JP2767448B2 - Dry air control automatic developing machine - Google Patents

Description

Description: FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an automatic developing machine for developing a silver halide photographic material, and more particularly to an automatic developing machine for controlling drying air. More specifically, the present invention relates to an automatic developing machine which performs optimal drying air control for developing a color original film composed of three or four plates used for color printing.

[Prior art] Current color plate silver halide photographic materials (hereinafter referred to as
Film) has the property of "chum" when the humidity is low and "stretches" when the humidity 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, since a film master for color printing is composed of three masters of cyan, magenta, and yellow or four masters including a sumi plate, dimensional stability is required as a set of masters. Currently commercially available films for making color printing masters have the above-mentioned characteristics with respect to temperature and humidity. Therefore, the temperature and humidity at the time of exposure, the drying conditions (temperature and humidity) at the time of development, and the drying Dimensional changes before and after processing caused by fluctuations in conditions (temperature and humidity) often pose 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.

Even in a conventional automatic developing machine, changing the recycling rate of dry air (the ratio of the amount of external air taken in as dry air circulating in the drying section) in response to the external environmental humidity, and changing the drying section from the outlet to the inlet. 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.

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] For this reason, the present inventor detects the temperature and humidity of the outside air,
An automatic developing machine or a drying air control method capable of reducing the dimensional fluctuation of the processed film by controlling the temperature and / or humidity of the drying air in the drying section was previously proposed (Japanese Patent Application No. 63-77662). Nos. 63-126592 and 63-1402
No. 54).

The control of temperature and / or humidity in the prior art is performed by a control method such as ON-OFF control, proportional control, and PID control. However, these common control methods are:
Rather than being controlled to always maintain the target value, the actual value fluctuates up and down within a predetermined range centered on the target value, so that the average of the actual value within a predetermined time becomes the target value as a result. Or to approach the target value. The phenomenon in which the actual control value fluctuates with respect to such a target value is referred to as hunting.The inventor of the present invention has further studied the above-mentioned prior art, and has found that hunting causes dimensional fluctuation between a plurality of films before and after processing. It has been found that variations occur.

That is, when a plurality of films are continuously processed, each film is not processed under completely the same drying conditions, but is processed under different drying conditions within the range of the hunting by the hunting described above. Become. Therefore,
In the case of a set of three or four plates, there is a disadvantage that dimensional variations after processing of each plate vary.

[Object of the Invention] The present invention has been made in view of the above, and reduces the influence on dimensional variation of a film due to hunting generated during temperature and / or humidity control, and reduces variation in dimensional variation among a plurality of films. A main object of the present invention is to clarify an automatic developing machine which performs stabilizing drying air control, and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present inventors have conducted intensive studies to achieve the above object, and as a result, have reached the present invention.

That is, in the drying air control automatic developing machine according to the present invention, in the drying air control automatic developing machine having any one of the following constitutions (1) to (3), when a set of films is subjected to drying treatment, humidity hunting is performed. period is _^1/2 or less temperature hunting period, and the humidity hunting period is equal to or shorter than the drying time.

(1) A configuration for detecting the outside air temperature and humidity and automatically controlling the temperature of the drying air according to the detection information (2) A configuration for detecting the outside air temperature and humidity and automatically controlling the humidity of the drying air according to the detection information (3) ) A configuration in which the outside air temperature and humidity are detected and the drying air humidity and temperature are automatically controlled according to the detection information. In the drying air control automatic developing machine according to the present invention, the drying section of the automatic developing machine is divided into two blocks. The drying air at the entrance side block of the drying unit is not subject to automatic control for dimensional stability of the film. The drying air at the exit side block of the drying unit is described in the following (1) to (5).
With the automatically controlled by any one of the (3), a set of upon the film to drying treatment, humidity hunting period of the drying air is _^1/2 or less temperature hunting period, and the humidity hunting period outlet It is characterized in that it is shorter than the drying time of the side block.

(1) A configuration for detecting the outside air temperature and humidity and automatically controlling the temperature of the drying air according to the detection information (2) A configuration for detecting the outside air temperature and humidity and automatically controlling the humidity of the drying air according to the detection information (3) A) A configuration for detecting the outside air temperature and humidity and automatically controlling the drying air humidity and temperature according to the detection information. The present invention is that the detected outside air temperature and / or humidity is the temperature and / or humidity at the time of exposure of the film. , Having a means for detecting the temperature and humidity of the dry air, omitting the means for detecting the temperature and / or humidity of the outside air, and inputting one of the information of the temperature and the humidity of the dry air by the user, and the other Having a configuration for automatic control,
Obtain the humidity information of the outside air from the humidity information of the drying wind, the user must input the information of the temperature and / or humidity of the outside air, and the user inputs both the temperature and humidity conditions of the drying air, and In addition, the present invention includes controlling drying air.

Note that hunting refers to a phenomenon in which the actual control value fluctuates with respect to a target value as shown in FIG. 3. In this specification, hunting that occurs particularly during temperature control occurs during temperature hunting and humidity control. Hunting is called humidity hunting.

Further, in the present specification, the cycle of the control actual value, that is,
The actual control value is the minimum value (for ON / OFF control, switch ON
The period from when the maximum value (similarly when the switch is turned off) passes to when the next minimum value is reached is called the hunting period. The difference between the maximum value and the minimum value of the actual control value is called the hunting width. (See FIG. 3).

Furthermore, in this specification, the drying time refers to the time from when the leading end of the film to be dried is caught by the entrance roller of the drying unit until it is caught by the exit roller.

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

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an example of an automatic developing machine of the present invention. A film F to be processed is prepared, for example, on a side surface of an apparatus frame 2 in a state of being stored in a magazine 1 or the like. Is set in the insertion section 3.

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 section to be drained, then guided to a drying section 10 to be dried, and discharged out of the apparatus through a film discharge port as indicated by an arrow.

11 is a drying fan, 12 is a heater, 13 is a drying rack, 14 is a drying duct, and 15 is an exhaust fan.

Numeral 16 is a humidity sensor for the drying air, and numeral 17 is a temperature sensor similarly. Both sensors are preferably provided near the outlet of the drying fan 11 in the automatic developing machine, but may be provided in another circulation path of the drying air.

Numeral 18 denotes a humidifier, which is provided at an outlet or an inlet of the drying fan 11, but may be provided near another circulation path of the drying air or near an external air intake. As the humidifying device 18,
An ultrasonic humidifier, which has a quick response and is easy to control, is suitable for shortening the humidity hunting.
It is a matter of course that a general humidifier of an evaporation type may be used.

Reference numeral 19 denotes a dehumidifier, which is connected to the drying duct 14 by a pair of pipes, and dehumidifies the dry air.

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.

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),
The drying air in the outlet block 10B of the drying section is automatically controlled in the same manner as the drying air control device shown in FIG. The arrangement relationship between the two blocks 10A and 10B is arbitrary, and the arrangement may be such that the blocks are arranged like the roller group shown in each of the processing units 6, 7, and 8, and both blocks are divided into a left half and a right half. Of course.

In the present invention, the drying air is controlled mainly by the above-described configuration, and the control is performed, for example, by controlling the humidity hunting cycle during the drying process of a set of color original films composed of three or four plates used for color printing. The temperature hunting cycle of
With _^1/2 or less, prevents the vertical fluctuations of both cycle occurs coincident, also by shorter than the humidity hunting period drying time, the actual value control of the humidity in the drying time averaging I do. Therefore, when processing a set of films, the environmental conditions of each film are made uniform,
Variations in dimensional variation among the films after processing are significantly reduced.

The hunting width is usually set at a drying temperature of 30 to 70
In the range of ℃, the temperature hunting width is preferably 10
° C or less, particularly preferably 5 ° C or less, and the humidity hunting width is preferably 6 g / kg or less, particularly preferably 3 g / kg or less.
kg or less.

In addition, the temperature hunting cycle may be shorter than the drying time, similarly to the humidity hunting cycle.
This is preferable in that the actual temperature control value approaches the target value.

Hereinafter, the embodiments 1 to 3 of the present invention will be described.

About the embodiment of.

a) When controlling the drying air temperature / humidity, the drying air temperature / humidity is detected, and the detected information is fed back to the control computer. This makes it possible to increase control accuracy.

, And of the embodiments.

a) In a state where the temperature and humidity of the drying air are not controlled (a state in which the film is not processed), the absolute humidity of the drying air is equal to the absolute humidity of the outside air.

Since the drying air is partially constituted by the internal circulation air and the air taken in from the outside air, the above can be said in a steady state (when humidification, dehumidification, and film processing are not performed).

Therefore, the relative humidity of the outside air can be calculated by a known equation from the information on the dry air humidity and the temperature in the steady state and the temperature of the outside air.

