US3886575A

US3886575A - Apparatus for treating photographic material in closed cassettes

Info

Publication number: US3886575A
Application number: US396429A
Authority: US
Inventors: Kurt Gall
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1972-09-13
Filing date: 1973-09-12
Publication date: 1975-05-27
Anticipated expiration: 1992-05-27
Also published as: DE2244860A1; JPS4969331A

Abstract

Exposed photographic sheet material is loaded in a darkroom into closed cassettes formed with fluid-traversable but light-blocking openings. Each cassette is then automatically dipped by a transporter into a succession of film-treatment baths and set in a drying station. The cassettes are provided with outwardly open injector tubes which allow liquid, such as treatment chemicals, or gas to be circulated rapidly through their interiors. Each cassette is automatically opened by engagement of a knob on a slidable door as it is set down in the drying station where a magnet on the cassette operates a reed switch to set a drying blower in motion. The cassettes are open at the bottom and provided with baffles to prevent light entrance; similarly lightblocked openings are provided at the top of each cassette.

Description

United States Patent Gall 1 51 May 27, 1975 [54] APPARATUS FOR TREATING 3,353,470 ll/l967 Zane 354/322 3,779,147 l2/l973 Woollacott 354/3l2 PHOTOGRAPHIC MATERIAL IN CLOSED CASSETTES Inventor: Kurt Gall, Welfenstrasse 22. 7

Stuttgart-Birkach, Germany Filed: Sept. 12, 1973 Appl. No.: 396,429

Primary ExaminerRichard M. Sheer Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Karl F. Ross; Herbert Dubno [57} ABSTRACT Exposed photographic sheet material is loaded in a darkroom into closed cassettes formed with fluid- [301 Forelgn Application Priority Data traversable but light-blocking openings. Each cassette Sept. l3, 1972 Germany 2244860 is then automaticany dipped by a transporter into a succession of film-treatment baths and set in a drying [52] 354/311; 354/312; 354/3)? station. The cassettes are provided with outwardly 354/324; 354/325; 354/332; 354/338 open injector tubes which allow liquid. such as treat- [5 l] lltl. Cl. 603d 3/00 mam chemicals Or gas to be circulated rapidly [58] Flcld M Search 354/301 3H, through their interiors. Each cassette is automatically 354/315 32 H1325 opened by engagement of a knob on a slidable door as 340 it is set down in the drying station where a magnet on the cassette operates a reed switch to set a drying [56] Relerences cued blower in motion. The cassettes are open at the bot- UNITED STATES PATENTS tom and provided with baffles to prevent light en- 2,212,357 8/1940 Vanderwalker 354 311 trance; Similarly light-blocked Openings are Provided 2,368,079 H1945 Stiffler 354/3l1 at the top of each cassette.

2,405.l60 8/l946 Morse 354/3ll 2,829,575 4/l958 Collins 354/311 20 Clam, 8 Draw F'gures av l l l 1 1 "j 3 1 /0/ 1 J/ 29 19/ O 4?, 371 J5 W 4 E 15 51 P E 2% 1 g 3 a 19 13 l L o l 1:

c i l i i i "T151 1 1 J 9 I U I Q i O 0 l 1 I l l I l l l l l \L m1 :1 H17 1 2 W4 94 IIITLXITIIIXJI I'ITIXIXIIII'ITIlllllIljlIlIXIlI 1 t k K J 5 57 U m Ll 5 l- Patented May 27, 1975 3,886,575

4 Shuts-Shoat 1 Patented May 27, 1975 3,886,575

4 Sheets-Sheet 5 48 Mill i 47\ 4g 7 54 56 617 5? 54 7g (90 a]; 72V; :2 7/ u Patented May 27, 1975 4 Sheets-Sheet &

l.lir.l.l.l.

