US3777634A - Photographic composing device - Google Patents

Abstract

A photographic device for aligning, spacing and printing a series of symbols upon a photosensitive member. The symbols are arranged on a grid-type transparency frame which is mounted on a rectangular coordinate system of sliding guides so that any one of a large number of symbols can be selected and moved to a printing position. An optical system focuses the light from the symbol onto a photosensitive member and the member is then developed and fixed to produce the desired indicia.

Description

I Unlted States Patent [1 1 [111 3,777,634 Friedel [4 1 Dec. 11, 1973 [54] PHOTOGRAPHIC COMPOSING DEVICE 2,896,523 7/1959 Tansel 95/4.5 [75] Inventor: Murray Fried, North Miami Fla 2,502,609 4/1950 Suppmy 350 254 [73] Assignee: Visual Graphics Corporation, New p i E h Hora York, NY. Attorney-Albert F. Kronman [22] Filed: Sept. 18, 1972 21 Appl. No; 290,126 [57] ABSTRACT 4 A photographic device for aligning, spacing and print- [52] US. Cl. 95/4.5 ing a series of Symbols upon a photosensitive member The symbols are arranged on a grid-type transparency [51] Int. Cl B4lb 17/06 58 Field of Search 95/4.5- 340/324 frame winch}? mowed a rectangular 340/378 system of sliding gu1des so that any one of a large number of symbols can be selected and moved to a [56] References Cited printing position. An optical system focuses the light from the symbol onto a photosensitive member and UNITED STATES PATENTS the member is then developed and fixed to produce 3,330,191 7/1967 King 95/45 the desired indicia 2,388,961 11/1945 Elliott 95/4.5 2,791,162 5/1957 Snyder 95/4.5 4 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures PATENTEI] DEB I 1 I975 SFEHIUI;

1 PHOTOGRAPI-IIC COMPOSING DEVICE BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates generally to an improved transport for a plurality of symbols in a photographic composing device which permits the imprinting of symbols upon a sensitized paper to produce a complete message.

It is well-known to project a series of letters or figures from a transparency strip to form a latent message on a photosensitized strip which may then be developed and fixed in the usual manner. One such device has been described and claimed in US. Pat. No. 3,080,802, issued Mar. 12, 1963 to Murray Friedel. This device uses a flexible transparency strip for moving the symbols through an object plane, the printing positions of the symbols being adjusted by manual means. Another photographic composing device is described and claimed in US. Pat. No. 3,115,815 issued Dec. 31, 1963, also to Murray Friedel. This'device increases the speed of operating and also permits the operator to adjust the optical projection system to change the size of the photographed symbols. An additional structure permits the operator to view the sensitized strip during the exposure and developing operations. However, both the above mentioned patents describe devices which use an elongated transparency film to carry the symbol images and, because of this, the operation takes considerable time to reel the film from one spool to the other in selecting a desired symbol.

When the symbol font is on a long film there is also considerable wear and scratching due to constant winding and unwinding, and rubbing the emulsion over the exposure window. Some films cannot be stored flat,but must be kept in a rolled condition, thereby maintaining a curl which must be corrected at the exposure window. The present invention corrects these difficulties by the use of a flat, rigid, sheet of symbols which increases the speed of selection and registration, and provides an improved and simplified means of handling and storing the film fonts.

One of the features of the invention is a flat oblong transparency font containing all the symbols in a single rigidmounting.

Another feature of the invention is its adjustable mounting for moving the transparency to a desired printing position. Linear slides on supporting rods give the font rectangular coordinate motion and make symbol selection fast and without abrasion of the transparency surface.

Still another feature of the invention is the addition of an automatic selection means whereby a depression of a key operates an electric motor to move the transparency to bring a desired symbol into the printing position.

Other features and additional details of the invention will be disclosed in the following description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a portion of the selection device, showing the transparency font on its movable carriage, the photosensitive'strip, and the reference font.

FIG. 2 is an end view of the portions of the device shown in FIG. 1 with the addition of parts of the optical system.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of an alternate form of the invention using electric motors, solenoids, and a keyboard to operate the symbol selection means.

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view of a rack and pinion used in the automatic registry system shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a top view of one of the solenoids used with the automatic system. A stop is shown in contact with the solenoid core.

