US1518373A - Framing mechanism for moving-picture machines - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 9 1924- 1,518,373 T. F. UHLEMANN' ET AL FRAMING MECHANISM FOR MOVING PICTURE MACHINES Filed April 10, 1920 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Dec, 9, T. F. UHLEMANN ET AL FRAMING MECHANISM FOR MOVING PICTURE MACHINES Filed A riI 10 20 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 IJI'HHH 678g Mommy Dec. 9, 1924. 1,518,373

T. F. UHLEMANN ET AL FRAMING MECHANISM FOR MOVING PICTURE MACHINES Filed April 10 1920 5 Sheet$She,t 5

Patented Dec. 9, 1924.

UNITED STATES THEODORE F. UHLEMANN AND WILLIAM ELLWOOD,

PATENT OFFICE.

OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNORS T0 NICHOLAS BOWER'COMPANY, INC., OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

FRAMING MECHANISM FOR MOVING-PICTURE MACHINES.

Application filed April 10, 1920. Serial No. 372,763.

clare the following to be a full, clear, and" exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

- This invention relates to framing mechanisms for motion picture machines, and has for its object to provide a framing mechanism in which the framing of the picture is effected by giving to the feeding sprocket an extra motion, either forward or backward, of sufficient extent to correct the displacement of the picture at the aperture.

Such framing mechanisms have heretofore been employed, particularly in the beater type of machine, and also in the intermittent sprocket type by utilizing a planetary gear for driving the feed sprocket, the framing being effected by a manual adjustment of the normally stationary gear support of the planetary train. Such framing mechanisms have the disadvantage that the adjustment of the feed sprocket through a planetary gear, while satisfactorily effecting the extra feed at the -moment of adjustment necessary to accomplish the framing, also destroys the timed relation between the feed interval and the driving gear. The shutter is thus thrown out of synchronism with the picture feed and unless means are provided to correct it, the picture will show the streaks or so-called ghosts resulting from the film being uncovered during a portion of its movement.

Our invention has for its object to provide a framing mechanism in which the feed sprocket is driven through a. form of gearing sprocket through a planetary gear we employ a driving gear operating on the same general principle as that described in the patent. to Uhlemann, No. 1,351,814 wherein the intermediate gearing is carried by two adjustable and relatively adjust-able parts, both parts being positively adjusted in the framing operation to simultaneously adjust the different members of the driving train to compensate for any change in the time of operation of the intermittent feed which would otherwise occur were only one adjustment employed.

Our invention also comprises a construction in which the gearing is designed so that the advancement or retardation of the intermittent feed resulting from the framing operation is reduced to such an extent that the provision for compensating neces sary for exact synchronism may be dispensed with without seriously detracting from the quality of the projection.

In the accompanying drawings we have illustrated a preferred embodiment of our.

invention, and also an alternative form, either of which is applicable to the present types of intermittent sprocket machines.

In said drawings, Figure 1 shows our improved framing mechanism in vertical section;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation looking in the direction of the arrow 2 of Fig. 1 with the side of the machine casing removed;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional View on line 3--3 of Fig. 1; View on line 44 of Fig. 3;

Figs. 5 and 6 are sectional views on line 55 of Fig. 3 showing the framingmechanism in different positions of adjustment;

Fig. .7 is a transverse sectional view of a modified form of framing; and

Fig. 8 is a vertical section on line 8-8 of Fig. 7.

Referring to the drawings, particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, 1 indicates the frame of the Fig. 4 is a sectional machine which, as shown, consists prinoitype described in U. S. Letters Patent No. I

1,129,121 granted to Nicholas Power on the 23rd day of February, 1915. The housing 11 is provided with an extension 13 of circular periphery, forming in effect a large bearing concentric-with the axis of rotation of the intermittent sprocket. The extension 13 is mounted for rotary adjustment in a vertical web 2 of the machine frame, and by its rotation the driving member or cam 12 of the intermittent couple is rotated around the axis of the pin cross, or driven member 12", of the intermittent couple, whereby the adjustment of the extension 13 in its bearing will effect a partial rotation of the sprocket in one direction or the other and entirely independent of the intermittent movement given to the sprocket by the intermittent driving gear.

The shaft 15 of the cam 12 is supported in the extension 13 and is driven through a spur gear 16 mounted on the shaft between the extension 13 and the housing 11.

The gear 16 is driven from a spur gear 17 whose shaft 18 is eccentric-ally supported in a bearing block 19 also mounted for rotary adjustment in the web 2, whereby through a proper rotative adjustment of the bearing block 19 and extension 13 in their respective bearings, the gears 16 and 17 may be maintained in mesh and will at the same time be given such relative movement as to counter act the tendency of either shaft to rotate about its own axis, asis the case in an epicyclic, or planetary, gear.

The extension 13 and block 19 may be adjusted through any suitable mechanical connection, and we prefer to use for the purpose a pair of rack sectors 20 and 21', respectively, supported for oscillation on a common shaft 22, the sector 20 meshing with a toothed ring or gear 23 on the end of the bearing block 19., while the sector 21 meshes with a similar gear or ring of teeth formed on a bushing 24 surrounding the extension 13, the bushing being provided to facilitate the assembling of the machine and to hold the extension in place in its bear- 1ng.

The teeth of the bushing 24 are concentric with its axis of rotation and the teeth of the sector 21 are also concentricwith its axis of oscillation. The teeth, however, of the bearing block 19 are eccentric to the axis of rotation, as will be apparent from Figs. 5 and 6, wherein the dotted circle indicates the bearing of the bushing. The sector 20 is shaped to correspond, that is, the toothed periphery of the sector is struck from a center more distant from the teeth than the center of oscillation, whereby for a. uniform movement of the extension 13 the bearing block 19 will be given a variable movement at different positions of framing adjustment, as will be later described.

The connected sectors 20 and 21 are operated through a link 25 from a crank arm 26 on an oscillating shaft 27 having its bearings at the base of the web 2- and in the side wall 28 of the gear compartment. The end of the shaft projects through the wall 28, and has the usual framing handle attached to its projecting end.

The shaft 18 is driven by means of a spur gear 30 formed on the hub of the flywheel 31 which is attached to the outer end of the shaft 18, the gear 30 meshing with the internal teeth of a ring gear 32 supported for rotation on a stub shaft 33 set in the outer wall 28 of the gear casing in a position in alinement with the axis of rotation of the bearing block 19, whereby the gear 30 will remain in mesh with the internal teeth of the ring gear in all its various positions of adjustment.

The hub of the ring gear is formed with a pinion 35 meshing with the main driving gear, or master gear, 36 of the machine,

while the external teeth of the ring gear mesh with a spur gear 37 of a transverse shaft 38 supported in the fixed bearing in the web 2 and carrying on its inner end a I spiral gear 39 upon which the shutter shaft 10 is continuously driven.

The upper and lower feed sprockets l1 and 42 are also driven from the driving pinion 35 through an appropriate interme diate gearing, as indicated in Fig. 1, whereby thefilm will be drawn into the machine and delivered to the takeup reel in the usual manner.

In Figs. 5 and 6 we have shown the adjusted parts of the framing mechanism in two different positions of adjustment. In these figures, the center of the driving cam 12 which is adjusted around the sprocket shaft is marked A, while the center of the shaft 18 which is adjusted around the center of the bearing block 19 is marked B. From Fig. 5 it will be noted that centers A and B are in substantial horizontal alinement with the axis of the sprocket shaft, and that the four pins of the pin cross 12 are about equidistant from the imaginary horizontal line drawn through the several centers.

In Fig. 6, which shows the position after a framing movement has been effected by turning the sectors 20 and 21 in a counterclockwise direction, the centers A and B have been elevated and the pin cross 12" and with it the intermittent sprocket, has been adjusted in a clockwise. direction through about 4:) degrees, as will be apparent by the changed position of the upins of the pin cross. During this adjustment there has been no rotation of the shaft 15 about its own axis for the reason that the adjustment of the bearing block 19 compensates for the adjustment of the extension 13.

As the gear 30 is shifted by the adjustment of the bearing block 19, its teeth will be maintained in mesh with the internal teeth of the gear 32 which will effect a rotation of the shaft 18. Assuming the framing mechanism to be adjusted from the position shown in Fig. 5 to the position shown in Fig. 6' (approximately a 45-degree move ment of the bearing block 19) the gear 30 will be turned a slight distance. This distance is only a fraction of the number of teeth of the internal gear embraced in the angle of adjustment, and equals roughly the difierence in the number. of teeth between the two gears divided by the number representing the part of a complete rotation through which the bearing block is adjusted. In the construction shown in the drawings with the gears 30 and 32 near the same size,-the rotation imparted to the gear 30 will be almost negligible.

If the centers A and B are maintained in parallelismduring this adjustment there will be no compensating adjustment and the shutter and intermediate gear will be thrown out of synchronism to this small extent which in practice could be taken care of by slight extra width to the shutter blade if desired. We prefer, however, to.

compensate completely for the slight discrepancy caused by the gear connection, and to this end, instead of maintaining the centers A and B in parallelism, the eccentricity of the shaft 15 (as indicated by the radius lines in Fig. 6) is suiliciently greater than the corresponding factor of the shaft B for the center A to be elevated to a greater extent than the shaft B, thus giving to the driving pinion 16 a slight adjustment in the opposite direction to the rotative adjust ment produced by the rotation of the gear 30 about the ring gear 32. As the gears 16 and 17, whose relative movement produces this latter adjustment, are both spur gears, the extent of rotary adjustment is equal directly to the number of teeth encompassed in the angle of adjustment. Hence, a very slight relative movement of the spur gears will compensate for a much greater relative movement of the internal gear and spur gear.

By making the sector 20 and toothed collar 23 eccentric in the manner described,

the gears 16 and 17 will be maintained in exact mesh despite the greatervertical but smaller angular movement of the shaft 15. In Figs. 7 and 8 we have disclosed a modification of our improved framing which operates on the same principle but is of somewhat simpler design. As here shown, the intermittent sprocket 8 issupported in chine frame. The shaft 51 is driven through a spur gear 53 from a similar gear at on the end of a shaft 55, which shaft is eccentrically supported in a rotatably adjustable bearing 56 carried ina bracket 57 attached to one of the vertical walls of the gear compartment of the machine.

The shaft 55 is driven from an internal gear 58 supported on a suitable stub shaft mounted in the side wall of the gear compartment and driven from the master gear 59.

The gears 53 and 54 are preferably maintained in mesh by a link 60 connecting the two shafts, and the plate.52 and bearing block 56 are adjusted in. synchronisin by means of worm wheels 61, 62, mounted on the two shafts, respectively, and meshing with separate worms 63, 64 on a common worm shaft 65 supported in suitable bearings, not shown, in the machine frame, and projecting through the rear wall of the machine in position for the attached crank handle 66 to be conveniently rotated by the operator to effect the framing.

The compensation of the rotary movement of the driving gear is accomplished in the same manner in this form of the device as in the preferred construction, that is, the simultaneous adjustment of the two shafts 55 and 51 through their respective arcs will compensate one for the other when the con necting gears, etc., are properly proportioned in the manner above described.

The link 60 may be omitted as the gears 53 and 54: are adjusted in synchronism by the action of the worm shaft. "We prefer to use it, however, to form a supplemental support for the gear 53 for convenience in taking down the machine. That is, the link 60 has its bearing on the hub of the gear 53 so that the shaft 51 maybe withdrawn from the gear (to which it is keyed) when the housing 50 is removed from the machine.

By thus maintaining the gears 53 and 5a in mesh when the intermittent movement is taken down for cleaning or repairs, it is not necessary to readjust the machine to synchronize the shutter and the gear on assembling, as the parts will necessarily be in proper positionwhen the key on the shaft 51 is again fitted in the gear 53.

It will of course be understood that various other changes may be made in the design and construction of the parts without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

lVe claim:

1. In framing mechanism for moving picture machines, the combination of an intersprocket, and means for drivingsaid intermittent sprocket supported in fixed position, an intermittent couple for operating said sprocket, a support for the driving shaft of said intermittent couple whereby it may be rotatably adjusted around the axis of the sprocket, and means for driving said inter- ,mittent couple comprising a driving shaft having a fixed axis out of alinement with the axis of said sprocket and intermediate gearing between said driving shaft and the driving member of said intermittent couple, and gearing arranged to react on the driving member during the framing adjustment to thereby prevent rotation of said member about its own axis due to said adjustment.

