JPS58126532A - Device for processing photosensitive material - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To effectively remove a stagnant developing soln. located near the photosensitive film of a photosensitive material, by moving the material downward through the agitated current of the developing soln. in the first half of development, and moving it upward through the current of the soln. caused by means for drawing the soln. in the second half. CONSTITUTION:A photosensitive material moved in a developing vessel 3 through a course like U, with the photosensitive film outside, advances along the course as shown by an alternate long and short dash line F, and in the first half of a developing process, it moves downward through the agitated current A of a developing soln. formed by the inlet 15 and the outlet 16 of the soln., and in the second half, it moves upward through the current B formed with means for drawing the soln., thus permitting halogen ions located near the photosensitive film of the material 1 to be easily removed and uneven development, especially, drag lines to be perfectly prevented.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a photosensitive material processing apparatus in which a photosensitive material is conveyed in a U-turn and developed in a developing tank in which a developing solution is circulated. In addition, the present invention relates to a photosensitive material processing apparatus that improves the finishing performance of photosensitive materials.

It is generally well known that in the development of photosensitive materials, it is possible to obtain a uniform finish without uneven development by creating a flow through appropriate agitation of the developer in the development tank.

However, in the development process of some photosensitive materials, such as lithographic film used for printing plate making, which expresses the image density as a halftone dot area, the development method is contagious development. , it is difficult to obtain a uniform finish due to the large influence of non-uniform flow caused by agitation of the developer.Furthermore, in the development process of photosensitive materials for printing plates, it is especially important to remove halogen from developed halogen silver crystals. There is a problem in that ions (% bromine ions) are liberated in the developer, causing special development unevenness called drag lines. In order to prevent this drag line, K needs to quickly remove the halogen ions liberated into the developer.

As a technique for solving such problems, there is a technique previously proposed by the present applicant in Japanese Patent Application No. 56-2905 entitled ``Developing Processing Method and Apparatus.'' This technology is a developing method in which the photosensitive material is conveyed in a U-turn into a developing tank with the photoresist film side facing outward. It was characterized in that the material was passed through a flowing developer solution that sucked the developer solution near the photosensitive film surface of the photosensitive material.

The present invention further improves this and aims to provide a 5K photosensitive material processing apparatus that more effectively removes the developer near the photosensitive film surface of the photosensitive material being conveyed upward. be.

The above-mentioned object of the present invention is to provide a photosensitive material processing apparatus having means for conveying the photosensitive material into a developing tank in a U-turn and a means for circulating the developer in the developing tank. A liquid discharge port for stirring the developer near the conveyance path is provided.

This is achieved by providing a liquid suction means close to the conveyance path of the photosensitive material being conveyed upward, which takes in the developer from the upstream side of the photosensitive material conveyance path and suctions and removes it downstream.

The main point of the present invention is that due to the characteristics of the development process of photosensitive materials for printing and plate making, the photosensitive material is passed through an agitating flow during the first half of the development process, which may cause uneven development during development. j
In the latter half of the development process, when halogen ions suddenly appear and halogen ions that inhibit development are liberated from the halogen silver crystals, the halogen ions near the photosensitive film surface of the photosensitive material are passed through a flow where they are easily removed. .

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the basic developer flow in the practice of the present invention, in which a photosensitive material 1 is conveyed in a U-turn into a developing tank 3 with the photoresist film surface 2 facing outward. Here, in the first half of the development process when the photosensitive material 1 is conveyed downward, the developer flows as if only by an agitating flow agent, and in the second half of the development process when the photosensitive material 1 is conveyed upward, the developing solution flows on the surface of the photoresist film. It is circulated so that a flow B is generated in the direction away from the two neighboring areas. The above-mentioned developer flow B in the direction away from the vicinity of the photoresist film surface 2 can also be formed by sucking the developer by providing a liquid suction port as proposed in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application No. 56-2905. However, in the present invention, this is formed by a further improved method.

That is, as shown in FIG. 2, a liquid absorbing means 4 is provided along the conveyance path of the photosensitive material. The portion 4A of the liquid absorbing means on the upstream side of the photosensitive material conveyance path is comb-shaped and has a structure that does not obstruct the passage of the developer.

Further, the downstream side of the photosensitive material transport path of the liquid absorbing means has a liquid absorbing suction ring) 4B that is open close to the transport path,
The developer sucked from the liquid suction suction cleaner 4B is collected through the passage 4c and sent to the suction bonder. Note that the portion of the liquid absorbing means facing the photosensitive material conveyance path also serves as a guide member for assisting the advancement of the photosensitive material. The liquid suction suction ring) 4B is located at the tip of the liquid suction means 4, on the rear side of the guide member.

It is installed in a position that does not interfere with the transportation of photosensitive materials (・
Ru.

In order to generate the agitation %A for passing the downwardly conveyed photosensitive material into the agitated developer solution, as shown in the example apparatus described later, the developing process is performed on the side where the photosensitive material is conveyed downwardly. A liquid discharge port 15 is provided at the bottom of the tank to discharge the developing solution, but a liquid discharge port 15 and a liquid suction port are provided on the side of the processing slide where the photosensitive material l is being conveyed downward. Figure 3 shows a developing process in a photosensitive material processing apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. In fig.

The one-dot chain line F is the conveyance path for the photosensitive material 1, and #
Along the conveyance path, a large number of conveyance rollers 10° guide member 1
1. 12 and liquid suction means 4 are arranged. Each conveyance row 210 is rotationally driven in the direction of the arrow, and conveys the photosensitive material 1 along the conveyance path. The guide member 11 is formed of a comb-shaped plate material so as to allow the passage of the developer, and guides the photosensitive material 1 in the transport direction without interfering with the movement of the developer. The guide member 12 is made of a plate material that does not allow the developer to pass through.
is guided in the direction of transport. The liquid suction means is operated by the above-mentioned functions of its respective parts.

A flow for removing the developer near the photosensitive material transport path,
Form B. Reference numeral 1δ denotes a liquid discharge port for producing the agitation flow, and is configured to discharge a combination of the developer sucked from the liquid suction port 16 and the developer sucked from the liquid suction means 4. There is.

The functions and effects of the apparatus of this embodiment are such that in the first half of the developing process in which the photosensitive material 1 is conveyed downward, the photosensitive material 1 is conveyed upward through the stirring flow A formed by the liquid discharge port 15 and the liquid suction port 16. In the second half of the developing process, the developing solution is passed through the developer stream B formed by the teaching solution means, thereby making it possible to completely prevent the occurrence of uneven development, especially drag lines.

The position where the liquid absorbing means is provided is not necessarily limited to the position shown in the apparatus of the above embodiment, but can be appropriately selected in the latter half of the developing process. The shape of each part of the liquid suction means 4 can be changed, for example, by replacing the upstream part 4A with a perforated plate K and the liquid suction slit 4B with a similar number of holes. Furthermore, the cross-sectional shape of the five passages 4C is not limited to a rectangle.

In order to generate the above-mentioned stirring flow A, a device (disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 55-52059) is used, which has a liquid discharge port and a liquid suction port on the side surface of the developing processing tank while the photosensitive material is being conveyed downward. It is also possible to use a device that

As described above (according to the present invention), in a photosensitive material processing apparatus having a means for conveying a photosensitive material in a U-turn into a developing treatment tank, and a means for circulating a developer in the developing treatment tank, a downward conveying A liquid spout is provided to agitate the developer near the conveyance path of the photosensitive material being conveyed, and a developer is introduced from the upstream side of the photosensitive material conveyance path to the downstream side near the conveyance path of the photosensitive material being conveyed upward. Since a liquid absorbing means is provided to remove this liquid by suction, it is possible to realize a photosensitive material processing apparatus that is effective in preventing development unevenness, particularly drag lines.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the basic developer flow in the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side view showing the main parts of the apparatus of the embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a side view of the developing tank section of the apparatus of the embodiment. 1: Photosensitive material, 2: Photosensitive film surface, 3: Development processing tank, 4: Liquid suction means, 10: Conveyance, roller, 11, 12 guide members, 15: Liquid discharge port, 16: Liquid suction port. Patent applicant Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd. Representative Patent Attorney Masatoshi Isomura 265 Figure 1 Figure 2

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] In a photosensitive material processing apparatus having means for conveying a photosensitive material in a U-turn into a development processing tank and means for circulating a developer in the development processing tank, the photosensitive material is transported downward. In addition to providing a liquid discharge port to stir the current liquid near the conveyance path,
A photosensitive material processing device characterized in that a liquid absorbing means is provided in the vicinity of a conveyance path of a photosensitive material that is being conveyed upward, and which takes in a developer from the upstream side of the photosensitive material conveyance path and removes it by suction on the downstream side. Device.