JPH0582569B2 - - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a method for processing photographic paper in which exposed photographic paper is immersed in a processing liquid, and in particular, a printing paper is processed by immersing the exposed photographic paper in a processing liquid. The present invention relates to a processing method for preventing stains on photographic paper when paper is pinched and conveyed.

[Conventional technology]

Photographic paper, which is an example of a photosensitive material, is sent to a developing device after an image is exposed to light.

In this developing device, photographic paper is fed between a plurality of rollers, immersed in a processing liquid, developed, and sent to the next step.

In the above-mentioned developing device, a plurality of pairs of feed rollers are arranged in the processing liquid, and the photographic paper is sandwiched between these rollers and conveyed sequentially, and the photographic paper is developed between these rollers. The structure is such that development processing is performed by contacting with a liquid.

However, since the photographic paper held between the feed rollers tends to contain developer on both sides (both ends in the conveyance width direction, hereinafter referred to as "edges"), the edges are more likely to be absorbed than the center in the width direction. Easily swells with developer. Furthermore, when the swollen edges of the photographic paper are conveyed between rollers, they are subjected to greater pressure than the center in the width direction, causing more developer to seep into the paper, resulting in deterioration and yellowing and other stains on the edges. becomes.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned facts, and an object of the present invention is to provide a method for processing photographic paper in which the edges of photographic paper fed between a plurality of pairs of rollers are free from deterioration due to seepage of processing liquid.

[Means to solve the problem]

A method for processing photographic paper according to claim 1 of the present invention for solving the above problems comprises immersing the photographic paper in a processing liquid while conveying it by at least a pair of feed rollers provided in a processing tank. A method for processing photographic paper, wherein an end portion in the axial direction of at least one of the feed rollers is made smaller in diameter than a central portion to weaken the clamping force at the end portion in the transport width direction of the photographic paper. , the photographic paper is processed while preventing the processing liquid from seeping into the relevant portion of the photographic paper.

The method for processing photographic paper according to claim 2 of the present invention includes:
A method for processing photographic paper according to claim 1, comprising:
A plurality of pairs of the feed rollers are provided along the conveyance path of the photographic paper, and at least one of the feed rollers is provided at a position after the position where the photographic paper inserted into the processing tank starts to swell due to seepage of the processing liquid. By making the axial ends of the photographic paper smaller in diameter than the central part and weakening the clamping force at the ends of the photographic paper in the transport width direction, the photographic paper can be processed while preventing the processing liquid from seeping into the corresponding part. It is characterized by

[Effect]

In the photographic paper processing method according to claim 1 of the present invention, when the photographic paper is held between the feed rollers and conveyed through the processing tank, the edge portions (both ends in the conveyance width direction) of the photographic paper are held. weakening power. For this purpose, the axial end of at least one of the feed rollers that nip and convey the photographic paper is made smaller in diameter than the center.

When photographic paper is immersed in a processing solution such as a developer, when the clamping force is released after it is pinched by the feed rollers, the processing solution tends to seep into the edges of the paper, causing the center part in the width direction to In comparison, it is easily swollen by the processing liquid. On the other hand, by weakening the force with which the feed roller grips the edges of the photographic paper, it is possible to suppress the processing liquid from seeping into these edges, which results in a larger amount of processing liquid seeping into the edges than in other areas. This can prevent deterioration of the edges of the photographic paper.

In the photographic paper processing method according to claim 2 of the present invention, one of the plurality of pairs of feed rollers clamps the photographic paper after the processing liquid begins to soak into the photographic paper and the edges of the photographic paper begin to swell. Process by weakening the gripping force on the edges of the photographic paper.

In other words, photographic paper that is immersed in a processing solution such as a developing solution and transported begins to be soaked with the developing solution after a while after being fed into the developing solution, so it is difficult to use the feeding rollers in particular until the edges swell. There is no need to weaken the clamping force. For this reason, in order to make the initial development progress uniform, the photographic paper is fed under constant conveyance conditions along the width direction, and after the edge of the photographic paper begins to swell, the paper is fed by a feed roller to the edge of the photographic paper. By weakening the clamping force, it is possible to prevent stains and the like from occurring due to the processing liquid seeping into the edges of the photographic paper more than other parts.

If the clamping force of the feed rollers is to be weakened, the axial ends of both rollers in a pair of feed rollers that are in contact with each other may be made small in diameter, but only one roller may be made to have a small diameter in the axial direction. It's okay.

〔Example〕

1 to 5 show a rack means 12 provided in a developing device 10 to which the present invention is applied and immersed in a developer solution. This developing device 10 uses a photographic paper 14 that has been exposed to light by a printer.
is fed in while being guided by the bending guide plate 15, guided by the rack means 12 and immersed into the developing tank 16, then folded back into a U-shape and pulled out.
After drawing an inverted U-shaped trajectory, it is sent out to the next processing tank 18.

As shown in FIG. 4, the rack means 12 has a plurality of support rods 22 stretched between a pair of opposing side plates 20 and 21, and a nut 24 attached to the tip of the support rods 22 protruding from the side plates 20 and 21. By being screwed together, the pair of side plates 20 and 21 are fixed to each other at a predetermined interval. Therefore, in the middle part of the support rod 22, there are side plates 20, 2.
A flange portion 26 for contacting the holder 1 is provided.

A feed roller 28 is pivotally supported near the upper ends of the side plates 20 and 21 at the center in the width direction. Feed rollers 30 and 32 are pivotally supported adjacent to the feed roller 28, and each abuts the feed roller 28 from the opposite side of the feed roller 28. These feed rollers 30 and 32 have a smaller diameter than the feed roller 28.

Directly below the feed roller 28 is a feed roller 28A,
28B, 28C, and 28D are pivotally supported on the side plates 20 and 21, respectively, at equal intervals.
2C and 32D are pivotally supported by the side plates 20 and 21, respectively, directly below the feed roller 32.

The straight line connecting the axes of the feed rollers 28A to 28D is the conveyance direction of the photographic paper 14 (direction of arrow A).
is said to be parallel to

Guide members 34 and 36 are connected to the side plates 2 and 36 to guide the photographic paper 14 sent out from the feed rollers 28 and 30 to reach the feed rollers 28A and 28B, respectively.
It is attached to 0,21. As shown in FIG. 6, these guide members 34, 36 have leg portions 34A, 34B and 36A, 36B protruding parallel to each other from both sides to form a U-shape in plan view, and have a printed image in the center. Paper passing slits 37 are formed to guide the photographic paper on both sides in the width direction.

The guide member 34 is used for attachment to the side plate 20, and the guide member 36 is used for attachment to the side plate 21, and a female thread 35 is provided for this attachment. The guide plates 34 and 36 are arranged so that the slits 37 face each other, and the space between the guide members 34 and 36 is used as a passage for the developer, and the photographic paper 1 being conveyed is
The developer is effectively brought into contact with 4.

The outer sides of the guide members 34 and 36, that is, the leg portions 34A and 36A that are closer to the feed roller 30 than the feed roller 28, are formed into slopes 38 that increase the width of the slit 37 toward the tip. When the photographic paper is conveyed, this leading end portion is designed to reliably guide the photographic paper to the slit 37 so that it does not get caught inadvertently.

Furthermore, a plurality of substantially V-shaped notches 40 are formed at predetermined intervals from the tip of the legs 34A, 34B, allowing the developer to pass through appropriately near the widthwise end of the photographic paper 14 guided in the slit 37. I'm starting to let them do it. The cutting depth of these notches 40 is smaller than the depth of the slit 37, and therefore there is no notch of dimension L (FIG. 2) between the bottom surfaces of the slits 37. This prevents both sides of the leading end of the photographic paper 14 from getting caught in the notch 40 even when the leading end of the photographic paper 14 moves within the slit 37.

These guide members 34 and 36 are connected to the feed roller 3
0 and the feed roller 30A, but also between other pairs of rollers to guide both sides of the photographic paper 14. However, the feed roller 28
For photographic paper that is sent out from between D and feed roller 32D, guided between a plurality of roller pairs, and sent upward between feed roller 28 and feed roller 32 in the direction of arrow B in FIG. So, leg plate 3
4A and 36A are arranged toward the outside of the rack means 12. For this reason, the notch 4 is always
0 can correspond to the emulsion side of the photographic paper 14.

Feed rollers 30-30D are feed rollers 28-2
The axes of the feed rollers 32 to 32D are placed slightly lower than those of the feed rollers 8D, and conversely, the axes of the feed rollers 32 to 32D are placed slightly higher than the feed rollers 28 to 28D.

Therefore, the photographic paper 14 sent out from between the feed rollers 28 and 30 is in the photographic paper transport direction (direction of arrow A).
The guide plates 34 and 36 are biased toward the legs 34B and 36B of the guide plates 34 and 36, which are arranged in the state shown in FIG. Similarly, the photographic paper 14 fed out from between the feeding rollers also has legs 34B, 3.
It is facing towards 6B. For this reason, the photographic paper 14 that is sent out always has legs 34B and 3 on one side.
6B, and the other side reaches the feed leg 34 until reaching the next pair of rollers.
There is no contact with A or 36A. Therefore, by making the other side the emulsion surface side, it is possible to eliminate the problem of the emulsion surface coming into contact with the legs 34A, 36A between the roller pair.

Below the feed roller 28D is a folding roller 4.
4 is provided and is in contact with the feed roller 28D, and the axis of this folding roller 44 is arranged at the same distance as the axis of the feed rollers 30D and 32D.

This folding roller 44 and the feed roller 30D,
32D, a folding guide plate 45 is disposed over the entire width direction of the trajectory of the conveyed photographic paper 14, and both ends are spanned over the side plates 20 and 21, and when viewed from the axial direction of the folding roller 44. It is shaped like an arc. Therefore, these folding guide plates 4
5 transfers the photographic paper 14 sent from between the feed rollers 28D and 30D to between the feed roller 28D and the folding roller 44, and transfers the photographic paper 14 fed from the feed roller 28D and the folding roller 44 to the feed rollers 28D and 32D. Each of them is designed to guide you.

As shown in FIG. 8, small diameter portions 42 and 43 are formed at both axial ends of the feed roller 28C and the feed rollers 30C and 32C. These small diameter portions 42 and 43 correspond to both sides in the width direction of the photographic paper 14 being conveyed, and weaken the clamping force on both sides in the width direction of the photographic paper 14 being conveyed, that is, the edges of the photographic paper 14.

That is, the photographic paper 14 is transported by the feed rollers 28, 30,
After passing through the rollers 28A, 30A and the feed rollers 28B, 30B, the passage time in the developer tank 16 becomes longer, so a swollen portion absorbing the developer is formed near the ears. If this swollen part is held under a large pressure in the same way as the widthwise central part, compression and swelling will be repeated, causing liquid to seep in and staining. In order to prevent this, the small diameter portions 42 and 43 reduce the clamping pressure on this swollen portion, so that the developer can be sent out without causing the developer to seep into the edges of the photographic paper. The diameter of the small diameter portions 42 and 43 is 0.1 to 0.1 to that of the center portion in the width direction.
There is a dimensional difference of 0.5mm.

In addition, feed rollers 28-28B, 30-30B
does not have small diameter portions at both ends in the axial direction, but the feed rollers 32 to 32A have small diameter portions at both ends in the axial direction, similar to the feed roller 32C in FIG. The clamping force of the photographic paper 14 rising to the edge is weakened. In this case, since the feed rollers 28, 28A, 28B do not have a small diameter portion, the feed rollers 32, 32A, 32B
The small diameter part of the feed roller 32 is smaller than the center part in the width direction.
It is preferable to provide a dimensional difference that is about twice as large as that in case C.

One end of the feed rollers 28-28D protrudes from the side plate 20 and is connected to a gear 46, respectively, as shown in FIG.
are firmly fixed, and a chain 48 is stretched across these. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, a gear 50 is fixed to the end of the feed roller 28 protruding from the side plate 21, and a gear (not shown) driven by a drive device (not shown) meshes with the end. . This gear 50 has feed rollers 30, 32.
Gears 52 and 54 secured to the ends of the feed rollers 30 and 54 are meshed to rotate the feed rollers 30 and 32 at the same rotational speed as the feed roller 28 in opposite directions.

Further, the gears 50 and 5 are also applied to the feed rollers provided below the feed rollers 28, 30, and 32, respectively.
2 and 54 are fixedly fixed to each other, and similarly three groups of feed rollers that are in contact with each other are rotated at the same rotational speed and in opposite directions. Further, a gear 56 is fixed to the folding roller 44 at the lower end, and meshes with the gear 50 fixed to the feed rollers 30D and 32D to rotate in the opposite direction at the same rotational speed as the feed roller 28D. There is.

In this way, the photographic paper 14 is conveyed downward in the direction of arrow A within the developing tank by the interlocking action of the feed rollers 28 to 28D and the feed rollers 30 to 32D, and between the feed rollers 30D and 32D, the feed roller 28D and the turning roller 44 are conveyed. It is reversed by being held between the feed roller 2
8 to 28D and the feed rollers 32 to 32D work together to receive a driving force for transporting the paper upward in the direction of arrow B.

As shown in FIG. 4, feed rollers 30 to 30D and feed roller 32 formed on side plates 20 and 21
The shaft support holes for 32D to 32D are elongated holes 57 whose longitudinal directions face the feed rollers 28 to 28D, respectively. Therefore, these feed rollers 30-30D and feed rollers 32-32D are feed rollers 28-28D.
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, between the pair of feed rollers 30 and 32 that abut from the opposite direction of the feed rollers 28 to 28D, between the feed rollers 30A and 30A, and between the feed rollers 30B and 32B.
between the side plates 20 and 2 between the feed rollers 30D and 32D.
By winding the endless tension spring rings 58 and 59 on the outside of the feed rollers 28 to 2, respectively.
A biasing force is applied in the direction of contacting 8D.

The shaft support hole that pivotally supports the folding roller 44 is also a long hole 57A, and this folding roller 4
Parts of endless tension spring rings 58 and 59, which are wound around the feed rollers 30D and 32D, are wound around the spring 4 to generate a biasing force in the direction of contacting the feed roller 28D.

Further, a bracket 60 for feeding the photographic paper 14 to the processing tank 18 on the downstream side is attached to the upper part of the rack means 12, and a substantially semicircular bending guide plate 62 is provided to this bracket 60. A pair of feed rollers 64 and 66 are provided in the middle of the guide plate 62 to feed out the photographic paper 1.
4 is pinched and conveyed and folded back in an inverted U shape.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained.

The photographic paper 14 after the printing process is moved to the guide 15
After the conveyance direction is changed at , the feed roller 28,
Sent to 30 rooms. The feed roller 28 is the first
The feeding roller 30 is rotating clockwise in the counterclockwise direction in the figure, and the legs of the guide plates 34 and 36 are placed in the state shown in FIG. It is sent out toward sections 34B and 36B.

For this reason, the photographic paper 14 to be sent out has its anti-emulsion side facing the leg portions 34B and 36B of the guide members 34 and 36.
The emulsion is sent between the feed rollers 28A and 30A while making contact with the emulsion, thereby preventing the emulsion surface from being damaged. Furthermore, even when the leading end of the photographic paper 14 comes into contact with the legs 34A and 36A, the notch 40 is not deep enough to reach the bottom of the slit 37, so the leading end of the photographic paper 14 is pulled into the notch 40. It never hangs. Since the photographic paper 14 fed between the guide members 34 and 36 comes into sufficient contact with the developer that has passed between the guide members 34 and 36 and through the notch 40, reliable development processing is performed.

In this way, the photographic paper 14 is transferred to the feed roller 28,
After passing between the feed rollers 28A and 30A and between the feed rollers 28B and 30B for 30 minutes, the ears gradually swell with the developer. Therefore, when passing between the feed rollers 28C and 30C, the swollen ear portions correspond to the small diameter portions 42 and 43, and are not subjected to a large clamping force. As a result, there is no overdevelopment that occurs at the edge portions (both sides in the transport width direction) of the photographic paper 14, and the photographic paper 14 is appropriately developed and sent to the next pair of rollers.

The photographic paper 14 passing between each pair of rollers is sent out from between the folding rollers 44 by the feed roller 28 while being appropriately guided by similarly arranged guide members 34 and 36, and is sent out from between the folding rollers 44 and sent to the feed rollers 28A and 32.
It is reversed to D. After further rising and passing between the guide members 34 and 36 and between a plurality of pairs of rollers, it is sent out from between the feed rollers 28A and 32A and drawn upward, and reaches the next processing tank.

The photographic paper 14, which is lifted in the direction of arrow B after being folded in this manner, is also moved by the feed rollers 28D and 32.
The small diameter portions of D, 28C, and 32C as well as the small diameter portions of the feed rollers 32B, 32A, and 32 reduce the clamping pressure on the edges, thereby preventing yellowing and staining of the edges due to permeation of the developer. .

FIG. 9 shows a modification of the guide member. This guide member 136 has legs 36A, 36B and a slit 3, similar to the guide member 36 in FIG.
7, but the notch shape is different. That is, this notch 40A is elongated, and its longitudinal direction is inclined with respect to the photographic paper conveyance direction (direction of arrow B).

Therefore, there is no possibility that the photographic paper being conveyed will bend and slip out of the notch 40A, and the photographic paper 14 can be guided smoothly.

Also in this modification, the notch 40A is the slit 3.
It is similar in that it is formed shallower than 7.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, in the photographic paper processing method according to the present invention, at least one of the axial ends of the feed roller that feeds the photographic paper while nipping it is made smaller in diameter than the center part, so that the edge of the photographic paper (in the conveyance width direction It is characterized by a weaker clamping force on both sides of the photographic paper, which prevents a particularly large amount of processing liquid from seeping into the edges of the photographic paper that is immersed in the processing liquid. It has an excellent effect of preventing deterioration caused by a large amount of treatment liquid seeping into the ears.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view corresponding to the line shown in FIG. 2 showing an embodiment of a developing device to which the present invention is applied, FIG. 2 is a left side view of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a right side view of FIG. 2. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the rack means according to this embodiment, FIG. 5 is a left side view of FIG. 2, FIG. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of the guide member, and FIG. 7 is a side view of the guide member. , FIG. 8 is a plan view showing the feed roller portion in a contact state, and FIG. 9 is an enlarged perspective view showing a modification of the guide member. 10... Developing device, 12... Rack means, 14... Photographic paper, 16... Developer tank, 28, 28A, 28B, 2
8C, 28D...Feed roller, 30, 30A, 30
B, 30C, 30D...Feed roller, 32, 32
A, 32B, 32C, 32D...Feed roller, 34
... Guide member, 34A, 34B... Leg part, 36... Guide member, 36A, 36B... Leg part, 37... Slit, 40, 40A... Notch, 42... Small diameter part, 43...
Small diameter section.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A method for processing photographic paper in which the photographic paper is immersed in a processing liquid while being conveyed by at least a pair of feed rollers provided in a processing tank, the method comprising: By making the axial end of at least one of the rollers smaller in diameter than the center, the gripping force at the end of the photographic paper in the transport width direction is weakened, thereby preventing the processing liquid from seeping into the relevant portion of the photographic paper. A method for processing photographic paper, which is characterized by processing while preventing. 2. A plurality of pairs of the feed rollers are provided along the conveyance path of the photographic paper, and at least one of the feed rollers is provided at a position after the position where the photographic paper inserted into the processing tank starts to swell due to seepage of the processing liquid. By making the axial end of the roller smaller in diameter than the center, and weakening the clamping force at the end of the photographic paper in the conveying width direction, the process liquid can be prevented from seeping into the relevant part of the photographic paper. 2. The method for processing photographic paper according to claim 1, further comprising: processing.