Radiation imagery chemistry: process – composition – or product th – Thermographic process – Heat applied after imaging
Reexamination Certificate
2000-12-08
2002-09-24
Schilling, Richard L. (Department: 1752)
Radiation imagery chemistry: process, composition, or product th
Thermographic process
Heat applied after imaging
C430S376000, C430S380000, C430S404000, C430S457000, C430S467000, C430S959000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06455235
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a photographic processing element used for developing silver halide photographic light sensitive materials and an image forming method and image information preparation method by the use of the processing element.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Silver halide photographic light sensitive materials (hereinafter, also denoted as photographic light sensitive materials or photographic materials) are now broadly used due to their high sensitivity, superior gradation and superior characteristic compared to other photosensitive materials. Specifically, silver halide photographic light sensitive materials are recognized in the market to be a recording material which is superior in recording, enjoyment and storage of image information, in terms of its low cost, superior image quality and superior image storage stability.
Recently, a popular embodiment of preparing color prints is that photographed color films are processed in photofinishing laboratories, in which images obtained in a color film are printed on color paper to obtain color prints.
The photofinishing time of from the time the lab receives a photographed color film from a customer to the time color prints are available to the customer is about one hour in a mini-lab having a relatively compact processor. However, such a time is rather long for a customer who requests development and prints while waiting for them in the store. It is difficult to further shorten the finishing time to a level of completion of photofinishing during the typical time customers remain in a store, while such shortening of the finishing time is also strongly desired. Of the time to produce final prints, the processing time of a color film accounts for a large portion of the total working time, so that shortening the processing time of a color film is strongly desired.
Recently, so-called lens-fitted film units are popular for picture-taking, which are commercially available in the form of loading a silver halide photographic material into a plastic resin camera fitted with a fixed focus lens. This releases users from troublesome film-loading of the camera and failures due to film-loading mistakes, resulting in an increase of photo-shooting chance due to its simplicity.
The lens-fitted film unit is a camera-use unit in which a photographic material has been loaded by the maker. The user uses the loaded photographic material for picture-taking and the lens-fitted film unit, after completion of picture-taking, is sent to a processing lab in the form with the photographic material still being loaded, so that a camera of an extremely simple structure is available at a relatively low price.
The foregoing system is a broadly popular one at present and requirement for further enhanced convenience thereof becomes stronger. Desired improvements include, for example, (1) reduced amounts of processing solutions to be used in color development, bleaching and fixing of photographic materials and a more simplified apparatus, and space-saving thereof (2) reduction or elimination of compounds such as a color developing agent or an iron-chelate compound in processing solutions, which are limited in discharging to the natural environment, and (3) enhancement of the processing speed.
As a means for overcoming the foregoing problems, a color image forming method is proposed in JP-A 11-52526 (hereinafter, the term, JP-A refers to an unexamined, published Japanese Patent Application), in which some of the processing steps of color films are omitted so that image information is directly read from developed images and transformed to an optical or electrical digital information, which is further transformed to image characteristic values obtained through the standard process of color photographic materials to form color images. Such a technique achieved an improvement in terms of time-shortening.
However, the processing apparatus, although relatively compact, still occupies a space in the typically small store and load in exchange of processing solution still is a burden for the mini-lab so that development of a space-saving apparatus or a easier maintenance system is strongly desired.
JP-A 10-260518 discloses an image forming method in which a photosensitive member containing silver halide, a coupler and a color developing agent, is superimposed onto a processing element containing a base or its precursor and is then heated to form images. Although such a technique was expected to meet the foregoing requirement, there were problems that the disclosed silver halide photographic material was inferior in layer strength and storage stability of performance over a long period of time. Such characteristics are supposed to be due to the developing agent being contained in the silver halide photographic member.
Pictrography system is provided by Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd., in which a small amount of water is provided onto a photosensitive member, which is laminated with an image receiving member containing a base precursor and heated to cause a development reaction. In this system, processing without using a bath is advantageous for the environment and released dye is diffusion-transferred to a dye-fixing layer to be fixed to form a dye image. However, since the color photographic material used in this system contains a colored dye-providing material, making difficult to achieve a sufficient speed for use as a camera material. Further, image quality required as a camera material used for enlarging can be achieved due to bleeding of a dye image caused in diffusion transfer, which causes no problem in viewing. Accordingly, development of a system which can be employed as a recording material for camera use is desired.
A series of processing systems proposed in JP-A 10-260518 and Pictorography system, to which commercially available conventional silver halide color photographic materials containing no developing agent cannot be applied, are deficient in universal applicability.
In general, conventional silver halide color photographic materials, after exposure, are subjected to liquid development using a developer solution containing a developing agent to form silver and/or dye images upon reaction of a coupler with an oxidization product of the developing agent after reduction of silver ions. Such a developer solution is usually an aqueous alkaline solution to enhance developing activity. The trade-off for the increase in pH to enhance the developing activity is the decrease in storage stability of a developing agent in the developer solution. The use of a large amount of a developer solution and sufficient replenishment thereof do not produce any problem, however, in cases when the processing frequency or the processing amount is relatively small, troublesome solution-exchanging work is needed to maintain process stability, due to relatively short life of the developer solution.
To minimize the foregoing disadvantages, it is effective to remove a developing agent unstable to an alkali or to remove an alkaline agent. Examples thereof include a technique of occluding a developing agent into a silver halide photographic material. However, p-phenylenediamines included in the photographic material are subject to aerial oxidation which cause brown staining or cause fogging of silver halide to form a dye upon reaction with a coupler present in the photographic material, leading to overall deteriorated photographic performance. Alternatively, occlusion of a precursor of a developing agent which is stable relative to the developing agent is known. Examples of p-phenylenediamine precursors include compounds described in JP-A Nos. 6-347963, 58-192031 and 56-6235 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,060,418. However, even if such compounds are employed, deterioration in photographic performance during storage can be avoided, resulting in marked fogging of the photographic material.
There is also disclosed a photographic material including a color developing agent containing hydrazine, sulfonamidophenol or sulfonamidoaniline within its molecular structure formu
Kokeguchi Noriyuki
Mizukami Hiromichi
Suda Yoshihiko
Frishauf Holtz Goodman & Chick P.C.
Konica Corporation
Schilling Richard L.
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