JPH0268550A - Rack for photographic sensitive material processing - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the processing liquid in a tank from contacting air by arranging a movable shutter between two couples of rollers in a roller transport mechanism. CONSTITUTION:The conveyor roller group 8 as the roller transport mechanism is arranged in a U shape and a photo sensitive material A which is carried down in the tank by the roller group 8 is turned over at the bottom part of the tank and carried out upward. At this time, a liquid surface is formed in the gap between the couples of rollers 8a and 8b, and 8c and 8d and the moving shutter 20 is inserted slightly above the liquid surface. Then the shutter 20 is closed to make the amount of air above the liquid developer extremely small and no fresh air contacts the liquid developer, so that the influence of oxidation upon the deterioration is suppressed small.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a photographic material for developing a photographic material exposed to image light from a manuscript or an original image by immersing it in a processing solution. Related to material processing racks.

[Conventional technology]

Generally, in an automatic developing device using a silver halide photographic material, the photographic material after exposure is developed by being immersed in a developer contained in a developer tank for a predetermined time, and then further developed. , bleaching, fixing, washing, etc. are performed as necessary.

In order to effectively immerse and transport the photosensitive material into the tanks containing these processing solutions, for example, the tanks containing each processing solution are arranged in parallel. Further, in order to effectively immerse the photographic material in each processing liquid, each processing tank has a vertically elongated shape, and the photographic material is conveyed in the direction of gravity within each processing tank. That is, the photographic light-sensitive material is conveyed vertically downward into the developer solution in the developer tank, and after being turned over at the bottom of the developer tank,
It is conveyed vertically upward and sent to the next processing tank, and similar processing is performed in the other processing tanks as well.

The mechanism for conveying the photosensitive material includes a plurality of conveyance rollers arranged alternately in two rows through a conveyance path in a non-contact manner, and the photosensitive material is brought into contact with the circumferential surface of the conveyance rollers. A roller transport mechanism for transporting photographic light-sensitive materials is the most effective in terms of high transportability and not damaging the photographic light-sensitive materials.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

Since the processing liquid is oxidized and deteriorated by contact with oxygen in the air, it is necessary to avoid contact between the processing liquid and air as much as possible. To this end, a processing tank is required that has a structure in which a shutter is placed above the processing liquid surface in a non-contact manner, and the transport path is opened only when the photosensitive material travels along the transport path to avoid contact between the processing liquid and air as much as possible. It is said that

Here, in the roller transport mechanism as described above, in order to increase the conveying capacity, the conveying rollers are close to each other and arranged alternately in a staggered manner, so it is easy to provide a shutter parallel to the liquid surface. Therefore, convection of outside air that comes into contact with the liquid surface is unavoidable, and oxygen constantly comes into contact with the liquid surface, leading to further deterioration.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems, and to provide a device for processing photographic materials that can avoid contact between the processing liquid and air as much as possible even in a mechanism that transports photographic materials using a roller transport mechanism. The purpose is to provide racks.

[Means and effects for solving the problems] The above object of the present invention is to provide a rack for processing photosensitive materials having a roller transport mechanism for transporting photosensitive materials by immersing them in a processing solution filled in a tank. , some of the plurality of rollers constituting the roller transport mechanism are at least two adjacent pairs of opposing or nearly opposing rollers, and a gap wider than the thickness of the photosensitive material is provided between the rollers of each pair of rollers. This is achieved by a photographic material processing rack having a movable shutter between the 2 m roller pairs.

That is, by providing the above-mentioned two opposing or nearly opposing roller pairs, a gap approximately parallel to the liquid surface is formed between the two roller pairs, and a shutter is provided in this gap. It is possible to prevent the processing liquid in the tank from coming into contact with air as much as possible, and to reduce the adverse effects of air such as oxidation of the processing liquid.

The photographic light-sensitive material used in the present invention may be any photographic light-sensitive material as long as it is processed by immersing it in a processing solution.

For example, it is effective for a configuration in which a long length of photographic film or photographic paper is immersed in a developer solution for development, and it is also effective in a configuration in which a sheet-shaped photographic film or photographic paper is immersed in a developer solution for development. is also valid.

[Embodiment]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the accompanying drawings.

In the above-mentioned automatic developing device, each processing tank has a similar structure, so this structure will be explained using the developing tank.

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a photographic material developing tank.

A rack 4 for guiding the photosensitive material A into the tank is loaded in the tank 2 containing the developer. Between the two side plates 6 of the rack 4, there are a plurality of conveying roller groups 8 for conveying the photosensitive material A.
are arranged in a substantially U-shape to constitute a roller transport mechanism.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a photographic material developing tank.

The conveyance roller groups 8 are arranged alternately so that their peripheral surfaces are in contact with the photosensitive material conveyance path, and each conveyance roller group 8 is not in contact with the photosensitive material conveyance path. In other words, @conveying roller group 8 is in contact with photosensitive material A, and conveys photosensitive material A by friction with the circumferential surface of conveying roller group 8.

Each transport roller group 8 is connected by a gear, and each gear ratio is set so that the rotational speed of the peripheral surface of each transport roller group 8 is constant, so that the photosensitive material is transferred between each transport roller group 8. Transported without slack.

