Silver halide photographic light-sensitive material

Details Silver halide photographic light-sensitive material Silver halide photographic light-sensitive material

1999-03-29

2001-01-09

Baxter, Janet (Department: 1752)

Radiation imagery chemistry: process, composition, or product th

Silver halide colloid tanning process, composition, or product

C430S600000, C430S601000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06171753

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material, and more particularly to a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material for photomechanical plate-making, exhibiting ultrahigh-contrast photographic characteristics.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In the field of graphic arts, in order to improve the reproduction of continuous gradation images with halftone dot images or the reproduction of line images, image formation systems exhibiting ultrahigh-contrast (particularly, &ggr; is 10 or more) photographic characteristics are required.
An image formation system capable of obtaining ultrahigh-contrast photographic characteristics by development with a processing solution that has good storage stability has been demanded. To cope with this demand, as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,166,742, 4,168,977, 4,221,857, 4,224,401, 4,243,739, 4,272,606, and 4,311,781, a system of forming an ultrahigh-contrast negative image having a &ggr; value exceeding 10 was proposed. In the system, a surface latent image-type silver halide photographic light-sensitive material, having added thereto a specific acylhydrazine compound, is processed with a developer containing 0.15 mol/l or more of a sulfurous acid preservative and having a pH of from 11.0 to 12.3. This new system is characterized in that silver iodobromide or silver chloroiodobromide can be used, though only silver chlorobromide having a high silver chloride content can be used in a conventional ultrahigh-contrast image formation system. Further, the new system is characterized in that a large amount of sulfurous acid preservative can be contained, and relatively good storage stability is achieved, though use of only a very small amount of sulfurous acid preservative is allowed in conventional lith developers.
In European Unexamined Patent Publication (EP) 0 208 514A, JP-A-61-223734 (“JP-A” means unexamined published Japanese patent application), and JP-A-63-46437, high-contrast photographic light-sensitive materials containing two types of silver halide grains, and further containing a hydrazine derivative, are described. These light-sensitive materials are processed with developers having a high pH of about 11.5. However, developers having a pH of 11 or more are prone to air oxidation, and they are unstable and not endurable in use or storage for a long period of time. In addition, since attention must be given to both handling and processing of a waste solution of the developers, a solution having a high pH is unfavorable from an ecological viewpoint. Rather, a means for subjecting to development a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material containing a hydrazine compound with a developer having a lower pH, is preferred in forming a high-contrast image.
On the other hand, when the pH of the developer is low, the contrast-increasing effect induced by the hydrazine derivative is so lowered that a high-contrast image cannot be obtained. In order to accelerate the contrast-increasing effect, development of hydrazine derivatives having higher activity and nucleation accelerators has been attempted. However, use of these compounds, on some occasion, deteriorates long-term storage stability of the light-sensitive material.
JP-A-4-331951 describes, in its claim, a high-contrast light-sensitive material that comprises a hydrazine derivative and silver halide grains that have been subjected to color sensitization in higher concentration of a dye per the surface area of a silver halide grain, than the other silver halide grains do. Further, British unexamined patent publication (GB-A) 9407599 describes, in its claim, a high-contrast light-sensitive material that comprises silver halide grains spectrally sensitized by an undetachable sensitizing dye, and silver halide grains not spectrally sensitized, and further a hydrazine derivative. In both cases, the spectrally sensitized light-sensitive grains and the spectrally unsensitized non-light-sensitive grains contribute to a silver image formed by image-wise exposure and development, due to the presence of the hydrazine derivative, thereby achieving a saving of the sensitizing dye and improvement of stain, while maintaining both high sensitivity and high density. However, the former case had a problem that, when photographic emulsions were left standing for a long time in a mixed state, the distribution of the dye in the mixed emulsions became homogeneous, so that a reduction in sensitivity was caused. Further, in the latter case, because the dye to be used was restricted to an undetachable dye, which was hardly detached from a photographic emulsion, satisfactory residual color could not be achieved. Further, these patent publications do not disclose a mixture of photographic emulsions that are different in the amount of a nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compound to be added thereto, respectively.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material, in which, by using a stable developer, high sensitivity, extremely high contrast, and high blackening density can be obtained, and in addition both saving of a sensitizing dye and low dye stain are made possible. Another object of the present invention is to provide a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material, in the production of which the change in sensitivity is small.
Other and further objects, features, and advantages of the invention will appear more fully from the following description.
DETATLED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
These objects of the present invention have been achieved by:
(1) A silver halide photographic light-sensitive material, which comprises a support having thereon at least one spectrally sensitized light-sensitive silver halide emulsion layer, wherein the silver halide emulsion layer contains at least two kinds of silver halide emulsions, which are different in the concentration of at least one nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compound to be contained capable of forming a complex with silver, and wherein the emulsion layer or another hydrophilic colloid layer contains at least one hydrazine derivative, as a nucleating agent, and at least one of amine derivatives, onium salts, disulfide derivatives, or hydroxymethyl derivatives, as a nucleating accelerator;
(2) The silver halide photographic light-sensitive material as described in the preceding (1), wherein the hydrazine derivative is a compound represented by formula (N) described below:
wherein R
20
represents an aliphatic group, an aromatic group, or a heterocyclic group; R
10
represents a hydrogen atom or a blocking group; G
10
represents —CO—, —COCO—, —C(═S)—, —SO
2
—, —SO—, —PO(R
30
)— (in which R
30
has the same meaning as R
10
and is the same or different from R
10
), or an iminomethylene group; A
10
and A
20
each represent a hydrogen atom, or one of them represents a hydrogen atom, and the other represents a substituted or unsubstituted alkylsulfonyl group, a substituted or unsubstituted arylsulfonyl group, or a substituted or unsubstituted acyl group;
(3) The silver halide photographic light-sensitive material as described in the preceding (1) or (2), wherein the nucleating accelerator is at least one selected from compounds represented by formula (A-1), (A-2), (A-3), or (A-4) described below:
wherein R
4
, R
5
, and R
6
each represent an alkyl group, a cycloalkyl group, an aralkyl group, an aryl group, an alkenyl group, a cycloalkenyl group, an alkinyl group, or a heterocyclic group; Q represents a nitrogen atom or a phosphorus atom; L represents an m-valent organic group bonded to Q
+
through its carbon atom; m represents an integer of 1 to 4; X
n−
represents an n-valent counter anion; n represents an integer of 1 to 3; A
1
, A
2
, A
3
, A
4
, and Z each represent an organic residue for completing a substituted or unsubstituted unsaturated heterocycle that includes the quarternized nitrogen atom; B and C each represent a divalent linking group; R
1
and R
2
each represent an alkyl g

Affiliated with

Also associated with

Rating

Silver halide photographic light-sensitive material does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.

If you have personal experience with Silver halide photographic light-sensitive material, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Silver halide photographic light-sensitive material will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2519174