Sheet squeezing device
United States Patent 1 Igarashi et al.  
 1 1 SHEET SQUEEZING DEVICE [75] Inventors: Shunichi lgarashi, Tokyo; Takeshi Okano, Nishinomiya, both of Japan [73] Assignee: Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd.,  
 Kanagawa, Japan [22] Filed: Apr. 27, 1973 [21] App]. No.1 354,973  
 [30] Foreign Application Priority Data Apr. 27, 1972 Japan 47-42363 [52] US. Cl 100/121, 100/156, 100/210, 100/211,]00/174,118/119,118/126, 354/318 [51] lnt. Cl. B30b 9/20, B30b 3/02 [58] Field of Search 100/155, 156,121, 210, 100/211, 99; 118/119, 122, 126; 34/95, 111; 68/241, 244, 245; 354/317, 318  
 [56] References Cited UNlTED STATES PATENTS 261,654 7/1882 Birch 118/119 [4 1 Apr. 1, 1975 3,181,500 5/1965 Paulson et a1. 118/126 3,302,610 2/1967 Mahoney 118/126 3,335,701 8/1967 Verkinderen et a1 118/126 3,641,975 2/1972 118/120 3,704,662 12/1972 Johnson et a1 354/318 Primary Examiner-Peter Feldman Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Sughrue, Rothwell, Mion, Zinn and Macpeak [57] ABSTRACT In a device for squeezing a liquid carrying sheet comprising a rotatable driven roller and a resilient leaf member biased against the lower surface of the roller, the upper end of the leaf member which contacts the roller is directed rearwardly with respect to the advancing direction of sheet materials passed between the roller and sheet member.  
 4 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures SHEET SQUEEZING DEVICE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to a squeezing device, and more particularly to a device for effectively squeezing a sheet to remove a liquid from the surface thereof.  
 2. Description of the Prior Art It is known in the art to squeeze a paper having a liquid on the surfaces thereof for removing the liquid therefrom. In a liquid development type developing machine or other wet type processing machine, a squeezing device is necessary in order to remove as much developer or other liquid as possible from the surface thereof to eliminate undesirable effects of the liquid thereon in subsequent different processes.  
  The use of a pair of rollers made of resilient material arranged to rotate in contact with each other for squeezing wet papers passing therethrough is known in the art. Such a squeeze roller device has disadvantages in that the surface of the rollers is required to be resilient, and accordingly, the roller is usually made of a hydrophilic material such as rubber, whereby a part of the liquid squeezed out by the rollers is likely to be held by the rollers at the rearward portion thereof adjacent to the pinch portion of the rollers. This liquid held by the rollers is brought into contact with the sheet squeezed therethrough, and the surface of the sheet becomes unevenly wet which results in uneven dryness of the sheet or an uneven effect of subsequent processes such as fixing, rinsing, etc. It will be readily understood that the uneven effects ofprocessing, including the drying process, bring forth unfavorable results in the quality of the products such as copied images.  
 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above-described defects inherent in a conventional squeeze roller device, the primary object of the present invention is to provide a sheet squeezing device which effectively squeezes a sheet in a uniform manner.  
  Another object of the present invention is to provide a device for uniformly squeezing a wet sheet which has a simple construction.  
  Still another object of the present invention is to provide a device for uniformly squeezing a wet sheet in which the squeezed out liquid is removed from the surface of the sheet and is not held adjacent to the contact point at which the squeezing device is in contact with the wet surface of the sheet.  
  A further object of the present invention is to provide a device for uniformly squeezing a wet sheet which has liquid carried on one surface thereof.  
  Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be made apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments thereof taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing in which:  
 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side view ofa sheet squeezing device in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention,  
 FIG. 2 is a side view of a sheet squeezing device in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention which has a longer resilient squeezing leaf member, and  
  2 FIG. 3 is a side elvational view showing another embodiment of a sheet squeezing device in accordance with the present invention which has a guide member.  
 DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Now referring to FIG. 1, a sheet which carries a liquid on the downwardly faced surface thereof la is indicated by reference numeral 1. The sheet 1 is passed between a rotatable driving roller 2 and a resilient squeezing leaf member 3. The resilient squeezing leaf member 3 is spring biased against the surface of the roller 2 at the lower end of the roller. The lower end of the leaf member is fixed to a stationary metal fixture member 4 and the upper end thereof is urged against the lower end surface of the roller 2. The position of the lower end of the leaf spring member 3 is adjustable so as to control the bias pressure thereof on the surface of the roller 2. The upper end 3a of the leaf member 3 is directed rearwardly so that the sheet 1 may pass smoothly between the end of the leaf member 3a and the roller 2.  
  In operation, the roller 2 is driven counterclockwise in FIG. I and the upper end 3a of the resilient leaf member 3 is constantly urged against the surface of the roller 2 with a proper pressure. Then, a sheet 1 carrying a liquid such as developer liquid on the downwardly faced surface la thereof is passed between the roller 2 and the upper end 3a of the leaf member 3 spring biased thereagainst. By the spring force, the liquid carried on the surface Ia of the sheet 1 is squeezed or removed by the end of the leaf member 3.  
