Apparatus for drying photo-sensitive material

Abstract: An apparatus for drying photo-sensitive material comprising a transfer path for the photo-sensitive material having at least one curved section, a supply means for supplying hot air to the photo-sensitive material, and a suction duct for sucking the hot air provided inside the curved section, wherein the apparatus further includes a plurality of turn rollers provided along the inside of the curved section, and a paper guide having an opening for circulating hot air, provided between the adjacent two rollers of the plurality of turn rollers in such a manner as not to contact with the photo-sensitive material. It is possible to dry all the portions of the photo-sensitive material under a uniform condition while maintaining the transfer characteristics so that no drying irregularity appears, thereby making it possible to prevent the reduction in the printing quality of the picture due to the drying irregularity.

Description: This invention relates to an apparatus for drying a photo material, and more particularly, to an apparatus for drying a photo material, obtained after a photo-sensitive material such as a silver halide photo-sensitive material has been developed and fixed with a wet method. A conventional apparatus for drying a photo material (hereinafter called as drying apparatus) includes, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, a transfer path 31 having a curved lower turn section 31a, a supply means 32 for supplying hot air provided outside the lower turn section 31a, and a suction duct 33 for sucking the hot air provided inside the lower turn section 31a. A drum-shaped lower roller 34 is rotatably arranged inside the lower turn section 31a. The lower roller 34 consists of a short column 34a on which outer circumference is bonded a foamed silicone layer 34c, and a plurality of disks 34b provided on the both sides of the column 34a with a suitable interval. The disk 34b is made of polyacetal (polyoxymethylene) and the like. Moreover, the short column 34a and disks 34b are fixed to a common rotation shaft (not shown). In this drying apparatus, the lower roller 34 is rotated by using a motor and the like to transfer a photo material 35. Moreover, the direction of the front side and rear side of the photo material 35 is determined so that the surface of the emulsion of the photo material faces to the outside of the lower turn section 31a. Furthermore, the hot air supplied from the supply means 32 is blown forwards to the outside of the photo material 35 (emulsion surface) to dry the photo material 35. The hot air blown towards the outside of the photo material 35 is sucked into the suction duct 33 through the gap between adjacent two disks 34b of the lower roller 34, thereby allowing the photo material 35 to be sucked to the lower roller 34. Especially, the center portion of the photo material 35 contacts the foamed silicone layer 34c on the outer circumferential surface of the short column 34a so that it is possible to transfer the photo material 35 without causing any failure such as slippage. However, in the above-mentioned drying apparatus, the photo material 35 passing through the lower roller 34 is apt to be dried easily at the part contacting the outer circumferential surface of the short column 34a or the disks 34b because of an easy heat transmission. On the other hand, the photo material is apt not to be dried easily at the part other than that, namely, at the part passing through the gap between the adjacent two disks 34b. Moreover, there exist two kinds of materials, i.e. the foamed silicone layer 34c and POM on the surface contacting the photo material so that the degree of drying varies with the difference of the material. Therefore, the degree of drying of the photo material after having been dried is not uniform at any position, thereby producing stripe-shaped drying irregularity. Drying irregularity reduces the quality of the picture print which would be finally obtained. The present invention is made to solve the above problems, and accordingly it is an object of the present invention to provide a drying apparatus capable of preventing the generation of drying irregularity of the photo material while maintaining easy transfer characteristics. In accordance with the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for drying photo material comprising a transfer path for the photo material, at least one curved section, a hot air supply means for supplying hot air to the photo material, a suction duct for sucking the hot air provided to the inside of the curved section, a plurality of turn rollers provided along the inside of the curved section, and a hot air guide having an opening for guiding hot air, provided between the two adjacent rollers of the plurality of turn rollers in such a manner that the photo material does not contact the hot air guide. The apparatus for drying photo material according to the present invention is characterized in that the hot air supply means is disposed only at the outside of the curved section of the transfer path and the suction means is disposed only at the inside of said curved section, and that the hot air guide is provided at the inside of the curved section to guide the hot air having passed through the photo material to the suction means through the opening (6a) of the hot air guide (6). It is desirable that the turn rollers are equipped with a tube made of foamed silicone on the surface of a rotation shaft. According to the present invention, the photo material is transferred and guided along the transfer path by means of turn rollers arranged along the transfer path when drying the photo material. Along the transfer path, the photo material is dried with hot air supplied from the supply means. The hot air having passed through the photo material is sucked into the suction duct through the opening formed in the hot air guide. The photo material being dried contacts the rollers along the entire width of the photo material but does not contact the hot air guide. Therefore, it is possible to dry all portions of the photo material under a uniform condition, thereby causing no drying irregularity on the photo material. Fig. 1 is a front view showing an embodiment of a drying apparatus of the present invention; Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing a main section of the drying apparatus in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing the hot air guide in Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a front view showing a conventional drying apparatus; and Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing a main section of the drying apparatus in Fig. 4. The drying apparatus of the present invention is explained in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The drying apparatus shown in Figs. 1 and 2 have a transfer path 1 with a curved lower turn section la, a supplying means 2 for supplying hot air provided outside the lower turn section 1a, and a suction duct 3 for sucking the hot air provided to the inside of the lower turn section 1a. In addition, the drying apparatus includes a plurality of turn rollers 4 provided, along the inside of the lower turn section 1a, and a hot air guide 6 having an opening 6a for guiding the hot air provided between two adjacent rollers of the plurality of turn rollers 4 in such a manner that the photo material 5, does not contact the hot air guide 6. Moreover, 7 indicates a roller provided outside the lower turn section 1a, and 8 and 9 respectively indicate a transfer roller and a guide plate provided along the straight section of the transfer path 1 at suitable intervals. The supplying means 2 comprises a heater 2a, a blower 2b for forcibly supplying the air heated by the heater 2a and a duct 2c for distributing the hot air via the heater 2a to supply it to the photo material 5. As turn rollers 4, there are used cylindrical ones having a relatively small diameter, for example about 35.6 mm. It is desirable to adopt rollers wherein a tube made of, for example, a foamed silicone with a thickness of about 13.8 mm is directly bonded on the surface of a rotation shaft because it offers surface conditions suitable for transferring a photo material, favorable dimensional accuracy, and less thermal contraction. The tube made of foamed silicone is manufactured by bonding the silicone tube to the shaft after the foamed silicone is formed into a tube-shape, and polishing the outer surface of the tube. Moreover, the hot air guide 6 is made of PPE (polyphenyleneether), etc., and, as shown in Fig. 3, is provided with a plurality of fins 6c for restricting the direction of the flow of hot air (see arrow P in Fig. 3) inside the main body 6b, which is a hollow body and open upward and downward, at suitable intervals. The fin 6c has a dent section 6e gauged out in an arc shape on the lower section so that it does not contact the photo material 5 passing through the transfer path 1. Moreover, both side sections 6f of the fin 6c are formed in a curved shape to fit with the outside shape of the turn roller 4. An engaging section 6d is provided on the upper section of the hot air guide 6 so as to engage with the fixed shaft (not shown) provided on the inner wall of the casing of the drying apparatus. When a wet photo material is dried by using such a configured drying apparatus after a wet processing like developing, firstly, rotating the turn rollers 4 and 8 with a motor would result in that the photo material 5 is transferred along the transfer path 1, being guided by turn roller 4, roller 7, roller 8, and guide plate 9. Moreover, the photo material 5 is dried by supplying hot air from the supplying means 2 at the same time the photo material is transferred. Moreover, the hot air is sucked into the suction duct 3 through the opening 6a provided to the hot air guide 6 inside the lower turn section 1a. Therefore, the air pressure is reduced inside the lower turn section 1a compared with outside so that it is possible to transfer the photo material 5 in a favorable state because the photo material closely contacts with the turn roller 4 side due to the difference in the inside and outside pressures of the lower turn section 1a. Moreover, the photo material 5 uniformly contacts the turn rollers 4 along all the width of the photo material 5. However, the lower portion of the hot air guide 6 does not contact the photo material since it is set back to the inside of the lower turn section 1a. Therefore, it is possible to dry all the portions of the photo material under a uniform condition. Moreover, in this embodiment, a dent section is formed on the fin of the hot air guide so that the photo material does not contact the fin. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and it is acceptable that the fin is simply shortened or the whole hot air guide is arranged separately from the transfer path. According to the present invention, it is possible to dry all portions of the photo material under a uniform condition while maintaining the transfer characteristics so that no drying irregularity appears, thereby making it possible to prevent the reduction in the printing quality of the picture due to the drying irregularity.

