JPH01315745A - Method for controlling drying air in automatic developing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To stabilize variation in the dimensions of a photosensitive material having a specific thickness by controlling the temperature and humidity of drying air in accordance with atmospheric temperature and humidity. CONSTITUTION:Atmospheric temperature and humidity are respectively detected by means of the atmospheric humidity and temperature sensors 21 and 22 of a control section 20. The temperature and humidity of drying air are set in accordance with the detecting values of the sensors 21 and 22 through a drying fan 11, heater 12, drying rack 13, drying duct 14, exhaust fan 15, dehumidifier 19, humidifier 18, etc. The photographic material to be subjected to this drying process is limited to those having appropriate thicknesses of 50 to 300mum. Therefore, a drying process which is excellent in dimension stability can be performed irrespective of the atmospheric conditions.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a drying air control method applied to an automatic processor for developing photographic materials. More specifically, the present invention relates to a drying air control method most suitable for developing a photographic material for a color original plate composed of three or four plates used for color printing.

``Prior Art'' Current silver halide photographic materials have the characteristic of ``shrinking'' when the humidity is low and ``stretching'' when the humidity is high.

Apart from this, photographic materials have the characteristic that their dimensions change before and after processing. This is a phenomenon in which the image dimensions on the photographic light-sensitive material and the photographic light-sensitive material at the time of exposure of the photographic light-sensitive material (equal to the original size) are different from the image dimensions on the photographic light-sensitive material and the photographic light-sensitive material after development processing, and It is affected by the temperature and humidity conditions of the drying area and the humidity conditions of the drying area. In the latter case, the dimensions of the original and the photosensitive material to be reproduced are different, which causes the following problems.

In particular, a photosensitive material original plate for color printing is composed of three original plates of cyan, magenta, and yellow, or four original plates including a black plate, so that it is required to have dimensional stability as a set of original plates. The photographic light-sensitive materials that are used to create original plates for color printing currently on the market have the above-mentioned characteristics regarding temperature and humidity. , drying conditions (temperature,
Dimensional changes before and after processing caused by changes in humidity (humidity) are often a problem.

For example, when a photographic light-sensitive material that has been exposed and developed as a cyan plate is used as a manuscript, and the pattern of the magenta plate is aligned and then exposed and developed, there is a problem that a dimensional discrepancy occurs between the resulting magenta plate and the original cyan plate. It happens.

Even in conventional automatic processors, the recycling rate of drying air (the ratio of the amount of external air taken in as drying air circulated within the drying section) is changed in response to the external environmental humidity.

It is well known to control the drying air by creating a temperature gradient from the outlet to the inlet of the drying section, dehumidifying the air used for drying, etc., but such control does not improve drying efficiency, save energy, or improve drying unevenness. The aim is to prevent the occurrence of
No consideration was given to dimensional stability.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] The conventional drying air control method described above was not developed as a measure to improve dimensional stability, but has the following problems. That is, A. The method of changing the recycling rate of drying air according to the external environmental humidity makes it difficult to equalize the humidity inside the drying section regardless of the external environmental humidity, and it is difficult to control the dimensional stability before and after processing. I can't do anything.

B. The method of providing a temperature gradient is effective in increasing the efficiency of drying, but it causes large fluctuations in temperature and humidity, resulting in poor dimensional stability.

C9 Furthermore, in the conventional method, continuous processing due to changes in drying and humidity conditions due to water evaporation from the photographic light-sensitive material;
There is a drawback that the dimensional stability of the first and last photographic material changes.

[Object of the Invention] The present invention was created in view of the above, and is based on the relationship between external environmental humidity (environmental humidity at the time of exposure of a photographic light-sensitive material) and the dimensional change characteristics of the photographic light-sensitive material to be processed. The main purpose of the present invention is to clarify a drying air control method that can set optimal drying conditions and stabilize dimensional fluctuations of photographic materials before and after processing.Other objects and benefits of the present invention are as follows. This becomes clear from the description of .

[Means for Solving the Problems] A method for controlling drying air in an automatic processor that achieves the above object of the present invention is a method for controlling drying air in an automatic processor, which is a method for controlling a drying air in an automatic processor, which is a photographic method in which at least one layer of photosensitive halogenated twin emulsion is provided on one or both sides of a support. In a method of controlling drying air in an automatic processor for developing and drying a material, exposure and development of a photographic light-sensitive material having a thickness of 50 to 300 mm including the support and all layers coated on the support The dry smoke after treatment is carried out by (1.) detecting the outside air temperature and humidity and automatically controlling the temperature according to the detected information; (2) detecting the outside air temperature and humidity; (3) Detecting outside air temperature and humidity and using drying air with humidity and temperature automatically controlled according to the detected information; It is characterized by

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the outside temperature and humidity to be detected are the temperature and humidity at the time of exposure of the photosensitive material 4.

The information on the outside temperature and humidity detected in the present invention is used as information for setting the drying conditions of the automatic processor and information for controlling the drying air. If the exposed location is different from the room where the automatic processor is installed, the preferred drying conditions are determined based on the temperature and humidity at the time of exposure, but this is necessary to control the drying air of the automatic processor. It also detects the outside temperature and humidity around the automatic processing machine. Furthermore, the exposed area is air-conditioned and always maintains a constant temperature and/or temperature.
or humidity, its constant temperature and/or
Alternatively, humidity may not be particularly detected if it is input to the automatic processor as data. Further, information on the temperature and/or humidity in a separate room may be detected by a sensor connected to an automatic processor, but a human being can detect the temperature and/or humidity at the time of exposure.
It is also possible to use a format in which the humidity conditions are input.

[Function and Specific Structure of the Invention The photographic material according to the present invention is formed by coating a support with a light-sensitive silver halide emulsion layer on at least one side.

As already mentioned, the problem to be solved by the present invention is that the dimensions of the photographic material differ between the time of exposure and the time of development. As a result of intensive research, the present inventors found that this problem could be solved by processing in the drying section after the development process under optimal temperature and humidity conditions according to the temperature and humidity conditions at the time of exposure.

As a result of further research, the present inventors found that there is a limit to the total thickness of the photographic material in order for this method to be applied. In other words, when a photographic material is too thin, its dimensions fluctuate drastically due to the influence of minute changes in the temperature and humidity of the outside air.
It was found that the dimensions fluctuated due to the slight hunting effect τ of the temperature and humidity of the drying air while passing through the drying section, and it was found that it was actually difficult to control one dimension. Furthermore, in photographic materials that are too thin, the dimensional fluctuations of the photographic material are too sensitive to the temperature and humidity of the drying air. In some cases, even when the paper passes through the drying device of the present invention, the dimensions of the leading and trailing parts are different, resulting in a distorted product. On the other hand, if the film is too thick, the dimensional changes due to temperature and humidity are too slow, resulting in a situation where the dimensions have not yet reached their optimum size at the end of normal drying. In the case of drying under low humidity conditions, the effect of the present invention cannot be obtained, and in order to obtain the effect of the present invention, the sufficiently dried processed photographic material must be dried for a longer time due to its size. A situation like this occurred. As described above, requiring an extra drying process beyond the normal drying process goes against the purpose of improving workability, which is an effect of the present invention.

Thus, we have demonstrated that one aspect of the invention interacts with the thickness of the photographic material to be processed.

It has been discovered that the objective of controlling dimensional changes after processing can be achieved only by processing a photographic light-sensitive material having an appropriate thickness of 50 g11 to 300 p-m with the drying air according to the present invention.

The thickness here refers to the thickness that includes the support and all the layers coated on the support, and the thickness here is defined in the state of what is called a so-called raw photographic light-sensitive material before development processing. It is something that will be done. Strictly speaking, the thickness before and after the development process is not necessarily the same, but this variation in thickness is sufficiently small compared to the thickness in the embodiment of the present invention, and the present invention may be defined by the thickness of the raw photographic light-sensitive material. This was also revealed during the course of research by the present inventors.

From the viewpoint of ease of use and transportability, the preferred thickness of the support is 25 pm to 2.0 pm, excluding the subbing layer.
80 g, more preferably 40 pots 11-250
It is grs.

The support according to the present invention is preferably a cellulose Nisdel film such as cellulose triacetate, a polyester film such as polyethylene terephthalate film, or paper coated with an α-olefin polymer.
Furthermore, a film in which a thin polyethylene terephthalate film is removably covered with an adhesive layer on a triacetate cellulose film can also be used.

Furthermore, to explain in detail about the polyester mentioned here, it is a polyester whose main constituents are aromatic dibasic acid and lycole. Typical dibasic acids include terephthalic acid, isophthalic acid, and p-β-oxyethoxy. There are benzoin, diphenylsulfone dicarboxylic acid, diphenoxyethane dicarboxylic acid, adipic acid, sebacic acid, acelaic acid, 5-sodium sulfoisophthalic acid, diphenylene dicarboxylic acid, 2,5-naphthalene dicarboxylic acid, etc. ,ethylene glycol,
Propylene glycol, butanediol.

Neoventrengelicol, 1,4-cyclohexanediol, 1,4-cyclohexane dimetatool.

Examples include 1.4-bisoxyethoxybenzene, bisphenol A, diethylene glycol, and polyethylene glycol. These polyester films can be manufactured using a known biaxial stretching method as described, for example, in JP-A No. 52-54428.

When using any of the above-mentioned supports as a structure or element of a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material, various treatments are applied to them in order to provide strong adhesive strength between them and a hydrophilic colloid layer such as gelatin. I can do it.

For example, surface treatment with chemicals, mechanical treatment, corona discharge treatment,
Flame treatment, ultraviolet treatment, high frequency treatment, glow discharge treatment,
Surface activation treatments such as active plasma treatment, laser treatment, mixed acid treatment, ozone oxidation treatment, etc., acid components, hydroxyl group components, epoxy group components, N-alkanol group components, diolefin monomer components, polymer latex components, etc. These methods include coating an undercoat layer containing one or more components selected from among these. In addition, known means for preventing electrification may be used independently. For example, there is a method in which a fluorine-based surfactant, various conductive polymers, inorganic oxides, organic antistatic agents, etc. are contained in the undercoat layer.

These treatments may be performed on only one side of the support or on both sides, and of course, the treatment may be applied to one side of the support or the other side may be sealed. It does not matter if the process is different from the process performed. Furthermore, two or more different types of processing may be used together.

The photographic light-sensitive material of the present invention has photographic constituent layers including at least one light-sensitive silver halide emulsion layer. The photographic constituent layer is a wood-philic colloid layer, and the hydrophilic colloid used in the layer is preferably gelatin.

The gelatin used in the present invention may be either lime-treated or acid-treated. Details of the method for producing gelatin are described in The Macromolecular Chemistry of Gelatin, written by Arthur Vuis (Academic Press, published in 1964). Hydrophilic colloids other than gelatin that can be used in the present invention include, for example, gelatin derivatives, graft polymers of gelatin and other polymers, proteins such as albumin and casein, hydroxyethyl cellulose, carboxymethyl cellulose, and cellulose sulfate esters. Sugar derivatives such as cellulose derivatives, sodium alginate, starch derivatives, etc.; polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinyl alcohol partial acetal, poly-N-vinylpyrrolidone, polyacrylic acid, polymethacrylic acid, polyacrylamide, polyvinylimidazole, polyvinyl pyrazole, etc. There are a wide variety of synthetic wood-loving polymeric materials, either single or copolymers.

The amount of hydrophilic colloid in the photographic constituent layers constituting the photographic light-sensitive material of the present invention is preferably 1.0 to 10.0 g/m', more preferably 1. .5 to 5.0 g/rn', and when a backing layer is provided, the amount of hydrophilic colloid in that layer is 0.5 to 5.0 g/rn'.
7.0g/rrf is preferable, more preferably 1.0~
S, Og/rn'.

The photographic constituent layer constituting the photographic light-sensitive material of the present invention preferably contains a polymer latex in order to more effectively achieve the object of the present invention.

Examples of the polymer latex included in the photographic material of the present invention include US Pat. No. 2,772,166;
3,325,286, 3,411,911, 3,3II, 912, 1,525,620, Research Disclosure (Research D)
isclosure) Magazine No. 195 19551
(July 1980), etc., there are hydrates of vinyl polymers such as acrylic esters, methacrylic esters, and styrene.

Polymer latexes preferably used in the present invention include homopolymers of meth-alkyl acrylate such as methyl methacrylate and ethyl methacrylate, styrene homopolymers, meth-alkyl acrylate, styrene and acrylic acid, N-methylol acrylamide, glycidol methacrylate, etc. copolymers of alkyl acrylates such as methyl acrylate, ethyl acrylate, and butyl acrylate, or copolymers of alkyl acrylates with acrylic acid, N-methylolacrylamide, etc. (preferably, the copolymerization component of acrylic acid, etc. is 3
(up to 0% by weight), butadiene homopolymers or copolymers of butadiene with one or more of styrene, butoxymethylacrylamide, acrylic acid, vinylidene chloride-methyl acrylate-acrylic acid ternary copolymers, and the like.

Next, specific examples of polymer latexes preferably used in the present invention will be given, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

[One latex example] Cθ C11,.

COOC, It, C=0 drunkenness C11.

fermentation R ! , -9 CI1, C11゜ ■ rl+,.

OCI1, Oll C11゜l 0CII3Nl'l CII'yOIICII+
CHs C113H3 C11゜■ (x/y/z=93/3/4) Shi-18 C11゜e cQ L, uυshilla
I; IJυ11 (w/X/y/z=63/32/3/
2) The average particle diameter of the polymer latex used in the present invention is preferably in the range o, oos to lpm, particularly 0.02 to 0.1
It is Le l.

The polymer latex used in the present invention may be contained on only one side of the support, or may be contained on both sides. When it is contained on both sides of the support, it is contained on each side. Polymer latex S
The class and/or amount may be the same or different.

Further, the layer to which the polymer latex is added may be placed anywhere; for example, when the polymer latex is added to the side containing the photosensitive silver halide emulsion layer with respect to the support, the polymer latex is added to the layer containing the photosensitive silver halide emulsion layer. It may also be included in the top non-photosensitive colloid layer, commonly referred to as the protective layer. If there is an intermediate layer between the light-sensitive silver halide emulsion layer and the uppermost layer, the layer may be a layer other than the unused layer, such as a subbing layer or an intermediate layer between the light-sensitive silver halide emulsion layer and the uppermost layer. Furthermore, in the case of a plurality of layers, the polymer latex may be contained in any single layer, and may be contained in M number of layers (not limited to two layers) consisting of any M/l combination. Good too.

In the present invention, the content of polymer latex is 0.1 to 10 as the total of the photographic constituent layers on the side including the photosensitive emulsion layer.
．． Preferably 0 g/rn', more preferably 0.2 to 5
．． 0g/m', and when a backing layer is provided, the amount of polymer latex in that layer is 0.1 to 1000g/m'
is preferable, and more preferably 0.2 to 5.0 g/m'.

In the present invention, the ratio of the hydrophilic colloid such as gelatin and the polymer latex is 17IIf
The amount of polymer latex is preferably 0.01 to 10 parts by weight, more preferably 0.02 to 4.0 parts by weight, per part f.

The details of the automatic processor preferably used in the present invention will be described below.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of an automatic processor to which the method of the present invention is applied.
is stored in a magazine or the like, for example, and is set in an insertion portion 3 prepared on the side surface of the device frame 2.

After setting the magazine 1, when the start button is turned on, the photosensitive material detection means confirms whether there is a photosensitive material to be processed, and the rotation of the photosensitive material pull-out roller causes the end of the photosensitive material to be transferred to the take-in roller 4.
Thereafter, as the transport rollers 5 rotate, the toner is sequentially guided to a developing tank 6, a fixing tank 7, and a washing tank 8 for processing.

The photographic material that has been washed with water is guided to a squeeze section and drained, and then guided to a drying section 10 and dried.
As shown by the arrow, the photosensitive material is discharged to the outside of the apparatus through the discharge port.

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

16 is a drying air humidity sensor, 17 is also a temperature sensor, and 1 sensor is the drying fan 11 in the automatic developing machine.
Although it is preferable to provide it near the outlet of the drying air, it may also be provided in another circulation path of the drying air.

(2) A humidifying device 8 is provided at the outlet of the drying fan 11, but it may also be provided in another circulation path for drying air or near the external air intake.

18 is a dehumidification device, and a dry explosion duct is connected by a pair of pipes) 14
It dehumidifies the dry air.

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

In this example, the outside air temperature/humidity sensor was installed in the automatic processing machine, but if the exposure machine and automatic processing machine are installed in environments with different temperatures and humidity, for example, when each device is installed in separate rooms, Temperature and humidity sensors are also installed near the exposure machine.

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 and humidity sensor attached to the automatic processor is used to obtain information on the temperature and humidity of the air taken in as drying air when controlling the temperature and humidity of the drying air. drying air can be controlled without detecting the outside temperature and humidity around the automatic processor.

There is no need for a temperature/humidity sensor attached to the automatic developing machine.

[Example] Hereinafter, a drying air control method of the present invention using the above-mentioned device will be explained along with experimental data.

The experimental data shown in Tables 1 to 8 was obtained by processing the samples and processing agents shown below using the automatic developing machine shown in FIG.

Example 1 A silver halide emulsion was prepared by simultaneously adding a silver nitrate solution and an aqueous solution of sodium chloride and potassium bromide to a gelatin solution. This emulsion was sulfur-sensitized in a conventional manner, and then undercoated with latex L-6 containing 0.1 g/rn' to a thickness of 100 IL. i2g/
m'', and latex (L-6) is applied so that it becomes Ig/m''. At this time, an emulsion protective layer was simultaneously applied to the base so as to form gelatin on the outside of the emulsion layer. This sample was dried to prepare a sample.

At this time, the coating amount was 3.5 g/m'', and the total film thickness was 1
It was 10pm.

Cut this sample into a size of 30c+aX 60co+
Using a P-627FM bright room printer (manufactured by Dainippon Screen Co., Ltd.), two thin lines were imagewise exposed at a spacing of 56 cm and developed to obtain a 1 g manuscript.

This manuscript is an unexposed sample (same size as the manuscript).

After sufficiently controlling the humidity of the printer and automatic developing machine at 25° C. under various humidity conditions, the unexposed sample was exposed to light in close contact with the manuscript, and developed using the automatic developing machine. The developed sample was superimposed on the original original, and the extent to which the m-line interval had changed compared to the original original was measured using a loupe with a scale.

The optimum drying conditions in terms of dimensional stability before and after processing under each outside air condition must be determined independently for each photographic material, and are not limited to the drying conditions shown in this example.

The measurement was performed with n=6, and the average value was taken. The measurement error is the average value ±10 gm.

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

Processing conditions Development 20 seconds 38℃ fixation
Wash with water at 38℃ for 20 seconds 14.
Dry for 5 seconds Smoke 23 seconds Developer composition [M1 composition A] Pure water (ion exchange water) 150mJl
Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid disodium J1! 2g Diethylene glycol 50g Potassium sulfite (55% w/v aqueous solution) 100mJL Potassium carbonate 50g Hydroquinone 15g! -Phenyl-5-mercaptotetrazole: 10mg Potassium hydroxide Amount to adjust pH to 1O09 after use Potassium bromide 4.5g [
Composition] Pure water (ion exchange water) 3gg diethylene glycol 50g ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid disodium salt 25g vinegar #(9
0% aqueous solution) 0.3+JLl-phenyl-5-mercaptotetrazole 00mg Sodium 2-mercapto-benzimidazole-5-sulfonate 50ff1g
When using a developer, the above composition A was dissolved in the order of composition A and composition 11 in 500 mu of water and used.

LiL 亙亙J [Composition A] Ammonium thiosulfate (72.5% w/v aqueous solution) 2:1
OtJl Sodium Sulfite 9.
5g sodium acetate/3 water jfi 15
．． 9g boric acid 6.7
g Sodium citrate dihydrate 2 g Acetic acid (
90% w/w aqueous solution) 8.1■ [Composition] Pure water (ion exchange water) 17m Bunsulfur # (50% W/Water solution) 5.8 g
Aluminum sulfate (A sentence 20. Converted content is 8.1%w/
(Aqueous solution of w) When using 26.5 g of fixer, the above composition A was dissolved in 50 ml of water in the order of composition A and the composition was finished to 1M and used.

The 911 of this fixer was 4.3.

The first aspect of the control method is to change the drying air temperature in response to outside air humidity, that is, environmental humidity. According to this method, as shown in Table 1, when the environmental humidity is low, by drying at a low drying air temperature (high relative humidity), it is possible to suppress the "stretching" of the dimensions.

In addition, if the environmental humidity is high, drying with a high drying air temperature (low relative humidity) will reduce the shrinkage of one dimension.
You can suppress it.

Table 1 Looking at A1 in Table 1, when drying is carried out at a constant drying air temperature of 40°C, if outside air (25°C) is directly taken in and heated to produce drying air, the absolute humidity of the drying air is equal to that of outside air. As a result, it can be seen that the sample undergoes a significant dimensional change after being treated.

Generally, the accuracy error of photosensitive materials for color printing is ±20
It is required that the dimensional change be within about 1 Lm, and a dimensional change of -25 to +65 pLm shown in Table 2 is not preferable.

Therefore, data obtained by the method of the present invention (first aspect) (Table 1
BL) shows that even if outside air is directly taken in, the dimensional change is 1 to 7 JLIl by adjusting the temperature of the drying air.
range, and extremely effective processing performance can be obtained.

Note that, as is the same in the table below, the dimensional change data was measured when the sample was cooled to the outside temperature (25° C.).

The second aspect of the control dimension is to change the dry air humidity in response to the environmental humidity. According to this method, as shown in Table 2, when the environmental humidity is low, by humidifying the drying air and drying at a high relative humidity, it is possible to suppress the "stretching" of the dimensions. Furthermore, when the environmental humidity is high, by dehumidifying the drying air and drying in a state of low relative humidity, it is possible to suppress the "shrinkage" of the dimensions.

Margin Table 2 Below: Comparing the data in Tables A and A2, it is clear that simply increasing the drying air temperature will not increase the overall environmental temperature.
Although it is not possible to bring the dimensional change within the permissible range under humidity conditions, as is clear from the data of B1 and B2, by adjusting the absolute humidity of the drying air, the dimensional change can be suppressed to a significantly low level.

In the first aspect described above, if the environmental humidity is low, sufficient drying ability may not be obtained by low-temperature drying. Also the second
In this case, if the environmental humidity is high, the dehumidifier's capacity is actually limited, and it may not be possible to lower the dry humidity sufficiently in a short period of time, and it may not be possible to suppress the "shrinking" of the dimensions. be.

Furthermore, in both the first and second embodiments, it is possible to automatically set the optimum drying conditions in terms of dimensional stability each time in response to minute changes in environmental humidity. but,
Since these two methods only control either the temperature or the humidity, there are cases where it is not possible to suppress the "stretching" or "shrinking" of the dimensions, or the drying is insufficient.

Therefore, in the third aspect of the present invention, the drying temperature and humidity are changed in accordance with the environmental humidity.

The first method of the third aspect is to set a reference temperature in advance as shown in the data in Table 3, and when the environmental humidity is low, by humidifying and drying at a high relative humidity, the dimensions can be adjusted. In this method, if the environmental humidity is high, humidification is stopped, and the drying temperature is increased to dry at a low relative humidity, thereby suppressing the shrinkage of one dimension.

If you try to set the drying air absolute humidity while keeping the standard temperature, if the humidity is lower than the outside air humidity and the device does not have a dehumidification function, the drying temperature will be automatically set using the outside air absolute humidity as the drying air absolute humidity. Or preferable.

Margin table below 3 The second method of the third aspect is to set the standard humidity in advance, as shown in the data in Table 4, and when the environmental humidity is low, the drying air temperature is lowered and the relative humidity is high. If the environmental humidity is high, the drying air temperature is increased and the relative humidity is low. When the set drying air temperature exceeds the controllable range of the automatic processor (temperature range that does not adversely affect the photographic performance of photographic light-sensitive materials or the drying range), the drying air humidity is changed and the automatic processor can be controlled. It is preferable to control the temperature to the optimum condition within a range.

Also, if you set the drying air temperature while keeping the standard humidity, it will be 60°.
If it exceeds C, it is preferable to automatically turn off the humidifier and set the drying air temperature using the outside air absolute humidity as the drying air absolute humidity.

Below is a margin table 4 Example 2 Sample preparation similar to Example 1 with a thickness of 30ILI11.7S
JLra, 100 p, cm, 270 g m,
It was carried out on a PET base of 320 JL ta. The total thickness at this time was 40ILm and 85JLm, respectively.

110 gm, 280 g m, :r30 g yI.

Tables 5 to 8 show the results of dimensional control performed on these samples using the second method of the first to third aspects of Example 1, respectively.

Table 5 (First aspect) Table 6 (Second aspect) Table 7 Table 8 (Second method of third aspect) The above implementation In the explanation of the present invention using Examples 1 and 2, the outside air humidity is assumed to be the outside air humidity at the time of development processing, but this is effective when the time of exposure of the photographic light-sensitive material and the time of development processing are close to each other. .

If there is a time gap between the two, and the humidity conditions at the time of exposure of the photographic light-sensitive material are significantly different from the environmental conditions of the automatic processor, the humidity conditions at the time of exposure may be detected instead of detecting the environmental conditions at the time of development processing. It is preferable that the optimum drying conditions be inputted by the operator.

Furthermore, although the dimensional variation characteristics of photographic materials before and after processing may differ depending on the photographic material (manufacturer, product type), it is preferable to control it in accordance with the characteristics of the photographic material when applying the present invention. Of course.

[Effect of the invention] The drying air control method and automatic developing machine of the present invention reduce the total thickness of 5.
As shown in the experimental data in Tables 1 to 8, if a photographic material of 0 pm to 100 #Lm is processed, it is possible to perform processing with good dimensional stability regardless of the external environmental humidity conditions. It is extremely effective especially when preparing a photographic material original plate for color printing.

In addition, in conventional methods, when continuous processing is performed, the drying air is circulated within the drying section, so the humidity of the drying air changes (increases), and the rate of change in finished dimensions changes between the first and last processing. Although they are different from each other, the present invention has the advantage that even when continuous processing is performed, processing can be performed with stable finished dimensions.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of an automatic processor to which the method of the present invention is applied. In the figure, each symbol indicates the following. 10: Drying section 11: Drying fan I2: Heater 13: Drying rack 14: Drying tact 15: Exhaust fan 16: Humidity sensor 17: Temperature sensor 18: Humidifier 19: Dehumidifier 20: Control section 21: Outside air humidity sensor 22 : Outside air temperature sensor F: Photographic material patent applicant Konica Co., Ltd. Representative Patent attorney Nobuaki Sakaguchi

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A drying air control method in an automatic developing machine for developing and drying a photographic material having at least one photosensitive silver halide emulsion layer on one or both sides of the support, The photographic light-sensitive material, which has a thickness of 50 to 300 μm including all layers coated on the support, is dried after exposure and development by detecting the outside temperature and humidity, and automatically controlling the temperature according to the detected information. 1. A drying air control method in an automatic developing machine, characterized in that the drying air is controlled by the drying air that is generated. 2. In a drying air control method in an automatic developing machine for developing and drying a photographic material having at least one photosensitive silver halide emulsion layer on one or both sides of the support, The drying process after exposure and development of a photographic light-sensitive material having a thickness of 50 to 300 μm including all layers is performed using drying air that detects the outside temperature and humidity and automatically controls the humidity according to the detected information. A method for controlling drying air in an automatic processor, characterized in that: 3. In a drying air control method in an automatic processor for developing and drying a photographic light-sensitive material having at least one photosensitive silver halide emulsion layer on one or both sides of the support, The drying process after exposure and development of a photographic light-sensitive material with a thickness of 50 to 300 μm including all layers is performed by detecting the outside temperature and humidity, and using drying air that automatically controls the humidity and temperature according to the detected information. 1. A drying air control method in an automatic developing machine, characterized in that the drying air is controlled by: 4. Claims 1 and 2, wherein the outside air temperature and humidity to be detected are the temperature and humidity at the time of exposure of the photographic light-sensitive material.
Or the drying air control method in an automatic developing machine according to 3.