JPH0579559U - Photosensitive material processing equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] To promote agitation of the processing solution when replenishing the processing solution. The automatic developing device includes a tank body 1a of a developer tank 1 in which a processing solution is stored, a transport roller 13 for passing a printing plate into the tank body 1a, and a discharge pipe 16 opening to the tank body 1a. And a treatment liquid circulating means having a spray 27, and a treatment liquid replenishing pipe 25 having a replenishing port 25a provided adjacent to the spray 27.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to a photosensitive material processing apparatus, and more particularly to a photosensitive material processing apparatus having a processing liquid tank through which a photosensitive material passes.

[0002]

[Prior Art]

 A photosensitive material processing apparatus for developing a photosensitive film or a photosensitive plate disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 1-171456 is provided with a processing liquid tank in which a processing liquid is stored. Further, a treatment liquid replenishing means for replenishing the treatment liquid in the treatment liquid tank and a circulation means for circulating the treatment liquid in the treatment liquid tank are provided. A photosensitive material such as a photosensitive film or a photosensitive plate is developed by being conveyed by a conveying means in the processing liquid tank.

When replenishing the processing liquid in the conventional photosensitive material processing apparatus, the processing liquid is introduced into the processing liquid tank by the processing liquid replenishing device and at the same time, the processing liquid in the processing liquid tank is circulated by the circulation device. To be made. As a result, the treatment liquid is agitated when the treatment liquid is replenished, and the homogenization of the treatment liquid in the treatment liquid tank is promoted.

[0004]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 In the conventional configuration, the replenished processing liquid is sprayed onto the plate surface via the circulation pump and the spray tube. For this reason, the processing solution may not be sufficiently stirred when the processing solution is replenished, and the heterogeneous processing solution may come into contact with the surface of the photosensitive material to cause uneven processing.

An object of the present invention is to promote agitation of the processing liquid when replenishing the processing liquid.

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 The photosensitive material processing apparatus according to the present invention comprises a processing liquid tank in which a processing liquid is stored, a conveying means for passing the photosensitive material into the processing liquid, and a suction port and a discharge port opening in the processing liquid tank. The processing liquid circulating means has the processing liquid circulating means, and the processing liquid replenishing means having a replenishing port provided adjacent to the discharge port of the processing liquid circulating means.

[0007]

[Action]

 In the photosensitive material processing apparatus according to the present invention, the photosensitive material is processed by the conveying means passing the photosensitive material through the processing liquid. When replenishing the treatment liquid, the treatment liquid replenishing means replenishes the treatment liquid into the treatment liquid tank through the replenishment port. At this time, when the processing liquid circulating unit discharges the processing liquid from the discharge port, the processing liquid circulating unit discharges the processing liquid because the replenishment port of the processing liquid replenishing unit is provided adjacent to the discharging port. As a result, the replenished processing solution is well agitated.

[0008]

【Example】

 FIG. 1 shows an automatic developing apparatus as an embodiment of the present invention. This automatic developing device comprises a developing tank 1 for developing and processing a photosensitive printing plate on which an image is printed by a printing device (not shown), a washing tank 2 for washing the developing solution adhering to the printing plate with water, and a printing tank. A rinsing tank 3 for rinsing the plate or rinsing / gum solution.

The developing tank 1 has a tank body 1a for storing a processing liquid (developer) and a cover 1b for covering the tank body 1a from above. A large number of guide rollers 7, 8, 9, 10, 14, 17, 18, 19 for guiding the printing plate in the developing tank 1 are arranged in the tank body 1a. Further, between the guide roller 10 and the guide roller 14, a pair of conveying rollers 13 for sandwiching and conveying the printing plate is provided. A pair of squeezing rollers 21 are arranged in the tank main body 1a at the downstream end in the printing plate transport direction.

A pair of brush rollers 15 a and 15 b are arranged between the guide roller 14 and the guide roller 17. The brush rollers 15a and 15b are arranged so that they can be pressed against the printing plate from above and below, and the upper brush roller 15a rotates clockwise and the lower brush roller 15b rotates counterclockwise. The directions of rotation of the brush rollers 15A and 15B may be opposite to the above examples.

One end of the discharge pipe 16 is connected to the center of the lower end of the tank body 1a. The other end of the discharge pipe 16 is connected to the suction side of the circulation pump 12. The discharge side of the pump 12 is connected to the spray pipe 11 via a pipe 11a. The spray pipe 11 is arranged near the transport roller 13 in the tank body 1a. The developer can be sprayed from the spray pipe 11 toward the plate surface of the printing plate.

The discharge side of the pump 12 is also connected to the spray 27. The spray 27 is arranged in the tank main body 1a near the lower brush roller 15b. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the spray 27 is formed with a large number of discharge ports 27a for discharging the developing solution downward. A developer replenishing pipe 25 is arranged below the spray 27 in the tank body 1a. The refilling port 25a of the refilling pipe 25 is arranged near the discharge port 27a of the spray 27, and the discharge direction of the refilling port 25a is oriented substantially toward the brush roller 15b. The base of the replenishment pipe 25 is connected to the replenisher tank 26 via a replenishment pump 36.

Note that, instead of the spray 27 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a spray 51 shown in FIG. 4 may be adopted. The spray 51 has a tip discharge port 51 a directed to the filling port 25 a of the refilling pipe 25. A printing plate mounting table 4 is arranged on the upstream side (left side in FIG. 1) of the developing tank 1 in the printing plate conveying direction. At the end of the mounting table 4 on the tank body 1a side, a roller 5 also serving as an area meter for the printing plate, and a pair of transport rollers 6 for transporting the printing plate from the mounting table 4 to the tank body 1a side are provided. Are arranged.

In the water washing tank 2, a water spray 29, two pairs of conveying rollers 28 and 31 arranged with the water spray 29 sandwiched therebetween, and a guide roller with a spray function arranged below the water spray 29. And 30 are provided. Further, in the rinse treatment tank 3, a rinse spray 33, a guide roller 32 for guiding the printing plate from the transport roller 31, and a transport roller 34 for discharging the rinsed printing plate to the outside are arranged. ing.

Further, between the developing tank 1 and the washing tank 2, there is a bypass for inserting a printing plate, which has not been subjected to the developing treatment in the developing tank 1, into the washing tank 2 for washing / rinsing. A pass insertion port 24 is provided. Further, below the bypass insertion port 24, an overflow groove 23 is provided at a position adjacent to the squeezing roller 21, so that the level of the developer in the tank main body 1a is constant. .. A guide roller 22 is arranged above the overflow groove 23 and adjacent to the upper squeezing roller 21. Further, a floating lid 20 is floated on the developer in the tank body 1a. The floating lid 20 is for suppressing evaporation and oxidation of the developing solution.

In this embodiment, a control unit 37 as shown in FIG. 5 is provided. The control unit 37 includes a microcomputer including a CPU, ROM, RAM, etc., and is connected to the circulation pump 12 and the replenishment pump 36 described above. Further, a roller drive motor 35 for driving the brush rollers 15a and 15b is connected to the control section 37.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described. The printing plate is carried in from the mounting table 4 into the developing tank 1 in which the developing solution is stored. At this time, the printing plates are dipped in the image liquid in the tank body 1a by driving the conveying rollers 6 and 13. At this time, the brush rollers 15a and 15b rotate to rub the surface of the printing plate to accelerate the developing process. The printing plate that has undergone the development treatment is washed in the washing tank 2, rinsed in the rinse tank 3, and then discharged to the outside. When the printing plate that has already undergone the development process is washed again with water, the printing plate is inserted through the bypass insertion port 24 and passed through the washing tank 2 and the rinse tank 3.

During the developing process, the circulating pump 12 is driven to suck the processing liquid in the tank main body 1 a from the discharge pipe 16 and discharge the developing liquid from the spray pipe 11 and the spray 27. This circulates the developing solution and accelerates the developing process. When the control unit 37 determines that it is time to replenish the developing solution, the replenishing operation of the developing solution is performed. The control flow in this case is shown in FIG.

When it is determined in step S1 of FIG. 6 that the developer needs to be replenished, the process proceeds to step S2. In step S2, the brush rollers 15a and 15b are driven. Then, in step S3, the circulation pump 12 is driven to start circulation of the developer. As a result, the developing solution is vigorously ejected from the ejection port 27a of the spray 27. In step S4, the pump 36 is driven to supply new developer from the replenisher tank 26 into the tank body 1a. At this time, since the developing solution is vigorously ejected from the spray 27, the new developing solution supplied from the replenishing pipe 25 is efficiently stirred. Moreover, the developing solution ejected from the replenishing pipe 25 approaches the brush rollers 15a and 15b, and is also agitated by the rotation of the brush rollers 15a and 15b. As a result, the stirring of the developing solution is performed even better.

In step S5, it waits until the replenishment amount reaches a sufficient amount. If it is determined that the replenishment amount has reached a sufficient amount, the process proceeds to step S6. In step S6, the pump 36 is stopped to stop the replenishment of the developing solution. Then, in step S7, the pump 12 is stopped to stop the circulation of the developing solution. Then, in step S8, the driving of the brush rollers 15a and 15b is stopped.

The brush rollers 15a and 15b are controlled to rotate at a high speed during the developing process and to rotate at a low speed during the non-processing to save energy, but are driven at a high speed during the replenishing operation described above. However, the rotation speed and the rotation direction of the brush rollers 15a and 15b during the replenishing operation may be set to other values.

[0022]

[Effect of the device]

 In the light-sensitive material processing apparatus according to the present invention, since the replenishing port of the processing liquid replenishing means is provided adjacent to the discharge port of the processing liquid circulating means, the processing liquid replenished by the circulating flow of the processing liquid can be satisfactorily supplied. The stirring of the treatment liquid can be promoted when the treatment liquid is replenished.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic vertical sectional view of an automatic developing device as an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged partial view of the refill pipe portion.

FIG. 3 is a bottom partial view of the spray.

FIG. 4 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 2 of another embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram of a control unit of the automatic developing device.

FIG. 6 is a control flowchart of the replenishing operation of the control unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Development Tank 1a Treatment Liquid Tank 13,21 Conveying Roller 16 Discharge Pipe 25 Replenishment Pipe 25a Replenishment Port 27 Spray 27a Discharge Port

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A processing liquid tank having a processing liquid stored therein, a conveying means for allowing a photosensitive material to pass through the processing liquid, and a processing liquid circulating means having a suction port and a discharge port opening to the processing liquid tank. And a processing liquid replenishing unit having a replenishing port provided adjacent to the ejection port.