Cassette for Photographic Strip Material

The invention concerns a cassette for a roll of photographic strip materials.

Cassettes of this type are known in numerous configurations. They are used primarily in photographic laboratories in combination with more or less automated copying devices, to which they may be attached on the inlet side to supply them with unexposed photographic paper. Certain cassettes are designed so that they may be attached to the copying device on the outlet side also and are thus capable of accepting exposed copy materials from the copying device.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a novel cassette having particular simplicity of design, great ease of operation and very high functional reliability.

To satisfy the above mentioned object there is provided a cassette comprising a housing having two opposing frontal plates and a jacket connecting them with each other in a light-tight manner, each of the frontal plates being equipped with an inwardly protruding, essentially cylindrical lug arranged coaxially with respect to each other and together forming a bearing arbor to receive and rotatably support a roll of photographic strip materials, at least one of the frontal plates being removable from the remaining parts of the housing to open the cassette and, further including a closure element operatively connected to said lugs, said two frontal plates being releasably connected to each other by means of said closure element.

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view partially sectioned along section line I--I in FIG. 2 of a cassette according to the invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along section II--II in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3a to 3c are detailed views of the cam element taken along section III--III in FIG. 2 in three different pivoting settings of the cam element .

As seen clearly in FIGS. 1 and 2, the housing G of the cassette shown is constructed in an extremely simple manner. It consists essentially of only three parts, i.e. two practically identical frontal plates 1 and 2 and a circumferential jacket 3 held in the circumferential grooves 1a and 2a of the frontal plates 1 and 2.

Each of the two frontal plates has a projection in the form of a hollow, cylindrical lug 4 and 5. The lugs are coaxial and together form the bearing arbor for the roll W of the photographic strip material to be held in the cassette.

Guide plates 6 and 7 are mounted on the inside of the frontal plates 1 and 2, spaced apart and parallel to each other for guidance on the front side of the roll W. The guide plate 6 is mounted by means of fixed spacer bolts 6a stationarily in relation to the frontal plate 2. The guide plate 7, on the other hand, is displaceable in the direction of the axis A of the lugs and the bearing arbor, while springs 8 fastened to the associated frontal plate 1 are provided to urge the guide plate 7 under a predetermined constant pressure laterally against the roll W, thereby accurately guiding and braking it to the extent required.

A single closure element is provided in the form of a threaded bolt 10 to hold the cassette housing G together; it extends coaxially to the cylindrical lugs 4 and 5. The bolt 10 is supported rotatably in a bearing bushing 11 molded onto the lug 4 and engages with its threaded end 10a, a threaded bore hole 12 in the lug 5. A counter nut 13 and a retaining ring 14 limit the axial mobility of the threaded bolt in the bearing bushing 11. The threaded bolt 10 protrudes on the side of the frontal plate 1 from the housing G and carries at its end 10b a plate-like rotating element 15. This rotating element or manual handle is equipped with a cam element 16 the function thereof is described hereinbelow, and is fastened at the extreme end 10b of the threaded bolt 10 pivotally and hingedly to a pivoting axle 17 perpendicular to said bolt 10. In one of its extreme positions (FIG. 2) the manual handle 15 is parallel to the threaded bolt 10 and may be actuated to rotate the latter (working position). In the other extreme position (FIG. 1) it is pivoted by 90 to rest parallel to the frontal plate 1 and is recessed in a trough-like recess 18 of the frontal plate 1, thereby becoming essentially flush with the surface of the frontal plate surrounding the recess. This extreme position is the rest position assumed upon the insertion of the cassette.

A coupling plate 20 is provided in the trough-shaped recess 18, which by means of the spacing bolts 21 projecting through recesses in the frontal plate 1 is connected under pressure with the guide plate 7 inside the housing. The spacing bolts 21 are fastened only to the guide plate 7 and not to the coupling plate 20. In the closed state of the cassette the coupling plate 20 is abutting, as shown in FIG. 2, elastically against the cam element 16 on the manual handle 15, which has an approximately square cross-section, under the effect of a compression spring surrounding the threaded bolt 10, while the spacing bolts 21 are not in contact with the coupling plate 20. It may be seen from the configuration of the cam element 16 that the coupling plate 20 in the two extreme positions of the manual handle (FIG. 3a and 3c) is located as far outside and the guide plate 7 as close to the associated frontal plate 1 as possible. However, during the up or down pivoting of the manual handle 15 the coupling plate 20 is being moved temporarily inward, together with the guide plate 7 by means of the spacing bolts 21, against the effect of the compression spring 22 (FIG. 3b). This inward motion applies an aligning effect to the roll, i.e. occasional protruding layers of the roll are cleanly aligned and made flush. It is of advantage here that the alignment of the roll takes place automatically upon the closing of the cassette housing without the need for any particular manual action.

In order to insert a roll W the threaded bolt 10 is released until it is out of contact with the threaded bore hole 12 in the lug 5 and then the frontal plate 1 is removed. Following the insertion, the frontal plate 1 is remounted and the threaded bolt 10 tightened with the manual handle 15, until the housing is tightly closed. After the handle 15 has been switched to its rest position, the roll W is automatically aligned in the manner mentioned above.

The jacket 3 of the cassette housing has on one side of its upper part a laterally protruding connecting sleeve 30 to be inserted into a corresponding connecting orifice in an automatic copying device, thereby attaching the cassette in a light-tight manner. The strip material in the cassette is conducted to the copying device through the sleeve 30. The sleeve 30 contains a light-tight closure 31 which automatically opens when coupled with the copying device. The sleeve 30 further contains coding means in the form of, for example, four small permanent magnets 32 which may be evaluated by reading means, preferably Hall sensors with associated electronic elements, and which contain information concerning the width of the strip material being used. The use of small permanent magnets is a particularly simple and convenient coding method, which primarily makes it possible to alter the coded information in a very simple and convenient manner. The magnets are arranged loosely in corresponding bore holes and to change the information, the desired number of permanent magnets is simply inserted in said bore holes in the arrangement and direction of polarization desired, with the code representing the information being formed by the presence and polarization direction of the permanent magnets. Thus, for example with four permanent magnets 81 different information may be coded.

In FIG. 1 the coupling of the cassette to a copying device is illustrated. Of the copying device, only a side wall 41 with an insertion orifice 42 for the connecting sleeve 30 and a pair of transport rollers 43 and 44 for the strip materials and an input slope 45 to actuate the light-tight closure in the sleeve 30 of the cassette indicated by 31, are shown. The permanent magnets are symbolized by the position 32.

The above-described cassette according to the invention is extremely simple in design, highly reliable in operation and may be manipulated in a very simple manner.

The principles, preferred embodiments and modes of operation of the present invention have been described in the foregoing specification. the invention which is intended to be protected herein, however, is not to be construed as limited to the particular forms disclosed, since these are to be regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive. Variations and changes may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention.