Method and apparatus for feeding film-loaded cartridges

Abstract: A film feed apparatus in which cartridge panels (12) capable of carrying a plurality of films in cartridges (T) are used to store films and feed them continuously into a photoprinter. The film feed apparatus includes a cartridge storage unit (10), a panel mover (20), a cartridge separator (31), a cartridge conveyor (40), a panel storage unit (50). Cartridge panels (12) are sent to a spefic cartridge separating station, where separating arms (31) are inserted in openings formed in each panel to separate cartridges from the panel and drop them through an opening. The cartridges separated from the panel are sent on a conveyor belt (41) onto another conveyor belt (44) and fed in a single file. The empty panels are stacked in the panel storage unit by a panel stacker.

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENITON This invention relates to a method and apparatus for continuously feeding cartridged developed films into a photoprinter. A new type of film which can be developed and printed without taking it out of a cartridge is becoming an industry standard. This film is automatically separable at its inner end from the cartridge by inserting a tool. The film is developed while pulling it out of the cartridge and printed while pulling it into the cartridge. Thus, when the film has been printed, it is neatly housed in the cartridge. various film developing devices and photoprinters for developing and printing such new type of films have been proposed. For example, a film developing device which can continuously carry out developing, fixing, drying and other steps is proposed in Japanese Patent Application 6-75661 corresponding to JP-A-07 281 386. This developing device has cartridge cases for storing cartridges. In Japanese Patent Application 7-240123 corresponding to JP-A-09 080 727, a new type of cartridge cases (hereinafter referred to as cartridge panels) are mounted on a film developing device so that cartridges can be more efficiently taken out and reset. As one way to automate a photoprinter, Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication 7-36120 discloses a device in which a plurality of cartridges are set on a turntable to improve printing efficiency. Also proposed are a device for feeding cartridges into this printer (Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication 7-325350 and a cartridge storage device for continuously feeding cartridges into this cartridge feed device (Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication 6-309065 corresponding to JP-A-08 166 638). These former developing machines and photoprinters can automate the individual photographic processes. Thus, if the cartridge panels proposed in the second publication is used in the developing device proposed in the first publication and film-loaded cartridges are set in the cartridge panels, it will be possible to automatically develop films. But for printing, these cartridges have to be manually removed from the panels and fed into e.g. the photoprinter proposed in the third publication. The cartridge feed device proposed in the fourth publication and the cartridge storage device proposed in the fifth publication will offer no solution to this problem, either. That is, even if these devices are mounted on a photoprinter, cartridges will have to be removed manually from the cartridge panels and set manually in the cartridge storage device. It is extremely troublesome to manually feed cartridges one by one into a photoprinter. An object of this invention is to provide a method and apparatus for automatically feeding film-loaded cartridges into a photoprinter. Examples of conventional cartridge feeding methods and appatatuses are disclosed in DE-A-3 546 199, EP-A-0 676 664, EP-A-0 421 493. SUMMARY OF THE INVENITON According to the first aspect of this invention, there is provided a method of feeding film-loaded cartridges as defined in claim 1. Each of the cartridges may be loaded with a film developed in a developing step. There is provided also an apparatus for carrying out the above method as defined in claim 3. In the first aspect of this invention, in order to automatically and continuously feed film-loaded cartridges into a photoprinter, a plurality of film-loaded cartridges are set in a cartridge panel. Actually, as in the second aspect of this invention, a developed film is loaded in each cartridge. That is, cartridges set in the panel before the developing step are fed into the photoprinter as it is. Thus in the photoprinter, the panel is simply set in the cartridge storage unit. The entire process can thus be carried out more efficiently. Other features and objects of the present invention will become apparent from the following description made with reference to the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is an entire schematic perspective view of an apparatus for feeding film-loaded cartridges of a first embodiment; Fig. 2 is a partial schematic side view of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a plan view taken along line III-III of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV of Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is a side view taken along line V-V of Fig. 2; Fig. 6 is a partially sectional view taken along line VI-VI of Fig. 2; Fig. 7 is a view illustrating the operation of a panel mover; Fig. 8 is a view illustrating the operation of the panel mover; Fig. 9 is a view illustrating the operation of the panel mover; Fig. 10 is a view illustrating the operation of a cartridge separator; Fig. 11 shows the operation of a panel storage unit; Fig. 12 is a schematic perspective view of a cartridge panel; and Fig. 13 is a partial schematic view of a feed apparatus for feeding film-loaded cartridges of another embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Now referring to the drawings, embodiments of this invention are described. Figs. 1 and 2 are a schematic perspective view and a side view of a cartridged film feed device used to carry out the film feed method according to this invention. The film feed device of this embodiment is used to feed cartridged films to a photoprinter for printing film. But the photoprinter itself is not the point of the present invention and thus is neither shown nor described. As shown, the cartridged film feed device comprises a cartridge storage unit 10, a panel mover 20, a cartridge separator 30, a cartridge conveyor 40, a panel storage unit 50, and a cartridge feeder 60. The cartridge feeder is the same type as proposed in Japanese Patent Application 6-309065. In order to enhance understanding of the invention, Fig. 1 mainly shows the movement of cartridge panels (to be described below) and cartridges. The cartridge storage unit 10 includes a box 11 having a U-section with its top, bottom and one side open. In the box 11, a plurality of cartridge panels 12 can be stacked. Now referring to Fig. 12, each cartridge panel 12 has a panel plate 13 formed with a plurality of (two in the illustrated example) rows of pockets 14 (5 pockets in each row in the illustrated example), each pocket being capable of accepting one cartridge T. These cartridge panels 12 are disclosed in Japanese Patent Application 7-240123. Here, their description is limited to a necessary minimum. While not shown, each cartridge panel 12 is shaped so that a cartridge T can be fitted in each pocket 14 from the back of the panel 12. A cartridge T is received in each pocket 14 while being sandwiched between a resilient member 15 and a side wall on the opposite side with a protrusion 16 of the resilient member 15 received in a hole formed in the spool shaft. Each pocket 14 has a top opening 17 through which a bar code (ID code) on the surface of the cartridge can be read. The panel mover 20 has push arms 23 pivoted by a motor 24 through panel holder plates 21 and coupling plates 22 provided inside and juxtaposed with the panel holder plates 21, as shown in Figs. 2, 4 and 5. The panel holder plates 21 have inwardly bent bottom flanges 21a for gripping and holding a plurality of stacked panels. A rod 25 is rotatably supported between lobes 21b provided on the top of each panel holder plate 21, and secured to the top edge of the coupling plate 22. Thus, panel holder plates 21 can swing outwardly by pivoting about the respective rods 25. As shown in Fig. 5, the panel holder plates 21 have arms 21' extending inwardly toward each other. One of the arms 21' has a cam plate 28 at its inner end, while the other arm 21' has a power transmission plate 28' at its inner end. A synchronizing pin 29 is provided between the plates 28 and 28'. The coupling plates 22 are coupled together by a second coupling plate 22' which has a horizontal guide 27 near its center. The motor 24 has a motor shaft 24a which carries at its free end a rotary disk 26 having a cam pin 26a on its side facing the motor and a small roller 26b on the other side. The small roller 26b fits in a groove formed in the horizontal guide 27. Thus, when the motor rotates, the small roller 26b is moved up and down while sliding horizontally in the groove in the guide 27. As will be described later, the cam pin 26a moves along the mountain-shaped cam surface of the cam plate 28 to pivot the panel holder plates 21 through the arms 21'. As the rotary disk 26 rotates, the small roller 26b and thus the coupling plates 22a and 22 are moved up and down. To ensure smooth vertical movement of the coupling plates, as shown in Fig. 3, the coupling plate 22a carries on its inner side rollers 22c that fit in and roll along vertical guides 22b mounted on the side wall of the box 11. The push arms 23 pivot urged by pins 22d. Each panel holder plate 21 is coupled to the respective coupling plate by a spring 22f. While not shown, the motor 24 is fixedly mounted on the panel storage box 11 by a support member which is also fixed to the box 11. The box 11 is in turn fixedly mounted on the side wall of the photoprinter by an unillustrated mounting means. Referring to Figs. 2-4, the push arms 23 are L-shaped members provided on both sides of the box 11 so as to be pivotable about hinges 23b. Springs 23c bias the arms 23 counterclockwise in Fig. 2. A coupling rod 23d connects the bottom ends of the straight portions 23a of the arms 23. As the arms are pivoted clockwise in Fig. 2, the coupling rod 23d pushes cartridge panels 12 to a cartridge separating station. As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the cartridge separator 30 comprises separating arms 31, fixing pins 33 engaging in guide grooves 32 formed in the respective arms 31, rotary disks 35 having pins 34 connected to one end of the respective arms 31, and a motor 36 for rotating the disks 35. Numerals 36a and 37 indicate a motor output shaft and a reduction gear, respectively. As shown, the arms 31 are hooked at the free ends 31a. The cartridge separator 30 has as many arms 31 as rows of cartridge panels 12 (two in the illustrated example). The fixing pins are fixedly mounted to one side of mounting arms extending from the box 11 in an unillustrated manner. The motor 36 is also mounted in the same way. The guide grooves 32 have a wavy shape for the purpose to be described below. Cartridge panels 12 are unloaded by the panel mover 20 one by one from the box 11, deposited on a horizontal guide table 38 and sent to the cartridge separating station P, where cartridges T in the respective rows are simultaneously separated from each panel by the separating arms 31 and dropped. As shown in Fig. 1, the horizontal guide table 38 has cutouts 38a so that the panel holder plates 21 can move vertically without interfering with the table 38. At the cartridge separating station, the horizontal guide table 38 has openings 39 through which cartridges separated from panels 12 drop. Guides 39a guide cartridges to drop them onto a conveyor belt 41 of the conveyor 40 while keeping them in proper position. The conveyor belt 41 extends between rollers or pulleys 42. A vertical guide plate 43 is provided at the delivery end of the conveyor belt 41. Also at the delivery end of the conveyor belt 41, a second conveyor belt 44 is provided to extend in the direction perpendicular to the first conveyor belt 41. Cartridges on the first conveyor belt 41 are moved onto the second conveyor belt 44, where they are arranged in a single file. 45 is a side plate. Referring to Fig. 6, the panel storage unit 50 comprises an L-shaped panel stacker 51, a driving means 52 for moving the panel stacker 51 up and down, and panel holders 53 shown in Fig. 2. The panel stacker 51 has a block 51b provided on the outside of its vertical portion and is moved vertically with the block 51b slidaly received in a guide 54 provided on the side wall of the photoprinter. The driving means 52 has a motor 55 having an output shaft 55a carrying a rotary disk 55b at its free end. The rotary disk 55b has a small roller 55c provided near its circumference and fitting in a guide 56 provided on the panel stacker 51 at its lower corner. Thus, by rotating the disk 55b, the panel stacker 51 is moved up and down. As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, each panel holder 53 comprises an L-shaped panel holding member 53a, hinge members 53b provided at both ends of the holding member 53a, and base members 53c supporting the hinge members 53b. Each hinge member 53b has a spring 53d for upwardly biasing the panel holding member 53a. The panel holder 53 near the cartridge separator 30 has its base members 53c fixed to a member (not shown) to which is also fixedly mounted the cartridge separator 30 so that the cartridge panels 12 can pass under the base members 53c. The operation of this embodiment is now described. Fig. 5 shows the positional relationship between the box 11 and the panel holder plates 21 when the cartridge panels 12 are loaded into the box 11. In this state, the small rollers 26b of the rotary disk 26 are at the highest level, with the cam pin 26a not in contact with the cam plate 28. When the rotary disk 26 rotates, the panel holder plates 21 carrying a plurality of panels 12, lowers together with the coupling plates 22 (to the lowest level shown by chain lines in Fig. 8). By the time the plates 21 reach the lowest level, the cam pin 26a moves along the mountain-shaped cam surface of the cam plate 28 to somewhere near the peak of the mountain. This causes the panel holder plates 21 to pivot outwardly about the rods 25 as shown by solid lines in Fig. 8. Fig. 7 is a side view in this state. In this state, each push arm 23 is pulled up by the spring 23c into abutment with the pin 23e, as shown in Fig. 7. When the rotary disk 26 rotates further from this state, the panel holder plates 21 and the coupling plates 22 begin rising together. Simultaneously the cam pin 26a moves past the peak of the mountain and toward the root of the mountain, allowing the panel holder plates 21 to pivot inwardly. Thus, by the time the pin 26a separates from the cam plate, the panel holder plates 21 regain their vertical posture as shown by solid line in Fig. 9. As the panel holder plates 21 pivot inward, their bottom flanges 21a are inserted between the lowest and the second lowest panels. Thus, all but the lowest panel are raised by the panel holder plates 21. As the rotary disk 26 rotates further, the panel plates 21 and the coupling plates 22 are raised further to the level shown by two-dot chain lines in Fig. 9, that is, the original level shown in Fig. 5. During this operation, the panel holder plate 21 and coupling plate 22 on the left hand side, which are coupled to their counterparts on the right through the power transmission plate 28' and synchrozing pin 29, move exactly symmetrically with the members on the right. While the panel holder plates 21 are rising from the level shown by solid lines in Fig. 9 to the level shown by two-dot chain lines, the push arms 23 abut the pins 22d and pivot so that their L-shaped ends are lowered. The panel 12 is thus pushed out horizontally by the coupling rod 23d to the position shown in Fig. 2, where the foremost cartridges T of the panel are over the opening 39 formed in the horizontal guide plate 38. When or slightly before the panel 12 reaches the above position, the cartridge separator 30 is activated to move the separating arms 31 until their tips 31a moves to over the cartridges T to be separated from the panel, as shown in Fig. 10A. As shown, the separating arms 31 are raised from the position shown by two-dot chain lines to the position shown by one-dot chain lines. Then, the entire separator 30 is advanced rightwardly, while lowering the tips 31a. When the tips are inserted into the openings 17 of the panel 12, the cartridges T separate and drop. Now referring to Fig. 10B, when the cartridges T have been separated, the tips 31a are raised as shown by the arrow while being moved horizontally to pull the panel 12 by a distance equal to the length of one cartridge. The arms thus move back to the horizontal position shown by two-dot chain line. In this way, the arms 31 separate cartridges T and move panels 12 laterally. By repeating the above operation, the cartridges in the respective rows of one panel are separated by the separating arms 31. When all the cartridges have been separated, another panel is deposited on the horizontal guide plate 38. The cartridges separated are sent to the photoprinter in a single file as described above. Cartridge panels 12 are pushed by the subsequent panels into the panel storage unit 50 and stacked one on another. When each panel 12 is pushed onto the panel stacker 51, the panel stacker 51 is raised by the motor 55 and stopped when the panel 12 passes the panel holder 53. The cartridge panel 12 pushes and pivots the hinge members 53b of the panel holder 53 (Fig, 11A). When the panel 12 passes, the springs 53d push the panel holding members 53a back to the horizontal position. Then, the panel stacker 51 is lowered again to the same level as the horizontal guide plate 38 so that another panel is pushed onto the bottom plate 51a of the panel stacker 51 (Fig. 11B). This operation is repeated to stack a plurality of panels 12 in the panel storage unit 50. In the first embodiment, in order to separate cartridges at a predetermined position by inserting the tips of the separating arms, panels are moved little by little on the horizontal guide plate 38. But this embodiment is subject to various modifications. One such modification is shown in Fig. 13, in which each panel 12 is not moved when it is deposited right under the box 11. Separating arms 31 are inserted between this panel 12 and the panel immediately above. In this alternate embodiment, the entire cartridge separator 30 moves horizontally while bending the separating arms 31 to push cartridges T down through an elongated opening 39 extending the entire length of the panel 12. When the rearmost cartridges T have been separated, the arms 31 are advanced horizontally without being raised to pull the empty panel 12 forward so that the next panel 12 can be placed on the plate 38. But panels may be moved little by little by the separating arms 31 as in the first embodiment. In this case, openings 39 through which one cartridge T can pass are formed under the forefront cartridges of each panel 12. As described above, in the film feed method of the present invention, cartridge panels carrying film-loaded cartridges are stored in a cartridge storage unit. The cartridge panels are sent by a conveyor means to a cartridge separating station to separate cartridges from the panels. With this arrangement, it is possible to feed cartridges continuously into the photoprinter in a highly efficient manner. Cartridges loaded with developed films are set in panels. In the photoprinter, these panels are simply stacked one on another, so that the printing steps are simplified still further. The apparatus of the present invention makes it possible to carry out either of the above methods with high reliablity. This apparatus is simple in structure and inexpensive too.

Claims: A method of feeding film-loaded cartridges (T) comprising the steps of: fitting a plurality of film-loaded cartridges (T) into openings (14) in a cartridge panel (12) capable of carrying a plurality of film-loaded cartridges, moving said panel to a cartridge separating station (30), characterised by the steps of: separating the cartridges from said panel by inserting a cartridge separating arm (31) into said openings of said panel so as to push each cartridge out of the corresponding opening and causing the cartridge to drop from the panel to a first conveyor means (41), sending the separated cartridges in a predetermined direction on said first conveyor means, arranging the separated cartridges in an orderly manner, and feeding them one by one on a second conveyor means (44) that intersects the first conveyor means. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein each of said cartridges is loaded with a developed film and said cartridge panel can carry a plurality of film-loaded cartridges. An apparatus for feeding film-loaded cartridges (T) comprising: a cartridge storage means (10) capable of storing a stacked plurality of cartridge panels (12) each comprising openings (14) for carrying a plurality of film-loaded cartridges (T), characterised by : panel holder plates (21) for holding said plurality of cartridge panels, panel holding and moving means (22, 22a) movable to a cartridge separating station (30) and capable of holding all the stacked panels but the lowermost panel when the lowermost panel is separated from the other panels at said cartridge separating station by opening said panel holder plates, a cartridge separating means (31) for separating the cartridges from said panels by inserting a cartridge separating arm (31a) into an opening (14) of said cartridge panel at said cartridge separating station so as to push the cartridge out of the opening and causing the cartridge to drop from the panel to a cartridge conveyor means (41, 44), and for moving said each panel in a predetermined direction, and a cartridge conveyor means (41, 44) for feeding the cartridges separated from said panels in a predetermined direction and then arranging and feeding the separated cartridges one by one in a direction that crosses said predetermined direction.

Inventors: TAUCHI YASUHITO, TAUCHI, YASUHITO
Applicants: NORITSU KOKI CO LTD, NORITSU KOKI CO., LTD.
Application year: 1997
Main classification: G03B27
IPC codes: G03D13, G03B27