JPH03174156A - Drying method for photographic sensitive material in automatic development processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the dimensional stability of a photosensitive material by drying the photosensitive material after 65% of the moisture possessed by the photosensitive material right after squeezing of the photosensitive material after washing processing at the temp. set under the conditions of the atmospheric temp. and humidity of the place where an automatic development processing device is installed. CONSTITUTION:After 65% of the moisture possessed by the photosensitive material right after squeezing of the photosensitive material after the washing processing is dried by radiation heat or high-frequency heating, etc., the photosensitive material is dried at the temp. set under the conditions of the atmospheric temp. and humidity of the place where the automatic development processing device is installed. For example, the drying processing section of the automatic development processing device is divided to two zones; a first half part and a second half part. These two zones are respectively separately controlled in temp. to set the drying hot wind temp. of the first half part zone higher than room temp. so as to rapidly dry the photosensitive material and to set the temp. conditions in the second half part zone under the conditions of the atmospheric temp. and humidity of the place where the automatic development processing device is installed. The dimensional stability of the photosensitive material is improved in all the temp. and humidity environments.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial Field of Application) The present invention relates to a method for drying a photosensitive material in an automatic processing apparatus for improving the dimensional stability of the photosensitive material.

(Prior Art and its Problems) Silver halide photographic materials generally have a layer containing a hydrophilic colloid such as gelatin as a binder on at least one side of a support. Such a hydrophilic colloid layer has the disadvantage that it easily expands and contracts due to changes in humidity and temperature.

Dimensional changes in photographic materials due to expansion and contraction of the hydrophilic colloid layer are a very serious drawback, particularly in photographic materials for printing.

Several methods have been proposed for improving the dimensional stability of photographic materials for printing.
250, etc.), technology for containing polymer latex in the hydrophilic colloid layer (Japanese Patent Publication No. 39-4272, 3.
No. 9-17702, No. 43-13482, No. 45-5
No. 331, U.S. Pat. No. 2,376,005, U.S. Pat. No. 2,7636
No. 25, No. 2772166, No. 2852386, No. 2853457, No. 3397988, No. 34119
No. 11, No. 3411912, etc.), technology for providing a waterproof coating layer on the undercoat on the surface of the support (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 60-3627, etc.)
and so on.

However, even if the photosensitive material itself is improved in this way, it is essentially difficult to improve dimensional stability under all temperature and humidity environments as long as it has a layer containing a hydrophilic colloid such as gelatin as a binder. .

Furthermore, as far as we know, there has been no technology for improving the dimensional stability of photosensitive materials in automatic processing equipment.

Conventionally, various methods have been proposed for controlling the drying conditions of the drying section of an automatic development processing apparatus by controlling them with a heater or the like. (JP-A-56-095239, JP-A-63-049760, JP-A-63-236043, etc.) These conventional controls! In method 1, the aim was to find a better drying method mainly from the viewpoints of speeding up drying, energy efficiency, emulsion film quality, transportability of light-sensitive materials, etc.
For example, methods for speeding up drying by applying weaker drying air in the first half and stronger in the second half, preheating heaters at lower temperatures when photosensitive materials are not available to improve energy economy, and installing automatic processing equipment. Indoor temperature and humidity (
Based on this information, it is possible to prevent film quality deterioration due to excessive drying of photosensitive materials, or to prevent film quality deterioration caused by insufficient drying of photosensitive materials. There are methods to prevent transport defects from occurring.

However, with these conventional methods, it has been impossible to improve the dimensional stability of photosensitive materials under all temperature and humidity conditions. Because the drying air temperature is set high, the photosensitive material is excessively dried, resulting in a so-called over-drying state, which causes the photosensitive material to elongate in size. In addition, during periods of high humidity such as the rainy season,
If the drying air temperature is set to such a level that the photosensitive material is barely dry, a phenomenon occurs in which the dimensions of the photosensitive material shrink. In the industry, this phenomenon is expressed as poor dimensional stability due to processing. This is a serious drawback especially in photosensitive materials for printing.

