GB1572151A

GB1572151A - Prompting apparatus

Info

Publication number: GB1572151A
Application number: GB3362175A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1976-11-12
Filing date: 1976-11-12
Publication date: 1980-07-23
Also published as: DE2721144A1

Description

(54) IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO PROMPTING APPARATUS (71) I, JOHN KINGSBURY, a British subject, of Bloom Farm, Little Marlow, Buckinghamshire, do hereby declare the invention, for which I pray that a patent may be granted to me, and the method by which it is to be prformed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: The present invention relates to prompting apparatus for displaying a script or other material to an actor, newsreader, announcer or other speaker so as to provide them with a visual reminder of their lines and cues.

More particularly, the invention relates to apparatus for scanning prompting material such as a script for use with prompting apparatus. Scanning apparatus of this type will hereinafter be referred to as script scanners.

Script scanners normally include a transport mechanism for feeding paper strip containing a type-written script in front of a television camera which transmits a picture of the script, via a closed circuit, to one or more television monitors suitable placed so as to be visible to the speaker. Since the strip carrying the prompting script may have to be used several times, for example, for rehearsals prior to broadcasting a particular programme, the transport mechanism must be reversible and, hitherto, most reversing mechanisms have required complex clutch and drive systems for the feed and take-up rollers of the paper strip. Morover, prior prompting apparatus has been bulky and not readily portable.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a script scanner having a simpler construction of transport mechanism for feeding the paper strip. It is another object to provide a script scanner which is readily portable.

The present invention consists in a script scanner for prompting apparatus wherein a television camera is housed within a casing, the casing having means for advancing a web or strip carrying prompting material so that the prompting material may be viewed externally of the casing, and a lens and associated reflecting system for transmitting an image of the web or strip to the television camera, the lens being mounted in use above the upper surface of the casing and- being carried by a housing movable between an operative position, and a folded inoperative position.

In order that the present invention may be more readily understood, an embodiment thereof will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a block diagram of a television prompting system, Figures 2, 2a and 2b show an embodiment a script scanner, and Figure 3 shows a transport mechanism suitable for use with the script scanner of Figure but having a slight differen arrangement for guiding the script.

The block diagram of Figure 1 shows a script scanner which is generally indicated at 1 and which is arranged to advance a script 3 so that the latter can be scanned by a television camera 100 through a mirrorand-lens arrangement which will be described in greater detail hereinafter.

The video signal from the camera 10 is supplied to a video signal processing circuit 55 and the processed signal fed to a power and video combiner unit 54. The combiner unit 54 contains circuits which modulate a carrier wave with the video signal and combine the modulated signal with a direct voltage from a power supply in the form of a voltage transforming means 60. The video signal processing is by amplitude limiting and a control input to the processing unit 55 can be provided which selects an erect or inverted video output.

The combined power and- video signal is supplied over four separate cables 61 to four monitors 62 which, as shown in Figure 1, may be either head-up or stand monitors.

The prompting apparatus thus contains its own centralised power supply for the monitors this power supply comprising the voltage level transforming means in the present embodiment is a toroidal transformer and an associated rectifier circuit. This arrangement means that the monitors themselves need not carry individual power supplies, which reduce their bulk and complexity.

The output from the processor unit 55 can also be supplies to a pair of local monitors which have independent power supplies.

Referring now to Figure 2 of the accompanying drawings. the script scanner shown comprises a case which is similar in size to a conventional attache case. Located in the case 1 is a transport mechanism for feeding the printed prompting script 3 beneath a cantilever arm 4 of a housing 5. It will be appreciated that the script can be viewed by a person standing by the scanner as it is advanced and is also exposed so that correction can be made with a minimum of delay. When in operation the housing 5 extends vertically from the upper surface of the case 1. However, the housing 5 is pivotted at 6 so that when the prompting apparatus is not in use the housing 5 can be folded onto its side as shown in Figure 2a. Suitable means may be provided for locking the housing 5 on both the erect and folded positions.

