Photographic processor and method of operation
AssigneeEastman Kodak Company
InventorsRalph L. Piccinino, Jr., Daniel M. Pagano, Kevin H. Blakely, Ronald W. Grant, Robert E. Marowski, Ralph D. Sadler, John C. Cushman, Daniel C. Davis
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Abstract
A photographic processor and method of operation is disclosed. The processor includes a circular drum and a disk positioned inside the drum. The disk comprises at least one set of teeth along an outer periphery thereof for engagement with perforations on film. The processor also includes a circular dryer for drying the processed film. The dryer extends around an outer periphery of the drum.
Claims45
A photographic processor comprising:
- a circular processing drum having a front wall, a back wall, a side wall connecting the front wall to the back wall and extending around a perimeter of the drum, and a horizontally extending axis of symmetry, wherein a diameter of the drum is greater than a length of the drum, wherein the length of the drum is measured along the axis of symmetry;
- a disk positioned inside the drum in a plane parallel to both the front wall and the back wall, wherein the disk comprises one or more sets of disk teeth along an outer perimeter of the disk capable of interengaging with holes along a first edge of a strip of processible film;
- and
- a mechanism for rotating the disk while the drum is stationary.
A photographic processor comprising:
- a circular processing drum having a front wall, a back wall, a side wall connecting the front wall to the back wall and extending around a perimeter of the drum, and a horizontally extending axis of symmetry, wherein the diameter of the drum is greater than a length of the drum, wherein the length of the drum is measured along the axis of symmetry;
- a disk positioned inside the drum in a plane parallel to both the front wall and the back wall, wherein the disk comprises one or more sets of disk teeth along an outer perimeter of the disk capable of interengaging with holes along an edge of a strip of processible film;
- and
- a disk positioning device, wherein the disk positioning device moves the disk within the drum to change a distance between the disk and the front wall of the drum.
A photographic process comprising:
- loading processible film into a circular processing drum, wherein the circular processing drum comprises:
- a front wall,
- a back wall,
- a side wall connecting the front wall to the back wall and extending around a perimeter of the drum, and
- a horizontally extending axis of symmetry, and wherein the drum has a diameter greater than a length of the drum, the length of the drum being measured along the axis of symmetry, and wherein the drum contains a disk positioned inside the drum in a plane parallel to both the front wall and the back wall, wherein the disk comprises one or more sets of disk teeth along an outer perimeter of the disk capable of interengaging with holes along a an edge of the strip of processible film;
- contacting the processible film with one or more processing fluids in the circular processing drum;
- rotating the circular processing drum along the axis of symmetry for a period of time to process the film;
- removing the one or more processing fluids from the circular processing drum;
- and
- drying the processed film.
A method of processing a photosensitive film comprising the steps of:
- inserting the film into a circular processing drum;
- supplying and discharging processing solution into and from said processing drum to process said film;
- transferring the processed film from the circular processing drum to a circular drying cylinder;
- and
- drying the processed film as the film travels through the circular drying cylinder.
A processing apparatus comprising:
- a circular processing drum for processing a photosensitive film therein;
- a circular drying cylinder for drying the processed photosensitive film;
- and
- a transfer arm for transferring the processed photosensitive film from the processing drum to the drying cylinder.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.