US1773594A - Moving-picture mechanism - Google Patents

Description

Aug 39, i930. A. G. MERRlMAN 1,773,5@4

MOVING PICTURE MECHANISM Filed May 2, 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet l [NVENTOR ug. 19, 1930. A. G. MERRIMAN MOVING PICTURE MECHANISM Filed May 2, 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 m NNHV I TTORNEY Aug i9, 193Go A. G. MERRIMAN MOVING PICTURE MECHANISM Filed May 2, 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 HM? WA TTORNEY A. G. MERRIMAN MOVING PICTURE MEGHANISM Aug. w, vgf

Filed May 2, 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet Patented Aug. 19, i930 Niran sTA'rss raar erica ARTHUR G. MERBIMAN, oF PHILADELPHIA, iriaiviirsiznvamav 'MOVING-momma. MECHANISM Application' aiea may 2, 1952s. seriai' No. 274,472,

G lier-ein described and claimed application, Serial #Q7/1,473, filed May 2,-

'Ihe present invention contemplates the provision of an improved motion picture apparatus used in combination with a cabinet.

which is the subject matter of a co-pending 1928, for a cabinet having certain novel arrangements of partitions and picture mechanism therein, as well as a novel association ofthe projecting screen therewith'.

provide a motion picture mechanism having a minimum of noise, vibration, and wear.

A further object of the invention is the construction of an improved intermittent motion of marked simplicity, giving great smoothness of operation, a minimum of wear with age; greatly diminished noise and vibration, and having substantially the ideal rectilinear movement and speeds necessary to such a motion for'moving picture apparatus.

In accordance with'my invention the film is actuated by a combinedl eccentric, cam, and' link motion whichis an improvement over thc harmonic cam and Geneva movements, known to the prior art particularly in connection with intermittent movements for motion picturei projectors. These movements of the priorl'art arevdiiiicult of manufacture, requiring great accuracy, and, during subsequent use, a slight'amount of wear produces v Considerable vibration and noise due to their inherent construction. In the case of Geneva movements it was necessary to overcome these disadvantages by providing housings for running the movements in oil.` In the case of the harmonic cam a take-up adjustment for wear was frequently used. An important y advantage of .the present invention is that the contact between follower and cam is maintained by resilient means, thereby constituting an automatic take-up for wear be-. tween the follower and cam. Anothenadvantage from the standpoint lof simplicity and compactness is -that the eccentric and cani are combined in a4 single unit, the cam An object of the present invention is to.

being so shaped and positioned relative to the eccentric as to maintain the eccentric follower in position on the eccentric, in addition to its main function as a cam, and the Y eccentric follower .gis so shapewd as to maintain the cam.follo wer or tooth fork in position on the cam. The eccentric and cam are dynamically balanced about the shaft.

Further, in accordance with my invention the best rectilinear movement and speeds nec 'essary for moving picture work are obtained by' the combined action ofthe link motion and the eccentric-cam combination,

Further, in accordance with my invention, the iilm is protected from being scratched or punctured by the tooth fork .due to the con, struction of the portion of the apparatus where the teeth of the tooth fork operate to move the film.

Other objects .and advantages will be ap-l parent from the following description, considered in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which :j i f igure 1 isa plan view showing the assembly of the complete apparatus `and its sup-I ports. l

Figure2 is a side elevation of the supports sho'wn in'Figure 1. v

Figure 3 is a cross section taken through the apparatus on the line 3 3, Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a detailview in' plan of the upper {ilm guide plate with its spring attached.

Figure 5 is a detail view in plan of the lm trough, showing the film in place, the picture opening, the slots for the lfilm teeth,

showing a position of the teeth and the tooth the combination eccentric and cam in its re- Alation -to itslfollower 'and to the tooth fork.

This is thus a cross sectional view ofthe intermittent motion.

