Edge-belt film handling system for film processors and accumulators
US5559575A · kind A · utility
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 3, 1995 |
| Grant date | Sep 24, 1996 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Feb 3, 2015 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG03D3/135
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A system for transporting film through photographic-type processing uses a pair of flexible belts which have grooves to receive and guide the edges of the film in loose frictional engagement, and a drive and support system for moving the belts and film through a processing step. The groove in the belts is larger than the thickness of the film such that a particular place on a film edge is not tightly contacted, yet there is enough contact, and varying points of contact along the film, so that over an extended length of film there is sufficient frictional engagement to control and transport the film. Multiple stage processes have separate belt-drive systems, with aligned take-up and unload zones wherein the belts are moved into or away from contact with the film, to effect automatic handoff of the film to succeeding stages. An accumulator is provided at the end of the process, to receive and hold the film(s) on a first in, first out basis. A pair of flexible belts move the film between a pair of hoops in a loose roll, and older films can be removed from the open center.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.