US3777997A

US3777997A - Apparatus for applying filmed images to punched cards and components for such apparatus

Info

Publication number: US3777997A
Application number: US00191325A
Authority: US
Inventors: F Spiroch; H Ostwald
Original assignee: Eichner Organisation GmbH and Co KG
Current assignee: Fellowes Inc
Priority date: 1970-10-29
Filing date: 1971-10-21
Publication date: 1973-12-11
Anticipated expiration: 1990-12-11
Also published as: DE2053035A1

Abstract

A cassette for holding a spool or strip of film for use with apparatus for applying images on the film separately to punched cards. The cassette has a spool holder and its own film guide consisting of a slot located between the front wall of the cassette and a guide part. Film from a spool is fed into the slot via an opening in the front wall.

Description

nited States Patent Spiroch et a1.

[ Dec. 11, 1973 APPARATUS FOR APPLYING FILMED IMAGES TO PUNCIIED CARDS AND COMPONENTS FOR SUCH APPARATUS Inventors: Franz Spiroch, Coburg; Heinz G.

()stwald, Frankfurt, both of Germany Eichner Organisation KG, Coburg, Germany Filed: Oct. 21, 1971 Appl. No.: 191,325

Assignee:

Foreign Application Priority Data Oct. 29, 1970 Germany P 20 53 035.2

US. Cl 242/55.53, 226/92, 226/127, 242/71.1

Int. Cl B6511 19/02 Field of Search 242/197, 71.1, 55.53, 242/195; 226/127, 92

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Wanders 242/55.53

2,930,610 3/1960 Swartz 226/127 X 3,341,146 9/1967 Fairbanks et a1. 242/71.1 3,408,019 10/1968 Wells 242/71.1 3,604,657 9/1971 lgarashi 242/197 655,196 8/1900 Church et a1 242/55.2 3,119,574 1/1964 Laa 242/195 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 355,963 8/1921 Germany 242/7l.1

Primary Examiner-George F. Mautz Assistant Examiner.lohn M. Jillions Attorney-H. Dale Palmatier [57] ABSTRACT A cassette for holding a spool or strip of film for use with apparatus for applying images on the film separately to punched cards. The cassette has a spool holder and its own film guide consisting of a slot located between the front wall of the cassette and a guide part. Film from a spool is fed into the slot via an opening in the front wall.

1 Claim, 4 Drawing Figures PATENTED DEC 1 1 I975 SHEET 2 OF 2 1N \"ENTORS APPARATUS FOR-APPLYING FILMED IMAGES TO PUNCHED CARDS AND COMPONENTS FOR SUCH APPARATUS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION nization systems. In the preparation of written inform ation the practice df'i recording the documents as pictures on films and of gumming the film on a punched card is increasing in order to reduce'the amount of space required for storing documents or the like.

The punched card itself carries all the details for ex ample source, publication date and the like relating to the information. Manually or automatically operated apparatus. for applying filmed images to punched cards is known. In the case of the manually operated apparatus, each individual filmed image is separated from a roll or strip by means of. a cutting-off mechanism and iscaused to adhere by pressure at a prepared position on the. punched card which is introduced into the apparatus and removed therefrom manually.

Automatically operated apparatus carry out .the above-mentioned steps in an automatic sequence, so that the rate of operation can be greatly increased.

In the case of both types of apparatus, it is difficult and time consuming to'fit the leading end of the film into theguide forthe film, and this operation requires considerable dexterity.

An object of the. invention is to'provide a holder for the roll or strip of film which facilitates the guiding of the end of the roll-.or strip into the apparatus for applying to punched cards images which have been separated from the roll or strip of film.

Another object is to provide a holder which can readily be changed from one roll or strip to another when desired. This last mentioned requirement can arise for example when a stack-of punched cards to which film is to be attached is prepared but the associated filmed images are located on different spools. It is then required to keep the punched cards in order so that a spool of film that has only just been started might have to be removed from the apparatus and a new one introduced into it if'the filmed image associated with the next'punched card is contained in another spool of film.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the invention, there is provided a cassette which is separate from the apparatus and which accommodatesthe spool or strip of film and may be fitted into the apparatus, and by equipping this cassette with its own film guide means for guiding orthreading the film, which means is positioned in alignment with the film guide in the apparatus after the cassette has been inserted into the apparatus.

