Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G03—PHOTOGRAPHY; CINEMATOGRAPHY; ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ELECTROGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY
  • G03D—APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING EXPOSED PHOTOGRAPHIC MATERIALS; ACCESSORIES THEREFOR
  • G03D3/00—Liquid processing apparatus involving immersion; Washing apparatus involving immersion
  • G03D3/08—Liquid processing apparatus involving immersion; Washing apparatus involving immersion having progressive mechanical movement of exposed material
  • G03D3/13—Liquid processing apparatus involving immersion; Washing apparatus involving immersion having progressive mechanical movement of exposed material for long films or prints in the shape of strips, e.g. fed by roller assembly
  • G03D3/132—Liquid processing apparatus involving immersion; Washing apparatus involving immersion having progressive mechanical movement of exposed material for long films or prints in the shape of strips, e.g. fed by roller assembly fed by roller assembly

Definitions

• the present invention relates to photographic f processing apparatus and is more particularly concerned with apparatus which is capable of carrying out more * 5 than one process by switching the material being processed between different treatment stages of the apparatus.
• US-A-3 331 276 discloses copying apparatus in which different processing paths are followed by the medium being processed.
• the described apparatus is used to form a positive copy of a document by following 20 the steps of:-
• the apparatus allows the medium to pass along one path twice, that is, during the development of the latent negative image on one side of the medium and % then also during the subsequent development of the latent positive image on the other side of the medium. 35 The medium is then switched to a second path where the developed positive image is fixed and the negative image is bleached before the medium, with the copy of the document formed thereon, emerges from the apparatus.
• the medium In the apparatus described in US-A-3 331 276, the medium always passes through the first processing path (development) and then the second processing path (fix and bleach) .
• the medium must pass through the first and second paths in that order for the apparatus to work, that is, to produce a copy of the original document.
• US-A-3 785 269 discloses automatic film processing apparatus which includes a movable guide element which allows the material being processed to be directed along a transport path which provides the processing stages for that particular material.
• the material is given a coloured leader tape which is recognized by a colour-sensitive control system, the control system operating the movable guide in response to the detected colour of the leader tape to direct the material to the appropriate processing stages.
• photographic processing apparatus for processing more than one type of photographic material, the apparatus comprising:- a housing having an inlet and an outlet; a plurality of treatment stations arranged within the housing between the inlet and the outlet, each treatment station having a path along which the material passes during treatment; a connecting path extending between the inlet and the outlet and connecting at least one of the treatment stations to at least one of the others; directing means arranged in the connecting path for directing the material into the treatment stations and also for directing material along the connecting path itself; and control means for controlling the movement of material through the apparatus; characterized in that the control means includes actuation means for operating the directing means in accordance with the " type of material being treated.
• Apparatus constructed in accordance with the present invention has the ability to direct film either into a treatment tank or to skip one or more tanks. This allows photographic processes to be mixed within the same apparatus.
• the apparatus may comprise a first treatment tank containing black-and- white developer, a second treatment tank containing colour negative developer, a third treatment tank containing bleach, and a fourth treatment tank containing fixer.
• films are fed into the tank containing the appropriate developer, that is, black-and-white into the first tank and colour into the second tank.
• the colour film needs to pass through the third tank for bleaching prior to being fixed in the fourth, whereas the black-and-white film can pass directly from the first tank to the fourth tank for fixing.
• Apparatus according to the present invention comprises a housing 10 in which four processing tanks 12, 14, 16, 18, each containing a different solution A, B, C and D, are arranged.
• the housing 10 has an inlet 20 and an outlet 30 which are arranged above the treatment tanks 12, 14, 16, 18. Naturally, there may be more than four treatment tanks, but only four are shown here for clarity.
• Each treatment tank 12, 14, 16, 18 is in the form of a rack having an inlet path 122, 142, 162, 182, an outlet path 124, 144, 164, 184, and a treatment path 126, 146, 166, 186 formed therein.
• a film strip When a film strip is to be treated in one of the tanks, it enters the appropriate tank 12, 14, 16, 18 along its respective inlet path 122, 142, 162, 182 and is cycled around the treatment path 126, 146, 166, 186 for a given amount of time until it is fully treated in that tank 12, 14, 16, 18 and then exits from the tank along the outlet path 124, 144, 164, 184.
• a connecting path 40 is provided between the inlet 20 and the outlet 30 of the housing 10 above the level of the treatment tanks 12, 14, 16, 18 and defines the reference path through the apparatus.
• a plurality of switches 22, 24, 26, 28 is arranged in the connecting path 40 above the inlet path 122, 142, 162, 182 to each treatment tank 12, 14, 16, 18. These switches 22, 24, 26, 28 are controlled by control means (not shown) and are operated to direct the film into the appropriate treatment tank 12, 14, 16, 18.
• Each treatment tank 12, 14, 16, 18 has a further switch 128, 148, 168, 188 also controlled by the control means. These switches 128, 148, 168, 188 switch the film out of the treatment path 126, 146, 166, 186 once the treatment has been completed.
• Each switch 128, 148, 168, 188 may either switch the film into the next adjacent treatment tank or may switch the film up to the connecting path 40.
• switches 128 and 168 switch the film into the adjacent tank 14 and 18 respectively from tanks 12 and 16. This direct switching into an adjacent tank is needed where a stop bath is employed to curtail treatment, for example after a developer bath.
• Switches 148 and 188 switch the film up to the connecting path 40.
• Squeegee rollers 120, 140, 160, 180 may also be provided to remove excess solution from the surface of the film as it leaves the treatment tank 12, 14, 16, 18.
• the first treatment tank 12 contains solution A, which would be a developer solution.
• solution A which would be a developer solution.
• the film is switched out of the treatment path 126 by switch 128 and emerges from the tank 12 at a lower level than the connecting path 40, and passes directly into the next tank 14, a stop bath containing solution B. After a suitable time in the stop bath, the film is switched out of the tank 14 and re-joins the connecting path 40 at the higher level as shown.
• a similar arrangement is shown in respect of tanks 16 and 18. - R 6 -
• treatment tanks 12, 16 may both be development tanks, one for black- and-white processing and one for colour negative processing. In this case, there would be not switching from treatment tank 14 (stop bath) into treatment tank 16 as different developers are used for the two processes. Instead the material being processed would enter either one of treatment tanks 12, 16 according to whether the material requires black-and-white or colour processing, and then pass on to at least one further treatment tank (not shown) via the connecting path 40.
• treatment tank 12 may be employed and then the material is switched into its associated stop bath, treatment tank 14, prior to re-joining the connecting path 40 for transport to the next appropriate treatment tank, namely, a fixing bath (not shown) .
• the film As the film enters the apparatus at the inlet 20, it is diverted by switch 22, either down into the first treatment tank 12 or ahead to the tank 16 or to a further treatment tank (not shown) as desired.
• a separate path be designated for film to follow when exiting the developer tanks, for example into a stop bath prior to re-joining common transport paths. This eliminates contamination of film with traces of developer left on the common path.
• switches 128, 148, 168, 188 in treatment tanks 12, 14, 16, 18 are under software control as they need to be controlled so that the material being processed is processed for the correct time.
• switches 22, 24, 26, 28 in the connecting path 40 may be manually or software _ _
• the apparatus of the present invention can be applied to any situation where various processes follow each other for one class of material but are all missed by all other materials.
• One particular situation where the present invention would be of particular use is where it is desired to reduce the labour-intensive task of having to drain and replace processing chemicals according to the material to be processed. This can be achieved by having a single processor in which a plurality of treatment tanks are arranged, each tank containing a particular processing solution. Naturally, more than one tank may contain the same solution - this is arranged according to the most complex processing sequence.
• the processor could be arranged to have treatment tanks in the following order:-
• the film is processed in the following steps: 1), 2 ) , (reversal exposure - possibly arranged in the connecting path between the treatment tanks) , 3) , 4) , 5) and 6) .
• steps 3) , 4) , 5) and 6) would be required.
• Black-and-white film would then use steps 1) , 2) and 6) .
• other processing steps may also be present, for example, appropriate washing and drying stages.

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• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Photographic Processing Devices Using Wet Methods (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

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Family Applications (1)

Country Status (3)

Citations (3)

• 1992
  • 1992-01-21 GB GB929201277A patent/GB9201277D0/en active Pending
  • 1992-12-21 TW TW81110224A patent/TW224164B/zh active
• 1993
  • 1993-01-18 WO PCT/EP1993/000102 patent/WO1993014442A1/en active Application Filing

Patent Citations (3)

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