Patent ID: 6102588
Filing Date: 2000-08-15
Classification: G03D

Abstract:
An apparatus for processing photographic sheet material, comprising:at least one treatment cell including a housing having a sheet material inlet and a sheet material outlet;a first rotatable path-defining roller biased into contact with a first reaction surface to form a first nip therebetween and closing said cell on the sheet material inlet side;a second rotatable path-defining roller biased into contact with a second reaction surface to form a second nip therebetween and closing said cell on the sheet material outlet side;a sheet material path through the apparatus extending between the first nip and the second nip, said sheet material path being substantially horizontal and defining a nip plane;means for sealing each of said first and second path-defining rollers and said first and second reaction surfaces to said housing; andliquid level control means to define a static liquid level above the nip plane;wherein at least one of said path-defining rollers comprises a rigid core carrying a covering of elastomeric material, the ratio (.phi./L) of the maximum diameter (.phi.) of the elastomeric material covering to the length (L) thereof being at least 0.012.