JP2939042B2 - Photosensitive material drying method and apparatus - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for drying a photosensitive material conveyed along a conveying path.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A photosensitive material on which an image has been printed and a latent image has been formed is visualized by an automatic developing machine or the like as a photosensitive material processing device. This automatic developing machine has a developing tank,
Some include a fixing tank and a washing tank, and store a developing solution, a fixing solution, and washing water, respectively. While the photosensitive material is automatically conveyed through each processing tank in this automatic processor,
The developer, the fixing solution and the washing water are sequentially immersed in the developing solution, the fixing process and the washing process.

Some automatic developing machines are further provided with a drying section. In the drying section, the photosensitive material which has been processed by the above-described processing solutions and swelled by the moisture in the processing solution is dried while being automatically conveyed. Generally, in a drying section, in order to remove moisture from the photosensitive material, hot air is blown onto the photosensitive material to dry it. However, in the drying by hot air, if the drying air is repeatedly used in consideration of the thermal efficiency, the humidity gradually increases, so that it takes a long time for the drying.

For this reason, it has been considered to heat or dry the photosensitive material directly or indirectly by a heating means. As a heating means of the drying section, a means using both a heat roller and a drying air has been proposed. That is, air containing a large amount of water evaporated from the photosensitive material heated by the direct heating means (heat roller) is removed from the vicinity of the surface of the photosensitive material by the indirect heating means (dry air) to promote drying of the photosensitive material. It has become. Thereby, the drying time can be shortened.

Generally, in a drying process using a heat roller, the photosensitive material is heated by pinching the photosensitive material by a pair of heat rollers in a part of the transport path while linearly transporting the photosensitive material. Dry air is blown to evaporate.

[0006]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional drying process, the photosensitive material is conveyed in the tangential direction of the pair of heat rollers, so that the contact time between the heat roller and the photosensitive material is extremely short. For this reason, it was necessary to raise the temperature of the heat roller (approximately 100 ° C. to 150 ° C.) in order to perform predetermined heating within this short time. For this reason, there is a safety problem for the operator to perform maintenance such as repair at an early stage when a trouble occurs, and when the photosensitive material jams, the photosensitive material in the vicinity of the heat roller becomes excessively dry and becomes wavy. This causes a problem that the photosensitive material becomes unusable. Particularly, in the case of a photosensitive material for printing, the base thickness is very thin (75 μ to 100 μm).
μ), jamming is likely to occur, and poor drying such as overdrying is likely to occur. In addition, because the demand for dimensional stability is high,
Care must be taken in overdrying.

[0007] In consideration of the above fact, in the present invention, in a drying process using a heat roller, the temperature of the outer periphery of the heat roller is reduced without impairing the safety of the operator and even when the conveyance of the photosensitive material is stopped near the heat roller. It is an object of the present invention to obtain a relatively quick and efficient photosensitive material drying method and apparatus which can be kept at such a low temperature as not to overdry.

[0008]

An invention according to claim 1 is a photosensitive material drying method for drying a photosensitive material conveyed along a conveying path, wherein an outer periphery is heated by a heat source .
Wound sensitive light materials to heat Torora, the said sensitive material is heated by heat applied on the basis of the contact time of the temperature and the heat roller of the outer periphery of the heat roller, the photosensitive material of the non-contact with the heat roller It is characterized by evaporating water from the surface.

The invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that dry air is blown to the surface side of the photosensitive material which is not in contact with the heat roller to promote evaporation of moisture.

The invention according to claim 3 is characterized in that the contact time between the heat roller and the photosensitive material is 1.5 to 5 seconds, respectively.

The invention according to claim 4 is characterized in that the temperature of the outer periphery of the heat roller is 80 ° C. or less.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a photosensitive material drying apparatus for drying a photosensitive material conveyed along a conveying path, wherein a heat source is provided inside, and one side of the photosensitive material is partially provided on a peripheral surface. A first heat roller wound so as to be in contact with the first heat roller, a second heat roller provided with a heat source therein and wound so that the other surface of the photosensitive material comes into contact with a part of the peripheral surface, and the first heat roller; The photosensitive material, which is conveyed while being wound around a heat roller and a second heat roller, is disposed along the width direction of the photosensitive material so as to correspond to the other surface and one surface of the photosensitive material, and communicates the inside with the vicinity of the conveyance path. And a drying air supply unit for supplying drying air to the inside of the chamber.

