Patent ID: 6974267

Claim:
A recording material processing apparatus for processing recording materials of plural types that are different in a processing condition, comprising: plural liquid baths, arranged sequentially on a path, for processing a recording material in passing said recording material through and serially, said plural liquid baths constituting plural bath groups including a first bath group and a second bath group disposed downstream from said first bath group; a first transporting mechanism for transporting said recording material through said first bath group; a first driving unit for driving said first transporting mechanism at a variable transporting speed; a second transporting mechanism for transporting said recording material through said second bath group; a second driving unit for driving said second transporting mechanism at a variable transporting speed; and a controller for controlling said first and second driving units, and for changing said transporting speed of said first and second transporting mechanisms individually from one another according to a type of said recording material among said types; wherein said first and second bath groups are supplied with a succeeding photosensitive material next to said photosensitive material, and when said photosensitive material exits from said first or second bath group, said controller controls said first or second driving units, and sets said transporting speed according to a processing condition of said succeeding photosensitive material before entry of said succeeding photosensitive material into said first or second bath group; wherein said first bath group is supplied with said succeeding photosensitive material upon a lapse of delay time T after supplying said first bath group with said photosensitive material, and said delay time T satisfies a condition of: T=L 2 / V 1 − L 1 / V 2 where V 1 is a transporting speed of said photosensitive material, V 2 is a transporting speed of said succeeding photosensitive material, and is higher than V 1 , L 1 is a path length of transport through said first bath group, and L 2 is a path length of transport through said second bath group.