Abstract:
In a film extraction apparatus, a flexible stripper blade tongue is held in a relaxed condition with the tongue extending downwardly of the blade by a natural curvature in the tongue near the tongue&#39;s juncture with the remainder of the blade. Inducing stress in the blade to create a slight degree of curvature of the tongue forces the tongue into a longitudinally straight and stiffened condition allowing the tongue to be driven through the cartridge mouth. Relaxation of the stress on the blade returns the tongue into its normal, downwardly-extending condition with the end of the tongue resting on the outer layer of the film irrespective of the roll diameter. Presence of the stripper blade upper surface across the gap between the cartridge mouth and a following film channel serves to guide the film into the film channel during the film extraction procedure.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     This invention relates to apparatus and method for extracting photographic film from a film cartridge and more specifically to such apparatus employing a novel arrangement that facilitates insertion of a film stripper finger into the film cartridge and enhances the function of the stripper finger in guiding film out of cartridge during the film extraction operation.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     Most photographic film cameras, particularly motor operated types, rewind the filmstrip entirely into the film cartridge at the conclusion of picture taking. With the growth of distributed photofinishing operations, e.g. one-hour minilab photofinishing processors, and particularly with the emergence of kiosk style photofinishing equipment, increasing attention has been directed to techniques for extracting exposed film from the film cartridge without destroying the cartridge in the process.  
         [0003]     An early technique is found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,074,870 to Kaufman, which discloses the use of a pair of flexible metal blades inserted through the plush light block at the mouth of the cartridge, a longer upper blade and a shorter lower blade, the lower blade having a curved anterior end portion that forms a mouth between the upper and lower blades. Combined with synchronized rotation of the film core, reciprocal movement of the blades urges the film tongue between the upper and lower blades where it is captured and pulled out of the cartridge mouth by removal of the two blades. The efficacy of this arrangement depends heavily on the reliability of forcing the film tongue into engagement between the two blades and it has not been entirely successful.  
         [0004]     U.S. Pat. No. 6,149,321 to Nishibata et al. represents a commercially available film extraction mechanism made by Noritsu Koki Co., Ltd., of Japan. With this tabletop apparatus, an operator positions the cartridge in a nest in such a way that a stubby, relatively stiff metal blade with a curved anterior end is forced into mouth of the cartridge for use in stripping the film tongue from the remainder of the roll in the cartridge. Upon actuation, a flexible metal blade with high friction strips on its flanks is inserted into the cartridge, using the stubby metal blade as a guide, and grips the film while subsequently being withdrawn from the cartridge. The curved anterior end of the stubby metal blade is intended to guide the film out of the cartridge. However, this guide blade is always at a fixed position in the cartridge and does not always reach to the outer layer of the film roll, the diameter of which is a function of the length of the film strip as determined by the number of exposures on the roll. As a consequence, the film tongue does not always engage the anterior end of the stubby metal blade thereby increasing the chance of failure in the extraction process. Only the tongue is extracted with this apparatus, being deposited in a collection chamber after it passes beyond the stubby metal blade. As such, the apparatus, by itself, is not usable when the entire film roll must be extracted. Moreover, since the cartridge is manually loaded into the nest and requires some manual intervention to ensure proper insertion of the stubby stripper blade into the cartridge mouth, it is not suitable for use by untrained consumers as would be the case for an in-store kiosk application.  
         [0005]     Patent Application Publication U.S. 2003/0133710 A1 assigned to Eastman Kodak Company, assignee of the present invention, discloses a film extraction apparatus that utilizes a flexible, elongated film stripper finger  164  inserted into the film cartridge. The finger has a downwardly curved anterior end and the finger is inserted sufficiently far as to insure engagement of the stripper finger with the outer layer of the film roll regardless of the diameter of the roll. An extractor finger  171  with high friction flank surfaces is then inserted into the cartridge to engage and extract the film tongue as the extractor finger is withdrawn from the cartridge. The stripper finger serves to strip and separate the film tongue from the remainder of the film roll and to guide the tongue out of the mouth of the cartridge. While effective as a stripper and guide, insertion of the flat flexible stripper finger with its downwardly curved anterior end is not as reliable as one would like causing undesired jamming events during the insertion process.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0006]     In accordance with the invention, apparatus is provided for extracting photographic film from a film cartridge which comprises a film cartridge nest for holding the mouth of the film cartridge in a fixed position and a film extractor mechanism that includes an elongated flexible extractor blade having a friction material along at least one flank of a film-facing surface of the extractor blade and a film channel for receiving and translating film as it is extracted from the cartridge.  
