Radiation imagery chemistry: process – composition – or product th – Post imaging processing – Developing
Reexamination Certificate
2003-02-07
2004-05-25
Le, Hoa Van (Department: 1752)
Radiation imagery chemistry: process, composition, or product th
Post imaging processing
Developing
C430S446000, C430S465000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06740478
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method for processing silver halide photographic light-sensitive materials.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Heretofore, in the printing field, in order to obtain ultra-high contrast images, lith development has been carried out for the past long years. However, it is inevitable to carry out processing, employing a developer containing a low amount of sulfite salts. As a result, said developer results in problems with stability (aerial oxidation) and has been unsuitable for processing employing an automatic processor.
Separate from this, though ultra-high contrast is not obtained, a so-called “rapid access” system has been employed which improves the stability of the developer by employing a PQ or MQ developer containing a large amount of sulfite salts. However, the quality of halftone dot quality is markedly degraded because an increase in contrast due to the lith development process is not achieved. Accordingly, said system does not sufficiently meet customers' needs who demand high halftone dot quality.
However, said rapid access system exhibits excellent processing stability and has been widely accepted. On the other hand, in order to obtain high contrast (ultra-high contrast) equivalent to that of said lith development, employing said PQ or MQ developer, a system is employed in which processing is carried out employing a PQ or MQ developer at a high pH (approximately 11.5), while nucleating agents such as hydrazine compounds are incorporated into the light-sensitive materials.
Further, by incorporating one of the nucleation accelerators described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,316,889, or amine compounds described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,947,354 along with active hydrazine compounds into light-sensitive materials, a decrease in the pH of the developer is achieved whereby the system has resulted in improved stability.
In recent years, in the printing field, higher efficiency of work has been sought along with an increase in work volume. Accordingly, it has been demanded that imagewise exposed light-sensitive materials are subjected to more rapid photographic processing. Further, from the viewpoint of environmental protection, a decrease in effluent during photographic processing, resulting from a decrease in replenishment amount, has been an important issue to be overcome.
Accordingly, in order to accomplish the lower replenishment amount as well as said rapid processing, it is required that development is completed in a short time and high processing stability is achieved during high-volume processing. However, in said rapid access system, since high coating of silver is required to obtain a density high enough for carrying out print-in onto a printing plate, in order to, for example, finish development within 50 seconds, the development temperature should be raised to at least 38° C. As a result, a developer is maintained at a relatively high temperature, whereby said developer is degraded, resulting in a decrease in stability.
Further, in said system employing hydrazine compounds, it is possible to constitute a system which results in high density at a low coating weight of silver. However, since it passes through two processes of an induction period and the following reduction sensitization, it is impossible to achieve required development within a short period of time, and further, the processing stability is markedly inferior to said rapid access system.
European Patent No. 0758761 describes a system in which light-sensitive materials do not comprise nucleating agents but comprise amine compounds, and fairly high density is obtained. However, since the PQ and MQ developers are employed, high-volume processing stability has been found to be insufficient when rapid processing is carried out under said low replenishment.
Accordingly, a method has been sought to overcome said drawbacks.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An objective of the present invention is to provide a method for processing a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material which is applicable to rapid processing at a relatively low temperature, and exhibits excellent sharpness, high sensitivity, as well as excellent stability during high-volume processing.
Said objective of the present invention has been achieved employing items 1 through 10 described below.
(Item 1) A method for processing a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material which comprises a support, a silver halide emulsion layer provided on the support and a hydrophilic colloid layer adjacent to the silver halide emulsion layer, comprising a step of developing the photographic light-sensitive material with a developing solution containing an ascorbic acid compound as a developing agent,
wherein the photographic material contains an amine compound in at least one of the silver halide emulsion layer and the hydrophilic colloid layer and an nucleating agent within a range of 0 to 20 mg per 1 m
2
of the photographic light-sensitive material, and wherein the amine compound has a distribution coefficient (log P) of 1 or more in a n-octanol/water system.
(Item 2) The method according to the above Item 1, wherein the photographic light-sensitive material contains silver halide grains and 50 percent or more of the silver halide grains in a silver halide emulsion layer are spectrally sensitized.
(Item 3) The method according to the above Item 1, wherein a replenishing amount of the developing solution is 250 ml or less per 1 m
2
of the photographic light-sensitive material.
(Item 4) The method according to the above Item 3, the replenishing amount of the developing solution is within the range of 75 to 200 per 1 m
2
of the photographic light-sensitive material.
(Item 5) The method according to the above Item 1, wherein the developing is operated under the temperature of 35° C. or less, and developing time is 50 sec or less.
(Item 6) The method according to the above Item 5, wherein the developing is operated under the temperature within the range of 20 to 33° C., and the developing time is within the range of 5 to 15 sec.
(Item 7) The method according to the above Item 1, wherein the developing solution is prepared by dissolving a solidified developer containing the ascorbic acid compound in water.
(Item 8) The method according to the above Item 1, wherein the photographic light-sensitive material contains the amine compound in an amount within the range of 1 to 1000 mg per 1 m
2
of the photographic light-sensitive material.
(Item 9) The method according to the above Item 8, wherein the photographic light-sensitive material contains the amine compound in an amount of within the range of 10 to 500 mg per 1 m
2
of the photographic light-sensitive material.
(Item 10) The method according to the above Item 10, wherein the photographic light-sensitive material contains the amine compound in an amount of within the range of 20 to 200 mg per 1 m
2
of the photographic light-sensitive material.
The present invention will now be detailed below.
In the present invention, A method for processing a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material comprising a support, a silver halide emulsion layer provided on the support and a hydrophilic colloid layer adjacent to the silver halide emulsion layer, comprising a step of developing the photographic light-sensitive material with a developing solution containing an ascorbic acid compound as a developing agent, wherein the photographic material contains an amine compound in at least one of the silver halide emulsion layer and the hydrophilic colloid layer and an nucleating agent within a range of 0 to 20 mg per 1 m
2
of the photographic light-sensitive material, and wherein the amine compound has a distribution coefficient (log P) of 1 or more in a n-octanol/water system. By so doing, it has been found that rapid processing is achievable at a relatively low temperature; high sensitivity is maintained even after high-volume processing; excellent sharpness is exhibited; and excellent stability during high-volume processing is also exhibited.
Amine
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