed in the camera, the strip isfed down towards the feed-in rollers 52 past the finger 136 of the microswitch M7 and the exposed length is then cut off by a guillotine forming part of the camera apparatus. The microswitch M7 operates to cause the switching unit 133 to switch on the cam motor 120 which rotates the cam 121 to actuate the microswitch M13 to cause the switching unit 140 to start the conveyor drive motor 39. Accordingly, the chain 33 is moved and continues to move until one of the studs 72 engages the finger 126 of the microswitch M8 to indicate that a carrier is in position to receive the sheet. Actuation of the microswitch M8 causes a signal to be sent along the line 142 to the switching unit 133 to stop the cam motor 120. Shortly thereafter one of the studs 72 engages the finger of the microswitch M14 to cause the switching unit 140 to stop the conveyor drive motor 39. Actuation of the microswitch M8 also causes the switching unit 125 to start the feed-in motor 101. The sheet is therefore fed through the feed-in

rollers

52, 53 and 54 into the waiting carrier 70. When the sheet clears the finger 127 the microswitch M9 is actuated and causes the switching unit 125 to switch ofi' the feed-in motor 101. Also via the signal line 135 it causes the switching unit 133 to start the cam motor which shortly causes the microswitch M 13 to start the conveyor drive motor 39.,The conveyor drive motor causes the conveyor chain 33 to advance through a predetermined fraction of its length by which time a stud 72 will engage the finger 141 of the microswitch M14 which causes the switching unit 140 to stop the conveyor drive motor. At this time the carrier 70 will be in the position shown at the left-hand side of FIG. 4 with the sheet dipped into the process liquid in the tank 41. There then ensues a dwell period of 4 seconds before the cam 121 which is rotating continuously at this time actuates the microswitch M13 to cause the switching unit 140 to start the conveyor drive motor 39 again. The conveyor chain 33travels through another equal fraction of its length until the next stud engages the finger 141 of the microswitch M14 and the motor 39 is switched off again. The carrier 70 has now been withdrawn from the left-hand tank and is in a position to drain into the left-hand tank in a position similar to that of the carrier 790 shown in FIG. 4. There is another dwell of 4 seconds. These operations are repeated with the conveyor chain 33 advancing step by step until the carrier has been dipped into each of the eight tanks 41 and has been allowed to drain above each tank. The carrier then advances along the upper pass 34 until it reaches a position in which the upper edge of the sheet engages the finger 129 of the microswitch M10. This causes the switching unit 128 to start the feed-out motor 105 so that the sheet is withdrawn from the carrier and passed through the feed-out

rollers

55, 56, 57 and 58 to the waiting customer. The'feed-out chain 107 travels through one complete revolution until the stud 132 engages the finger 131 of the microswitch M11 which causes the switching unit 128 to stop the feed-out motor.

Actuation of the microswitch M9 as a sheet was fed into a carrier caused a pulse to be delivered along the line to the counter 134 which is able to store this pulse. As the sheet leaves the feed-out rollers 58 it causes the finger 137 to actuate the microswitch M12 which delivers a subtracting pulse to the counter 134. Assuming that no further sheets have passed the microswitch M9 in the meantime, this subtracting pulse is subtracted from the pulse stored in the counter since the sheet passed the microswitch M9. This restores the counter to zero which results in a signal being transmitted to the switching unit 133 to switch offthe cam motor 120. The next time the microswitch M14 is actuated to switch off the conveyor drive motor 39 this motor will not be switched on again and the apparatus will remain stationary until a further sheet is sensed by the microswitch M7. It will be understood that if one or more further sheets are fed past the microswitch M9 before the first sheet leaves the apparatus past the microswitch M12, the counter 134 will not be returned to zero to stop the apparatus until the last sheet has left the apparatus past the microswitch M12.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patentis:

1. Photographic development apparatus comprising a plurality of process tanks, a continuous conveyor, at least one photosensitized sheet carrier suspended from said conveyor, guide means for the conveyor for directing said conveyor along a lower sinuous path above said tanks whereby, during advance of said conveyor, said carrier is dipped into and withdrawn from each of said tanks in succession, means for providing a dwell period for said carrier when said carrier is suspended above the tank from which it has last been withdrawn, said conveyor including an upper return pass, a substantially horizontal guide provided below said return pass, said guide comprising a plate member having a downwardly turned end in the vicinity of the last one of said tanks, said plate member being inclined slightly upwardly from said downwardly turned end toward its middle section, and extracting means provided in a substantially horizontal plane near the middle section of said plate member in the path of said return pass, whereby said carrier is tilted and is disposed slightly upwardly as it engages said downwardly turned end andzthe upwardly inclined portion of said plate member while being drawn along said return pass to thereby present a photosensitive sheet which may be disposed on said carrier to said extracting means for extracting-the. sheet from said carri- 2. Apparatus according to claim I in which the carrier is suspended from the conveyor in pendulum fashion.

. 3. Apparatus according to claim I in which the conveyor comprises two parallel chains each guided over an upper series and a lower series of sprockets and the carrier is suspended from and between said chains.

4. Apparatus according to claim I which includes timer means for starting the conveyor at regular intervals of time and stop means for stopping the conveyor after it has traveled a predetermined distance.

5. An automatic photographic unit comprising:

a camera;

development apparatus comprising a conveyor including a pair of chains each trained over an upper row and a lower row of sprockets to follow parallel zigzag paths for directing said conveyor along a lower sinuous path a carrier for a photosensitized sheet suspended pendulum fashion from and between the chains and a plurality of process tanks provided below the said lower sprockets; coin-controlled initiating mechanism;

means for exposing a sheet of photosensitive material in the camera, means for transferring the exposed sheet from the camera to the said carrier, means for actuating the conveyor to dip the sheet successively into the process tanks, means providing a dwell period when the sheet is suspended above the tank from which it has been withdrawn, means for delivering the exposed sheet from the development apparatus, said conveyor including an upper return pass, a substantially horizontal guide provided below said return pass, said guide comprising a plate member having a downwardly turned end in the vicinity of the last one of said tanks. said plate member being inclined slightly upwardly toward its middle section, and extracting means provided in a substantially horizontal plane near the middle section of said plate section in the path of said return pass, whereby said carrier it tilted and is disposed slightly upwardly as' it engages said downwardly turned end and said upwardly inclined portion of said plate member while being drawn along said return pass to thereby present a photosensitive sheet which may be disposed on said carrier to said extracting means for extracting the sheet from said carrier, and a control system arranged to actuate the exposing, transferring and actuating means successively on actuation of the initiating mechanism.

l I I I!

Claims

1. Photographic development apparatus comprising a plurality of process tanks, a continuous conveyor, at least one photosensitized sheet carrier suspended from said conveyor, guide means for the conveyor for directing said conveyor along a lower sinuous path above said tanks whereby, during advance of said conveyor, said carrier is dipped into and withdrawn from each of said tanks in succession, means for providing a dwell period for said carrier when said carrier is suspended above the tank from which it has last been withdrawn, said conveyor including an upper return pass, a substantially horizontal guide provided below said return pass, said guide comprising a plate member having a downwardly turned end in the vicinity of the last one of said tanks, said plate member being inclined slightly upwardly from said downwardly turned end toward its middle section, and extracting means provided in a substantially horizontal plane near the middle section of said plate member in the path of said return pass, whereby said carrier is tilted and is disposed slightly upwardly as it engages said downwardly turned end and the upwardly inclined portion of said plate member while being drawn along said return pass to thereby present a photosensitive sheet which may be disposed on said carrier to said extracting means for extracting the sheet from said carrier.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the carrier is suspended from the conveyor in pendulum fashion.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the conveyor comprises two parallel chains each guided over an upper series and a lower series of sprockets and the carrier is suspended from and between said chains.

4. Apparatus according to claim 1 which includes timer means for starting the conveyor at regular intervals of time and stop means for stopping the conveyor after it has traveled a predetermined distance.

5. An automatic photographic unit comprising: a camera; development apparatus comprising a conveyor including a pair of chains each trained over an upper row and a lower row of sprockets to follow parallel zigzag paths for directing said conveyor along a lower sinuous path, a carrier for a photosensitized sheet suspended pendulum fashion from and between the chains and a plurality of process tanks provided below the said lower sprockets; coin-controlled initiating mechanism; means for exposing a sheet of photosensitive material in the camera, means for transferring the exposed sheet from the camera to the said carrier, means for actuating the conveyor to dip the sheet successively into the process tanks, means providing a dwell period when the sheet is suspended above the tank from which it has been withdrawn, means for delivering the exposed sheet from the development apparatus, said conveyor including an upper return pass, a substantially horizontal guide provided below said return pass, said guide comprising a plate member having a downwardly turned end in the vicinity of the last one of said tanks, said plate member being inclined slightly upwardly toward its middle section, and extracting means provided in a substantially horizontal plane near the middle section of said plate section in the path of said return pass, whereby said carrier it tilted and is disposed slightly upwardly as it engages said downwardly turned end and said upwardly inclined portion of said plate member while being drawn along said return pass to thereby present a photosensitive sheet which may be disposed on said carrier to said extracting means for extracting the sheet from said carrier, and a control system arranged to actuate the exposing, transferring and actuating means successively on actuation of the initiating mechanism.