         [0007]     The apparatus also includes a film stripper mechanism comprising a flexible film stripper blade having an elongated tongue intended for insertion into the cartridge to enhance stripping of the outer layer or tongue of the film from the remainder of the film roll. In its normal, unstressed condition, the stripper blade, including the tongue, is flat in its transverse dimension. When in this unstressed condition, the forward portion of the tongue is curved downwardly in the longitudinal direction of the tongue. The film stripper mechanism also includes a stripper blade support structure and an actuator mechanism which is coupled to the stripper blade and which, when actuated, operates in cooperation with the stripper blade support structure to induce a stressed condition in the stripper blade in which the tongue is curved slightly in its transverse dimension causing the tongue to straighten and stiffen in its longitudinal direction. The film stripper mechanism further includes a drive mechanism for reciprocally translating the stripper mechanism toward and away from the cartridge nest.  
         [0008]     The apparatus further includes a controller operatively coupled to the actuator mechanism for causing the actuator to induce the stress in the stripper blade prior to insertion of the tongue into the film cartridge and for removing the stressed condition in the stripper blade after insertion of the tongue into the cartridge. The controller is also coupled to the drive mechanism for translating the stripper blade forwardly to insert the straightened tongue into the cartridge and for stopping the forward translation with the unstressed tongue in the cartridge with its forward portion downwardly curved, and for subsequently translating the stripper blade rearwardly at the conclusion of film extraction to remove the tongue from the cartridge. The controller is further coupled to the film extractor mechanism for inserting and removing the extractor blade from the cartridge so as to extract film from the cartridge while the tongue is in the cartridge.  
         [0009]     In one preferred embodiment of the invention, the stripper blade includes an aft portion from which the tongue extends, the aft portion having laterally extending wing portions. In this embodiment, the blade support structure includes a mandrel having a curved upper surface on which the blade is mounted with the wing portions being curved around and joined below the mandrel. The actuator is coupled to the juncture of the wing portions and is responsive to the controller to be drawn downwardly to induce the stressed condition in the blade which straightens and stiffens the tongue.  
         [0010]     In another embodiment of the invention, the aft portion of the stripper blade is elongated with generally the same lateral dimension as the tongue with this aft portion being nested in a planar support structure, one or both sides of which movable to compress the sides of the blade&#39;s aft portion to effect the desired curvature and stiffening of the tongue for insertion into the film cartridge.  
         [0011]     In another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of extracting film from a film cartridge which comprises the steps of providing a flexible film stripper blade having an elongated tongue that is normally flat in transverse cross section and that normally extends downwardly in longitudinal cross section; stressing the tongue by introducing a degree of curvature in the transverse cross section of the tongue so as to straighten and stiffen the tongue; inserting the straightened tongue into the mouth of a film cartridge; and removing the stress on the curved tongue to allow the tongue to revert to its normal shape with the forward end of the curved forward portion resting on the outer layer of a roll of film in the cartridge. The method of the invention further includes the steps of providing a flexible, elongated film extraction blade having a friction surface along at least one flank of the extraction blade; inserting the extraction blade into the mouth of the film cartridge along the upper surface of the stripper blade tongue until the extraction blade engages the film in the cartridge; removing the extraction blade from the cartridge to extract the film along the upper surface of the stripper blade tongue; and, finally, removing the stripper tongue from the film cartridge.  
         [0012]     Several advantages are apparent from this invention. The use of a flexible stripper blade with a downwardly extending elongated tongue portion is desirable to ensure that the forward end of the blade, once inserted into the film cartridge, will engage the outer layer of the film roll regardless of the length of the film strip in the cartridge. The simple expedient of stressing the stripper blade to create lateral curvature that straightens and stiffens the tongue overcomes the difficulty of inserting the normally flexible blade through the light blocking plush material at the mouth of the film cartridge. Moreover, the arrangement for stressing the blade, inserting the stiffened tongue into the cartridge and for relaxing the tongue after insertion lends itself to automated operation, obviating the need for manual intervention to ensure proper insertion of the stripper tongue. Such an arrangement is particularly useful in consumer-oriented film processing kiosks in which manual intervention by untrained consumers can be a serious problem for the desired success of the kiosks. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0013]      FIG. 1  is a side plan view of the film extraction apparatus of the invention;  
         [0014]      FIG. 2  is a side plan view of a film extractor mechanism useful in one aspect of the present invention;  
         [0015]      FIG. 3  is a plan view of the underside of the  FIG. 2  extractor mechanism;  
         [0016]      FIG. 4  is a top plan view of a stripper blade component useful in the stripper mechanism of  FIGS. 6A and 6B ;  
         [0017]      FIGS. 5A through 5C  are schematic illustrations of the stripper blade of  FIG. 4  useful in explaining the operation of the stripper mechanism of  FIGS. 6A and 6B ;  
         [0018]      FIGS. 6A and 6B  are opposite side perspective views of one embodiment of the film stripper mechanism of the present invention;  
         [0019]      FIGS. 7A through 7C  are perspective views of the stripper mechanism of  FIGS. 4A and 4B  illustrating different stages in the operation thereof;  
         [0020]      FIGS. 8A through 8E  are side cross sectional views of a film cassette and portions of the extractor and stripper mechanisms of  FIGS. 2 and 4 A,  4 B illustrating progressive stages in the film stripping and extraction operation of the present invention;  
         [0021]      FIG. 9  is a front end view of an alternative embodiment of a film stripper mechanism according to the present invention; and  
         [0022]      FIG. 10  is a front end view of another alternative embodiment of a film stripper mechanism of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0023]     Turning now to  FIG. 1 , in accordance with one aspect of the invention, film extraction apparatus  10  includes a film cartridge nest  12 , a film extractor mechanism  30 , and a film stripper mechanism  50 , all mounted on a support wall plate  15 . The extraction apparatus also includes a controller  90  for providing operational control of the components of the extraction apparatus. Cartridge nest  12  is provided with an elongated trough  16  and a cartridge transport device such as a rotatable magnetic cylinder  18  driven by a suitable drive motor (not shown) for reciprocal translation along the trough axis. A rotatable shaft tab  17 , centrally positioned within the magnetic cylinder engages the spool of the film cartridge and is driven by a suitable drive motor (not shown) to rotate the film spool during the film extraction operation. A film cartridge  14  placed by a user at the entry of trough  16  is magnetically attached to the cylinder  18  and the axial cylinder drive motor is activated by controller  90  to pull the magnetic cylinder along the trough into a cylindrical sheath  19  ( FIG. 7A ) provided with a longitudinal slot  19   a  which serves to automatically position and hold the slotted mouth of the cartridge in proper orientation with the film extractor and stripper mechanisms during the film extraction operation.  
         [0024]     Referring jointly to  FIGS. 1-3 , film extractor mechanism  30  includes an elongated flexible extractor blade  32  and a film channel  34  for receiving and translating film as it is extracted from the cartridge  14 . As seen in  FIG. 3 , extractor blade  32  is preferably provided with a strip of a high friction material  36  extending along at least one flank of a film facing surface of the extractor blade. A skiving blade  38  is positioned in the film channel  34  in contact with the underside of extractor blade  32  and serves to separate the extracted film from the extractor blade as the flame is translated into and along the film channel  34 . Extractor blade  32  is kept wound on a spool  40  which is driven by a controller operated motor drive (not shown), mounted on the reverse side of support wall plate  15 , via drive pulleys  41   a,b  and timing belt  42 . Extractor mechanism  30  additionally includes a film drive wheel  43  driven by a controller operated motor drive (not shown), similarly mounted on the reverse side of support wall  15 , via drive pulleys  44   a,b  and timing belt  45 .  
         [0025]     In the preferred embodiment of the invention shown in  FIG. 1 , film extraction apparatus  10  is provided with a film stripper mechanism  50  which includes a flexible film stripper blade  51  preferably fabricated from a stainless steel sheet of approximately 0.03 inch thickness. Referring jointly to  FIGS. 4 and 5 A-C, stripper blade  51  is fabricated with an elongated tongue  52  and an aft portion  53  having laterally extending wing portions  53   a . As fabricated, tongue  52  normally is generally flat in its transverse dimension and is formed with a natural curve  53   a  preferably located in the rear portion of the tongue near its juncture with the aft portion  53  of the stripper blade. When blade  51  is mounted in an unstressed manner on support structure, as described below, this natural curve allows the tongue to extend normally downwardly-in relation to a film cartridge mounted in the cartridge nest  12 . It should be noted that the term “downwardly” as used herein and in the appended claims, means in a radially inward direction from the outer circumference of the film cartridge toward the central core of the cartridge regardless of the orientation of the cartridge nest and cartridge therein and the term should be interpreted as having that meaning as used in this description and in the appended claims.  
         [0026]     Referring now jointly to  FIGS. 1, 4 ,  6 A and  6 B, stripper blade  52  is seen mounted on a support structure which includes a mandrel  56  having a laterally curved upper surface, an L-shaped bracket  58  and a pair of support shafts  60  translatably journalled by means of pistons  62  in a mounting block  64  which is secured to wall plate  15 . When blade  52  is mounted on mandrel  56 , wing portions  53  are wrapped around and secured beneath the mandrel by a pair of stiffener bars  72 . At this point, the stripper blade is in an unstressed condition, as illustrated by the side view of the blade in  FIG. 5A . In this condition, the transverse dimension of the blade and its tongue portion is generally flat with the front end portion of the tongue  52  extending downwardly by virtue of the natural curve  52   a  in the rear portion of the tongue. Stripper mechanism  50  further includes an actuator mechanism  66  comprised of a solenoid  68  and shaft  70  mounted on the bottom leg of bracket  58  and coupled to the stripper blade  52  by means of stiffener bars  72 . This actuator mechanism, when actuated, is operative, in cooperation with mandrel  56 , to induce a stressed, i.e. curved, condition in the stripper blade  52  by pulling the blade around the mandrel  56  with its bending axis perpendicular to the natural curve  52   a  of the tongue  52 . This results in tongue  52  being curved slightly in its transverse dimension, as shown in  FIG. 5C , causing the natural curve  52   a  to disappear thereby resulting in straightening and stiffening of the tongue in its longitudinal direction. This further results in the forward tip of the tongue to being moved to a predictable and repeatable location in front of the mouth of the film cartridge. The very slight curvature of the tongue needed to straighten and stiffen the tongue is insufficient to interfere with insertion of the tongue into the cartridge through the light blocking plush material at the mouth  14   a  of the cartridge.  
         [0027]     The stripper mechanism also includes a drive mechanism, including drive motor  80 , and a rack and pinion  81 , 82  connected to L-bracket  58 , for reciprocally translating the stripper mechanism toward and away from the cartridge nest.  
         [0028]     The film extraction apparatus also includes a controller  90 , such as a suitably programmed microcontroller, which is operatively coupled to the actuator mechanism for causing solenoid  68  to pull down on the stripper blade wings, thereby inducing the stress in the blade that straightens and stiffens the tongue prior to insertion of the tongue into the film cartridge, and for removing the stress in the stripper blade after insertion of the tongue into the cartridge thereby allowing the natural curve  53  to extend the tongue downwardly once inside the cartridge. The controller is also coupled to the drive mechanism to effect translation of the stripper blade forwardly to insert the straightened tongue into the cartridge and to stop the forward translation with the unstressed tongue in the cartridge. According to a feature of the invention, the controller stops the forward translation of the stripper blade at a point at which the downwardly extending forward end of the tongue is in contact with the outer layer of film roll in the cartridge irrespective of the length of the film roll. Controller  90  is also coupled to the film extractor mechanism for inserting and removing the extractor blade from the cartridge so as to extract film tongue from the cartridge while the stripper tongue remains in the cartridge. Following removal of the extractor blade, film drive wheels  43  engage the film and continue to draw the remainder of the film out of the cartridge. It can be seen that the upper surface of the film stripper blade bridges the gap between the cartridge mouth and the entrance to the film channel  34  and thus serves the added beneficial function of guiding the forward end of the film tongue into the film channel entrance. At the conclusion of the film extraction, the controller reactivates the stripper drive mechanism to translate the stripper blade rearwardly to remove the stripper tongue from the cartridge. It will be appreciated that once the stress on the stripper blade is removed after the tongue is inserted into the film cartridge, the blade remains in the relaxed condition until a new extraction cycle is commenced.  
