JPH08314107A - Container - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To obtain a container with which the mixing of solid projecting agents under transportation is prevented without requiring a special equipment. CONSTITUTION: The solid processing agents A to E varying in nature are packed in a laminar form into a packing part 12. Constricted parts 22 are formed in this packing part 12, by which the sectional area of the packing part 12 is partially reduced. The interlayer movement of the respective solid processing agents is, therefore, limited and the reaction by mixing of the solid processing agents varying in the nature does not arise. The weight of the solid processing agents packed in the upper layer is partly shut off in the constricted parts 22 and does not act as it is on the lower layer and, therefore, the solidification of the solid processing agents by pressure is suppressed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a solid state for photographic processing,
The present invention relates to a container in which a granular or powdery solid processing agent is filled in layers.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Some photographic processing agents are used as a processing solution by mixing a solid processing agent filled in a container in multiple layers with water in a dissolving tank such as an automatic developing machine.

By the way, in order to prevent the filled solid processing agents from reacting with each other due to vibration or the like during the transportation to cause oxidative deterioration,
A solid processing agent having a relatively stable property is arranged in the intermediate layer.

However, when the container is roughly handled or is overturned, the solid processing agents are mixed with each other,
May be oxidatively deteriorated.

For this reason, a method of using a film type container and vacuum-packing to prevent mixing of the solid processing agent is also adopted, but pinholes are likely to occur and there is a concern that mixing may occur during transportation. In addition, it is necessary to provide equipment for vacuum packing, which leads to an increase in cost.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In consideration of the above facts, an object of the present invention is to provide a container which does not require special equipment and which can prevent the solid processing agent from being mixed during transportation.

[0007]

A container according to claim 1 is a container in which solid processing agents having different properties are filled in layers, and the filling portion filled with the solid processing agent is provided with an interlayer of the solid processing agents. It is characterized in that a constricted portion that prevents movement is formed.

The container according to claim 2 is characterized in that the ratio of the outer diameter of the filling portion to the outer diameter of the constricted portion is specified within a predetermined range.

The container according to claim 3 is characterized in that the constricted portion is formed so as to be positioned on the upper layer surface and the lower layer surface of the solid processing agent filled in layers.

The container according to claim 4 is characterized in that the outer shape of the filling portion connected to the opening for discharging the solid processing agent is widened toward the bottom.

The container according to claim 5 is characterized in that the degree of constriction of the constricted portion is adjusted in accordance with the fluidity of the solid processing agent.

[0012]

In the container according to the first aspect of the present invention, the solid treating agents having different properties are filled in layers at the filling portion. A constricted portion is formed in the filling portion, and the cross-sectional area of the filling portion is partially reduced. For this reason, inter-layer movement of each solid processing agent is limited, and solid processing agents having different properties do not mix and react.

Further, since the weight of the solid processing agent filled in the upper layer portion is partially blocked by the constricted portion and does not act on the lower layer portion as it is, solidification of the solid processing agent due to pressure is also suppressed.

In the container according to the second aspect, by specifying the ratio of the outer diameter of the filling portion and the outer diameter of the constricted portion within a predetermined range,
It is possible to set an optimum shape in which the solid processing agent is not mixed.

In the container according to the third aspect, the constricted portions are formed so as to be located on the upper layer surface and the lower layer surface of the solid processing agent filled in layers. That is, by the constriction section,
Since each solid processing agent is partitioned,
The movement of each solid processing agent between layers is limited.

In the container according to the fourth aspect, the outer shape of the filling portion connected to the opening for discharging the solid processing agent is widened toward the bottom. As a result, the area where the solid processing agent filled in the uppermost layer comes into contact with air becomes small.

More specifically, the mouth is usually not filled with the solid processing agent, and an air layer is inevitably formed below the mouth. Therefore, the solid processing agent filled in the uppermost layer comes into contact with air, but the size of the air layer varies depending on the amount of the solid processing agent filled. At this time, for example, a flat plate (the upper wall of the filling portion is horizontal)
When the mouth is erected in the middle of the, even if the volume of the air layer itself is the same, the outer surface of the air layer below the mouth has an external shape of the filling part that widens toward the bottom. It will be much larger than when it is used.

That is, by making the shape of the filling portion connected to the mouth wide, the influence of the variation in the amount of the solid processing agent to be filled can be reduced.

In the container according to the fifth aspect, the degree of narrowing of the narrowed portion is adjusted according to the fluidity of the solid processing agent. That is, in the case of a solid processing agent that easily flows, the degree of constriction is increased, and in the case of a solid processing agent that does not easily flow,
The degree of tightness is reduced.

