Photographic processing apparatus

A photographic processing apparatus having a plurality of processing tanks and a guide rack structure detachably mounted on said processing tanks for guiding a long strip of photographic material passing through said processing tanks, said guide rack structure comprising:

• a plurality of pairs of guide members, each pair of guide members being removably installed in one of said plurality of processing tanks, and being movable toward and apart from each other to define a width of guide passage therebetween for guiding lengthwise edges of said long strip of photographic material passing through said processing tanks;
• a plurality of width adjusting means, each connected with one of said plurality of pairs of guide members for adjusting said width of guide passage to be equal to a width of said long strip of photographic material;
• drive means mounted on said photographic processing apparatus connected to said plurality of width adjusting means for driving said plurality of width adjusting means to effect said adjustment of said width of guide passage;
• clutch means provided between said drive means and said plurality of width adjusting means for transmitting drive power from said drive means to said plurality of width adjusting means but allowing slippages between a rotary shaft of said drive means and said plurality of width adjusting means when said plurality of pairs of guide members are moved to their outermost positions of movement;
• and
• coupling means for coupling said clutch means to said plurality of width adjusting means during installation of said guide rack structure into said processing tanks.

A photographic processing apparatus having a plurality of processing tanks and a guide rack structure detachably mounted on said photographic processing apparatus for guiding a long strip of photographic material passing through said processing tanks, said guide rack structure comprising:

• a plurality of pairs of guide members installed in said apparatus so that one pair is disposed in each of said plurality of processing tanks, each said pair of guide members being movable toward and apart from each other to define a width of guide passage therebetween to guide lengthwise edges of said long strip of photographic material passing through each of said processing tanks;
• a plurality of width adjusting means coupled to each of said plurality of pairs of guide members for adjusting said width of guide passage to be equal to a width of said long strip of photographic material;
• drive means comprising a motor and a rotary shaft connected to said motor, mounted on said photographic processing apparatus to cooperate with all of said plurality of width adjusting means to drive them, thereby effecting said adjustment of said width of guide passage;
• power transmission means disposed between said drive means and said plurality of width adjusting means, for connecting and disconnecting the transmission from drive power of said drive means to said plurality of width adjusting means;
• and
• control means for reversing rotation of said motor when all of said pairs of guide members have been moved to outermost positions of movement.