JP3193512B2 - Photosensitive material processing equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a drying section in which a photosensitive material after processing with a processing liquid is fed, conveyed by a plurality of rollers including a heat roller, and subjected to drying processing by a drying air from a drying air blowing device. The present invention relates to a photosensitive material processing apparatus provided.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A photosensitive material on which an image has been printed is sequentially developed with a processing solution such as a developing solution, a fixing solution, and washing water.
A fixing process, a rinsing process, and the like are performed, and thereafter, the sheet is sent to a drying unit and dried.

In the drying section, a plurality of rollers are arranged in a zigzag pattern, and a photosensitive material processed by a processing liquid passes between the rollers. The photosensitive material is conveyed by receiving a conveying force when its front and back surfaces alternately contact the rollers.

[0004] A drying air outlet is provided between the rollers, and the photosensitive material is dried by blowing the drying air while passing between the rollers arranged in a zigzag pattern. Configuration.

[0005] In recent years, in order to increase the processing efficiency, it has been required to increase the conveying speed of the photosensitive material without extending the drying path length. In order to cope with this, it has been considered that a part of the upstream side of the roller is formed as a heat roller to promote evaporation of moisture impregnating the photosensitive material.

As a result, the photosensitive material which has exceeded the saturated water content immediately after the processing is first contacted with the heat roller to promote evaporation, and thereafter the humid surrounding atmosphere is removed by dry air. Drying efficiency increases,
The processing efficiency can be improved without extending the drying path length.

[0007] Usually, a plurality of heat rollers (for example, 4
The temperature sensor is arranged in contact with the surface of the heat roller to control the heating temperature by turning on and off the halogen lamp inside. It is preferable that the sensors are arranged on the respective heat rollers at different axial positions. This is because the temperature of the heat roller surface may partially decrease due to contact with the sensor, and it is preferable that the decreased position does not coincide on the conveyed photosensitive material.

The energization of the halogen lamp is usually performed via a solid state relay (SSR) whose contacts come and go in response to an on / off signal of a control means. Further, in consideration of the case where the heat roller is abnormally heated for some reason, a thermostat is attached to each heat roller, and a protection function is provided for forcibly turning off the power supply during abnormal heating.

[0009]

However, when the temperature sensor, the SSR, and the thermostat operate normally and there is no disconnection in the power supply line to the halogen lamp, the halogen lamp operates as controlled by the control means (ON).・
Off), but if any of them is abnormal, the operation does not operate as controlled by the control means, which may affect the dry state of the photosensitive material.

In view of the above facts, the present invention improves the safety of the apparatus and adversely affects the dry state of the photosensitive material by self-diagnosing whether or not the on / off control of the halogen lamp is normally performed. It is an object of the present invention to provide a photosensitive material processing apparatus capable of preventing the occurrence of the above.

[0011]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a photosensitive material processing apparatus comprising a drying unit for drying a photosensitive material after processing with a processing solution by a heat roller and a drying air. A temperature sensor that detects the surface temperature of the heat roller, a control unit that outputs an on / off signal of a heat source of the heat roller based on a signal from the temperature sensor, and a control unit that outputs an on / off signal from the control unit. A relay circuit that conducts and cuts off the power line of the heat source, a current detection circuit that detects a current flowing through the heat source, and a thermal protector that cuts off the power line when the surface temperature of the heat roller is overheated. The current detection result by the current detection circuit in the conductive or cut-off state of the relay circuit, the relay circuit, the temperature sensor and the heat based on the detection result by the temperature sensor. And a, a diagnosis control unit for diagnosing the operating conditions.

[0012]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the drying section includes:
The processing with the processing liquid is completed, and thereafter, for example, the squeezed photosensitive material is fed. In the drying section, the photosensitive material first contacts the heat roller,
Evaporation is promoted, and then drying is performed by blowing dry air. The temperature of the drying air is generally lower than that of the heat roller.