As a result, the mixing of the solid processing agents is restricted, and the size of the area where the solid processing agents flow out is set according to the fluidity. Therefore, when the container is set upside down, the solid processing agents are set. Easily leaks.

[0021]

EXAMPLE As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, a container 10 according to a first example has a flexible filling portion 12 and a relatively thick wall in which the filling material filled in the filling portion 12 flows out. It is composed of a mouth portion 14 which is molded and has hardness. These filling parts 1
2 and the mouth portion 14 are integrally molded by blow molding.

The filling portion 12 has a rectangular parallelepiped shape as a whole, and has a rectangular shape with rounded corners in a plan view (see FIG. 3), and the connecting portion with the mouth portion 14 faces the bottom surface 18. A trapezoidal portion 16 is formed to expand the cross-sectional area. As a result, even if the amount of the solid processing agent to be filled is reduced,
Since the area where the solid processing agent A with which the uppermost layer is filled comes into contact with air is small, oxidation deterioration is less likely to occur.

In the filling portion 12, a bulging portion 20 having an R portion 20A formed on the upper and lower surfaces from below the trapezoid portion 16 to the bottom surface 18 and a constricted portion for reducing the horizontal sectional area of the filling portion 12. 22 and 22 are continuously formed in order and have a multi-stage shape. That is, the bulging portion 20 and the constricted portion 22 change the horizontal cross-sectional area of the filling portion 12. In addition, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the shape of the filling portion 12 is such that the horizontal dimension of the bulging portion 20 is L1 and the horizontal dimension of the constricted portion 22 is L2.
Then, it is specified by 100 × (L1−L2) / L1 = X (depth ratio).

On the other hand, in this embodiment, as an example, the container 10
To the filling section 12 of the solid processing agents A to E which are components of the developing solution.
Are divided into 5 layers and filled. In addition, each solid processing agent is blended so as to be an arbitrary amount of the developing solution when dissolved in water.

The solid processing agent A is HQ (hydroquinone, developing reagent), the solid processing agent B is a blend layer (CHIREST PA "acidic anti-precipitation agent", 5-MBT "acidic fogging". Inhibitor ", KBr" neutral development inhibitor ", and HMP" acidic auxiliary developing reagent "
Solid processing agent C is a partition layer for sodium bisulfite (buffer agent of sodium bisulfite), solid processing agent D is a partition layer for potassium carbonate (alkali agent of potassium carbonate), and solid The treating agent E is caustic soda (NaOH).

As described above, the solid processing agent is divided into multiple layers and filled in the container 10 in order to keep the stability by separating easily reacting components (for example, the solid processing agent A and the solid processing agent E). This is to prevent mixing due to vibration during transportation.

Next, the operation of the container according to this embodiment will be described. The filling section 12 is filled with the solid processing agents A to E having different properties in layers, and the constricting section 22 partially reduces the cross-sectional area of the filling section 12. Therefore, the inter-layer movement of the solid processing agents A to E is limited, and solid processing agents having different properties do not mix and react.

Next, Table 1 shows an experimental example of how much each solid processing agent is mixed and oxidatively deteriorated when vibration is applied due to the difference in shape of the filling portion 12 specified by the depth ratio X.

[0029]

[Table 1]

Under the environment of a room temperature of 40 ° C. and a humidity of 90%, the magnitude of vibration is set to 1G according to JIS, and the vertical vibration and the horizontal vibration are divided into 30 minutes each when the container is erected and when it is laid down. After 4 weeks from the application, the degree of coloring is observed (there is a characteristic of developing color upon oxidative deterioration).

As can be seen from the experimental results, in the case of the container which is stood up and vibrated, when the depth ratio X is 0 (straight container), the solid processing agent is mixed and oxidatively deteriorated. On the other hand, when the depth ratio X is 20% to 80%, the solid processing agent is not oxidized and deteriorated.

In addition, in the example of the container which has been collapsed and vibrated, the depth ratio X is 40 because the interlayer movement becomes easy.
%, Some oxidative deterioration was observed, and the depth rate X was 60% to 8%.
It can be seen that satisfactory results cannot be obtained unless the range is set to 0%.

As described above, by providing the constricted portion 22, the inter-layer movement of the solid processing agent is limited, but the optimum depth ratio X is 10% to 60%, more preferably 2%.
0% to 40% is preferable.

The number of steps formed by the bulging portion 20 and the constricted portion 22 can be freely set, but in order to obtain a predetermined effect, it is 2 to 8 steps, preferably 3 to 6 steps. The steps are good.

