Abstract: Apparatus for drying webs of photographic paper has a drying unit which has an inlet for admission of wet webs. Such webs advance along discrete paths having V-shaped portions and are dried by hot air which is circulated by blowers. The temperature of air is maintained at a constant value by a control system which adjusts one or more air heaters in the drying unit. The latter has a portion which is adjacent to and is located at a level below the inlet and wherein the moisture content of air is higher than in other parts of the drying unit. Such moisture content is measured and the signals denoting the measured moisture content are used to control the operation of a device which withdraws moisture-laden air from the aforementioned portion of the drying unit. The withdrawn air is replaced with relatively dry atmospheric air entering the drying unit via outlet opening for the webs.

Abstract: Apparatus for simultaneously winding several webs of developed photographic paper on the cores of reels whose flanges rest on pairs of supporting rollers one of which is driven by a discrete variable-speed motor has a loop former for each web. Each loop former adjusts a potentiometer in dependency on changes of tensional stress upon the corresponding web, and the potentiometers cause control circuits for the corresponding motors to reduce the speed of the driven supporting rollers as the diameters of convoluted portions of the webs increase. The webs are fed at a constant speed. The supporting rollers consist of rubber to reduce the noise as a result of contact with the flanges of the respective reels, and to reduce the likelihood of slippage of the reels.

Abstract: A photographic processor wherein parallel webs consisting of photosensitive material and/or other material and having identical or different widths are transported lengthwise through one or more liquid baths each of which receives identical quantities of replenishment chemicals at a frequency which insures that the activity of the baths remains unchanged. The device which feeds replenishment chemicals is controlled by a circuit having two inputs one of which receives first signals at a frequency corresponding to the rate of transport of unit lengths of the webs through the bath or baths and the other of which receives cyclically second signals, one for each photosensitive web and each persisting for a period of time which is proportional to the width of the respective photosensitive web. The control circuit causes the feeding device to admit a predetermined quantity of replenishment chemicals in response to the generation of each first signal during the persistence of a second signal.

Abstract: A reel for photographic paper has a hollow cylindrical core and two disk-shaped flanges having centrally located extensions received in the respective end portions of the core. The inner side of each flange tapers outwardly in a direction from the periphery of the core toward the periphery of the respective flange. The extensions have ribs which penetrate into the inner surface of the core, and the core is further coupled to each flange by a rubber hose which surrounds the respective extension and is biased against the inner surface of the core by an endless helical spring which surrounds a conical end face of the corresponding extension.

Abstract: Apparatus for simultaneous viewing of front and rear surfaces of webs of exposed and developed photographic paper has a frame which supports a rearwardly and upwardly inclined transparent pane constituting the front panel of a box. The frame has a rear wall which is normal to the pane and carries two spindles extending in parallelism with the plane of the pane and serving to support supply and takeup reels for a web of photographic paper whereby the rear side of the web portion between the reels lies against the front side of the pane and the front side of such web portion is observable from the front side of the frame.