[0013]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a heat roller is provided.
And heat the photosensitive material. The amount of heat applied to the photosensitive material by the heat roller can be obtained based on the temperature around the heat roller and the contact time between the heat roller and the photosensitive material. In other words, since the drying capacity is determined by the product of the surface temperature of the heat roller and the contact time, by increasing the amount of winding around the heat roller,
Good drying can be performed even if the contact time is extended and the temperature of the outer periphery of the heat roller is lowered without reducing the transport speed. Therefore, even if a paper jam or a film jam occurs by mistake and the photosensitive material stagnates near the heat roller, overheating of the heat roller can be prevented because the outer peripheral temperature of the heat roller is low, and wrinkling of the photosensitive material can be prevented. Prevents damage such as deformation.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, when one surface is heated by the heat roller, moisture is evaporated from the other surface. At this time, by blowing dry air onto the other surface, the water is evaporated. It can promote evaporation and can be dried in a short time.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the contact time between the photosensitive material and the heat roller is 1.5 to 5 seconds.
Drying can be completed in a total drying time of 6 to 20 seconds.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the surface of the heat roller is kept at 80 ° C., it is possible to achieve stable dimensional drying without performing image quality.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the emulsion surface of the photosensitive material is heated by the first heat roller. As a result, evaporation on the back surface starts, and the evaporation is promoted by the drying air supplied to the chamber by the drying air supply means.

When the back surface of the photosensitive material is heated by the second heat roller, evaporation on the emulsion surface starts, and the evaporation is accelerated by the drying air.

Since the photosensitive material is wound around the first heat roller and the second heat roller, the photosensitive material is heated for a time corresponding to the winding amount. Therefore, even if the temperatures of the first heat roller and the second heat roller are lowered, the time is compensated by extending the time (extending the time during which the photosensitive material is in contact with the first and second heat rollers). And appropriate heat treatment can be performed.

As a result, clogging of the photosensitive material occurs,
Even if the photosensitive material stops in contact with the first or second heat roller, wrinkles and the like due to local heating do not occur, and the quality can be maintained.

Further, the temperature becomes extremely low with respect to the temperature (100 ° C. to 150 ° C.) of the conventional heat roller of the linear transport sandwiching type, so that maintenance workability can be improved without impairing the safety of the operator during maintenance. .

[0022]

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural view of an automatic developing machine 10 which is a photosensitive material processing apparatus.

The automatic developing machine 10 has a casing 12
An insertion port 16 for inserting the photosensitive material 14 is provided on the left side surface (upstream end portion) of FIG. A pair of rollers 18 are provided inside the insertion port 16 and are rotated by driving means (not shown). For this reason, the photosensitive material 14 inserted from the insertion opening 16 is
Is guided to the processing unit 20 installed inside the automatic developing machine 10 by the driving force of

In the processing section 20, a developing tank 24, a rinsing tank 26, a fixing tank 28, a rinsing tank 30, and a washing tank 32 are arranged in this order from the left side of the sheet of FIG. The developing tank 24, the fixing tank 26, and the washing tank 32 (hereinafter collectively referred to as "processing tank") store a developing solution, a fixing solution, and washing water, respectively. Further, cleaning water (for example, water or acetic acid aqueous solution) is provided in the rinsing tank 26, and cleaning water (for example, water) is provided in the rinsing tank 30.
Are supplied from respective storage tanks (not shown) via pipes via pumps, and excess washing water overflows from the rinsing tanks 26 and 30 to an overflow tank (not shown). When the washing water is water, a pipe line is provided from the water supply directly to the rinsing tanks 26 and 30 via the solenoid valve without using the storage tank, and the tap water is supplied to each of the rinsing tanks 26 and 30. You may.