Furthermore, it was not previously known that dimensional stability could be improved by controlling the drying air temperature.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a method for controlling a drying section in an automatic processing apparatus that improves the dimensional stability of a photosensitive material under any temperature and humidity environment. It is in.

(Means for Solving the Problems) An object of the present invention is to provide a method for drying a photographic light-sensitive material after development processing using an automatic processing apparatus having a drying processing section, the drying processing section including a water washing process. After that, the amount of water contained in the photosensitive material immediately after squeezing the photosensitive material is reduced.
A method for drying a photographic light-sensitive material in an automatic processing device, which comprises drying the photosensitive material after drying 5% at a temperature set based on the atmospheric temperature and humidity conditions at the location where the automatic processing device is installed. achieved by.

More preferably, the temperature of the drying air in the drying section of the automatic processing apparatus is set to the conditions shown by the shaded area in FIG. This is achieved by drying the material.

Particularly under conditions where the atmospheric humidity is relatively high, the photosensitive material may not dry, or may be in a so-called undried state. In this case, there is a possibility that the drying section of the automatic development processing apparatus must be made longer. This is disadvantageous in terms of space saving.

Therefore, the drying processing section of the automatic processing device is divided into two zones, the front and the rear, and the temperature of each drying processing zone is independently set based on the conditions of the atmosphere mfw of the installation location. In the front part of the processing section, the amount of water contained in the photosensitive material immediately after squeezing the photosensitive material after washing with water is removed.
5% or less, and the temperature of the drying air at the rear of the drying processing section is set to the conditions shown by the shaded area in FIG. 1. This problem can be solved by the method of drying the material.

In the present invention, development processing refers to development, fixing, and washing. Squeezing refers to removing moisture from the surface of the photosensitive material after washing with water using a roller such as a rubber roller or a resin roller, or an air squeeze method in which air is blown onto the surface of the photosensitive material.

FIG. 1 in claim 2 shows a region where drying temperature conditions with excellent dimensional stability can be achieved if the temperature is set to the shaded region surrounded by boundaries iia and b. Here, the boundary line a is expressed as D=2/3*R+(atmosphere temperature)+5, where the atmospheric humidity is R (%r2H) and the drying air temperature is D ("C).

When the boundary line is 0≦R≦60, D=273**R+
(Ambient temperature) -35 straight line, 60! When WR≦100, it is represented by a straight line of D=-273*R+(ambient temperature)+45. However, D needs to be higher than the dew point in the range of 60≦R≦100.

As a specific method for achieving these, for example, there is a method of dividing the drying processing section of an automatic processor into two zones, a first half and a second half, and controlling the temperature of the two zones separately.

The temperature of the drying air in the first half zone is set higher than room temperature so that the photosensitive material dries quickly, and the second half zone is set to the temperature conditions shown by the shaded area in FIG. By doing so, the photosensitive material will not run out of dry fibers and will also have good dimensional stability.

In the present invention, the method of drying by radiant heat or high-frequency heating 65% or less of the moisture contained in the photosensitive material immediately after squeezing the photosensitive material after washing with water includes JP-A-1-260445 and JP-A-1-1. Drying methods using far-infrared irradiation, microwave irradiation, and high-frequency heating described in No. 260449 and Japanese Patent Application No. 1-241004 are preferably used. Further, these means and means using hot air may be combined.

Furthermore, as described in Japanese Patent Application No. 1-241005, depending on the type of photosensitive material, n patterns of drying control are selected to control the drying section. ■It may include a means to do so.

Next, the present invention will be further explained with reference to Examples, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

(Example 1) The drying processing section of the automatic processing device 41FG-660F manufactured by Fuji Photo Film Corporation was divided into two zones, a front section and a rear section, and temperature conditions were set individually for each of the two zones. I used a modified version that made it possible. Here, the front part of the drying processing section will be referred to as the first drying zone, and the rear part will be referred to as the second drying zone.

Using Fuji Photo Film VU-100 as a sample,
The samples were processed under various conditions, and the dimensional stability of the samples was measured using a pin gauge. Two 8-diameter holes were inserted at 200 mm intervals in the sample before treatment, which was fully exposed to sunlight.
The distance between the two holes was accurately measured using a bottle gauge with an accuracy of 1/1000 Il11. Let the dimension at this time be X (unit: w), then develop it with an automatic developing machine, fix it,
The processing conditions are shown in Table 1, where the dimension after 5 minutes after washing with water and drying is designated as Y (unit: m).

The dimensional change rate (%) due to treatment is (Y-X)/200X1
Evaluation was made with a value of 00. Here, 20μm at 200m base length
If an elongation of more than 20 μm or a contraction of 20 μm or less occurs, a dimensional deviation generally referred to in the industry occurs. Therefore, the dimensional change rate due to treatment -〇.

A value of 0.01% or more and 0.01 or less was judged to be good.

Table 2 shows the temperature conditions of the first and second zones of the drying section. Let the weight of the photosensitive material immediately after the process be a (unit: g),
The weight of the photosensitive material immediately after passing through the first drying zone is expressed as b(
If the unit is g) and the weight when the processed photosensitive material has fully adapted to the ambient temperature and humidity is C, then (a-b)/(a-c
)×100. The drying air volume was kept constant at 40 liters/s in both the first zone and the second zone.

As shown in Table 2, the drying conditions were changed from A to P and the dimensional change rate was measured. The environmental temperature and humidity conditions were 25°C and 30% RH. The results are shown in Table 2.

Generally, increasing the drying temperature increases the dimensions of the photosensitive material. As shown in Table 2, the temperature of the first drying zone is 60°C.
If the moisture content dried in the first drying zone is greater than 65%, and the drying temperature in the second drying zone is set at what degree, the dimensional stability is poor, and the temperature in the first drying zone is 50%.
If it is below 'C, the amount of moisture dried in the first drying zone is 6
5% or less, and by setting the temperature of the second drying zone in accordance with the ambient temperature and humidity, it is possible to improve dimensional stability.

Therefore, in order to improve the dimensional stability, in the case of Example 1, the drying temperature conditions after drying 65% of the water content of the photosensitive material immediately before entering the drying section of the automatic processing apparatus were set to ( Good dimensional stability can be obtained by setting the ambient temperature to +25°C or lower.

(Example 2) Similarly to Example 1, VU-100 was used as a photosensitive material sample, and the dimensional change rate was measured. Here, the atmospheric temperature and humidity were measured at 25° C. and 60% RH. The drying air volume was kept constant at 80 liters/s in both the first zone and the second zone. The results are shown in Table 3.

As can be seen from Table 3, in an environment of 25°C and 60% RH, the amount of moisture dried in the first drying zone is less than 65% under the drying conditions shown here, and at what temperature should the first drying zone be set? However, dimensional stability can be improved by setting the temperature of the second drying zone in accordance with the ambient temperature and humidity. In the case of Example 2, dimensional stability can be obtained by setting the drying air temperature to (ambient temperature) +5°C or higher.

Moreover, FIG. 2 shows a summary of Examples 1 and 2 for those dried in the first drying zone with a moisture content of 65% or less. This corresponds to the region of good dimensions and stability shown in FIG. 1, and it can be seen that it is preferable to dry under the drying temperature conditions within the region of FIG. 1 after 65% of the moisture has been removed.

(Example 3) The dimensional change rate is measured in the same manner as in Example 1. In this example, the first drying zone, which had good dimensional stability in Example 1, was heated at 50°C.
The dimensional change rate was measured under a drying temperature condition of 30° C. in the second drying zone and with varying amounts of drying air ffl. The atmospheric temperature and humidity conditions were 25°C and 30% RH. The results are shown in Table 4.

Increasing the drying air volume increases the drying speed of the photosensitive material. When the amount of moisture dried in the first drying zone becomes greater than 65% by increasing the amount of drying air, the dimensional stability deteriorates. However, the amount of moisture dried in the first drying zone was 65%.
% or less, the dimensional stability is good. Therefore, 6 of water
Dimensional stability can be improved by setting the drying temperature conditions after 5% has dried in accordance with the ambient temperature and humidity.

(Example 4) LS2000 manufactured by Fuji Photo Film ■ as a photosensitive material sample
The dimensional change rate was measured in the same manner as in Example 1. L.S.
-2000 has a thicker dry emulsion layer and back layer than VU-100, and has a larger swelling amount in water.

Looking at the results in Table 5, the amount of water that dries in the first drying zone is equal to the amount of swelling! (%) is small, but as in Example 1, the amount of moisture dried in the first drying zone is 6.
When it is 5% or less, dimensional stability can be improved by setting the drying temperature of the second drying zone in accordance with the ambient temperature and humidity.

(Example 5) Fuji Photo Film ■ as a photosensitive material sample! ! LS-20
00, the dimensional change rate was measured in the same manner as in Example 1 under the conditions of ambient temperature and humidity of 25° C. and 60% RH. LS-2
Because 000 has a large swelling amount, it may be in an undried state when it passes through the drying section and comes out of the automatic processing device. The test was conducted. The dryness test is a sensory test in which it is judged by touching the photosensitive material with one's hand whether it is dry or not when it passes through the drying section and comes out of the automatic processing device.

The results are shown in Table 6. When the moisture content dried in the first drying zone is 65% or less, dimensional stability can be improved by setting the drying temperature in the second drying zone in accordance with the ambient temperature and humidity. However, if the amount of water dried in the first drying zone is less than 40%, the drying performance will be poor. Therefore, it is preferable to set the drying air temperature in the first drying zone to a temperature that will dry as much moisture as possible.

However, the moisture content to be dried in the first drying zone must not exceed 65%.

Table 1 (*) All made by Fuji Photo Film ■ (Example 6) Figure 1 of the example of patent application No. 1-241004, which allows drying at a drying air temperature set based on the atmospheric temperature and humidity conditions. Example 2 of Japanese Patent Application No. 1-24006 Using the automatic processing apparatus shown in Figure 6, samples 1 to 16 shown in Table 8 were processed under the atmospheric conditions and drying conditions shown in Tables 7a and 7b. Dimensional changes due to treatment were determined in the same manner as in -1.

As a result, the dimensional change rate for all samples 1 to 16 was 01002~
The drying method of the present invention was found to be 0.006%, and the dimensional change was small and good in an automatic processing apparatus using the drying method of the present invention.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 shows the drying temperature conditions of the drying section in an automatic development processing apparatus which has good dimensional stability with respect to atmospheric humidity. The Mlt axis represents atmospheric humidity (%RH), and the vertical axis represents dry air temperature (°C). The shaded area surrounded by boundary line a, boundary line A, and dew point is an area with good dimensional stability. FIG. 2 shows the results of Example 1.2 on the diagram of drying temperature conditions in FIG. 1. ○ indicates good dimensional stability,
The x mark indicates a point with poor dimensional stability.

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) A method in which a photographic light-sensitive material is developed and then dried by an automatic processing device having a drying processing section, in which the drying processing section is used to dry the photographic material immediately after squeezing the photographic material after washing with water. Photographic exposure in an automatic processing apparatus, characterized in that the photosensitive material after drying 65% of the moisture contained therein is dried at a temperature set based on the atmospheric temperature and humidity conditions of the installation location of the automatic processing apparatus. How to dry the material. (2) The photographic light-sensitive material in the automatic processing apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the drying air temperature of the drying section of the automatic processing apparatus is set to the conditions shown by the shaded area in FIG. drying method. (3) The entire drying processing section of the automatic processing device and the rear two
It is divided into two zones, and the temperature of each drying zone is set independently based on the atmospheric temperature and humidity conditions of the installation location. Claim 1, characterized in that 65% or less of the moisture contained in the photosensitive material is dried, and the temperature of the drying air at the rear of the drying processing section is set to the conditions shown by the shaded area in FIG. A method for drying photographic materials in automatic processing equipment. (4) A method in which the photographic material is dried after development using an automatic processing device having a drying section for drying the photographic material, in which the drying section is used to dry the photographic material immediately after squeezing it after washing with water. 2. The method of drying a photographic material in an automatic processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein 65% or less of the moisture contained in the photosensitive material is dried by radiant heat or high-frequency heating.