APPARATUS FOR TREATING PHOTOGRAPHIC MATERIAL IN CLOSED CASSETTES FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an apparatus for treating photographic material and, more particularly, to an apparatus for automatically developing exposed sheets, plates, or the like of film.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION There are known devices which automatically develop a film. In these machines the film is merely passed through a plurality of baths of the various wetting agents, developers, fixatives, and the like by a transport device which dips a film-holding frame in the baths or which pulls roll film along a path going through all the baths. The device either has a bulky closed housing so that it is loaded in a darkroom and may then be operated with the lights on, or it has no housing so that it must be held in darkness for the whole time it is used. In both cases it is necessary to keep the apparatus, which may be quite large when, for example, l3 color-film baths are needed, in the darkroom.

Another disadvantage of such equipment is that it is usually very expensive and complicated. It is rarely practical for a small photographic operation, a portrait photographer, for example, to buy such an apparatus due to the elevated cost and considerable service problems.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide an improved apparatus for treating photographic material.

Another object is the provision of such a device which does not have to be kept in a darkroom.

A further object is an automatic film developer which is relatively simple in construction and relatively inexpensive to manufacture.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION These objects are attained, according to the present invention, in an apparatus having a plurality of upwardly open vessels or tanks each set up for use with a respective film-treating liquid. The photographic material is held in a cassette which is provided with openings that allow the liquids to enter but prevent light from entering. Means is provided to dip this cassette successively in the row of vessels, with the liquid in each vessel flushing through the cassette and treating the film in the cassette. The liquid-traversable openings are at the top and bottom of the cassette housing and are each provided with a plurality of overlapping baffles or baffles having out-of-line holes so that no straight-line path for light entrance is provided. These cassettes are made of a black chemically resistant synthetic resin, for instance polyvinyl chloride.

With such an arrangement it is possible to use the machine in a lighted room. Each cassette, in accordance with yet another feature of this invention, is provided with a door so that the exposed sheet or plate film material is loaded into the cassette in the darkroom and then these cassettes are closed and set on the machine. Once the doors on the cassettes are closed they no longer need be kept in the dark. The various treatment tanks are open so that servicing them, as well as checking the strength, level, and temperature of the treatment liquids is a very simple operation, as is cleaning these tanks.

The transporter according to the present invention has a lifter engageable with the top of the cassettes, which to this end are generally T-shaped so that the lifter may engage under the T-arms to raise and lower the cassette. The entire transporter is displaceable along the row of treatment tanks so as to lift a cassette out of an upstream holding area, dip it successively in each treatment tank, and finally set it down in a downstream drying station.

In accordance with yet another feature of this invention, the door on each cassette is vertically slidable and is provided with an outwardly projecting knob. Means, in the form of a lip on the housing of the apparatus at the drying station, is provided to engage this knob and slide the door up when the cassette is set down in the drying station. In this manner, once the film is developed and can be exposed to light, the cassette is opened. Blowers are provided at the drying station to direct currents of air into the interior of the cassette. According to another feature of the invention the blowers are arranged in a row and each blower is controlled by a respective reed switch operated by a magnet carried on the cassette, so that only the blower adjacent a cassette is operated.

In accordance with the present invention, means is provided in each tank for circulating a treatment liquid and/or a gas through the cassettes, and means is provided on the cassettes for admission of the fluid without the entry of light. A plurality of nozzles on the bottom of each tank can fit into a matching set of tubes on the bottom of the cassette. Baffles are provided in some of the tubes to prevent light entrance, and at least one of the tubes is provided with a perforated manifold. Water may be injected into the base of the cassette and allowed to rise in it and flow out the top. In the developer tanks the developer can be pumped into the bottom of the cassette like the water or gas can be bubbled up through the liquid in the cassette to insure thorough treatment of the film with the liquid.

The apparatus according to this invention is controlled by a programmer reading a program card for the particular type of film being treated. This program card contains ata minimum only the commands for the transporter: how long to hold the cassette in each bath. It can also operate dosing units which automatically add some chemicals to certain of the baths after a predetermined number of films have been treated, so as to keep their strength up. In addition, the control unit may monitor and control the temperatures of the baths, or this may be set at each tank. The operation of the circulating pumps and injection valves at each tank are controlled individually by reed switches in the tanks which sense thhe presence of the cassette so that the device is very simple.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The above and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent from the following description, reference being made to the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view of the apparatus according to this invention;

FIG. 2 is a section taken along line II II of FIG. I;

FIGS. 3 and 4 are partially broken-away front and side views, respectively, of a cassette forming part of the apparatus according to the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a front view of a film holder usable in the cassette of FIGS. 3 and 4',

H68. 6 and 7 are Sections taken along lines VI VI and VII VII of FIGS. 5 and 1, respectively; and

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of an element of the apparatus of FIG. 1.

SPECIFIC DESCRIPTION The apparatus according to this invention as shown in FIG. 1 comprises a control station 1 housing the various circuits for operating the elements described below according to a program carried on a punch card 98. Al' ternatively it is possible to provide a plurality of settable controls as described in my US. Pat. No. 3,593,640 issued 20 July l97 l, each control determining a bath temperature. treatment time, or the like.

Extending downstream from the control console I is a support 2 on which a plurality of treatment tanks 3 rest. The device shown has 13 such tanks for the processing of color film. Fewer or more tanks can be provided if desired, or it is possible to use only some of the tanks provided by proper programming of the device. Downstream of the succession of tanks 3 is a drying station 4.

A transporter 7 is reciprocal back and forth as shown by arrow 6 on a track 5. This transporter has a lower support foot 9 which slides as shown in FIG. 7 in ball bearings in two channels 10 and has a drive gear 12 meshing with a rack 11 on the track 5. A motor 12' on the foot 9 drives the gear 12 and is controlled by the unit 1. An upright support beam 8 rises from the foot and has an outrigger arm 13 which is vertically slidable on the upright 8 by a chain 99 operated from the control unit 1. Depending from this arm 13 are a pair of lifter arms 14 whose function is explained below. A U shaped positioner 101 for a cassette 15 has a pair of arms 100 as shown in FIG. 8 which embrace and are fixed to the upright 8.

As shown in FIG. 2 each vessel or tank 3 is made of a chemically resistant synthetic resin and has side walls 26 and a bottom 17. Guide ribs 24 on the walls 26 have inclined surfaces 25 to position a cassette 15 when it is lowered as shown by arrow 16 into the tank 3. The bottom 17 is provided with three upwardly open in-

line nozzles

21, 22, and 23 which are connected to

respective feed pipes

18, 19, and 20. The central pipe 18 is connected through a valve 18 to a supply 18" of compressed nitrogen and the other two pipes are connected together to a pump 27' which forces a liquid out of the nozzles 22 and 23 and draws it in through an overflow pipe 27 at the top of the tank 3 or through a bottom drain 115. The overflow 27 serves to maintain a liquid level shown at 28 in the tank.

A beam 29 (FIGS. 1 and 2) extends along the back of the apparatus and supports a plurality of reservoirs 31 each holding a supply 30 of a treatment or regenerating fluid. This reservoir 31 is kept full via a pipe 32 from an outside supply 33 and has a bleed tube 34 in its upper wall. Projecting from its lower wall is an inclined fill tube 35 having a mouth 36 above the respective tank 3. A valve 38 operated by a solenoid 37 controlled by the circuits of control unit 1 is provided in the tube 35 to insure that the bath in the respective tank is always fresh. Before replenishing the bath with fresh chemicals the level is dropped to level 39 by operating of a valve 39' in a lower overflow line 103. In this manner the new chemicals are added before the cassette 15 is immersed in the tank so that they do not cause the tank to overflow. Automatic sensors are provided to sense the potency of the chemicals in each tank and to dose them accordingly with fresh chemicals when necessary. In addition heaters are provided to maintain the desired temperatures of each bath. All of these settings may be made at the control unit 1. Alternatively the control unit may count how many times a film-carrying cassette is immersed in each bath, and then dose the baths accordingly. These supplies are only provided on the chemical baths, the water washing and rinsing baths are merely connected to a trickle flow so as to be continuously replenished. These water baths are provided with a large upper overflow 106 which establishes a level 105 in the bath, although in such baths the level when the cassette is not immersed is at a level 104 identical to the level 39. The drains 115 in bottom walls 17 allow the tanks 3 to be emptied completely.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 each cassette 15 comprises a boxlike body 40 up from which extends a cylindrical tube 41 having a pair of hollow arms 42 each having a downwardly directed end 43 adapted to ride on a conical or round bump 44 on one of the arms 14 so that as shown in FIG. 2 the entire cassette can be hung on the outrigger 13. The positioner 101 is formed on its arms with downwardly pointed positioning bosses 102 each having the form of a half of a right circular cone. The cassette 15 is therefore hung on the arms 14 and prevented from swinging laterally by the arms 100. The cassettes 15 are each formed at one side with an opening 45 blocked by a door 47 which is slidable in and against the direction shown by arrow 46. This door 47 has an outer face 48 provided near its bottom with an outwardly projecting bump or knob 49 which serves to slide and open or close the door 47.