Figure 8 is a crossvsection taken through thei apparatus on the line 8-8, Figures 1 an 3. i

taken along the lin e"1212, Figure 3, and

showing the relation of lamp house, condensing lens, mirror, film gate and trough, and

projecting lens and shutter.v

In Figure 1, I show the sides 1, of a motion picture cabinet to'which is'fastened a supporting metal framework 2, made of angle pieces:

This framework 2 is the -outer supporting framework and it has cushions 3, made of s ongerubber, attached to it. These'cushions 3 support'the inner metal framework 4, 1n such manner that practically nov vibration fronr the inner frame work is transmitted to the outer framework when the mechanism is in operation. This inner framework is attached to the cushions 4 so that it is held in a fairly lirm position.4 1 I IThe lamp house 5 of the apparatus, having the electric lamp orlight emitting element 6, the reflector 7 the condensing lenses 8, and

- the wires 9, supplying the electric current to the lamp approximately in the positions shown, is supported by the metal framework 10. This framework 10 has 'its component elements slotted as shown so that the lamp house is adjustable in any of three directions, verti- 'liti cally, horizontally, or longitudinally.

The motion picture mechanism is supported by the plates 11, which are bolted to the inner supporting framework. e. Only the -upper edges of these plates are visible in the plan View, Figure 1. These plates contain the bearingsI for the motion picture apparatus; Fastened to the plates 11 at their upper edges is the plate l2. This plate contains the film trough in its center. The plate is made up of three elements and isbest seen in cross section in Figure 12. A bracket 13, is fastened to the plate 12 as shown, and hingeably mounted on this bracket is the film gate 14.

A mirror 15, set at approximately an angle of'45 degrees, is hingeably mounted by supports 16 'so that itsdfdcgree angle canbe varied slightly in either direction; The film gate 14 snaps down 'into 4place and is held there by small spring catches 17. The con-` struction of kthese catches is shown in Figure 12, and it is'obvious that the film gate is easily lifted from the catches for insertion y of the film in theffilm trough.' .As the gateis liftedit .turns up on itshinge, and is` held up by'a spring which is'not shown, but which isattache'd-'to the bracket 13'. The film feeding sprockets 18- feed rthe film steadily toward 'onesi'deof the lm trough and take it up at exactly the same speed from the other side of the film trough. The film is held in place on the sprocket-s 18 by two small rollers '19 which are supported by bearing pins attached to the lever arms 20. These leverarms 20 are hingeably mounted on the brackets 21 and springs attached -'to these bracket-s keep a tensionl on the lever arms 20, and-.thereby cause thelrollers 19 to press the film firmly dcwnon thelilm feed sprockets 18.-'

The film feed' sprockets are mounted on shafts having bearings in the plates 11. Theseshafts are drivenby chain sprockets and chains 122.,.,The means of driving these chains from the main shaft by gears and sprocketson' an auxiliary shaft is shown in Figure 3. Returning to Figure 1, the film is wound on the film supply reel 23, prior to being run through the apparatus. This reel ismounted on the hub 24 in'such manner that it is easily removed and another reel put in its place. The hub 24 is mounted in a bear` ing on the bracket 25, and this bracket isratf tached to the side plate llas shown. To permit of VWinding'the film on the reel 23, a friction drum 26 (having a rubber periphery'7 in this case) vis attached to a shaft 27 ,and the shaft is so mounted in bearings on a movablearm 28, that by lifting this arm 28 upward theI pulley 26 is brought in contact With one of the flanges of the reel 23. The pulley 26 is then driven by means of the elastic belt 30, through the pulley 29, and shaft727. The pulley 26 then. drives the reel 23 by fric- `tion contact and the film canbe wound on the reel 23.

A kuur-led knob 31 permits ofthe focusing of the projection lens, and the means by which this. is accomplished is better seen in Figure 12.` v i Another'knurled knob 32 is provided for the purpose of'm'oving the motion picture shutter' out of the path of the beam of light from the projection lens when the apparatus is' used for displayind single pictures and the shutter is notneede The means of accom- Iplishing this is best shown in Figures 10 and 11.

lill) A sprocket 33, mounted on the main shaft 34, drives a chain'which, in turn drives the mechanism of the motion picture shutter. This is also best seen in Figures 10 and 11. .A flexible coupling 35 connects the main shaft 34 of the motion'picture.mechanism to the main shaft 36 of the power box 37.-

The power box 37 contains' a motor 38 mounted as shown, lWith'electric lead wires 39. This motor' 38 'drives the shaft 43 by 'meansof the pulleys 40 and 42and the elastic belt 41. The shaftf43 drives the'pulle 44 by means of thepulley 45 and the elastic elt 47. The belt 47 is of necessity wrapped around ltwo idlerpulleys, one ofwhich is shown at 46. This 1s necessary to give the correct di- 'rection of rotation to the pulley 44 in the les its twin idler 149, Figure sofv slot 88 in the sleeve. The sleeve actual model built, and is best shown in Figure 8, but by reversing .thedirection of rotation of the motor 38, and redesign of the worm gears and shaft 48-50, the idler 46 and 8, will not be needed. The pulley 44 is not fixed to the main shaft 36, but is free to revolve thereon, and is held 1n place by a shoulder on the main shaft. At the opposlte end of the main shaft, and also free to revolve on the main shaft and held in place thereon by a shoulder is the worm gear 50, which is driven by a worm on the shaft 49. At the other end of the shaft 49 is a worm gear 48, which is driven by a worm on the shaft 43. The shaft 49 is mounted in bearings which are suitably mounted on the side of the power boX 37 as shown. The shaft 43 has its earmgs in the sides of the power box as shown, belt 30.

A sleeve 52 is free to slide on the main shaft but is made to revolve with the shaft by a pin 85 fixed to the shaft and operating in a at each ""end which engage with mating clutches attached to the pulley 44 and the wormlgear l50 respectively, whenthe sleeve is pushe toward the wheel 44 or the worm gear 50. Thus when the sleeve is engaged with the clutch' on the pulley 44, the 4sleeve and main shaft are driven at the speed of that pulley (about 960 R. P. M. which is motion picture'speed). When the sleeve isin midposition and neither of .its clutch ends are engaged, it is at astandstill and so is the main shaft. When the sleeve is engaged with the clutch on the worm gear 50, it is driven, to'- gether Vwith the main shaft at the speed of the worm gear which is an extremely slow 'speed (about 10 R. P. ML) for the purpose of showing single pictures. l

To push the sleeve 52 forward and back a fork 53, attached to a second sleeve 54,' operates in a groove on the sleeve 52. The

sleeve 54 is mounted on the fixed shaft 56 and is pushed forwand and'back by the handle or lever 55. As thely sleeve 54 is pushed forward and back, the fork 53 also pushes the sleeve 52 forward and back.

For taking up the lm after it has been displayed, the take-lip reel 57 is provided. It 1s known as the take-up reel and is removable from the hub 58 on which it is mounted. Interchangeable reels 57 and 23 are similar and so are'V their hubs 58 and 24. v*The reels are easily placed and removed from their hubs. The hub 58 is mounted in a bearing onthe bracket 59, which, in turn is attached to' the plate 11. The take-up 'reel 57 is driven through its hub 58 and pulley 60 by 'an elastic belt 61 and pulley 62, the latter being attached to the shaft of the take-up sprocket 18. i Y

The elastic belts 30 and 61 in the model and has a pulley 51 for driving the.-

has ,clutchesv mitted by these belts and it is important that they should slip somewhat to allow for the change of speed in the parts which are driven.

The elastic belts 41 and 47 must transmit more power, operate quietly and slip very little, hence they are made of rubber. They are round belts, though that is not necessary, and they are about one-quarter inch in diameter.

Referring to Figure 3, thel film passes from the reel 23 over the left film sprocket 18 where it is held in contact by the rollers 19. It then makes a. loop upward as shown, and then passes between the upper film guide plate 71 and the lower film slide plate 12. The lilm is now in what I call the iilm trough. It is free to slide in either direction, but is pressed down in a fairly iirm manner by the spring 72, Figure 4, attached to the plate 7l. The opening 73 permits the light which is thrown downward from the mirror 15 tol pass to a single picture on the film, and then to the projection lens 74. When single pictures are shown, the concentrated light must be on the picture for some time, and this might scorch the film except for the protective screen 75 which is mounted as shown. This screen 75 in the present model is of a transparent, greenish glass which blocks or absorbs the heat, and prevents scorchingv film.

To prevent scratching the picture on the film the plates .71 and 12 are recessed lengthwise their entire length. These recesses form troughs as wide as the pictures on the film and only a fraction of an inch deep. This tends to prevent the pictures in the central part of the film from rubbing on the plates 12 and 71. That is, the perforated edges of the iilrn ride on a kind of track and are held ing on the upper side of the perforated edges. The plate 71 is also recessed at 76 to allow for the action of the teeth of the intermittent movement which will be described later.

down by a duplicate track elastically pressa,

After leaving the ilm trough, the film makes v a second loop as shown' at the right. It then passes over the right filmsprocket 18 where it is held in contact by the rollers 19.

It is then wound up by the reel 57. When the film has run to its end it is easily rewound by running it in a line directly and nearly horizontally from the reel 57 back on `to the reel 23; The lm is inserted in the film trough for a new run by, lifting the levers 20 rand the late combination 14 and 71, inserting the lm, and replacing them.

The intermittent motion shown in cross section in FigureI 7, is vas follows: Attached to the main shaft34 is combination eccentric and cam 80, dynamically balanced. This is made of al single piece of hardened steel and consists of a pure eccentric central por'- tion 81 and flanges 82, having matched cirtooth fork rests on the flanges 82, and is held firmly but elastically in cbntamt with the flangesby the spring 91. This spring .is fastened at its lower end to a shaft 93, the latter being horizontal and attached to the plates 11. Though a spring is used in this case to maintain the tooth fork in Contact With the flanges, any other known means may be used to maintain this contact.

The tooth fork 90 is made of hardened steel and has two .teeth 92, suitably shaped for engaging the perforations of the film. 'lhe fork is kept in position on the fianges 82 and prevented from slipping off of them by an extension lug 94, on the eccentric folf lower 84.

, The action of the intermittent motion'is as follows: As the .shaft 34, rotates clodkwise, the follower 84 moves to the right, and, through the link 86 pushes the tooth fork to the right. The tooth fork is now in contact with the flange offsets 83, which raise it high `enough to keep the teeth 92 engaged with the perforations in the film. These teeth pass up through slots in the plate 12 and their tops are cleared bythe recess 76 in plate 71. .The motion of the fork 90 `to the right is now car rying the film to the right and when the amount of this motion has equalled the dis' tance of one picture, the fiange offsets 83 have turned so as toallow the-spring 91 to pull the tooth fork 90 down and disengage' the teeth from the film, thereby ^allowing it to stop with a picture in positioninthe opening 73. The continued clockwise rotation ofthe shaft 34now moves the follower 8.4 and fork 90 to the right tothe end of the stroke and then back to the left until the teeth 92 are in position for engagement with the next perforations in the film. By this time the offsets 83 have turn-ed so as' to push the fork 90 upward and push the teeth .92 in to engagement, with the perforations ofthe film, and

-- the process is repeated. The arc of the offsets-83 and the position of the middle pivot of the link 86 are so adjusted that the film moves 'durin one sixth of a revolution of the shaft 34,n and remains stationar j during the remainder of the revolution. 'llhis matches the shutter action -Whichcuts off the light durin one sixth of a revolution as will be descri ed later. In case the perforations of thevfilm should not be in the right position so that the teeth can engage them,the film is not punctured but is protected by the recess 76 1n the plate 71. This recess allows the teeth 92 to push the film upward until they move to the right far' enough to engage the film perforations,and the natural elasticity of the film'then brings it down again with the teeth in engagement with the perh forations. The adjustment of the are of the fianges 83 is of necessity very accurate so that the engagement and disengagement of .the teeth with the perforations is just spaced by one picture.

Figure 5 shows afragmentary plan view of the film in the film trough, the picture opening7 3, the film slots 95, the tooth fork 90 and the teeth 92. Friction of the film inv the film trough isl reduced all that is necessary by the recessing of the plates 12 and 71 as described reviously, and by having the edges of the lm trough scalloped asshown at 96, Figure 5.- A further reduction of friction on the film can be attained by placing rollers in the plates 71 and 12, but this is not carried out -in the present model of the invention.

The projection lens 74 is mounted in a cyl-l indrical mounting 100, which slides in another cylinder 101, the latter being attached to thefront plate 11 by suitable means so that the lens 74 is kept in position before' the opening 73. To focus, the rack 102 and pinion-103 are provided and are operated by theknurled knob 31 by means shown in Figure '12. i v

The shutter 104, mounted on the shaft 105,

is driven from the main shaft 34 by means Vof the sprocket 33 and 111, the chain 110, the l lshaft 108 and the helical gears 107 and 106.A

This is best shown in Figures 10 and 11.

Wfhen singlepictures arershown it is necessary to disconnect the shutter and turn it out of the way of the light beam or it would cut ofi" the light three times during the showing of la single picture as. it is adjusted to do in the case-of'motion pictures. Forthis purpose, a. Vvclutch 112 is provided on the sprocket 111, which engages with -a clutch on the shaft 108. lA grooved wheel 114 attached to the clutch 112 enables it to be vthrown in or out by means of a fork 115 attached to a member "116. This member 116 is attached to the sleeve 54, Figure 1, as will be described later. When the clutch 112 is thrown out, the shutter 104 can be turned out ofthe way of the light beam by the knurled knob 32.` The knob 32 attached to the shaft 117 is normally held up by the spring 118, thus keeping the bevel gears 119 and 120 out of mesh. When the knob 32 is pressed down and turned the gears 119 and 120 mesh and act so that the shutter 104 can be turned as desired. The frame 109, attached to vthe plates 11, provides the bearings for the shafts 105 and' 108.

Returning again' to Figure 3, the film sprockets 18 are driven by chains 121 and 122 running on sprockets22, Figure 1,`on the,

film sprocket shafts, and running on 55 f sible to the right the clutches on the worm gear and the right end of the sleeve 52 areY envases mediate shaft 125. This intermediate shaft i tegral- 125 is driven from the main vshaft 3a by a set of gears 126 as shown.Y These gearsgive the correct -speed and direction of rotation `to the shaft 125 so that the integral of the sprocket movement of the film equals the inofv the intermittent movement of the iilm. f

The mirror 130 is pivotally mounted so that its angle can be adjusted. The brackets for mounting this mirror are' attached to the front and back .plates 11.. The bracket attached to the back plate is shown at 131. A At 132 is shown the pivot which can be tightcned by a knurled knob or wing nut. The

mirror 130 reects the beam projecting the picture to the right in asubstantially horizontal direction.

Referring to Figure 8, 1 have a cross sec-y tion of the motion picture apparatusand power box which gives an advantageous view of much of the apparatus already described, and particularly shows the action of the sliding member 116, the vertical member 53, the sleeve 54., and the high and low speed means of transmitting power from the shaft 43 to the main shaft 36.

The member 116 is slidably mounted in guides 140 attached to the bottom of the power box 37. A spring 141 keeps theY member 116 as far to the left as possible, and this member 116, acting through the fork 115,

which iturn acts on the grooved wheel 1141.,-

keeps t ev clutches 113 and 112 engaged.

l/Vhen the sleeve 511 is pushed to the right by` condensing, reflection and focusing of the the lever the member 53 also moves to the right when them and ascrew or stud 1112 attached to the member 53 moves in a slot 143 in the member 116. When the stud 142 reaches the right end of the slot 14.3, it pushes the member 116 to the right, and the clutches 113 and 112 are disengaged. The shutter is now disconnected and can be turned out ofi` the path of the light beam by pressing downiand turning the knob 32 as before described. The spring 141 and slot 143 are necessary because the lengthwise movement of the sleeve 54 and its attached member 53 are greater than the lengthwise movement of the member '116. This happens in the model now in use, but mightbe dispensed with in another model by making the two mentioned lengthwise movements the same. f

When the sleeve 54 is pushed as far as posengaged andthe main shafts 36 and 34 are driven at the very lslow speed for the showing of single pictures. The clutcL es 113 and 112 are now disengaged and th: ,butter re.

mains stationary.

When the sleeve 54 1s pushed as far as possible to `the left the clutches on the pulley M and the'let end of the sleeve 52 are engaged series on the lilm'. This high speed revolution of the shutter gives motion pictures which are practically ree from any dickermg.

When the sleeve 5d is in its mid-position neither of its clutches are engaged and the main shafts are stationary. The pulley 51 then dri vesthe reel 23 through the belt 30, pulley 29, shaft 27, and friction pulley 26, all of the latter being shown in Figure 1. This is for the purpose of rewinding the lilm on the reel 23. i To hold the sleeve 511 in its various positions, a ball 1441 is pressed by a spring 1115 into a hole in the'sleeve 54, an'd this ball engages with grooves 1116 in the shaft k56 as shown. A

The slow/speed of the worm gear 50 is obtained by a double worm reduction. `Worm 147 drives worm gear 48 which is on the same shaft withanother worm 148 and this latter worm drives the worm gear 50.

The pulley 149 is one of the idlers over which the belt a7 travels.

The member 150 vis the lower part of the framework of the motionpicture mechanism and serves to hold the plates 11 in place.

Figure 12 shows the method by which the Vse light is accomplished. r1`he light from lamp 6 1s condensed by the lenses 8, reflected downward through the, opening 73 and through the picture on the film to the projection lens 7d. This lens is mounted as before described and is focused by/ the knurled knob 31 acting through the shaft 151, the bevel gears 152 and 153,the shaft 1511, the pinion 103, and the rack 102, as shown. .The shutter 104 is directly below the lens mounting 100, and it cuts ed the light at extremely rapid intervals for motion pictures as before de scribed. f

1. 1n an intermittent movement for a film in a motion picture machine, a drive shaft, a flanged eccentric thereon, a follower driven by said eccentric, a link'arm attached to said follower, a link ivoted at one end to said machine, said link) arm pivotally attached to said link intermediate the ends thereof, a second follower pivotally attached at one end of said link, flanges on said eccentric having 125 circumferential odsets, said flanges engageable with said second follower, resilient means for maintaining said engagement, tooth' structure at the other end of second named follower for engaging the perforations of a motion picture 4film; saidosets so proportioned as to maintain last named en gagement during the passage -of one picture Y of said motion plcture film. Y

j i 2. In an intermittant movement for a film f n in a motion picture machine a driving mechanism comprising a shaft and a anged eccen- Y.

tric thereon, a link motion drivenby said eccentric and comprising a link member pivoted at one end to said machine, a second link member ivoted at one end to said irst link member intermediate between the endsthereof, a cam follower attached to said Second link at the other end, and engaging said eccentric, a. thirdlink member pivotallyr attached at oneend to the other endl of said first link member, and adapted to slidably engage the 'flanges of said eccentric at a portion 'of said link member some distance from its m said end, a tooth structure on said third link member adapted to periodically engage rforations in said lm, circumferential o set portions on said flanges for giving motion to said last named link member for said periodic vengagement: ywith film perforations.'

ARTHUR G. lMERRIMANl

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