This eliminates the need for an outside air humidity sensor and can reduce costs.

b Conditions in the steady state (how long to look after the film processing) From when the film is discharged from the dryer and the temperature / humidity control is stopped until the drying air reaches the steady state (outside air and absolute humidity become equal) The time is the amount of air per unit time taken in from the outside, the volume of the part where the drying air circulates,
(C) It changes depending on the difference between the absolute humidity of the dry air and the absolute humidity of the outside air.

In the apparatus showing one embodiment of the present invention, the external air intake amount is 2.0 m ³ / min, the circulation part volume is 0.15 m ³ , and the absolute humidity difference between the external air and the dry air is 20 g / kg. It took about 15 seconds to become. It is preferable to calculate the outside air humidity from the absolute humidity in the drying section after a certain time (15 seconds or more in this apparatus) has elapsed after the completion of the film processing.

About the embodiment of.

a When the film is discharged from the drying device, it is desirable that the film be in a good dry state.

The drying temperature / humidity control is performed based on the dimensional variation characteristics of the film before and after the treatment.However, in order to obtain a good drying state, the film should be dried within the range where the film can be dried with the drying capacity of the device against the water absorption of the film. It is desirable to control the drying air temperature and humidity. These are also applicable to the above and the embodiments.

Even when the water absorption of the film is input to the computer in advance, the water absorption of the film changes depending on the type of film, the production lot of the same film, the production lot, and the fatigue state of the liquid such as development, fixing and washing. There are cases. Along with this variation (especially in the case of low-temperature, high-humidity drying), poor drying may occur. In such a case, the user looks at the drying state of the film, and if the film is defective, the drying temperature or humidity can be changed to improve the drying failure.

In this method, it is desirable to use a method in which the computer changes the other in accordance with the dimensional variation characteristics of the film in response to a change in the user's setting, and the dimensional change due to a change in the condition is suppressed.

b. When there is a difference between the temperature and humidity conditions at the time of film exposure and the outside air temperature and humidity conditions detected by this device b. When there is a temporal difference between the film exposure and the processing, b. When the conditions change due to the flow of wind, etc., even in the same room, ・ When there is a difference in the film characteristics from the preset dimensional fluctuation data. Due to changes in film specifications, etc.

-When the user wants to change the dimensions before and after processing for a special purpose, when the dimensions of the original are different between the four plates, etc. Fine adjustment of the dimensions can be made for the above cases.

With this method, if a user changes one setting,
It is desirable that the other condition is not changed.

About the embodiment of.

Ambient temperature and humidity of automatic processor (preferably temperature and
Humidity) by the user.

The user sets the temperature and humidity conditions of the drying air according to the dimensional fluctuation characteristics of the film to be used.

The conversion between the ambient temperature / humidity and the drying air temperature / humidity may be automatically converted and displayed by an automatic developing machine, or may be performed by a user using a data list of dimensional fluctuation characteristics of the film.

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

The experimental data shown in this example was obtained by processing the following samples and processing agents using the automatic developing machine 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 . This sample was dried to prepare a sample.
At this time, the amount of silver applied was 3.5 g / m ² .

Cut this sample into a size of 30 cm x 60 cm and use a P-627FM light room printer (manufactured by Dainippon Screen Co., Ltd.) to separate the space by about 56 cm.
Then, two thin lines were subjected to image exposure and development processing to obtain a document.

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.

Automatic developing machine (hereinafter sometimes abbreviated as self-developing machine)
The processing conditions 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-exchanged 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 sodium sulfate 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) 8.1 ml [Composition B] Pure water (ion-exchanged water) 17 ml Sulfuric acid (50% w / w aqueous solution) 5.8 g Ammonium sulfate (aqueous solution with 8.1% w / w in terms of Al ₂ O ₃ content) 26.5 g The above composition A and composition B were dissolved in 500 ml in this order, and finished to 1 for use.

 The pH of the fixing solution was 4.3.

Example 1 The hunting cycle of the temperature and humidity of the drying air was set as shown in Table 1 below, and the above-mentioned 60 cm × 30 cm sample was continuously processed in 12 pieces each with the longitudinal direction as a transport direction, and the dimensions of each 12 pieces were measured. Was measured (difference between the minimum and maximum of 12 sheets).

 Table 1 shows the results.

At this time, the drying conditions other than the hunting cycle are as follows. The temperature during film exposure was 23 ° C and the humidity was
The variation of each sample was measured under the same conditions as the exposure.

・ Drying control target value: Temperature 45 ° C Humidity 18g / kg ・ Control hunting width: Temperature 6 ° C (± 3 ° C) Humidity 3g / kg (± 1.5g / kg) ・ Drying time: 23 seconds As shown in Table 1, when the humidity hunting cycle is shorter than the drying time, it can be seen that the variation in the dimensional variation between the films becomes smaller.

Example 2 Processing and measurement were performed in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the drying conditions were changed as follows, and the hunting cycle was changed as shown in Table 2 below.

 Table 2 shows the results.

・ Drying control target value: Temperature 45 ° C Humidity 18g / kg ・ Control hunting width: Temperature 6 ° C (± 3 ° C) Humidity 3g / kg (± 1.5g / kg) ・ Drying time: 23 seconds As shown in Table 2, the humidity hunting period when the temperature hunting period of _^1/2 or less, it can be seen that variation in dimensional fluctuation of each film mutual decreases.

[Effects of the Invention] According to the drying air control automatic developing machine of the present invention, the temperature and / or
Alternatively, it is possible to reduce the influence on the dimensional variation of the film due to hunting generated during the humidity control, and to stabilize the variation in the dimensional variation between one set of films.
This is extremely effective when preparing a film original for color printing consisting of plates or four plates.

In the case where the drying unit is separated into two blocks,
The temperature control device (heater) and the humidity control device (humidifier and dehumidifier) can have lower performance than a single device while stabilizing the variation in the dimensional fluctuations, so that the size and cost can be reduced. be able to.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of an automatic developing apparatus for controlling dry air of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing another embodiment, and FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of hunting. In the figure, each symbol indicates the following. 10: Drying unit 11: Drying fan 12: Heater 13: Drying rack 14: Drying duct 15: Exhaust fan 16: Dry air humidity sensor 17: Dry air temperature sensor 18: Humidifier 19: Dehumidifier 20: Control unit 21 : Humidity sensor for outside air 22: Temperature sensor for outside air F: Film

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-54-26734 (JP, A) JP-A-63-49760 (JP, A) JP-A-63-234257 (JP, A) JP-A-56-234 95239 (JP, A) Fully open 1986-197487 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) G03D 3/00-17/00

Claims (9)

(57) [Claims] [Claim 1] below (1) to the drying air control automatic developing machine provided with any configuration of (3), a set of upon the film to drying treatment, humidity hunting period temperature hunting period _^1/2 And a humidity hunting cycle shorter than a drying time. (1) A configuration for detecting the outside air temperature and humidity and automatically controlling the temperature of the drying air according to the detection information (2) A configuration for detecting the outside air temperature and humidity and automatically controlling the humidity of the drying air according to the detection information (3) ) A configuration that detects the outside air temperature and humidity and automatically controls the dry air humidity and temperature according to the detected information. 2. The automatic developing machine according to claim 1, wherein the detected outside air temperature and / or humidity is the temperature and / or humidity at the time of exposure of the film. 3. The automatic developing machine according to claim 1, further comprising means for detecting the temperature and humidity of the drying air. 4. An automatic developing machine according to claim 3, wherein the means for detecting the temperature and / or humidity of the outside air is omitted. 5. A dry air control automatic developing machine according to claim 1, wherein a user inputs information on one of temperature and humidity of the dry air and automatically controls the other information. . 6. The automatic developing machine according to claim 4, wherein humidity information of the outside air is obtained from humidity information of the drying air. 7. The dry air control automatic developing machine according to claim 4, wherein the information on the temperature and / or humidity of the outside air is input by a user. 8. The drying section of the automatic developing machine is separated into two blocks, and the drying air in the block on the entrance side of the drying section is not subject to automatic control for dimensional stability of the film. The drying air in the outlet side block portion of the drying unit is automatically controlled by any of the following configurations (1) to (3), and when a set of films is dried, the humidity hunting cycle of the drying air is temperature hunting is a period of _^1/2 or less, and drying air control automatic developing machine the humidity hunting period is equal to or shorter than the drying time of the outlet side block. (1) A configuration for detecting the outside air temperature and humidity and automatically controlling the temperature of the drying air according to the detection information (2) A configuration for detecting the outside air temperature and humidity and automatically controlling the humidity of the drying air according to the detection information (3) ) A configuration that detects the outside air temperature and humidity and automatically controls the dry air humidity and temperature according to the detected information. 9. The automatic developing machine according to claim 8, wherein the detected outside air temperature and / or humidity is the temperature and / or humidity at the time of exposure of the film.