In the processing tanks 24, 28 and 32, racks 34 are arranged, respectively, and a plurality of pairs of rollers 36 for sandwiching the photosensitive material 14 and transporting the photosensitive material 14 along a predetermined transport path are provided. Above each processing tank, a crossover rack 46 having a rinse rack is arranged. The crossover rack 46 is provided with rollers 38 and 40 above the rinsing tanks 26 and 30 to pinch the photosensitive material 14 to guide it to an adjacent processing tank, and to treat the processing liquid adhering to the photosensitive material 14. Removed.

The developing tank 24 and the fixing tank 28 are provided with heaters 60 and 62, respectively. These heaters 60 and 62 are made of a stainless alloy (for example, SUS31).
6) and a coil-shaped heater main body (not shown) as a heat source housed in the cylindrical body.
4 and 28 are inserted into the processing tanks 24 and 28 from the side walls. The developing solution and the fixing solution are heated by the heaters 60 and 62 so that the temperature of the photosensitive material 14 can be processed when the automatic developing machine 10 starts up, and is maintained at a temperature at which the photosensitive material 14 can be processed after startup. It is supposed to.

The photosensitive material 14 washed in the washing tank 32.
Is transported by a pair of transport rollers 42 to a drying unit 45 adjacent to the processing unit 20. In the drying section 45, the photosensitive material 1 which has been subjected to the washing process with the washing water is used.
4 is dried.

As shown in FIG. 2, the photosensitive material 14 is inserted into the drying chamber 45A of the drying section 45 from the drying chamber insertion port 44. In the drying chamber 45A, the inserted photosensitive material 1
A squeeze roller 48, two heat rollers 50, 50, and a discharge roller 52 are provided along the transport path No. 4, and are supported between a pair of side plates. These squeeze roller 48, heat roller 50 and discharge roller 5
Numeral 2 is adapted to convey the photosensitive material 14 at a constant speed by transmitting a driving force of a driving unit (not shown).

The moisture adhering to the surface of the photosensitive material 14 is squeezed while being nipped and conveyed by the squeeze roller 48, and furthermore, the guide 74 provided on the downstream side of the squeeze roller 48 moves to the outer peripheral edge of one of the heat rollers 50. It is guided.

The two heat rollers 50 are arranged substantially vertically and convey the photosensitive material 14 by winding the photosensitive material 14 around the outer peripheral surface.

As shown in FIG. 2, the wrapping angle of the photosensitive material 14 around the heat roller 50, that is, the photosensitive material 14
Is preferably about 90 ° from the winding start point (points B and D in FIG. 2) to the winding end point (points C and E in FIG. 2).

The angle θ is set based on the outer diameter of the heat roller 50 and the rotation speed (conveying speed of the photosensitive material) so that a predetermined contact time with the heat roller 50 can be obtained. The value based on the temperature and the outer peripheral temperature of the heat roller 50 is the amount of heat applied to the photosensitive material 14. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, when the angle θ is set to about 90 ° as in this embodiment, if the outer peripheral temperature of the heat roller 50 is set to 70 ° C., an appropriate heating process is performed.

These heat rollers 50 are cylindrical, and a heat source 56 composed of a halogen lamp or the like for heating the outer peripheral portion of the heat roller 50 is coaxially arranged at each axis. The outer periphery of the heat roller 50 is heated by the heat source 56.

A plurality of nip rollers 58 are provided around the heat roller 50.
The photosensitive material 14 wound around 0 is sandwiched between the photosensitive material 14 and the outer peripheral surface of the heat roller 50. Photosensitive material 14
Is in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the heat roller 50 heated by the heat source 56, and is heated by heat conduction from the heat roller 50.

For example, the diameter of the hero roller 50 is 78 m.
m, the conveying speed of the photosensitive pad is 30 mm / sec, the contact time between each heat roller 50 and the photosensitive material 14 is 2 seconds, the surface temperature of the heat roller 50 is 70 ° C., the winding angle is 88 °, and the size is cut into four. The photosensitive material 14 of Example 1 was dried after continuous development processing of ten sheets, but satisfactory results were obtained.

At the downstream side of each heat roller 50 in the conveying direction of the photosensitive material 14, one end of the separation guide 6 is in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the heat roller 50, and the other end is pivotally supported by the side plate 64.
The photosensitive material 14 wound around the heat roller 50 is separated from the outer peripheral surface of the heat roller 50 at a predetermined position. Also, the peeling guide 66
The intermediate portion of the photosensitive material 1 protrudes toward the downstream side in the transport direction of the photosensitive material 14 and is separated from the heat roller 50.
4 is guided to the downstream side in the transport direction.

A guide 72 is disposed downstream of each of the heat rollers 50, 50 and between the discharge roller 52. The photosensitive material 14 fed by the squeeze roller 48, the heat roller 50 or the discharge roller 52 is guided to the downstream side by a guide 72.

The guide body 86 of the guide 72 is a cylindrical body having a substantially rectangular cross section in which one end in the longitudinal direction is opened, an opening is formed, the other end is closed, and the inside is hollow. I have. The guide 72 is disposed so that the longitudinal direction of the guide body 86 is in the width direction of the photosensitive material 14 (the direction perpendicular to the paper surface in FIG. 2), and is fixed to a side plate of a drying chamber (not shown). The guide body 86 has a plurality of ribs 9 parallel to the transport direction on the surface of the photosensitive material 14 on the transport path side.
0, and a slit 74 is formed along the longitudinal direction of the guide body (in the width direction of the photosensitive material 14).

As shown in FIG. 2, in the drying chamber 54A,
On the side opposite to the side where the photosensitive material 14 is wound around the heat roller 50, a blow-out pipe 68 having a hollow inside is provided. A slit 70 communicating with the inside is formed along a width direction of the photosensitive material 14 on a surface of the blowing pipe 68 on the photosensitive material conveying path side. Dry air is supplied to the blow-out pipe 68 from a dry air supply unit in the same manner as the guide 72.

Therefore, the blowing pipe 68 and the guide 7
The drying air supplied to 2 is discharged from slits 70 and 74 toward the surface of photosensitive material 14. The air containing a large amount of water near the surface of the photosensitive material 14 heated by the heat roller 50 is removed by the drying air.

Below the drying chamber 45A, a fan 82 and a heater 84, which are drying air supply means, are provided to generate drying air, and to the blowing pipe 68 and the guide body 86 of the guide 72 via a duct (not shown). It is being supplied.

Each of the heat rollers 5 is provided in the drying chamber 45A.
A temperature sensor 76 is provided near the outer peripheral edge of the zero. Each of the heat rollers 5 is controlled by these temperature sensors 76.
The surface temperature of the outer peripheral portion of 0, that is, the heating temperature of the photosensitive material 14 is measured.

The photosensitive material 14 dried in the drying chamber 45A is discharged out of the automatic developing machine 10 through a discharge port 78.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. When the photosensitive material 14 is inserted into the automatic developing machine 10 from the insertion opening 16, the photosensitive material 14 is drawn in by the transport rollers 18, guided by the guide surface of the crossover rack 46, and transported into the developing tank 24. In the developing tank 24, the photosensitive material 14 is nipped by rollers 36 provided on a rack 34, is developed by the developing solution while being conveyed in a substantially U-shape in the developing solution, and is discharged downstream.

The photosensitive material 14 discharged from the developing tank 24
After being washed by the washing water of the rinsing tank 26 while being conveyed to the rollers 38 of the rinsing tank 26, it is guided to the guide surface of the crossover rack 46 and sent to the fixing tank 28. In the fixing tank 28, the photosensitive material 14 is sandwiched by rollers 36 provided on a rack 34, is conveyed in a substantially U-shape through the fixing solution, is subjected to fixing processing by the fixing solution, and is discharged to the downstream side.

The photosensitive material 14 discharged from the fixing tank 28 is washed by the washing water while being conveyed to the rollers 40 of the rinsing tank 30, reaches the washing tank 34, is conveyed by the rack 34 in the washing water, and is subjected to the washing process. You. here,
The developing solution and the fixing solution stored in the developing tank 24 and the fixing tank 28 are heated by the heaters 60 and 62 to a predetermined temperature at which the photosensitive material 14 can be processed, and this temperature is maintained.

The photosensitive material 14 which has been subjected to the water-washing process in the water-washing tank 32 is inserted into the drying chamber 45A of the drying unit 45, and is conveyed through the drying chamber 45A to be dried.

The photosensitive material 14 inserted in the drying chamber 45A
Is squeezed by the squeeze roller 48, guided by the rib 90 of the guide 72, and
Wound around 0. The photosensitive material 14 is a heat roller 50
Heat is transferred from the outer peripheral portion of the heat roller 50 heated by the heat source 56 to the inside by heat conduction and heated. A part of the drying air generated by the fan 82 and the heater 84 is guided by a guide 7 on the surface that is not in contact with the heat roller 50, that is, on the back surface.
2 and the blowing pipe 68. For this reason,
The moisture of the photosensitive material 14 evaporates from the back surface.

Next, the photosensitive material 14 is wound around the heat roller 50 on the downstream side. At this time, the back surface becomes the contact surface with the heat roller 50. For this reason, the back surface is heated, and at the same time, the drying air is blown to the emulsion surface side, and while the evaporation of the water from the emulsion surface side is advanced, it is guided by the guide 72, is nipped and conveyed by the discharge roller 52, and is discharged from the discharge port 78. It is discharged out of the automatic developing machine 10.

FIG. 4A shows the temperature distribution of the photosensitive material 14 at each point (A to F) in FIG. 2, and FIG.
The water content of the photosensitive material 14 at each point in FIG. 2 is shown.

First, at point A, before the drying treatment,
Both the Em surface (emulsion surface) and the Bc surface (back surface) have a low temperature and a high water content. Next, when reaching the point B, the temperature of the Em surface side begins to gradually increase because the heat roller 50 contacts the heat roller 50 on the Em surface side.
The water content of the c-plane gradually starts to decrease (water evaporation starts).

At the next point C, that is, when the Em surface separates from the heat roller 50 on the upstream side, the temperature of the Em surface reaches the maximum, and thereafter, the temperature gradually decreases. At this time, the degree of decrease in the water content of the Bc surface is more than the degree of E content.
The degree of decrease in the water content of the m-plane is greater. this is,
This is because the Em surface heated by the heat roller 50 is separated from the heat roller 50, and the evaporation of moisture from the high-temperature Em surface starts.

Next, at point D, the downstream heat roller 50
Is wound around the Bc surface, so that the temperature of the Bc surface gradually increases. At this time, the evaporation of the water on the Em surface on the non-contact side with the heat roller 50 starts, and the water content gradually decreases.

When the photosensitive material 14 reaches the point E, the temperature of the Bc surface reaches the maximum and the photosensitive material 14 is separated from the heat roller 50, so that the evaporation of the Bc surface until reaching the point F increases.

When the photosensitive material 14 reaches the point F, the Em surface,
It can be seen that the temperature and the water content of the Bc surface were substantially uniform, and that the evaporation was performed equally on the front and back surfaces.

As described above, the front and back surfaces can be uniformly dried by alternately winding the front and back surfaces on the pair of heat rollers 50 of the photosensitive material 14, thereby preventing the occurrence of curl due to uneven drying of the front and back surfaces. be able to.

The apparatus of the present invention maintains the image quality and dimensional stability by limiting the surface temperature of the heat roller 50 to 80 ° C., but if the surface temperature is too low, the drying time becomes longer. In the configuration of the present invention, it is assumed that the total drying time is about four times as long as the contact time between the photosensitive material 14 and the heat roller 50, and the practical transport speed of the photosensitive material 14 capable of performing stable transport is reduced. Considering this, it is considered that the contact time between the photosensitive material 14 and the heat roller 50 is preferably 1.5 to 5 seconds per heat roller 50.

Table 1 shows the relationship between the contact time and the surface temperature of the heat roller 50 adapted to the contact time.

[0059]

[Table 1]

Next, with reference to Table 1, the conventional apparatus (hot air drying) and this embodiment (heat roll wrap drying) will be compared.

[0061]

[Table 2]

As shown in Table 2, in most items such as energy efficiency, safety, and performance, heat roll drying is more suitable for drying the photosensitive material 14 than hot air drying. In addition, the size of the drying unit 45 can be reduced, and the entire apparatus can be reduced in size.

In the present embodiment, the drying time was 11 seconds in the past, but in this embodiment, the drying time is 5 to 7 seconds, and the processing time is shortened, even though the power consumption of the heater and the fan is reduced. Work efficiency can be improved.

According to the present embodiment, the outer peripheral temperature of the heat roller 50 is lowered, and the photosensitive material 14 is wound by a predetermined angle. The material 14 can be appropriately heated. Therefore, safety is high for the operator at the time of maintenance, and maintenance workability is improved.

Further, even if the photosensitive material 14 erroneously causes a paper jam near the heat roller 50, the photosensitive material 14 does not overdry in a short time, and the photosensitive material 14 is not damaged.

[0066]

As described above, the method and the apparatus for drying a photosensitive material according to the present invention provide good drying in a small space and with less power consumption in a drying process using a heat roller as compared with conventional hot air drying. It is possible to perform efficient and stable drying of the film dimensions without deteriorating the image quality at the relatively low outer peripheral temperature of the heat roller, and stop the conveyance of the photosensitive material near the heat roller. Also has an excellent effect that the temperature can be lowered to a level that does not cause overdrying.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural view showing an automatic developing machine according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a drying unit.

FIG. 3 is a characteristic diagram showing a relationship between a contact time between a photosensitive material and a heat roller and an outer peripheral temperature of the heat roller.

4A is a temperature distribution diagram on the front and back surfaces of the photosensitive material during drying, and FIG. 4B is a water content distribution diagram on the front and back surfaces of the photosensitive material during drying.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 automatic developing machine 14 photosensitive material 45 drying section (photosensitive material drying apparatus) 50 heat roller (first and second heat rollers) 56 heat source 68 blowout pipe (chamber) 70, 74 slit 82 fan (dry air supply means) 84 Heater (dry air supply means) 86 Guide body (chamber)

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-49-112622 (JP, A) JP-A-51-37649 (JP, A) JP-A-47-7071 (JP, A) 59665 (JP, A) Japanese Utility Model Showa 49-132852 (JP, U) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) G03D 15/02

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. A photosensitive material drying method of drying a photosensitive material conveyed along the conveying path, wound sensitive light materials to heat Torora the outer periphery is heated by a heat source, the outer periphery of the heat roller A method for drying a photosensitive material, comprising: heating the photosensitive material with an amount of heat given based on a temperature and a contact time with a heat roller, and evaporating moisture from a surface of the photosensitive material that is not in contact with the heat roller. 2. The method for drying a photosensitive material according to claim 1, wherein a drying air is blown to a surface side of the photosensitive material that is not in contact with the heat roller to promote evaporation of moisture. 3. A photosensitive material drying method according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the contact time with the heat roller and the photosensitive material are each 1.5 to 5 seconds. 4. The temperature of the outer periphery of the heat roller is 80 ° C.
What is claimed in claims 1 to 3, characterized in that:
A method for drying a light-sensitive material according to any of the above. 5. A photosensitive material drying device for drying a photosensitive material transported along a transport path, wherein the photosensitive material drying device is provided with a heat source inside and is wound around a part of a peripheral surface such that one surface of the photosensitive material is in contact with the peripheral surface. A first heat roller, a second heat roller provided with a heat source therein and wound around a part of the peripheral surface so that the other surface side of the photosensitive material is in contact with the first heat roller, the first heat roller and the second heat roller A chamber provided along the width direction of the photosensitive material corresponding to the other surface and one surface of the photosensitive material conveyed while being wound around rollers, and having a slit formed therein to communicate the inside with the vicinity of the conveyance path. And a drying air supply unit for supplying a drying air to the inside of the chamber.