Photography – Fluid-treating apparatus – Fluid application to one side only of photographic medium
Reexamination Certificate
1998-10-28
2001-06-05
Rutledge, D. (Department: 2851)
Photography
Fluid-treating apparatus
Fluid application to one side only of photographic medium
C396S606000, C396S627000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06241401
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus for enabling an image to be formed by appropriately coating processing solution on an image recording material such as a photosensitive material or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, when copies are made of a color film original or a color printing original onto photosensitive material such as a silver halide photosensitive material or the like, the exposure, developing, bleaching/fixing, washing, and drying processes are each performed in sequence on the photosensitive material.
The developing, bleaching/fixing, and washing are carried out by coating the photosensitive material by immersing it in each of storing developing, bleaching/fixing, and washing processing solutions stored in developing, bleaching/fixing, and washing tanks respectively, in sequence.
However, when the photosensitive material is coated by being immersed in the solutions stored in each of the tanks, there are disadvantages such as a large volume of processing solution being required and disposal of the waste solution resulting from the used processing solution being necessary.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In consideration of the above facts, it is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus capable of coating a photosensitive material using only a small amount of processing solution and which dispenses with the need for disposing of waste solution.
A first aspect of the present invention is an image forming apparatus for forming an image on an exposed photosensitive material by carrying out a plurality of types of processes in sequence on the photosensitive material, comprising: transporting means for transporting the photosensitive material along a transporting path which guides the photosensitive material; and processing solution supply means which are provided at each stage of the processes and which supply the processing solutions used at each stage on the exposed surface of said photosensitive material.
A second aspect of the present invention is an image forming apparatus for forming an image on an exposed photosensitive material by carrying out a plurality of types of processes in sequence on the photosensitive material, comprising: transporting means for transporting the photosensitive material along a transporting path which guides the photosensitive material; and processing solution supply means which are provided at each stage of the processes and which supply the processing solutions used at each stage on the exposed surface of the photosensitive material, wherein the processing solution supply means comprises processing solution storage tanks, elastically deformable processing solution spray tanks which communicate with the processing solution storage tanks, and piezoelectric elements which are connected to a portion of the side walls of the elastically deformable processing solution spray tanks, and wherein the piezoelectric elements are deformed by energizing the piezoelectric elements, the deformation of the piezoelectric elements increases the pressure on the processing solution inside the processing solution spray tank, and the processing solution is sprayed simultaneously through a plurality of nozzle holes provided in the processing solution spray tank along a direction orthogonal to the direction in which the photosensitive material is transported thereby coating the photosensitive material with the processing solution.
The operation of the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention is explained below.
The transporting means transports the photosensitive material along a transporting path which guides the photosensitive material. The processing solution supply means which are provided at each stage of a plurality of types of processes such as developing, bleaching/fixing, and washing processes supplies the processing solution used at each of these stages to the exposed surface of the photosensitive material.
Accordingly, by supplying the respective processing solutions used in each process to the exposed surface of the photosensitive material, the processing solution supply means performs at least developing, bleaching/fixing, washing and the like processes sequentially on the exposed photosensitive material enabling an image to be formed simply on the photosensitive material.
Moreover, in addition to supplying the respective processing solutions used in each process to the exposed surface of the photosensitive material, the processing solution supply means is able to perform the coating using less solution than a coating apparatus which coats a photosensitive material by immersing it in tanks containing processing solution, and the processing solution supply means negates the necessity for disposal of the waste solution resulting from the used processing solution.
The operation of the image forming apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention is explained below.
In the image forming apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention, processing solution supply means are provided for supplying the processing solutions used in each of the processes to the exposed surface of a photosensitive material in order to perform the plurality of processes on the exposed photosensitive material while transporting the photosensitive material along a transporting path which guides the photosensitive material using a transporting means. The processing solution supply means is comprised of processing solution storage tanks, elastically deformable processing solution spray tanks which communicate with the processing solution storage tanks, and piezoelectric elements which are connected with a portion of the side walls of the elastically deformable processing solution spray tanks. When energized, these piezoelectric elements are deformed and the deformation causes the pressure on the processing solution inside the processing solution spray tank to increase. The increased pressure causes the processing solution to be coated on the photosensitive material by being sprayed simultaneously from the plurality of nozzle holes provided in the processing solution spray tank along a direction orthogonal to the direction in which the photosensitive material is transported.
Accordingly, because the processing solution is sprayed onto the photosensitive material from the plurality of nozzle holes provided in the processing solution spray tank of the processing solution supply means, the photosensitive material can be coated using a lesser amount of processing solution than an apparatus which processes photosensitive material by immersing it inside processing tanks containing processing solution. Moreover, there is no need to dispose of the waste used processing solution. Further, because the processing solution is sprayed from the plurality of nozzle holes provided in the processing solution spray tank simultaneously along a direction orthogonal to the direction in which the photosensitive material is transported, the photosensitive material can be coated with processing solution across its entire width in a single coating, thereby allowing the processing time to be reduced. In addition, by using piezoelectric elements in the spraying of the processing solution, a compact processing solution supply means with a simple mechanism can be provided. Still further, it is desirable if the piezoelectric elements are driven in synchronization with the speed at which the photosensitive material is transported. This allows the amount of processing solution required for processing the photosensitive material to be kept to a minimum. Moreover, by providing means for heating the photosensitive material, the speed at which the photosensitive material is processed can be increased and the processing itself can be made more stable.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4929975 (1990-05-01), Shidara
patent: 4977422 (1990-12-01), Vaughn, IV
patent: 5027146 (1991-06-01), Manico et al.
patent: 5217848 (1993-06-01), Ue
Inoue Seiichi
Sanada Kazuo
Takatsuka Tsutomu
Fuji Photo Film Co. , Ltd.
Rutledge D.
Sughrue Mion Zinn Macpeak & Seas, PLLC
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