Patent Publication Number: US-2006013581-A1

Title: Photosensitive material processing apparatus

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION  
      This application claims priority under 35 USC 119 from Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-207399, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      1. Field of the Invention  
      The present invention relates to a photosensitive material processing apparatus.  
      2. Description of the Related Art  
      After an image is recorded by exposure or the like onto a photosensitive material such as a photographic film, a photographic printing paper, or the like, the photosensitive material is processed by a photosensitive material processing apparatus. The photosensitive material processing apparatus has processing liquid processing sections, such as a developing tank, a fixing tank, a wash tank, and the like, and a drying section which dries the photosensitive material which has been processed in the processing liquid processing sections. Developing liquid, fixing liquid, and washing liquid are housed respectively in the processing tanks which are the developing tank, the fixing tank, and the wash tank.  
      While the photosensitive material, on which an image has been recorded, is conveyed through the developing tank, the fixing tank, and the wash tank in that order at the interior of the photosensitive material processing apparatus, the photosensitive material is immersed and processed in the developing liquid, the fixing liquid, and the washing liquid. The photosensitive material, for which processings have been completed in the processing liquid processing sections, is fed into the drying section, and is heated while being conveyed in the drying section such that moisture at the surfaces and within the photosensitive material is removed and the photosensitive material is dried.  
      In such a photosensitive material processing apparatus, in order for the photosensitive material, which has been processed in the processing liquid processing sections, to be efficiently dried without drying marks arising, plural pairs of squeeze rollers are provided between the processing liquid processing sections and the drying section. After the moisture adhering to the surfaces of the photosensitive material processed in the processing liquid processing sections is squeezed-out therefrom, the photosensitive material is conveyed into the drying section. Hardly any water drops are adhering to the surfaces of the photosensitive material which is conveyed into the drying section in this way. Therefore, at the drying section, it suffices to mainly remove the moisture within the photosensitive material, and drying processing can be carried out efficiently and in a short period of time, and the occurrence of drying marks due to water drops adhering to the surfaces of the photosensitive material can be prevented.  
      In recent years, in the field of processing photographic photosensitive materials, the demand to increase the speed of processing even more has become stronger. In accordance with this demand, studies are being carried out on processing liquids (developing liquids, fixing liquids, and the like) which enable the photosensitive material, such as a photographic film or the like, to be processed rapidly, and on photosensitive materials which can accommodate such rapid processing. Moreover, industries are waiting for the emergence of photosensitive material processing apparatuses which, by using such photosensitive materials and processing liquids which enable rapid processing, can shorten to 30 seconds or less the dry-to-dry time (the time from the start of processing of the photosensitive material to the end of drying) which conventionally reaches about 45 seconds.  
      However, when attempts are made to shorten the processing time in a photosensitive material processing apparatus, the time for each of the processings of developing, fixing, washing, and drying must be shortened. The processing times by the processing liquids such as the developing liquid, the fixing liquid, the washing liquid, and the like, can be shortened by, for example, shortening the length of the conveying path or increasing the conveying speed in each processing section, by using processing liquids which enable rapid processing as described above.  
      On the other hand, when shortening the processing time in the drying section, it suffices to increase the drying ability of the drying section by increasing the capacities of the heaters for applying heat to the photosensitive material, or the fans for blowing-out drying air, or the like. However, to this end, a large power source capacity is needed to operate the apparatus. Thus, how to efficiently carry out drying is being studied.  
      As a method of efficiently drying a photosensitive material, it is preferable to make the amount of moisture adhering to the surfaces of the photosensitive material which is conveyed into the drying section to be small, or to be uniform. To this end, a squeezing section is provided between the wash tank and the drying section in the photosensitive material processing apparatus. The photosensitive material, for which washing processing has been completed, is conveyed while being strongly nipped by plural roller pairs, and water drops adhering to the surfaces of the photosensitive material are squeezed-out. The photosensitive material is conveyed into the drying section while the water drops on the surfaces of the trailing end of the photosensitive material passing through the roller pairs are prevented from being carried-in (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 07-036166, pages 4-5 and  FIG. 2 ).  
      By sufficiently removing the water drops in this way from the surfaces of the photosensitive material which is being fed into the drying section, the photosensitive material can be dried by efficiently using the heaters within the drying chamber.  
      However, as shown in  FIG. 3A , as a photosensitive material  102 , which is nipped by a roller pair  100 , passes through the roller pair  100 , liquid pools  104  may form at the roller pair  100 . This is the processing liquid which has been squeezed out from the photosensitive material  102  and remains on the surfaces of the roller pair  100  without being absorbed. When the photosensitive material  102  has passed through the roller pair  100  as shown in  FIG. 3B , there are cases in which the processing liquid of the liquid pools  104  becomes liquid drops  106  and adheres to the trailing end portion of the photosensitive material  102 , and is conveyed as is to the drying section.  
      Because the surface area of the processing liquid, which is adhering in the form of the liquid drops  106  in this way, is small, the dryability thereof is extremely poor. Depending on the case, even after the photosensitive material  102  passes through the drying section and drying processing is carried out, the photosensitive material  102  may be discharged with the processing liquid remaining adhered thereto. The print quality may deteriorate due to drying marks, or it may cause the problem of sticking.  
      This is particularly marked in a case in which an attempt is made to process the photosensitive material rapidly, because, due to a large amount of the photosensitive material being processed at high speed, the amount of processing liquid which is carried in by the photosensitive material is large, and the state, in which the processing liquid squeezed from the photosensitive material remains on the surfaces of the roller pair without being able to be completely absorbed, continues.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      In view of the aforementioned, an object of the present invention is to provide a photosensitive material processing apparatus having an excellent drying ability after processings such as developing, fixing, and the like.  
      A first aspect of the present invention is a photosensitive material processing apparatus having a squeezing section which, while nipping and conveying by a roller pair a photosensitive material which has been processed by a processing liquid, squeezes the photosensitive material and feeds the photosensitive material out to a drying section, wherein the squeezing section has a drying roller which contacts an emulsion surface of the photosensitive material at a conveying direction downstream side of the roller pair, and the drying roller has a hydrophilic surface and removes the processing liquid from the emulsion surface of the photosensitive material.  
      In the above-described first aspect, the processing liquid, which remains on the emulsion surface of the photosensitive material after developing processing, is removed by the drying roller which is provided within the squeezing section at a downstream region thereof. It is thereby possible to prevent drying imperfections, and the problem of the processed photosensitive material sticking, and the like.  
      A second aspect of the present invention is a photosensitive material processing apparatus having a squeezing section which, while nipping and conveying by a roller pair a photosensitive material which has been processed by a processing liquid, squeezes the photosensitive material and feeds the photosensitive material out to a drying section, wherein the squeezing section has a drying roller which contacts a base surface of the photosensitive material at a conveying direction downstream side of the roller pair, and the drying roller has a hydrophilic surface and removes the processing liquid from the base surface of the photosensitive material.  
      In the above-described second aspect, the processing liquid, which remains on the base surface of the photosensitive material after developing processing, is removed by the drying roller which is provided within the squeezing section at a downstream region thereof. It is thereby possible to prevent drying imperfections, and the problem of the processed photosensitive material sticking, and the like.  
      A third aspect of the present invention is a photosensitive material processing apparatus having a squeezing section which, while nipping and conveying by a roller pair a photosensitive material which has been processed by a processing liquid, squeezes the photosensitive material and feeds the photosensitive material out to a drying section, wherein the squeezing section has a first drying roller and a second drying roller, and at a conveying direction downstream side of the roller pair, the first drying roller contacts an emulsion surface of the photosensitive material and the second drying roller contacts a base surface of the photosensitive material, and the first drying roller and the second drying roller have hydrophilic surfaces and remove the processing liquid from the emulsion surface and the base surface, respectively, of the photosensitive material.  
      In the above-described third aspect, the processing liquid, which remains on the base surface and the emulsion surface of the photosensitive material after developing processing, is removed by the first drying roller and the second drying roller which are provided within the squeezing section at a downstream region thereof. It is thereby possible to prevent drying imperfections, and the problem of the processed photosensitive material sticking, and the like.  
      The photosensitive material processing apparatus of either of the above-described second and third aspects may have roller cleaning means for cleaning the drying roller which contacts the base surface of the photosensitive material.  
      In accordance with such a structure, by cleaning the drying roller which removes the processing liquid remaining on the base surface of the photosensitive material, dirtying of the drying roller is prevented, and dirtying of the base surface side of the photosensitive material can be prevented.  
      The photosensitive material processing apparatus of any of the above-described aspects may have a spreading roller which contacts the drying roller at a predetermined pressure. The spreading roller spreads, at the surface of the drying roller, the processing liquid which the drying roller removed from the surface of the photosensitive material.  
      In the photosensitive material processing apparatus of any of the above-described aspects, by making the spreading roller press-contact the drying roller, it is possible to prevent the surface of the drying roller from becoming saturated by the processing liquid removed from the photosensitive material, and drying imperfections of the photosensitive material can thereby be prevented. Further, by spreading the water drop of the surface of the roller, it is possible to prevent the water drop from re-adhering to the photosensitive material which comes in next.  
      The photosensitive material processing apparatus of any of the above-described aspects may have drying promoting means for guiding hot air from the drying section to the drying roller.  
      In accordance with such a structure, drying of the drying roller is promoted by the hot air from the drying section, and drying imperfections of the photosensitive material can be prevented.  
      A fourth aspect of the present invention is an apparatus for processing a sheet-shaped photosensitive material, the apparatus comprising: at least one roller pair which, while nipping therebetween and conveying a photosensitive material which has been subjected to liquid processing, squeezes processing liquid from the photosensitive material; and one roller which has a hydrophilic surface and which, at a conveying direction downstream side of the at least one roller pair, contacts one side surface of the photosensitive material in a state in which another side surface of the photosensitive material is free, thereby removing the processing liquid from the one side surface.  
      Because the present invention is structured as described above, the present invention can provide a photosensitive material processing apparatus having an excellent drying ability after developing and fixing processings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is a cross-sectional view showing a printer processor including a squeezing section relating to a first embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 2  is a side view showing the squeezing section relating to the first embodiment of the present invention; and  
       FIGS. 3A and 3B  are side views showing a conventional squeezing section. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
      A printer processor using a sheet conveying device relating to a first embodiment of the present invention is shown in  FIG. 1 .  
      As shown in  FIG. 1 , a printer processor  10  has an image input device  12 , an image processing device  13 , a printer  15 , and a processor  16 . The respective portions structuring the printer processor  10  are connected to a control section  17  via wires (not shown), and the operation of the entire printer processor  10  is controlled by the control section  17 .  
      The image input device  12  generates image data by photoelectrically reading-out, by using an image pickup element such as a CCD image sensor or the like, projected light of an image recorded on a photographic film. Or, the image input device  12  acquires image data by reading-out image data recorded on a recording medium such as a memory card or the like.  
      This image data is sent to the image processing device  13 , and image processings such as color balance correction, density correction and the like are carried out. The image data which has been subjected to image processings is sent to the printer  15  and is used at the time of image recording which will be described later.  
      The printer  15 , while conveying a sheet P which has been cut to a predetermined length, carries out image recording by exposure light which is intensity-modulated on the basis of the image data. The printer  15  has, from the upstream side in the conveying direction, a supplying section  20 , a reverse side printing section  22 , a registration section  24 , an image recording section  26 , a subscan receiving section  28 , a distributing section  30 , and a speed adjusting section  32 . A plurality of conveying roller pairs, which are structured by a driving roller and a nip roller, are provided at each region along the conveying path of the sheet P.  
      Magazines  20   a ,  20   b , which accommodate elongated photosensitive recording papers  34  which are each wound in the form of a roll, are set in the supplying section  20 . Pull-out roller pairs  21   a ,  21   b , which are for pulling the photosensitive recording papers  34  out and conveying them toward the reverse side printing section  22 , are provided at the magazines  20   a ,  20   b . In the present embodiment, the two magazines  20   a ,  20   b  are provided, but there may be one magazine or three or more magazines.  
      A cutter  36 , which is for cutting the photosensitive recording paper  34 , is provided at a position which is separated by a predetermined length from the exits of the magazines  20   a ,  20   b . The cutter  36  is driven by receiving a control signal from the control section  17 , and cuts the photosensitive recording paper  34 , which has been conveyed-out by a predetermined length in accordance with the print size, so as to form the sheet P. Examples of the print size are L (89 mm×127 mm), panorama (89 mm×254 mm), 2L (127 mm×178 mm), whole plate (165 mm×216 mm), 8×10 inch (203 mm×254 mm), 10×12 inch (254 mm×305 mm), and the like. In the present embodiment, the printer processor  10  can handle sheets P whose print widths in the direction orthogonal to the conveying direction are, for example, 89, 95, 102, 117, 120, 127, 130, 152, 165, 178, 203, 210, 216, 254, 305 (units: mm).  
      The reverse side printing section  22  has a reverse side printing head  38  which records print information, such as the date of photographing the photograph, the date of printing, the frame number, various types of ID information, and the like, on the non-recording surface of the sheet P (the surface at the side opposite the exposure surface). A known printing head such as a dot impact head, an inkjet head, a heat transfer print head, or the like can be used as the reverse side printing head  38 , provided that it is resistant to the wet-type developing processing which is carried out afterwards.  
      The image recording section  26  is structured by an exposure unit  42 , subscanning roller pairs  44 ,  46 , and a recording paper sensor  45  which detects the passage of the sheet P. The operation of the image recording section  26  is controlled by the control section  17 . The exposure unit  42  is connected to the image processing device  13 . When the recording paper sensor  45  detects that the leading end of the sheet P has passed by, the exposure unit  42  scans, in a main scanning direction (the direction orthogonal to the conveying direction) light beams LB of red, green and blue which have been intensity-modulated on the basis of the image data, so as to record an image on the sheet P. The subscanning roller pairs  44 ,  46 , are disposed at the conveying direction upstream side and downstream side so as to sandwich the exposure position of the light beams LB, and convey the sheet P at a predetermined speed in a subscanning direction (the direction parallel to the conveying direction).  
      While conveying the sheets P, which are conveyed in a single row, at a predetermined first speed, i.e., the conveying speed in the printer, the distributing section  30  distributes the sheets P into two rows in the main scanning direction.  
      The speed adjusting section  32  conveys the sheets P, which are fed-in from the distributing section  30 , at a second speed which corresponds to the processing speed of the processor  16 , and sends the sheets P to the processor  16 . A sensor portion  48  and a sensor portion  50 , which are for detecting whether the sheet P is present or not, are provided in the distributing section  30  and the speed adjusting section  32 , respectively. The sensor portions  48 ,  50  are, for example, optical sensors formed from a light-emitting diode and a photodiode, and the outputs thereof change when the sheet P passes by. In this way, the passing of the leading end or the trailing end of the sheet P can be detected.  
      The processor  16  is structured from a developing processing section  60 , a squeezing section  80 , a drying processing section  61 , an allot-back section  62 , and a sorter  63 . A developing tank  70 , a bleaching/fixing tank  71 , and a wash tank  72  formed from a first wash tank  73 , a second wash tank  74 , a third wash tank  75 , and a fourth wash tank  76 , are provided in the developing processing section  60  in that order from the conveying direction upstream side. A predetermined amount of developing liquid is housed in the developing tank  70 , a predetermined amount of bleaching/fixing liquid is housed in the bleaching/fixing tank  71 , and predetermined amounts of wash water are housed in the first wash tank  73  through the fourth wash tank  76 . The respective processings of developing, fixing, and washing are carried out due to the sheet P being conveyed through the interiors of the respective processing tanks  70  through  72 , by receiving driving forces from conveying racks provided at the developing tank  70 , the bleaching/fixing tank  71 , and the first wash tank  73  through the fourth wash tank  76 , respectively.  
      Before the sheet P, for which developing processing at the developing processing section  60  has been completed, is conveyed to the drying processing section  61 , the remaining processing liquid is squeezed-out from the sheet P and the sheet P is set in a state in which liquid drops do not remain at the surfaces thereof, in a squeezing section  80  which will be described later. In this way, the sheet P which is conveyed in the drying processing section is dried uniformly and without irregularities.  
      The sheet P which has passed through the drying processing section  61  is fed toward the allot-back section  62 . At the allot-back section  62 , the sheets P which are being conveyed in two rows are allotted-back into a single row. The sorter  63  gathers together and outputs, per print job, the plural sheets P which have been fed from the allot-back section  62 .  
      The squeezing section relating to the first embodiment of the present invention is shown in  FIG. 2 .  
      As shown in  FIG. 2 , during the period of time until the sheet P, for which processing is completed and which is conveyed from the fourth wash tank  76  in the directions of the arrows, reaches the drying processing section  61 , the squeezing section  80  squeezes-out the residual processing liquid of the emulsion surface and the base surface, and conveys the sheet P to the drying processing section  61  in a state in which there is no moisture adhering to the surfaces of the sheet P in the form of liquid drops.  
      First, the sheet P, for which processing is completed and which is conveyed from the fourth wash tank  76 , is nipped by a first stage roller pair  81 , and the moisture remaining on the surfaces thereof is squeezed-out. A roller  81   a  at the emulsion surface side at this time (the left side in the drawing) is a soft roller such as a silicon rubber roller, and a roller  81   b  at the base surface side (the right side in the drawing) is a hard roller such as a paper phenol roller which has been subjected to a hydrophilic surface treatment.  
      When the soft roller and the hard roller oppose one another and are pressed to tightly contact one another (about 300 gf in this case), the soft roller  81   a  sinks-in, the surface area of contact with the hard roller  81   b  increases, and water drops can be efficiently removed from the sheet P. Further, the water drops, which have been squeezed-out once at the transverse direction both end portions and the trailing end portion of the sheet P which passes through the roller pair  81 , can be prevented from passing between the roller pair  81  and being carried-in. In addition, because the surface of the hard roller  81   b  is hydrophilic, the water drop adhering to the surface of the sheet P can be removed uniformly. Moreover, by making the roller which is at the outer side of the conveying surface of the sheet P (i.e., at the base surface side, which is the right side in the drawing) a hard roller, the leading end of the sheet P is prevented from being thrust against the soft roller at a deep angle and being damaged, at the time when the sheet P is conveyed.  
      The sheet P which has passed through the first stage roller pair  81 , is next nipped by a second stage roller pair  82 , and the moisture remaining at the surfaces thereof is squeezed-out therefrom. In the same way as at the first stage, at the second stage roller pair  82  as well, a roller  82   a  at the emulsion surface side (the left side in the drawing) is a soft roller such as a silicon rubber roller, and a roller  82   b  at the base surface side (the right side in the drawing) is a hard roller such as a paper phenol roller which has been subjected to a hydrophilic surface treatment, and the rollers  82   a ,  82   b  are pressed to tightly contact one another at around 300 gf.  
      Because the liquid drops of the surfaces of the sheet P which has passed through the second stage roller pair  82  are made smaller, the sheet P passes through a third stage roller pair  83  which is structured by hard rollers in order to more uniformly squeeze-out the moisture at the surfaces. At the third stage roller pair  83 , a roller  83   a  at the emulsion surface side (the left side in the drawing) and a roller  83   b  at the base surface side (the right side in the drawing) are both hard rollers such as paper phenol rollers which have been subjected to a hydrophilic surface treatment, and are pressed to tightly contact one another at around 300 gf. There is no press-contacting effect due to the elasticity of a soft roller, and instead, the moisture at the surfaces of the sheet P is uniformly extended by the two hard rollers and absorbed by the hydrophilic surfaces thereof. The moisture at the both surfaces of the sheet P is thereby removed efficiently.  
