DRIVE-OUT ASSEMBLY FOR MICROFILM

Abstract: A drive-out assembly to thread a film wound on a reel or in a coil 2 includes an arm 7 to swing into the cartridge and engage the film with a drive-out roller 8 which drives the film in an unwinding direction to drive the free end over a stripper member 10 urged against the film. The drive for the drive-out roller 8 includes a first drive gear 20 which rotates a driven gear 23 through an intermediate gear 21 to drive a shaft 19 having a drive gear 23 to drive the drive-out roller 8 through other intermediate gears 24, 8′.

Description: The invention relates to a drive-out assembly for a microfilm apparatus as recited in the preamble of patent claim 1. Presently, a variety of different microfilm cartridges are on the market; for this reason it has been common practice to use several drive-out assemblies each developed specifically for one type of microfilm cartridge. A known device is shown in document US-A-3,704,836. In this arrangement a drive-out assembly which carries a small diameter roller for driving the film reel and a large diameter roller for engaging the surface of the film. After the film cartridge has been placed in the magazine, the drive-out assembly is moved into place and the effect of the angular velocity difference between the rollers is that the top convolution of the film is removed from the spool's surface and driven out of the magazine. This arrangement suffers from the disadvantage that it can only be used for a very narrow range of reel diameters due to the fixed diameter difference between the rollers. Document US-A-3,801,040 shows an arrangement using a stripper operating behind the drive-wheel. The disadvantage of this is that it is difficult to properly guide the film end between the drive-wheel and the film coil itself. The drive-wheel also pushes the film against the coil making it more difficult for the free end to be released. The free end of the film then has to bend through a relatively sharp angle in order to exit the small cartridge opening. These problems are overcome in the invention by placing the stripper ahead of the drive-wheel. It is the object of the present invention to provide a drive-out assembly for the microfilm apparatus which is suited for different types of microfilm cartridges. According to the present invention there is provided a drive-out assembly for a micro-film coiled up on a microfilm coil in a microfilm cartridge, said cartidge being adapted to be introduced in the cartridge receiving channel of a microfilm apparatus, the drive-out assembly including a pivoting arm mounted to be pivotable between first and second positions about a shaft and having mounted thereon a drive-out roll in a manner such as to enter the micro-film cartridge and to engage the peripheral surface of the microfilm coil in the second position of the pivoting arm, the drive-out roll being connected to be driven by drive means to move the free end of the microfilm to a stripper element to guide the free end of the film out of the microfilm cartridge, the drive-out roll being pivoted away from the microfilm coil in the first position of the pivoting arm, characterised in that the stripper element is disposed on the pivoting arm adjacent the drive-out roll and, viewed in the direction of the driven microfilm, ahead thereof. An essential advantage of the invention drive-out assembly is that it is suited for different microfilm cartridges which are being offered in the marketplace so that microfilm apparatus equipped with the inventive assembly may be used for a variety of different microfilm cartridges. As a result, the manufacturing of microfilm apparatus can be much simpler and less expensive. Another advantage of the invention is that it enables the free end of the microfilm wound up in the cartridge to be driven out in a safe and rapid manner and to be fed automatically on a pair of guide rolls. Advantageously, the inventive drive-out assembly is relatively simple in construction and adapted for easy automatic actuation. Further advantageous developments of the invention are stated in the dependent claims. Brief Description of Drawings The invention and is embodiments will now be explained in detail under reference to the attached Figures. Figure 1 shows schematically a side view of a drive-out assembly according to the present invention, and Figures 2 to 4 show a preferred embodiment of the inventive drive-out assembly. Detailed Description In Figure 1, reference numeral 1 designates a microfilm cartridge with a coil of microfilm on a reel 2 wound up therein. Conventionally, a microfilm cartridge 1 of this kind is introduced in the direction of arrow 4 in a receiving channel or passage or the like (not shown) of microfilm apparatus so that drive means (also not shown), which may be a drive shaft disposed in the cartridge receiving passage, is aligned with cartridge 1. Such drive means may be made to engage the core of microfilm reel 2 to rotate the latter in the direction of arrow 3. As shown in Figure 1 the present drive-out assembly substantially comprises a pivotable arm 5 mounted for pivotal movement about an axis of rotation 6 on a housing wall (not shown) or the like structure of the microfilm apparatus. A mounting plate 7 is secured on pivoting arm 5 and has mounted thereon a drive-out roll 8 for rotation in the direction of arrow 9. A stripper