JPH01214850A - Temperature controller for automatic developing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate a need of a temperature detector of dry wind and to reduce the drying energy by estimating the temperature of outside air in accordance with the output of a developer temperature detector or the operation time of a developer heater and controlling the temperature of a drying part based on the estimated temperature. CONSTITUTION:A pump 28 is operated to circulate a developer, and a developer temperature T1 is detected by a temperature detector 38. This temperature T1 is compared with a prescribed temperature T2 at which a sensitive material is processed. When the temperature T1 is lower than the temperature T2, a heater 36 is operated to heat the developer; and when the temperature T1 exceeds the temperature T2, heating is stopped and overflow washing water is supplied to a cooling pipe 40 to reduce the temperature of the developer. The temperature of outside air is estimated based on the initial temperature T1 to calculate and set the turning-on/off time of a heater 60 of the drying part, and the heater 60 and a fan 58 are operated. Thus, the temperature of dry wind is so controlled that it is within a desired temperature range corresponding to the temperature of outside air.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an automatic processing machine for preheating and controlling the temperature of a drying section in which a photosensitive material is dried after processing such as development, fixing, and water washing. The present invention relates to a temperature control device.

[Conventional technology]

The photosensitive material on which the image has been printed is sequentially sent to a developing section, a fixing section, a washing section, a drying section, etc. in an automatic processor for processing.

In the developing section, the temperature of the developer is controlled to be within a predetermined temperature range, and in the drying section, the temperature of the drying air is controlled to be within a predetermined temperature range to dry the photosensitive material.

To control the temperature of the developing section, the temperature of the developing solution is detected by a temperature detector such as a thermistor placed in the developing section or in the developer circulation path, and the heater is turned on and off based on the detected temperature. The temperature is controlled within a predetermined temperature range.

Further, the drying section detects the temperature of the drying chamber or the drying air outlet, and turns on and off the heater based on the detected temperature to control the temperature within a predetermined temperature range.

In this case, regardless of the outside temperature, the air taken in from the air intake is heated by a heater to lower the relative humidity, raise the temperature of the film to be dried, and move the moisture-laden air out of the machine. I'm trying to drain it.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, when drying film using such equipment, in order to replace the air on the film surface regardless of the temperature and humidity of the outside air, a heater that can handle the maximum film processing per unit time is required. This posed the problem of requiring a fan and making the device large and expensive.

In view of the above-mentioned problems, an object of the present invention is to preheat and control the required drying temperature of the drying chamber, thereby minimizing energy consumption (
To provide a photographic film drying device that can maintain a necessary and sufficient level of drying based on heater temperature and drying air volume.

[Means for solving problems]

The present invention provides a developing section including a developer temperature control section that controls a developer temperature heater to keep the temperature of the developer within a predetermined range by controlling a heater for heating the developer based on the output of a developer temperature detector; A temperature control device for an automatic developing machine that preheats and controls the temperature of a drying part of an automatic developing machine, which is equipped with a drying part for drying a photosensitive material after processing such as washing with water, a prediction means for predicting the outside air temperature based on at least one of the output of the developer and the operating time of the developer heating heater, and a control means for preheating the temperature of the drying section based on the outside air temperature predicted by the prediction means. It is characterized by having the following.

[Effect]

Therefore, according to the present invention, the outside air temperature is predicted by the prediction means from the output of the developer temperature detector of the developer temperature control section or the operating time of the heater for heating the developer.

For example, the temperature of the developer when the automatic developing machine is started after being stopped for a long time is almost equal to the outside air temperature, so the temperature of the developer detected at the start of operation can be used as the outside air temperature.

Further, after the start of operation, the outside air temperature can be predicted from the on-operation time of the heater for heating the developer when it is activated to heat the developer to a predetermined temperature.

In other words, when the outside temperature is low, the temperature of the developer is also low, and in order to raise the temperature of the developer from this state to a temperature within a predetermined temperature range, a lot of heating is required. The operating time of the device will be longer. In addition, when the outside temperature is high, the temperature of the developer is high, and in order to raise the temperature of the developer from this state to a temperature within the predetermined temperature range, it does not require much heating. The on-operation time of is shortened.

Therefore, the outside air temperature can be predicted from the on-operation time of the heater for heating the developer. This on-operation time may be the on-operation time at startup or the on-operation time when controlling the temperature within a predetermined temperature range.

Furthermore, when the developer is at a predetermined temperature, the outside air temperature can be predicted from the distribution of the fall in the developer temperature from the state in which the heater is turned off.

Furthermore, the outside air temperature can be predicted from the off-operation time of the heater for heating the developer when the temperature of the developer is controlled to a value within a predetermined range. In other words, if the outside air temperature is high, it is difficult for the developer temperature to drop and the time it takes for the developer to drop below the lower limit of the predetermined temperature range is longer than when the outside air temperature is low. Operating time will be longer. In addition, when the outside temperature is low, the time it takes for the developer to drop below the lower limit of the specified temperature range is shortened, so the heater for heating the developer must be activated, and the off-operation time is therefore short. It gets shorter in cycles. Thereby, the outside air temperature can be predicted from the off-operation time of the heater for heating the developer.

It can also be predicted based on the temperature drop time when the developer drops to the lower limit of the predetermined temperature range. In other words, since the relationship between the developer temperature drop time and the outside air temperature is as described above, the outside air temperature can be predicted even from the drop time when the developer drops to the lower limit of the predetermined temperature range. .

Furthermore, the outside air temperature can also be predicted by the temperature rise time of the developer. That is, when the outside temperature is high, the time required to raise the temperature of the developer to within the predetermined temperature range is short, and when the outside temperature is low, the time required to raise the temperature of the developer to within the predetermined temperature range is long. . Therefore, the outside air temperature can be predicted from the temperature rise of the developer. The control means preheats and controls the temperature of the drying section based on this predicted outside temperature.

In this way, in the present invention, the preheating drying conditions are determined based on the temperature of the environment that governs film drying, so the heater capacity can be reduced, the drying air volume can be reduced, and the drying device can be made small and inexpensive. Can be done. This results in
Since there is no need to provide a drying air blowing temperature detector for the automatic developing machine, costs can be reduced.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 shows an automatic developing machine 10 to which a drying section temperature control device for an automatic developing machine according to the present invention is applied.

The automatic developing machine 10 includes a housing 12 having an openable lid 12A. A film insertion slot 14 for inserting exposed film into the automatic processor 10 is arranged at the upper front of the housing 12, and a film stocker 16 for storing processed film is arranged at the upper rear.

Further, a roller pair 18B is provided on the crossover rack between the developer tank 18 and the fixing tank 20, and a roller pair 18B is installed between the fixing tank 20 and the washing tank 20.
The crossover rack has multiple pairs of rollers between 20
B is placed. A squeeze rack 22C having a plurality of roller pairs 22B between the washing tank 22 and the drying section 24
is located.

Inside the housing 12, a developer tank 18, a fixing tank #20, a washing tank 22, and a drying section 24 are arranged adjacent to each other in this order. A developing tank 18 and a fixing tank 20 are arranged adjacent to each other in the order of film processing.
A plurality of transport rollers 18A, 2OA, and 22A for moving the film are arranged in the washing tank 22 and the drying section 24. These plural conveyance rollers 18A, 18B, 2O
A, 20B.

22A and 22B form a conveyance path along which the film is conveyed, and the film is conveyed by the rotation of these rollers.

The developer tank 18 is communicated with a pump 28 through a conduit 26, and the pump 28 is communicated with the inside of the developer tank 18 through a conduit 32 via a developer temperature regulator 30 in the middle.

Thereby, the developer is sent through the pipe line 32 to the developer temperature regulator 30 by the operation of the pump 28, and after the temperature is adjusted, it is sent back into the developer tank 18 and circulated. .

