Radiation imagery chemistry: process – composition – or product th – Nonradiation sensitive image processing compositions or... – Developer
Reexamination Certificate
1998-04-17
2001-01-16
Le, Hoa Van (Department: 1752)
Radiation imagery chemistry: process, composition, or product th
Nonradiation sensitive image processing compositions or...
Developer
C430S434000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06174654
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a processing method for a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material (hereinafter also referred simply to a light-sensitive material) and an automatic processor for processing the silver halide photographic light-sensitive material, particularly relates to a processing method for silver halide photographic light-sensitive material and an automatic processor to be used in the method by which a stable processing property and a rapid processing can be realized.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In the market of photofinishing, photofinishers tend to be fragmented into small shops. A processing factory so-called a lab is rapidly on changed to mini-labs which each processes light-sensitive materials at the storefront. Recently, such the tendency is increasingly accelerated. The storefront processing is diffused to various shops such as a supermarket or a drugstore other than photo shops.
Such the trend is to meet requirements of consumers that the finished picture can be received on the same day or the processing is finished during shopping and can be received on his way home. Such the demand for a rapid processing is increasingly raised.
In addition, a processor is operated by a part-timer or layman, not professional operator, when the processing is performed in a non-professional shop or an office. Accordingly, it becomes important that the processor can be operated without feeling of the presence of a liquid and easily maintained, and that the processor is made compact from the viewpoint of the space for install of the processor.
In the processing using a processor, a replenishing system is usually applied, in which a light-sensitive material is automatically immersed in a processing tank, and a replenishing solution is replenished to the processing tank responding to the processed area of the light-sensitive material. The processing solution is overflowed by the replenishing and a steady state of running is formed. Consequently, The processing has to be controlled since the running state is varied depending on the kind of the light-sensitive material and a processed amount per day of the light-sensitive material. Therefore, a check piece so called a control strip which is a strip of light-sensitive material given a standard exposure, is developed on every day, and the processing is controlled according to the comparison of the density of the processed control strip with a standard density.
Various methods have been proposed for omitting such the complicated and professional control, in which the developing processing solution is supplied only in an amount to be used on the light-sensitive material so as to eliminate the tank. For example, Japanese Patent Publication Open for Public Inspection (JP O.P.I.) No. 2-79841 proposes a system in which the processing is performed by a processing solution absorbed in a sponge, JP O.P.I. No. 2-79844 proposes a system in which a processing solution is supplied through a slit-shaped supplying outlet, and JP O.P.I. No. 9-43814 proposes a system in which a developing processing solutions supplied through a gas phase.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A problem in these systems is that the supplied solution does uniformly penetrate into the light-sensitive material. Particularly in the developing process, it is hard to uniformly penetrate the processing solution since the amount of the processing solution is reduced for reducing the amount of the developing solution to be brought into the next process and the amount of waste solution. Moreover, the problem of unevenness becomes serious when the processing time is reduced.
In the system in which supplying only a necessary amount of the developing solution is supplied to the light-sensitive material, the control of processing is not necessary since the new solution is supplied every time, and the amount of waste solution can be reduced by reducing the supplying amount to a small amount. However, an unevenness of the processing is caused by a slight curing of the light-sensitive material or a fine dust on the light-sensitive material when the small amount of the processing solution is supplied by coating. Particularly, a very strict control on the unevenness is necessary in the photographic processing, different from the case of coating a paint on paper, since the light-sensitive material is composed of a layer of gelatin and the processing property is controlled by diffusion of the components of the processing solution in the color forming multi-layers.
For preventing such the unevenness, a method by air blowing described in JP O.P.I. No. 2-79846 and a method of expanding the processing solution by using a porous material such as sponge described in JP O.P.I. No. 2-91645 have been proposed. However, problems of scatter of the solution or oxidation of the processing solution in the porous material are raised, which are demanded to be solved.
Consequently, the first object of the invention is to provide a method for processing a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material using an automatic processor by which the processing can stably be performed by an easy control. The second object of the invention is to provide a method for processing a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material using an automatic processor by which the processing can stably be performed when the amount of processing is small, and the third object of the invention is to provide a method for processing a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material using an automatic processor by which a rapid processing can be realized and waste liquid amount can be reduced for reducing the environmental load.
The above-mentioned objects can be attained by a method for processing a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material comprising the step of
supplying a photographic processing solution having a contact angle to said image forming surface of the silver halide photographic light-sensitive material of not more than 45° on the image forming surface of the silver halide photographic material by a processing solution supplying means.
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Patent Abstracts of Japan, vol. 97, No. 8, (1997) of JP 09 090579 A.
Patent Abstracts of Japan, vol. 97, No. 7, (1997) of JP 09 080720 A.
Hagiwara Moeko
Kobayashi Hiroaki
Frishauf, Holtz Goodman, Langer & Chick, P.C.
Konica Corporation
Le Hoa Van
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