Three baffle disks 50 each formed peripherally with a notch 52 are provided in the neck 41, spaced apart by a distance a and with the notch 52 of each disk 50 set diametrically opposite to that of the neighboring disk 50 so as to form a circuitous path indicated by arrow 51 up through the neck. Two diametrically opposed laterally opening holes 53 are formed in the hollow neck 41, the baffles preventing any light from entering the body 40 of this cassette 15 from these holes. The cassette 15 has an open bottom 54 which allows fluid to enter, but prevents the entrance of light by means of

baffles

55 and 56. The baffles 55 are secured to the front and back walls 45 and the

end walls

57 and 58. The baffles 56 are merely attached to the two

end walls

57 and 58 and all of these

baffles

55 and 56 are inclined so as not to catch fluid. Fluid must follow a circuitous or labyrinthian path as shown by arrows 59 to rise in the cassette l5 and the overlap of the longitudinal edges of these

baffles

55 and 56 prevents the entrance of any light through the open end 54. Supported on the central four baffles 56 are two outside tubes 61 and one central tube 60. The tubes 61 are each provided with these spaced baffles 65 each formed with a notch 66 so that fluid must follow a Switchback path as shown by arrow 67 before exiting from the upper end of the tube 61 through holes 64 at its tip. It is therefore also impossible for light to enter the cassette through these tubes 61. The tube is provided at its upper end with an oval manifold 63 formed with a multiplicity of small holes 62 so that a fluid may be injected into the body 40.

Exposed sheets or plates 68 of photographic material are suspended singly in individual square frames 69 having holders 70 for the film. Each frame 69 has four corners 71 each provided on one face with a projecting spacer 72 formed with a cylindrical large diameter portion 73 against the respective frame 69 and a smaller diameter cylindrical portion 74 adapted to fit into a corresponding hole 75 in the neighboring frame 69 so as to hold the frames 69 apart by a distance b. Three of the frames 69 are adapted to fit together and be held together by a square holding frame 76 having short transverse members 77 and longer longitudinal members 78 so as to form a neat unit or block that can be slid into the body 40 of the cassette and be supported on ribs or ridges 80 on the insides of the face walls 79 of this cassette.

FIGS. 1 and 7 show how the drying station 4 is provided with four longitudinally spaced squirrel-cage blowers 88 whose outputs open through holes 89 in a side wall 87 of the apparatus. A flap 90 pivoted about an axis bisecting all of these holes is attached via a tie rod 93 to a crank 92 on a motor 91 so that air expelled through the holes 89 is directed in a continuously vertically deflected stream shown by arrows 113. The floor 81 of the station is formed with a pair of longitudinally extending slots 82 in which upper stretches 83 of belts 84 run. These belts 84 are spanned over wheels 86 car ried in pairs on common shafts 85 driven by a motor 85' controlled from the programmer 1.

The drying station 4 is provided with a pair of spacing elements 94 and 96 each having inclined guide surfaces 95 and 97 to insure the exact positioning of a cassette 15. In addition the wall 87 of this station 4 is formed with an inwardly directed overhang 111 having an edge 110 engageable with the knob 49 to open the door 47 as will be described below. Sensors 112 in the station 4 are connected to the control station 1 to operate the blowers 88 as is described below.

This apparatus functions as follows:

The operator first loads the cassettes by sliding blocks of frames 69 into the cassettes 15 in a darkroom and then closing the doors 47 of these cassettes. Thereafter the closed cassettes 15 are set in a row at the upstream end of the apparatus, a spring serving to urge them against the upstream side of the first tank 3.

The transporter 7 is then moved into the position illustrated in FIG. 1 and the outrigger 13 is lowered to bring the bosses 44 directly below the ends 43 of arms 42. The drive 99 is actuated then to lift the furthermost downstream cassette from the position shown in FIG. 1 in phantom lines to the position shown in dot-dash lines, wherein the bottom of the cassette is above the tops of the tanks 3 and the cassette 15 is embraced and steadied by the positioner 101. Thereafter the entire transporter 7 is moved downstream into a position with the cassette 15 directly above the first tank 3. Meanwhile the remaining cassettes 15 at the upstream end of the machine are pushed downstream by the spring.

The drive 99 is again actuated to lower the cassette 15 into the first tank 3, which is here merely full of water for a prerinsing of the cassette. The nozzles 2l23 mate snugly with the tubes 60 and 61 in this position. Once the cassette is guided into position by the surfaces 25 against its lower edge 107, a magnet 108 (FIG. 3) in its one end 57 actuates a reed switch 109 at the base of the tank 3 to set the pump 27' in motion and to start feeding air to the nozzle 21. Since as the cassette settles in the tank water can rise in its interior, entering along the path indicated by arrows 59, and air can exit from the cassette through holes 53, the cassette will be full of water. Additional water is pumped through the conduits 22 and 23 to insure a good flow in the cassette, and nitrogen may be bubbled up through the water in the cassette to cause some of this water to flow up and out the holes 53.

At the end of the desired interval, as determined by program card 98, the transporter 7 is again actuated to lift the cassette 15 up, thereby shutting off the pump 27' automatically when the magnet 108 pulls away from the switch 109.

Thereafter the cassette is successively dipped and treated in each tank 3 along the row in the same manner, except that the central tanks contain various chemical bathsdeveloper, fixer, and the like. The treatment time in each bath is controlled by the program, and the strength and temperature of each bath is also controlled automatically.

After the last bath the transporter 7 lowers the cas sette 15 into the drying station 4. As the cassette 15 is lowered the knob 49 strikes the lip 11 and the door 47 is slid up to open the side opening 45 of the cassette. Once the cassette is placed on the table 81 its magnet 108 actuates the switch 112 to start the furthest up stream blower 88. This blower dries the film, with the oscillating flap 90 insuring good air distribution throughout the body 40 of the cassettev This drying operation continues until the next cassette is removed from the last tank 3 and is ready to be placed at the upstream end of the drying station, whereupon the motor is actuated to advance the partially dried cassette by a distance equal to L/4, L being the overall length of the drying station 4. The partially dried cassette is moved in front of the second blower 88 and its magnet 108 actuates the next switch 112 to start this blower, while the following cassette is set in place in front of the furthest upstream cassette and starts it as described immediately above.

Once four cassettes are in the drying station the operator can remove the one furthest downstream, as the film plates in this cassette will be completely dry. The transporter 7 can also be employed to take the furthest .downstream cassette out of the station 4 once it is full chine, so that a large number of such cassettes can be treated automatically.

The present invention allows a photographer or the like to develop his own film automatically and easily with an apparatus that is neither expensive to buy nor to maintain. The baths may be maintained at the proper strengths and temperatures by means of conventional darkroom techniques for the simplest possible machine. The device that functions with program cards can be used to process both black and white film since the baths remain the same. Thus the user of the apparatus merely selects the card for the type of film he wants to develop and loads it into the device. Override buttons and timers may be provided to allow the operator to change some of the settings, as, for example, when he wants to develop a plate at a higher ASA than it is rated for. The device can be operated in a lighted room so that it presents no placement problem. The operator must merely load the cassettes in his darkroom, but the plates must be taken out of the camera cassettes in the darkroom in any case, so that this presents no extra difficulty.

I claim:

I. An apparatus for treating photographic material comprising:

a plurality of upwardly open vessels arranged in a row for treating of said material with respective liquids;

a film-containing cassette having a closed housing having a bottom formed with at least one liquidtraversable opening affording access of said liquids to said material in said housing,

blocking means for preventing light from entering said housing through said opening and including a plurality of overlapping baffle vanes at said opening, and at least one outwardly open tube at said bottom with an inner end terminating inwardly of said bafile vanes and provided with a spray manifold; and

transport means displaceable along said row of said vessels for immersing said cassette successively therein.

2. The apparatus defined in claim 1 wherein said housing is formed with a hole adapted to allow loading of said material and is provided with a displaceable door tightly engageable over said hole.

3. The apparatus defined in claim 1 wherein said baffle vanes are planar and elongated and each has one longitudinal edge overlapping the corresponding edge of another such vane.

4. The apparatus defined in claim I wherein said housing has a top formed with another such opening having blocking means comprising a plurality of spaced-apart vanes each formed with a throughgoing hole out of line with the hole of the adjacent vane.

5. The apparatus defined in claim 1 wherein said inner end is formed with a spray hole and said tube is provided with a plurality of baffles having offset holes.

6. The apparatus defined in claim 1 wherein said housing has a top formed with a pair of laterally extending arms, said transport means being engageable with said arms to displace said cassette.

7. The apparatus defined in claim 6 wherein said transport means includes means for steadying said cassette having a pair of arms engageable with said cassette.

8. The apparatus defined in claim 1 wherein each of said vessels is provided with upright guiding ribs having inclined surfaces and snugly engageable with said cas sette with same lowered completely into said vessel by said transport means.

9. The apparatus defined in claim 1, further comprising drying means at one end of said row having at least one blower directable at said cassette.

10. The apparatus defined in claim 9, further comprising switch means in said drying means for operating said blower when said cassette is in said drying means.

11. The apparatus defined in claim 9 wherein said drying means has a bed dimensioned to receive a plurality of said cassettes.

12. The apparatus defined in claim 1, further comprising a frame for supporting a piece of said photographic material in said housing.

13. The apparatus defined in claim 12, further comprising means for holding a plurality of said frames spaced apart in said housing.

14. The apparatus defined in claim 13 wherein said means for holding includes a spacer body on one sur face of each frame and formed with a projection, each frame being formed with a hole adapted to receive said projection.

15. The apparatus defined in claim 14, further comprising a second frame engageable around the firstmentioned frames to hold same together in said housing.

16. The apparatus defined in claim 15 wherein said housing is formed with a closable hole and with a plurality of guide ribs in its interior for introduction of said frames into said housing.

17. The apparatus defined in claim 1, further comprising means for circulating said liquids in said cassettes in said vessels.

18. An apparatus for treating photographic material comprising:

a film-containing cassette having a closed housing having a bottom formed with at least one liquidtraversable opening affording access of said liquids to said material in said housing, blocking means for preventing light from entering said housing through said opening and including a plurality of overlapping baftle vanes at said opening, and at least one outwardly open tube at said bottom with an inner end terminating inwardly of said baffle vanes; and

transport means displaceable along said row of said vessels for immersing said cassette successively therein, a plurality of such tubes being provided in line at said bottom, said baffle vanes being provided in a first set fixed to one wall of said housing adjacent said tubes, a second set fixed to the other wall of said housing adjacent said tubes and two further sets on said tubes and meshing with said first and second sets.