2. In framing mechanism for moving picture machines, the combination of an intermittent sprocket supported in fixed position, an intermittent couple for operating said sprocket, a support for the driving shaft of said intermittent couple whereby it may be rotatably adjusted around the axis of the mittent couple comprising a driving shaft having a fixed axis out of alinement with the axis of said sprocket and intermediate gearing between said driving shaft and the driving member of said intermittent couple whereby the rotative adjustment of said driving member does not produce a rotation of the driving member about its own axis, said gearing comprising an adjustable gear support and independent means for adjusting said gear support and the driving member of said intermittent couple.

3. In framing mechanism for motion picture machines, the combination of an intermittent sprocket, an intermittent couple for actuating said sprocket, a support for the driving member of said couple whereby it may be adjusted around an axis of said sprocket, a driving shaft for said couple and an intermediate gearing between said driving shaft and the driving member of saidcouple, said intermediate gearing comprising a gear support adjustable around the axis of said driving shaft, and independent means for variably adjusting said gear support and the driving member of said inter mittent couple for effecting a partial r0- tation of the intermittent sprocket and preventing rotation of the driving member of said intermittent couple about its own axis through the movement of its support.

4. ln framing mechanism for moving picture machines, the combination of an intermittcnt sprocket, a rotatably adjustable member supporting said sproc et, an intermittent couple for driving said sprocket, the driving member of said couple being supported eccentrically in said sprocket support, and means for driving said member comprising a gear attached to said driving member, an intermeshing gear, an ad ustable support for the latter gear, and means for for effecting a partial rotation of the intermittent sprocket and preventing rotation of the driving member of said couple about its flXlS.

5. In framing mechanismfor movin picture machines, the combination of'an intermittent sprocket, I a rotatabl adjustable member supporting said. sproc et, an intermittent couple for driving said sprocket, the driving member of said couple being supported eccentricall'y in said sprocket support, means for driving said member comprising a gear attached to said driving member, an intermeshing gear, a rotatably adjustable support for said intermeshing gear upon which said intermeshing gear is rotatably mounted, and independent means for adjusting said supports for effecting a partial rotation of the intermittent sprocket and preventing rotation of the driving member of said couple about its axis.

6. In framing mechanism for moving pic ture machines, the combination of an intermittent sprocket, a rotatabl adjustable member supporting said sproc et, an intermittent couple for driving said sprocket, the driving member of said couple being supported eccentrically' in said sprocket support, means for driving said member comprising a gear attached to said driving member, an intermeshing gear, a rotatably adjustable support for said intermeshing gear upon which said intermeshing gear is r0- tatably mounted, a driving shaft having a fixed axis, driving connections between said driving shaft and said last mentioned gear, and means for adjusting both said ad ustable supports for effecting a partial rotation of the intermittent sprocket and preventing rotation of the driving member of said couple about its axis. I

7. In a framing mechanism for motion picture machines, the combination of a driving shaft having a fixed axis of rotation, an adjustable film-feeding art, an internal gear carried by said driving shaft and connections between said gear and said adjustable film-feeding part comprising a driven gear adjustable around the axis of said internal gear with its teeth in mesh with the teeth of said gear.

8. In a framing mechanism for motion picture machines, the combination of a filmfeeding mechanism comprising an adjustable part for effecting the adjustment of the film at the projection aperture of the ma chine, and means for driving said mechanism comprising an internal ear having a fixed axis of rotation, a gear riven thereby having its axis adjustable around the axis of the internal gear, a gear connection between said last-named gear and the adjustable part ofsaid film-feeding mechanism, said adjustable part being adjustable in substantial parallelism with the axis of said last-named gear.

9. In a framing mechanism for motion picture machines, the combination of a filmafeeding mechanism comprising an adjustable part for eflecting the adjustment of the film at the projection aperture of the machine, means for' driving said mechanism comprising an internal gear having a fixed axis of rotation, a gear driven thereby having its axis adjustable around the axis of the internal gear, a gear connection between said last-named gear and the adjustable part of said film-feeding mechanism, said adjustable part being adjustable in substantial parallelism with the axis of said last-named gear, and means for slightly varying the parallelism of adjustment to compensate for the rotative advance of said second-mentioned gear through its engagement with the inter-" THEODORE F. UHLEMANN. WILLIAM ELLWOOD.

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