Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G03—PHOTOGRAPHY; CINEMATOGRAPHY; ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ELECTROGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY
  • G03D—APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING EXPOSED PHOTOGRAPHIC MATERIALS; ACCESSORIES THEREFOR
  • G03D15/00—Apparatus for treating processed material
  • G03D15/10—Mounting, e.g. of processed material in a frame

Definitions

• the present invention relates to an automatic slide scanning station for digitally capturing images from slides.
• the present invention proposes to remedy these major drawbacks and in particular, with a single entry station, to allow automatic entry of a very large number of slides in a very reduced time.
• an automatic slide scanning station comprising a slide supply assembly, at least one entry and digitization station and a slide reception unit thus digitized, characterized in that each supply and reception comprises at least one drawer containing a removable vertical magazine and comprising at least one removable slide storage element, and in that at least one transfer system is provided to ensure, on the one hand, the supply of slides, from a storage element of said removable magazine, a central rotating tray which successively places said slides in front of different work stations including said entry and scanning station, and on the other hand the transfer of slides, after scanning, between said central turntable and a storage element for a removable magazine placed in said receptacle assembly tion.
• the slide supply assembly and the slide reception assembly are arranged in line on either side of the rotating central plate, the first and second transfer systems being arranged in diametrically opposite directions on either side of the central plate.
• the slide supply assembly and the slide reception assembly are combined.
• a single transfer system ensures on the one hand the supply of the central plate in slides from a first storage element of the removable store of the single supply and reception assembly and on the other hand the transfer of the slides, after scanning, between the central tray and a second storage element of said removable magazine.
• the central plate is a rotary plate controlled digitally and including, in addition to an input and digitization station, at least one of the following additional stations: a display station for the frame of a slide, a station for repositioning a slide using a manipulator, a station for placing a slide by a manipulator, a station for reading characters on the frame of a slide by optical character recognition , a barcode reading station on the frame of a slide, an erasing station on the frame of a slide, an alphanumeric marking station for writing alphanumeric characters on the frame of a slide, a barcode marking station for writing bar codes on the frame of a slide, a station for rejecting non-conforming slides, a dusting station.
• a display station for the frame of a slide a station for repositioning a slide using a manipulator
• a station for placing a slide by a manipulator a station for reading characters on the frame of a slide by optical character recognition , a barcode reading station on the frame
• the storage element is in the form of a vertical profile open at its upper part, of square section, suitable for the slides to be digitized and of height suitable for the desired storage volume, one of the longitudinal faces of the profile comprising over its entire height an opening of limited width, and said storage element comprises a bottom in which an opening of section smaller than that of the slides is made to allow stacking and unstacking them using a penetrant penetrating inside said opening.
• This storage element has a lower end and an upper end cooperating with positioning means formed in said removable magazine.
• the storage element comprises a U-shaped profile connected by hinges to two L-shaped profiles, a flange tilting around fixing holes made in the U-shaped profile so as to fit into locking holes made in the L-shaped profiles and thus close said storage element which said hinges allow to open when the flange is raised.
• the storage element further comprises a longitudinal rectilinear tongue formed on one of its internal faces and intended to cooperate with a notch formed in the edge of the slides. It is perforated in different patterns and includes in particular a diagonal light formed in a longitudinal face to allow visual control of the classification of the slides.
• the removable magazine comprises a central axis connecting between them intermediate and lower plates which are fixed relative to said central axis and have openings aligned to receive a storage element.
• the opening in the lower tray has a shape complementary to that of the lower profiled end of a storage element to ensure a height positioning thereof.
• the removable magazine further comprises an upper plate provided with a handle and which can rotate relative to said central axis, said upper plate having ends. peripherals that come flush with each storage element.
• the upper tray of the removable magazine carries a ball-spring assembly intended to cooperate with said hole formed at the upper end of a storage element in order to lock it.
• the removable magazine comprises a vertical central axis connecting between them intermediate and lower plates which are fixed with respect to said vertical axis, each plate being provided at its periphery with guide parts fixed radially and between which slide. storage elements.
• the central turntable consists of a disc pierced at its periphery with housings intended to receive the slides, said slides resting in said housings above an opening which allows, by letting the light pass from a light source, the capture and digitization of said slides.
• the slide is held in place above the housing by a pusher which, under the effect of a spring, presses this slide against positioning pins arranged on the faces opposite to those on which the pusher acts directly.
• the power supply assembly for devices and the slide reception assembly are combined into a single assembly comprising a single removable magazine, which can be constituted by two fixed storage elements held by elements guide so that they define an angular sector.
• a single removable magazine which can be constituted by two fixed storage elements held by elements guide so that they define an angular sector.
• FIGS. 3 to 5 are front, top and side views of a storage element adapted to the station of Figures 1 and 2, - Figures 6 and 7 respectively show an axial section and a partial top view a removable magazine receiving storage elements according to FIGS. 3 to 5,
• FIG. 8 is a partial view of the central plate of a station according to the invention with housings provided with slide retaining systems with vacuum, è electromagnet and è pusher,
• FIGS. 9 and 10 are cross-sections along the lines IX-IX and X-X of FIG. 8 respectively showing a slide holding system with vacuum and a slide holding system with electromagnet,
• FIG. 11 is a detailed view of the electromagnet holding system in FIGS. 8 and 10,
• FIG. 12 is a top view of the input and digitization station in another embodiment of the invention
• FIG. 13 shows in section another embodiment of the removable magazine
• FIG. 14 is a partial top view of the store of Figure 12.
• Figures 1 and 2 show a general and schematic view of an automatic image scanning device according to the invention. More specifically, Figures i and 2 respectively show a front and top view of such a device.
• the device according to the invention is in the form of an office unit consisting of a table 1, a supply assembly 2 and a reception assembly 2 'whose energy supply, not shown , is carried out from the single-phase 220V network.
• Table 1 of approximately lmx2m is intended to receive the single input station comprising an input means 3 which can for example be a camera or a scanner and its vertical support 3 ′, two graphic screens 4 and 4 ′ and a keyboard 5.
• each drawer 6 comprises a turntable 9, driven in rotation by an electric motor 10 and supporting a removable magazine 11.
• This removable magazine 11 contains up to 16 storage elements 12 each containing several hundred devices.
• a jack 13 allows, in association with a manipulator 14, the extraction of these slides from the storage element 12, then their deposition on a central plate 15.
• This central plate 15 is pierced at its periphery with housings 16 intended to receive the slides and to let light pass from the light source 17 of the camera 3.
• An electric motor 18 rotates the central plate 15 which also rests on a support 19.
• Work stations A, B, C and D by example allow different functions to be performed, the main one being numerical entry 3, 3 'and 17 under the control of IT resources.
• the device according to the invention is organized around these different functions to which specific technical means correspond.
• the storage element 12 is in the form of a square section profile of aluminum, plastic or other materials of variable height depending on the desired storage volume. For example, a height of 300mm can accommodate around 200 slides.
• the front face of said storage element 12 comprises over its entire height an opening 121 allowing easier stacking of the slides. These are arranged one on the other from the bottom 122 of said element 12.
• Element 12 also has an opening 123 necessary to allow a plunger 190 for unstacking these slides to pass.
• a tongue 124, in the form of a half-disc, glued or fixed over the entire height of said element 12 can be embedded in notches provided for this purpose in the context of the slides, thus playing a keying role.
• the bottom 122 may be flat but may also be externally conical 125 to allow easy installation in a specially adapted removable store 11 or in an external storage locker.
• a hole 126 allowing the control of this positioning as well as the robotic storage can also be carried out on the back or in an elevation 127 of the storage element 12.
• the storage element 12 can be perforated according to different drawings to allow air circulation or a reduction in its weight or else include a diagonal light 128 on one of its faces to allow rapid visual control of the classification of previously marked slides.
• this storage element 12 it may be preferable for this storage element 12 not to be produced in a single profile but rather made up of a U-shaped profile 129 connected by hinges 130 to two. L-shaped profiles 131. It is thus possible, after a rotational movement of these two profiles 131 around the hinges 130, to open this storage element 12 and to allow front loading, and no longer only from above, of the slides.
• a tilting from top to bottom of the flange 132 around fixing holes 133 makes it possible, once the loading has been carried out, to keep closed, by embedding first projections 134a in first blocking holes 134, the storage element 12.
• Au unloading the process is reversed, tilting, after pressing on the profiles 131 of the flange 132 from bottom to top, around the hole 133, allowing the embedding of second projections 135a in second locking holes 135 of said storage element 12 (position shown in dotted lines in FIG. 4), then opening and removing the slides as a whole.
• the removal as loading is facilitated by the inclination of the storage element 12 which comes to rest on its flange 132.
• Studs 136 integral with the front part of the flange keep the opening 121. constant
• the assembly thus obtained is particularly easy to use. It allows the storage of slides in variable quantity, whatever the nature of the cover used for example plastic, glass or cardboard, and this without any separation.
• a first type of removable magazine 11 whose structure and operation will be described with reference to Figures 6 and 7.
• Consisting of a variable number of storage element 12, for example 8 or 16 it is composed of a central axis 110 connecting an intermediate plate 112 and a lower plate 113, which are fixed on the central axis 110.
• An upper plate 111 provided with a handle 114 which facilitates the transport of the magazine 11, is mounted so as to be able to rotate freely around the central axis 110.
• the intermediate and lower plates 112 , 113 have openings 115 and 116 to which corresponds that 120 of the rotating plate to allow the vertical positioning of the storage element 12, the opening 115 having a complementary shape. whole, for example conical, corresponding to that of the wall 125 of the element 12.
• Three conical studs 117, for example integral with the turntable 9, serve for centering and driving the removable magazine 11 by the turntable 9.
• the loading of the storage elements 12 in the removable magazine 11 and then of this in the drawer 6 takes place in several sequences.
• the removable magazine 11 being deposited is then stocked with all of its storage elements 12, the upper plate 111 of said magazine 11 being in the position shown in dotted lines in FIG. 7.
• the correct positioning of the magazine 11 or of the drawer 6 is checked by sensors, micro-contacts or photoelectric cells, not shown. It should be noted here that it is possible to operate the device with a single storage element 12. In this case, the turntable 9 is not necessary, the removable magazine 11 having to support only this single storage element, installation can be done manually. The slides are now in place and are ready for automatic processing, the first step of which is to strip them one by one to bring them to the different workstations.
• the action of the cylinder 13 has the effect of pushing up the slides.
• the manipulator 14 is then grasped by stripping a first slide, thanks to a vacuum production unit by electric vane pump or equivalent, not shown, the assembly constituting a first transfer system. After having been grasped, the slide is deposited, by a rotational or translational movement (depending on the type of manipulator used) of said manipulator 14, on the central plate 15 whose structure and operation will be given with reference to FIGS. 8 è 11 .
• the central plate 15 consists of a disc with a variable diameter advantageously of the order of 700mm, and drilled at its periphery of housings 16 in variable number intended to receive flat slides from the first transfer system.
• the slide rests on the bottom 151 of said housing, an opening 152 allowing the passage of light for the digital capture system 3.3 ′, 17 of which the camera or the scanner 3 constitutes the essential element. To ensure perfect positioning of the slide and to remove any possible veil, it is pressed against the bottom 151 according to three different devices which are shown simultaneously, for explanatory purposes, in FIG. 8.
• FIG. 8 shows a push system.
• the housing 16 is a notch or notch made radially at the periphery of the central plate 15.
• the slide which has a width greater than that of the notch rests on the housing and is held in position by positioning pins 145 , four in number, arranged around the slide and by a pusher 146 whose action, under the effect of a spring 147, tends to press the slide against these pins.
• the pusher 146 is moved aside, the spring 147 then being compressed, under the action for example of an electromagnet, not shown, controlled by computer means. After positioning the slide, the electromagnet is de-energized and the loosening of the spring brings the pusher into contact with the slide and thus ensures that it remains firmly in place.
• the pusher 146 is placed at an angle to the slide, two pins 145 then being arranged in the opposite angle, the other two being placed on the two sides not in contact with the pusher.
• two perforations 148 can be provided arranged on either side of the notch 16 to allow the passage of two fingers of an operator.
• Figure 9 shows more precisely a vacuum system.
• the vacuum is created by a vacuum pump (not shown) which is connected to four suction cups 153 by through a valve and two channels 154.
• the valve opens releasing a vacuum which sucks this slide and the plate on the bottom 151. The valve then closes and the slide thus remains pressed until it reopens during the transfer step to the receiving store.
• FIG 10 shows an electromagnet system. This system is more complex and also requires moving mechanical parts.
• An electromagnet 155 associated with a linkage 156 allows the simultaneous pivoting, around the fixed axes 157, of two support blades 158 intended to hold the slide. At rest, these two support blades 158 are housed in two release grooves 159 formed in the bottom 151 of the housing 16. When the slide is going to be released by the manipulator 14, the electromagnet 155 is excited.
• the plating of the slide can result from the application thereon of a cover held in position by a manipulator or directly from an arm, in the form of a fork, of this manipulator.
• This manipulator-fork assembly can constitute a specific work station of the device that can be called shaping or plating station.
• This sole is equipped on its lower part with two centering pins and a fixing screw allowing its positioning and its fixing on one or the other of the work stations of the station by eliminating any problem of adjustment.
• This aspect is dealt with in the factory at the time of mounting the sole on each of the fixing supports of the different means.
• the first function performed by the device according to the invention is the orientation of the slide. It is a question of repositioning on the good fece and / or the good side the badly positioned slide, so that it can be grasped properly.
• the corresponding workstation A has for this a set not shown comprising a cell capturing or not a light source illuminating a corner of the slide and a manipulator allowing rotation and turning to perform this positioning.
• the slide is then brought to the workstation D which corresponds to the digital capture of the image. It comprises the elements already described, light source 17, camera or scanner 3 and support 3 ′ which must be added the computer means not shown for the most part
• the slide is brought before a second transfer system similar to the first and comprising in particular a manipulator 21.
• a second transfer system similar to the first and comprising in particular a manipulator 21.
• the device according to the invention can comprise up to nine work stations, including the two transfer systems, as shown in FIG. 2.
• the movement of the manipulators 14 and 21 which could for example be located on the central plate 15 with, for example, an angular difference of the order of 270 ° C. - could further increase the number of work stations as well as the increase in the diameter of this central plate 15. It would also be possible to n ' use only one manipulator with a supply assembly 2 and a reception assembly 2 ', by substantially modifying the respective arrangement of the removable magazines 11 and the central plate 15, or even using a single removable magazine 11 belonging to a device unique feeding and receiving slides.
• a removable magazine which is not rotating but has only two storage elements, one for the supply of slides and the other for the reception of these slides.
• these two elements are supported on a cylindrical surface and therefore arranged in a circular sector.
• FIG. 12 shows a configuration comprising a single rotating removable magazine 11, a central rotating plate 15 and two manipulators 14 and 21.
• the manipulator 14 which unstacks the slides may only be driven by a translational movement and two up and down movements.
• the manipulator 21 which ensures the re-stacking must in addition have an orienting movement to correctly reposition the slide in the storage element 12 after the latter has been removed from its housing 16 (the position of the slide after translation and before rotation is shown in dotted lines at the central plate 15). It should be noted that these stacking and unstacking operations could also be carried out by a single manipulator at the cost, however, of a reduction in the transfer speed.
• One or more workstations can be assigned to a specific marking function.
• a first work station will consist, for example, of a labeling machine capable of depositing on the covers of the slides, in connection with the computer means, said bar codes.
• Another workstation will include an inkjet printer to write the desired text in plain text.
• means for reading these bar codes or else these characters may be necessary for automatic identification of a slide or a batch.
• a workstation with a scanner or optical means will be useful in this case. As part of the recovery of an existing background, it may be necessary to redo an identification in clear or in bar code on caches already annotated.
• the station consists of a linear manipulator 150 which allows the grip of the slide on the central plate 15 and its deposit in a first storage element 12 then the entry of a pseudo-slide in a second storage element 12 and its deposit on the central plate in place of the discarded slide. This operation is repeated for each non-compliant slide.
• the slides set aside in the first storage element 12 are processed manually and then reintegrated in the storage elements of the reception store in place of the corresponding easily identifiable pseudo-slides.
• the printing and reprinting stations can be placed, for example, at B and E as shown in Figure 1. Finally, it is also interesting to provide a dusting station.
• FIGS 13 and 14 show another embodiment of the removable magazine 11.
• the magazine 11 has a hollow cylindrical body 165 rotated around a vertical central axis 166 by a drive motor 167 disposed parallel to the central axis, the connection between the motor and the cylindrical body being produced by a toothed pinion 168 - toothed belt 169.
• the drive motor and the vertical central axis are fixed on a support 170 integral with the drawer 6 and rolling bearings 171 mounted on the central axis ensure the degree of freedom in rotation of the cylindrical body 165 relative to this * central axis 166.
• This cylindrical body 165 are attached by fixing elements 172 plates 173,174 to the periphery of which are regularly fixed T-shaped parts 175 intended for guiding the storage elements 12.
• These 'guide parts 175 are twenty in number -four, in the case of a removable magazine containing twelve storage elements, and are arranged radially at the periphery of an intermediate plate 173 and of a lower plate 174 of this magazine 11 in order to cooperate respectively with the upper part and the lower part of the storage element 12.
• the storage elements 12 are kept in the vertical position by these guide elements 175 between which they can slide. Deductions 176 made at the ends of the guide parts prevent ejection of the storage element under the effect of centrifugal force. Stops 177 integral with the lower plate 174 by fixing elements 178 prevent, by coming into contact with the bottom 122 of the storage elements 12, any vertical movement of these elements 12 under the effect of weightlessness. After the placement of the storage elements 12 in the removable magazine 11, the blocking of these elements is ensured by a rotation of an upper plate 179 having, in the case of a magazine 11 with twelve elements 12, a dodecagonal shape and the ends 180 of the edges of which come flush with each storage element 12.
• a vertically movable pusher 190 can penetrate the storage elements 12 through the perforated bottom 122 to allow stacking and unstacking of the slides.
• the cylindrical body 165 mainly consists of two parts which fit into each other, an internal part 181 to which the toothed pinion is fixed 168 and which remains in contact with the central axis 166 when the magazine 11 is extracted. of the drawer 6 and an external part 182 which supports the lower 174, intermediate 173 and upper 179 trays and can be removed by acting on a handle 184. Damper pads 183 fixed on the external part 182 of the body 165 at the lower trays 174 and higher 173 limit the shocks during the installation of the removable magazine 11. The correct positioning of the magazine is verified by various sensors or photoelectric cells, for example the electromagnetic sensor 185.
• the computer means provide great flexibility to the assembly, in particular allowing batch processing of the slides, which can be classified or reclassified according to different criteria.
• the other manipulator 21 unloads the slides corresponding to the chosen and recognized criterion. This cycle is repeated for the different criteria.
• all the slides are at the level of the reception assembly 2 ′ and the computer means have a complete knowledge of the content of the storage elements 12 contained in the removable magazine 11 of said assembly 2 '.
• the invention allows the implementation of all the possibilities offered by batch processing.
• Each batch can be identified by a pseudo-slide detectable by photoelectric cell.
• This pseudo-slide is here constituted by a simple slide frame on which appear annotations relating to the whole set of slides which follows. This pseudo-slide therefore includes a video image. We thus know the end and the beginning of each batch which can trigger particular operations. In addition, if logically we consider that all processing ends with an empty batch, the pseudo-slide which serves to identify it, identifies the end of the processing.
• a pseudo-slide is used to perform batch start operations. Now is the time to manage the data that is common to all the slides in the batch.
• Identification Report number, date. Caption: Name of photographer, place, event. This data can be duplicated on each slide cover of the batch and / or be automatically integrated into the textual base linked to the batch which one begins to process.
• This data can be stored in several ways: a) On the cache part of the pseudo-slide. In this case, you need a barcode reader or OCR and provide control keys to verify the correct reading. b) On a file on disk or diskette predefined before entering. c) By stopping the station which transmits a signal to an operator who must then enter by keyboard input the data to be duplicated.
• a number of end-of-batch operations can also be triggered by an end-of-batch pseudo-slide.
• Phase 2 The first slide positioned on the central plate 15 is read in order to know the first character or the first monotony.
• the turntable 9 is positioned accordingly. Phase 2:
• Phase 3 The system continues to feed the central tray 15 with slides and simultaneously the slides corresponding to the first letter or first monotony are unloaded.
• the piloting software records all the vacancies to be able to reload them. This phase ends when, on the plate 15, there is no longer any slide belonging to the first character or to the first monotony.
• the software analyzes the content of the central tray 15 to make the optimal choice which allows the unloading of the greatest number of slides. Once this choice has been made, we return to the treatments in phase 2.
• the removable reception store 11 When all the slides have been processed, there is therefore in the removable reception store 11, one or more storage elements 12 containing all the slides corresponding to a character or to monotony.
• the software can edit or display this distribution. Depending on his choice, the user may or may not continue the treatment, to:
• the software manages the volume displacements relative to the possibilities of the storage elements 12.

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• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Warehouses Or Storage Devices (AREA)
• Transition And Organic Metals Composition Catalysts For Addition Polymerization (AREA)
• Superconductors And Manufacturing Methods Therefor (AREA)
• Control Of Vehicles With Linear Motors And Vehicles That Are Magnetically Levitated (AREA)
• Management Or Editing Of Information On Record Carriers (AREA)
• Automatic Disk Changers (AREA)
• Facsimile Scanning Arrangements (AREA)
• Compression, Expansion, Code Conversion, And Decoders (AREA)
• Measurement And Recording Of Electrical Phenomena And Electrical Characteristics Of The Living Body (AREA)

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• 1991
  • 1991-03-01 FR FR9102500A patent/FR2673478B1/fr not_active Expired - Fee Related
• 1992
  • 1992-02-27 AT AT92907557T patent/ATE126904T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 1992-02-27 EP EP92907557A patent/EP0573563B1/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1992-02-27 DE DE69204279T patent/DE69204279T2/de not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1992-02-27 JP JP4506896A patent/JPH06504892A/ja active Pending
  • 1992-02-27 WO PCT/FR1992/000180 patent/WO1992015922A1/fr active IP Right Grant
  • 1992-02-27 US US08/107,830 patent/US5467153A/en not_active Expired - Fee Related

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