Here, the heat roller is controlled to a predetermined temperature by on / off control. However, if an abnormality occurs in the circuit, the heat roller is not controlled to an appropriate temperature and adversely affects the drying of the photosensitive material. become.

Therefore, the above problem is prevented beforehand by providing a function of periodically diagnosing circuit components, wiring, and the like.

For example, if the current detection circuit detects that a current is flowing to the halogen lamp as a heat source while the control unit outputs an off signal, it is determined that the relay circuit has failed due to conduction. You. Normally, when an ON signal is output from the control means and the current detection circuit detects that a current is flowing through the halogen lamp, the temperature of the heat roller rises. However, if the temperature of the temperature sensor does not rise in such a state, it is determined that the temperature sensor is abnormal.

Next, when the relay circuit is conductive and no current flows through the halogen lamp by the current detection circuit, it is determined that the halogen lamp is disconnected under the condition that the thermal protector is not operated.

As described above, by providing the self-diagnosis function to the circuit for lighting the halogen lamp, the safety is improved, and an abnormality can be detected before the drying of the photosensitive material is adversely affected.

[0018]

FIG. 1 shows an automatic developing apparatus 10 which is a photosensitive material processing apparatus to which the present invention is applied. The automatic developing device 10 dries a film 20, which is an example of a photosensitive material, in a developing solution, a fixing solution, and washing water, and then performs a drying process.

The automatic developing apparatus 10 is provided with a processing solution processing section 11 and a drying section 50 in a machine frame 12. The processing solution processing unit 11 includes a developing tank 14 for storing a developing solution, a fixing tank 16 for storing a fixing solution, and a washing tank 18 for storing washing water, and is provided near an insertion port 15 provided in the machine frame 12. Rack 17 for drawing film 20 into machine frame 12, and insertion detection sensor 8 for detecting film 20 to be inserted
0 is provided. The insertion detection sensor 80 includes the control unit 6
4 is connected.

The developing tank 14 and the fixing tank 1 of the processing liquid processing section 11
6. A plurality of transport rollers 22, 26,
The transport racks 24, 28, 32 each having 30
It is provided immersed in a developer, a fixer, and washing water.
Further, between the developing tank 14 and the fixing tank 16, and between the fixing tank 16 and the washing tank 18, a crossover rack 34 provided with a transport roller 36 and a guide 38 above them is provided.

The film 20 inserted from the insertion port 15
Is drawn in by the insertion rack 17, and the developing solution, the fixing solution,
The developer is conveyed while being sequentially immersed in washing water, and is subjected to development, fixing, and washing.

A squeeze roller 4 that conveys the film 20 while squeezing the film 20 is provided between the washing tank 18 and the drying unit 50.
2, a squeeze rack 40 having a guide 43 for guiding the film 20 and the drying unit 50 is provided. The film 20 sent out from the washing tank 18 is guided to the drying unit 50 while squeezing rollers 42 squeeze out the surface moisture.

The squeeze roller 4 close to the washing tank 18
A crossover rack 34 having the same configuration as the crossover rack 34 between the developing tank 14 and the fixing tank 16 and the crossover rack 34 between the fixing tank 16 and the washing tank 18 is applied to the portion between the fixing tank 2 and the guide 43. Can be.

As shown in FIG. 2, the drying unit 50 is stretched between a pair of side plates 54 arranged in parallel with each other,
The transport rollers 44 for transporting the film 20 and the heat rollers 60 are arranged in a zigzag pattern to form a transport path for the film 20, and a drying air generating unit 45 having a heater 90 and a drying fan 92 (both shown in FIG. 4). A blowout pipe 47 for blowing out the drying air generated toward the vicinity of the transport roller 44 and the heat roller 60 is provided. The blowout pipe 47 is connected to each of the transport rollers 44 and the heat rollers 60.
A chamber 49 is provided at one end in the longitudinal direction.

That is, the drying air generated by the heater and the drying fan is once stocked in the chamber 49 to be equalized in pressure, and then guided to each of the blowout pipes 47 and blown out from the blowout ports of the blowout pipes 47. It is configured to be.

The arrangement order of the transport rollers 44 and the heat rollers 60 in the drying section 50 is such that two transport rollers 44 are firstly arranged from above the drying section 50, and then four heat rollers 60 are arranged. Ten transport rollers 44 are arranged. The film 20 is conveyed downward by receiving a conveying force while being in contact with the conveying roller 44 and the heat roller 60 arranged in a staggered manner as described above, and is ejected from the blowing pipe 47 while receiving the conveying force. It is heated and dried by the drying air.

Here, as shown in FIG. 3, the heat roller 60 has a hollow inside, and a halogen lamp 62 is disposed on the axis. When the halogen lamp 62 is turned on, the surface of the heat roller 60 is heated. The heat roller 60 has a shaft portion 61 supported by the side plate 54 via a bearing 56.
Note that a cover 70 for preventing outside air from flowing into the heat roller 60 is attached to the side plate 54.

A drying turn section 48 is provided below the drying section 50.
The film 20 dried by the heat roller 60 and the drying air is turned obliquely upward by the drying turn section 48 and then stored in the receiving box 52.

As shown in FIG. 4, the control unit 64 includes a microcomputer 110. The microcomputer 110 has a CPU 112, a RAM 114, an RO,
M116, an input / output port 118, and a bus 120 such as a data bus or a controller bus connecting these.

A heater 122 and a fan 92 of the drying air generator 45 are connected to an input / output port 118 by a driver 122,
124 are connected. The four halogen lamps 62 are also connected via the SSR 126, respectively.

A temperature sensor (thermistor) 128 for detecting the temperature of the peripheral surface of the heat roller 60 accommodating each of the halogen lamps 62 is connected to the input / output port 118 via a signal conversion circuit 129 and inserted. The detection sensor 80 is connected.

Further, the input / output port 118 is provided with a coil 1 for arranging the power supply line 63 of the halogen lamp 62 on the axis.
32 is connected via a signal conversion circuit 133 to detect whether or not a current is flowing through the halogen lamp 62.
The input / output port 118 is connected to a signal line 130 that controls the driving system of each tank and the drying unit 50.

By the way, on the peripheral surface of the heat roller 60,
A thermostat 134 is attached to each. The thermostat 134 is connected in series, one end is connected to the positive power supply unit, and the other end is connected to the primary coil 136A of the relay circuit 136. This primary coil 1
The other end of 36A is grounded. Accordingly, when the thermostat 134 is not working, that is, when the surface temperature of the heat roller 60 has not reached the preset abnormal temperature, the primary coil 136 is excited, and the secondary contact 136B is turned on. I have.

A power line of a halogen lamp 62 is connected to both ends of the secondary side contact portion 13B.

The operation of this embodiment will be described below. The film 20 on which an image is recorded by exposure is inserted into the automatic developing device 10 from the insertion opening 15 of the automatic developing device 10 and processed. In the automatic developing device 10, the film 20 inserted from the insertion opening 15 is drawn in by the insertion rack 17 and sent to the developing tank 14 of the processing liquid processing unit 11.

In the developing tank 14, while being conveyed in a substantially U-shape by the conveying rollers 22 of the rack 24, it is immersed in a developing solution to perform a developing process. The film 20 that has been processed with the developed image 14 is guided and conveyed by the guide 38 and the conveying roller 36 of the crossover rack 34 and sent to the fixing tank 16. In the fixing tank 16, the transport rollers 2 of the rack 28
6, the film 20 is conveyed while being guided in a substantially U-shape and immersed in a fixing solution to perform a fixing process. The film 20 that has been processed in the fixing tank 16 is guided and conveyed by the crossover rack 34 and sent to the washing tank 18. In the washing tank 18, the film 20 is conveyed while being immersed in washing water by the conveying rollers 30 of the rack 32, and the film 20 is washed with water, and the fixing liquid component is removed from the surface of the film.

The film 20 having been subjected to the rinsing process is guided and conveyed from the rinsing tank 18 to the squeeze roller 42 and the guide 43 of the squeeze rack 40, and is sent from the processing liquid processing section 11 to the drying section 50. At this time, the moisture attached to the surface of the film 20 is removed by the squeeze roller 42.

In the drying section 50, first, the film 20
The front and back surfaces are alternately brought into contact with the individual conveying rollers 44 to be conveyed and dry air is blown. Thereby, the water droplets remaining particularly at the leading end or the rear end in the transport direction of the film 20 and the water droplets remaining unevenly over the entire film 20 without being squeezed by the squeeze roller 42 are made relatively uniform. can do.

Next, the film 20 on which water droplets are relatively uniformly adhered by the transport roller 44 and the drying air is alternately contacted by the four heat rollers 60 on the front and back sides, so that evaporation is promoted. Then, heat roller 60
The atmosphere containing a large amount of water is removed by the drying air from the blowing pipe 47 corresponding to the above, and the evaporation is further promoted. At this time, since there is no water droplet unevenness, the evaporation does not partially delay or advance, and the evaporation is uniformly promoted over the front surface of the film 20.

Thereafter, while the film 20 is conveyed by the ten conveying rollers 44, the drying air generated by the drying air generating section 45 is blown out from the blowing pipe 47 toward the front and back surfaces of the film 20 to heat the film 20. dry. The film 20 is conveyed while being heated, and is dried by the drying turn section 4.
When it reaches 8, it is turned obliquely upward and discharged, and is stored in the receiving box 49.

Next, an example of temperature control in the drying section 50 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to the time chart of FIG.

The arrow 1 in FIG. 5 shows the at the start of operation, the operation is started when the warm air heater 90 and the fan 92 are operated at the same time, periodically turning on and off the warm air heater 90 after a predetermined time t ₁ has elapsed And maintained at approximately 55 ° C. At this time, the surface temperature of the heat roller 60 is gradually increased by the drying air to reach about 50 ° C.

Thereafter, when the lighting of the halogen lamp 62 is started at arrow 2 in FIG. 5, the surface temperature of the heat roller 60 is rapidly increased, and reaches 70 ° C. which is the upper limit of the standby temperature at arrow 3 in FIG. Reach. at this point,
The halogen lamp 62 is turned off.

On the other hand, as indicated by an arrow 2 in FIG. 5, the hot air heater 90 and the fan 92 are turned off.
With respect to 0, the on / off control in which the drying air temperature is turned on at 40 ° C. and turned off at 55 ° C. is repeated. Conventionally, the fan 92 is operated in conjunction with the turning on and off of the warm air heater 90.
In the present embodiment, this fan is always on when the hot air heater 90 is in the on state, but it is also turned on in other cases.

That is, when the surface temperature of the heat roller 60 overshoots the upper limit of 70 ° C. by + 2 ° C. or more, the fan 92 is turned on even if the hot air heater 90 is off (arrow A in FIG. 5). reference). Thus, the surface temperature of the heat roller 60 can be quickly reduced.

Thereafter, the on / off control of the heat roller 60 is repeated between 60 ° C. (the lower limit of the standby temperature) and 70 ° C.

Next, when the film 20 is detected by the insertion detection sensor 80, after a predetermined time (the position indicated by the arrow 5 in FIG. 5), the surface temperature of the heat roller 60 and the temperature of the drying air are raised to the processing temperature. To start.

Here, a predetermined time after the film 20 is detected by the insertion detection sensor 80 (arrows 4 to 5 in FIG. 5).
5) is changed depending on the transport speed (linear speed) of the film 20. That is, in the present apparatus, as the processing time from the insertion of the film 20 to the end of the drying,
There are 30-second processing and 45-second processing.
The transport speed of 0 is set to 46.3 mm / sec in the case of 30 seconds processing, and 72.5 mm / sec in the case of 45 seconds processing. Due to the difference in the processing speed, the time from when the film detection sensor 80 detects the film 20 to when the leading end of the film 20 reaches the drying unit differs. Therefore, the start-up start time is changed according to each processing time (that is, the position of the arrow 5 in FIG. 5 is shifted), and the start-up end time (the arrow 6 in FIG. 5 is always set to a constant position).

