FILM ACCUMULATING DEVICE FOR DEVELOPING APPARATUS

Abstract: A film accumulating device (42) is connected to a dev­ eloping apparatus in which a film (38) is developed while being guided by a leader (48) attached to the leading end of the film (38). The leader (48) is guided obliquely upward until it abuts against guide means (228). Then, the leader (48) moves upwardly while being guided by the guide means (228). Thereafter, one of the surfaces of the leader (46) abuts against a hook (232), and the leading end thereof abuts against a stopper (230), whereby the upward movement is stopped. When the force for feeding out the leader (48) has disappeared, the leader (46) slightly lowers such as to be sus­ pended from the hook (232). Thus, the film (38) following the leader (46) is deposited in a state wherein it is suspended from the leader (46).

Description: The present invention relates to a film accumulating device for a developing apparatus which is installed in the vicinity of the film outlet of the developing apparatus in a manner such as to accumulate leaders, together with developed films, in an aligned state. Development of films, particularly color films, generally includes the steps of development, bleaching, fixing, rinsing, stabilization and drying. The number of steps required for development of color films is generally large as compared with that required for the development of monochrome films. For this reason, these days, all the steps required for development of films are automatically carried out by means of a conveyor system. A typical automatic developing apparatus adopting a conveyor system has conventionally been arranged such that a film pulled out of a film cassette by a film feed device is passed by a conveyor belt through treating tanks containing the respective treating solutions, such as a developing solution, a bleaching solution, a fixing solution, rinsing water and a stabilizing solution, and is then passed through a dryer before being deposited in a predetermined box. Further, the film feed device is arranged such that, when the film has been totally pulled out of the film cassette, a cutter is actuated such as to cut the trailing end of the film from the spool of the film cassette. On the other hand, a conventional film accumulating device has such a structure that a multiplicity of films which have been subjected to the development process are successively dropped into a predetermined box. Owing to this structure, the image carrying surfaces of the films may be disadvantageously flawed, or each of the accumulated films may be electrostatically charged, and this may undesirably cause adhesion of dust on the films. Further, since the films in the box are not in an aligned state, it is inconveniently necessary for an operator to take them out and arrange in order. In addition, in order to observe the finished state of each of the films in the box, it is necessary to take them out one by one. In view of the above-described facts, it is the object of the present invention to provide a film accumulating device for a developing apparatus which allows developed films having been subjected to the development process to be automatically suspended from a predetermined hook successively in an aligned state. To this end, according to the invention, there is provided a film accumulating device for a developing apparatus as claimed in Claim 1. According to this device a guide is provided in the vicinity of the film outlet of the developing apparatus such as to upwardly guide a leader attached to the leading end of a film, and the leader moving upwardly is stopped at a predetermined position by means of a stopper, and further, one of the bores formed in the leader is allowed to engage a hook provided in the vicinity of the stopper by the weight and restoring force of the leader itself. According to this film accumulating device it is possible to automaticlly suspend the films, together with the leaders, from the hook successively in an aligned state. Further, one of the sides of the film accumulating device is open and, therefore, it is advantageously possible for the operator to easily take out the films. Furthermore, it is also advantageously possible to immediately observe the finished state of each of the films in the suspended state without the need to take them out one by one. In addition, the provision of the static charge eliminator allows any static charge to be eliminated from the films which are fed out successively, whereby it is also possible to prevent the adhesion of dust on the films. The present invention will become more apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiment thereof, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals denote like elements, and in which: Fig. 1 is a sectional side elevational view of one embodiment of the developing apparatus equipped with a film conveying mechanism in accordance with the present invention; Fig. 2 is a plan view showing how a film is attached to a leader employed in the embodiment; Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of a film accumulating device employed in the embodiment; Figs. 4 to 9 in combination show the operation of the film accumulating device shown in Fig. 3; and Fig. 10 is a front elevational view of the film accumulating device shown in Fig. 9. Fig. 1 is a sectional side elevational view of a developing apparatus 12 according to the present invention is applied. The developing apparatus 12 has its outside constituted by a frame 14 in such a manner that all the external light is shut off. The lower part of the frame 14 is supported on a floor 18 by a plurality of support legs 16. The frame 14 is provided therein with a plurality of vertically extending treating tanks 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30 and 32 in series. The adjacent treating tanks are partitioned from each other by vertical walls 33. The treating tank 20 is filled with a developing solution; the treating tank 22 with a bleaching solution; the treating tank 24 with a fixing solution; the treating tanks 26, 28 with rinsing water; and the treating tank 30 with a stabilizing solution. The treating tank 32, which serves as a drying chamber, has a heater 34 and a fan 35 which are disposed in the lower part thereof so that warm air is supplied to the upper part of the tank 32. A film feed device 36 is disposed on one of the sides of the treating tank 20 which is closer to the inlet side (the left-hand side as viewed in Fig. 1) of the developing apparatus 12. The film feed device 36 is arranged such that films 38 which are to be developed are pulled out from associated film cassettes 40 and are fed to the treating tank 20. On the other hand, a film accumulating device 42 is disposed on one of the sides of the treating tank 32, namely, the side of the developing apparatus 12 which is opposite to the side thereof on which the film feed device 36 is disposed. The film accumulating device 42 is arranged such as to accumulate the films 38 which have passed through the developing process. The films 38 are, as shown in Fig. 2, respectively housed in the film cassettes 40, being wound on respective spools 44. According to this embodiment, the leading ends of two films 38 unwound from the associated spools 44 are secured to a single leader 46 by strips of adhesive tape 47 or other similar bonding means. The leader 46 is constituted by a flexible synthetic resin sheet which is slightly higher in rigidity than the films 38. The leader 46 has square bores 48 serving as engagement bores which are longitudinally formed in a row in the center thereof at proper spacings. In operation, with the leading ends of two films 38 connected to the leader 46, the film cassettes 40 are mounted and fixed in the film feed device 36; the leader 46 and therefore the films 38 are then conveyed by means of conveyor rollers 66,67 through the film feed device 36, where also cutters and a cutter actuating device (not shown) are provided, so that when the films 38 have been completely pulled out of the film cassettes 40, the cutters are actuated such as to cut the trailing ends of the films 38 from the film cassettes 40. The films 38 after being cut off are fed to the corresponding developing line, together with the leader 46. In each treating tank, a film conveyor unit 100 is mounted. The film conveyor unit 100 is arranged such that the film 38 first moves downwardly such as to be dipped in the treating solution contained in the corresponding tank and then turns upwardly at the bottom part of the tank such as to be conveyed out of the tank. Each conveyor unit 100 comprises motor driven Sprocket wheels 116,118, which act as belt engaging wheels for a looped timing belt 124; the latter one is provided with engagement projections 130 (fig. 2), which engage with the sqaure bores 48 in the leader 46, whereby the leader 46 is driven along the timing belt 124 and therefore the films 38 through the tanks 20-32; the conveyer units 100 further comprise quide elements for the timing belt 124, elements to prevent unwanted disengagement between the timing belt 124 and the leader 46, elements to prevent film meandering while the latter one is being transported along the timing belt 124; the conveyer units 100 further comprise lower U-shaped leader turing guide means, defined between a circular guide portion of a bracket 176 and a roller 174 as can be seen in the lower left portion of figure 1. As further shown in Fig. 1, a support bracket 184 is secured to the respective upper ends of the adjacent units of a plurality of film conveyor units 100. The support bracket 184 is formed by bending a sheet material into a U-shape. A support shaft 186 is stretched between both leg portions of the bracket 184 and is secured thereto. On this support shaft 186 are rotatably supported rollers 190 for turning the leader 46 which have the same configuration as that of the rollers 174 which are mounted at the respective lower portions of the film conveyor units 100. Further, the support bracket 184 has a circular guide portion similar to that of each of the brackets 176 mounted in the respective lower portions of the film conveyor units 100. Accordingly, when the support bracket 184 is installed in such a manner as shown in Fig. 1, the rollers 190 are disposed between the respective upper portions of the adjacent film conveyor units 100. Thus, in the support bracket 184, the leader 46 is disengaged from the timing belt 124 and turned along the rollers 190 and is then transferred to the subsequent film conveyor unit 100 in a manner similar to that of the turning guide means mounted in the lower portion of each film conveyor unit 100. In this case, therefore, the turning guide means formed in the support bracket 184 has the leader inlet and outlet which are respectively disposed on the extensions of the straight portions of the timing belts 124 respectively provided in the adjacent treating tanks. Between the upper end of the treating tank 20 and the film feed device 36, a support bracket 196 is disposed which is arranged such as to guide the leader 46 and the films 38, which are being fed horizontally, to the film conveyor unit 100 disposed in the treating tank 20 and to allow the leader 46 to engage the timing belt 124. The structure of this support bracket 196 is similar to that of the support bracket 184. Therefore, in the support bracket 196 also, rollers 198 for turning the leader 46 are rotatably supported. A support bracket 200 similar to the above-described support bracket 184 is mounted between the teating tanks 30 and 32. The support bracket 200 is arranged such as to move the leader 46 and the films 38 from the treating tank 30 to the treating tank 32 by turning the leader 46 and the films 38. In the support bracket 200, a pair of rollers 202 for turning the leader 46 are rotatably supported in such a manner that they are a proper distance apart from each other as viewed from the side of the support bracket 200, as shown in Fig. 1. In addition, the film conveyor units 100 respectively disposed in the treating tanks 26, 28, 30 and 32 are designed such as to be smaller in the longitudinal or vertical dimension than the film conveyor units 100 in the other treating tanks. In the treating tank 32, a separator 206 having an inverted triangular shape is provided directly below the film conveyor unit 100 disposed therein. The arangement is such that the warm air from the heater 34 sent by the fan 35 is branched off by the separator 20 such as to be blown into the areas between the vertical wall 33, the film conveyor unit 100 and the frame 14, thereby effecting a drying treatment of the Films 38. The film accumulating device 42 is disposed adjacently to the treating tank 32. As shown in Fig. 3 in an enlarged manner, the film accumulating device 42 is provided with a guide roller 214 and a guide plate 216. The film accumulating device 42 is arranged such that the films 38, having been subjected to the developing process, are fed, together with the leader 46, into the area between the guide roller 214 and the guide plate 216. The leader 46 and the films 38 guided by the guide plate 216 are fed into the area between a driving roller 218 and a guide roller 220, and the leader 46 fed out is further pulled out by the driving force of these rollers. A guide 226 is provided above the driving roller 218. The guide 226 extends obliquely upward. Accordingly, the leader 46 fed out from the area between the rollers 218, 220 is conveyed obliquely upward along the lower surface of the guide 226. Adjacently to the rollers 218, 220, an accumulating plate 228 is connected to the frame 14 through a bracket 227. The accumulating plate 228 is disposed such that the longitudinal axis thereof extends vertically. The upper end of the plate 228 is bent such as to form a stopper 230, while the lower end of the plate 228 is open. Further, the accumulating plate 228 is provided at an intermediate portion thereof with a hook 232 which projects obliquely upward such that a multiplicity of leaders 46 can be suspended from the hook 232. Below the accumulating plate 228, a box 234 is placed for receiving the respective lower ends of the films 38. The developing apparatus 12 in accordance with this embodiment arranged as described above operates as follows. First of all, the respective leading ends of two films 38 are pulled out of the associated film cassettes 40 and are secured to the trailing end of the leader 46, as shown in Fig. 2. Then, the cover 56 shown in Fig. 1 is opened, and the film cassettes 40 are set on the holders therein. Further, the leader 46 is mounted on the conveyor roller 67. When the operator closes the cover 56 in this state, the leader 46 is held between the conveyor rollers 66, 67, and a portion of each cutter fits into the corresponding guide groove not shown. Then, the operator presses a predermined start button. Thereupon, the conveyor rollers 66, 67 are rotated, whereby the leader 46, together with the films 38, is conveyed in a direction to the tanks 20-32. When the films 38 have been completely unwound off the respective spools of the film cassettes 40, the cutter actuating device is actuated and the cutters cut off the respective trailing ends of the films 38 from the film cassettes 40. The leader 46 is then fed out from