  Referring to FIG. 2 showing another embodiment of the squeezing device wherein like members to those described in FIG. 1 are indicated with similar reference numerals, the upper end portion of the spring biased resilient leaf member 31 is shown to-be slightly longer than that employed in the first embodiment&#39;shown in FIG. 1. In this second embodiment, the upper end 31a is located slightly rearward of the contact point where the member 3] is in contact with the lower surface of the roller 2. This permits even, efficient liquid removal since the liquid naturally flows on the surface of the leaf member in the direction of travel of the sheet as shown in FIGS. 1-3. The upper end portion 31b of the leaf member 31 is.slightly bent to form a cylindrical surface to be in contact with the surface of the roller 2 so that the sheet passing between the roller and the leaf member may pass smoothly therebetween, and further whereby liquid is efficienty removed. The cylindrical suface, of course, insures that if some slight misplacement of the leaf member results a smooth surface still contacts the sheet passing between the leaf memher and roller.  
  Referring now to FIG. 3 wherein like numerals indicate elements similar to those in FIGS. 1 and 2, a guide plate 5 is provided just in front of the leaf member 32 so that the upper end of the guide plate 5 can guide the sheet 1. The upper end of the guide plate 5 is located on the passage line of the sheet 1 or slightly below the passage line and serves as a support and a guide for preventing the sheet 1 from entering between the roller 2 and the leaf member 32, from sagging down or from being attracted by the wet surface of the curved leaf member 32. Further, the upper end of the guide plate 5 scrapes the liquid off the sheet. The lower end of the guide plate is fixed to and supported by a metal fixture member 4.  
  It should be noted that the resilient leaf member 3, 31 or 32 is desirably hydrophobic (repels water) so that the liquid may easily drop off the end of the leaf member as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3.  
  As is easily seen from the above disclosure, the members 3, 31 or 32 basically face the center of the roller which they are biased against, generally applying a bias pressure against the sheet material passing between the member and the roller on the order of about 900 to about 1,000 g/cm.  
  In accordance with the present invention, the liquid squeezed off from the wet surface of the sheet 1 does not remain on the leaf spring but smoothly drops off the end of the leaf member, and there is no fear of uneven wetness of the sheet after the squeezing process.  
  Further, since the liquid squeezed from the paper or other sheet passing through the squeezing device quickly drop off the leaf member, there is no fear of making the surface of the roller 2 wet or soiled.  
  ln addition, it will be understood that the leaf member positively contacts the surface of the roller throughout the length thereof even if the roller is slightly bent, since the resilient leaf member if resilient and soft enough to do so.  
  Since only one roller is used, the driving power is low in comparison to the driving power needed to drive a squeezing system involving two rollers.  
 EXAMPLE As an example, the inventors made a copying paper squeezing device in accordance with the present invention, in which cellulose triacetate films were used as the squeezing leaf member 32 and as the guide plate 5 and a photosensitive copying paper was passed through the squeezing device. The thickness of the film used as the leaf member 32 was 100 to 200 microns and the thickness of film used as the guide member 5 was not more than 100 microns. The roller, which was rubber, had a diameter of I) mm, and was rotated at 40-100 pm, with a paper feed rate of 5 sheets/second. The clearance between the paper and the guide member was zero, and the distance between the guide member and leaf member roller contact point was 6 mm, whereas the distance between the guide member and the very rearwardly extending top of the leaf member was 10 mm. The contact pressure of the roller 2 was set at about 1 Kg/cm As a result, the amount of liquid scraped off from the surface of the sheet by the guide plate 5 increased by about 0.2 grams per sheet.  
  It will be understood that the present invention can be applied to various fields by changing the material, thickness and the contact pressure on the roller of the leaf member and the guide plate.  
  While the invention has been described in detail and with reference to specific embodiments thereof, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof.  
 What is claimed is:  
  l. A device for squeezing a liquid carrying sheet material comprising a roller rotatable about a fixed horizontal axis, means for driving said roller, a resilient leaf member supported at the lower end thereof beneath said roller and having an upper end portion in pressure contact with the lower surface of the roller, sheet material being directed between the roller and the leaf member and being moved by contact with said roller, the upper end of the leaf member being directed rearwardly with respect to the advance of said sheet material passing between the roller and the leaf member, and the upper end portion of said leaf member being curved so that the lower surface of said roller is in&#39; contact with the upper end portion of the leaf member at a position slightly remote from the upper end thereof, and wherein the upper end portion of said leaf member is curved rearwardly and downwardly in the direction of movement of said sheet material, and wherein the leaf member contacts the roller along a line in vertical alignment with the horizontalaxis of the roller.  
  2. A sheet squeezing device as defined in claim I wherein a guide plate is provided in front of the leaf member and below said sheet material such that the sheet material is prevented from sagging downward as it approaches the line of contact between said resilient leaf member and said roller.  
  3. A sheet squeezing device as claimed in claim 1 where the leaf member is hydrophobic.  
  4. A sheet squeezing device as claimed in claim 2 where the leaf member and the guide member are hydrophobic.