      At this time, as described previously and as shown in  FIG. 3A , there are cases in which the liquid pools  104  are formed at the roller pair  100  as the photosensitive material  102  nipped by the roller pair  100  passes through the roller pair  100 . These are the processing liquid, which has been squeezed from the photosensitive material  102 , remaining on the surfaces of the roller pair  100  without being completely absorbed. When the photosensitive material  102  has passed through the roller pair  100  as shown in  FIG. 3B , there are cases in which the processing liquid of the liquid pools  104  becomes the liquid drops  106  and adheres to the trailing end portion of the photosensitive material  102 , and is conveyed as is to the drying section.  
      In order to prevent such a situation, in the present embodiment, liquid drop removing rollers (drying rollers) which remove the liquid drops remaining on the sheet P are provided at the squeezing section.  
      Namely, the liquid drop remaining at the base surface side trailing end portion of the sheet P, which has passed through the third stage roller pair  83 , is removed by a liquid drop removing roller (drying roller)  84 . The liquid drop removing roller  84  is a hard roller such as a paper phenol roller which has been subjected to a hydrophilic surface treatment. The liquid drop removing roller  84  removes the liquid drop at the trailing end of the sheet P by contacting the base surface side without nipping the sheet P. An absorbent material such as a sponge has excellent absorbability of liquid drops, but also absorbs the residue of the processing liquid contained in the liquid drop, and therefore, the residue precipitates at the time of drying and becomes a cause of dirtying. By using a hard roller and not an absorbent material as the liquid drop removing roller  84 , such dirtying can be prevented. Moreover, in a state in which the sheet P is not being conveyed, rinsing water  90  is jetted toward the liquid drop removing roller  84  from a nozzle  88  at a predetermined timing, so as to wash-off the dirt which has been transferred from the sheet P and has accumulated on the roller surface, so as to prevent the dirt from being retransferred to the sheet P.  
      In order to spread the moisture transferred to the surface of the liquid drop removing roller  84  and promote drying, and to prevent moisture from re-adhering from the liquid drop removing roller  84  to the base surface of the next sheet P which is conveyed-in, a spreading roller  85  is pressed to tightly contact the surface of the liquid drop removing roller  84  at about 150 gf. For the spreading roller  85  as well, a hard roller such as a paper phenol roller which has been subjected to a hydrophilic surface treatment is used, because cleaning efficiency would deteriorate if a soft roller such as a silicon rubber roller were used.  
      Next, a liquid drop removing roller (drying roller)  86 , which is for removing the liquid drop adhering to the emulsion surface of the sheet P, contacts the emulsion surface of the sheet P. This liquid drop removing roller  86  also is a hard roller such as a paper phenol roller which has been subjected to a hydrophilic surface treatment, and removes the liquid drop at the trailing end of the sheet P by contacting the emulsion surface side without nipping the sheet P.  
      In order to spread the moisture transferred to the surface of the liquid drop removing roller  86  and promote drying, and to prevent moisture from re-adhering from the liquid drop removing roller  86  to the emulsion surface of the next sheet P which is conveyed-in, a spreading roller  87  is pressed to tightly contact the surface of the liquid drop removing roller  86  at about 150 gf. Because cleaning of the liquid drop removing roller  86  is not carried out, the spreading roller  87  may be a soft roller such as a silicon rubber roller or the like.  
      As shown in  FIG. 2 , air guiding ports  89  may be provided at the drying processing section  61  through which the sheet P, which has passed by the liquid drop removing rollers  84 ,  86 , is conveyed, so that the hot air of the drying processing section  61  is guided to the squeezing section  80 . The squeezing ability of the squeezing section  80  can be improved due to effects such as the vicinities of the liquid drop removing rollers  84 ,  86  and the roller pair  83  being heated by the heat of the drying processing section  61  and the heat being transferred from the surfaces of the respective rollers to the sheet P, or the evaporation of the moisture at the surfaces of the respective rollers being promoted by the heat.  
      In the above-described embodiment, the liquid drop removing rollers are provided at both the emulsion surface and the base surface of the sheet P. However, depending on settings such as the processing amount and the processing conditions and the like, effects can, of course, be anticipated even if the liquid drop removing roller is provided at only one side.