19. An apparatus for treating photographic material comprising:

a film-containing cassette having a closed housing formed with a hole adapted to allow loading of said material and with at least one liquid-traversable opening affording access of said liquids to said material in said housing and blocking means for preventing light from entering said housing through said opening;

a door slidable on said housing and tightly engageable over said hole, said door provided with an outward projection;

transport means displaceable along said row of said vessels for immersing said cassette successively therein; and

stop means engageable with said projection for opening said door upon displacement of said cassette by said transport means adjacent said stop means.

20. An apparatus for treating photographic material comprising:

a film-containing cassette having a closed housing formed with at least one liquid-traversable opening affording access of said liquids to said material in said housing and having a top formed with a pair of laterally extending arms, and blocking means for steadying arms engageable with said cassette and each provided with a steadying boss having the shape of half of a downwardly directed axially bisected cone.

Claims

1. An apparatus for treating photographic material comprising: a plurality of upwardly open vessels arranged in a row for treating of said material with respective liquids; a film-containing cassette having a closed housing having a bottom formed with at least one liquid-traversable opening affording access of said liquids to said material in said housing, blocking means for preventing light from entering said housing through said opening and including a plurality of overlapping baffle vanes at said opening, and at least one outwardly open tube at said bottom with an inner end terminating inwardly of said baffle vanes and provided with a spray manifold; and transport means displaceable along said row of said vessels for immersing said cassette successively therein.

4. The apparatus defined in claim 1 wherein said housing has a top formed with another such opening having blocking means comprising a plurality of spaced-apart vanes each formed with a throughgoing hole out of line with the hole of the adjacent vane.

8. The apparatus defined in claim 1 wherein each of said vessels is provided with upright guiding ribs having inclined surfaces and snugly engageable with said cassette with same lowered completely into said vessel by said transport means.

14. The apparatus defined in claim 13 wherein said means for holding includes a spacer body on one surface of each frame and formed with a projection, each frame being formed with a hole adapted to receive said projection.

15. The apparatus defined in claim 14, further comprising a second frame engageable around the first-mentioned frames to hold same together in said housing.

18. An apparatus for treating photographic material comprising: a plurality of upwardly open vessels arranged in a row for treating of said material with respective liquids; a film-containing cassette having a closed housing having a bottom formed with at least one liquid-traversable opening affording access of said liquids to said material in said housing, blocking means for preventing light from entering said housing through said opening and including a plurality of overlapping baffle vanes at said opening, and at least one outwardly open tube at said bottom with an inner end terminating inwardly of said baffle vanes; and transport means displaceable along said row of said vessels for immersing said cassette successively therein, a plurality of such tubes being provided in line at said bottom, said baffle vanes being provided in a first set fixed to one wall of said housing adjacent said tubes, a second set fixed to the other wall of said housing adjacent said tubes and two further sets on said tubes and meshing with said first and second sets.

19. An apparatus for treating photographic material comprising: a plurality of upwardly open vessels arranged in a row for treating of said material with respective liquids; a film-containing cassette having a closed housing formed with a hole adapted to allow loading of said material and with at least one liquid-traversable opening affording access of said liquids to said material in said housing and blocking means for preventing light from entering said housing through said opening; a door slidable on said housing and tightly engageable over said hole, said door provided with an outward projection; transport means displaceable along said row of said vessels for immersing said cassette successively therein; and stop means engageable with said projection for opening said door upon displacement of said cassette by said transport means adjacent said stop means.

20. An apparatus for treating photographic material comprising: a plurality of upwardly open vessels arranged in a row for treating of said material with respective liquids; a Film-containing cassette having a closed housing formed with at least one liquid-traversable opening affording access of said liquids to said material in said housing and having a top formed with a pair of laterally extending arms, and blocking means for preventing light from entering said housing through said opening; and transport means displaceable along said row of said vessels and engageable with said arms for immersing said cassette successively therein and including means for steadying said cassette having a pair of steadying arms engageable with said cassette and each provided with a steadying boss having the shape of half of a downwardly directed axially bisected cone.