When the cassette is removed, the leading end of the film can be very easily and conveniently introduced intothe film vguid'ein the cassette where the leading end may be clamped. Thereafter the cassette is introduced into the apparatus and'the film is advanced to an extent such that itpasses into another film guide in the apparatus and into the feed device provided. The arrangement may be suchthat the distance between that side of the cassette from which the film emerges and a plunger mechanism for gumming the film images on a punched card is very short so that when the spool of film is changed, only a short length of film has to be pushed back, and this can be readily accomplished by forming a loop within the cassette. Back winding of the film is thus unnecessary, and the cassette can be readily and quickly exchanged for another one.

In a preferred form of the apparatus of the invention the film guide in the cassette takes the formof a slot which extends parallel with the front wall of the eassette. This arrangement is advantageous since the film must in any case be guided near the front wall of the apparatus so that the individual film images can be seen to be in alignment with the cut-away portion of the punched card. This arrangement however offers the further advantage that the slot is accessible over part of its length through an opening in the front wall of the cassette. After the cassette has been inserted in the apparatus, the leading end of the film can thus be held by the finger or a roller from the outside and advanced over the short distance necessary for enabling the leading end to be engaged by the feed device inside the apparatus. Here, it is desirable that the leading end of the film should not be released from the slot again during insertion of the cassette into the apparatus but because the wound film in the cassette applies a certain tensile force to the leading end of the film introduced into the slot, rather in the manner of a helical spring, there may be provided a plug of foamed plastics material in one of the side faces defining the slot, which plug bears against the inserted film while undergoing resilient deformation. In this way, the leading end of the film is lightly gripped which nevertheless suffices to prevent the leading end of the film from withdrawing from the slot again. The pressure is however small enough both to prevent movement of the film and to avoid its being damaged by the pressure of the plug. dr

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a semi-schematic illustration of a section transverse of the axis of the film spool on line 1-1 of FIG. 3 and through that portion of the apparatus of the invention for accommodating the cassette;

FIG. 2 shows a view of the cassette along in the direction of the arrow 2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a partial section on line 33 of FIG. 1 showing how a film-advancing device is fitted in the cassette; and

FIG. 4 is a partial view of the film-advancing device in the direction of the arrow 4 of FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The only parts of the actual film attachment means shown in FIG. 1 are the frame portions 10 which serve for guiding the cassette 12 when it is inserted in the apparatus and feed means for feeding the film into the apparatus. The remainder of the apparatus is well known and will not be described or illustrated. The cassette 12 has a peg 14 for accommodating a film spool 16, this peg being secured to the base plate 18 of the cassette in a manner not illustrated in the drawing. The cassette also comprises

sidewalls

20 and 22 by means of which the cassette is guided and held in the apparatus. The

sidewalls

20 and 22 or at least a part thereof bear for example against the frame portions 10 of the apparatus.

In the construction illustrated the cassette also has a rear wall 24 which, however, is not essential.

As shown, the film 26 is inserted into the apparatus by being wound off the spool 16, or it can be introduced into the apparatus as a strip 28 which carries a number of images. The cassette has a film guide which extends over the entire width of the front wall 32 of the cassette 12. The guide takes the form of a slot 30 which is created by a milled-out portion 34 in a guide part or plate 36, the slot being covered by the front wall 32.

The guide part 36 has a cut-away portion or opening 38 in the zone of the optimum wind-off angle for the roll of film, and the film 26 is introduced into the film guide 30 through this cut-away portion.

The cut-away portion or opening 40 in the front wall 32 enables the film, after the cassette has been introduced into the apparatus through the front wall, to be advanced using the thumb for example, so that the leading end of the film moves into the zone in which it can be engaged by the feed means 42, 44. This feed means does not constitute part of the subject matter of the present invention and is therefore not illustrated in detail. Through the cut-away portion 40 in the front wall 32, it is possible to observe whether a film is located in the cassette.

In order to prevent damage to the sensitive microfilm due to rubbing during insertion of the film into the feed means or during its withdrawal therefrom, the cassette is provided with a film-advancing means which provides this feed. The film-advancing means consists of a member 46 which is guided in a slot 50 with the aid of two pins 48 and is fitted in the front wall 32 of the cassette 12 near the opening 40. Secured to the bottom of the member 46 is a rubber strip 52 which bears lightly against the film 26. By moving the member 46, the film is advanced in the direction of feed until it reaches the film-feed device. When a cassette in which film is still contained is removed, this procedure takes place in the reverse sequence. When changing cassettes in which some film still remains, the film is prevented from falling out of the cassette by the light pressure exerted by the rubber strip 52 on the film 26 and the guide part 36.

What is claimed is:

1. A cassette for holding film comprising in combination,

means supporting said film and including a base plate having a post thereon and a film spool rotatably mounted on the post, the base plate having a front edge and the film extending off the spool and along said edge at an oblique obtuse angle therewith,

film guiding and threading means for guiding said film for movement from said cassette and including an upright slotted wall extending along and affixed to the front edge of the base plate and having an inner face to confront a portion of the film extending from the spool, the slotted wall including a film dispensing slot extending end-wise through the wall and intermediate the thickness of the wall to entirely encompass the film, the discharge end of the slot opening through the end edge of the wall at one side of the base plate, the slotted wall having an enlarged film entrance opening through the inner face thereof and extending significantly along the wall to facilitate ready and easy feeding of the end of the film therein, said entrance opening communicating with the dispensing slot for guiding the film thereinto, and the slotted wall also having an outer face with a window opening therein and communicating with the slot to facilitate manual manipulation of the film in the slot whereby to move the end of the film outwardly from the discharge end of the slot and to withdraw the film inwardly of the discharge end of the slot, the window opening also communicating with the film entrance opening and the window opening also having a width significantly less than the width of the slot and entrance opening to thereby define a film supporting ledge co-extensive with the slot and at opposite sides of the entrance opening to carry and guide the respective side edges of the film into the slot, and

film advancing means fitted to said front wall for the purpose of advancing film in the cassette towards the discharge end of the dispensing slot, said filmadvancing means including a resiliently yieldable and soft strip in said window opening and with one side protruding slightly into the dispensing slot to engage the film and restrain relative movement between the strip and film, and a mounting plate secured to the slotted wall and mounting the yieldable strip thereon, said plate having elongate mounting slots therein extending longitudinally of the dispensing slot, and retainer pins on the slotted wall and extending through the mounting slots of the plate for retaining and guiding the plate along the slotted wall.

Claims

1. A cassette for holding film comprising in combination, means supporting said film and including a base plate having a post thereon and a film spool rotatably mounted on the post, the base plate having a front edge and the film extending off the spool and along said edge at an oblique obtuse angle therewith, film guiding and threading means for guiding said film for movement from said cassette and including an upright slotted wall extending along and affixed to the front edge of the base plate and having an inner face to confront a portion of the film extending from the spool, the slotted wall including a film dispensing slot extending end-wise through the wall and intermediate the thickness of the wall to entirely encompass the film, the discharge end of the slot opening through the end edge of the wall at one side of the base plate, the slotted wall having an enlarged film entrance opening through the inner face thereof and extending significantly along the wall to facilitate ready and easy feeding of the end of the film therein, said entrance opening communicating with the dispensing slot for guiding the film thereinto, and the slotted wall also having an outer face with a window opening therein and communicating with the slot to facilitate manual manipulation of the film in the slot whereby to move the end of the film outwardly from the discharge end of the slot and to withdraw the film inwardly of the discharge end of the slot, the window opening also communicating with the film entrance opening and the window opening also having a width significantly less than the width of the slot and entrance opening to thereby define a film supporting ledge co-extensive with the slot and at opposite sides of the entrance opening to carry and guide the respective side edges of the film into the slot, and film advancing means fitted to said front wall for the purpose of advancing film in the cassette towards the discharge end of the dispensing slot, said film-advancing means includIng a resiliently yieldable and soft strip in said window opening and with one side protruding slightly into the dispensing slot to engage the film and restrain relative movement between the strip and film, and a mounting plate secured to the slotted wall and mounting the yieldable strip thereon, said plate having elongate mounting slots therein extending longitudinally of the dispensing slot, and retainer pins on the slotted wall and extending through the mounting slots of the plate for retaining and guiding the plate along the slotted wall.