JP2747909B2 - Dry air control device and automatic developing machine using the same - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a drying air control device for controlling a drying air for drying a developed film after image exposure, and further relates to an automatic drying air control device using the drying air control device. It relates to a developing machine.

More specifically, the present invention relates to a drying air control device used for developing a color original plate film composed of three or four plates used for color printing, and an automatic developing machine using the same.

[Prior Art] Current silver halide photographic light-sensitive materials for color masters (hereinafter referred to as films) have a property of "chuck" when the humidity is low and "stretch" when it is high.

Apart from this, it has the property that the film dimensions before and after processing change. This is a phenomenon in which the dimensions of the film and the image on the film at the time of film exposure (equal to the original dimensions) are different from the dimensions of the image on the film and the film after development. Affected by temperature and humidity conditions.

In the latter case, the size of the original and the size of the copy film are different from each other, and there are the following problems.

In particular, a film master for color printing is composed of three masters of cyan, magenta, and yellow or four masters including a sumi-plate, and therefore, a set of masters is required to have dimensional stability. Currently available films for making color printing masters have the above-mentioned characteristics with respect to temperature and humidity, and therefore, fluctuations in temperature and humidity during exposure and drying conditions (temperature and humidity) during development processing. In many cases, the dimensional change before and after the process caused by the problem becomes a problem.

For example, when a film exposed and developed as a cyan plate is used as a document and the pattern of the magenta plate is aligned and exposed and developed, there occurs a problem that a deviation occurs between the formed magenta plate and the original cyan plate.

In a conventional automatic processor, the drying air recycling rate (the ratio of the amount of external air taken in as drying air circulating in the drying section) is changed in accordance with the external environmental humidity. It is known to control the drying air by a method such as applying a temperature gradient, dehumidifying the air used for drying, and the like, but such control is intended to increase the efficiency of drying, save energy, and prevent the occurrence of uneven drying. No consideration was given to dimensional stability.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] The above-described conventional dry air control is not implemented as a measure for improving dimensional stability, but has the following problem. A. In the method of changing the drying air recycling rate in accordance with the external environment humidity, it is difficult to make the humidity inside the drying unit uniform regardless of the external environment humidity, and the dimensional stability before and after the treatment is controlled. Can not do it.

B. The method of providing a temperature gradient is effective for improving drying efficiency, but has large fluctuations in temperature and humidity, and results in poor dimensional stability.

C. Further, in the conventional method, when continuous processing is performed due to a change in dry humidity conditions due to evaporation of water from the film, there is a problem that dimensional stability changes between the first film and the last film.

[Objects of the Invention] The present invention has been made in view of the above, and sets optimal drying conditions from the relationship between an external environmental condition and a dimensional variation characteristic of a film to be processed. It is a main object of the present invention to provide a drying air control device for stabilizing dimensional fluctuations and an automatic developing machine using the same.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The object of the present invention is to: 1. In a drying air control device for drying a developed film after image exposure, an environmental condition of outside air is detected, and based on the detection information, Controlling the humidity or both the temperature and the humidity of the drying air in accordance with the film size variation characteristics defined in the above, has a control unit to dry the film, and the environmental condition of the outside air, when the exposure of the film Drying air control device, characterized in that it is detection information that detects at least one of the temperature and the humidity of the film. [Film Dimension Fluctuation Characteristics] The film has the characteristics of "chumu" when the humidity is low and "expands" when it is high. This is a phenomenon in which the dimensions of the film and the image on the film at the time of film exposure are different from the dimensions of the image on the film and the film after the development processing.

2. When the humidity at the time of exposure of the film is low, the drying air control device according to the above 1, which has a control unit for controlling the relative humidity of the drying air to be high. The drying air control device according to the above 1, wherein the control unit controls the relative humidity of the drying air to be low when the humidity is high; 4. a developing processing unit that develops an image-exposed film;
In an automatic developing machine having a drying unit for drying the developed film, the environmental condition of the outside air is detected, and based on the detection information, corresponding to the film dimensional variation characteristics defined below, the humidity or temperature of the drying air. And a control unit for controlling both the humidity and the humidity, and having a control unit for drying the film, and the drying unit is separated into two blocks, and a block on the outlet side of the drying unit is provided with a dry air flow by the control unit. An automatic developing machine characterized in that humidity or both temperature and humidity are controlled. [Film dimensional variation characteristic] When the humidity is low, the film has "chuck", and when the film is high, it has a "stretching" characteristic. Also, this is a phenomenon in which the dimensions of the film and the image on the film at the time of film exposure are different from the dimensions of the image on the film and the film after the development processing.

5. The automatic developing machine according to 4, wherein the environmental condition of the outside air is detection information that detects at least one of temperature and humidity at the time of exposure of the film. 6. Humidity at the time of exposure of the film. 6. The automatic developing machine according to 5, wherein the control unit controls the relative humidity of the drying air to be high when the humidity is low. 7. When the humidity at the time of exposure of the film is high, the relative humidity of the drying air is high. The automatic developing machine according to the above item 5, further comprising a control unit for controlling the humidity to be low.

[Advantage of the Invention] The present invention determines the optimal drying condition of the drying air from the relationship between the detection information for detecting the environmental condition of the outside air and the film dimensional fluctuation characteristics, so that the dimensional fluctuation of the film can be suppressed. . Also, at least one of the temperature and the humidity of the outside air may be detected as an environmental state of the outside air (including a case where one or both of them are input by a user), and the optimal drying condition of the drying air may be controlled.

Further, in the present invention, even when low-temperature and high-humidity drying is required to suppress dimensional fluctuation of the film, the temperature or humidity of the drying unit of the automatic developing machine is independent of the temperature or humidity conditions of the drying air control device. Because of this, the dimensional variation of the film can be suppressed without significantly lowering the drying ability of the film of the automatic processor.
As a result, the pass length and the drying time of the drying section of the automatic developing machine can be reduced as compared with the conventional method without causing drying defects.

In addition, changing at least one of the temperature and the humidity of the drying air control device does not cause a decrease in the drying ability of the automatic developing machine. Therefore, the control range of at least one of the temperature and the humidity of the drying air control device should be widened. And the dimensional control range of the film can be further expanded.

Furthermore, since the drying air control device has a small air volume, it can be used even if the capabilities of the temperature control device (heater) and the humidity control device (humidifier and dehumidifier) are low, so that the size of the device can be reduced and the cost can be reduced. Connect.

[Specific Configuration of the Invention] Hereinafter, details of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing one example of a drying control device of the present invention, showing an example of a case where the drying control device is connected to an automatic developing machine. The film F to be processed is set in an insertion section 3 provided on a side surface of the apparatus frame 2 in a state of being stored in, for example, a magazine 1.

When the start button is turned ON after the magazine 1 is set, the presence of the film to be processed is confirmed by the film detecting means, and the film end is engaged with the take-in roller 4 by the rotation of the film draw-out roller, and thereafter, the film is sequentially conveyed. In accordance with the rotation of the group of rollers 5, the developer is guided to the developing tank 6, the fixing tank 7, and the washing tank 8 for processing.

The washed film is guided to a squeeze unit 9 where necessary to be drained, and then guided to a drying unit 10 to be dried. The film is discharged out of the automatic developing machine through a film discharge port as indicated by an arrow. . The above is a conventional general configuration.
In the drying section 10, reference numeral 11 denotes a drying fan, and reference numeral 12 denotes a heater.

The outlet of the drying unit 10 is connected to a drying air control device 13 according to the present invention. That is, in the drying air control device 13,
5 'transport roller group, 14 is a drying fan, 15 is a heater.

16 is a humidity sensor for drying air, 17 is also a temperature sensor, and both sensors are drying fans in the drying air control device 13.
It is preferably provided near the outlet of 14, but may be provided in another circulation path of the drying air.

Numeral 18 denotes a humidifier, which is provided at the outlet of the drying fan 14, but may be provided near another circulation path of the drying air or near an external air intake.

Reference numeral 19 denotes a dehumidifier, which dehumidifies the dry air during operation.

Reference numeral 20 denotes a control unit, which has an outside air humidity sensor 21 and an outside air temperature sensor 22.

In this embodiment, the temperature / humidity sensor for the outside air is provided in the automatic developing machine. However, the temperature / humidity sensor for the outside air may be provided in the exposure machine so that the temperature and humidity of the exposure machine and the automatic developing machine may be different. It is preferable to provide it also in the vicinity.

In this case, the temperature and humidity conditions of the drying air are determined based on information from a temperature and humidity sensor near the exposure device. The outside air temperature / humidity sensor attached to the automatic processor is used to obtain information on the temperature / humidity of the air taken in as dry air in controlling the temperature / humidity of the dry air. Temperature for outside air
The humidity sensor may not be necessary.

When the drying air control device is attached to the outlet of the automatic developing machine, it is necessary to adjust the conveying speed to the automatic developing machine, but it can be used as a separate dimensional stabilizing device.
In this case, the transport speed can be set independently of the automatic developing machine.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing another embodiment of the automatic developing machine according to the present invention, in which the same reference numerals as those shown in FIG. 1 denote the same members or parts. In the present embodiment, the drying unit 10 of the automatic developing machine is separated into two blocks 10A and 10B, and the drying air in the inlet side block portion 10A of the drying unit is automatically controlled for dimensional stability of the film. It is out of the target (that is, the configuration of the conventional general drying section may be used), and the drying air in the outlet side block portion 10B of the drying section is automatically controlled similarly to the drying air control device shown in FIG. The arrangement relationship between the two blocks 10A and 10B is arbitrary, and is arranged like a roller group shown in each of the processing units 6, 7, and 8.
Needless to say, both blocks may be divided into a left half and a right half.

FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of the drying air control device of the present invention, in which an outside air temperature / humidity sensor is provided in an automatic developing machine. The same reference numerals as those shown in FIG. 1 indicate the same members or locations. In the figure, 23 indicates a drying rack, 24 indicates a drying duct, and 25 indicates an exhaust duct.

[Example] Hereinafter, dry air control of the present invention, which is performed using the above-described apparatus, will be described together with experimental data.

Example 1 The experimental data shown in Table 1 was obtained by using the following samples and processing agents and processing with the automatic developing machine of the present invention shown in FIG.

A silver nitrate solution and an aqueous solution of sodium chloride and potassium bromide were simultaneously added to a gelatin solution to prepare a silver halide emulsion. This emulsion was sulfur-sensitized by a conventional method, and then gelatin-coated on a 100 μm-thick PET base (polyethylene terephthalate film) subjected to latex subbing, at a gelatin amount of 2 g / m ^2.
Apply so that At this time, an emulsion protective layer was simultaneously coated on the outside of the emulsion layer so as to have a gelatin amount of 1 g / m ² . The sample was dried to prepare a sample.
At this time, the amount of silver applied was 3.5 g / m ² .

This sample was cut into a size of 30 cm × 60 cm, and the interval was set to about 56 using a P-627FM light room printer (manufactured by Dainippon Screen).
A document was obtained by subjecting two fine lines to image exposure in cm and developing.

After the original, unexposed sample (same size as original), printer and automatic developing machine are fully conditioned at 25 ° C under each humidity condition, the original is exposed to the unexposed sample in close contact and developed by automatic developing machine. Processed. Overlay the processed sample on the original document,
The extent to which the distance between the thin lines changed from that of the original document was measured using a graduated loupe.

The optimum drying conditions from the viewpoint of dimensional stability before and after the treatment under each open air condition should be determined independently for each film, and are not limited to the drying conditions shown in the present embodiment.

The measurement was performed at n = 6, and the average was taken. The measurement error is an average value ± 10 μm.

The processing conditions of the automatic processor and the composition of the processing agent are as follows.

Processing conditions Current 20 seconds 38 ° C Fixed 20 seconds 38 ° C Water washing 14.5 seconds Drying 23 seconds Developer composition [Composition A] Pure water (ion exchange water) 150 ml Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid disodium salt 2 g Diethylene glycol 50 g Potassium sulfite (55 % W / v aqueous solution) 100 ml Potassium carbonate 50 g Hydroquinone 15 g 1-phenyl-5-mercaptotetrazole 30 mg Potassium hydroxide Amount to make pH after use 10.9 Potassium bromide 4.5 g [Composition B] Pure water (ion-exchanged water) 3 mg Diethylene glycol 50 g Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid disodium salt 25 g Acetic acid (90% aqueous solution) 0.3 ml 1-phenyl-5-mercaptotetrazole 500 mg 2-mercapto-benzimidazole-5-sodium sulfonate 50 mg The above composition in 500 ml of water when using a developing solution A and composition B were melted in this order and finished to 1 for use.

Fixer formulation [Composition A] Ammonium thiosulfate (72.5% w / v aqueous solution) 230ml Sodium sulfite 9.5g Sodium acetate trihydrate 15.9g Boric acid 6.7g Sodium citrate dihydrate 2g Acetic acid (90% w / w aqueous solution) 8.1ml using the composition B] pure water (ion-exchanged water) 17 ml sulfuric acid (50% w / w aqueous solution) 5.8 g aluminum sulfate (aqueous solution in terms of Al ₂ O ₃ content of 8.1% w / w) 26.5g fixer Sometimes, the above composition A and composition B were dissolved in 500 ml of water in this order, and finished to 1 for use.

 The pH of the fixing solution was 4.3.

The automatic developing machine shown in FIG. 3 is used to correspond to the outside air humidity, that is, the environmental humidity. According to this method, as shown in Table 1, when the environmental humidity is low, the drying temperature is lowered (the relative humidity is raised) and drying is performed, so that the "spread" of the dimensions can be suppressed.

In addition, when the environmental humidity is high, the drying temperature is increased (the relative humidity is lowered) and drying is performed, so that "dimming" in dimensions can be suppressed.

Looking at A ₁ in Table 1, when subjected to drying by constant drying air temperature to 40 ° C., when the heated drying air is introduced as the outside air (25 ° C.), the drying air absolute humidity of outside air It is equal to the absolute humidity, and as a result, it can be seen that the sample undergoes significant dimensional changes before and after processing.

Generally, it is required that the accuracy error of a film for color printing be within about ± μm, and -25 to
A dimensional change of 65 μm is not preferred.

Therefore, the data obtained by the automatic developing machine shown in FIG.
Looking at B _1), the dimensional change of the film by even the outside-air intake as to adjust the temperature of the drying air 1-7
It can be seen that effective processing performance can be obtained.

Although the same applies to the following tables, the dimensional change data was measured in a state where the sample was cooled to the outside air temperature (25 ° C.).

Example 2 The experimental data shown in Table 2 was obtained by processing the sample and the processing agent of Example 1 using the automatic developing machine of the present invention shown in FIG. Table 2 shows the data of the dimensional change of the film before and after the drying process under various environmental conditions of the outside air (temperature and humidity at the time of exposure).

When drying with the same drying device in drying with warm air, the drying capacity is affected by the temperature and humidity of the drying air,
Generally follows the formula:

The drying air control device shown in the first embodiment performs appropriate drying under various environmental conditions (temperature and humidity at the time of exposure) of various outside air to reduce a dimensional change of the film, and furthermore, a drying state of the film after drying. Is preferably sufficient.

However, since the drying capacity is affected by the drying temperature and humidity as shown in the equation (1), the drying apparatus needs to have the ability to sufficiently dry the film even under the worst conditions (when the value of DB-WB is minimum). .

As shown in Table 2, when the humidity at the time of exposure was low, DB-
The following example shows the drying properties when a film exposed to low humidity is dried because drying conditions having a small WB value are required.

In the table of Example 1, the minimum value of DB-WB is 15, and the water absorption of the film: 13 g / w ^{2 The} heat transfer coefficient: 20 Cal / sec · ° C. · m ² Latent heat of evaporation: 580 Cal / g The drying time is (1 From the formula, it takes about 25 seconds.

In a drying apparatus having the same heat transfer coefficient as above, when the drying air control device of the present invention is attached to the outlet of the drying section, the film water absorption: 13 g / m ^{2 The} heat transfer coefficient (drying section of the automatic developing machine): 20 Cal / sec ・ ℃ ・
m ² heat transfer coefficient (dry air control device of the present invention): 20 Cal / sec
℃ ・ m ² Latent heat of evaporation: 580 Cal / g Assuming that the passage time of the drying air control unit is 5 seconds: ・ Automatic processor drying condition 40 ℃ ・ 3.5g / Kg DB-WB… 22.2 ℃ (no temperature adjustment) ・ Dry air Controller condition 40 ℃ ・ 14g / Kg DB-WB… 15 ℃ （with temperature adjustment） Drying capacity of drying air controller …… 2.5g / m ² The required drying capacity on the automatic developing machine side is 13-2.6 = 10.4 g / m
^{Since it is 2} , the drying time is about 13.6 seconds, and the drying time is 18.6 seconds, which is the sum of the two times of the drying section of the automatic developing machine and the drying air control device.

18% at 25 ° C when the ambient air condition (temperature and humidity during exposure)
The dimensional change of the film at the time of is shown.

When there are two symbols according to the display method, the symbol represents an intermediate point.

At this time, the water absorption of the film was about 12.5 to 12.8 g / m ² , and the heat transfer coefficient of the drying air control device was about 21 cal / sec · ° C. · m ² .

From the results of Example 2, it can be seen that the drying time can be shorter than that of Example 1. It is possible to increase the drying capacity (DB-WB) without changing the dimensional change of the film by increasing both the drying air temperature and the humidity in Tables 1 to 4 in Table 2.

Referring to FIG. 2 showing another embodiment of the present invention, the drying section of the automatic developing machine is divided into two blocks, and the block 10A on the inlet side of the drying section promotes the evaporation of water, and It is also possible to stabilize the dimensions of the film by adjusting the humidity in the block 10B on the outlet side. Therefore, the moisture content of the film at the time of entering 10B needs to be a moisture content that can be dried with the drying ability of 10B.

10B drying air temperature to stabilize film dimensions
At the same time as adjusting the humidity, the temperature of the drying air at 10A may be controlled so that the water content of the film at the time of entering 10B is adjusted to an appropriate amount.

The water content at the time of entering 10B is determined by the drying capacity of 10B, but is preferably 5 g / m ² or less, more preferably 3 g / m ² or less. This is also true for the embodiment shown in FIG.

The drying air control device of the present invention may be attached to the outlet of the automatic developing machine as a film size stabilizing device, or the drying section of the automatic developing machine may be divided into two parts (for example, a part that performs only temperature control, and a temperature and humidity Control part) may be divided into two. It is also possible to use a device for stabilizing the size of a separate film instead of directly attaching to the outlet of the automatic developing machine.

In the second embodiment, changing the drying air humidity in accordance with the environmental humidity, changing the drying temperature and humidity in accordance with the environmental humidity, that is, setting a reference temperature in advance, and setting the environmental humidity low In some cases, humidification allows drying at a high relative humidity, thereby increasing
If the environmental humidity is high, stop the humidification, raise the drying temperature and dry at a low relative humidity to reduce the size `` chum '', set the reference humidity in advance, When the environmental humidity is low, the drying air temperature is lowered and drying is performed at a high relative humidity. When the environmental humidity is high, the drying air temperature is raised and drying is performed at a low relative humidity. When the set drying air temperature exceeds the controllable range of the automatic processor (the temperature range that does not adversely affect the photographic performance of the film or the range that can be dried), the drying air humidity is changed to within the controllable range of the automatic processor. The only difference was that the temperature was controlled to the optimum condition at the above temperature, and it was confirmed that the drying time could be greatly reduced as in Example 2.

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, optimal drying conditions can be set from the relationship between external environmental conditions (particularly, temperature and humidity at the time of film exposure) and dimensional fluctuation characteristics of a film to be processed. Thus, it is possible to provide a drying air control device capable of stabilizing the dimensional fluctuation of the film and an automatic developing machine using the same.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an example of the drying air control device of the present invention.
It is a schematic diagram showing an example when connected to an automatic developing machine,
2 and 3 are schematic views showing another embodiment according to the present invention. In the figure, each symbol indicates the following. 10: Drying section 10A: Drying section entrance side block section 10B: Drying section exit side block section 11, 14: Drying fan 12, 15: Heater 13: Drying air control device 16: Drying air humidity sensor 17: Drying air temperature Sensor 18: Humidifier 19: Dehumidifier 20: Control unit 21: Humidity sensor for outside air 22: Temperature sensor for outside air 23: Drying rack 24: Drying duct 25: Exhaust fan F: Film

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing from the front page (72) Inventor Masakazu Ando 1 Sakuracho, Hino-shi, Tokyo Inside Konica Corporation (72) Inventor Takeo Arai 1 Sakuracho, Hino-shi, Tokyo Inside Konica Corporation (72) Inventor Toshiharu Nagashima 1 Sakuracho, Hino-shi, Tokyo Inside Konica Corporation (56) References JP-A 1-237659 (JP, A) JP-A 1-260445 (JP, A) JP-A 56-95239 (JP, A) JP-A-63-49760 (JP, A)

Claims (7)

(57) [Claims] 1. A drying air control device for drying a developed film after image exposure, detects an environmental condition of outside air, and responds to a film size variation characteristic defined below based on the detected information. Controls both the humidity or temperature and humidity of the drying air and has a control unit for drying the film, and the environmental condition of the outside air is detection information for detecting at least one of the temperature and the humidity at the time of exposure of the film. A drying air control device, characterized in that: [Film Dimension Fluctuation Characteristics] When the humidity of the film is low, the film has the characteristics of “pulling”, and when the humidity is high, the film has the characteristics of “stretching”. This is a phenomenon in which the above image dimensions are different. 2. When the humidity at the time of exposure of the film is low,
The drying air control device according to claim 1, further comprising a controller configured to control a relative humidity of the drying air to be high. 3. When the humidity at the time of exposure of the film is high,
The drying air control device according to claim 1, further comprising a controller configured to control a relative humidity of the drying air to be low. 4. An automatic developing machine having a developing section for developing an image-exposed film and a drying section for drying the developed film, detecting an environmental condition of outside air,
According to the film size variation characteristics defined below based on the detection information, controls both the humidity or temperature and humidity of the drying air, and has a control unit for drying the film, and the drying unit An automatic developing machine which is separated into two blocks, wherein the block on the outlet side of the drying section is configured such that the control section controls the humidity of the drying air or both the temperature and the humidity. [Film Dimension Fluctuation Characteristics] When the humidity of the film is low, the film has the characteristics of “pulling”, and when the humidity is high, the film has the characteristics of “stretching”. This is a phenomenon in which the above image dimensions are different. 5. The automatic developing machine according to claim 4, wherein the environmental condition of the outside air is detection information for detecting at least one of a temperature and a humidity at the time of exposure of the film. 6. When the humidity at the time of exposure of the film is low,
The automatic developing machine according to claim 5, further comprising a controller configured to control the relative humidity of the drying air to be high. 7. When the humidity at the time of exposure of the film is high,
The automatic developing machine according to claim 5, further comprising a control unit configured to control a relative humidity of the drying air to be low.