the area between the conveyor rollers 66, 67 and is downwardly turned by the support bracket 196 and the rollers 198 and is then engaged by the timing belt 124 in the treating tank 20. More specifically, the engagement projections 130 of the timing belt 124 respectively enter the square bores 48 in the leader 46, whereby the leader 46 is retained between the timing belt 124 and a guide bar and is downwardly dipped into the treating solution contained in the treating tank 20. In the vicinity of the lower end of this treating tank 20, the leader 46 is disengaged from the engagement projections 130 of the timing belt 124 as the timing belt 124 is turned. The leader 46 is then turned through the turning guide means formed by the rollers 174 and the bracket 176 and is moved upwardly. The leader 46 thus turned is re-engaged with the engagement projection 130 of the portion of the timing belt 124 moving upwardly and is moved toward the upper end of the treating tank 20. The leader 46, which has been subjected to the developing treatment in the treating tank 20 and moved to the upper end thereof, is disengaged from the timing belt 124 again since the timing belt 124 is turned by the sprocket wheel 116. The leader 46 is then inserted into the turning guide means formed by the support bracket 184 and the rollers 190, whereby the leader 46 is turned such as to move downwardly and is transferred to the film conveyor unit 100 in the treating tank 22. Thereafter, by being led by the movement of the leader 46, the films 38 are successively subjected to bleaching, fixing, rinsing and stabilization through such operations as dipping, turning, takeout and transfer, which are effected in each of the treating tanks 22, 24, 26, 28, 30. The films 38 are then transferred to the treating tank 32, in which they are subjected to a drying treatment. The dried films 38 are delivered to the film accumulating device 210. When the leader 46 attached to the respective leading ends of the films 38 has been fed out from the roller 214, the leader 46 is held by the driving roller 218 and the guide roller 220 as shown in Fig. 3. The leading end of the leader 46 advances along the lower surface of the guide 226 as shown in Fig. 4 and abuts against the inner surface of the accumulating plate 228 and is then turned upwardly. In the meantime, the trailing end of the leader 46 is still held between the driving roller 218 and the guide roller 220, and moreover, the leader 46 has flexibility. The leader 46 is, therefore, pushed up while abutting against the accumulating plate 228. When the leading end of the leader 46 has reached the hook 232, as shown in Fig. 5, the leader 46 further advances upwardly while abutting against the distal end of the hook 232. The upward movement of the leader 46 is stopped when the leading end of the leader 46 abuts against the stopper 230. At this time, the trailing end of the leader 46 has already come out of the area between the driving roller 218 and the guide roller 220 and, therefore, the force for pushing up the leader 46 has almost disappeared. Accordingly, as the films 38 are further fed out from the area between the driving roller 218 and the guide roller 220, as shown in Fig. 6, the leader 46 moves in the direction of the arrow B by its own weight and restoring force. In consequence, one of the square bores 48 in the leader 46 engages the hook 232, and the leader 46 lowers until one side surface thereof comes in close contact with the inner surface of the accumulating plate 228. On the other hand, the films 38 fed out from the area between the rollers 218, 220 are accumulated below the guide 226 while taking an inverted S shape as shown in Fig. 7. As the films 38 are further fed out, as shown in Fig. 8, the films 38 are momentarily turned downwardly by virtue of their flexibility and their own weight. When the respective trailing ends of the films 38 are fed out from the area between the rollers 218, 220, as shown in Figs. 9 and 10, the leader 46 and the films 38 are suspended from the hook 232, and the respective trailing ends of the films 38 are deposited in the box 234. It is to be noted that, if the leader 46 in the state shown in Fig. 14 is positioned such that a leading end portion thereof including two or more square bores 48 is located above the hook 232, then even if the first square bore 48 should fail to engage the hook 232, the subsequent square bore 48 will reliably engage the hook 232. Further, in the case where developed films which have been subjected to the drying step are charged with frictional electricity, as shown in Fig. 3, a static charge eliminator 236 is provided below the outlet, whereby any static charge can be eliminated from the developed films which are fed out successively. A subsequent leader is retained by the hook 232 in the order corresponding exactly to that described above. In this manner, a multiplicity of films are accumulated by the film accumulating device 42 in an aligned state. When a predetermined number of leaders, together with films, have been collected on the hook 232, the operator removes them simultaneously.