Claims: An apparatus for drying a photo material (5), comprising a transfer path (1) for the photo material (5), at least one curved section (1a), a hot air supply means (2) for supplying hot air (P) to the photo material (5), a suction duct (3) for sucking the hot air (P) provided to the inside of the curved section (1a), a plurality of turn rollers (4) provided along the inside of the curved section (1a), and a hot air guide (6) having an opening (6a) for guiding hot air (P), provided between two adjacent rollers (4) of the plurality of turn rollers (4) in such a manner that the photo material (5) does not contact the hot air guide (6), characterized in that the hot air supply means (2) is disposed only at the outside of the curved section (1a) of the transfer path (1) and the suction means (3) is disposed only at the inside of said curved section (1a), and that the hot air guide (6) is provided at the inside of the curved section (1a) to guide the hot air (P) having passed through the photo material to the suction means (3) through the opening (6a) of the hot air guide (6). The apparatus of claim 1, characterized in that each of the turn rollers (4) comprise a tube made of foamed silicone on the surface of a rotation shaft.

Inventors: DOMOTO TATSUYA, DOMOTO, TATSUYA
Applicants: NORITSU KOKI CO LTD, NORITSU KOKI CO., LTD.
Application year: 1995
Main classification: G03C1
IPC codes: F26B13, G03D15