FIG. 6 is a side view of the solenoid shown in FIG. 5 with the solenoid core stop in its actuated position.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a series oflens mounts, some of them anamorphic, which may be moved into the optical system to change the size of the symbols and also to change their shape. This view also shows a transparent Benday strip which may be used in the optical system to give a desired shading effect.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of connections of a reversing switch which may be used with the device shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 9 is schematic diagram of connections of a completely automatic system of symbol selection using two servomotors and two voltage dividers to determine the font position.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, a transparency font 10 of symbols which may include letters, figures, and punctuation marks, is mounted in a carriage 11. The carriage 11 includes four rigid side pieces 11a, 11b, 11c, 11d, which retain the transparency in a flat condition. Suitable resilient clips (not shown) can be used to hold the transparency font while in use, but permit its easy replacement with another font when the type faces are to be changed. Each transparency includes all the symbols which may be used for a message, each symbol occupying a square or oblong area, and all the symbols arranged in rows and columns.

At each corner of the frame carriage a slide bearing 12 is secured, each bearing including a hole for slidably receiving a rod l3, l4. Rods 13, 14 are mounted parallel to each other and permit the. font carriage 11 to move to the right or left when an operator is bringing a desired symbol into printing position. The ends of rods l3, 14 are secured to four similar slide bearings 135, 16, each formed with a hole for slidably receiving two other rods l7, l8. Rods 17 and 18 are secured to the framework (not shown) of the device and are arranged parallel to each other and normal to rods 13, 14, so that the font carriage l1 and rods l3, 14, can be moved toward andaway from the front of the device. The carriage 11 and its supporting rods are mounted in a suitable light tight housing. 7

The rear frame member 11a is secured to a flat upstanding guide 20 of a generally tapered shape and supports a horizontal control arm 21 at its lower end. An oblong or square aperture 22 is provided near the end of the control arm 21 for registry with a selected symbol 23 printed on a registry sheet 24. The registry sheet 24 is mounted on the machine bed and is held stationary by suitable means. A collection of symbols, corresponding to those in the font 10, is printed on sheet 24 so that, when a desired symbol is observed through aperture 22, the same symbol in the font 10 is in register with the optical system and its image 25 appears on a photosensitive member 26.

The elements of the optical system are shown in FIG. 2 in schematic array. The system includes a source of light 27, a retractable red filter 28, a condensing lens system 30, the font transparency 10, a focusing lens 31, and the photosensitized member 26, mounted in the image plane of lens 31. A similar optical system is shown in both of the above listed'patents.

The'operation of this embodiment of the invention is as follows: With the red filter 28 in the position shown in FIG. 2, a portion of the photosensitive member 26 is moved into the image plane of lens 31. Then the operator moves the font along rods 13, 14, 17, and 18 until the symbol to be printed appears in the aperture 22. Then the exposure is made by retracting filter 28. The member 26 is now moved to the next printing position and the operation repeated. It is obvious that the operator can find the desired symbol easily since the entire-arrangement of symbols is printed on sheet 24.

Referring now to FIGS. 3 through 6, a second embodiment is shown, but using the same transparency font 10 as before. The bearings and rod guides are also the same as described above, but in this case the font carriage 11 is moved by two motors 33 and 34. Motor 33 moves the carriage 11 in a direction indicated by double arrow 35 and is coupled to the carriage 11 by a-pinion 36 and a gear rack 37 secured to the carriage. The motor 33 is mounted on a slidable bridge 38 on flat guide bar 40. FIG. 4 shows the details of the rack 37 and pinion 36, the rack 37 including two flanges or shroud plates 41. The flanges 41 and the guide bar are necessary to permit movement of the carriage 11 along rods 13, 14 in the direction of the double arrow 42.

means of gear rack 42, pinion 43, and coupling bar 44. Rack 42 is provided with flanges as shown in FIG. 4 and the motor 34 is secured to a bridge 45 sliding on flat guide bar 46. The motors receive their energy from a keyboard 47 which is provided with a key 48 for each symbol on the font 10.

In order to position the font carriage 11 accurately, a series of solenoids 50 is used to stop the carriage in its transverse travel and a similar series of solenoids 51 is used to stop the carriage longitudinally. Each solenoid 50, 51 includes a ferro-magnetic core 52 inside an electromagnetic winding 53. The top portion of the core 52 is slotted (see FIGS. 5 and 6) and a rockable stop 54 is mounted therein. The stop 54 is normally held errect in a neutral unactuated position by a small spring 55 and when a limit arm 56, secured to a clamp 57 and one of the rods 13, 14, 15, 16, is moved against one of its edges, the stop 54 moves to one side, permitting the limit arm to be positioned directly over the center of the solenoid axis. If the limit arm approaches from the right instead of the left, the stop 54 is moved in the other direction, but the limit arm comes to rest in the same position. In the event that the limit arm is already at the desired position, the arm is clamped by a flat end portion 58 and held there until the key 48 is released. Each key 48 is connected to a solenoid 50 which determines the row of the font, and a solenoid 51 which determines the column. As the key 48 is depressed, the solenoids 50 and 51 are activated causing the cores 52 to be elevated. Then, when further depressed, both motors are started, moving the font until stopped by the limit arms 56 coming in contact with the stops 54. A pair of reversing switches 60 is mounted on The second motor 34 is coupled to the carriage 11 by one of the rods 17 to reverse the direction of motor 33 in case the motor starts in the wrong direction and moves away from the desired font position. A similar set of reversing switches 61 is mounted on rod 13 to reverse the direction of motor 34 for the same reason.

Light from the symbol in the font 10 may be altered on its way to the photosensitive member 26 by either a Benday transparency 62 or an auxiliary lens 63. The Benday transparency 62 may be used to create a shading effect or to set off some of the symbols by the use of cross hatching lines. The auxiliary lens 63 may in-' clude surfaces having a cylindrical shape, in which case the images projected on the photosensitive member 26 will be condensed, expanded, or given a pronounced slanting characteristic. FIG. 7 shows a Benday strip 62 on a flexible base suitable for mounting on two spools (not shown). In this figure a collection of auxiliary lenses 63 is shown, each lens mounted in a flat, square holder 64, and all the holders 64 linked together by hinges 65. When these auxiliary components are used they are operated as a belt and indexed into register with the optical axis of the projection system.

The servosystem shown in FIG. 9 is used when fully automatic symbol retrieval is desired. The font of symbols 10 is mounted in a carriage 11 as before and the sliding bearings 12 on rods 13, 14, operate as described above. Motors 33 and 34 are coupled to the font carriage 11 by gear racks 37 and 42. In this embodiment there are no solenoids and no reversing switches as shown in FIG. 3. Instead, the position of the carriage 11 is determined electrically by the aid of two voltage dividers 66 and 67. Each divider comprises a long resistance unit having its end terminals connected to a source of direct current potential which may be battery 68. In the circuit shown in FIG. 9, the battery is connected in series with a plurality of normally open contacts 70, one under each key in the keyboard 47. This connection is made to conserve current and reduce heating. The only time the battery 68 delivers current is when a key 48 is depressed.

A sliding contact 71 is secured to the carriage 11 and makes contact with divider 66. Contact 71 is moved along the resistance 66 when the carriage 11 is moved toward or away from the operator. A similar sliding contact 72 is also secured to the carriage 11 and makes contact with divider 67. Contact 72 is moved along resistance 67 when the carriage 11 is moved to the right or left of the central portion of the machine in a longitudinal direction. Motors 33 and 34 are respectively connected to direct current power amplifiers 73 and 74 and one input terminal of each amplifier is connected respectively to a sliding contact 71 and 72. The other input terminals of the amplifiers 73 and 74 are connected to normally open contacts 75 and 76 in the keyboard.

The keyboard 47 contains as many keys as there are symbols to be photographed. In FIG. 9 only two keys 48-14 and 48-d are shown for the sake of clarity. Each key closes three sets of normally open contacts, an upper one (such as 75 or 76) to close a circuit between an input terminal of DC emplifier 73 and a permanent point on a voltage divider 77. A middle contact 78 or 80 closes a circuit between an input terminal of DC. amplifier 74 and a permanent point on another voltage divider 81. The lower contacts under each key, as mentioned above, connect the positive terminal of battery 68 with one end of each of the four voltage dividers 66,

67, 77, and 81. Contacts 70 can be omitted and a single switch connected in series with conductor 82 from the positive terminal of the battery. In that case the battery will provide current for all four dividers during the total time the device is in use. As shown in FIG. 9, each voltage divider 77 and 81 is provided with nine permanent contact points. This will provide the voltage combinations necessary for positioning 81 symbols, the symbols for such a circuit being arranged in a rectangular frame having six rows and 14 columns of symbols.

The operation of this form of the invention is as follows: With all the keys 48 in their undepressed position, no current is applied to the four voltage dividers, but it is assumed that the amplifiers are operational and that steady field current is flowing in both motors 33 and 34. Now, let it be assumed that the operator wishes to print a lower case d on the photosensitive member 26. The d symbol is in the third row and second column, so the operator depresses the key 48-11 whose upper contact 75 is connected to point 83, the second point on voltage divider 77, and whose middle contact 78 is connected to the third point 84 on voltage divider 81. These connections to the two voltage dividers apply definite voltages to conductors 85 and 86 which are connected to input terminals of amplifiers 73 and 74. The other amplifier input terminals are connected by conductors 87 and 88 to the movable contacts 71 and 72 bearing on voltage dividers 66 and 67. If there is any difference in voltage applied to either of the amplifiers,

the voltage is amplified and sent to motor 33 which moves the font to the right or left, or motor 34 which moves the font carriage in a transverse direction. The motor action continues until the contacts 71 and 72 have the same voltages as points 83 and 84. At this condition the inputs to the amplifiers are zero and the action stops.

The font carriage 11 is now in position to print a d and the operator can now proceed to expose the photosensitive material 26 and develop the image as disclosed in theabove mentioned patents. The second letter u is automatically selected by depressing the second key 48-u. The action is the same as described above. In order to provide for. reversing the motors, it is obvious that a separate field winding for each of the motors is required. The power supply to the fields is not affected by the keyboard or by any other component shown in FIG. 9. The above operation is accurate in selecting symbols only if the key is held down until the carriage movement is complete. Also, only one key may be depressed at a time. A ball or banjo lock may be added to insure single key action.

Having thus fully described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1. A photographic composing device for projecting the image of indicia upon a photosensitive member comprising:

a. An indicia bearing transparency,

b. A carriage to support the transparency, said carriage comprising spaced pairs of rods normally disposed with respect to each other, bearing members slidably received upon the rods and a rigid transparency support member carried upon the bearing members c. Means including a first electric motor coupled to the transparency support for moving the transparency along one path of rectangular coordinates, a second electric motor coupled to the transparency to move it along the other path of rectangular coordinates, a plurality of limit stops to stop the transparency support at a desired location.

An optical projection system, including a light source directed through a selected portion of the transparency and a lens system to focus the light coming through the transparency upon the photosensitive member, and

e. Keyboard means connected to the said motors and limit stops to bring a selected portion of the trans parency into register with the optical axis of the projection system to direct an image of the indicia upon the photosensitive member.

2. A device according to claim 1 in which the limit stops are operated by electrical solenoids each of said solenoids being responsive to a key on the keyboard.

3. A device according to claim 1 in which the carriage transport includes a first voltage divider, a movable contact secured to the transparency support, movable therewith and connected to at least one motor, a second voltage divider having a plurality of conductors connected thereto in spaced array, and the keyboard comprises a plurality of manually operable keys for each of the items of indicia on the transparency, each of said keys adapted to close a normally open pair of contacts connected in series between one of the conductors connected to the second voltage divider and said motor and a source of direct current power connected across both voltage dividers.

4. A device according to claim 3 in which a direct current amplifier is coupled to the input terminals of the motor.

Claims (4)

1. A photographic composing device for projecting the image of indicia upon a photosensitive member comprising: a. An indicia bearing transparency, b. A carriage to support the transparency, said carriage comprising spaced pairs of rods normally disposed with respect to each other, bearing members slidably received upon the rods and a rigid transparency support member carried upon the bearing members c. Means including a first electric motor coupled to the transparency support for moving the transparency along one path of rectangular coordinates, a second electric motor coupled to the transparency to move it along the other path of rectangular coordinates, a plurality of limit stops to stop the transparency support at a desired location. d. An optical projection system, including a light source directed through a selected portion of the transparency and a lens system to focus the light coming through the transparency upon the photosensitive member, and e. Keyboard means connected to the said motors and limit stops to bring a selected portion of the transparency into register with the optical axis of the projection system to direct an image of the indicia upon the photosensitive member.

2. A device according to claim 1 in which the limit stops are operated by electrical solenoids each of said solenoids being responsive to a key on the keyboard.

3. A device according to claim 1 in which the carriage transport includes a first voltage divider, a movable contact secured to the transparency support, movable therewith and connected to at least one motor, a second voltage divider having a plurality of conductors connected thereto in spaced array, and the keyboard comprises a plurality of manually operable keys for each of the items of indicia on the transparency, each of said keys adapted to close a normally open pair of contacts connected in series between one of the conductors connected to the second voltage divider and said motor and a source of direct current power connected across both voltage dividers.

4. A device according to claim 3 in which a direct current amplifier is coupled to the input terminals of the motor.

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