Photographic bleach compositions and methods of photographic processing

Abstract

Bleach compositions and methods that are improvements over those provided by Fyson, U.S. Pat. No. 4,294,914, are disclosed. A highly preferred bleach composition of this invention (a) has the ferric complex of methyliminodiacetic acid as a bleaching agent, and additionally comprises (b) at least 0.9 mole of acetic acid per liter, (c) from about 15 to about 35 grams per liter of potassium bromide; and (d) has a pH of from about 2.5 to about 4.0. This invention includes the discovery of a synergistic bleaching coaction of a bleach (i) comprising an alkyliminodiacetic acid such as methyliminodiacetic acid, and (ii) which has a pH of from about 3.5 to about 4.5 , and (iii) in which the amount of ferric iron is from about 2 to about 16 grams per liter. This coaction between iron levels and pH was previously unknown and was unexpected. Bleach formulations of this invention can be used in the processing of color photographic materials, such as film.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.