Method and apparatus for processing photographic material

Claim 2

The method of processing a strip of photographic material as claimed in claim 1 wherein the processing solution is initially introduced into said first end of the bath under pressure and its rate of flow across and out of the bath is encouraged by gravitation in the direction of travel of the strip material.

Claim 3

A photographic processing apparatus for processing an elongated strip of photographic material comprising in combination: a plurality of troughs joined together in spaced parallel relation and arranged so that a volume of processing solution introduced into the first of the series of troughs will flow into and through successive ones of the troughs and be discharged from the last one of the series; at least one rotatable roller extending longitudinally of each trough and having its surface dipping into the processing solution in its respective trough for guiding a strip of photographic material across said troughs in succession and applying processing solution to at least one surface thereof; means for feeding a strip of photographic material across said troughs in succession at a given speed and in the direction of flow of said processing solution; and means for continuously introducing a processing solution into said first trough and regulating the rate of flow of the solution through said troughs so that the speed at whiCh the solution moves from trough to trough is substantially equal to the speed at which the strip material is moved across said troughs.

Claim 4

A photographic processing apparatus for processing an elongated strip of photographic material comprising in combination: a receptacle whose interior contains a plurality of parallel partitions extending transversely, and spaced apart along the length, of said receptacle to provide a plurality of troughs joined together in spaced parallel relation and arranged so that a volume of processing solution introduced into the first of the series of troughs will flow into and through successive ones of the troughs and be discharged from the last one of the series, said receptacle being inclined downwardly in the direction of flow of said processing solution to enhance such flow from trough to trough; at least one rotatable roller extending longitudinally of each trough and having its surface dipping into the processing solution in its respective trough for guiding a strip of photographic material across said troughs in succession and applying processing solution to at least one surface thereof; means for feeding a strip of photographic material across said troughs in succession at a given speed and in the direction of flow of said processing solution; and means for continuously introducing a processing solution into said first trough and regulating the rate of flow of the solution through said troughs so that the speed at which the solution moves from trough to trough is substantially equal to the speed at which the strip material is moved across said troughs.

Claim 5

A photographic processing apparatus for processing an elongated strip of photographic material comprising in combination: a plurality of troughs joined together in spaced parallel relation; means placing opposite ends of adjacent troughs in communication with one another so that a processing liquid introduced into one end of the first trough will flow longitudinally through successive ones of said troughs in a sinusoidal manner under the influence of hydrostatic pressure; means for introducing a processing solution into the end of the first trough remote from the end thereof in communication with the second trough; means for draining the processing solution from the end of the last trough remote from the end thereof in communication with the trough adjacent thereto; at least one rotatable roller extending longitudinally of each trough and having its surface dipping into the processing solution in its respective trough for guiding a strip of photographic material across said troughs in succession and applying processing solution to at least one surface thereof; means for feeding a strip of photographic material across said troughs from said first trough to the last trough in succession at a given speed; and means for continuously feeding processing solution into said first trough and regulating the rate of flow of the solution through said troughs so that the time taken for a given unit of volume of the processing solution to travel through said troughs from the point of introduction in the first trough to the drain in the last trough is substantially equal to the time taken for a given point on the strip material to move across all of said troughs;

Claim 6

A photographic processing apparatus as set forth in claim 6, wherein said means for regulating the rate of flow of the solution through said troughs includes means for tilting the plurality of troughs downwardly in the direction of movement of said strip material so that gravity aids the flow of the solution from trough to trough.