US2073224A - Pad roller and mounting therefor - Google Patents

Description

March9, 1937. E Ross 3 2,073,224"

PAD ROLLER AND MOUNTING THEREFOR Filed June 7, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. EPNEST P035 44 BY A ATTO NE) March 9, 1937. E. Ross 2 2,073,224

- PAD ROLLER mm uouirrme THEREFOR Filed June 7, .1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I 7/ I72 8 L l 19' 68 A: m M mu 61 66 V 3r 7 I 52 77 INVENTOR.

EQNL-s-r Poss BY W ATTOR EY..

Patented Ma. 9, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,073,224 PADROLLER AND MOUNTING THEREFOR Application June 7, 1935, Serial No. 25,423

Claims.

This invention relates to motion picture apparatus and particularly to film guiding mechanism known as pad rollers which are employed to hold the film in engagement with the various film 5 drive sprockets or rollers.

In the advancing or driving of film in cameras, projectors, sound recorders, sound reproducers, and printers, sprockets are employed for advancing the film through the apparatus. The film is maintained in position on the sprockets by means of rollers which bear against the film at the desired points. Rollers, around which the film is threaded, are also employed, the film being pulled over the rollers by the sprockets. Rollers are employed in sound recording units on either side of the sound translation point and guide the film past this point. Pad rollers may be used on one or both of these rollers to cause the film to exert a uniform pressure on the rollers and to maintain one edge of the film at a definite predetermined position.

The present invention is directed to a pad roller construction and a mounting for these rollers which permits adjusting them both with respect to their position transversely of the film, and their position perpendicularly to the surface of the film, the principal object of the invention being to properly guide the film over a sprocket or roller and maintain a uniform pressure thereon in an eflicacious manner.

The object of the invention is partially accomplished by features of the mounting structure which provide means for adjusting the bearing tension and means for releasing the pad roller for efiicient threading of the film through the apparatus. Another feature of the construction is the means for adjusting the position of the pad roller transversely of the travel of the film and the means for maintaining one edge of the film at a constant predetermined position. A feature of the assembly construction involving the pad roller is the construction of the casing of the unit which prevents the closing thereof 45 when any one of the pad rollers is in an inoperative position.

Other features of the invention will be obvious from the following specification read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in

50 which Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a sound recording device, partly in section, illustrating diagrammatically a plurality of pad rollers according to the invention.

55 Fig. 2 is a front view in detail of a preferred form of the pad rollers which are illustrated in Fig.1.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on a line 3-4 of Fig. 2. I

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on line 4-4 of 5 Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view similar to that of Fig.

5 but showing the locking means in a different 10 position.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged view of the notch which comprises part of the means for locking the pad roller in either open or closed position.

Fig. 8 is a front view of a pad roller which is 16 also used as an edge guiding roller; and

Fig. 9. is a side elevational view in section and is taken along the line 9-9 of Fig. 8,

Referring more particularly to the drawings. the invention is shown as being incorporated in 20 a sound recording unit I, although it is to be understood that this type of pad roller may be used in any motion picture apparatus wherein the film is fed over sprockets or rollers. The film 2 is fed into the sound recorder i from a supply 25 reel (not shown) and is led around one side of a feed sprocket 3 on which it is held into engagement by my preferred form of pad roller 4. The film 2 then forms a loop 5 and is drawn in engagement with a drive sprocket 6 having a pad 30 roller 1 associated therewith, from whence it is drawn under a free roller 8, over guide roller 9, which has an edge guiding pad roller 9 associated therewith, down past the sound gate shoe Ill, under roller ll, over free roller l2 and thence 35 back into engagement with the under surface of the sprocket 6 against which it is held by pad roller IS. The film 2 is then led under a roller H to the other side of the sprocket 3 which has a pad roller l5 associated therewith. From the 49 sprocket 3 the film travels out of the unit I and onto a take-up reel (not shown).

A cover door I6 is provided at the front of the sound recorder I and is hinged as at H to the base of the unit to provide access to the interior thereof for threading the film.

Referring now to Figs.2 to 6 which show in detail the pad rollers 4, I, I3, and II, a unit generally indicated at I8 comprises a stud member l9 which has a threaded end portion 20 adapted 50 to be threadedly secured within a wall 2i. An enlarged hexagonal section 22 is provided adjacent the threaded portion 20 which serves as a shoulder and also as a head to receive a wrench for the purpose of securing the stud I! to the v vided onthestud ll adiacenttheheadfl. A yoke member 24 is provided with a longitudinally extending opening 24 in the upper part thereof.

one end of which is adapted. to be journaled upon the bearing portion 23 of the stud II. The other end of the opening 2! is Journaled on a sleeve member 24 which is in turn rotatably mounted upon the outer end of the stud is. The outer end face 21 of the yoke member 24 is provided with a projection 22 adapted to engage any one ofa number of detents 20 spaced around a flange It provided on the end of the sleeve 24. The yoke member 24 is provided with a pair of downwardly extending legs ii and 32 having bearing portions 32 and 24 provided in the ends thereof i1; which are joumaled the ends of a pad roller Referring again to Fig. 3, it will be noted that a torsion spring II is loosely mounted over the stud l9 and with one end 39 thereof embedded within the end of the bearing portion 23 of the stud It. The other end 40 of the spring I8 is secured within a slot provided in the end of the 2 sleeve member 2!. g

Thus it will be seen that by unscrewing a retaining cap screw 4|, mounted in the end of the stud II, the sleeve member 28 may be drawn outwardly until the projection 28 clears the detents 22 at which time the sleeve 20 may then be rotated to vary the amount of torque of the spring 38 and thus vary the spring pressure on the pad roller 2!.

I will now describe the locking means whereby the pad rollers may be locked in a retracted position to facilitate threading the fllm over the sprockets. Mounted between the head portion 22 of the stud IO and the wall 2| is a rectangular plate 43 having a raised portion 44 at its lower end which lies adjacent the inner surface of the leg 32 of the yoke member 24. The raised portion 44 is provided with an opening 4!, as shown in Fig. 4, comprising a small notch 48 which communicates with a larger notch 41.

Referring to Fig. 3, it will be noted that a lock releasing or detent rod 48 having a finger piece 40' is mounted in bearings Ill and SI provided in the legs II and 32 to permit longitudinal movement of the rod 49. An enlarged head I2 is provided on the inner end of the rod 40 and forms the locking member. Fig. 3 shows the rod 49 in the lockedposition with the: pad roller ll out of engagement with the sprocket. In this position v the head 52 will rest in the larger notch 41. as 55 seen in Figs. 4 and 5, and the pad roller 15 will be held in retracted position against the action of the torsion spring 38 due to the engagement of the head 52 with the front edge I4 of the notch 41 (see Figs. 4 and 7). Therefore, it will be seenthat when finger piece 49' is pushed to press the rod 40 inwardly, the head 52 will be disengaged from the notch 41 and will allow the spring 38 to rotate the yoke member 24 in the direction of the arrow A (Fig. 2) until the rod 49 and its head 5 I2 assume the position shown in Fig. 6 and in the dotted lines of Fig-4 wherein the head 52 is below and out of engagement with notch 41, the rod 49 coming to rest against the left edge of notch 46. Consequently, the pad roller 35 is brought adjacent the sprocket 36 as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, but, is stopped from actual contact with said sprocket by rod 48 resting against the left edge of notch 46. The distance between the surfaces of the sprocket ll and the pad roller 35 is preferably .001 to .002" more than the thicka,ovs,sa4

ness of the film used. A U-shaped spring ll attached to the plate 42 as by screws ll tends to force the head '2 of the rod. into locked position when the yoke member 24 is rotated so as to align the head 42 with the opening 41.

In order to adjustably limit the travel of the pad roller II, I provide an arcuate slot II in the plate 43 in which is mounted anadjusting screw II. Thus it will be seen that by releasing the screw II, the plate 43 may be rotated one way or the other about the axis of stud II to limit the travel of the yoke 24 and the pad roller 34 about the stud It.

Referring now to Figs. 8 and 9, the edge guiding pad roller 8' is shown in detail. The general construction. of the pad roller 2' is quite similar to that of it having a similar limiting plate and slot (Figs. 2 to 7) except that it is provided with means generally indicated at CI to adiust it in an axial direction to locate the film in the correct lateral position as it passes the sound gate II. The stud I! is provided with an enlarged bearing portion ll adjacent the portion 23' which is adapted to slide within an aperture 02 in the wall 2|. An extending portion 43 of the stud ll extends through a bearing 04 provided in a pro- Jection or extension CI of the wall 2|. A reduced portion 08 at the end of the stud I9 is seemed as by a pin 81 within the lower end of a cross-piece I. A compression spring 59 is provided on the stud II and engages at one end a shoulder ll formed by .the bearing portion II, and at the other end, a shoulder 02' formed in the aperture 82 to urge the pad roller I away from the wall 2i. This action is resisted by an adjusting screw II which is threadably mounted within the projection 0!. The rear end of the screw H is provided with a reduced portion 12 received in a bearing provided at the upper end of the member ll. Thus by rotating the screw H the pad roller I may be moved in or out to correctly position the fllm laterally in respect to the fllm gate II.

The roller 13 oi the pad roller unit 9' is composed of two parts 14- and II, part I! being a press flt and part 14 being loosely mounted upon a sleeve member or cylinder ll which, in turn, is rotatably mountedupon an axle I1. The axle I1 is secured between the lower portions of the downwardly extending legs 3| and 22'.

A pair of washers I2 and I! are provided on either side of the sleeve 10 to provide side bearing members for the roller 14. The part I4 of the roller 13 is provided with an enlarged annular groove which accommodates a spring II. The spring ll engages at one end a shoulder 82 at the inner end of the groove Ill and at the other end a shoulder 83 provided on the sleeve I4. Thus it will be seen that the fllm is always kept in engagement with the guide flange ll formed on the part 15. Both the flange II and a corresponding flange 84 on the part I4 are slightly bevelled to prevent undue friction between the film and the sides of the flanges.

It sometimes happens that the operator may forget to release all of the pad rollers from their retracted positions after he has completed the film threading operation. To insure against-this, projecting lugs such as 56, one for each pad roller, may be provided on the front door ll of the apparatus as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 3. Each of the lugs 56 is adapted to strike against the outer face of one of the legs 4| only in case the pad roller is in the retracted position as shown in Fig. 2, and thereby prevent the closing of the door It until all of the pad rollers are released.

What is claimed is:

1. A pad roller assembly comprising a yoke, a pivotal support therefor, a pad roller carried by said yoke, adjustable tensioning means concentric of said support and urging said pad roller towards a film support, stops at different distances from thefilm support, manually operative means carried by said yoke and selectively engageable with said stops, and tensioning means releasably engaging said detent with one of said stops to hold said pad roller open.

2. A pad roller assembly comprising a stud adapted to be fastened to a wall supporting film driving apparatus, a yoke having a spring barrel around said stud, a spring in said barrel around said stud, means for adjusting the tension ofsaid spring, a pad roller carried by said yoke, a detent rod slidably supported by said yoke, a stop plate on said stud and having stops cooperating with said detent rod, and means for angularly adjusting said stop plate to adjust said stops ,in the arc of travel of said detent rod.

3. A pad roller assembly according to claim 4, wherein the inner end of said detent rod is provided with a head, one of said stops comprising a slot to receive said head, another of said stops comprising a smaller slot adapted to receive and stop said rod when said head is pushed through the said slot therefor and when said yoke is rotated by said spring, means for resiliently retaining the head of said detent rod in said head receiving slot, and a finger piece on the outer end of said detent rod.

4. A pad roller assembly for guiding film over a moving surface comprising a. supporting wall, a

stud mounted in said wall, a yoke mounted on said stud, a pad roller mounted on said yoke, an extension on said wall for accommodating said stud, a spring surrounding said stud within said extension and urging said stud from said extension, and screw means for resisting said spring action, said screw means determining the position of said pad roller with respect to said supporting wall and being operable from the yoke side of said wall.

5.. A system for guiding film over a moving surface comprising a roller adapted to bear on said film at a point of contact between said roller and said film, a stud for mounting said roller, means on said stud for varying the pressure exerted by said roller on said film, a resiliently mounted portion of'said roller bearing on the edge of said film, and means for adjusting said roller transversely 01' said film. I

ERNEST R058.

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