Photographic element with porous membrane overcoat

Abstract

A photosensitive photographic element is described which comprises a support having at least one ? hydrophilic silver halide containing layer. On the hydrophilic silver halide containing layers there is an overcoat layer. The overcoat layer comprises a hydrophobic thermoplastic polymer that is present in the form of a porous membrane. The pores of the membrane are occupied by a hydrophilic composition. In another aspect, there is provided a method of making a photosensitive photographic element comprising a support having a hydrophilic silver halide containing layer and an overcoat layer, the overcoat layer comprising a hydrophobic thermoplastic polymer that is present in the form of a porous membrane wherein the pores of said membrane are occupied by a hydrophilic composition, said method comprising the steps of: (a) forming a solution of said hydrophobic thermoplastic polymer and said hydrophilic component in a solvent, (b) coating said solution on said hydrophilic silver containing layer, and (c) removing said solvent. An image can be produced in the element by the steps of: (1) exposing the photographic element described above so as to produce a photographic latent image in the silver halide layer, (2) processing the photographic element in a manner such that the hydrophilic compound is removed from the overcoat membrane, and (3) heating the processed photographic element so as to soften the hydrophobic thermoplastic polymer thereby closing the pores and producing a clear overcoat layer.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.