Claims: A film accumulating device (42) which is disposed at the rear of a film developing apparatus (12) such as to accumulate developed films, comprising: (a) driving means (218) which pulls out from a developing line a leader (46) attached to the leading end of a film (38); (b) guide means (228) which upwardly guide said leader (46) being fed out by said driving means (218); (c) a stopper (230) which stops a portion of said leader (46) near its leading end at a predetermined position, said leader (46) being upwardly guided by said guide means (228); and (d) a hook (232) disposed in the vicinity of said stopper (230) such as to suspend said leader (46) by engaging a bore (48) formed in said leader (46), whereby the developed film (38) is deposited while being suspended from said hook (232) through said leader (46) which is in engagement with said hook (232). A film accumulating device according to Claim 1, wherein said guide means (228) is a plate member which is disposed such as to cross the moving direction of said leader (46) fed out by said driving means (218). A film accumulating device according to Claim 2, wherein said guide means (228) is a plate member which is disposed substantially vertically. A film accumulating device according to any one of Claims 1 to 3, further comprising a guide member (226) disposed between said driving means (218) and said guide means (228) such as to extend toward said guide means (228) along the advancing direction of said leader (46) fed out by said driving means(218) and above said leader (46) so as to upwardly guide the leading end of said leader (46) along said guide means (226). A film accumulating device according to any one of Claims 1 to 4, wherein said stopper (230) is provided on the upper end of said guide means (228) at a position where said stopper (230) abuts against the leading end of said leader (46) moving upwardly. A film accumulating device according to any one of Claims 1 to 5, wherein said hook (232) is obliquely projected from a portion of said guide means (228) towards said stopper (230). A film accumulating device according to any one of Claims 1 to 6, wherein the spacing between said stopper (230) and said hook (232) is set such that said hook (232) in a state wherein the upward movement of said leader (46) is stopped by said stopper (230) corresponds to the second bore (48), counted from the leading end of said said leader (46), or any one thereafter of a plurality of bores (48) formed in said leader (46) in the longitudinal direction thereof, whereby, when said leader (46) which has been stopped from moving upwardly lowers, said leader (46) reliably engages with said hook (232). A film accumulating device according to any one of Claims 1 to 7, wherein said stopper (230) is disposed such that, when said leader (46) is stopped by said stopper (230) from moving upwardly, the trailing end of said leader (46) is in the vicinity of said driving means (218), whereby, when said driving means (218) has completely fed out the trailing end of said leader (46), the upwardly pushing force applied to said leader (46) is decreased to allow said leader (46) to lower in such a manner as to be suspended from said hook (232). A film accumulating device according to Claim 8, further comprising a guide member (226) disposed between said driving means (218) and said guide means (228) above said leader (46) fed out by said driving means (218) such as to abut against said film (38) upwardly fed out by said driving means (218) subsequently to said leader (46) so that a portion of said film (38) is bent between said guide member (226) and said leader (46) and so that, when the length of the bent portion reaches a predetermined value, said guide member (226) allows said bent portion to be inverted by the moving force of said film (38) being further fed out and downwardly guides said film (38) being fed out by said driving means (218). A film accumulating device according to any one of Claims 1 to 9, wherein said guide means (228) is a plate member which is disposed substantially vertically, and the upper end of this plate member is bent such as to form said stopper (230). A film accumulting device according to Claim 10, wherein said guide means (228) and said stopper (230) are supported by said developing apparatus (12) through one of the sides of said device (42) in the widthwise direction of the film (38) to be suspended, and the other side is open for the purpose of taking out the suspended leaders (46) and films (38). A film accumulating device according to any one of Claims 1 to 11, wherein said hook (232) is disposed such as to abut against said leader (46) which is being guided by said guide means (228) toward said stopper (23) from said guide means (228) side. A film accumulating device according to any one of Claims 1 to 12, wherein said driving means (218) decreases or cancels the force for feeding out said leader (46) after the leading end of said leader (46) has abutted against said stopper (230), whereby said leader (46) lowers in a direction in which it comes away from said stopper (230), and one of said bores (48) formed in said leader (46) engages with said hook (232), thus allowing said film (38) successively fed out from said developing apparatus (12) to be deposited while being suspended from said hook (232) through said leader (46) which is in engagement with said hook (232). A film accumulating device according to any one of Claims 1 to 13, wherein said driving means comprise a pair of rollers (218,220) which feed out said leader (46) from said developing apparatus (12) in an obliquely upward direction. A film accumulating device according to Claim 14, wherein a hook (232) is disposed at an upper portion of said guide plate (228) which is below said stopper (230) and within the locus of the upward movement of said leader (46), said hook (232) upwardly projecting toward the bores (48) in said leader (46) moving upwardly, whereby, when said leader (46) lowers after the raising force applied by said rollers (218,220) has decreased or disappeared, said leader (46) is retained by said hook (232) through one of said bores (48), thus allowing said film (38) successively being fed out to be suspended from said hook (232) through said leader (46).

Inventors: HANAI, YOSHIMITSU FUJI PHOTO FILM CO., LTD., OHTOMO, RYUZI KABUSHIKI KAISHA, TAKASE, HARUO FUJI PHOTO FILM CO., LTD.
Applicants: FUJI PHOTO FILM CO., LTD.
Application year: 1985
Main classification: G03D13
IPC codes: G03D13, G03D3