Production of photographic silver images by physical development

Claim 1

A PROCESS FOR PRODUCING A NEGATIVE PHOTOGRAPHIC SILVER IMAGE WHICH CONSISTS ESSENTIALLY OF EXPOSING TO AN OBJECT TO BE REPRODUCED A PHOTOSENSITIVE SILVER HALIDE EMULSION LAYER OF ESSENTIALLY UNIFORM THICKNESS WHICH CONTAINS UNIFORMLY DISTRUBUTED THROUGHOUT THE LAYER A SILVER HALIDE IN AN AMOUNT EQUIVALENT AT MOST TO 0.1 GRAM OF SILVER PER SQUARE METER OF THE EMULSION LAYER THAT HAD BEEN CAST FROM AN EMULSION CONTAINING A SILVER HALIDE IN AN AMOUNT EQUIVALENT TO BETWEEN 0.01 AND 1.0 GRAM OF SILVER PER LITER WHICH HAD BEEN PREPARED BY ADDING TO A SOLUTION OF A WATER-SOLUBLE SILVER SALT A SOLUTION OF AN ALKALI-METAL HALIDE IN AN AMOUNT BETWEEN ONE AND TWO STOICHIOMETRICAL EQUIVALENTS OF THE SILVER SALT, SO THAT NO OSTWALD RIPENING OCCURS, AND SUBSEQUENTLY SUBJECTING THE EXPOSED SILVER HALIDE EMULSION LAYER TO PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT WITHOUT PRIOR FIXATION OF THE EXPOSED SILVER HALIDE EMULSION LAYER.