This invention relates to an apparatus for the processing of photographic material in sheet form, comprising several stations arranged in sequence, each of which stations contains a processing tray, a container and circulating means for the treating fluid as well as a pair of transporting and squeezing rollers and guiding elements for conveying the photographic material through the processing apparatus.
In known apparatus of this type (see, for instance, German Offenlegungsschrift No. 15 97 652) the storage containers are designed as tanks which are set up separately or mounted in an apparatus frame, and which are connected with the processing trays via pipe or hose conduits. The upper sheet-guiding means are usually fixedly mounted in the processing trays or are injection-molded integrally with the latter from synthetic thermoplastic resin material. The transporting and squeezing rollers are supported in the container walls or in bearing blocks which are screw-fastened to the apparatus frame. They are driven via conventional gear transmissions, chain or shafts, or a combination of such elements, which can only be dismantled or assembled with the aid of suitable tools. This known type of construction makes it impossible, on the one hand, to achieve a compact assembly, and, on the other hand, renders it difficult to ensure the the flexibility desired for making in a simple manner a change in the number of successively arranged processing stations, especially because of the lack of a suitable embodiment of the roller-driving means.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds