FILM CASSETTE

• US 3,829,203 A
• Filed: 05/14/1973
• Issued: 08/13/1974
• Est. Priority Date: 05/14/1973
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Warren D. Novak
• Original Assignee: Warren D. Novak
• Inventors: Novak, Warren D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Matthews, Samuel S.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Mathews, Alan
• Application Number:
  US05/360,360
• Time in Patent Office: 456 Days
• Field of Search: 352/156,128,78,72,73,74,75,76 242/71.1,71.2,76,193,194,199,200
• US Class Current: 352/78.00R
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 17/265 specially adapted for motion picture film, e.g. cassettes cassettes for projection purposes G03B21/323

Abstract

A film cassette of the type where the supply reel and the takeup reel are disposed in coaxial relation. After take-off from the supply reel, the film is directed substantially 360* about the inner periphery of the housing during which it is canted from the supply reel'"'"''"'"'s plane to the take-up reel'"'"''"'"'s plane, the film being exposed while in the same plane as the supply reel. This provides a long, gentle film path with no sharp bends. The guide pins which so direct the film after exposure are fixed, i.e., nonrotating, and are normal to the supply and take-up reels'"'"''"'"' planes. The majority of the guide pins each present a dishshaped, inclined bearing surface over which the film passes, the bearing surface extending between the supply and take-up reels and progressing radially outward as it slopes from the supply reel'"'"''"'"'s plane to the take-up reel'"'"''"'"'s plane. This substantially eliminates contact of the film with the guide pins except on the extreme side edges and, in combination with the long, gentle film path, allows the film to seek its own path from the supply reel chamber to the take-up reel chamber. The cassette'"'"''"'"'s cover wall is provided with a series of stub pins about its inner periphery adapted to be received in friction fit relation with axially struck cavities defined by the guide pins. This provides simple means to aid in establishing a light-tight housing.

Claims

1. A film cassette comprising a supply reel and a take-up reel, said reels being disposed in coaxial relation and parallel one to the other, a housing within which said reels are positioned, said housing defining an exposure aperture in the front wall thereof past which the film moves as it is wound onto the take-up reel from the supply reel, the exposure aperture being positioned in the plane of said supply reel, and the takeoff of the film from said supply reel being adjacent the exposure aperature, and a series of guide pins perpendicularly disposed relative to the supply and take-up reels about the inner periphery of said housing, said guide pins cooperating to define a path for the film from the supply reel to the take-up reel that requires the film to proceed substantially 360* around the inner periphery of said housing, the majority of said guide pins being stationary, and being provided with a bearing surface over which the film passes that extends between the supply reel and take-up reel planes and that progresses radially outward relative to said housing as it slopes from the supply reel'"'"''"'"'s plane to the take-up reel'"'"''"'"'s plane, the bearing surface also presenting a dish-shaped cross section which substantially eliminates contact of the film with the guide pins except on the side edges thereof, such a guide pin configuration, in combination with the substantially 360* film travel path, allowing the film to make its own path from said supply reel to said take-up reel after passing the exposure aperture.

2. A film cassette as set forth in claim 1 wherein said housing includes a main section having a floor, a cover wall, said guide pins being fixed to one of said cover wall and said floor, a series of friction pins fixed to the other of said cover wall and said floor, and structure defining cavities at the free end of said guide pins, said cavities being sized to receive said friction pins in friction fit relation for establishing a friction fit between said main section and cover wall to aid in establishing a light-tight housing.

3. A film cassette as set forth in claim 2 wherein said main section includes side walls that define a seat along the top edge thereof, said cover wall being received within that seat in light-tight relation, and said guide pins being sized to provide structural support to said cover wall in addition to that provided by said side walls.

4. A film cassette as set forth in claim 1 wherein one of said guide pins is adapted to guide the unexposed film off said supply reel toward said exposure aperture and also to guide the exposed film onto said take-up reel.

5. A film cassette as set forth in claim 1 including a nonrotative interior wall positioned between said supply and take-up reels to define a supply reel chamber and a take-up reel chamber inside said housing, said interior wall being sized to cooperate with said guide pins for locating same within said housing.

6. A film cassette comprising a supply reel and a take-up reel, said reels being disposed in coaxial relation and parallel one to the other, a housing within which said reels are positioned, said housing including a cover wall and a main section having a floor, a series of guide pins perpendicularly disposed relative to the supply and take-up reels about the inner periphery of said housing, said guide pins extending from sand being fixed to one of said cover wall and said main section, and said guide pins being sized to provide structural support for said cover wall to maintain said cover wall and floor in that definite spatial relationship where said cover wall is retained parallel to said floor, structure defining cavities at the free ends of said guide pins, and a series of friction pins extending perpendicularly from the other of said cover wall and said floor, said friction pins being received in said cavities defined by said guide pins in a friction fit relationship, thereby establishing a friction fit between said main section and cover wall to aid in establishing a light-tight housing.

7. A film cassette as set forth in claim 6 wherein said main section includes side walls that define a seat along the top edge thereof, said cover wall being sized to fit within said seat in friction fit and light-tight relationship.

8. A film cassette comprising a supply reel and a take-up reel, each of which includes a mounting hub, said reels being disposed in coaxial relation and parallel one to the other, and the film carried by each of said reels being wound upon a mounting hub, a housing within which said reels are positioned, said housing including a cover wall and a main section having a floor, a separate interior wall positioned between said supply and take-up reels to define a supply reel chamber and a take-up reel chamber inside said housing, a bearing hub fixed to said cover wall, said bearing hub serving as an axle for one of said mounting hubs, that one of said mounting hubs being rotatable relative to said bearing hub, a spacing hub located on said floor and being rotatable relative thereto, the other of said mounting hubs being fixed relative to said spacing hub, structure defining a multi-sided bore in said spacing hub, structure defining a hole in said floor that permits access of a driveshaft into said bore, and a centering post fiXed to said cover coaxially with said bearing hub and extended through said interior wall into said multi-sided bore, said centerpost aligning said reels in coaxial relation within said housing.

9. A film cassette as set forth in claim 8 including a lip fixed to said floor that is concentric with the hole in said floor, said lip extending inwardly into said housing, and structure defining a seat in said spacing hub, said seat receiving said lip to establish a light-tight relation between the interior of said housing and said multi-sided bore.