US3695156A

US3695156A - Photocomposing machine

Info

Publication number: US3695156A
Application number: US88920A
Authority: US
Inventors: Louis M Moyroud
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Autologic SA; PHOTN Inc
Priority date: 1970-11-12
Filing date: 1970-11-12
Publication date: 1972-10-03
Anticipated expiration: 1989-10-03
Also published as: DE2156335A1; CA981084A; FR2114580A5; DE2156335C2

Abstract

This invention relates to photographic type composing machines capable of automatically mixing a plurality of fonts, styles, or faces, and more particularly to machines presenting a selected character (from a given alphabet or font) at a common character presentation point from which its image is projected onto a light sensitive surface. The invention describes a method for rapidly changing from one character font to another solely by the utilization of either the character spacing mechanism of the machine, or the line spacing mechanism thereof.

Description

United States Patent Moyroud I [54] PHOTOCOMPOSING MACHINE [72] Inventor: Louis M. Moyroud, c/o Photn lnc., 355 Middlesex Ave., Wilmington,

Mass. 01887 [22] Filed: Nov. 12, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 88,920

Related US. Application Data [63] Continuation-in-part of Ser. Nos. 827,128, May 21, 1969, Pat. No. 3,643,559, and Ser. No. 690,720, Dec. 13, 1967, Pat. No. 3,590,705, and Ser. No. 843,297, July 22, 1969, Pat. No. 3,620,140.

[52] U.S.Cl. Q. ..95/4.5 [51] Int.CI. ..B4lb 21/22 [58] Field of Search .'.95/4.5

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,787,654 4/1957 Peery .....l78/2 CHARACTER PRESENTATION PLANE CHARACTER SPACING MECHANISM TO FONT ILLUMINATION CONTROL GENERAL CONTROL CIRCUIT [is] 3,695,156 [451 'Oct. 3, 1972 Primary Examiner-John M. Horan Attorney-William D. ORcilly [57] ABSTRACT spacing mechanism thereof.

7 cam, 11 Drawing Figures LENS SYSTEM FILM PLACE drn CHARACTER AND SPACE WIDTH VALUES PATENTEDMIB m2 3.695156 SHEET 1 0F 4 LENS SYSTEM CHARACTER PRESENTATION PLANE F2 CHARACTER SPACING MECHANISM CHARACTER AND SPACE WIDTH VALUES To FONT FONT SELECTION CORRECTION CONTROL FIG. I

- GENERAL CONTROL CIRCUIT DIRECTION OFL'NESPAC'NG Photon, Inc. Wz'lmirglon, Mass. DISPLACEMENT CHARACTER SPACING T I," DISPLACEMENT .1. HI

2dm dm "5 7 '5 i b K b ,Jc;: Z E d d d FLAHL'NE INVENTOR 2 e 6 e 22 LOUIS M.MOYROUD ATTORNEY.

CORRECT.

FONT SHIFT CONTROL I98 SPACING r CARRIAGE CONTROL SHUTTER STEPPER FACE SHIFT SELECT.

PAIENTEIIBIITII I972 FIG. 7

D U 2 w L I m1 Rm. 8 mm 0M w T. N .EM, s W U .0 L I 8 w 0 29 m Hm F s T T. mm 2 9 x v O 9 8 M. Z 4 w I 9. v QM 4 2:. E: 2: 9 HWII o ZU 8 0 [I I II I 7 F 1 u U LMU 4 3 I TIMING PULSES TO SPACING CARR.CONTROL 1 PHOTOCOMPOSING MACHINE BACKGROUND AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention pertains to a unique approach for shifting from one style or font of characters to another in many different photocomposing machines. The present application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. Nos. 827,128filed May 21, 1969 now U.S. Pat. No. 3,643,559,690,720 filed Dec. 13, 1967 now U.S. Pat. No. 3,590,705, and 843,297 filed July 22, 1969 nowU.S. Pat. No. 3,620,140. The disclosures of each of the afore-mentioned applications arev hereby incorporated by reference in the present application.

The basic functions of a photographic composing machine are selection and presentation of characters at a pre-determined location, projection of a character image through a' lens, positioning of the image at the. correct location in a line of composition onanimagereceiving surface such as afilm, and'vertical spacing of composed lines from one another on the film. Other important functions are selection of a desired font of characters from among several groups, selection of a character image size by changing optical magnification (by the use of a lens turret, zoom lens, etc.), and line justification (including quadding, leadering, and tabulation).

In the present invention the basic character spacing mechanism utilized to space characters alongaline (or the line-spacing mechanism to space lines on apage), is utilized to replace the conventional method of displacement of a font of characters in order'to obtain a preselected projection position.

In most photographic type composing machines, selected characters are made to appear at a character presentation point." Various means are utilized to achieve this result, but the most widely used means'involve a continuously rotating matrix (either a disc or drum) associated with a flash device. A matrix usually contains several rows or circlesof characters; generally each row represents a difi'erent font. In the prior art a relative mechanical displacement of the matrix was necessary to move a desired font into operative position for character presentation at a common projection point. In all cases, this approach involves specialfont' shifting mechanisms which are utilized to mechanically or optically move a selected group of characters (or their image path) to a pre-determined'positipn ona common optical axis. In the prior art there is always a special mechanism introduced in a multiple-font machine for the sole purpose of bringing the selected font to a given point or onto a given path, which in cludes mechanical or mechanical-optical means.

On the other hand, in the present invention'we are dealing with a photographic type composing machine in which different fonts can appear at different character-presentation points or paths. These points are so positioned that the existing character spacing mechanisms of the machine can be utilized to compensate for the fact that the character presentation points are distinct and would produce character images at undesired locations on the photosensitive surface, but for the compensation capability of the invention. Thus, the character spacing mechanism is instructed by the font shift mechanism to add to or subtract from its normal characterspacing function. Also, selective illumination means are provided for the different-fonts associated with different character presentation points or paths, for example, as is shown in U.S. Ser. No. 690,720 filed Dec. 13, l967.

Thus, one advantage of the invention is the eliminationof special mechanisms such as disclosed in the prior art for the purpose of replacing a font by another font at a character presentation point. A second advantage afforded by the invention is the increased machine speed resulting from. a saving of the time required forv the operation-of the special mechanism, which is usuallyquite substantial because of the inertia of moving parts:involved (which) create vibrations or bounce), and the high accuracy that. must be achieved. 2

The present inventionwill be. more fully described in the detailed description which follows, in which:

FIG. 1 is aschematic view of the basic elements of a photocomposing machine, .with the addition of multiple fonts capability;

FIG. 2 represents a partial'section of a multi-font matrix;

FIG. 3 is an example'of a line of text comprising three different fonts;

FIG. 4 is a schematic representationof an embodiment of the invention with a rotating matrix that is also translated to achieve character spacing;

FIG. 5 is another representation of the embodiment of FIG. 4 with theaddition of point-size selection capability;

FIG. 6 is an embodiment of the invention similar to the oneshown in FIG. 4 except thatthe character spacing mechanism includes a translating lens;

FIG. 7 is a'schematic representationof another embodiment of the invention in which the matrix is represented by a multi-fonts drum and the spacing mechanism by a translating lens;

FIG. 8' is a cross-section of an embodiment using the drum of FIG. 7 butwith aplurality of flash lamps as illuminating means rather than a shutter band;

FIG. 9 is a schematic representation of another embodimentof the invention in whichthe relative motion between matrix and film is obtained. by reflecting surfaces positioned between the matrixand the projection lens to avoid spacing corrections caused by different magnification ratios;

FIG. 10 represents the portion of amulti-fonts matrix continuously moving in a character spacing direction; and

FIG. 11 represents schematically the use of vertical character spacing (interline spacing or leading) for font selection.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the basic components of a photographic type composing machine. The selected character is presented at a point such as F2 in a character presentation plane 1. F2 could be the location of a reference point of a character (as defined in co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 827,128 filed May 21, 1969) at the time the character is illuminated for projection. If desired, limiting apertures or windows such as can be cut out of a mask to limit the illumination to the selected character at the exclusion of the others. Each selected character of a line belonging to the same row of characters (in the case of a rotating disc or drum) or to the same matrix plate appear successively at point F2 from which they are projected by optical system 4 to film 2. The characters are properly spaced along the base line BL by the relative translation of one (or two) of the three major components of the machine i.e., character presentation plane 1, lens 4, and film 2). For example, such spacing can be obtained by moving the character presentation point by distances corresponding to the width of each character of the matrix to be projected (and independently of the optical magnification) as explained in copending application U.S. Ser. No. 690,720 filed Dec. 13, 1967, or character spacing can be achieved by moving the projection lens 4, or by moving the film 2 in a direction parallel to the base-line BL of the line being composed. In these two latter cases, the displacement of the lens or the film will depend on the width of the matrix character and on the magnification ratio of the optical system. Of course, it is possible to achieve relative displacements of one of the three basic components relative to the others by other means, such as is explained in U.S. Pat. No. 2,670,665, or co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 843,297 filed July 22, 1969.

The invention will now be described as it can be applied to machines having a character matrix in the form of a band, disc or drum provided with several rows of characters of different fonts. FIG. 2 shows a portion of a matrix strip 14 provided with three rows of

characters

44, 46, and 48. In this example the matrix strip is mounted on a continuously rotating drum so that the displacement of characters occurs vertically, as shown by the arrows in the figure. Selected characters are projected to the light-sensitive surface as they cross the flash line FL. Each row can be selectively illuminated either by moving a window (as explained in co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 790,620), or by moving a flash lamp or light pipe from row to row, or by using individual flash lamps for each row, as shown at 18, and 22. The character presentation locations corresponding to the three rows of FIG. 2 are shown at F1, F2 and F3 in FIG. 1. It can be seen in FIG. 1 that each row is associated with a distinct

optical projection path

132, 133 and 134 respectively, spaced from each other by a distance d. After passage through the optical system 4, the spacing of projected character images belonging to different rows along base-line BL on film 2 is equal to the distance between rows on the matrix multiplied by the optical magnification, as represented by dm in FIG. 1.

' In order to correctly space in the same line of text, characters or words belonging to different fonts, or to keep even margins for lines of different fonts, it is necessary to introduce a correction or compensation that will activate the spacing mechanism to cause the image on the film to be moved forward or backward in relation to the direction of composition a distance dm. The correction can be combined with the spacing of the previous or succeeding character (or word space). In this case the character spacing mechanism 8 includes an adder giving an output equal to the algebraical sum of the character width (previously flashed or to be flashed), the width of the word space (in most cases) and the correction d or dm, all these values being expressed in common width units. Box 12, which represents the character spacing control, may include width tables" or width cards" such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,332,617 and a justifier and, in some cases, a multiplier such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,876,687. Box 10 can contain stored information necessary to produce a font shift" at the command of a control code to cause the selective illumination of F 1, F2 or F3, and also to introduce the necessary font shift spacing correction into the character spacing control. Box 9 represents the general control circuit of the machine.

The line of FIG. 3 comprising words of three different fonts illustrates what is meant by character spacing displacement" and line spacing displacement. This figure also illustrates what would happen if no spacing correction is made following a font shift. In the absence of a spacing correction, the second word Inc. would be moved to the left by a distance 2 dm from its desired position, and the third word Wilmington by a distance dm to the right, from their respective proper positions. (The first letter of these words is shown in dotted lines and at another level for better clarity. Also, in the drawings the reversing action of the optics is ignored for the sake of clarity).

In systems utilizing the optical leverage principle I (in which characters are spaced before they are sized) such as shown in FIGS. 4, 5, and 9 of the drawings, the font shift correction is, in absolute value terms, equal to the distance (in width units) separating the font rows, and is totally independent of the magnification ratio. For example, in FIG. 1, the spacing mechanism will introduce a correction d in one direction for a shift from font 44 (FIG. 2) to font 46, a correction 2d in the same direction for a shift from font 44 to font 48, a correction d in the other direction for a shift from font 48 to font 46, etc.

The basic character presentation and spacing system described in co-pending application Ser. No. 690,720 is illustrated in FIG. 4. In this figure, the matrix disc 6 is continuously rotatable for character selection and presentation purposes, and is also adapted to be moved along lines y y to obtain proper character and word spacing. Three font rows are shown at 17. Characters are projected through a fixed lens 4 to film 2 and are aligned along baseline BL to form a line of composition. Font shift correction or compensation is obtained by moving matrix disc 6 along y y by a distance equal to the spacing of consecutive rows. For example, passage from character presentation point F 1 (bold characters, as shown in FIG. 2) to F3 (roman characters) is achieved by moving the disc to the right (as represented in FIG. 4) by a distance 2d in order to bring the projection F3 of point F3 to the location on the film which was receiving the projection F1 of point F1 before correction. In this particular case the correction is negative, since it goes against the normal character spacing displacement of disc 6 as represented by arrow 69.

The projection system shown in FIG. 5 is the same as the one of FIG. 4 except for the addition of one lens to obtain different character sizes on the film. Two lenses of different focal length are shown at 40 and 42. Of course there would be only one lens in the optical path at a time, with selection of one lens or another being generally obtained by the rotation of a lens turret or other analogous size-changing mechanism. It can be seen in FIG. 5 that a displacement d of matrix disc 6 will move the projection point on the filmby a distance 58 when relatively large magnification lens 40 is used, and by a smaller distance 62 when relatively small magnification lens 42 is used. Because of optical leverage(spa'ce before you size), the

distances

58 and 62 are in the same ratio as themagnified images, so that character spacing correction is automatically obtained and the magnification ratio does not have to be taken into account when the matrix is're-positioned by the character spacing mechanism in order tocompensate for a shift from one font to another.

Another embodiment of the invention in a system using optical leverage is shown in FIG. 9. Here the continuously rotating matrix 6 is a disc provided with several circles (rows) of characters of different fonts such as shown at 118, 121 and 122. Illumination of row 118 is obtained by a flash unit 136 comprising, for example, a flash lamp, a condenser, and a light pipe 18. Selective illumination can be obtained by moving light. pipe 18 opposite the selected font or, preferably, by associating a separate flash unit with pipe 20 to illuminate font 121, and another pipe 22 to illuminate font 122 and so forth. The projection system, as described in copending US. application Ser. No. 843,297 includes a reflecting roof composed of reflecting surfaces 124 and 126 (such as a prism or mirror pair) that is moved in a direction parallel to the matrix and the flash line FL intersecting the different character presentation points (see FIG. 1) for character spacing purposes. A character-bearing bundle of light 138 emerging from the reflecting roof enters a projection lens 40 (one of several interchangeable lenses providing different magnifications as, for example, in a lens turret) and forms an image of the selected character of the selected size on film 2. As shown in FIG. 9, in this particular embodiment of the invention, passage from one font to another is obtained by re-positioning or correcting the reflecting roof along its normal character-spacing path by a distance equal to one-half the distance separating the font that was used from the font to be selected. This reduced displacement is caused by the double reflection of the roof as explained in co-pending application Ser. No. 843,297.

Thus, in the example of FIG. 9, passage from font 118 to font 122 will be obtained by moving the roof by a distance S8 to bring the first reflecting surface from position 124 to position 124b, and the second reflecting surface from position 126 to position 126b. Of course, as this operation takes place the source of illumination is transferred from pipe 18 to pipe 22, for example by energizing the flash lamp associated with pipe 22. The character-bearing bundle emerging from 118 is shown at 135. The bundle emerging from 122 is shown at 137. These bundles will follow the same path 138 at the exit of the roof because the virtual image of a character located at point 118 (produced by the two mirror surfaces at positions 124 and 126) is located at the same point as the virtual image of a character located at point 122 (produced by the same reflecting surfaces after they have moved to positions 124b 126b). The location of the virtual images is shown at 120. Point 120 is symmetrical with point (or character position) 1 18 in relation to roof apex 140 whenthe mirrors are as shown in solid lines, and is also symmetrical to point 122 after the apex has moved from position 140 to position 14%. The virtual images of points 1 18 and 122 produced by the first reflecting surface are shown at 1 19 and 123 respectively.

Thus'far, the inventionhas been described as it can be .incorporated into machines utilizing the optical leverage principle, which is not present in FIG. 6 of the drawings. In FIG. 6, matrix disc 6 is rotating around a fixed axis 39 and character presentation points 44 and 48 are at fixed locations. The character spacing function is accomplished by displacing the projection lens (such as 40) along a line 66 parallel to film 2. Another lens 42 producing a relatively smaller magnification than lens 40 can be used to produce smaller images, said lens being moved along path 64. As can be seen in the figure, in order to introduce the font shift correction to compensate for the passage from font 48 to .44, the lens carriage will have to be moved by a distance if lens 42 is being used and by a distance 73 if lens 40 is being used, so that in either case the image on the film will be moved from point 70 (image of font 48) to point 72 (image of font 44). Therefore, the character spacing mechanism will be re-positioned (or corrected) following a font shift command by a value which depends upon the spacing of the font rows on the matrix, and upon the magnification ratio. These corrective values can be pre-computed and stored, and can be retrieved whenever necessary at the command of a font shift control code.

In the arrangement of FIG. 7 the character spacing function is also obtained by translating a lens 76 along path 77 by variable amounts depending upon two factors: the width of the master character on the matrix, and the magnification ratio. A continuously rotating drum is provided with eight matrix strips 92-1 to 92-8. Each strip can contain one or more fonts. The flash timing is obtained as explained in US. Pat. No. 2,790,362 by a band of transparent slits 80. A flash lamp (not shown) is located inside the drum, but only the light emerging from the selected matrix band can reach the optical system. This is achieved by the use of a shutter band 82 provided with an aperture or window 88 that can be moved along a direction parallel to the axis of the drum, and is located opposite the selected font. Band 82 could be made of any thin flexible material impervious to light. Band 82 is kept under tension by the use of spring-loaded

drums

84 and 86 secured to the frame 102 of the matrix drum. Band 82 can be moved longitudinally by a stepping motor controlled by the font shift mechanism 106, which also controls the displacement of lens 76 (as shown) to correct or re-position the lens each time a different font is selected.

For example, lens 76 is shown in solid lines at the position it occupies at the beginning of a line of length LL to be flashed onto film 2. As shown, the first character of the line will be projected from location 88 on the matrix to location on the film. If it is desired to shift from font 92-1 to font 92-8 at the beginning of "fonts on the matrix as well as the magnification ratio.

The different correction values, as in the example of FIG. 6, can be pre-computed and stored in a memory as explained above. These values, which could be stored in box 106, are transferred to the carriage spacing control by the appropriate font shift signals emerging from the general control circuit of the machine represented by box 1 12. Of course, the position of lens 76 along line 77 can be corrected at any time during the composition of a line, either before or after a font shift command.

As mentioned above, the lens positioning correction could be incorporated into the lens displacement required to space normally the last read character (or interword space) from the adjacent character. The extreme positions of the projecting and spacing lenses (in the case of the magnification shown) are shown at 76 (font 92-1) and 76-3 (font 928). In FIG. 7 this projection lens is located at an equal distance from the matrix and the film for a one-to-one magnification ratio. In this case, the total maximum travel of the lens will be equal to one-half the maximum length of line LL, plus one-half the distancebetween the most widely spaced font strips. Of course, it is possible to replace a lens by another lens having a different magnification. In this case, in order to preserve the same left hand margin on the film, a supplemental lens positioning correction MC (depending only on the magnification ratio) must be introduced. This could be accomplished by again storing the margin correction values in a storage such as 105 activated at the end of each line by circuit 1 12.

FIG. 8 represents a system similar to the one shown in FIG. 7 except for the replacement of shutter band 82 of FIG. 7 by a multiplicity of flash units 92-1 to 92-8, each one associated with a matrix strip 94-1 to 94-8 respectively, and separated by light baffles 100. A font shift signal causes the energization of the flash unit associated with the desired font strip through a flash selection circuit 116 controlled by the font shift circuit 1 l4.

In all of the embodiments described above the character presentation points such as F 1, F2, and F3 of FIG. 1 are located on a line parallel to the base of the line being composed, so that passage from one presentation point to another is accomplished by appropriately adjusting the character spacing mechanism utilized to space characters along a line. In another embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 11, the previously indispensable font shift mechanism of the prior art is eliminated by using the line-spacing or leading mechanism of the machine to adjust for a font shift (see also FIG. 3). Such a system is also disclosed in application Ser. No. 827,128. The character matrix drum 28 is provided with

matrix bands

141, 142, 143 and 144 representing different fonts of type. As shown in FIG. 10, the characters of the matrix are moving in a direction parallel to their base line (in opposition to the systems previously described in which the matrix characters move in a direction perpendicular to their base line, for example, as illustrated in FIG. 2). The

selected characters are projected by a

flash lamp

24, 25, 26 or 27 onto a film 2 through a lens 4. The normal function of leading mechanism 32 is to move the film at the completion of each line for line spacing purposes. In the present invention, this same mechanism is also used to position, on the same base line, characters projected from any of the four font rows of drum 28. It is apparent in FIG. 11 that, without correction, characters of

rows

141, 142, 143 and 144 would be projected at 145, 146, 147 and 148 respectively. The correction for font shift is accomplished by moving the film up or down, that is, from the supply spool 34 to the take-up spool 36 or vice versa, depending on the font being used and the new font selected (as inthe example described relative to FIGS. 4, 7 and 8 above). In this particular embodiment, the amount of film displace ment correction depends on the spacing d between rows of different fonts and the magnification ratio i.e., no optical leverage in this embodiment).

The system represented in FIG. 11 is particularly ad vantageous in a certain type of high speed machine such as described in Ser. No. 827,128, but it does not permit rapid font shift during the composition of a line, as is the case in systems in which the character spacing mechanism (rather than line spacing mechanism) is utilized as the font changing means.

While a rotating matrix has been described, it should be understood that an indexing or start-stop matrix can also be used in the present invention. Also, it is evident that more than one disc or drum may be utilized, if desired.

The foregoing description is intended to be illustrative only. Various changes or modifications in the disclosed embodiments may occur to those skilled in the art. It is understood, therefore, that all such modifications as would be apparent to one skilled in the art are included within the scope of the present invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A photocomposing machine comprising:

a character presentation area having a plurality of character arrays, said area including at least one character projection zone for each of said arrays, said character projection zones being spaced from one another within said character presentation area,

means for moving the character arrays through their respective character projection zones,

means for illuminating selected characters of an array within a respective projection zone,

a surface for receiving character images,

means for projecting the images of selected characters from said projection zone to said imagereceiving surface in order to form a line of composition thereon,

means for spacing said character images along a common base line of said surface in accordance with their respective widths, thereby forming a line of composition thereon, said character spacing means having associated therewith a control circuit for controlling the movement of said spacing means, said control circuit further being adapted to compensate for the fact that a change from one array to another results in a shift from one of said character projection zones to another spaced therefrom by adjusting the position of said character spacing means in response to said array change, and v means for spacing said composed lines from one another on said surface.

2. The machine of claim 1 in which said character spacing means compensates for said array change by moving the character images a predetermined amount along a path parallel to said common base line.

3. The machine of claim 1 in which said character presentation area comprises a rotatable character-carrier, and the character arrays move through their respective character projection zones such that the characters of said arrays move through said zones in a direction perpendicular to their base lines.

4. The machine of claim 1 including a size-changing mechanism for varying the size or magnification ratio of the character images which are projected onto said image-receiving surface, said size-changing mechanism being positioned in the optical path between said character spacing means and said image-receiving surface such that when a change from one array to another is made, the character spacing means compensates therefor by taking into account only the distance by which the character projection zone presently in use is spaced from the zone previously in use, said compensation or correction being accomplished independently of the magnification ratio of said size-changing mechanism.

5. The machine of claim 1 including a size-changing mechanism for varying the size or magnification ratio of the character images which are projected onto said image-receiving surface, such that when a change from one array to another is made, said character spacing means compensates therefor by taking into account the distance by which the character projection zone in use after the array change is spaced from the zone in use means for projecting the images of selected characters from said projection zone to said imagereceiving surface in order to form a line of composition thereon,

means for spacing said character images along a common base line of said surface in accordance with their respective widths, thereby forming a line of composition thereon, and

means for spacing said composed lines from one another on said surface, said line spacing means having associated therewith a control circuit for controlling the movement of said spacing means, said control circuit further being adapted to compensate for the fact that a change from one array to] another results in a shift from one of said 0 aracter projection zones to another spaced therefrom by adjusting the position of said line spacing means in response to said array change.

7. The machine of claim 6 in which said line spacing means compensates for said array change by moving the character images a predetermined amount in a plane perpendicular to said common base-line.

Claims

1. A photocomposing machine comprising: a character presentation area having a plurality of character arrays, said area including at least one character projection zone for each of said arrays, said character projection zones being spaced from one another within said character presentation area, means for moving the character arrays through their respective character projection zones, means for illuminating selected characters of an array within a respective projection zone, a surface for receiving character images, means for projecting the images of selected characters from said projection zone to said image-receiving surface in order to form a line of composition thereon, means for spacing said character images along a common base line of said surface in accordance with their respEctive widths, thereby forming a line of composition thereon, said character spacing means having associated therewith a control circuit for controlling the movement of said spacing means, said control circuit further being adapted to compensate for the fact that a change from one array to another results in a shift from one of said character projection zones to another spaced therefrom by adjusting the position of said character spacing means in response to said array change, and means for spacing said composed lines from one another on said surface.

5. The machine of claim 1 including a size-changing mechanism for varying the size or magnification ratio of the character images which are projected onto said image-receiving surface, such that when a change from one array to another is made, said character spacing means compensates therefor by taking into account the distance by which the character projection zone in use after the array change is spaced from the zone in use before the change, and by taking into account the magnification ratio of said size-changing mechanism.

6. A photocomposing machine comprising: a character presentation area having a plurality of character arrays, said area including at least one character projection zone for each of said arrays, said character projection zones being spaced from one another within said character presentation area, means for moving the character arrays through their respective character projection zones, means for illuminating selected characters of an array within a respective projection zone, a surface for receiving character images, means for projecting the images of selected characters from said projection zone to said image-receiving surface in order to form a line of composition thereon, means for spacing said character images along a common base line of said surface in accordance with their respective widths, thereby forming a line of composition thereon, and means for spacing said composed lines from one another on said surface, said line spacing means having associated therewith a control circuit for controlling the movement of said spacing means, said control circuit further being adapted to compensate for the fact that a change from one array to another results in a shift from one of said character projection zones to another spaced therefrom by adjusting the position of said line spacing means in response to said array change.