The housing 5 is hollow and contains a pair of front-silvered mirrors 7, 8 arranged to reflect an image of the script 3 onto the horizonal lens 9 of the camera 100. A further 45" front silvered mirror 11 turns the light beam from the lens 9 through 90 , into the camera 100 which is thus housed within the case 1 below the upper surface thereof. This arrangement is extremely compact and the camera protected from damage.

The mirror 11 may be replaced by a semireflecting prism 111 so that a stand-by camera 101 can be located in the case 1. This arrangement is shown diagrammatically in Figure 2b. The arm 4 also contains a quartzhalogen lamp 13 for illuminating the script 3. A stand-by lamp 14 is also provided should the lamp 13 fail. Finally the arm 4 carries an auxilliary lens 15 by means of which the width of script actually scanned can be controlled. The lens 15 may be replaceable by other lenses of different focal lengths or may be adiustable. Guides 16 are provided on either side of the script 3 for ensuring that the script remains in driving engagement with a transport mechanism to be described hereinafter.

The guides 16 may be connected to the housing 4 bv a linkage so that when the housing 4 is folded the guides 16 are moved transverselv of the script 3 to enable the script to be removed easily from the script scanner Each guide 16 may have within it rotatable bearings to ensure smooth passage of the script.

Referring now to Figure 3, the transport mechanism comprises two drive rollers 25,26 and two sets of pinch rollers 27,28 mounted respectively, on opposite sides of the covers 10 forming the backing surface. The rollers 27,28 may be replaced by the guides 16 hereinbefore mentioned. The drive rollers 25,26 are mounted adjacent the bottom of the case 1 and are rubber covered for frictionally driving feed and take-up rolls 29,30 for the paper strip which are shown in broken lines in Figure 3. The lower pinch rollers 31,32 are mounted upwardly and inwardly of the drive rollers and are also rubber covered for frictionally driving the paper strip or a paper sheet. The upper pinch rollers 13,33 are metal rollers which are rotatably mounted on fixed spindles 34,35 arranged in cantilever fashion and pivoted at their ends remote from the rollers on a horizontal shaft 36.

The upper pinch rollers press downwardly on the lower pinch rollers under the action of gravity and are liftable away from the lower pinch rollers, about the pivot shaft 36, in response to actuation of the lifting lever 14. The latter is illtegral with a shaft 37 of semi-circular cross section which is mounted below the spindles 34,35 with its flat side closely adjacent the latter so that, upon turning of the lever 14, the shaft 37 turns to move one or other edge of its flat side into engagement with the spindles and thereby lift the pinch rollers 13,33.

The reversible electric drive motor is connected to a drive shaft 38 having a drive sprocket 39 secured to its free end. The drive rollers 25,26 and lower pinch rollers 31,32 have identical sprockets 40 fixed to their ends adjacent the drive sprocket 39 and are coupled about the sprockekts 39,40 and an identical idler sprocket 42, as illustrated in Figure 3.

The feed and take-up rolls 29,30 for the paper strip 3 have cores 44,45 in the form of metal rollers which have stub shafts 46 at opposite ends rotatably and slidably mounted in vertical slots 47 in the chassis of the transport mechanism so as to be slidable towards and away from the drive rollers 25,26 under the action of gravity and to press the external surfaces of the paper rolls into contact with the drive rollers. The cores 44,45 may have axial slots to permit the ends of the paper strip to be attached thereto.

