US3643559A

US3643559A - Photographic type-composing machine

Info

Publication number: US3643559A
Application number: US827128A
Authority: US
Inventors: Louis M Moyroud
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Autologic SA
Priority date: 1969-05-21
Filing date: 1969-05-21
Publication date: 1972-02-22
Anticipated expiration: 1989-02-22
Also published as: ES380511A1; NL7006093A; AT323202B; SE370899B; DE2024366B2; BE750756A; FR2043566A1; DE2024366A1; GB1305929A; CH525772A

Abstract

A high-speed photographic type-composing machine is disclosed. Light is projected from a source of illumination such as a cathode-ray tube, laser, or multiplicity of flashlamps through a plurality of light-directing means such as light channels to an arcuate projection zone which is formed by a portion of the curved surface of a rotatable character-carrier. The light channels may be movable in unison among a plurality of discrete positions relative to the arcuate projection zone. The characters are carried on filmstrips which are mounted on a rotatable drum by rigid holding means in the form of arcuate segments, and the characters continually pass through the projection zone, which is large enough to include a plurality of characters at any given time. Selected characters are projected from the zone to an image-receiving surface (such as a film) by an optical projection system which may include a field-flattening lens. Control circuitry is provided for storing and sorting selected characters such that these characters may be illuminated in a sequence which is dissimilar to their respective positions in the composed line. The control circuitry is adapted to achieve this result by varying the time at which any selected character is illuminated as it passes through the projection zone, and is further adapted to center lines on the film by delaying the projection of the first character of the line by a time interval which is dependent upon the selected point size. Also, the film may be incrementally moved by stepping motors in order to compensate for relative displacement between the film and characters if the charactertype style and/or point size is changed.

Description

United Moyroud MACHINE [72] inventor: Louis M. Moyroud, 202 Grove Way, Del- I ray Beach, Fla. 33444 22 Filed: May 21,1969 21 App1.No.: 827,128

Related US. Application Data [63] Continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 629,300, Apr. 7,

1967, abandoned, Continuation-impart of Ser. No. 368,839, Pat. No. 3,291,015, Continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 441,738, Pat. No. 3,422,736, Continuationin-part of Ser. No. 506,936, Pat. No. 3,416,420, Continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 617,912, Feb. 23, 1967, Pat. No. 3,512,562.

[52] U.S.Cl ..95/4.5,350/96B 1 [51] lnt.C|. ..B4lb 19/00,B41b19/06,B41b21/24 l [58] FieldotSearch ..95/4.5;350/96B [56] References Cited 1 UNITED STATES PATENTS l 3,134,090 5/1964 Blakely ..95/4.'5 X I 3,188,929 6/1965 Higonnet et al.. ....95/4.5 1 3,291,015 12/1966 Moyroud 95/45 3,416,420 12/1968 Moyroud... ...95/4.5 3,458,655 7/1969 Thourson 95/4.5X 3,485,150 12/1969 Tortoriciet a1... ....95/4.5 3,496,847 2/1970 Levine ..95/4.5

PHOTOGRAPHIC TYPE-COMPOSING Assistant Examinr liobert E Greiner Attorney-William D. OReilly ABSTRACT A high-speed photographic type-composing machine is disclosed. Light is projected from a source of illumination such as a cathode-ray tube, laser, or multiplicity of flashlamps through a plurality of light-directing means such as light channels to an arcuate projection zone which is formed by a portion of the curved surface of a rotatable character-carrier. The light channels may be movable in unison among a plurality of discrete positions relative to the arcuate projection zone. The characters are carried on filmstrips which are mounted on a rotatable drum by. rigid holding means in the form of arcuate segments, and the characters continually pass through the projection zone, which is large enough to include a plurality of characters at any given time. Selected characters are projected from the zone to an image-receiving surface (such as a film) by an optical projection system which may include a field-flattening lens. Control circuitry is provided for storing and sorting selected characters such that these characters may be illuminated in a sequence which is dissimilar to their respective positions in the composed line. The control circuitry is adapted to achieve this result by varying the time at which any selected character is illuminated as it passes through the projection zone, and is further adapted to center lines on the film by delaying the projection of the first character of the line by a time interval which is dependent upon the selected point size. Also, the film may be incremen- E tally moved by stepping motors in order to compensate for relative displacement between the film and characters if the character-type style and/or point size is changed.

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FIG. 33

INVENTOR LOUIS M. MOYROUD AGENT PAIENIED FEB 2 2 I972 SHEET 13 0F 19 INVENTOR LOUIS M. momouo W014? AGENT TNB PAIENIEnrzazz I972 3.643 .559

sum 11 or 19 m zz IINVENTOR LOUIS M. MOYROUD AGENT PAIENTEDFEBZZIHR 3.643.559

SHEET 180F 19 2] Ell 720 INVENTOR I LOUIS M. MOYROUD AGENT FIG. 45

Claims

1. A photographic type-composing machine comprising: a rotatable character-carrier having a curved surface bearing master characters to be projected, a surface for receiving projected images of said master characters such that lines of composition may be composed on said image-receiving surface, an arcuate projection zone of sufficiently large dimensions to include at least two master characters at any given time as said characters pass through said projection zone, an optical projection system for projecting an image of the arcuate projection zone to said image-receiving surface, said optical projection system including optical means adapted to project the arcuate projection zone as if it were flat, so that an undistorted image of said zone may be produced on the imagereceiving surface, means for illuminating any one of the master characters while said character is in the projection zone, and control means to vary the time at which said illuminating means is energized such that a selected character may be illuminated at any given time as it passes through said projection zone, in order that the projected images of said characters comprising a line of composition may be spaced from one another according to their respective widths.

2. The machine of claim 1 in which said illuminating means includes a high-intensity light patch dimensioned to illuminate one master character at a time, said light patch being movable to different positions within said projection zone by the energization of beam-deflection circuits controlled by said control means.

3. The machine of claim 2, in which the illuminating means comprises a laser having associated beam-deflecting crystals controlled by said control means.

4. The machine of claim 2 in which said illuminating means comprises a CRT having a screen of high actinic value.

5. The machine of claim 4 in which the CRT has more than one electron gun.

6. The machine of claim 4 in which an optical fiber screen over the front of the cathode-ray tube screen transmits light from the cathode-ray tube screen to the projection zone.

7. The machine of claim 6 in which the optical fibers are positioned relative to one another such that their ends which are remote from the cathode-ray tube screen terminate at locations which are equidistant from said arcuate projection zone.

8. The machine of claim 4 in which a collimating lens is disposed adjacent to the cathode-ray tube screen, and a second lens is adapted to focus light emerging from said collimating lens to a focal point of the optical projection system.

9. The machine of claim 1 in which said illuminating means have associated therewith means for directing light emanating from said illuminating means to a plurality of discrete positions within said arcuate projection zone.

10. The machine of claim 9 in which: said light-directing means comprise a plurality of light channels, each of said light channels having a first end adjacent to said illuminating means for receiving light emanating therefrom, and a second end in close association with the arcuate projection zone for directing light emerging from each of said light channels to a discrete position within said zone.

11. The machine of claim 10 in which said plurality of light channels are positioned relative to one another in such a manner that said second ends terminate at locations which are equidistant from said arcuate projection zone.

12. The machine of claim 9 in which said light-directing means is movabLe.

13. The machine of claim 12 in which: said light-directing means comprise a plurality of light channels, each of said light channels having a first end adjacent to said illuminating means for receiving light emanating therefrom, and a second end in close association with the arcuate projection zone for directing light emerging from each of said light channels to a discrete position within said zone.

14. The machine of claim 13 in which each of said light channels is flexible.

15. The machine of claim 13 in which said light channels are movable to a plurality of discrete positions relative to said projection zone.

16. The machine of claim 15 in which said light channels are movable in unison.

17. The machine of claim 16 in which said light channels are movable in unison between at least two discrete positions relative to said arcuate projection zone.

18. The machine of claim 16 in which said light channels are movable in unison among three discrete positions relative to said arcuate projection zone.

19. The machine of claim 16 wherein said light channels are mounted on a movable support means.

20. The machine of claim 9 in which said illuminating means comprise a multiplicity of flashlamps.

21. The machine of claim 10 in which said light channels are fixed with respect to said arcuate projection zone, and said illuminating means is adapted to transmit light simultaneously through two adjacent light channels in order to properly illuminate a selected character when said character overlaps said discrete positions within the arcuate projection zone, the discrete positions being formed by light emanating from said two adjacent light channels at the time of projection of the selected character.

22. The machine of claim 1 in which: said optical projection system includes a point size changing mechanism, and said control means include circuit means for centering the line to be composed on the axis of said optical projection system by delaying the projection of the first character of the line to be composed by a time interval which is dependent upon the selected point size of said point size changing mechanism.

23. The machine of claim 1 in which: said character-carrier includes a plurality of character type styles, said control means includes means to shift from one of said type styles to another, and means are adapted to variably displace said image-receiving surface in conjunction with a style shift in order to compensate for relative displacement which occurs between said image-receiving surface and characters which are being projected when a shift in style occurs, so that the characters of a given line to be composed are projected along a common baseline of said image-receiving surface.

24. The machine of claim 1 in which: said character-carrier includes a plurality of character type styles, said control means includes means to shift from one of said type styles to another, said optical projection system includes means for changing the point size of said characters, and means are adapted to variably displace said image-receiving surface in conjunction with a style shift or point size change, in order to compensate for any relative displacement which may occur between said image-receiving surface and characters which are being projected when a shift in style occurs, when the point size is changed, or when a style shift and point size change occur simultaneously, so that the characters of a given line to be composed are projected along a common baseline of said image-receiving surface.

25. The machine of claim 24 in which: said character-carrier has coaxially arranged rings of character type styles which pass simultaneously through said projection zone, and said variable displacement means includes a leading mechanism for moving said image-receiving surface, said leading mechanism comprising separate fine and coarse stepping motors for driving a differential system, the Output drive of said differential system being adapted to move said image-receiving surface by relatively small increments.

26. The machine of claim 1 in which: said illuminating means is positioned externally of said character-carrier, said arcuate projection zone is formed by a portion of the curved surface of said character-carrier, and master character images are projected radially inwardly of the projection zone onto means for reflecting the images along a common baseline of said image-receiving surface.

27. The machine of claim 26 in which said rotating character-carrier comprises a cylindrical drum, said image-receiving surface is a film, and said optical means for projecting said arcuate zone comprises a field-flattening lens.

28. A photographic type-composing machine comprising: a rotatable character-carrier having a curved surface bearing master characters to be projected, a surface for receiving projected images of said master characters such that lines of composition may be composed on said image-receiving surface, a projection zone of sufficiently large dimensions to include at least any one of said master characters at any given time as said characters pass through said projection zone, an optical projection system for projecting an image of the projection zone to said image-receiving surface, means for illuminating any one of said master characters while said character is in the projection zone, and control means to vary the time at which said illuminating means is energized such that a selected character may be illuminated at any given time as it passes through said projection zone, said control means including: means for storing a complete line of characters to be composed, prior to projecting the first character of said line, and means for sorting each of the characters of said stored line in accordance with its respective location on said character-carrier relative to a predetermined reference point, and the accumulated widths of the preceding characters in the line to be composed, such that said characters may be illuminated in a sequence which is dissimilar to their position in the composed line.

29. The machine of claim 28 in which said projection zone is arcuate, and the control means operates such that a full line may be composed during each revolution of said character-carrier.

30. The machine of claim 29 in which: said arcuate projection zone is of sufficiently large dimensions to include at least two master characters at any given time as said characters pass through said projection zone, and said optical projection means includes optical means adapted to project the arcuate projection zone as if it were flat, so that an undistorted image of said zone may be produced on the image-receiving surface.

31. The machine of claim 30 wherein said rotating character-carrier consists of a cylindrical drum, said image-receiving surface is a film, and said optical means for projecting said arcuate zone comprises a field-flattening lens.

32. A photographic type-composing machine comprising: a continuously moving character-carrier bearing master characters to be projected, a surface for receiving projected images of said master characters such that lines of composition may be composed on said image-receiving surface, a projection zone of sufficiently large dimensions to include at least any one of said master characters at any given time as said characters pass through said projection zone, an optical projection system for projecting an image of the projection zone to said image-receiving surface, means for illuminating any one of said master characters while said character is in the projection zone, said illuminating means having associated therewith means for directing light emanating from said illumination means to a plurality of discrete positions within said projection zone, said light-directing means comprising a pluralitY of light channels, each of said light channels having a first end adjacent to said illuminating means for receiving light emanating therefrom, and a second end in close association with said projection zone for directing light emerging from each of said light channels to a discrete position within said zone, and control means to vary the time at which said illuminating means is energized such that a selected character may be illuminated at any given time as it passes through said projection zone, said control means including: means for storing a complete line of characters to be composed, prior to projecting the first character of said line, and means for sorting each of the characters of said stored line in accordance with its respective location on said character-carrier relative to a predetermined reference point, and the accumulated widths of the preceding characters in the line to be composed, such that said characters may be illuminated in a sequence which is dissimilar to their position in the composed line.