The developer temperature regulator 30 includes a heater 36 , a temperature detector 38 , and a cooling pipe 40 penetrating through the heat exchanger 34 in a sealed heat exchanger 34 .

One end of the cooling pipe 40 protrudes to the outside of the heat exchanger 34 and communicates with a portion of the overflow of the wash water via a three-way solenoid valve 42 in the middle. The other end of the cooling pipe 40 protrudes to the outside of the heat exchanger 34 and is discharged to the outside of the machine. The three-way solenoid valve 42 operates so that when the developer is not cooled, overflow washing water is directly discharged to the outside of the machine without going through a heat exchanger.

Therefore, the developer sent into the heat exchanger 34 is
The temperature is adjusted by being heated by the cooling pipe 40 and cooled by heat exchange with the cooling pipe 40 supplied with cooling water from the overflow of the washing water.

Further, the temperature detector 38 detects the temperature of the developer passing through the heat exchanger 34, and the detection result is transmitted to the control section 44. This temperature detector 38 uses, for example, a thermistor.

As shown in FIG. 2, the control unit 44 includes a CPU 46, R
OM48, RAM50, human power boat 52, output port 5
4, and are connected to each other by a data bus 56.

A developer temperature detector 38 is connected to the input boat 52, and a three-way solenoid valve 42 and a heater 36 are connected to the output port 54.
, pump 28 are connected.

As a result, the operation of the pump 28, heater 36, and three-way solenoid valve 42 is controlled based on the detection result of the temperature detector 38,
The temperature of the developer is regulated.

As shown in FIG. 1, a fan 58 is provided in the drying section 24 at the bottom of the housing 12. A heater 60 is disposed in front of this fan 58, and the air from the fan 58 is heated by the heater 60, becomes warm air, and is directed from a plurality of drying section blow-off pipes 24B in the drying section 24 to the film surface. It is sprayed and allowed to dry.

A plurality of conveyance rollers 24A are arranged above the drying section 24 to form a conveyance path for the film sent out from the washing tank 22. For this reason, the film is
While the film is being transported inside the film, hot air is blown from the drying air blowing pipe toward the film surface to dry it.

The hot air after drying the film is discharged to the outside of the machine from an exhaust section (not shown).

Further, the fan 58 and the heater 60 are connected to the output boat 54 of the control section 44.

Further, a film insertion sensor 66 provided in the film insertion slot 14 is connected to the input port 52 of the control unit 44 . This insertion sensor 66 is designed to detect that the film F is inserted into the film insertion opening 14, and uses an optical detector or the like. 70 is a developer replenisher replenishment tank, 72 is a fixer replenisher replenishment tank,
The developer replenishment pump 71 is activated in accordance with the replenishment amount calculated by the control unit 44 based on the film insertion detection signal of the insertion sensor 66.
, and the fixing replenishment pump 73, respectively, the development Iff 1
8. The fixing tank 20 is refilled with each replenisher.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained.

The unprocessed film inserted from the film insertion port 14 is
It is sequentially conveyed to the developer jg 18, the fixing tank 20, and the washing tank 22, and is immersed in each processing liquid to be processed. Next, drying section 2
4, where it is blown with hot air to dry, and then subjected to development processing. Films that have been developed are stacked in a film stocker 16.

Here, the temperature control of the developer will be explained according to the timing chart shown in FIG. 3 and the flow chart shown in FIG. 4.

When the automatic processor 10 is powered on, it is initialized in step 100 shown in FIG. At this time, RAM 50 is cleared to 0. Next, in step 102, the operation of the developer circulation pump 280 is started, and the developer is circulated. While the developer is being circulated, in step 104, the developer temperature T+ is detected by the developer temperature detector 38.

This detection result is stored in the RAM 50.

In step 106, the developer temperature T1 is set to a predetermined temperature T at which the film is processed. It is compared whether it is higher or lower than the lower limit T3 (for example, -0.1°C) of the temperature range bordering on (for example, 35°C). If the developer temperature T1 is higher than the lower limit T3, in step 108 the developer temperature T is set to the upper limit T,
It is determined whether the temperature is higher or lower than (for example, +0.1°C).

If it is low, steps 118 and subsequent steps described below are executed,
If it is high, step 120, which will be described later, is executed. If the developer temperature TI is lower than the lower limit T3 in step 106, the heater 36 is activated in step 110, and the developer is heated in the heat exchanger 34. As a result, the developer is raised to a predetermined temperature T0 at a distribution between curve A (I) - (I[) shown in FIG. 3 (start-up mode).

Next, in step 112, it is determined whether the developer temperature T1 exceeds the upper limit value T2. If the upper limit value T2 is not exceeded, the operation of the heater 36 is continued; if the upper limit value T2 is exceeded, the heater 36 is stopped in step 114, and the operation of the heater 36 is stopped in step 1.
At 16, the cooling solenoid valve 42 is switched to communicate with the cooling pipe of the heat exchanger 34. In this case, the developer heated by the heater 36 is heated to an upper limit T2 after the heater 36 is stopped.
However, by supplying the overflow flush water to the cooling pipe 46, it is cooled for a predetermined period of time and the temperature is naturally lowered by the outside air.

The temperature of the developer decreases, and in step 118, the developer temperature T is detected again, and it is determined whether the temperature T has decreased below the lower limit value T3.

When the developer temperature T1 falls to the lower limit value T3, the temperature drop time H after the switching operation of the electromagnetic valve 42 stops for the developer temperature T1 is measured, and this result is stored in the RAM 50. In this case, the developer temperature detected in step 104 is stored at a different address from the stored address.

In step 120, it is determined whether the automatic processor has been powered off. If the power is turned off, the process ends; if the power is not turned off, the process returns to step 106 and the following is executed.

The above step 106 and subsequent steps are repeatedly executed to activate the standby mode (between (n) and (III) in FIG. 3).

When the film is inserted in the position shown in FIG. 3 ([[), the insertion sensor 66 is turned on, and the developer temperature T+ is controlled to a predetermined temperature T+ in the same manner as in the standby mode described above. The temperature is controlled within a temperature range between an upper limit value T2 and a lower limit value T3.

Next, temperature control of the hot air in the drying section will be explained according to the timing chart shown in FIG. 3 and the flow chart shown in FIG. 5.

When the automatic developing machine 10 is powered on, it is initialized in step 150, and then the developer temperature T1 is read in step 152. In step 154, the outside air temperature is predicted from this developer temperature T1, and the heater 60 and fan 58 are The on and off times are calculated.

In this case, if the outside air temperature is low, the absolute temperature of the outside air is low, so the drying temperature may be low, so for example, if the outside air temperature is 20°C.
In this case, the preheating temperature is set to, for example, about 35°C, and when the outside temperature is 30°C, the preheating temperature is set to, for example, 45°C. At step 156, heater 60 and fan 58 are activated. Next, it is determined in step 158 whether a predetermined time T6 has elapsed. If the predetermined time T6 has not elapsed, the process returns to step 156;
Fan 58 and heater 60 are activated. When the predetermined time T6 has elapsed, both the fan 58 and the heater 60 are stopped in step 160.

In this case, the predetermined time T6 for operating the fan 58 and the heater 60 is calculated from the initial temperature T1 of the developer in the developer tank 18, that is, the temperature T1 of the developer detected in step 104 in FIG. 4 and stored in the RAM 50. It is set.

When the automatic developing machine 10 is stopped and a sufficient period of time has elapsed, the temperature of the developer is approximately equal to room temperature. Therefore, the developer temperature T+ at the start of operation of the automatic developing machine 10 is approximately equal to room temperature, and the room temperature (outside air temperature) is estimated from this detected temperature.

In step 162, the time Δt for the developer to reach a predetermined temperature is calculated, in step 164 the outside temperature is predicted, and in step 164, the on time T7 and off time T8 of the heater 60 are calculated.

Next, in step 168, it is determined whether or not a film has been inserted, and if no film has been inserted, in step 172, the heater 60 and fan 58 are operated based on the results calculated in step 160. It is controlled by the calculation formula set in the ROM 48 so that the drying air temperature T4 is within a predetermined temperature range (approximately 35°C if the outside air temperature is 20°C, and approximately 45°C if the outside air temperature is 30°C). be done.

When the film is inserted (Figure 3 (III), (TV)
, position (V)) In step 170, the fan 58 and heater 60 are operated to blow hot air onto the film. As a result, the film is dried. In this case, the heater has a capacity that can dry even if, for example, about 10 films of a certain size are continuously inserted,
The drying air temperature is abnormal due to continuous energization and continuous energization (
For example, it is small enough that the temperature does not rise above 60°C. For example, a heater of about 300 W can process and dry a quarter-sized film continuously or intermittently.

In step 174, it is determined whether the automatic processor is powered off or not, and if it is off, the process ends. If it is not off, the process returns to before step 168 and the following steps are executed.

In this way, in this embodiment, the temperature of the drying air is preheated to a temperature within a predetermined temperature range based on the room temperature (outside air temperature) calculated from the detection result of the temperature of the developer, so the blowing temperature of the drying air can be adjusted. There is no hanging device installed for detection. This allows the number of temperature detectors to be reduced and costs to be reduced.

Next, another embodiment will be described according to the flowchart shown in FIG.

Steps similar to those in the embodiment described above are given the same reference numerals and their explanations will be omitted.

In the embodiment described above, the time to turn on and off the fan 58 and heater 60 was calculated from the falling temperature distribution Δt.
In this embodiment, the falling time H of the developer is calculated in step 180 shown in FIG. 6, the outside temperature is predicted based on this result, and the on/off times of the heater 60 and fan 58 are calculated. .

Other controls are the same as in the previous embodiment.

In this embodiment, as in the above case, the number of temperature detectors can be reduced and the cost can be reduced.

Furthermore, instead of calculating the descending time H of the developer in step 180, the outside air temperature may be predicted from the off time of the heater 36 for heating the developer. Furthermore, the number of times the developer heater 36 is turned on per unit time is counted, and the drying fan 58 is turned on.
, the number of times the drying heater 60 is turned on is set to a fraction of the number of times the heater is turned on (for example, 1/2, 1/3, etc.).
It may also be preheated.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, in the present invention, the temperature of the drying air is determined based on the outside air temperature calculated from the detection result of the temperature of the developer.
Since the preheating is controlled to a temperature within a predetermined temperature range, there is no need to install a detector to detect the blowing temperature of the dry air.
The excellent effect of reducing the number of temperature detectors in an automatic processor and reducing costs can be achieved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of an automatic developing machine to which the present invention is applied, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the relationship between a control section and equipment connected to the control section, and FIG. 3 is a developing solution. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the temperature control of the developer, FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the temperature control of the drying air, and FIG. The figure is a flowchart showing temperature control in another embodiment. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10... Automatic developing machine, 18... Developer tank, 20... Fixing tank, 24... Drying section, 38... Temperature detector, 44... Control section, 58... Fan, 60... Heater, 66... Insertion sensor,

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A developing section including a developer temperature control section that controls the developer temperature heater to keep the temperature of the developer within a predetermined range by controlling the developer temperature heater based on the output of the developer temperature detector; A temperature control device for an automatic developing machine that preheats and controls the temperature of a drying section of an automatic developing machine, which is equipped with a drying section for drying a photosensitive material after processing such as washing with water, a prediction means for predicting the outside air temperature based on at least one of the output and the operating time of the developer heating heater; and a control means for preheating the temperature of the drying section based on the outside air temperature predicted by the prediction means. A temperature control device for an automatic developing machine, comprising: