Automatic film processor for dental X-ray film

Abstract

A processor for developing batches of dental X-ray film chips include a film transport unit comprised of a pair of laterally disposed, vertically spaced, parallel walls forming a continuously curved channel with three loops. The downwardly extending curved portions of the loops respectively extend into tanks in the development compartment of the processor. A lower lifter is mounted to rotate in each downwardly extending curved portion of the continuous channel, and an upper lifter is mounted to rotate in each upwardly extending curved portion of the continuous channel. The inside surfaces of the pair of walls are provided with opposing vee-grooves which form a path for engaging the opposite edges of a vertically disposed film chip. The flim chip is permitted to drop by gravity along the downwardly extending portions of its path and is lifted by the lower and upper rotating lifters along the upwardly extending portions of its path.

Description

This invention relates to film processing apparatus and more particularly to apparatus for automatically processing X-ray film chips.

There are many instances when the frequent processing of batches of exposed X-ray film chips is necessary, one of these being in a dentist's office. Since the time of the dentist and his assisting nurse is taken up with caring for the patient, it is not only inconvenient but sometimes impossible for them to attend to the development of such film chips. There is thus a need for apparatus to automatically develop batches of X-ray film chips in a dentist office as quickly as possible and with a minimum of supervision on the part of the dentist or his assisting nurse.

Accordingly, one of the objects of the present invention is to provide an automatic dental X-ray film chip machine for simultaneously developing a plurality of exposed film chips.

Another object of the present invention is to provide novel means for automatically simultaneously transporting a plurality of film chips through successive tanks required for their development without having to contact the surface of the dental film chips.

Another object of the present invention is to provide novel means for transporting film chips along continuously curved paths leading through successive tanks in the development compartment of a film processor by permitting the film chips to drop by gravity along downwardly extending portions of the paths and providing means for lifting the film chips along the upwardly extending portions of the paths.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a novel means for timing the feeding of film chips into a processor and for advancing the film chips through successive tanks in the processor for the purpose of the development thereof.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists of the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of the device whereby the objects contemplated are obtained as hereinafter set forth, pointed out in the appended claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of the components forming the film processor of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the magazine;

FIG. 3 is a front view of the film processor of the present invention with the front wall of the housing cover and portions of the walls of the tanks cut away;

FIG. 4 is a top view of the magazine as taken on line 4--4 in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a partial sectional view as taken on line 5--5 in FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the exit passage of the channel for the film chips as taken on line 6--6 in FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a detail as taken on line 7--7 in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a vertical cross sectional view of the film processor as taken on line 8--8 in FIG. 3;

FIG. 9 is a vertical cross sectional view of the film processor as taken on line 9--9 in FIG. 3;

FIG. 10 is a sectional view showing the rotating upper lifter used for advancing film chips to a succeeding tank as taken on line 10--10 in FIG. 3;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a rotating lower lifter used for advancing a film chip out of a tank;

FIG. 12 is a longitudinal sectional view of the film processor as taken on line 12--12 in FIG. 8;

FIG. 13 is a rear view of the film transport unit showing the gear train drive therefor as taken on line 13--13 in FIG. 8;

FIG. 14 is a plan sectional view of the processor as taken on line 14--14 in FIG. 12;

FIG. 15 is a partial sectional view illustrating the setting of the magazine to enable the film chips therein to be dropped into the channel of the transport unit at the proper time of the cyclical operation thereof; and

FIGS. 16-22 illustrate the manner in which the transport unit operates to advance the film chips along their respective paths through the successive tanks of the film processor.

Referring to the drawings, the dental film chip processor 10 of the present invention is shown to include a film chip transport unit 11 comprised of a molding having a vertical rearwall 12 with laterally extending, spaced, parallel outer and inner curved walls 14 and 16, respectively, forming a channel with three downwardly extending loop portions. Thus, as indicated in FIG. 3, the channel formed by the outer and inner walls 14 and 16 comprises a vertical entrance passage 24 leading down into a first lower semicircular portion 25 which swings up into a vertical portion 26 leading into a first upper semicircular portion 27. The first upper semicircular portion 27 then swings down into a vertical portion 28 leading down into a second lower semicircular portion 29 which swings up into vertical portion 30 leading into a second upper semicircular portion 31. The second upper semicircular portion 31 then swings down into a vertical portion 32 leading into a third lower semicircular portion 33 which swings up into a vertical portion 34 leading into an upper quartercircular portion 35 that leads into a horizontal exit passage 36.

The opposing surfaces of the channel formed by the outer and inner curved walls 14 and 16 have a plurality of vee-grooves 18 and 19, respectively, extending along the length thereof parallel to the rearwall 12. Pairs of opposing vee-grooves 18 and 19 in the channel define eight parallel chip paths. Each pair of vee-grooves 18 and 19 engages opposite edges of a small, stiff chip of film 22 being advanced through the transport unit 11. It should thus be clear that each film chip 22 is disposed along a path of the transport unit 11 so that its plane is parallel to the rearwall 12, such as illustrated in FIG. 6.

A rotating lower lifter 40 is mounted on the center of each of the lower semicircular portions 25, 29 and 33 of the channel. As shown in FIG. 11, each lower lifter 40 comprises a front member 41 with laterally extending arms 42 and 43. The center of the front member 41 is provided with a square opening 45 by which it is mounted on the square front end 46 of a plastic molded cylinder 48 so that the arms 42 and 43 extend across the channels adjacent the inner surface of the outer wall 14 thereof. The cylinder 48 is integrally formed with a gear 49 on the rear end thereof. A steel pin 51 extending through the cylinder 48 has the rear end thereof secured with a tight fit on the rear wall 12 of the film transport unit 11. (FIG. 14). A lock washer 52 is provided on the front end of pin 51. The cylinder 48 together with the lower lifter 40 locked thereto is rotated on the pin 51 by driving the gear 49 integrally formed thereon. As shown in FIG. 3, the vertical portions of the inner wall 16 of the channel above each of the lower lifters 40 and in line with the paths of the rotating arms 42 and 43 are provided with slots 54 and 55 to permit the arms 42 and 43 to cycle therethrough when rotated.

A rotating upper lifter 60 is mounted on the center of each the upper semicircular portions 27 and 31 and the quartercircular portion 35 of the channel. As shown in FIG. 10, each upper lifter 60 comprises a front member 61 with a laterally extending arm 62. A shaft 63 is mounted to rotate on respective front and rear bushings 64 and 65 secured on the center of each the upper semicircular portions and the quartercircular portion. The front member 61 is attached on the front end of shaft 63 by peening such that its arm 62 extends across the channel adjacent the inner surface of its inner wall 16. The rear end of the shaft 63 extending through the rearwall 12 is provided with a gear 67 by which upper lifter 60 is rotated. As shown in FIG. 3, the vertical portions of the outer wall 14 of the channel below each upper lifter 60 and in line with the path of its arm 62 are provided with slots 68 and 69 to enable the arm 62 to cycle therethrough as it is rotated.

It should now be clear that each of the lower lifters 40 has a pair of diametrically disposed arms 42 and 43 that project across the chip paths in the channel, and each of the upper lifters 60 has a single arm 62 that projects across the chip paths in the channel. As will be described hereinafter, the lower and upper lifters 40 and 60 cooperate to raise the film chips 22 along the rising portions of the paths of the loops formed by the channel.

As shown in FIG. 13, a gear train for lower lifters 40 and upper lifters 60 is provided on the back of the rearwall 12 of the transport unit 11. A middle large gear 127 attached to a shaft 128 journalled on the rearwall 12 is driven by a gear 117 coupled to a motor 115 (FIG. 14). The end of shaft 128 which extends through the rearwall 12, as shown in FIG. 12, has a small gear 129 secured thereon which drives the small gear 49 intregally formed on the inner end of cylinder 48 of the middle lower lifter 40. The middle large gear 127 drives an idler gear 131 journalled on the back of rearwall 12 which in turn drives the small gear 67 on the end of the shaft 63 of the first upper lifter 60. The small gear 67, in turn, drives an idler gear 132 which drives a large gear 133. Large gear 133 is attached to a shaft 134 which is journalled on a bushing 130 that extends through and is fixed to the rearwall 12, (FIG. 8). A small gear 135 secured on shaft 134 (FIG. 12) drives the small gear 49 integrally formed on the inner end of cylinder 48 of the first lower lifter 40. It should be noted that a rotating cam 136 having diametrically opposed side surfaces 140a and 140b is provided with a square opening 143 in the center thereof by which it is mounted on a square projection 144 formed on the hub of large gear 133. The cam 136 is thus simultaneously driven by the large gear 133 which drives the first lower lifter 40. The middle large gear 127 also drives an idler gear 137 which in turn drives a small gear 70 on the shaft 63 of middle upper lifter 60. The small gear 70, in turn, drives an idler gear 138 which drives a large gear 139 attached to a shaft 77 that extends through and is journalled on the rearwall 12. A small gear 146 secured to shaft 77 drives the gear 49 integrally formed on the inner end of cylinder 48 of the third lower lifter 40. The large gear 139 also drives an idler gear 141 which drives the small gear 142 on the shaft 63 of the third upper lifter 60. It should be noted that the large gears 133, 127 and 139 associated with the respective drives for the first, second and third lower lifters 40 are all of the same size and driven at the same speed. Likewise, the small gears 67, 70 and 142 which drive the respective first, second and third upper lifters 60 are all of the same size and driven at the same speed. Furthermore, these large gears have a ratio of 1:4 to these small gears. Consequently, each of the upper lifters 60 rotates four times for a single rotation of the lower lifters 40.

As shown in FIG. 1, an elongated sidebar 71 is attached to the upper front edge of the transport unit 11. A molded top member 73 is provided with depending longitudinal sides 74 and 75 that straddle the upper edges of the rearwall 12 and the sidebar 71 when the top member 73 is positioned thereover (see FIGS. 5 and 7). The top member 73 is secured in position by screws 76.

A rectangularly shaped receiver 81 for a magazine 82 is formed on the left end of the top member 73. The receiver 81 has a rectangular opening 80 on the left and an elongated slot 86 on the right portion thereof. The opening 80 is aligned with the vertical entrance passage 24 into the channel. The magazine 82 is provided with eight parallel slots 83 in which exposed X-ray film chips 22 can be placed. When the magazine 82 is positioned in the receiver 81, the slots 83 are located above the opening 80 in the top member 73 in alignment with the respective pairs of vee-grooves 18 and 19 in the opposing walls of the channel.

A flat, rectangular gate mamber 84 is disposed in recess 85 (FIG. 5) provided on the underside of the receiver 81 formed on the top member 73. An indicating pin 93 secured on the upper surface of the gate member 84 extends through the elongated slot 86 and indicates the movement thereof relative to the receiver. A vertical extension 91 on the back side of the gate member 84 is provided with a pin 187. A spring 188 having one end attached to the rearwall 12 of the transport unit 11 and the other end attached to the extension 91 normally holds the gate member 84 toward the left to close the entrance passage 24 to the channel. The rotating cam 136 is attached to shaft 134 and is thus synchronized to rotate with the lower lifter 40 associated with the first lower semicircular portion 25 of the channel. As the cam 136 rotates, the side surface 140a or 140b thereof contacts the pin 187 on the extension 91 and forces the gate member 84 to slide to the right. This serves to open the gate, i.e., unblock the rectangular opening 80 so that the film chips 22 stored in parallel relative to each other in the slots 83 of the magazine 82 are simultaneously dropped down into the channel. After the side surface 140a or 140b of cam 136 rotates past the pin 187, the gate member 84 is released and pulled back by the spring 188 to close the gate. The gate member 84 is thus slideable from a position over the entrance passage 24 of the channel to a position to the right, as shown in FIG. 15, to control the dropping of film chips 22 from the magazine 82 into the respective paths defined by the opposing vee-grooves 18 and 19 provided on the inner and outer walls. Note that the vee-grooves 18 and 19 on the opposing walls of the channel are sufficiently spaced so that the film chips 22 released from the magazine 82 are able to freely move downwardly by gravity along the vertical portions of their paths into the entrance passage 24.

Next to be described is a molded base 87 which provides a support for the film processor of the present invention. The top of the base 87 is formed with a large rectangularly shaped depression or well 88 on approximately two-thirds of the left front corner portion thereof and with smaller rectangularly shaped depressions 89 on the remaining corner portions thereof. As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, rubber pads are glued on the bottom surface of each of the small depressions 89 and on the left front corner of the large depression 88 to prevent the base 87 from sliding.

Disposed on the base 87 is a partition 101 formed of a single sheet of steel bent to form a rearwall 102, a left sidewall 103 and a right sidewall 104. The lower edges of these walls are bent outwardly to form flanges which rest against the upper surfaces of the base and are secured thereto by screws, such as the flange 105 of the left sidewall 103 which is secured by screws 106. The sidewalls 103 and 104 together with the rearwall 102 form a developer compartment. A rectangular opening 125 is provided in the sidewall 104. Disposed near the right end of the base 87 is a sidewall 107 formed of a sheet of steel provided with a flange on the lower edge thereof by which it is secured to the base. A rectangular exit opening 126 for the developed film chips 22 is provided on the sidewall 107 in line with the rectangular opening 125 provided on the sidewall 104. A short rearwall 108 disposed across the upper rear edges of the sidewalls 104 and 107 has side flanges 109 by which it is welded to the sidewalls. Rearwall 108 and sidewalls 104 and 107 form a drying compartment.

Extending from the left and right inner surfaces of sidewalls 103 and 104 of the partition 101 are vertically disposed support lugs 110 and 111 which serve to support the film transport unit 11 relative to the rectangular opening 125 in sidewall 104 leading into the drying compartment. As shown in FIG. 14, the partition 101 has the motor 115 for the film transport unit 11 mounted on the back thereof. The motor 115 is coupled to shaft 116 which protrudes through an opening in the rearwall 102 of the developer compartment and has the power gear 117 secured on the end thereof. The rearwall 108 of the drying compartment has a motor 119 for a roller drive unit 112 mounted on the back thereof. The motor 119 is coupled to a shaft 120 which protrudes through an opening in the rearwall 108 and has a power gear 121 secured on the end thereof.

Prior to assembling the transport unit 11 on the base 87, three rectangular plastic tanks 122, 123 and 124 are positioned side-by-side in the well 88 formed in the base 87 of the developer compartment. Tank 122 is for a developer solution, tank 123 is for a fixing solution and tank 124 is for a rinsing solution.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, a recess 78 is provided on the inner surfaces of either longitudinal end of the depending side 74 of the top member 73 disposed adjacent the rearwall 12. It should be further noted that the rearwall 12 is divided by slots 57 and 58 (FIG. 13) into three sections which fit into the three tanks 122, 123, and 124, respectively, when the transport unit 11 is lowered into the developer compartment. Each section has a lower contour which conforms with the curvature of outer wall 14 and is provided with openings 59. When fully seated, the left end of the top member 73 rests on the top edge of the sidewall 103 and the recesses 78 on the ends of the depending side 74 of the top member 73 engage the lugs 110 and 111 on the opposite sidewalls 103 and 104 of the partition 101. The lugs 110 and 111 thus provide for properly positioning and holding the film transport unit 11 in place so that the exit passage 36 of its channel is properly aligned with the rectangular opening 125 in the sidewall 104 leading to the drying compartment. When so positioned the large gear 127 on the back of the rearwall 12 engages the power gear 117 mounted on the rearwall 102 of the partition.

Mounted on the base of the drying compartment are supports 145 for a motor 98 which drives a fan 150, (FIG. 9). A heater device 147 which comprises a rectangular frame 148 with a plurality of heating coils 149 extending thereacross rests on ledges 151 and 152 provided on the inside surface of the respective sidewalls 107 and 104. The heater device 147 is thus positioned above the fan 150 and secured in place by screws 153. Positioned to rest on the top of the heating device 147 is a roller drive unit 112 for the film chips 22. The roller drive unit 112 includes front and rear plates 156 and 157 held together at their corners by bolts 160. Five sets of transversely disposed upper rollers 158 and lower rollers 159 are rotatably mounted on respective shaft portions 154 and 155 thereof journalled on the front and rear plates 156 and 157. The upper and lower rollers 158 and 159 are plastic moldings and are formed with eight vee-grooves 173 and 174, respectively (FIG. 9). The upper and lower rollers 158 and 159 of each set are spaced so as to tightly engage within each pair of the vee-grooves 173 and 174 the edges of a vertically disposed film chip 22 passing therethrough. The successive sets of rollers are spaced lengthwise along the paths so that a portion of the edges of the film chips 22 are always in contact with a pair of the vee-grooves 173 and 174 on the upper and lower rollers, respectively. As shown in FIG. 13, the gear train for the roller drive unit 112 is located on the back of the gear plate 157. The gear train comprises an upper gear 161 on the end of the shaft portion 154 of each of the upper rollers 158 and a lower gear 162 on the end of the shaft portion 155 of each of the lower rollers 159. The upper gears 161 and lower gears 162 are of the same size. Each upper gear 161 is engaged with the adjacent upper gear 161 by an upper idler gear 163 and each of the lower gears 162 is engaged with the adjacent lower gear 162 by a lower idler gear 164. Each of the upper idler gears 163 is positioned so that it engages one of the lower idler gears 164. An input drive gear 165 (FIG. 9) is secured on the same shaft portion as the middle upper gear 161. When the roller drive unit 112 is positioned in the drying chamber above the heater device 147, the input drive gear 165 engages the large power gear 121 mounted on the rear wall 108. It is thus seen that when the power gear 121 is rotated by motor 119 all the upper and lower rollers 158 and 159 are simultaneously rotated to advance the vertically disposed fully developed film chips 22 being held edgewise between the respective pairs of vee-grooves 173 - 174 thereof. The film chips are advanced by the roller drive unit through the drying chamber and out the rectangular opening 126 provided on the sidewall 107.

It should be noted that a box-like enclosure 176 is provided on the upper front portion of the drying compartment. An on-off switch 180 and a rheostat 177 for controlling the speed of motor 115 is located within the enclosure 176 (FIG. 9). A side projection 95 is attached to the outer surface of sidewall 103 and a side projection 96 is attached to the inner surface of sidewall 107 just above an access opening 97 provided on the sidewall 107. The operator of the processor can lift the base 87 with the component parts assembled thereon by placing his fingers underneath these side projections.

After the parts shown in FIG. 1 have been assembled on the base 87 and the respective tanks 122, 123 and 124 have been filled with their solution to the level indicated in FIG. 12, a housing cover 166 is positioned thereover to rest on a ledge 167 provided about the periphery of the base 87. The top of the housing cover 166 is provided with a rectangular opening 168 near the left end thereof to permit the magazine receiver 81 to project therethrough. The housing cover 166 is also provided with a hole 181 near the right top end thereof to permit a knob 178 to be secured to the shaft 179 of the rheostat 177 extending therethrough. The knob 178 can be rotated to adjust the rheostat 176 and thus control the rpm of motor 115 which drives the gear train for advancing the upper and lower lifters 40 and 60, respectively. In this manner the operator can adjust the period of time that the film chips 22 remain in the developer tank 122. It should also be noted that an opening 186 is provided on the top of housing cover 166 to provide access to the on-off switch 180. It should be further noted that air intake holes 169 are provided on the back surface of the housing cover 166 opposite the fan 150 and air exhaust holes 170 are provided at the top of the housing cover 166 above the fan 150. In addition, an opening 171 is provided on the right side of the housing cover 166 in line with the opening 126 in the sidewall 107.

A further description of the magazine 82 will next be presented. The magazine 82 is comprised of a molding having eight parallel slots 83 on the left portion thereof for receiving as many as eight exposed x-ray film chips 22. Slideably held beneath the magazine 82 (FIG. 5) so as to contact the shoulders 172 on the rear and front thereof is a film stopping plate 175. The stopping plate has a ledge 183 on the left side edge thereof and an elongated slot 184 extending parallel to the sides and midway thereof. Recesses 182 are provided on the rear and front side edges of the film stopping plate 175 to receive pins 191 which retain the plate 175 on the bottom of the magazine 82 while permitting it to be moved horizontally thereto. The magazine 82 is positioned in the receiver 81 with the indicating pin 93 on the upper surface of gate member 84 extending up into the slot 184. When the film stopping plate 175 is moved to its left hand position, the ledge 183 on the left side edge thereof extends beneath the right end of the slots 83 in the magazine 82, thus preventing film chips 22 in the slots from dropping out of magazine 82. A vertical post 185 on the top surface of the stopping plate 175 is used to shift the stopping plate 175 between its left hand and right hand positions. It should thus be clear that when the film stopping plate 175 is moved by the post 185 to its left hand position, the magazine 82 can be loaded by placing film chips 22 in the respective slots 83 thereof.

When power is applied to the processor 10 by closing the on-off switch 180, the gear train on the transport unit 11 is driven. This causes the rotating cam 136 to rotate in synchronism with the steady rotation of the lower lifters 40 and the upper lifters 60 so that every half cycle of rotation of the lower lifter 40 its side surface 140a or 140b contacts the pin 187 on the extension 91 and drives the gate member 84 to the right so that the left edge of the gate member 84 clears the rectangular opening 80 leading to the entrance passage 24 of the channel. If the stopping plate 175 is still in its left hand position at the time the rotating cam 136 moves the gate member 84 to the right, the film chips 22 in the magazine 82 are prevented from dropping out of the magazine. However, if at this time the stopping plate 175 has been moved by the post 185 to its right hand position, the film chips 22 will simultaneously drop from the magazine 82 into the respective pairs of vee-grooves 18 and 19 on the opposing walls of the entrance passage 24 of the channel.

In order to ensure that the film chips 22 are dropped into the entrance passage 24 of the channel at the proper time, the stopping plate 175 is initially moved to its left hand position to prevent the film chips 22 from dropping during the loading of the magazine. The operator then observes the indicating pin 93 on the upper surface of the film gate member 84 as it moves along the elongated slot 184. An arrow 190 is marked along the elongated slot 184 to indicate the range in which the pin 93 can be located so that the operator can safely move the stopping plate 175 to its right hand position. It is while the pin 93 is slowly moving to the right along the elongated slot 184 within the range defined by the arrow 190, that the stopping plate 175 may be moved to its right hand position. Then, when the gate member 84 has been moved to the right, as a result of the rotating cam 136 hitting the pin 187 on its extension 91, so as to clear the entrance passage 24, the film chips 22 will all simultaneously drop down into the channel, as illustrated in FIG. 16.

It should be noted that the indicating pin 93 moves slowly to the right when either side surface 140a or 140b of rotating cam 136 contacts the pin 187 on the extension 91 of the gate member 84. Then when the side surface of cam 136 clears the pin 187, the gate member 84 is quickly returned back to the left by the spring 188 to close the entrance passage 24 into the channel.

It should thus be clear that if the stopping plate 175 were to be pushed to the right to open up the magazine 82 while the gate member 84 is likely to be snapping back to its left hand position, the film chips 22 falling from the magazine 82 might be damaged.

Reference will next be made to FIGS. 15 to 22 to more fully describe the manner in which film chips 22 are fed into the entrance passage 24 of the channel in properly timed relationship with the steady rotation of the lifters in the transport unit 11 and are then advanced by the lifters along their paths through each of the successive tanks 122, 123, and 124, and then through the exit passage 36 into the drying compartment.

The processor 10 provides for being able to load the magazine 82 with a batch of film chips 22 while power is supplied to the motors 115 and 119. Thus upon switching the on-off switch 180 to its "on" position, the power train for driving the upper and lower lifters 40 and 60, respectively, is energized, causing these lifters to slowly rotate. With the stopping plate 175 positioned to the left such that its ledge 183 prevents the film chips from dropping out of the magazine, the magazine can then be loaded with a first batch of film chips. It should be noted that the three lower lifters 40 are all synchronized to steadily rotate with a similar angular orientation, and that the three upper lifters 60 are, likewise, all synchronized to steadily rotate with a similar angular orientation. However, as previously described, the upper lifters 60 rotates four times faster than the lower lifters 40. Thus each time that the lower lifters 40 rotate 90.degree. the upper lifters 60 rotate 360.degree. .

The lower lifters 40 rotate in a counterclockwise direction and the upper lifters 60 rotate in a clockwise direction. Thus, when the first lower lifter 40 is disposed in a horizontal position with its arm 42 below the vertical entrance passage 24 and its arm 43 below the vertical portion 26, the first upper lifter 60 is starting to move downwardly in the upper semicircular portion 27, as shown in FIG. 12. Furthermore, for this orientation of the lower lifters 40, the rotating cam 136 which is coupled to be driven in a clockwise direction by the same large gear 133 that drives the first lower lifter 40 has its side surface 140a just starting to contact the pin 187 on the extension 91 of the gate member 84. At this instant, the indicating pin 93 is in its extreme left position in slot 184. As the gear train advances, the rotating cam 136 causes the pin 93 to move to the right until it reaches the region indicated by arrow 190 (FIG. 4). The operator can then move the stopping plate 175 to its right hand position by the use of post 185 as illustrated in FIG. 15. Note that the gate member 84 has not yet been driven by the cam 136 sufficiently to the right to open the gate. However, when the gate member 84 has been driven to the position shown in FIG. 16, the gate is opened and the first batch of film chips drop into the entrance passage 24 and down into the bottom portion of the first tank 122. It should be noted in FIG. 16, that by the time the lower lifter 40 has rotated 90.degree. to the vertical position shown, the upper lifter 60 has rotated 360.degree. . Moreover, by the time the lower lifter 40 has rotated another 90.degree., as shown in FIG. 17, the upper lifter has rotated another 360.degree.. It should now be evident that the lower lifter 40 is once again in a horizontal position but this time its arm 43 is below the vertical entrance passage 24 and its arm 42 is below the vertical portion 26. It should be noted that once the first batch of film chips 22 have been dropped out of the magazine, the operator can shift the stopping plate 175 to its left hand position and reload the magazine with a second batch of film chips 22. The operator can then again push the stopping plate 175 to its right hand position when the indicating pin 93 is within range of the arrow 190.

Thus as the lower lifter 40 again rotates to a vertical position, as shown in FIG. 18, the cam 136 again advances, but this time with its side surface 140b in contact with pin 187, to open the gate thus enabling the second batch of film chips 22 in the magazine to drop down into the entrance passage way 24.

It should be noted, as shown in FIG. 18, that the lower lifter arms 42 and 43 are purposely made wide enough to separate the successive batches of film chips so that their surfaces do not contact each other. In the meantime, as the first lower lifter rotated 90.degree. from its position in FIG. 17 to its position in FIG. 18, the first upper lifter 60 is again rotated 360.degree.. As the first lifter 40 rotates an additional 90 degrees, as shown in FIG. 19, it lifts the first batch of film chips up out of the first tank 122 and, as shown in FIG. 20, as the first lower lifter 40 continues to lift the first batch of film chips 22, the first upper lifter 60 swings around to take over and thus continue the lifting of these film chips over the first upper semicircular portion 27 of the channel causing them to drop down into the second tank 123, as shown in FIG. 21. In the meantime, and simultaneously with the lifting of the first batch of film chips out of the first tank 122 and the advancing of them so that they drop into the second tank 123, a third batch of film chips can be stored in the magazine by the operator and caused to be dropped down into the first tank, as shown in FIG. 21.

It should now be clear that the reason the upper lifters 60 rotate four times faster than the lower lifters 40 is because the lower lifter 40 has two diametrically disposed arms 42 and 43 for transporting film chips whereas the upper lifter 60 only has one arm 62. Furthermore, it is important that the lower lifter 40 is always in a vertical position when the film chips are dropped into a tank so as to permit the film chips to drop down into the lower portion of the tank so as to be fully covered by the solution therein.

After the film chips are lifted out of the last tank 124 by the lifters 40 and 60 associated therewith, the film chips are directed through the quartercircular portion 35 of the channel by the associated upper lifter 60 and on into the exit passage 36 where the film chips are then engaged by the upper and lower rollers 158 and 159 of the roller drive unit 112. The fully developed film chips upon being dried then emerge out of the opening 171 provided in the housing cover 166.

It should now be evident that the use of vee-grooves 18 and 19 to guide the film chips 22 along the chip paths and the use of the lower lifters 40 and the upper lifters 60 to lift the film chips 22 along the rising portions of these paths assures that only the edges of the film chips are in sliding contact with the transport unit 11 so as not to damage the emulsion on the surface of the film chips. It should be further evident that the film chips are controlled to move in steps along the chip paths provided by the transport unit 11, stopping for a predetermined period of time in the bottom portion of each of the tanks.

Although the description herein has been concerned with a particularly illustrative embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is subject to various modifications in both the construction and arrangement thereof without departing from the spirit thereof. The invention, therefore, should be considered as including all possible modifications and variations coming within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims

What is claimed:

1. A processor for film chips comprising:

a series of tanks;

transport means including a rear vertical wall having a pair of parallel, spaced, walls laterally extending therefrom, said spaced walls having curved portions thereof extending down into and up out of each said tanks and curved portions thereof extending from each tank over into the succeeding tank;

a plurality of laterally spaced grooves formed on the opposing surfaces of said spaced walls, each groove on one wall associated with a groove on the opposite wall to form a pair of opposing grooves lying in a common vertical plane extending parallel to the plane of said rear vertical wall and forming a path through the spaced walls for a vertically oriented film chip;

a lower laterally extending arm having a radial member mounted for rotation about an axis disposed normal to the rear vertical wall and substantially at the center of each curved portion of the spaced walls extending down into and up out of each of said tanks; and

an upper laterally extending arm having a radial member mounted for rotation about an axis disposed normal to the rear vertical wall and substantially at the center of each curved portion of the spaced walls extending from a tank over into a succeeding tank;

each said lower arm synchronized to rotate with an upper arm so that when said lower arm lifts film chips along their paths out of a tank the upper arm continues to lift the film chips and transfers them along their paths into the succeeding tank.

2. A processor for dental film chips comprising:

a development compartment,

a series of tanks in said development compartment,

a channel formed of a pair of laterally extending, parallel, spaced walls having lower curved portions extending down into and out of each of said tanks and upper curved portions extending from each tank to the succeeding tank,

a plurality of vee-grooves formed on the opposing surfaces of said spaced walls, each vee-groove on one wall associated with a vee-groove on the opposite wall to form a pair of opposing vee-grooves lying in the same vertical plane forming a path through the channel for a vertically oriented film chip,

a lower lifter mounted for rotation about an axis substantially at the center of each lower curved portion of the channel extending down into and out of each of said tanks, and

an upper lifter mounted for rotation about an axis substantially at the center of each upper curved portion of the channel extending from each tank to a succeeding tank,

each said lower lifter timed to rotate with an upper lifter so that when said lower lifter lifts film chips along their paths out of a tank the upper lifter continues to lift the film chips and transfers them along their paths into the succeeding tank.

3. The invention in accordance with claim 2 including

a drying compartment,

a roller drive assembly for advancing said film chips along paths extending in parallel through said drying compartment,

said roller drive assembly comprising

a plurality of sets of spaced upper and lower rollers, each said roller having a plurality of vee-grooves thereon, each vee-groove on the upper roller being associated with a vee-groove on the lower roller to form a pair of opposing vee-grooves, and each said roller rotatably mounted to rotate on an axis normal to the paths of advancement of said film chips, the spacing of successive sets of said rollers along said paths being less than the length of a film chip, and

each pair of opposing vee-grooves on the upper and lower rollers providing for engaging the upper and lower edges of a film chip to thereby simultaneously advance the film chips which have been transferred in parallel into said roller drive assembly by the upper lifter associated with the last tank in the series of tanks in said development compartment.

4. The invention in accordance with claim 3 including

an upper gear on the end of each of said upper rollers,

a lower gear on the end of each of said lower rollers,

an upper idler gear for coupling adjacent upper gears together,

a lower idler gear for coupling adjacent lower gears together,

each said upper idler gear being further coupled to engage a lower idler gear, and

a power gear coupled to engage a gear on the end of said rollers.

5. A processor for dental film chips comprising:

a development compartment,

a series of tanks in said development compartment,

a channel formed of a pair of laterally extending, parallel, spaced walls having lower curved portions extending down into and out of each of said tanks and upper curved portions extending from each tank to the succeeding tank,

a plurality of vee-grooves formed on the opposing surfaces of said spaced walls, each vee-groove on one wall associated with a vee-groove on the opposite wall to form a pair of opposing vee-grooves, each pair of opposing vee-grooves on said spaced walls lying in the same vertical plane forming a path through the channel for a vertically oriented film chip,

a lower lifter mounted to swing through each lower curved portion of the channel extending down into and out of each of said tanks,

an upper lifter mounted to swing through each upper curved portion of the channel extending from each tank to a succeeding tank,

each said lower lifter timed to swing with an upper lifter so that when said lower lifter lifts film chips along their paths out of a tank the upper lifter continues to lift the film chips and transfers them along their paths into the succeeding tank, and

wherein said lower lifter is provided with a pair of diametrically disposed lateral arms and said upper lifter is provided with a single lateral arm.

6. The invention in accordance with claim 5 including drive means for rotating said lower and upper lifters, said drive means providing for rotating said upper lifters four times faster than said lower lifters.

7. A processor for dental film chips comprising:

a development compartment,

a series of tanks in said development compartment,

a channel formed of a pair of spaced walls having lower curved portions extending down into and out of each of said tanks and upper curved portions extending from each tank to a succeeding tank, said channel having an entrance passage,

a plurality of vee-grooves formed on the opposing surfaces of said spaced walls, each vee-groove on one wall associated with a vee-groove on the opposite wall to form a pair of opposing vee-grooves, each pair of opposing vee-grooves forming a path through the channel for a film chip,

a lower lifter mounted to swing through each lower curved portion of the channel extending down into and out of each of said tanks,

an upper lifter mounted to swing through each upper curved portion of the channel extending from each tank to a succeeding tank,

each said lower lifter timed to swing with an upper lifter so that when said lower lifter lifts the film chips along their paths out of a tank the upper lifter continues to lift the film chips and transfers them along their paths into the succeeding tank,

a magazine for a plurality of said film chips positioned over the entrance passage of said channel,

a gate member normally disposed to close the entrance passage of said channel, and

drive means synchronized to move said gate member to open the entrance passage of said channel to said magazine each time said lower lifter swings through the lower curved portion of the channel extending down into the first tank of the series of tanks.

8. The invention in accordance with claim 7 wherein said drive means includes a cam synchronized to rotate with said lower lifters, said cam operating to move said gate member to open the entrance passage to said channel each time said lower lifter swings through the lower curved portions of said channel extending down into said first tank.

9. The invention in accordance with claim 7 including

a slideable stopping plate on the bottom of said magazine,

said stopping plate having an edge thereof extending under said film chips stored in said magazine to prevent said film chips from dropping out of said magazine,

an indicating pin on said gate member,

said stopping plate having an elongated slot for receiving the indicating pin on said gate member, and

an indicia on said stopping plate adjacent the elongated slot thereof to indicate the period of time during the cycle of said lower rotating lifters that the edge of the stopping plate can be moved from under said film chips so that the film chips will be dropped out of the magazine when the gating member clears the entrance passage to said channel.