US3062681A

US3062681A - Method of metering liquid and apparatus therefor

Info

Publication number: US3062681A
Application number: US855638A
Authority: US
Inventors: Robert C Lovick
Original assignee: Eastman Kodak Co
Current assignee: Eastman Kodak Co
Priority date: 1959-11-27
Filing date: 1959-11-27
Publication date: 1962-11-06
Anticipated expiration: 1979-11-06
Also published as: JPS53116741U; GB1345719A; FR2097979A5; DE7121808U; CH553007A; FR1275190A; YU34224B; DE1197357B; YU161371A; NL151807B; NL7108193A; US3682077A; BE768849A; JPS5524590Y2; CA929340A

Description

Nov. 6, 1962 R. c. LOVICK 3,062,681

METHOD OF METERING LIQUID AND APPARATUS THEREFOR Filed Nov. 27, 1959 53 Robert GILoViclc IN V EN TOR.

Figri'By I United States Patent Ofifice 3,062,681 Patented Nov. 6, 1962 New .Tersey Filed Nov. 27, 1959, Ser. No. 85:,638

11 Claims. (Cl. 117-111) This invention relates to a method of metering liquid and apparatus therefor and more particularly to a method and apparatus for applying a uniform bead of liquid photographic developer to the sound track area on motionpicture film.

As is well known to those skilled in the art, the sound track area on motion-picture film extends longitudinally of the film strip between the area occupied by the images and the edge of the film strip. In the case of color film it is the usual practice to develop the sound track area independently of the picture images. Obviously, the sound track developer Solution must be confined to the relatively narrow sound track area in order to preclude damaging the latent images carried by the image area of the film strip. It is also desired in many instances to coat the sound track area after development with a lacquer or other similar material in order to protect the sound track area against the action of the chemicals which may be used in developing the image area on the lm strip. The liquid bead applicator which will be hereinafter described was designed specifically for use in applying liquid photographic developer to the sound track area of a film strip but could be advantageously used for applying lacquers and other liquid materials to a receiving strip or sheet or other surface.

In some of the liquid bead applicators of the known prior art, the applicator disk is driven independently of the movement of film strip and in others the movement of the film strip controls the rotation of the applicator disk. The applicator shoe of the present invention was designed for use in liquid bead applicators of the latter type. However, many of its advantages render it useful in other types of head applicators as well as in other types of liquid coating apparatus.

In the known bead applicators the liquid tends to drain away from the liquid coating head during hesitations in the rotation of the applicator disk. This produces an uneven and non-uniform coverage. The applicator shoe of the present invention is designed for use with a liquid bead applicator in which liquid is applied to a moving strip through a liquid coating bead maintained between a rotating applicator disk, which contacts a supply of the liquid, and the moving strip, and assures that an even and continuous liquid bead is coated on the strip. The applicator shoe comprises broadly a plate member designed to be positioned adjacent to the periphery of the applicator disk between the point of contact of the disk with the liquid supply and the position of the liquid coating bead whereby a supplementary liquid bead is established and maintained between the shoe and the disk. The applicator shoe in co-operation with one or more of the supplementary liquid beads meters the amount of liquid carried by the disk to the liquid coating bead permitting, thereby, a more uniform and better defined area to be coated on the strip. Thus, in accordance with the present invention, the method of metering the quantity of liquid carried on a moving surface comprises broadly the step of forming at least one stationary liquid bead on the liquid-carrying surface in the course of the movement of the surface in a liquid- =feeding direction.

One object of the present invention is to provide an improved device for metering the quantity of liquid carried on a moving liquid carrying surface.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved device for applying a metered quantity of liquid from a supply thereof onto a moving strip.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a novel method of metering the quantity of liquid transferred to a moving surface from a liquid carrying surface.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description with reference to the drawing in which like characters denote like parts and wherein:

PEG. 1 is a perspective View of a liquid bead applicator utilizing the applicator shoe of my invention;

FIG. 2 is a view showing a small section of typical 16 mm. color film bearing a sound track along one edge;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged elevation view of the applicator shoe illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a portion of the applicator shoe illustrated in FIG. 3 and showing the arrangement of the projections and lands on the shoe; and

FIG. 5 is an enlarged section view of one of the projections of the applicator shoe and taken along the line designated 55 in FIG. 3.

FIG. 1 illustrates a liquid bead applicator having a support frame 11 and a' guide wheel 13 which is rotatably mounted on a stub shaft 15 carried by the support frame. Back-up roller 17 is mounted on a shaft 19 which is rotatably carried in lever 21. Lever 21 is pivoted on pin 22 to lever 23 and on the other end at 25 to the frame 11 whereby the position of roller 17 with respect to applicator disk 27 can be changed by grasping the knob 29 and moving the lever 23 through the limits provided by the L-shaped slot 31 in lever 23 and pin 32 which is fastened in frame 11. Applicator disk 27 is carried on spindle 33 which is rotatably supported in the frame 11. Gear means (not shown) operatively connect shaft 19 and spindle 33 so that any rotation imparted to the back-up roller 17 is transmitted to the disk 27. Liquid, which in the specific embodiment herein described is a liquid photographic developer, is contained in a reservoir 35 formed in the tray 36. The liquid is maintained by any suitable means well known in the art at a level such that the periphery 37 of disk 27 contacts and picks up the liquid upon rotation of the disk.

The applicator shoe 39 of my invention is slidably mounted by guide means 41 in a block 43 which is rigidly attached to the support frame 11. The position of the shoe 39 can be adjusted by loosening the clamping screw 45, and sliding the shoe either toward or away from the disk 27. As is best illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, shoe 39 18 formed with a series of spaced projections 51. The ends of the projections form an inner peripheral surface 53 having a radius which is slightly larger than the radius of the applicator disk 27 so that when shoe 39 is positioned adjacent to the periphery 37 of disk 27, the inner peripheral surface 53 is concentric to the periphery of disk 27 as shown in FIG. 3. A raised land 57 is formed across the end of each projection 51 and has a radius which is slightly less than the radius of inner peripheral surface 53 but which is slightly greater than the radius of disk 27 so that the lands occupy a position between inner peripheral surface 53 and periphery 37 of disk 27 when shoe 39 is properly mounted and positioned in the liquid bead applicator. The proximity of the lands 57 to the periphery 37 of the disk 27 assure the formation and maintenance of a liquid head between the inner peripherial surface 53 on each of the projections 51 and the periphery of the disk 27. An extension 61 having a surface 63 is formed on the same radius as inner peripheral spsaesr surface 53 and which constitutes a continuation thereof, is provided on the end of shoe 39. The purpose served by surface 63 will be hereinafter set forth. The thickness of disk 27 and of shoe 39 is approximately the same as the width of the sound track on the film strip.

The operation of the liquid bead applicator incorporating the applicator shoe of my invention will now be described. In order to facilitate the understanding of the operation of the liquid bead applicator, I have illustrated in FIG. 2 a section of the film strip P which is slightly enlarged for clarity. The film strip F is conventional 16 mm. color sound film having a series of perforations 65 along one edge, a series of latent images 67 and a sound track 69 positioned along the other longitudinal edge thereof. The film strip F is drawn from a supply reel (not shown) over guide wheel 13 around back-up roller 17, under guide wheel 13 and into the after-processing apparatus (not shown) by means of a suitable drive mechanism incorporated in the after processing apparatus. The back-up roller 17 is positioned with the film strip on its periphery in close proximity to the periphery 37 of disk 27. The guide wheel 13 laterally positions the film strip F on back-up roller 17 so that the sound track 69 on the film strip is directly opposite the periphery 37 of disk 27. While the disk 27 does not actually contact the film strip, the periphery 37 is sufficiently close so that a liquid coating bead is established and maintained therebetween. Rotational movement imparted to the back-up roller 17 as a result of the drawing of the film strip F around the roller by the drive mechanism in the afterprocessing apparatus is also imparted to the disk 27. Liquid from the tray 36 is picked up by the periphery 37 of rotating disk 27 and carried up to the applicator shoe 39. A supplementary liquid bead is formed between each projection 51 and the periphery of disk 27. Upon further rotation of disk 27 the liquid is carried on the periphery 37 to the position where the periphery is closest to the sound track 69 on the film strip F. There a liquid coating head is established and maintained between the moving film strip and the rotating applicator disk. Thus liquid is supplied to the liquid coating head by the periphery 37 of the rotating disk and liquid is transferred from the liquid coating head to the sound track area of the moving film strip.

It has been found that the applicator shoe 39 acts as a metering device of the liquid developer. Any excess liquid picked up by the periphery of rotating disk 27 is planed off by the supplementary liquid beads and by the inner peripheral surface 53 of shoe 39 and drains back into the reservoir 35. During any hesitation or momentary halting of the rotational movement of disk 27 the supplementary liquid beads are held by surface tension of the liquid between the projections 51 and the periphcry 37 whereas in the prior art liquid bead applicators, the liquid on the periphery of the applicator disk drains back iinto the reservoir upon stopping of the disk. Such stopping occurs when the movement of the film strip over the back-up roller 17 momentarily ceases. The supplementary liquid beads which are formed between the applicator shoe of the present invention and the disk remain even though the disk is halted completely for short intervals of time and when movement is again commensed an ample amount of liquid will be present on the periphery of the disk in the supplementary liquid beads to supply the liquid coating head between the film strip and the disk.

It will be noted that a land is formed on each of the projections 51 of the applicator shoe 39, but that a land is not provided on the surface 63 of extension 61. If such a land is formed on surface 63, an insufiicient amount of liquid is deposited on the middle portion of periphery 37 and the sound track area is not uniformly coated from the liquid coating bead. Elimination of the land from the surface 63 permits the solution to fiow out evenly under extension 61 onto the periphery 37 of the disk 27 and a uniform coating is applied to the sound track area of the film strip.

It has been found desirable to have as many supplementary liquid beads formed between the applicator shoe 39 and the periphery 3'7 of disk 27 as is possible. It is important, however, to maintain each supplementary liquid bead distinct, and since this depends upon adequately spacing the supplementary beads, it follows that the space between successive projections 51 on shoe 39 must be sufficient to prevent adjacent supplementary liquid beads from combining. Of course the exact spacing utilized and the distance between surface 53 and periphery 37 will vary depending upon the viscosity of the liquid involved. F or liquids which have a relatively high viscosity distance between successive projections 51 and between surface 53 and periphery 37 will necessarily be greater than required for liquids of less viscosity.

The method of metering liquid of the present invention is utilized by the liquid bead applicator described above and is undoubtedly apparent from such description. However, other embodiments could be utilized in practicing the method, which depends upon the metering effect of one or more stationary liquid beads on the quantity of liquid being carried on a moving liquid carrying surface. More specifically, the (stationary) supplementary liquid beads referred to in the operation of the liquid bead applicator, meter the quantity of liquid carried on the periphery 37 of disk 27 to the liquid-coating bead which is formed between the periphery of the disk 27 and the moving film strip F.

It will now be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the applicator shoe of my invention provides a means for establishing a series of supplementary liquid beads between the applicator shoe and the periphery of the applicator disk of a liquid bead applicator to provide a uniform quantity of liquid to the surface of a moving strip through a liquid-coating bead maintained between the periphery of the disk and the strip regardless of any hesitation or actual stopping of the rotation of the applicator disk resulting from a hesitation or stopping of film strip movement thereby overcoming one of the major disadvantages of the known prior art apparatus. Although I have illustrated only one embodiment of my invention, many modifications and variations are possible. For example, the applicator disk 27 and a shoe 39 could be replaced by a cylindrical member, and an applicator shoe mounted within the member and having a discontinuous convex peripheral surface positioned adjacent to the internal periphery of the member for forming supplementary liquid beads therebetween.

Since these and other modifications and variations will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the foregoing, the disclosure is intended, therefore, to be illustrative only and the scope of the invention is defined in the appended claims.

Having now particularly described my invention, what I desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States and what I claim is:

1. In apparatus for feeding liquid from a liquid supply by moving means having a curved liquid carrying surface, a metering device comprising an element having a curved surface complementary to said liquid carrying surface, said surfaces differing in radii by an amount such that when said surfaces are concentrically positioned in radially spaced relation a liquid bead extending substantially across said liquid carrying surface is formed between the two surfaces upon liquid feeding movement of said liquid carrying surface, and means for mounting said element spaced from said liquid supply along the path of movement of said liquid carrying surface with said surfaces in such concentric position.

2. A metering device in accordance with claim 1 in which a raised land is provided on the curved surface of said element, the height of the land being less than the difference in radii of said surfaces whereby the land facilitates the formation of said liquid bead as a result of the proximity of the land to said liquid carrying surface.

3. A metering device in accordance with claim 1 in which the curved surface of said element is discontinuous in the direction of liquid feeding movement whereby a plurality of separate and distinct liquid beads spaced in the direction of liquid feeding movement are formed between said surfaces.

4. A metering device in accordance with claim 3 in which a raised land is provided on each portion of said discontinuous curved surface to facilitate the formation of said liquid beads as a result of the proximity of the lands to said liquid carrying surface.

5. A metering device in accordance with claim 4 in which said element includes an extension having a curved surface which is complementary to said liquid carrying surface and which forms a continuation of the curved surface of said element, said extension being closer to said receiving member than any other portion of said element when said element is mounted in said apparatus whereby a uniform quantity of liquid is fed on said liquid carrying surface to said receiving member.

6. In a device for applying liquid from a liquid supply onto a moving strip, the combination comprising:

(A) a member having a curved liquid carrying surface,

(B) means for rotatably mounting said member with said surface passing in contact with said supply and through a point which is spaced from said supply and which is sufiiciently close to said strip that a liquid coating bead is formed therebetween upon rotational movement of said member,

(C) means for rotating said member to feed liquid from said supply to said liquid coating bead, and

(D) a metering device including:

(1) an element having a curved surface which is complementary to said liquid carrying surface and which is discontinuous in the direction of liquid feeding movement, said surfaces differing in radii so that when concentrically positioned in radially spaced relation, a plurality of separate and distinct supplementary liquid coating beads are formed between said surfaces in the direction of liquid feeding move ment upon such movement of said liquid carrying surface, and

(2) means for mounting said element along the path of movement of said liquid carrying surface between the liquid supply and the moving strip with said surfaces in such concentric spaced position.

7. In a device for applying liquid from a liquid supply onto a moving strip, the combination comprising:

(A) an applicator disk having a liquid carrying periphery,

(B) means for rotatably mounting said disk with the periphery passing in contact with said supply and through a point which is spaced from said supply and which is sufiiciently close to said strip that a liquid coating bead is formed between said periphery and said moving strip upon rotational movement of said disk,

(C) means for rotating said disk to feed liquid from said supply to said liquid coating bead, and

(D) a metering device including:

(1) a plate member having a plurality of spaced projections and a concave peripherally noncontinuous surface formed on the ends of said projections, said periphery and said surface differing in radii in an amount such that when concentrically positioned in radially spaced relation, a plurality of supplementary liquid beads spaced in the direction of liquid feeding movement are formed between said surface and said periphery, and

(2) means for mounting said plate member with said peripheral surface in such concentric spaced position and between the point of contact of said disk with said supply and the point at which said liquid coating bead is formed.

8. The combination of claim 7 in which a raised land is formed on each of said projections to facilitate the formation of each supplementary liquid bead, each land extending in a peripheral direction on said concave peripheral surface and having a radius which is slightly less than that of said peripheral surface and slightly greater than the radius of said disk.

9. The combination of claim 8 in which said plate member includes an extension having a concave peripheral surface which has the same radius as said first mentioned concave peripheral surface and forms a continuation thereof, said extension being closer to said liquid coating bead than any other portion of said plate member whereby a uniform quantity of liquid is metered across the width of the periphery of said disk by said metering device.

10. The method of metering the quantity of liquid transferred to a moving surface from a liquid carrying surface comprising supplying liquid to the liquid carrying surface at a first zone, moving the liquid carrying surface in a liquid feeding direction to a second zone in which the liquid carrying surface is in liquid transfer relation with said moving surface, and forming a plurality of separate and distinct stationary liquid beads spaced in the liquid feeding direction on said liquid carrying surface in the course of the movement thereof from said first zone to said second zone.

11. The method of metering the quantity of liquid transferred to a moving surface from a liquid carrying surface comprising supplying liquid to the liquid carrying surface at a first zone, moving the liquid carrying surface in a liquid feeding direction to a second zone in which the liquid carrying surface is in liquid transfer relation with said moving surface, and forming on said liquid carrying surface in the course of the movement thereof from said first zone to said second zone a plurality of separate and distinct stationary liquid beads, each of which extends across said liquid carrying surface in a direction transverse of said liquid feeding direction.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,822,466 Valdes Sept. 8, 1931 1,847,065 Munch Feb. 23, 1932 1,899,628 Molins Feb. 28, 1933 2,079,563 Reuter May 4, 1937 2,933,417 McIntyre Apr. 19, 1960

Claims

10. THE METHOD OF METERING THE QUANTITY OF LIQUID TRASFERRED TO A MOVING SURFACE FROM A LIQUID CARRYING SURFACE COMPRISING SUPPLYING LIQUID TO THE LIQUID CARRYING SURFACE AT A FIRST ZONE, MOVING THE LIQUID CARRYING SURFACE IN A LIQUID FEEDING DIRECTION TO A SECOND ZONE IN WHICH THE LIQUID CARRYING SURFACE IS IN LIQUID TRANSFER RELATION WITH SAID MOVING SURFACE, AND FORMING A PLURALITY OF SEPARATE AND DISTINCT STATIONARYN LIQUID BEADS SPACED IN THE LIQUID FEEDING DIRECTION ON SA2D LIQUID CARRYING SURFACE IN THE COURSE OF THE MOVEMENT THEREOF FROM SAID FIRST ZONE TO SAID SECOND ZONE.