Automatic load-adjusting vent control for film dryers

Claim 1

A dryer for photographic film sheets having a vent for automatically controlling the intake of outside air, said dryer comprising: a housing defining a film drying chamber with an outside air intake vent and an air discharge opening and also having film entrance and film exit openings, means defining a film drying path through said chamber with the entrance at one end and the exit at the other, means for transporting said sheets of film through said film drying path, from the film entrance opening through the film exit opening, at least two air-distribution heads respectively disposed on opposite sides of said drying path, each head being a hollow chamber having air discharge openings directing air toward the film drying path, an air blower located within the housing and provided with an air intake to receive the air discharged from said heads, the air stream following a first flow pattern directly from both heads to the blower intake when the drying chamber is empty and a second flow pattern around the film sheet when the drying chamber contains a sheet of film to be dried, said second flow pattern producing less static pressure at the air vent than the first flow pattern to increase the intake of outside air only when film to be dried is located in said drying chamber, said chamber air intake vent being positioned in the portion of the air stream located between the drying path and the blower intake, passage means for delivering the air discharged from said blower into the air-distribution heads, and heating means located in the flow path of the drying air.