When the paper strip 3 is to be threaded through the transport mechanism, the lifting lever 14 is actuated in order to lift the upper pinch rollers 13,33 the feed roll 29 is located in position with the stub shafts 46 of its core in the slots 47, and the upper strip is threaded between the two sets of pinch rollers and is connected to the take-up core 45 mounted in the slots 47 at the take-up side of the mechanism. The upper pinch rolls are then lowered into the operating position, by returning the lifting lever 14 to its upright position, and the drive motor is started in the forward direction so as to advance the strip 3 across the backing surface 10, and underneath the television camera. The strip 13 is unwound from the fed roll by the drive roller 25, which engages the external surface of the roll, and the pinch rollers 27, and is drawn across the backing surface and wound onto a take-up roll by the pinch rollers 28 and the drive roller 26 engaging the external surface of the take-up roll. The strip is unwound from the feed roll and wound onto the take-up roll at a constant speed, irrespective of the diameter of the rolls because the rolls are driven via their external surfaces. The transport mechanism can handle sixty feet of paper strip typewritten with a prompting script, which is approximately equivalent to the amount of script necessary for one hour programme.

When the programme has finished the strip can readily be rewound onto the feed roll by actuating the reversing switch 19 on the control panel and at the same time the speed control 18 may be altered to obtain rewinding at high speed.

The apparatus may also be used with single sheets of paper typewritten with script and, in this case, the guide 16 is adjusted to the appropriate width of paper and the upper pinch rollers are raised to permit the sheet to be positioned btwen th pinch rollers 27 at the feed side of the apparatus.

The upper pinch rollers are then lowered into position and the drive motor is operated in the forward direction. The pinch rollers 27 advance the sheet across the backing surface 10 and underneath the camera. At the take-up side of the machine, the leading edge of the paper sheet is engaged between the pinch rollers 28 which continue to advance the sheet beneath the camera when the trailing edge of the latter is disengaged from the feed pinch rollers 27.

The prompting apparatus (as shown in Fig 2) is provided with a speed control knob 18 for controlling the speed of the electric motor, and a manual control knob 50 which enables the script to be advanced manually.

A control panel 52 carries a number of switches for switching the various components of the apparatus off and on.

The focus of the camera 100 can be varied by a knurled knob 53.

The power and video combiner, the video processor unit, and a monitor and power connector are respectively provided by three circuit boards 54,55 and 56.

Whilst a particular embodiment has been described, it will be apparant that various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. Thus the lens-and-mirror arrangement may be replaced by a lens and associated fibre optics for transmitting the image of the script to the television camera.

WHAT I CLAIM IS:- 1. A script scanner for prompting apparatus wherein a televisoin camera is housed within a casing, the casing having means for advancing a web or strip carrying prompting material so that the prompting material may be viewed externally of the casing, a lens and associated reflecting system for transmitting an image of the web or strip to the television camera, being carried by a housing movable between an operative position, and a folded inoperative position.

2. A script scanner as claimed in claim 1, wherein the housing has a cantilever arm which in use extends over the path of a strip or sheet as it is advanced by the transport mechanism, the cantilever arm carrying a pair of mirrors operative to reflect an image of the strip or sheet to the television camera, and a light for illuminating the strip or sheet.

3. A script scanner as claimed in claim 2, wherein the housing is pivotally mounted so that when not in use it can be folded into an inoperative position.

4. A script scanner as claimed in claim 3, including a pair of guide members for maintaining the web or strip in contact with a transport mechanism for advancing the web or strip, the scanner also including a linkage connecting the guide members to the housing whereby the guide members are moved transversely of the web or strip so that it may be readily removed when the housing is folded into its inoperative position.

5. A script scanner according to any one of the preceding claims and having a transport mechanism for the web or strip comprising feed and take-up rolls for the web or strip driven by drive rollers engaging the external peripheries of the rolls, and a reversible electrical motor for driving the drive roller.

6. A script scanner as claimed in claim 5, wherein the electrical motor is coupled to the drive rollers by a single drive chain belt.

7. A script scanner as claimed in either claim 5 or claim 6 wherein the peripheries of drive rollers and the feed and take-up rolls are covered with an elastomeric material or have tyres of a similar material.

8. A script scanner as claimed in claim 7, wherein the feed and take-up rolls have metal cores having stub shafts projecting from the ends thereof, the stub shafts being slidably mounted in substantially vertical slots so as to be slidably towards and away from the drive motors.

9. A script scanner as claimed in claim 5 to 8, wherein the feed and take-up rolls are arranged to advance a strip or sheet

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. returning the lifting lever 14 to its upright position, and the drive motor is started in the forward direction so as to advance the strip 3 across the backing surface 10, and underneath the television camera. The strip 13 is unwound from the fed roll by the drive roller 25, which engages the external surface of the roll, and the pinch rollers 27, and is drawn across the backing surface and wound onto a take-up roll by the pinch rollers 28 and the drive roller 26 engaging the external surface of the take-up roll. The strip is unwound from the feed roll and wound onto the take-up roll at a constant speed, irrespective of the diameter of the rolls because the rolls are driven via their external surfaces. The transport mechanism can handle sixty feet of paper strip typewritten with a prompting script, which is approximately equivalent to the amount of script necessary for one hour programme. When the programme has finished the strip can readily be rewound onto the feed roll by actuating the reversing switch 19 on the control panel and at the same time the speed control 18 may be altered to obtain rewinding at high speed. The apparatus may also be used with single sheets of paper typewritten with script and, in this case, the guide 16 is adjusted to the appropriate width of paper and the upper pinch rollers are raised to permit the sheet to be positioned btwen th pinch rollers 27 at the feed side of the apparatus. The upper pinch rollers are then lowered into position and the drive motor is operated in the forward direction. The pinch rollers 27 advance the sheet across the backing surface 10 and underneath the camera. At the take-up side of the machine, the leading edge of the paper sheet is engaged between the pinch rollers 28 which continue to advance the sheet beneath the camera when the trailing edge of the latter is disengaged from the feed pinch rollers 27. The prompting apparatus (as shown in Fig 2) is provided with a speed control knob 18 for controlling the speed of the electric motor, and a manual control knob 50 which enables the script to be advanced manually. A control panel 52 carries a number of switches for switching the various components of the apparatus off and on. The focus of the camera 100 can be varied by a knurled knob 53. The power and video combiner, the video processor unit, and a monitor and power connector are respectively provided by three circuit boards 54,55 and 56. Whilst a particular embodiment has been described, it will be apparant that various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. Thus the lens-and-mirror arrangement may be replaced by a lens and associated fibre optics for transmitting the image of the script to the television camera. WHAT I CLAIM IS:-

1. A script scanner for prompting apparatus wherein a televisoin camera is housed within a casing, the casing having means for advancing a web or strip carrying prompting material so that the prompting material may be viewed externally of the casing, a lens and associated reflecting system for transmitting an image of the web or strip to the television camera, being carried by a housing movable between an operative position, and a folded inoperative position.

past a mirror-and-lens means arranged to reflect an image of the strip or sheet into a television camera.

10. Prompting apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, and including means for driving the feed and takeup rolls manually.

11. A script scanner as claimed in any one of the preceding claims and including transforming means for serving as the power source for one or more television monitors.

12. A script scanner as claimed in claim 11, including means for combining the video signal from the television camera with the output of the voltage level transforming means.

13. A script scanner as claimed in claim 12, wherein the voltage level transforming means comprises a toroidal transformer and means for rectifying the transformer output.

14. A script scanner as claimed in claim 13, wherein the combining means comprise a combiner unit having circuits operative to modulate a carrier wave with the video signal and to combine the modulated signal with the direct voltage from voltage level transforming means.

15. A script scanner as claimed in claim 14, including a video signal processing circuit to which the video signal is supplied before it is fed to the combining means, the video signal processing circuit being operative to amplitude limit the video signal.

16. A script scanner as claimed in claim 15, wherein the video signal processing circuit includes a control input whereby either an erect or an inverted video signal can be selected.

17. A script scanner as claimed in any one of claims 13 to 16, wherein the transformer has a plurality of take-off windings each of which may be connected to a television monitor.

18. A script scanner substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 2 and 3 of the accompanying drawings.

19. A television prompting system comprising a script scanner as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in combination with at least one television monitor.