When the solid processing agent has a large fluidity,
By increasing the depth ratio X (smaller horizontal cross-sectional area),
Interlayer movement can be restricted. On the other hand, by increasing the depth ratio X, it becomes difficult for the solid processing agent to flow out from the mouth portion 14, but this can be avoided by increasing the fluidity of the solid processing agent itself.
Furthermore, the fluidity of the solid processing agent depends on the size of the crystal grain size,
By adjusting the shape, smoothness, etc., it is possible to make adjustments without changing the characteristics of the components.

Solid processing agents A to D filled in the upper layer
Since the weight of the solid processing agent is partially blocked by the constricted portion 22 and does not act on the solid processing agent E as it is, the solid processing agent E is not solidified by the pressure. As a method of limiting the consolidation of the solid processing agent due to its own weight, as shown in FIG. 4, a container 26 having a trapezoidal outer shape of the filling section 12 may be used to evenly distribute the pressure.

Further, in this embodiment, the outer diameters of the bulging portions 20 located above and below are the same and the outer diameters of the constricted portions 22 located above and below are also the same. By providing a difference in the dimension and the dimension in the width direction, for example, it is possible to increase the layer thickness of the solid processing agents C and D as a partition layer filled in the middle portion without changing the compounding ratio. This makes it more difficult to mix the solid processing agent A and the solid processing agent E.

Next, the container according to the second embodiment will be described.
As shown in FIG. 5, in the second embodiment, the container 28 is formed such that the constricted portion 30 is located on the upper layer surface and the lower layer surface of the solid processing agent according to the amount of each solid processing agent to be filled. Has been done. In other words, the constricted portion 30 partitions each solid processing agent, and as shown in Table 1, the inter-layer movement of each solid processing agent is further restricted. Further, since the contact area between the adjacent solid processing agents becomes small, it becomes difficult to react, and oxidative deterioration does not occur.

As described above, since the container of the present invention does not need to be vacuum-treated in order to prevent the solid processing agent from moving between layers, ordinary filling equipment can be used as it is, and there is no fear of pinholes. .

Each of the containers 10, 26, 28 has a bellows shape, and can be folded and contracted in the vertical direction at the time of disposal to reduce the volume.

If a material having a barrier property is used as the material of the container, oxidative deterioration can be prevented and solidification due to moisture absorption can be prevented. This eliminates the double packaging process.

Further, the material can be freely selected by controlling the parison at the time of molding the container to increase the wall thickness so that the barrier property is provided only in a necessary portion.

When a single material is used with emphasis on recycling, LDPE, HDPE and the like are preferable, and when barrier property is required, double packaging may be used.

Furthermore, by sticking a bag containing ageless or calcium carbonate as a moisture / oxygen preventive agent on the back surface of the cap attached to the mouth of the container or the bottom surface or side surface of the container, solid treatment during storage Solidification of agent
It is possible to prevent component deterioration. As a result, it is possible to freely select the material of the container and reduce the cost.

Further, an antistatic agent may be kneaded into the molding material of the container to prevent the generation of static electricity and prevent the solid processing agent from adhering to the container. As a result, the solid processing agent does not adhere to the inner surface of the container and flows out without remaining.

In the present embodiment, the solid processing agent for the developing solution has been described as an example, but it is needless to say that each solid processing agent for the fixing solution can be filled in multiple layers. Further, the distribution ratio of the solid processing agent is not limited to that of this embodiment.

The shape of the container may be square or circular in plan view, but a rectangular shape is preferable in order to eliminate dead space when the container is packed.

[0048]

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION Since the present invention has the above-mentioned structure, no special equipment is required and oxidative deterioration of the solid processing agent due to vibration during transportation can be prevented.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front sectional view of a container according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the container according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the container according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing a modified example of the container according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a front sectional view of a container according to a second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 container 12 filling part 16 trapezoidal part 22 constricted part 26 container 28 container

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A container in which solid treatment agents having different properties are packed in layers, wherein a constricted portion for preventing interlayer movement of each solid treatment agent is formed in a filling portion filled with the solid treatment agent. And a container. 2. The ratio between the outer diameter of the filling portion and the outer diameter of the constricted portion is specified within a predetermined range.
The container described in. 3. The container according to claim 1, wherein the constricted portion is molded so as to be located on the upper layer surface and the lower layer surface of the solid processing agent filled in layers. 4. The container according to claim 1, wherein an outer shape of the filling portion connected to a mouth for discharging the solid processing agent is widened toward a bottom portion. . 5. The container according to claim 1, wherein the degree of constriction of the constricted portion is adjusted according to the fluidity of the solid processing agent.