JPH0731391B2 - Photographic film processor - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial field of application] The present invention is used for a photographic film processor, and is inserted per unit time based on the temperature / humidity outside the processor and the temperature condition of dry air. The present invention relates to a photographic film processing device that controls the amount of photographic film.

[Prior Art] In a drying device used for a photographic film processor, particularly an automatic developing machine, a drying chamber is turned on by turning on a power source of the automatic developing machine, a fan and a heater, and a duct for taking in outside air from an outside air inlet. Hot air is supplied to heat the drying chamber.

In this case, generally, regardless of the temperature and humidity of the outside air, the outside air taken in from the outside air intake is heated by the heater to lower the relative humidity and increase the temperature of the film to be dried by warm air to evaporate the moisture. As a result, warm air containing water is discharged to the outside of the machine.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, when the film is dried by using such an apparatus, the moisture attached to the film or contained in the film is changed to the temperature and humidity of the outside air as described above. Therefore, if the temperature of the outside air is low, or the humidity of the outside air is high, the temperature inside the drying chamber will not reach the specified temperature or the humidity Is too high, which makes it difficult to dry. Therefore, a heater and a fan corresponding to the maximum processing amount of the film per unit time are required, and there is a problem that the apparatus itself is large and the cost is high. On the contrary, there is a problem that curling or uneven drying occurs due to the film or the over-dried state.

In consideration of the above facts, the present invention provides a photographic film processing apparatus capable of maintaining a necessary and sufficient drying level with the minimum required energy (temperature of hot air and air volume) and obtaining a stable film dry state. That is the purpose.

[Means for Solving Problems] A photographic film processing apparatus according to the present invention includes a processing unit for sequentially liquid-processing inserted photographic films, and the above-mentioned processing by hot air obtained by heating introduced outside air. A photo film processing device comprising a drying unit for drying while sequentially conveying the photo film processed in the drying chamber in a drying chamber, wherein a warm air temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of the hot air in the drying unit, and an outside air An outside air temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of, an outside air humidity sensor for detecting the humidity of the outside air, a processing amount detecting means for detecting the amount of the photographic film processed per unit time in the processing section, the outside air temperature sensor, Computing means for computing the amount of photographic film that can be dried per unit time in the drying section based on the detection values of the outside air humidity sensor and the warm air temperature sensor; Control means for comparing the calculation result of the calculation means and the detection result of the processing amount detection means and adjusting the insertion interval of the photographic film to be inserted into the processing section according to the comparison result. There is.

Further, the control means, when it is determined that the detection result of the processing amount detection means exceeds the calculation result of the calculation means,
It is characterized in that display means is provided for prohibiting the insertion of the photographic film into the processing section.

[Operation] In the present invention, when the photographic film is inserted, the processing amount detecting means detects the amount of the photographic film. As the amount of this photographic film, for example, the processing area of the photographic film can be applied,
The processing area can be detected along with the width of the photo film by a sensor consisting of a plurality of light emitters and light receivers provided near the photo film insertion opening of the processing unit along the width direction of the photo film. It can be easily obtained by multiplying the lengthwise dimension of the photographic film obtained from the time and the conveying speed of the photographic film.

On the other hand, since the amount of photo film that can be dried changes depending on the temperature and humidity of the outside air, the drying unit calculates the amount of photo film that can be dried per unit time from the detection values of the outside air temperature sensor and the outside air humidity sensor. To do. The control means compares the calculation result of this calculation means and the detection result of the processing amount detection means with the amount (integrated amount) of the photographic film actually inserted per unit time, and determines the interval for inserting the photographic film next. adjust.

That is, usually, the photographic film can be inserted and processed at an arbitrary interval, but the relationship between the temperature and humidity of the environment and the amount of the photographic film inserted per unit time provides proper drying in the drying section. If the amount of photographic film that can be used is exceeded, the temperature in the drying section will drop or the humidity will increase, creating an environment unsuitable for drying the photographic film. In such a case, the temperature of the hot air in the drying section is raised or the humidity is lowered until the next time the photographic film reaches the drying section, or the transport speed of the photographic film is slowed to lengthen the drying time. Has been adjusted to an environment suitable for drying photographic films. In the present invention, the insertion interval is adjusted by the control means so that the next photographic film is dried after the environment suitable for drying the photographic film is reached.

This ensures that the photographic film can be dried. At this time, it is not necessary to supply more hot air than necessary (the temperature or air volume of hot air corresponding to the maximum processing of the photographic film), so that the heater capacity can be reduced and the blower can be downsized. Further, since it is not necessary to change the transport speed, the proper transport speed of the processing section can be maintained and the processing quality of the photographic film in the processing section does not change.

In the present invention, if the control means determines that the drying condition of the photographic film in the drying section has reached the lower limit and the photographic film to be inserted next has reached the state of causing poor drying, for example, a new photographic film is inserted into the processing section. Is prohibited, or the display means displays a message indicating that the insertion of the photo film is prohibited. After this, when the drying section recovers to the condition that the photographic film can be dried, the photographic film can be inserted into the processing section, or the display means indicates that the photographic film can be inserted. You just have to ask them to insert a photo film.

[Embodiment] FIG. 1 shows a schematic structure of an automatic processor 10 which is a photographic film processor.

The film 14 conveyed from the carry-in port 12 to the inside of the automatic developing machine 10 is guided by the guide roller 16 to reach the drying chamber 24 via the developing tank 18, the fixing tank 20 and the washing tank 22. A plurality of guide rollers are provided in the developing tank 18, fixing tank 20 and washing tank 22.
A rack 28 constituted by 26 is accommodated, and a film 14
The rack 28 is adapted to be immersed from the liquid surface of each tank to the bottom, inverted, and guided again to the liquid surface.

Further, guide rollers 30 are provided between the developing tank 18 and the fixing tank 20 and between the fixing tank 20 and the water washing tank 22, respectively, and the film 14 is sequentially guided to the adjacent tanks and the water washing tank. twenty two
A plurality of roller pairs 32 are also arranged between the drying chamber 24 and the drying chamber 24 to guide the film 14 to the drying chamber 24. The roller pair 32 also has a function of squeezing a part of the water attached to the film 14.

In the drying chamber 24, a plurality of transport rollers 34 are arranged which are evenly arranged in the vertical direction in FIG. is doing. A guide plate 36 is arranged in the lower part of the drying chamber 24, and the film 14 is turned to the right side wall of the developing device frame 10A in FIG. 1, and is attached to the outside of the frame 10A by the driving force of the driving roller 38. It is designed to be accommodated in the inbox 40.

A motor 42 is attached to the drive roller 38 via a belt 44, and the drive force of the motor 42 rotates the drive roller 38. Each roller arranged in the automatic developing machine 10 is connected to the drive roller 38 by a chain or a belt (not shown) so that they can be simultaneously rotated.

An intake duct 46 and an exhaust duct 48 are attached to a part of the partition wall 24A of the drying chamber 24 and communicate with the outside of the automatic developing machine 10. A heater 50 and a fan 52 are arranged inside the intake duct 46, and after the outside air introduced into the intake duct 46 by the fan 52 is heated by the heater 50, this warm air is dried in the drying chamber 24.
Is to be supplied to. From the exhaust duct 48, the wet air after drying the film 14 and the transport rollers 34 by the warm air is discharged to the outside of the automatic developing machine 10.

Here, a drying air temperature detection sensor 54 is provided in the drying chamber 24 to detect the temperature of the drying air. Further, an outside air temperature detecting sensor 56 for detecting the temperature of the outside air and an outside air humidity detecting sensor 58 for detecting the humidity of the outside air are provided on the outer surface of the automatic developing machine frame 10A. Further, a plurality of film detectors 60 arranged in the width direction of the film 14 are arranged in the vicinity of the insertion opening 12, and the film detector 14 is inserted into the automatic processor 10 as the processing amount of the film 14. It is designed to detect the area Su.

The dry air temperature detection sensor 54, the outside air temperature detection sensor 56, the outside air humidity detection sensor and the film detector 60 are input to the control device 62.

As shown in FIG. 2, the control device 62 includes a CPU 64, a RAM 66, and a RO.
A microcomputer 74 including an M68, an input port 70, and an output port 72, an A / D converter 76, an analog gate 78, and a driver 80 are provided.

The dry air temperature detection sensor 54, the outside air temperature detection sensor 56, and the outside air humidity detection sensor 58 are connected to the input side of the analog gate 78 and connected to the input side of the input port 70 of the microcomputer 74 via the A / D converter 76. Has been done. The film detector 60 is also connected to the input port 70.

The motor 42, the heater 50, the fan 52, and the display device 51 are connected to the output side of the driver 80, and are each driven by a control signal from the output port 72.

In the CPU 64 of the microcomputer 74, the area S of the film 14 that can be processed per unit time is stored in advance in the ROM 68 from the values obtained by the dry air temperature detection sensor 54, the outside air temperature detection sensor 56, and the outside air humidity detection sensor 58. It is designed to be calculated by the formula.

S = f {Td, To, H} where Td: temperature of dry air To: temperature of outside air H: humidity of outside air In addition, the insertion area of the film obtained by the film detector 60
Su is sequentially accumulated by the CPU 64, and the accumulated area St is stored in the RAM 66.

The operation of this embodiment will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

The program starts when the power of the automatic processor 10 is turned on. Here, the data stored in the RAM of the microcomputer 74 is reset when the automatic processor 10 is off. First, in step 100, the heater 50 and the fan 52 are on / off controlled to preheat the inside of the drying chamber 24 to a temperature at which it can be dried. The temperature control of the dry air is performed by controlling the temperature Td of the dry air detected by the dry air temperature detection sensor 54.
It can be easily carried out by taking it into 62 and comparing it with a predetermined set temperature. In step 102, it is determined whether or not the temperature of the drying air has reached a temperature at which it can be dried. In the case of negative determination, the process returns to step 100 and the on / off control of the heater 50 or the fan 52 is continued.