In the case of the present embodiment, in the 30-second process, the start of the water-washing process of the film 20 is the start-up time, and in the 45-second process, the end of the water-washing process of the film 20 is the start-up time.

Thereafter (after the arrow 6 in FIG. 5), the drying air temperature is controlled to approximately 55 ° C. by repeating the on / off control of the drying air heater 90 in a short cycle.

On the other hand, the surface temperature of the heat roller 60 is set to 1 ° C. with respect to a set temperature (for example, 80 ° C. in a 30-second process).
If it is lower than the above, the halogen lamp 62 continues to be on,
When the temperature is higher than 2 ° C., the off state is continued, and +2>80> −1
In the case of ° C, it is controlled to repeat on / off for 1.5 sec / off for 1 sec, and is controlled to approximately 80 ° C.

When the processing amount is large, the humidity of the drying unit 50 increases, so that the set temperature is set slightly higher (for example, 80 + 3 ° C.). In this case, at the arrow 7 in FIG. 5, the above-described steady-state temperature control may be temporarily stopped, the halogen lamp 62 and the drying heater 90 may be continuously turned on to increase the temperature, and then the control may be returned to the above-mentioned steady-state temperature control.

When the surface temperature of the heat roller 60 becomes abnormal, the thermostat 134 is activated, and the power supply lines of all the heat rollers 60 are cut off by the relay circuit 136 when one heat roller 60 is abnormal. Therefore, damage to the circuit and damage to the drying section itself due to overheating can be prevented.

As described above, in the present embodiment, during non-processing, the temperature is controlled to be slightly lower than the temperature during processing, so that power consumption can be reduced. Also, conventionally, the temperature control was rough without changing the set temperature during non-processing,
In some cases, over-drying may occur during the initial stage of drying. However, by setting the temperature during non-processing to be lower, the over-drying can be prevented.

Further, the control of the surface temperature of the heat roller 60 during the non-processing is + 2 ° C. with respect to the set upper limit (70 ° C.) during the non-processing as well as the on / off control of the halogen lamp 62. In this case, since the fan 92 is driven independently of the drying heater 90 to quickly lower the temperature, concerns about heat resistance and durability of peripheral members are eliminated. Further, for example, the operating temperature of a safety device (thermal fuse or the like) that shuts off the power supply at a predetermined temperature or higher can be lowered.

When detecting the insertion of the film 20 from the temperature control state during non-processing and starting up to the processing temperature,
Start-up timing (Fig. 5) according to the film transport speed
(Position of arrow 5) is changed, so that even if the transport speed is different, the timing can be set so that the film 20 reaches the optimum temperature when it comes just before the drying unit 50, and the over-drying or undrying is performed. Drying can be prevented.

Next, in the circuit for performing the above temperature control, circuit components may break down or be disconnected.
If such a state is left for a long time, the dried state of the photosensitive material is affected. It is also not preferable from the viewpoint of safety. For this reason, in the present embodiment, the circuit is provided with a self-diagnosis function, and the circuit component is periodically diagnosed as to whether there is a failure state or disconnection. Hereinafter, the self-diagnosis routine will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In addition,
This routine is programmed so as to be executed while the film 20 is not yet processed and at predetermined time intervals.

First, in step 200, the SSR 126
Output off signal to Next, in step 202, it is determined whether or not a current is flowing to the halogen lamp 62 based on the current flowing through the coil 133. SSR12
If No. 6 is normal, the contact is opened by the OFF signal, so that no current flows (negative determination). However, when an affirmative determination is made in step 202, it is determined that the secondary contact of the SSR 126 is in a conductive state and has failed, and in step 204
Then, an alarm or the like is activated to notify the failure of the SSR 126.

If a negative determination is made in step 202,
The process proceeds to step 206 to output an ON signal to the SSR 126. Next, at step 208, it is determined again whether or not a current is flowing through the halogen lamp 62. If an affirmative determination is made, it can be determined that the SSR 126 is operating normally, and the routine proceeds to step 210.

In step 210, it is determined whether or not a rise in the surface temperature of the heat roller 60 has been detected by the temperature sensor (thermistor) 128. In the case of a negative determination, it is determined whether a current is flowing through the halogen lamp 62. Regardless, the temperature must not rise and it is determined that the temperature sensor (thermistor) 128 is faulty, and the process proceeds to step 212 to notify the fault of the temperature sensor (thermistor) 128 by an alarm or the like.

If the determination in step 210 is affirmative,
It is determined that the temperature sensor (thermistor) 128 is operating normally, and the routine returns.

If a negative determination is made in step 208, it is determined that the cause of no current flow is either disconnection or the operation of the thermostat 134 despite the normal operation of the SSR 126. Then, the process proceeds to step 214 to determine whether or not the thermostat is in operation. In the case of a negative determination, it is determined that the disconnection is the cause, and
The process proceeds to step 216 to activate an alarm indicating disconnection. In the case of an affirmative determination in step 214, the process returns.

According to the present embodiment, the circuit for heating the surface of the heat roller 60 is provided with a self-diagnosis function, so that the temperature of the heat roller 60 can be accurately set to a predetermined temperature as instructed by the control unit 64. It is possible to prevent uneven drying of the film 20 or damage to peripheral devices of the drying section due to abnormal heating.

The self-diagnosis routine described above
Although the processing is limited to the time during which the film 20 is not processed, the processing may be during the processing of the film 20. Although the self-diagnosis is performed periodically, the self-diagnosis may be performed according to an instruction of the operator.

[0065]

As described above, the photosensitive material processing apparatus according to the present invention improves the safety of the apparatus by self-diagnosing whether or not the on / off control of the halogen lamp is normally performed. It has an excellent effect that it is possible to prevent a bad influence on the dry state of the photosensitive material.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an automatic developing apparatus according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing the arrangement of rollers and heat rollers in a drying unit.

FIG. 3 is an axial sectional view of a heat roller and its periphery.

FIG. 4 is a control block diagram according to the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a time chart illustrating an example of temperature control according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a self-diagnosis control routine according to the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Automatic developing apparatus 45 Dry air generation part 50 Drying part (control means, diagnostic control means) 60 Heat roller 62 Halogen lamp 64 Control part 126 SSR (relay circuit) 128 Temperature sensor 132 Coil (current detection circuit) 134 Thermostat (thermal protector) )

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Shinichi Matsuda 1250 Takematsu, Minamiashigara-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Inside Fujiki Kiki Kogyo Co., Ltd. 56) References JP-A-5-72708 (JP, A) JP-A-5-2256 (JP, A) JP-A-54-38112 (JP, A) JP-A-57-158641 (JP, A) 53-94631 (JP, U) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G03D 15/02 F26B 3/10 F26B 13/18

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A photosensitive material processing apparatus comprising a heat roller and a drying unit for drying a photosensitive material after processing with a processing liquid using a heat roller and drying air, wherein a temperature sensor for detecting a surface temperature of the heat roller; Control means for outputting an on / off signal of the heat source of the heat roller based on a signal from a temperature sensor; anda relay circuit for conducting / cutting off a power supply line of the heat source based on an on / off signal from the control means. A current detection circuit that detects a current flowing through the heat source; a thermal protector that shuts off the power supply line when a surface temperature of the heat roller is overheated; and a current detection in a conductive or interrupted state of the relay circuit. Diagnostic detection means for diagnosing an operation state of the relay circuit, the temperature sensor and the heat source based on a current detection result by the circuit and a detection result by the temperature sensor; A photosensitive material processing apparatus comprising: