CA2234299A1

CA2234299A1 - Stereo slide mount

Info

Publication number: CA2234299A1
Application number: CA002234299A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Minoru Inaba
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1998-04-01
Filing date: 1998-04-02
Publication date: 1999-10-02
Also published as: FR2777670A1; DE19815355C2; KR100249942B1; KR19990079051A; CN1233775A; DE19815355A1; FR2777670B1

Abstract

A stereo slide mount capable of reproducing correct three-dimensional effect, facilitating easily mounting operation and correct positioning operation. Plural kinds of stereo slide mounts 1 (#0 to #n) have windows of which the width W stepwisely decreases, have a pitch Pw that remains the same between the windows, and have a different pitch for mounting the right and left films. The base frame is provided with positioning pins 6 that engage with perforations of the films, and the cover frame is provided with pin holes 7 that fit to the positioning pins 6.
The positioning pins 6 and pin holes 7 are so arranged that the inner vertical sides of the windows come into agreement with the inner edges of the film screens irrespective of the width W of the windows. The stereo slide mounts having smaller widths of windows have larger gap widths (P0, P1,----) between the two right positioning pins 6 and the two left positioning pins 6 and, hence, have increased pitches between the right film and the left film, and increased masking amounts on the outer sides of the right and left films.

Description

STEREO SLIDE MOUNT
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a stereo slide mount and, particularly, to a stereo slide mount which provides a correct three-dimensional image by masking the outer sides of the right and left screens.
Description of the Prior Art A stereo slide photographed by using a stereo camera of a structure in which the distance between the optical axes of the right and left lenses is fixed, form non-overlapped portions where the photographed ranges come out of agreement on the outer sides of the right and left photographed screens due to a difference in the visual field between the right and left photographing lenses. In the non-overlapped portions, no three-dimensional image is formed as it is viewed by using a stereo slide viewer. When the stereo slide without masking the non-overlapped portions is viewed by two eyes, there will be seen vertical lines where the edges of the other windows are overlapped on the boundaries between the overlapped portions and the non-overlapped portions, deteriorating the interest of the three-dimensional image. To prevent this, therefore, it has been attempted~to form the width of the windows of the stereo slide mount to be narrower than the width of the screens of the slide film, in order to mask the non-overlapped portions.
The width of the non-overlapped portions to be masked increases with a decrease in the distance to the subject which most seriously affects the matching between the right and left images. Therefore, there have been provided plural kinds of stereo slide mounts having windows of which the width differs stepwisely. Out of these stereo slide mounts, the one having windows of a suitable masking amount is selected and a slide film is mounted thereon. However, it is not easy to judge by eyes the masking amount of each pair of slide films that are cut into individual frames, and it often happens that the stereo slide mount is incorrectly selected.
In order to obtain a desired three-dimensional effect in the stereo photography, furthermore, it has been known that the image of the subject which most seriously affects the matching between the right and left images, must be located at the same position in the right and left windows of the stereo slide mount. When the position of the subject is not the same between the right and left screens, a natural three-dimensional effect is offset. In the conventional stereo slide mounts, however, there is no criterion for positioning the films in the right and left direction; i.e., it is not easy to properly position the films.
In order to eliminate the defects of the conventional stereo slide system, therefore, the present applicant proposes a stereo slide mount and a stereo slide system based on a screen-masking amount'guide device/stereo slide viewer. The stereo slide system deals with a stereo slide that is photographed by using a stereo camera which is so constituted that a positional relationship remains the same between the perforations of the film and the photographed screen. The stereo slide mount is constituted by a base frame having pins in the peripheries of the right and left windows to position the film, and a cover frame in which the gap width remains the same between the right window and the left window but the width of the windows changes stepwisely.
The screen-masking amount guide device/stereo slide viewer observes the three-dimensional image while changing the masking amount in the regions outside the stereo slide screens to determine a suitable masking amount.
After the masking amount of the film is determined by the screen-masking amount guide device/stereo slide viewer, perforations of the film are engaged with the positioning pins of the base frame to accomplish the positioning, and a cover frame having windows of a width corresponding to the thus determined masking amount is selected and is joined to the base frame. Then, the films are positioned, the non-overlapped portions on the outer sides of the right and left films are masked, and a correct three-dimensional effect is obtained.
Thus, the stereo slide mount makes it possible to correctly and easily accomplish the positioning at the time of mounting. Here, the cover frames having plural kinds of window widths constituting the mount system, have the same gap width between the right window and the left window. Therefore, the pitch between the center of the right screen and the center of the left screen becomes narrower as the width of the window becomes small, and angle of congestion of both eyes varies depending upon the pitch between the screens.
A change in the pitch between the right and left screens is not much of a problem when the image is ordinarily viewed. When a variety of stereo slides having large differences in the pitch between the screens are viewed for extended periods of time being frequently exchanged, however, the eyeballs adapt to a change in the angle of congestion in a delayed manner causing the viewer to feel offensive to see or to feel fatigue.
Thus, there arises a technical problem that must be solved to provide a stereo slide mount which facilitates the mounting operation and the positioning operation, and which enables the image to be easily viewed causing little fatigue.
The object of the invention is to solve this problem.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a stereo slide mount for mounting a stereo slide photographed by using a stereo camera in which relative positions remain the same between the perforations of the perforated film and the pair of right and left photographed screens, the stereo slide mount being constituted by a base frame having two rectangular windows arranged in parallel and a cover frame, wherein positioning pins are provided on the film-placing surface of said base frame to position two pieces of slide films in engagement with perforations of the slide films that are to be secured, pin holes corresponding to said positioning pins are formed in the film-holding surface of said cover frame, and said positioning pins and said pin holes are fitted together to join the base frame and the cover frame together, and wherein a mount system is constituted by forming plural kinds of stereo slide mounts having windows of which the width gradually decreases relative to the width of the screens but of which the pitch remains constant between the right window and the left window, said positioning pins and said pin holes are so arranged on said plural kinds of stereo slide mounts that the inner vertical sides of the right and left windows are in agreement with the inner edges of the film screens, and the areas for shielding the outer sides of the right and left slide films are adjusted depending upon a difference in the width of the windows in said plural kinds of stereo slide mounts.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Figs. 1(a), 1(b), 1(c) and 1(d) are front views of stereo slide mounts according to the present invention;
Fig. 2 illustrates a stereo slide mount having windows of a maximum width, wherein Fig. 2(a) is a front view, Fig. 2(b) is a side view, Fig. 2(c) is a bottom view and Fig. 2(d) is a back view;
Fig. 3 illustrates a cover frame for the stereo slide mount of Fig. 2, wherein Fig. 3(a) is a front view, Fig. 3(b) is a side view, Fig. 3(c) is a bottom view and Fig. 3(d) is a back view;
Fig. 4 illustrates a base frame for the stereo slide mount of Fig. 2, wherein Fig. 4(a) is a front view, Fig. 4(b) is a side view, Fig. 4(c) is a bottom view and Fig. 4(d) is a back view;
Fig. 5 is a diagram illustrating a positioning means based on a leaf spring in a slide holder and a vertical groove in the stereo slide mount;
Fig. 6 is a diagram illustrating a positioning means based on a protruded portion in the slide holder and a notch in the stereo slide mount according to another embodiment;
Fig. 7 is a diagram illustrating a state where the stereo slide mount is defectively loaded according to a prior art;
Fig. 8 illustrates a further embodiment, wherein Fig.
8(a) is a front view of the base frame, Fig. 8(b) is a side view of the base frame, Fig. 8(c) is a front view of the cover frame, and Fig. 8(d) is a side view of the cover frame; and Fig. 9 illustrates a still further embodiment, wherein Fig. 9(a) is a front view of the base frame and Fig. 9(b) is a side sectional view of the base frame.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 illustrates a stereo slide mount, wherein a mount system is constituted by plural kinds of stereo slide mounts 1 (#0 to #3) having the same outer shape but in which the width W of windows stepwisely decreases. In Figs. 1(a}, 1(b), 1(c) and 1(d), the width W of windows is increased or decreased for every step in an exaggerated manner. In practice, however, the difference in the width of windows should be set to be small for every step.
Besides, the number of steps from the one (#0) with windows of a maximum width having the smallest screen-masking amount to the one with windows of a minimum width, needs not be limited to the four steps that are shown.
All kinds of the stereo slide mounts 1 (#0 to #3) have basically the same structure in which the pitch Pw remains the same between the right window and the left window, but the width W of the windows and the pitch for mounting the right and left films vary stepwisely. Described below is the structure of the stereo slide mount 1 (#0) having windows of the maximum width.
Referring to Figs. 2 to 4, the stereo slide mount 1 (#0) is constituted by a cover frame 2 and a base frame 3 formed by the injection-molding of a resin, the cover frame 2 and the base frame 3 including a pair of right and left windows 4R, 4L
and 5R and 5L, respectively. The windows 4R, 4L in the cover frame 2 and the windows 5R, 5L in the base frame 3 have equal vertical and lateral sizes. It is desired that a pitch Pw between the right window and the left window is 63.5 mm which is a standard distance between two human eyes, or is slightly narrower than 63.5 mm, so that the image can be easily viewed by using the stereo slide viewer.
Referring to Fig. 4, cylindrical positioning pins 6 are studded at upper, lower, right and left four places surrounding the right and left windows 5R, 5L in the base frame 3 to come into engagement with perforations of the films. In the cover frame 2 shown in Fig. 3 are formed pin holes 7 at positions symmetrical to the positioning pins 6 of the base frame 3. A vertical groove 8 is formed at the center on the back surface of the base frame 3, so that the base frame 3 can be folded into two with the vertical groove 8 as a hinge.

The stereo slide mount 1 is formed based on a prerequisite to mount the slide films photographed by using a stereo camera which is so constituted that relative positions between the perforations of the films and the screens, remain the same between the right and the left. Referring to Fig. 4, the positioning pins 6 and the pin holes 7 are located at such positions that the inner vertical sides of the windows 5L, 5R
are in agreement with the inner edges of the screens of the slide films F when perforations at the right and left ends of the slide films F cut into individual frames are engaged with positioning pins 6 at four places of the base frame 3.
In all kinds of the stereo slide mounts 1 (#0 to #3) as shown in Figs. 1(a), 1(b), 1(c) and 1(d), the pitch Pw between the windows remains the same, the width of windows stepwisely changes (W0, W1, W2, W3), and the gap widths (P0, P1, P2, P3) between the two right positioning pins 6 and the two left positioning pins 6 have the following relationships, with the gap width PO of the stereo slide mount 1 (#0) as a reference:
(#o) Po (#1) P1 = PO + WO - W1 (#2 ) P2 = PO + WO - W2 (#3 ) P3 = PO + WO - W3 In all stereo slide mounts 1 (#0 to #3), therefore, relative positions remain the same among the inner vertical sides of the right and left windows 4, 5 and the positioning pins 6. That is, in any stereo slide mount, the inner edges of the screens of the slide films come into agreement with the inner vertical sides of the windows 4, 5. The stereo slide mounts having smaller widths of windows have larger gap widths (P0, P1, P2, P3) between the two right positioning pins and the two left positioning pins 6 and, hence, have increased pitches between the right film and the left film, and increased masking amounts on the outer sides of the right and left films.
At the time of mounting the stereo slide, the amount for masking the films is determined relying upon the masking-amount guide device mentioned earlier as a prior art or by any other masking-amount determining means, and a stereo slide mount 1 having windows of a width corresponding to the masking amount is selected. Then, films are mounted on the right and left windows 5R, 5L in the base frame 3, the cover frame 2 is placed on the base frame 3, and the pin holes 7 are fitted to the positioning pins 6 to join the cover frame 2 and the base frame 3 together.
The base frame 3 can be folded into two with the vertical groove 8 as a hinge. Therefore, either the left half or the right half is fitted, first, to easily accomplish the positioning between the positioning pins 6 and the pin holes 7 and, hence, to favorably carry out the mounting operation. On the other hand, the cover frame 2 has no folding groove in the surface; i.e., has a flat surface making it easy to write a title or a memo related to the shot on the cover frame 2. It is further allowable to form a recessed portion in a gap portion between the right window 4R and the left window 4L of the cover frame 2, so that a title can be written on the recessed portion or a title label can be stuck thereon.

In the conventional stereo slide viewer, the width of the inner portion of the slide holder is slightly wider than the width of the stereo slide mount so that the stereo slide mount can be easily loaded. Due to this dimensional difference, therefore, the right and left portions of the stereo slide mount are positioned, in many cases, losing stability. When a positioning spring 12 is provided in the slide holder portion 11 of the slide viewer and is brought into pressed contact with the vertical groove 8 of the stereo slide mount 1 as shown in Fig.

5, however, the front, rear, right and left portions of the stereo slide mount 1 can be correctly positioned.
Fig. 6 illustrates another positioning means in which a notch 9 is formed at the center in the bottom side of the stereo slide mount lA, and the slide holder portion 11 of the slide viewer is provided with a protruded portion lla that engages with the notch 9 thereby to position the stereo slide mount lA. Referring to Fig. 6, the upper end of the protruded portion lla is formed in a semicircular shape, and the stereo slide mount lA is inserted from the upper side of the slide holder portion 11, so that the notch 9 smoothly engages with the protruded portion lla. The height of the notch 9 is slightly greater than the height of the protruded portion lla, so that the bottom surface of the stereo slide mount lA will not float over the bottom surface of the slide holder portion 11. Another effect of the notch is that the upper side or the lower side of the stereo slide mount lA can be easily discriminated.
In inserting the stereo slide mount in the slide holder portion of the stereo slide viewer, when the stereo slide mount is pushed down in a tilted manner, it often happens that the corners of the stereo slide mount M come in contact with both the right and left wall surfaces of the slide holder portion H and whereby the stereo slide mount M is caught on its way due to the frictional resistance. Upon providing a positioning means based on the notch 9 and the protruded portion lla, therefore, the stereo slide mount is prevented from being deviated in the right-and-left direction and is easily inserted despite the width of the inner portion of the slide holder portion 11 is considerably wider than the width of the stereo slide mount lA as shown in Fig. 6.
When the perforations of the film are of a circular shape or of an oval shape elongated in the right-and-left direction, the diameter of the cylindrical positioning pins 6 is suitably selected in order to maintain a correct position of the film in the right-and-left direction and in the up-and-down direction relying upon the positioning pins 6 only. In the case of a film having perforations that are elongated in the up-and-down direction like a 135-film, however, the positioning may become loose in the up-and-down direction depending upon the diameter or the shape of the positioning pins 6.
Figs. 8 and 9 illustrate embodiments for solving the above-mentioned problems. Referring to Figs. 8(a) and 8(b), the base frame 3 is provided with positioning pins 13 for limiting the position of the film in the up-and-down direction in addition to the positioning pins 6 for limiting the position of the film in the right-and-left direction. Referring to Figs.
8(c) and 8(d), the cover frame 2 is provided with pin holes 7, 14 that fit to the positioning pins 6, 13.
Referring to Fig. 9, the base frame 3 has recessed portions 15 formed in the intermediate portions in the up-and-down direction, the recessed portions 15 having a width equal to the width of the films in the up-and-down direction. Upon placing the films on the recessed portions 15, the positions of the films can be limited in the up-and-down direction like that of Fig. 8.
According to the stereo slide mount of the present invention as described above, the parallax of the subject is accurately corrected by mounting the films while selecting a stereo slide mount having a width of screens determined by using a screen-masking amount guide device or the like device. The pitch between the right screen and the left screen remains the same despite the windows of screens have different widths.
Therefore, despite various stereo slide mounts having different screen-masking amounts are frequently exchanged and are viewed, the angle of congestion for the right and left eyes remains the same, causing less fatigue to the eyes.
Here, it should be noted that the present invention is in no way limited to the above-mentioned embodiments only but can be variously modified within a technical range of the invention, the invention encompassing such modifications, as a matter of course.

Claims

1. A stereo slide mount for mounting a stereo slide photographed by using a stereo camera in which relative positions remain the same between the perforations of the perforated film and the pair of right and left photographed screens, the stereo slide mount being constituted by a base frame having two rectangular windows arranged in parallel and a cover frame, wherein positioning pins are provided on the film-placing surface of said base frame to position two pieces of slide films in engagement with perforations of the slide films that are to be secured, pin holes corresponding to said positioning pins are formed in the film-holding surface of said cover frame, and said positioning pins and said pin holes are fitted together to join the base frame and the cover frame together, and wherein a mount system is constituted by forming plural kinds of stereo slide mounts having windows of which the width gradually decreases relative to the width of the screens but of which the pitch remains constant between the right window and the left window, said positioning pins and said pin holes are so arranged on said plural kinds of stereo slide mounts that the inner vertical sides of the right and left windows are in agreement with the inner edges of the film screens, and the areas for shielding the outer sides of the right and left slide films are adjusted depending upon a difference in the width of the windows in said plural kinds of stereo slide mounts.

2. A stereo slide mount according to claim 1, wherein a hinge portion is formed at a central portion of said base frame in the right-and-left direction so that said base frame can be folded.