Radiation imagery chemistry: process – composition – or product th – Post imaging processing – Developing
Reexamination Certificate
2000-03-22
2001-04-17
Le, Hoa Van (Department: 1752)
Radiation imagery chemistry: process, composition, or product th
Post imaging processing
Developing
C430S440000, C430S963000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06218092
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method for processing silver halide light sensitive photographic materials and in particular to a processing method whereby silver halide light sensitive photographic materials can be stably processed even at a low replenishing rate.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Recently, concern about ecology has increased, ocean disposal of processing chemicals used for silver halide photographic materials is prohibited and there is increasing pressure to release the amount of processing chemicals used in medical care.
To compensate for consumption of developer components during development, processing chemicals are replenished at the rate to keep constant the amounts of the processing chemicals supplied to the silver halide photographic material. To reduce the amount of processing chemicals being used, replenishment is desired to be done at a low replenishing rate. However, when processed at a low replenishing rate, the residence time of the developer solution in a developing tank increases, producing problems that the developer is much more subjected to oxidation and hence developing activity thereof is lowered.
As an automatic processor systems used for processing silver halide black-and-white photographic materials have been employed plural systems having a variety of functions and specifications corresponding to various uses and facilities, including small and large processors, standard processes and rapid processes, low replenishing processes and ultra-low replenishing processes.
Specifically, small-sized processors are popular among small-scaled facilities mainly for medical practitioners because of their space-saving, light weight and simplicity.
The number of clients per day in a medical practitioner facility is limited, in which films including X-ray photographs, MRI images outputted by a laser imager and ultrasonic images photographed by a G-camera are processed using an automatic processor, even though the processing amount thereof is small. In cases when the processing amount is relatively small, replacement per unit time of the developer solution used in the processor is lowered to prolong the residence time of the developer solution, increasing influences of oxidation exhaustion and resulting in reduced developing activity. Accordingly, an important factor is how to maintain running process stable over a long period of time in the such small-sized processor systems.
As a feature of the small processor, the space for processing tanks is limited so that the processing path length is short and the transport rack has a simple structure (having fewer rollers), making it difficult to achieve the levels of developability or fixability of medium- or large-sized processors. In light of the characteristics of the small processors with respect to the structure and the usage thereof, improvements in process stability and development uniformity are strongly sought.
To overcome these problems were disclosed various means, such as the open top area of the developing tank being extremely reduced, the pH of the developer solution being lowered to lessen development activity to enhance development stability, an antioxidant is added, or the flow velocity of the developer solution being more precisely controlled. However, there were problems that the developer solution contained dihydroxybenzene developing agents and even in cases of the developer containing reductons, its development stability was insufficient. Further, there were marked problems in fluctuations of temperature and variation with respect to density or silver amount of the photographic material being processed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a photographic developer and a method for processing silver halide light sensitive photographic materials, in which no lowering of activity of a developer solution, caused by aerial oxidation occurs even when replenished at a reduced rate.
Further, it is an object of the invention to provide a method for processing silver halide light sensitive photographic materials, thereby superior development stability over a long period of time, which has been increasingly demanded of small-sized processors, reducing development unevenness and reducing variation caused by fluctuations in the processing condition.
Furthermore, it is an object of the invention to provide a processing method in which sludge adhesion and crystal formation often occurred when processed at a low replenishing rate and the period between maintenance being six months or more.
The above-described objects of the invention can be accomplished by the following constitution:
1. A method for processing a silver halide light sensitive photographic material by the use of an automatic processor, the method comprising the steps of:
developing an exposed photographic material with a developing solution,
fixing the developed photographic material with a fixing solution, and
washing the photographic material,
wherein a developing bath of the processor comprises a processing tank and a temperature-controlling tank and a ratio by volume of the temperature-controlling tank to the processing tank being 0.4 to 1.0; said developing solution containing a reducton represented by the following formula (1); and the photographic material being processed according to the following requirement (1):
wherein R
1
and R
2
are each —OM, a mercapto group, an amino group, an acylamino group, an alkylsulfonylamino group, an arylsulfonylamino group, an alkoxycarbonyl group or an alkylthio group, in which M is a hydrogen atom or an alkali metal; and Z is an atomic group necessary to complete a 5- or 6-membered ring;
L
0.75
×T=
50 to 150 requirement [1]
wherein L is a transport length in the processor within a range of 0.5 to 0.8 m; and T is a total processing time of the processor;
2. A method for processing a silver halide light sensitive photographic material by the use of an automatic processor, the method comprising the steps of:
developing an exposed photographic material with a developing solution,
fixing the developed photographic material with a fixing solution, and
washing the photographic material,
wherein the processor comprises a developing transport rack, a fixing transport rack and a washing transport rack and each of the racks having a cylindrical transport roller having propylene exhibiting a contact angle with distilled water of 90 to 130°;
3. A method for processing a silver halide light sensitive photographic material by the use of an automatic processor, the method comprising the steps of:
developing an exposed photographic material with a developing solution,
fixing the developed photographic material with a fixing solution, and
washing the photographic material,
wherein the photographic material has a silver coverage of 1.1 to 1.7 g per m
2
of one side of the photographic material, and the average flow velocity of the developing solution at the time of developing being 70 to 120 mm/sec;
4. A developer used for a silver halide photographic material, wherein the developer contains a compound represented by the following formula (2):
wherein R
3
is a hydrogen atom or a hydroxy group; R
4
is a hydrogen atom or a group represented by the following formula (3):
wherein R
5
is a hydrogen atom or a hydroxy group;
5. A developer used for a silver halide light sensitive photographic material, containing a reductone represented by formula (1) and a compound represented by formula (2);
6. The developer described in 4. or 5. above, wherein the developer is a solid composition;
7. The developer described in 4. or 5. above, wherein the developer is a concentrated solution;
8. The developer described in any of 5. to 7. above, wherein the developer is comprised of a single composition;
9. A method for processing a silver halide light sensitive photographic material, the method comprising developing an exposed photographic material using the developer described in any of 5. to 8. above;
10. The processing
Cantor & Colburn LLP
Konica Corporation
Le Hoa Van
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