US3771402A

US3771402A - Film notcher and cutter

Info

Publication number: US3771402A
Application number: US00219024A
Authority: US
Inventors: R Bernier
Original assignee: TRW Inc
Current assignee: Northrop Grumman Space and Mission Systems Corp
Priority date: 1972-01-19
Filing date: 1972-01-19
Publication date: 1973-11-13
Anticipated expiration: 1990-11-13

Abstract

A film notcher and cutter for a roll of film carrying pairs of stereo images in which fiducial marks of a triangular nature are provided one for each image, the base of the triangle being perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the image and at the center of the frame, the notcher and cutter providing a notcher punch arranged on a centerline slightly offset from the base line of the triangle, with a cutter bar being arranged to sever each frame from the strip at a predetermined distance from the notcher punch centerline, and the film surface of the device being provided with a pair of windows separated by a bar the width of the offset distance of the triangle base line and the notcher punch centerline.

Description

United States Patent 1191 Bernier Nov. 13, 1973 1 1 FILM NOTCHER AND CUTTER [75] Inventor: Robert V. Bernier, Saugus, Calif.

221 Filed: Jan. 19, 1972 211 Appl.No.: 219,024

Decker 83/520 X Primary Examiner-Andrew R. Juhasz Assistant Examiner-W. D. Bray Attorney-Milton E. Gilbert [57] ABSTRACT A film notcher and cutter for a roll of film carrying pairs of stereo images in which fiducial marks of a triangular nature are provided one for each image, the base of the triangle being perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the image and at the center of the frame, the notcher and cutter providing a notcher punch arranged on a centerline slightly offset from the base line of the triangle, with a cutter bar being arranged to sever each frame from the strip at a predetermined distance from the notcher punch centerline, and the film surface of the device being provided with a pair of windows separated by a bar the width of the offset distance of the triangle base line and the notcher punch centerline.

9 Claims, Drawing Figures PATENTED NOV 1 3 1975 SHEET 2 OF FILM NOTCHER AND CUTTER BACKGROUND OF INVENTION Stereo image frame pairs have generally been prepared in much the same way as individual mono images, to be held in a flat planar relationship in a viewer, although in side by side relationship. No notcher and cutter means are known which specially prepares a pair of stereo image frames for mounting and being held in a cylindrical plane by means of a specially formed mask.

DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the film notcher and cutter of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view, taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view, taken along line 33 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view, taken along line 44 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view, taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the film notcher and cutter, showing the preparation of the left frame of a stereo image pair;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the film notcher and cutter, showing the preparation of the right frame of a stereo image pair;

FIG. 8 is a view of a roll of exposed and developed film prior to insertion into the film notcher and cutter; and

FIG. 9 is a view of the left frame of a stereo image pair after having been prepared by the film notcher and cutter of the invention for mounting.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The film notcher and cutter is generally shown in FIG. 1, and comprises a box-like housing 1, preferably open at the bottom, and with relatively thick walls. The housing can be provided with a series of feet in the form of

rubber grommets

2, 3, 5 and 7. The front wall 4 of the housing 1 is provided with an elongated slot 6 through which a lever 8 projects. Mounted to the lever 8 is a knob, tab, or key element 10, which is appropriately fastened as by the screw 12. The slot 6 has an offset wider notched area 13 which serves as a means for retaining the lever 8 in the downward position.

The housing 1 is provided with an upper deck or plate 14, which can be appropriately fastened to the housing and serves as a surface upon which the film can be placed for the notching and cutting operations per formed by the device of the invention.

Mounted at the right side of the device is a cutting knife or lever 16 which is provided with a handle by means of a bent-over portion 18. The lower edge of the lever 16 is tapered or ground into the cutting edge 20 as shown in FIG. 3. The lever 16 is mounted to the plate 14 by means of the mounting screw 22 which is threaded thereinto. A spring 24 serves to urge the lever 16 against the side of the plate 14 constantly. The right side of the plate 14 is provided with a cutting plate 30, having a cutting edge 32 to cooperate with the cutting edge 20 of the lever 16. The cutting plate 30 is held in assembly to the plate 14 by means of fasteners 28.

Mounted at the left side of the plate 14 is a guide bracket 40, which is provided with a window opening 44 through which a film strip can be passed. The bracket is held to the plate by the fasteners 42 (see FIG. 4) and is formed with an upper guide portion 46 which prevents the roll of film from curling up over the work surface, since it has a tendency to roll up.

Formed into the upper rear surface of the plate 14 is a groove 48, as shown in FIG. 3, into which a shaft 50 is placed. The shaft 50 is held in place by a series of collars such as 52 and 56, which together with the block 54 serve to journal the shaft. As is described more fully hereinafter, the lever 8 serves to rotate the shaft 50 as thus assembled.

Joumalled upon the shaft 50, and located between the two

blocks

54 and 56 is a notcher blade 60. The blade 60 is held in position to the shaft by the set screw 62. The blade 60 is further formed with a notch cutting portion 64 as shown in FIG. 2. The notch cutting portion cooperates with a die plate 70, which in turn is fastened, as by the screws 72, 74 to the plate 14. The portion 76 of the die plate cooperates with the portion 64 as a punch and die set.

The die plate 70 is formed with two

window openings

78 and 80 to permit viewing and alignment of the film strip. A glass element such as the opal glass block 82 is held against the shoulder 84 in the plate 14 when the plate 70 is fastened thereto. To prevent cracking of the glass it may be tapered around the edges. The two window openings in the die plate are formed by the central bar 86 which is aligned centrally with the notcher blade 60.

Mounted on the

blocks

54 and 56 is a hold down plate 90, provided at its inner edge with a bent up tab or handle 92. The plate 90 is also bent up as at 94 and 96 along a line to form two

cars

98 and 100, so that the major portion of the plate 90 lies flat against the plate 14. Each ear is formed with inwardly projecting tangs, the tang 102 being formed on car 98, and the tang 104 being formed on the ear 100. The

blocks

54 and 56 are assembled so that the

pivot holes

106 and 108, respectively (see FIG. 3), receive the

tangs

102 and 104, respectively. In this manner the plate 90 can be freely rotated after assembly.

Protruding from the upper surface of plate 14 are a series of locating and guiding

pins

112, 114, 116 and 1 18. The plate 90 is formed with a hole 1 10 and a notch 120 to provide clearance for the

pins

112 and 114, respectively. These guide pins serve to locate the film strip as discussed hereinafter.

As indicated above, the bottom of the housing 1 is open and there is thus formed a chamber below the plate 14. Within this chamber 130 there is mounted the lever 8 which, as indicated previously, passes through the slot 6 in the front wall 4. The lever 8 is spring loaded to normally urge the lever 8 into the upper position as shown in FIG. 2. For this purpose a spring 132 is provided with a hooked end 134 to fit within the slots 136 or 137 or 139 (the latter being shown in FIG. 2 as receiving the hooked end 134). The other end of the spring 132 is anchored by the screw 138 to the underside of the plate 14. The spring is offset as shown more clearly in FIG. 4. The other end of the lever 8 is affixed to an arm 214 as by the

screws

210 and 212. The arm 214 in turn is mounted on the shaft 50 and clamped thereto as by the setscrew 216.

Preferably the entire inner surface of the housing 1 is painted white so as to reflect light and to prevent the radiation from traveling up to the film strip through the metal. Cooperating'with a source of light is a reflecting plate 140 which is mounted by a pair of screws 142 (only one being shown) and is juxtaposed to a light compartment 150 so that the light will be reflected up through the glass 82.

The back wall of the housing 1 has an opening 144 formed in it through which light can project. The light source is found in the compartment 150 and may be a simple low wattage bulb 160. The compartment is formed as shown most clearly in FIGS. 2 and 5. A curved cover plate 152, preferably of metal is fastened by a series of screws 166 to an end plate 161 to'close one end. Within the cover plate 152 is positioned a baffle or reflector plate 158 which is bent up into a tab 162 and fastened to the end plate 161 by a screw 164. The cover 152 is also preferably provided with a series of upper, 154, and lower, 156, vent openings to dissipate the heat from the bulb 160. The the cover end of the cover plate 152 is provided with a notch 170 for retention to an L-shaped bracket 180 as by a screw 172. The bracket 180 is assembled to the housing 1 by means of an interposed mounting plate 182 and felt pad 186. The latter serves as a heat insulator to prevent the lamp house from transferring too much heat to the metal housing 1. The bracket 180 is provided witha stepped portion 184 at the top and bottom to provide for a flush mounting of the cover plate 152, and to prevent the cover from cutting into the felt padding. The L-shaped bracket 180 is provided with a window opening 188 to align with the opening 144 in the housing 1 through a similar opening in the felt pad 186. The base for the lamp member, or the bracket 180 is fastened in the position indicated by a series of four screws, only three being shown at 190, 192 and 194. As indicated in FIG. 5, the screw 190 is mounted within a heat insulating bushing 196 where it passes through the bracket 180 and plate 182; and similarly the screw 192 is provided with the heat insulating bushing 128. There is thus no metal contact between the lamp house and the notching housing proper. The bulb 160 is mounted into a standard receptacle 200 and provided with an electrical connection as indicated in FIG; 1.

An alignment pin 202 serves to prevent the cover of the lamp house from separating from the housing 1 by engagement into a blind hole 204 in the end plate 161. A pair of stop pins 95 and 97 are provided on the outer surfaces of the

blocks

54 and 56, respectively to retain the plate 90 in a position removed from the surface of the plate 14 and also to permit easy access to move it back over the film.

The operation of the device will now be explained in connection with the remaining FIGS. 6 through 9. It is to be understood that the stereo camera with which the notcher and cutter of the invention is intended for use is one which takes a pair of stereo images, i.e., a left hand and a right hand image. As shown in FIG. 8, a roll of film 230 mounted on the film spool 220 is developed with the right hand image 256 and the left hand image 258 of a stereo image pair. The film is provided with the upper 254, and lower 252, series of film sprocket holes. The stereo camera further is so designed with notches that serve to imprint fiducial marks on the film. These marks are triangular in nature and are shown as the mark 240 associated with the image 256, and the mark 250 associated with the image 258.

'Each fiducial mark is arranged with the base of the triangle perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the image and at the center of the frame. The hypotenuse of the triangle extends upward to the left to indicate the left image 258, and extends upward to the right to indicate the right image 256.

The hold down plate 90, the notcher blade 60 and the knife 16 are raised in order to permit the passage of the film. The film 230 is unrolled and passed through the opening 44 in the guide bracket 40, across the plate 14 and past the cutting knife 16. In so moving the film it is placed between the guide pins 112, 114, 116 and 1 18.

With the light 160 plugged in, the film is adjusted so that the base of the fiducial mark 250 is aligned flush with the'right hand side of the bar 86. At this time the hold down plate is lowered to retain the film strip in position. Next, the notching blade 60 is activated and locked into lowered position by moving the lever 8 so that it becomes latched downwardly into the offset 13. When the lever 8 is so lowered the shaft 50 is rocked and, since the notcher blade 60 is also affixed to this shaft, it too is rotated to lower the notch cutting portion 64 into the film strip. As shown in FIG. 9, the activation of the cutter 64 results in a notch 260 being formed in the upper edge of the film. When the notching blade 60 is lowered it not only cuts the notch 260 but when held in the lowered position serves to lock the film immovably in position. When this is accomplished the lever 16 is lowered to cut off the frame 258 into a frame strip. The cut will be made on the right edge of the frame strip as viewed in FIG. 9 and an exact controllable distance is held, between the centerline of the notch 262 and the cutting edge 32.

. Next, the right image 256 is arranged with the base of the fiducial mark positioned flush against the left hand side of the bar (see FIG. 7) 86, the lever 8, plate 90 and knife 16 having been raised to permit such positioning. Again, the hold down plate is lowered and the lever 8 is moved to activate the notcher blade to notch the film in the proper position. Following this the cutter bar 16 is lowered to cut off the frame 258 from the film roll. At this time the frame 258 is not yet ready for mounting in a frame holder for viewing because of the fact that excess film margin remains to the left of frame 258 when it was cut off from the roll with the notching blade 60 in locking position on frame 256.

Thus, although the right side of frame 258 was properly cut when notch 260 was cut, the left side of frame 258 requires further trimming after frame 258 is separated from the roll. In order to provide the exact trimming necessary, when all the frames are notched and initially cut, they are again individually mounted in the cutter with the reverse side of the image up and the notcher blade 60 is again lowered to assure locking the film strip in the proper position. The cutter blade 16 is then lowered to finally trim the frame. In this manner each edge of the film strip is exactly equally spaced from the centerline of the notch 262.

As is clearly shown in FIG. 9, the centerline 262 of the notch 260 is offset from the centerline 264 of the image. The purpose of the offset between the centerline 262 of the notch 260 and the frame centerline or base line 264. of the fiducial mark 250, shown as the distance 266 in FIG. 9, is to eliminate eyestrain and provide for proper viewing. Obviously, the displacement is equal to the width of the bar 86. Such displacement is necessary in order to remove eyestrain which would be caused by any requirement to diverge the eyes. Since the left image centerline 264 of left frame 258 is displaced inwardly from the notch centerline 264 of the cut film strip containing frame 258; and similarly, the right image centerline of the right frame 256 is displaced inwardly from the notch centerline of the cut film strip containing frame 256, it can be said that the pair of images, when mounted in a film frame mount, will be inwardly displaced from the film strip centers. With the displacement of the images being inwardly, the result is to force the eyes of a viewer to converge slightly to compensate for any requirement to diverge the eyes when viewing objects in the stereo scene.

What has been described is a preferred embodiment of the invention. It is to be readily understood that various modifications and rearrangement and substitution of parts can be accomplished without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus, the opal glass may be etched with a thin line extending vertically or perpendicular to the film strip which is centered on the notch that is cut into the edge of the film. Thus, when the vertical edge of the fiducial mark is aligned with the etched line, the notch will be cut in the exact center of the image as recorded in the camera. The central bar 86 can then be eliminated from the window opening in the die plate 70.

What I claim is:

l. A stereo film notcher and cutter comprising, in combination:

a housing member provided with an upper planar surface; means provided on said surface and by said housing for guiding and positioning a film strip thereon, said film strip having at least a pair of stereo images thereon;

means mounted on said housing for holding said film strip in a predetermined position; and

means mounted on said housing for cutting at least one notch in said film strip at approximately the center of one of the images and located a predetermined distance from one edge thereof.

2. A stereo film notcher and cutter according to claim 1 wherein there is further provided a film strip severing means located at the said predetermined distance from the notch cutting means.

3. The stereo film notcher and cutter according to claim 1 wherein the notch cutting means is so located that the centerline of a notch cut on said film strip is slightly offset from the centerline of an image on said film strip.

4. A stereo film notcher and cutter comprising, in combination:

a housing member provided with an upper planar surface;

said housing member having a die plate formed with a pair of window openings therein and a die portion;

means provided on said surface and by said housing for guiding and positioning a film strip thereon; means mounted on said housing for holding said film strip in a predetermined position;

means mounted on said housing for cutting a notch in said film strip located a predetermined distance from one edge thereof; and

said die portion being arranged to cooperate with the notch cutting means in a punch and die relationship.

5. The stereo film notcher and cutter according to claim 4 wherein a relatively narrow bar portion on said die plate separates the window openings, the center line of said bar portion being aligned coincident with the centerline of said die portion and with the centerline of said notch cutting means.

6. The stereo film notcher and cutter according to claim 1 wherein the said last named means includes operating means which are so constructed and arranged as to provide a means for retaining said notch cutting means in notch cutting position to lock a film strip in position upon said surface.

7. The stereo film notcher and cutter according to claim 2 wherein the notch cutting means is so located that the centerline of a notch cut on said film strip is slightly offset from the centerline of an image on said film strip.

8. The stereo film notcher and cutter according to claim 3 wherein said housing is further provided with a die plate having a pair of window openings therein and a die portion arranged to cooperate with the notch cutting means in a punch and die relationship.

9. The stereo film notcher and cutter according to claim 8 wherein there is further provided a film strip severing means located at the said predetermined distance from the notch cutting means, and the notch cutting means includes operating means which are so constructed and arranged as to provide a means for retaining said notch cutting means in notch cutting position to lock a film strip in position upon said surface.

Claims

1. A stereo film notcher and cutter comprising, in combination: a housing member provided with an upper planar surface; means provided on said surface and by said housing for guiding and positioning a film strip thereon, said film strip having at least a pair of stereo images thereon; means mounted on said housing for holding said film strip in a predetermined position; and means mounted on said housing for cutting at least one notch in said film strip at approximately the center of one of the images and located a predetermined distance from one edge thereof.

4. A stereo film notcher and cutter comprising, in combination: a housing member provided with an upper planar surface; said housing member having a die plate formed with a pair of window openings therein and a die portion; means provided on said surface and by said housing for guiding and positioning a film strip thereon; means mounted on said housing for holding said film strip in a predetermined position; means mounted on said housing for cutting a notch in said film strip located a predetermined distance from one edge thereof; and said die portion being arranged to cooperate with the notch cutting means in a punch and die relationship.