member 10 is mounted on pivoting arm 5 or on mounting plate 7. Under reference to the simplified schematic view in Figure 1, the function of the present drive-out assembly will now be explained in detail. Initially, a microfilm cartridge 1 is introduced in the direction of arrow 4 into the previously mentioned receiving and guiding passage of microfilm apparatus until the core of the microfilm reel 2 is aligned with the drive means (not shown). In the process, the present drive-out means assumes the position indicated by dotted line 11, in which it is swung - preferably downwardly about axis 6 - away from a position adjacent microfilm cartridge 1. In the next step, arm 5 is pivoted upwardly in the direction of arrow 14 about axis 6 until drive-out roll 8, which preferably is made of rubber or a soft synthetic material, enters a microfilm cartridge through an opening (which may be totally closed except for that opening or may be open on one side) until it engages the periphery of microfilm coil 2. In order to tauten loose layers of the microfilm coiled on reel 2, reel 2 preferably is rotated in a subsequent step against the direction of arrow 3 by the drive means engaging the core of reel 2. Thereafter, a separate drive mechanism (not shown) activates the mechanism for driving drive-out roll 8. Drive-out roll 8 rotates in the direction of arrow 9 to drive reel 2 in the direction of arrow 3. Continued rotation of reel 2 in the direction of arrow 3 causes the leading end of the film to reach the area of stripper member 10, which rests on the periphery of film coil 2. Stripper member 10 is mounted to have its free end engage the periphery of film coil on reel 2 whenever the drive-out roll is urged against the periphery of reel 2 and passes from the free end of the stripper member 10 along the surface thereof and along guide 15, which preferably is in the form of a sheet metal element, to a pair of feed rolls 16', 16' which are urged resiliently against each other, with one of said feed rolls being driven. As a result, feed rolls 16', 16' advance the leading edge of the microfilm as it enters the nip between feed rolls 16', 16'. After the pair of feed rolls 16', 16' has taken over the function of transporting the film, pivoting arm 5 is pivoted away from microfilm cartridge 1 to the position shown by phantom outline 11. Reference will now be made to Figures 2 to 4 to explain in greater detail preferred embodiments of the inventive drive-out assembly. Details of Figures 2 and 3 which have been explained in conjunction with Figure 1 are designated by the same reference numerals. As evident particularly in Figure 3, which shows a side view from the right of the assembly in Figure 2, a substantially U-shaped holding element comprises a web portion 16, a first leg 17 and a second leg 18. Opposite openings 17', 18' in first leg 17 and second leg 18 mount a shaft 19 for rotation. Pivoting arm 5 is preferably formed integral with first leg 17 to extend substantially normally into the drawing plane of Figure 3. In the manner shown in Figure 2, drive shaft 6, which mounts pivoting arm 5 for rotation in direction of arrow 14, carries a drive wheel 20. Wheel 20 preferably is a gear meshed with a gear 21 mounted for rotation on pivoting arm 5. Gear 21 in turn meshes with a gear 22 mounted on shaft 19 for rotation therewith. In the manner shown in Figure 3, another gear 23 is mounted on shaft 19 for rotation therewith and is coupled through another gear 24 to a gear 8' mounted on the shaft of drive roll 8 for rotation therewith; preferably, gear 8' is formed integral with drive roll 8 on one side thereof. Shaft 19 extends through an opening 7' in mounting plate 7 which is aligned and coextensive with the opening in second leg 18. In the manner shown in Figure 3, gear 24 and drive roll 8 are mounted for rotation in mounting plate 7 in a manner such that gear 24 is aligned with drive roll 8, which preferably is formed integral with drive-out roll 8. In parallel with mounting plate 7 there is provided a holding plate 25 which preferably is screwed down on the end face of the pin mounting gear 24. To prevent rotation of plate 25, the end portion of the shank of the bearing pin common to gear 8' and drive-out roll 8 is introduced in a bore provided in the holding plate 25. Gears 23, 24 and drive roll 8 as well as gear 8' are located between holding plate 25 and mounting plate 7. Mounting member 7 preferably is screwed down on second leg 18. it is contemplated alternatively to extend second leg 18 itself and to mount gear 24 and drive-out roll 8 with gear 8' on that extension directly. On the side of mounting plate 7 facing away from second leg 18, there is secured below gear 23 a pin 26 to rotatably mount stripper member 10 in a manner to be explained in detail below. Drive wheel 20 is loosely mounted for rotation on shaft 6, about which arm 5 is pivotable in the direction of arrow 14 (Figure 2), and has rotary motion imparted thereto by drive means (not shown and described in detail) when drive-out roll 8 engages the outermost layer of film coil 2 after arm 5 has performed its pivoting movement. The rotation of drive wheel 20 so moved is transmitted by gear 21 to gear 22. Gear 22 is mounted on shaft 19 for rotation therewith; as a result, the aforesaid rotation is transmitted by shaft 19 to gear 23 which also is mounted on shaft 19 for rotation therewith and meshes with gear 24 mounted rotatably on mounting plate 7. Gear 24 transmits the rotation to drive roll 8 and to gear 8', which preferably is formed integral with drive roll 8. It is contemplated and within the purview of the present invention to provide instead of gears 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 and 8', frictionally engaging wheel elements. Referring now to Figure 4, which shows a top plan view of the main shaft, a gear 29 is mounted on shaft 6 for rotation therewith, to be rotated by drive means not shown to pivot arm 5 in the direction of arrow 14 of Figure 2. Preferably, pivoting arm 5 is mounted on shaft 6 in a manner such as to be movable relatively thereto through a given angular range only. Conveniently, such limitation is obtained by an entrainment pin 33 extending through a diametrical throughbore provided in shaft 6 to engage an opening 34 in arm 5 which is defined preferably by radially extending abutment edges, such opening being shaped to permit the aforesaid movement of the shaft relative to pivoting arm 5. Preferably pivoting arm 5 also comprises U-shaped structure having legs 5', 5'' mounted for rotation on shaft 6, with the rotation of one (5') of the legs preferably limited by the aforesaid entrainment pin 33. Transversely extending web 5''' supports one end of a spring element, which preferably comprises a torsion spring 30 surrounding shaft 6 between legs 5' and 5'' and having its other end connected to shaft 6. Preferably, that other end of spring 30 engages a ring element 31 mounted for rotation and adapted to be fixed on shaft 6, as shown in Figure 4. Rotary adjustment of ring 31 permits to set the bias which causes drive-out roll 8 to be urged down on film coil 2 when arm 5 is pivoted in the direction of arrow 14 to its operative position. Stated in general, the force exerted by spring 30 acts in a manner such as to cause arm 5 to be pivoted relatively to shaft 6 towards the operative position thereof until entrainment pin 33 engages the corresponding abutment edge of opening 34. As drive roll 8 is pressed down on the peripheral surface of film coil 2 in that condition, pin 33 will leave the aforesaid abutment edge, and the force exerted by spring means 30 will resiliently urge pivoting arm 5 and drive-out roll 8 against the peripheral surface of film coil 2 so that drive-out roll 8 is urged resiliently against the periphery of film coil 2 even in case the latter is not perfectly circular. Referring again to Figures 2 and 3, there will now be explained the arrangement and operation of stripper element 10. Stripper element 10 is in the form of an arcute sheet metal member having one of its ends coiled up to loosely surround pin 26. From that pin 26, stripper element 10 extends arcuately around gear 23 towards drive-out roll 8. Holding element 25 has thereon a tab 10' turned over to project towards takeup element 7 or leg 18. A spring 27 is provided to urge stripper element 10 against the aforesaid tab 10'. As shown in Figure 2, the aforesaid spring preferably has one end resting against a projecting portion 28 of mounting plate 7 and the other end resting against striper element 10. The free end of stripper element 10 extends beyond the area of drive-out roll 8 in a manner such as to engage the peripheral surface of film coil 2 and to be raised from tab 10' against the force of spring 27 when drive-out roll 8 contacts film coil 2. As a result, spring 27 urges the free end thereof on the peripheral surface of film coil 2.

Claims: Drive-out assembly for a micro-film coiled up on a microfilm coil (2) in a microfilm cartridge (1), said cartridge being adapted to be introduced in the cartridge receiving channel of a microfilm apparatus, the drive-out assembly including a pivoting arm (5) mounted to be pivotable between first and second positions about a shaft (6) and having mounted thereon a drive-out roll (8) in a manner such as to enter the micro-film cartridge (1) and to engage the peripheral surface of the microfilm coil (2) in the second position of the pivoting arm (5), the drive-out roll (8) being connected to be driven by drive means (8', 24, 23, 19, 20, 21) to move the free end of the microfilm to a stripper element (10) to guide the free end of the film out of the microfilm cartridge (1), the drive-outs roll (8) being pivoted away from the microfilm coil (2) in the first position of the pivoting arm (5), characterised in that the stripper element (10) is disposed on the pivoting arm (5) adjacent the drive-out roll (8) and, viewed in the direction of the driven microfilm, ahead thereof. Assembly as in claim 1, characterized by the shaft (6) being driven by transmission means to pivot the arm ( ) to its first and second positions. Assembly as in claim 1 or 2, characterized by said drive means comprising a drive wheel (20) mounted for independent rotation of the shaft (6) and coupled with drive roll (8) through additional elements (21, 22, 23, 24, 8') of said drive means. Assembly as in claim 3, characterized by said transmission means comprising a worm gear assembly. Assembly as in any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized by the drive-out roll (8) being mounted for rotation on a mounting plate (7), said mounting plate (7) being secured to or formed integral with the pivoting arm ( ) distally of shaft (6), by a further shaft (19) provided adjacent the juncture of the pivoting arm (5) and the mounting plate (7) to mount for rotation therewith a wheel (23) and another wheel (22), by the wheel (23) being coupled to the drive roll (8) via an intermediate wheel (24) mounted for rotation on the mounting plate (7), and by said another wheel (22) being coupled to said drive roll through another intermediate wheel (21) mounted for rotation on pivoting arm (5). Assembly as in claim 5, characterized by said drive wheel (20), said another intermediate wheel (21) and said another wheel (22) comprising gears or frictionally interengaging wheels. Assembly as in claim 5, characterized by the wheel (23) and the intermediate wheel (24) comprising frictionally interengaging wheels. Assembly as in claim 5, characterized by the wheel (23) mounted on the further shaft (19) for rotation therewith and the intermediate wheel (24) comprising gears, and by the intermediate gear (24) meshing with a gear (8') mounted on the the shaft of the drive-out (8). Assembly as in claim 8, characterized by the gear (8') being formed integral with the drive-out roll (8) on one major surface thereof,. Assembly as in any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized by the drive-out roll (8) consisting of a soft synthetic material. Assembly as in claim 5, characterized by the pivoting arm (5) and the mounting plate (7) being connected with each other in V-fashion so that the shaft (6) is disposed at one free end of the "V", the drive-out roll (8) is disposed at the other free end of the "V", and the further shaft (19) is disposed at the juncture of the two legs of said "V". Assembly as in any one of claims 1 to 11, characterized by spring means (30) of which the force biases the pivoting arm (5) about the shaft (6) towards said second position. Assembly as in claim 12, characterized by the drive-out roll (8) being adapted to be urged by said drive against the peripheral surface of the microfilm coil (2) in the second position of the drive-out roll (8) in a miner such that the shaft (6) is rotated selectively relative to the arm (5) and away from abutment means (33, 34) within a given angular range against the force of the spring mean (3) towards said second position. Assembly as in claim 12, characterized by said spring means comprising a torsion spring (30) surrounding the shaft (6), said torsion spring having one end secured on the pivoting arm (5) and its other end secured to the shaft (6), by the pivoting arm (5) having in the area of the shaft (6) an opening (34) to engage an entrainment pin (33) extending transversely of the shaft (6) through a diametrical bore therein, by the opening (34) having first and second radially extending edges to define the limits of the aforesaid angular range, and by the torsion spring (30) rotating pivoting arms (5) in a manner such that the entrainment pin (33) engages a first radial abutment edge of opening (34) when the drive-out roll (8) is not urged against the peripheral surface of the film coil (2). Assembly as in claim 14, characterized by the end of the torsion spring (30) which is secured to the shaft (6) engaging a set ring (31) adapted to be fixed in a plurality of positions to vary the circumferential bias for adjusting the position of the shaft (6). Assembly as in any one of claims 1 to 15, characterized by the stripper element (10) being in the form of a strip-shaped element having one end thereof mounted for rotation about a pin (26) on the mounting plate (7), with the free end of said element being urged against the surface of the film coil (2) in a manner such that the free end of the film rotated in the drive-out direction will be raised from the periphery of the film coil (2) and be driven out at the free end of the stripper element (10). Assembly as in claim 16, characterized by the strip-shaped element forming the stripper element (10) being biased by spring means (27) to resiliently urge its free end against the surface of the film coil (2) when the drive-out roll (8) engages the periphery of the film coil (2). Assembly as in claim 16 or 17, characterized by the film end, after having been driven out, is guided across the surface of stripper element (10) to guide means (15) and from the latter to a pair of feed rolls (16', 16'). Assembly as in any one of claims 16 to 18, characterized by a holding plate (25) provided in parallel with mounting plate (7) in a manner such that the drive-out roll (8), the intermediate wheel (24) and said another wheel (23) are located in the spaced between the mounting plate (7) and the holding plate (25), and by a portion of the holding plate (25) being shaped to form a flap (10') substantially perpendicular to the plane of holding plate (25) and extending towards the mounting plate (7) to serve as an abutment for the stripper member (10) biased by the spring means (27). Assembly as in any one of claims 16 to 19, characterized by one end of the stripper member (10) being mounted adjacent the wheel (23) and by the body of the stripper member extending about the periphery of the wheel (23), of the intermediate wheel (24) and of the drive-out wheel (8) in a spaced relationship to these wheels.

Inventors: KAPS, WOLFGANG C/O MINNESOTA MINING AND
Applicants: MINNESOTA MINING AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY
Application year: 1987
Main classification: G03B1
IPC codes: G03B21, G03B1, G03B27