Photographic silver halide transfer process and the print-receiving products useful in connection therewith

Claim 1

A PHOTOGRAPHIC PROCESS FOR FORMING, BY TRANSFER, A PRINT OF A LATENT IMAGE CONTAINED IN THE SILVER HALIDE LAYER OF A PHOTOSENSITIVE ELEMENT, WHICH PROCESS COMPRISES THE STEPS OF BRINGING A LIQUID PROCESSING COMPOSITION INTO CONTACT WITH SAID PHOTOSENSITIVE ELEMENT SO THAT SAID LAYER IS PERMEATED WITH THE LIQUID OF SAID COMPOSITION, PROVIDING A PRINT-RECEIVING ELEMENT IN SUPERPOSED RELATION WITH SAID PHOTOSENSITIVE ELEMENT, SAID PRINT-RECEIVING ELEMENT CONSISTING OF A SUPPORT AND A THIN SILVER PRECIPITATING STRATUM COATED ON SAID SUPPORT, THE SURFACE OF SAID SUPPORT IN CONTACT WITH SAID STRATUM BEING FORMED OF AN ORGANIC PLASTIC IMPREVIOUS TO THE LIQUID OF SAID PROCESSING COMPOSITION, SAID STRATUM NOT EXCEEDING 6 MICRONS IN THICKNESS AND COMPRISING A MATRIX OF SILICEOUS PARTICLES CON-TAINING A NONSILICEOUS SILVER PRECIPITATING AGENT, SAID PRINTRECEIVING ELEMENT BEING SUPERPOSED ON SAID PHOTOSENSITIVE ELEMENT WITH SAID SILVER PRECIPITATING STRATUM ADJACENT SAID PHOTOSENSITIVE ELEMENT AND WITH THE LIQUID OF SAID PROCESSING COMPOSITION CONFINED TO SAID PHOTOSENSITIVE ELEMENT AND TO SAID SILVER PRECIPITATING STRATUM, THE SURFACE OF SAID SUPPORT PROVIDING A BARRIER TO THE PENETRATION OF SAID LIQUID INTO SAID PRINT-RECEIVING ELEMENT BEYOND SAID SILVER PRECIPITAING STRATUM, SAID LIQUID CONTAINING, AFTER PERMEATION OF THE SILVER HALIDE LAYER, REAGENTS FOR DEVELOPING EXPOSED SILVER HALIDE AND FOR FORMING SOLUBLE COMPLEXES WITH UNDEVELOPED SILVER HALIDE, MAINTAINING SAID ELEMENTS IN THEIR SUPERPOSED RELATION WITHOUT ANY APPRECIABLE PENETRATION OF SAID LIQUID INTO SAID SUPPORT WHILE SAID LATENT IMAGE IS DEVELOPED AND UNTIL SUFFICIENT SILVER IS TRANSFERRED AS A COMPLEX TO SAID PRINT-RECEIVING ELEMENT TO FORM A PRINT, AND STRIPPING SAID PRINT-RECEIVING ELEMENT FROM SAID PHOTOSENSITIVE ELEMENT SUBSEQUENT TO SAID TRANSFER, SAID SILVER PRECIPITATING STRATUM BECAUSE OF ITS THINNESS BEING SUBSTANTIALLY TACTUALLY DRY AS IT IS STRIPPED FROM SAID PHOTOSENSITIVE ELEMENT.