Photographic processing apparatus
AssigneeEastman Kodak Company
InventorsJohn R. Fyson, Edward C. T. S. Glover
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A photographic processing apparatus which incorporates a drum arrangement to form a low volume processing tank. The arrangement comprises a processing tank in which a central rotatable drum is mounted and a pair of rollers at the inlet and outlet of the processing tank convey the photographic material through the tank. A clearance, of less than 5 mm, is provided between the tank and the drum, which defines a low volume for the processing solution. The drum is rotated at a speed independent of the speed of the rollers. The processing apparatus may be used with unstable or single use chemistry.
Claims11
Photographic processing apparatus including at least one processing stage, each processing stage comprising:
- a generally U-shaped vessel;
- a central rotating drum arranged within the vessel to define a processing tank, the clearance between the vessel and the drum being substantially constant;
- and
- at least one pair of drive rollers associated with the processing stage which is arranged to direct photographic material into and through the tank during processing, the rollers being driven at a rate to ensure that processing is achieved as the material passes through the processing tank;
- characterized in that the speed of rotation of the drum is controlled independently of the speed of the drive rollers.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.