Agfa-gevaert Ag

Afga-gevaert Aktiengesellschaft

Franz Ertl

Erwin Geyken

Adolf Fleck

Leo Van Bouwel

Helmut Schausberger

Horst Koninger

Ernst Widemann

Nikolaus Jelinek

Horst Rohr

Emile Frans Stievenart

Marcel Aelterman

Rudolph Loistl

Gustaaf De Loucker

A drying arrangement for strips or sheets of photosensitive material includes a pair of infrared heating rods which are located on opposite sides and extend transversely of the path of travel of the photosensitive material. A parabolic reflector is associated with each of the heating rods and serves to direct radiant energy from the same onto the photosensitive material. The heating rods lie at the focal points of the respective parabolic reflectors. Each of the reflectors has a symmetry plane which is inclined with reference to the path of the photosensitive material in such a manner that the line of intersection of the symmetry plane and the path is situated downstream of the location where a perpendicular from the focal point of the reflector to the path intersects the latter. By virtue of this arrangement, more radiant energy is directed to the upstream portion of the drying arrangement than to the downstream portion thereof. As a result, a thermal gradient exists in the drying arrangement. This gradient corresponds to the degree of dryness of the photosensitive material. Thus, the radiant energy is most intense in that portion of the drying arrangement where the photosensitive material carries the most liquid and least intense in that portion of the drying arrangement where the photosensitive material is virtually dry.

Drying arrangement for photosensitive articles

A processing bath is accommodated in a container having a pipe which communicates with the interior of the container at two different locations of the latter. The bath is circulated through this pipe and a pump for circulation of the bath is provided in the pipe. Several tubes extend into the bath and each tube has an outlet opening in the region of the inlet end of the circulation pipe. The outlet openings of the tubes are all located at different levels below the surface of the bath. The tubes are respectively connected with supply pumps which, in turn, are connected with respective sources of concentrates and a diluent required to maintain the strength of the bath within predetermined limits. A sensor senses the amount of material processed in the bath and causes the supply pumps to pump the concentrates and diluent into the bath in dependence upon the amount of material processed. Since the concentrates and diluent enter the bath at different levels, they mix with the bath before coming into contact with one another. This prevents undesirable chemical reactions which might otherwise occur between the various constituents of the bath. The admission of the concentrates and diluent into the bath in the region of the inlet end of the circulation pipe insures rapid mixing of the concentrates and diluent with the bath so that the homogeneity of the latter is maintained.

Method and apparatus for processing exposed photographic material with

A method of mixing at least one chemical concentrate with a thinning fluid to form a predetermined amount of a mixture or solution having a predetermined composition, particularly for use in photographic processing operations. Predetermined amounts of the concentrates are placed into respective holding units. The contents of the holding units are emptied into a mixing conduit which leads to a supply tank while at the same time thinning fluid is passed through the mixing conduit. The flow of thinning fluid through the mixing conduit is terminated when the amount of thinning fluid which has been passed through the mixing conduit reaches the amount corresponding to the predetermined amounts of the initial concentrates and to the predetermined amount of final solution or mixture desired.

Method and apparatus for preparing photoprocessing solutions, and the

An apparatus and method for neutralizing waste film-processing fluids discharged from a plurality of work stations containing film-processing fluids utilize a container adapted to receive the waste fluids as well as a predetermined quantity of neutralizing fluid. The quantity of neutralizing fluid admitted into the container is a function of the number and/or size of the film-emulsion carriers to be processed in the work station and/or a function of the fluid content of the container itself. A sensor is provided to detect the fluid contents of the container and cooperates with a control value so as to admit the predetermined quantity of neutralizing fluid into the container. A discharge pump is also provided to discharge the neutralized fluid contents of the container to a discharge area.

Apparatus and method for neutralizing waste photographic fluids

Growing community of inventors

Munich, Germany

Franz Ertl