Dryer for Photographic Processors

Most photographic dryers in the past have been large, cumbersome units with many transport rollers and frequently embodying a relatively long festoon-like drying path which are expensive to manufacture and which produce control problems with the material being dried as it passes through the drying path.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a dryer for photographic materials which embodies a compact relatively short drying path through which the sheet material being dried is easily transported and which is designed to maintain constant control over the sheet material during the entire drying operation.

It is another object to provide an extremely compact dryer unit which directs the warm air through confined discharge manifold units which uniformly distribute the flow of said air simultaneously against both sides of the strip being dried and which has a hinged top cover section which provides quick access to the drying area for servicing in the event of problems.

It is another object to provide a compact highly efficient drying unit for photographic material which incorporates a highly efficient squeegee unit for initially removing substantially all of the liquid from the surfaces of the sheet material prior to introduction into the drying area.

These and other objects of the invention will more fully appear from the following description made in connection with the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view taken through the dryer unit transversely of the path of the photographic material being dried;

FIG. 2 is a similar view showing the hinged top section of the drying unit in raised position to provide access to the drying area of the device;

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially along the broken line 3--3 of FIG 1;

FIG. 4 is a vertical fragmentary view taken substantially along the line 4--4 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view taken substantially along the line 5--5 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary elevational view showing the squeegee roller assembly;

FIG. 7 is a vertical sectional view thereof; and

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary diagrammatical view showing the relationship of the rollers and the mounting plates therefor at the end opposite to the driven end shown in FIGS. 6 and 7.

Referring to the drawings, the drying device illustrated has an outer cabinet designated as an entirety by the numeral 10 with a removable top 10a. Suitable air inlet holes 11 are provided in the bottom of cabinet 10 and suitable outlet openings 12 are provided in top 10a. The strip of photographic material is designated by the numeral 13 and enters the dryer from the processor tanks designated as an entirety by the numeral 14 through a material receiving opening 10b in the cabinet 10.

The squeegee roller assembly designated as an entirety by the numeral 15 includes a pair of squeegee rollers 15a and 15b and a pair of wiper rollers 15c and 15d as best shown in FIG. 3. In the form shown three pairs of transfer rollers respectively designated as 16, 17 and 18 are provided. The lower roller is driven by any suitable means (not shown) which drives the lower driving gears 19 of each of the pairs of transport rollers 16, 17 and 18 respectively, and the upper roller in each pair has a pinion gear 20 connected therewith for driving the same when meshed with the lower driving gear 19.

In the form of the invention shown, two pairs of opposed tapered air distributing manifolds 21 and 22 are provided. Each pair 21 and 22 respectively comprises an upper and lower manifold 21b and 21a and 22b and 22a positioned in generally opposed parallel spaced relation. The lower manifolds 21a and 22a of each pair are mounted in the lower stationary portion, or base, of the device and the upper manifolds 21b and 22b are mounted in the upper hinged portion of the device. The hinged top portion is best shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and is designated by the numeral 23 and is connected to inner housing 25 by the hinges 23a extending across one side thereof. A lifting hook 23b is provided for raising the top 23 into the position shown in FIG. 2. Each of the manifolds 21a, 21b, 22a and 22b is provided with a plurality of air discharge openings in the opposed positions thereof, said openings positioned in a staggered arrangement which is best shown in FIG. 5.

A circulation chamber is defined by an inner housing 25, the top of which is formed by the hinged section 23. A blower 26 draws air through a filter 27 from the upper portion of the chamber and from outside housing 25 through air intake openings 25b positioned ahead of filter 27 and directs said air over a pair of heating coils 28 and 29 which extend across an air passageway 25c inside housing 25 as best shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Air deflection elements such as a plurality of stationary air deflecting vanes 30 extend across the upper portion of the housing 25 as best shown in FIG. 1 to direct the hot air from the heating coils 28 and 29 into the air intakes at the large ends of the two pairs of manifolds 21 and 22. Sheet guiding means are provided to stabilize the photographic sheet material traveling between the manifold pairs 21 and 22 and in the form shown comprise a plurality of wire-like guiding elements 30 respectively clipped onto the opposed perforated portions of the manifolds 21a and 21b and 22a and 22b, as best shown in FIG. 3. Each of these guiding elements 30 is bent to provide a plurality of spaced apart contact points 30a. This is designed to limit the area of contact between the elements 30 and the sheet material being processed. When the air is discharged from the manifold pairs 21 and 22 some of it is recirculated down into the bottom of housing 25 and through the filter 27 and blower 26. A portion is, of course, discharged around the strip of material and between the upper manifolds 21b and 22b and is free to pass out through the louvered openings 12 and the top cover 10a and additional air is able to move into the cabinet 10 through the lower openings 11 previously described.

As shown in FIGS. 6-8, roller 15a is journaled in cabinet 10 while the ends of rollers 15b and 15d extend through slots 10d of cabinet 10 and the ends of roller 15c extend through slots 10c. Gears 15g are respectively attached to an end of each roller 15a, 15b, 15c and 15d, said gears being meshed with each other as best shown in FIG. 6. A spring 15f is stretched around rollers 15a, 15b, 15c and 15d and resiliently positions rollers 15b and 15c in contact with roller 15a, and also resiliently holds roller 15d in contact with roller 15b. As the strip of material 13 passes through the opening 10b it passes between the squeegee rollers 15a and 15b which are made of a soft, compressible liquid absorbing material, slightly compressing said squeegee rollers to ensure proper liquid-removing contact between strip 13 and rollers 15a and 15b. Roller 15d has a liquid-absorbing surface material such as phenolic impregnated paper, while roller 15c is made from a liquid repellant material such as stainless steel. Roller 15d spreads out the liquid absorbed by roller 15b to facilitate transfer of said liquid from roller 15b to roller 15a at the points of contact between the two rollers. Since roller 15a is ordinarily drier than roller 15b, roller 15a absorbs some of the liquid contained in roller 15b, thus keeping roller 15b somewhat dry. The liquid thus absorbed by roller 15a is squeezed out by roller 15c and drips off said roller 15c into a suitably positioned drip pan 15.

Said strip 13 is then transported between the manifold pairs 21 and 22 by the three sets of transfer rollers 16, 17 and 18. The guiding elements 30 stabilize the strip 13 while drying air is directed onto said strip. The dried strip 13 is then discharged through opening 10c of cabinet 10. The upper, hinged manifolds 21b and 22b can be easily raised to provide access to the bottom manifolds 21a and 21b and strip 13, as shown in FIG. 2.

It will of course be understood that various changes may be made in the form, details, arrangement and proportions of the parts without departing from the scope of this invention, which generally stated, is set forth in the appended claims.