If an affirmative decision is made in step 102, the process moves to step 103 to display a film insertion OK display on the display device 51 and start the insertion of the film 14 into the automatic processor 10. When the film 14 passes through the carry-in port 12, it is guided by the guide roller 16 and sequentially sent to each of the developing tank 18, the fixing tank 20, and the washing tank 22, and each processing is performed. Since each tank is guided by the guide roller 30 attached to the rack 28, the tank is immersed in the bottom of the tank and a predetermined processing time can be secured. Wash tank 22
The film 14 that has come out of the above reaches the drying chamber 24 by the roller pair 32, but since this roller pair 32 squeezes a part of the moisture adhering to the film 14, the drying time can be shortened.

In steps 104 and 105, the data detected by the film detector 60 is taken into the microcomputer 74 at predetermined intervals after the film 14 has passed through the carry-in port 12, and the area of the film 14 is taken.
Calculate Su. The calculated area Su is temporarily stored in the RAM 66 as the integrated area (processing area) St, integrated when the next data is taken in, and stored again (St ← St + Su).

When the film area St is calculated in step 105, the process proceeds to step 106 and the data of the dry air temperature detection sensor 54, the outside air temperature detection sensor 56 and the outside air humidity detection sensor 58 are converted into analog gate 78 and A / D conversion. It is read into the microcomputer 74 via the device 76, and in step 107, the dryable area S in the dry air 24 is calculated. Next step
Proceeding to step 108, the integrated area St is compared with the dryable area S.

When the integrated area St reaches the dryable area S, that is, when St ≧ S, the process proceeds to step 110, and a display indicating that the film 14 cannot be inserted is displayed on the display device 51. The drying chamber 24 is heated during this interval to return the film 14 to a temperature and humidity at which it can be dried, and the film 14 to be processed next does not suffer from poor drying. When the insertion interval is determined in step 110, step 111 is reset and St is reset.
After waiting for the interval until the drying becomes possible at 12, the process returns to step 103.

If the integrated area St does not reach the dryable area S in step 108, that is, if St <S, the process moves to step 114, reads an arbitrary interval from the ROM 68, and moves to step 112.

As described above, in this embodiment, the insertion interval of the film 14 is changed by comparing the dry area of the actually processed film 14 with the dryable area in the drying chamber 24.
There is no film 14 that reaches the receiving box 40 as it is undried, but a drying room 24
It can be surely dried inside. Further, since it is not necessary to use the fan 52 and the heater 50 corresponding to the maximum film processing capacity, and the adjustment is carried out at the transfer interval of the film 14, it is possible to select the desired fan 52 and the heater 50. The shape of the device itself can be made small as required and the cost can be reduced.

In this embodiment, the measured value of the dry air is applied as a part of the data for obtaining the dryable area, but the preset temperature of the dry air stored in the ROM in advance may be used.

Further, the temperature at which drying is possible at step 102 is not limited to the set temperature and may be within a certain range. That is, for example, when the automatic developing machine 10 is stopped for a short time and then restarted, the set temperature may not be reached, but in this case, even if the transport of the film 14 is immediately started, the film 14 is preheated so that the film 14 is not heated. It can be dried sufficiently.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, the drying device for a photographic film processor according to the present invention has an excellent effect that a necessary and sufficient drying level can be maintained with the minimum required energy (temperature of hot air and air volume). Have.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of an automatic processor according to this embodiment, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is a control block diagram, and FIG. 3 is a control flow chart diagram. 10 …… Automatic processor, 14 …… Film, 24 …… Drying room, 50
...... Heater, 52 …… Fun, 54 …… Dry air temperature detection sensor, 56 …… Outside air temperature detection sensor, 58 …… Outside air humidity detection sensor, 60 …… Film detector, 62 …… Control device, 74 ……
Micro computer.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A processing section for sequentially liquid-treating the inserted photographic film, and a photographic film processed by the processing section by hot air obtained by heating the introduced outside air while sequentially conveying the photographic film in a drying chamber. A photographic film processing device comprising a drying section for drying, wherein a warm air temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of warm air in the drying section, an outside air temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of the outside air, and a humidity of the outside air are detected. An outside air humidity sensor, a processing amount detecting means for detecting the amount of the photographic film processed per unit time in the processing unit, and based on the detected values of the outside air temperature sensor, the outside air humidity sensor and the warm air temperature sensor. Calculating means for calculating the amount of photographic film that can be dry-processed per unit time in the drying section, the calculation result of the calculating means and the detection result of the processing amount detecting means Photographic film processing apparatus characterized by having a control means for adjusting the insertion interval of the photographic film to be inserted into the processing unit in accordance with the comparison result compared. 2. The display means for prohibiting the insertion of the photographic film into the processing section when the control means determines that the detection result of the processing amount detection means exceeds the calculation result of the calculation means. The photographic film processing apparatus according to claim (1), characterized in that it is provided.