JPH03100547A - Drying air control/automatic developing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To stabilize fluctuation in the dimension of a film set having different conditions before and after drying operations by inputting information on the type of film, the type of an exposing device and original composition at the time of exposure and appropriately controlling drying air. CONSTITUTION:A control part 20 controls temperature and/or moisture in a drying part 20 according to information regarding a fresh air temperature and its moisture detected by a fresh air temperature sensor 22 and a fresh air moisture sensor 21, respectively, and information regarding the type of film the type of an exposing device and original composition at the time of exposure, which is input from an input part 23. Then, the control part controls the dimensional fluctuation of the film and dries the film. Thus, with respect to a set of plates having different conditions, the fluctuation in the dimension of the film can be stabilized.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an automatic developing machine for developing silver halide photographic materials, and more particularly to an automatic developing machine that controls drying air. More specifically, the present invention relates to an automatic developing machine that performs a "dry air system" that is optimal for developing a color original film composed of three or four plates used in color printing.

``Prior Art'' Current color original silver halide photographic materials (hereinafter referred to as films) have the property of ``shrinking'' when the humidity is low and ``stretching'' when the humidity is high.

Apart from this, it also has the characteristic that the dimensions of the film before and after processing change. This is a phenomenon in which the film and image dimensions on the film at the time of film exposure (equal to the original size) and the film and image dimensions on the film after processing are different, and the temperature and humidity conditions at the time of exposure and the dryness during processing are different. Department/
Affected by humidity conditions. The latter results in different dimensions between the original and the copy film, which poses the following problems.

In particular, film original plates for color printing are cyan magenta,
Since it consists of 3 yellow originals or 4 originals including a blackout version, dimensional stability is required for the originals of the set. Films that are currently commercially available to create original plates for color printing have the above-mentioned characteristics regarding temperature and humidity. Dimensional changes before and after treatment caused by fluctuations in drying conditions (temperature and humidity) without treatment are often a problem.

For example, when a film that has been exposed and developed as a cyan version is used as an original, the pattern of a magenta version is aligned, and then exposed and developed, a shift occurs between the resulting magenta version and the original cyan version. Such problems arise.

Even in conventional automatic processing machines, it is necessary to change the recycling rate of drying air (the ratio of the amount of outside air taken in as dry air circulated within the drying section) in response to the external environmental humidity, and to change the recycling rate of the drying air from the outlet to the entrance of the drying section. It is well known that drying air is controlled by methods such as creating a temperature gradient, dehumidifying the air used for drying, etc., but such control improves drying efficiency, saves energy, and prevents uneven drying. However, no consideration was given to dimensional stability.

[Problem WJ to be solved by the invention] For this reason, the present inventor detected the temperature and humidity of the outside air and controlled the temperature and/or humidity of the drying air in the drying section to prevent dimensional fluctuations in the film after processing. Automatic current fI can be reduced! He first proposed a drying air control method (Japanese Patent Application No. 63-77562, No. 63-1265).
No. 92, No. 63-140254, Patent Application No. 1-3787
No. 4, No. 1-37875, No. 1-89179 and No. 1-99776).

The present inventor further researched the automatic processing machine according to the above-mentioned previously proposed technology and found that detection of outside air temperature and humidity alone is not enough.
It has been found that there are cases in which it is not possible to obtain an appropriate drying air control value.

That is, in the automatic processor according to the previously proposed technology, the control value is obtained from the correlation between the outside air temperature and humidity, which are the environmental conditions during exposure, and the temperature and humidity of the drying air, which are the environmental conditions during drying. , the drying process was performed based on the control values, but when conditions other than these vary as described in ■ to ■ below, it is not always possible to obtain appropriate control values only from the above correlation. However, it was found that stable dimensional variation processing could not be performed. In particular, in a set of plates consisting of 3 or 4 plates, if each plate differs in any or all of the following conditions, dry the plates to the same size so that they match. It was impossible to process.

■When the types of films to be processed are various The dimensional fluctuation characteristics of the film before and after processing vary depending on the base (support) thickness, layer structure, amount of gel (binder such as gelatin), amount of coated silver, manufacturing conditions, etc.

■When the exposure equipment used for exposure is various, the exposure equipment is
There are several types of plate making cameras, scanner plotters, contact printers, etc. Contact printers include point light source type and parallel light type, and parallel light type include honeycomb printers and multiple light source types. Depending on the exposure device used, the document The amount of deviation in optical dimension of the film exposed image differs from that of the film.

■When the document composition during exposure varies When exposing the document and film in close contact, for example, when performing close exposure with multiple sheets of film stacked on top of each other during the turning process of plate-making work, the exposure device described in (■) above The amount of optical deviation due to the number of stacked sheets and the thickness of the document (distance between the image on the document and the film emulsion) further differs.

[Object of the Invention] The present invention has been created in view of the above, and enables input of various information regarding the type of film, type of exposure device, and document structure at the time of exposure, and enables more appropriate control of drying air. The main purpose of this research is to demonstrate a drying air-controlled automatic developing machine that can stabilize film dimensional fluctuations before and after drying processing even for a set of plates with different conditions. Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present inventors have conducted extensive studies and have arrived at two inventions.

That is, the drying air controlled automatic developing machine according to the present invention controls the temperature and temperature of the drying air according to at least one of the information regarding the type of film, the type of exposure device, and the document structure at the time of exposure, and the detected outside temperature and humidity. /or It is characterized by controlling humidity.

Further, a preferred embodiment of the drying air-controlled automatic processor according to the present invention is that it has an input section for inputting information regarding the type of film, the type of exposure device, and the document configuration at the time of exposure.

[Specific structure of the invention] Hereinafter, five aspects of the present invention will be explained in detail.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of an automatic processor of the present invention, in which a film F to be processed is stored in a magazine or the like, for example, and is prepared on the side surface of the device frame 2. It is inserted into the insertion section 3.

After setting the magazine 1, when the start button is turned on, the presence of the film to be processed is confirmed by the film detection means, and the end of the film is engaged with the take-in roller 4 by the rotation of the film pull-out roller, and the film is then transported sequentially. The developing tank 6 and fixing tank 7 follow the rotation of the 5 groups of rollers.
．． It is guided to the washing tank 8 and processed.

After the film has been washed with water, it is guided to the squeeze section and drained, then guided to the drying section 10 to be dried, and then discharged out of the apparatus through the film discharge port as shown by the 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.

16 is a drying air humidity sensor, 17 is a temperature sensor, and both sensors are connected to the drying fan 11 in the automatic developing machine.
Although it is preferable to provide the drying air near the outlet of the drying air, it may be provided in other circulation paths of the drying air.

A humidifying device 18 is provided at the outlet or inlet of the drying fan 11, but it may also be provided in another circulation path of dry air or near the external air intake. Although an ultrasonic humidifier that is easy to control is preferable, it is of course possible to use a general humidifier that heats and evaporates water using a heater.

19 is a dehumidifying device, and a pair of pipes connects the drying duct 14.
It dehumidifies the dry air.

21 is a humidity sensor for outside air, and 22 is a temperature sensor for outside air.

In this document, outside temperature and humidity refer to the environmental temperature and humidity at the time of film exposure, but normally the exposure machine and the automatic developing machine are installed under the same environment, that is, in the same room. Therefore, the outside air humidity sensor 21 and temperature sensor 22 are provided on the automatic developing machine side.

When the outside air humidity sensor 21 and the temperature sensor 22 are provided on the side of the automatic developing machine, it is preferable to install them 5 cm or more away from the main body of the automatic developing machine so as not to be affected by the heater 12 of the developing machine.

Therefore, in cases where the exposure machine and the automatic processing machine are in environments where the temperature and humidity are different, the outside air humidity sensor 21 and the temperature sensor 22 are installed near the exposure machine, and the temperature and humidity to be detected are determined during film exposure. temperature and humidity. In this case, the outside air humidity sensor 21 and the temperature sensor 22 may be located near the exposure machine and not on the automatic developing machine side.

Reference numeral 20 denotes a control unit, which provides information regarding the outside air temperature and humidity detected by the outside air humidity sensor 21 and the outside air temperature sensor 22 (hereinafter also simply referred to as detection information).
The drying section lO
The drying process is performed by controlling the amount of dimensional variation of the film by controlling the temperature and/or humidity inside.

Note that the control by the control unit 20 is preferably performed by a computer, and in this case, it is more preferable to further improve control accuracy by feeding back the temperature and humidity of the drying air to the computer.

Also. The present inventor has discovered that the relationship between the outside air temperature and humidity, the drying air temperature and humidity, and the amount of dimensional variation of the film after processing can be determined, for example, by the following equation. -37.975).

Δl x = A”Qo(to4so)−βo(ha−
hso)÷αa(to-ts)−β. (ho-hs)
ΔC1: Film dimensional variation (%) to: Outside air temperature ('C) Lo: Drying temperature (°C) ts: Standard drying temperature ('C) tso: Outside air standard temperature ('C) ho: Outside air humidity ( hD: Dry humidity (g/kg) hs: Standard dry humidity (g/kg) hrro: Outside air standard humidity (g/kg) A, α0.β0
．． α0. β. is a constant that is determined by the type of film and the structure of the drying section.The present inventor believes that there are cases where it is not possible to appropriately control the dimensional fluctuations of the film from only the detection information. It has been found that dimensional fluctuations can be further reduced by taking into account information regarding the original structure during exposure. In order to take this information into consideration, an input section 23 for inputting the information is provided.

The input section 23 is configured to be able to input information related to (1) film type, (2) exposure device type, and (2) document structure at exposure, that is, input information, and the input information is transmitted to the control section 20 and controlled together with detection information. This serves as basic data for dry air control by the section 20. The details of each input information Φ to ■ are as follows.

■Film type information If the requirements of the film to be processed, such as the single-layer base thickness, gel content, silver content, manufacturing conditions, etc., differ, the dimensional fluctuation characteristics of the film before and after processing will also differ. The fluctuation characteristic value of each requirement is calculated in advance, and the calculated value is input into the input section 23.

■Exposure device type information There are several types of exposure devices, including plate-making cameras, scanner plotters, and contact printers.Contact printers include point light source types and parallel light types, and parallel light types include honeycomb printers and multiple types. There is a light source type, and the amount of deviation in optical dimension of the film exposed image with respect to the original varies depending on the exposure device used. A characteristic value of the amount of deviation of each exposure device is calculated in advance, and the calculated value is input into the input section 23.

■ Document composition information during exposure When exposing the original and film in close contact, for example, during the turning process of plate-making work, if multiple sheets of film are stacked and exposed, the amount of optical deviation caused by the exposure device will be 1. Depending on the number of stacked sheets and the thickness of the original (distance between the image on the original and the film emulsion layer).

Even more different. Characteristic values of the thickness of the original and the amount of deviation in the number of stacked sheets are calculated in advance, and the calculated values are input into the input section 23.

As for inputting each of the above input information ■ to ■ to the input section 23,
Any method and value may be used as long as it is transmitted to the control unit 20 and becomes the basis of the control value.In addition to inputting each characteristic value as is as described above, you can input one numerical value for each item listed in the details of ■ to ■ above. Although it is possible to input only one input, it is particularly preferable to prepare channels for several types in advance and input each The method is to input and store each data in the channels in advance, and to select each channel according to the film to be processed at the time of processing. Further, in this case, it is more preferable to provide a channel for inputting numerical values so as to be able to cope with one exceptional condition.

Further, the input information may be handled in parallel with the detection information in the control unit 20, but the input information mainly uses the control value from the detection information, and the input information corrects the control value according to the input information. , if the input information is treated as a correction value.

Each correction value is input and stored in the control unit ZO in advance,
It is preferable that the drying air control value is corrected simply by inputting or selecting the type of film to be processed at the time of processing, since the operation is simple.Also, the input section 23 is configured separately, and the automatic processing machine of the previously proposed technology is Is it okay to connect it to the control section of It is.

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, it is possible to input various information regarding the type of film, the type of exposure device, and the document structure at the time of exposure, and by controlling the drying air more appropriately, it is possible to Even a set of plates can be subjected to a drying process that can stabilize the dimensional fluctuations of the film after the drying process.

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

The experimental data shown in this example was obtained by processing the samples and processing agents shown below in an automatic processor shown in FIG.

Sample A 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. After this emulsion was sulfur sensitized in a conventional manner, the following compound [I] was added to coat the emulsion with latex subbing.
The gelatin is coated on a 100 g m PET base (polyethylene terephthalate film) at 2 g/rn'.

At this time, an emulsion protective layer was simultaneously coated on the outside of the emulsion layer with respect to the base so that the amount of gelatin was 1 g/rn'. This sample was dried to prepare a sample. At this time, the amount of coated silver was 3.5 g/m'.

Compound [I] This sample is 30 cm x 60 cI! Cut into + size pieces,
Using various exposure devices, two thin lines were imagewise exposed at a distance of 56 cm using a point light source type P-627FM light room printer (manufactured by Dainippon Screen Co., Ltd.), and developed to obtain a manuscript.

After thoroughly conditioning the original, unexposed sample (same size as the original), printer, and automatic processor under various humidity conditions at 25°C, the unexposed sample was exposed to the original in close contact with the automatic processor. Developed. The developed sample was placed on top of the original original, and the extent to which the spacing between the thin lines had changed compared to the original was measured using a graduated magnifying glass.

The optimal drying conditions in terms of dimensional stability before and after treatment under each outside air condition should be determined independently for each film, 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 (hereinafter sometimes referred to as automatic processor) and the composition of the processing agent are as follows.

Processing conditions Development 28℃ 30 seconds fixation
28℃ 20 seconds water wash Room temperature
Dry for 14 seconds and dry for 27 seconds.The automatic developing machine is in a standby state until the processing starts. That is, the temperature of each processing tank for development, fixing, and water washing is controlled to maintain the above conditions, or only the drying section is in a stopped state.

Support 1 base 1 [Composition A Pure water (ion exchange water) 150m ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid disodium salt 2g diethylene glycol 5 (Ig potassium sulfite (55% w/v aqueous solution) 1001m potassium carbonate 50g hydroquinone
15g 5-Methylbenzotriazole 200B1-phenyl-5-mercaptotetrazole 0tag Amount to adjust pH to 1099 after using potassium hydroxide Potassium bromide 4.5g [Composition] Pure water (ion exchange water) mg Diethylene glycol 50g Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid diacetate Sodium salt 25mg acetic acid (
90% aqueous solution) 0.3+JL5-
Nitroindazole 110+5g1-
Phenyl-3-pyrazolidone 500+++g
When using a developer, the developer was dissolved in 500 mJl of water in the order of composition A and composition 11.

Uwa 1J [Composition A] Ammonium thiosulfate (72.5% aqueous solution) Sodium sulfite sodium acetate, trihydrate boric acid, sodium citrate, dihydrate acetic acid (90% w/w aqueous solution) [Composition] Pure water (Ion-exchanged water) Sulfuric acid (50% w/w aqueous solution) 30sft 9.5g 15.9g 6.7g g 8.1 Hobun 7clL 5.8g Aluminum sulfate (Abun203 equivalent content is 8.1%w/
When using an aqueous solution of 26.5 g of fixing solution, 50 g of water (lsi) was dissolved in the order of the above group j*A and the composition, and finished to 11 for use.

The pH of this fixer was 4.3.

Sample B The following compounds [II] and [II! ] and coated on the PET base in the same manner as the sample used in Experimental Example 1, except that the thickness of the latex undercoated PET base was changed to 75JL11.

Compound [■] Compound [m] Using this sample, the processing conditions and developer composition were changed as shown below, and the exposure device was changed to a honeycomb printer S, which is a parallel light type different from the point light source type used in sample A. Sample B was obtained in the same manner as Sample A except that FM)+ (manufactured by Kuranami Seisakusho) was used. Note that when changing the developer, the developing rack in the processing tank must also be replaced.

Processing conditions: Development, fixation, water deposition, washing, drying, drying... Hydroquinone N-methyl p, aminophenol, sulfur, sulfur salt, sodium hydroxide, potassium wood oxide 5, sulfosalicylate, borate, potassium sulfite 34°C 38°C 45.0g 0.8g 15.0g 55.0g 45.0g 35.0g 110.0g 20 seconds 15 seconds 14 seconds 27 seconds Room temperature ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid disodium salt 1.0g Potassium bromide 6.0g 5-methylbenzotriazole 0.6g Butyl jetanolamine 15.0 g of water was added to make a final solution (pH-11.6).

Experimental Example l As an automatic developing machine, the one shown in Fig. 1 (this invention),
The above-mentioned 60 cm x 30 cm was used to control the drying air only from the conventional detection information (comparative example), which had almost the same configuration as the one in FIG. 1 except for the lack of the input section 23.
Samples A and B were processed with the longitudinal direction as the transport direction, and dimensional changes before and after the processing were measured. In the comparative example, the drying conditions are controlled according to the dimensional characteristics of the sample A, and settings are made to minimize dimensional fluctuations before and after treatment.

In the present invention, the drying conditions can be corrected in accordance with the input film type, document configuration for R light, and exposure device type.

In addition, in Table 1, the outside air humidity and temperature conditions indicated by A to C are as follows.

A: Outside air absolute humidity 3.5g/Kg, outside air relative humidity 18%
B = Outside air absolute humidity 10.0g/Kg, outside air relative humidity 50
%C; outside air absolute humidity 16.0g/g, outside air relative humidity 8
The 0% outside air temperature is 25°C in both cases.

The results are shown in Table 1.

In Margin Table 1 below, in Comparative Example, sample A has a small dimensional difference before and after treatment, but sample B has a large dimensional difference before and after treatment. That is, it may not be possible to achieve optimum size control for different samples under the same drying conditions.

On the other hand, it can be seen that in the present invention, by correcting the drying conditions according to the input film type information, stable dimensional control can be achieved at all times.

Experimental Example 2 Assume a case where multiple sheets of film are overlapped and exposed in close contact as a manuscript during the turning process of plate-making work.

Experimental Example 1
Similarly, continuous treatment 17 was measured.

Note that the conditions of A in Experimental Example 1 were adopted as the outside air humidity and temperature conditions.

The results are shown in Table 2.

Table 2 shows that in Experiment Nos. 16 to 18, in which the drying air was controlled only from the detection information of outside air temperature and humidity, the dimensional difference before and after the treatment was within 20 ILm, which is not a practical problem, but it increased as the number of stacked sheets increased. On the other hand, in Experiment N, in which information on the number of sheets to be stacked in addition to the film and exposure device was input.
It can be seen that in cases 13 to 15, the dimensional fluctuations are more stable by correcting the drying conditions according to the input number of stacked sheets.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of an automatic processor of the present invention. In the figure, each symbol indicates the following. 10: Drying section 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 : Outside air humidity sensor 22: Outside air temperature sensor 23: Input section F: Film

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. Controlling the temperature and/or humidity of the drying air according to at least one of each piece of information regarding the type of film, type of exposure device, and document structure during exposure, and the detected outside air temperature and humidity. A drying air controlled automatic developing machine. 2. The drying air controlled automatic developing machine according to claim 1, further comprising an input section for inputting information regarding the type of film, the type of exposure device, and the structure of the document at the time of exposure.