A heater 10 for heating the developer in the tank to an appropriate temperature and a stirring member 12 for stirring the developer are provided at the bottom of the tank 2. The stirring member 12 has a configuration in which fins 16 are provided on both sides of a disc 14, and is rotationally driven by a driving means (not shown) to stir the developer.

As mentioned above, the conveying roller group 8 serving as a roller transport mechanism is arranged in a U-shape inside the tank, so that the photosensitive material is carried into the tank from the top to the bottom by the conveying roller group 8. A is inverted at the bottom of the tank, transported upwards, and taken out.

In the part where the liquid level is set near the exit 5 and the population 3 of the photosensitive material A, the alternating arrangement of the transport roller groups 8 is broken, and the configuration is similar, so to talk about the population side, above the liquid level, the liquid level is a pair of rollers 3a that are substantially parallel and opposite or nearly opposite;
3b is disposed, and a pair of rollers 8c and 8d are disposed substantially parallel to the liquid surface and opposite or nearly opposite to each other even below the liquid surface.

The conveyance path of the photosensitive material A draws an arc from the entrance 3 direction and enters the liquid surface almost perpendicularly, and by changing the diameters of the conveyance roller group 8 on the inside and outside of this arc,
They are arranged in a staggered manner across the conveyance path and connected to roller pairs 3a and 3b.

On the other hand, below the liquid level, the conveyance path of the photosensitive material A extends substantially vertically downward, and a gap is created between the pair of rollers 8c and 8d and the conveyance roller group 8 connected to them and alternately arranged in a staggered manner. In order to prevent the photosensitive material A from entering and leaving the conveyance path, a small diameter roller 8e is provided.

There is a gap between the pair of rollers 3a, 3b and the pair of rollers 3c, 3d, which is larger than the thickness of the photosensitive material A, and is preferably about Imm to 3mm.

Therefore, the roller pairs 3a, 3b and the roller pairs 8c, 3d
A liquid level is formed in the gap between the two, and the movable shutter 20 is inserted slightly above this liquid level.

The movable shutter 20 may be one that partitions the population and the exit, or may be one that partitions the population and exit separately by placing a fixed shutter 22 in the center as shown in the figure.

If the movable shutter 20 is in contact with the liquid surface, the surface tension of the developer will cause the developer to adhere to the upper surface of the movable Yak 20, causing crystals to form, resulting in poor sealing, or Remix and degrade. Therefore, it is preferable that the movable shutter 20 be provided close to the developing solution so as not to come into contact with it.

Then, by sealing this movable shutter 20,
The amount of air above the developer is extremely small, and fresh air does not come into contact with the developer, making it possible to minimize the effects of deterioration due to oxidation.

Since the movable shutters 20 can be moved as indicated by the arrows, each movable shutter 20 is first moved to open the photosensitive material A (7) transport path before carrying the photosensitive material A into the tank. Then, the photosensitive material A is immersed in a developer to perform development, and after the photosensitive material A is carried out of the tank, each movable shutter 20 is moved in the closing direction and sealed. Therefore, while the photosensitive material A is being developed, the developer and air come into contact with each other through the opening created by the movement of the movable shutter 20, but when the photosensitive material A is not being developed, the contact between the developer and the air is minimized. It can be prevented.

Further, the roller pairs 8a, 8b and the roller pairs 8c, 3d
When the rollers are opposed to each other across the photosensitive material conveyance path, these roller pairs only provide directionality to the photosensitive material A and do not have conveyance ability, so they do not interfere with the movable shutter 20 and the gap into which the liquid surface enters. It is preferable to arrange them in an alternating arrangement that has a staggered effect, although it is imperfect, by slightly shifting the facing state.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the rack for processing photographic light-sensitive materials of the present invention, the roller transport mechanism provided in the rack has two adjacent ones.
By providing a pair of opposing or nearly opposing rollers, a movable shutter close to the surface of the processing liquid can be provided between the two pairs, and the movable shutter moves the photosensitive material transport path above the surface of the processing liquid. It can be opened and closed as appropriate. therefore,
When the photosensitive material is not being transported, the transport path is closed and the tank is sealed to avoid contact between the processing solution and the air as much as possible.
Deterioration of the processing liquid can be slowed down. Therefore, stable processing can be performed over a long period of time.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of the developer tank, and FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view of the developer tank. Symbols in the figure: 2 4 Rack 6 Side plates 3.3a, 3b, 3c, 8d, 3e Photographing and feeding roller 10 Heater 12 Stirring member 14 Disc
16 Fin 20 Moving shell A Photosensitive material

Claims (1)

[Claims] A photographic material processing rack having a roller transport mechanism for immersing and conveying a photographic material in a processing liquid filled in a tank, the rack comprising: a plurality of rollers constituting the roller transport mechanism; A photograph comprising two pairs of opposing or nearly opposing rollers, each roller pair having a gap between the rollers that is wider than the thickness of the photographic light-sensitive material, and a movable shutter disposed between the two roller pairs. Rack for processing photosensitive materials.