         [0029]      FIGS. 7A-7C  illustrates three important phases in the operation of the film stripper mechanism in an actually constructed embodiment of the invention. In these figures, the extractor mechanism omitted for convenience in seeing the novel stripper mechanism itself. In  FIG. 7A , the stripper blade is in its relaxed, unstressed condition. A film cartridge  14  is shown in position in the cartridge nest  12  with mouth  14   a  in position to receive the film stripper blade  51 . Since blade  51  is unstressed at this point, tongue  52  extends downwardly below the mouth  14   a  of the cartridge due to the effect of the natural curve fabricated into the rear portion of the tongue. In  FIG. 7B , the controller  90  has actuated solenoid  68  to draw down on the lateral wings  53   a  of the stripper blade causing a very slight curvature in the transverse direction of the tongue resulting in a straightening and stiffening of the tongue. At this point, the tongue is aligned with mouth  14   a  of the cartridge. In  FIG. 7C , drive motor  80  has been activated by controller  90  to drive the stripper blade support structure forward, driving tongue  52  through cartridge mouth  14   a  into position within the cartridge.  
         [0030]     Referring now to  FIGS. 8A-8E , steps in the method of the invention include providing a flexible film stripper blade  51  having an elongated tongue  52  that is normally flat in transverse cross section and that has a natural curve  52   a  in the longitudinal direction thereby extending the tongue downwardly, as viewed in  FIG. 8A ; and providing a flexible elongated film extraction blade  32  having a high friction surface along at least one flank of the extraction blade. The initial configuration of the extractor and stripper blades in  FIG. 8A  corresponds to the arrangement illustrated in  FIG. 7A . Film cartridge  14  contains a roll of film  20  which is wound around a central core  21  and ends in a film tongue portion  22 .  
         [0031]     The method also includes stressing the stripper blade  51 , by pulling the lateral wings down an amount “d” as seen in  FIG. 5B , to introduce a degree of curvature in the transverse cross section of the tongue  52  thereby straightening and stiffening the tongue placing the tip of the tongue in a predictable and repeatable location in front of the mouth of the cartridge  11  as shown in  FIG. 8B  and in  FIG. 7B . The stripper blade is then driven forward to insert the straightened tongue into the mouth of a film cartridge. Once the tongue  52  is fully inserted into the cartridge, the solenoid which has been pulling blade  51  over the mandrel  56  is deenergized to remove the stress on the stripper blade. This causes the stripper tongue  52  to relax allowing it to revert to its normal shape with the tongue extending downwardly inside the cartridge, i.e. radially toward the core  21  with the tip of the tongue  52  pressing against the outer layer of the film roll as shown in  FIGS. 8C and 7C .  
         [0032]     Once the stripper blade is in place, the steps of the method include inserting the extraction blade into the mouth of the film cartridge along the upper surface of the stripper blade tongue until the extraction blade engages the film in the cartridge. During this insertion operation, the core of the film roll preferably is rotated in a counterclockwise direction to permit the high friction surface on the extractor blade to engage the outer roll of the film while continuing its insertion which would otherwise be impeded since the high friction surface on the blade  52  prohibits sliding of the extractor blade on the surface of the film. As seen in  FIG. 8D , the extractor blade is then pulled outwardly from the cartridge to extract the film tongue. Preferably, the core  21  is rotated clockwise at a rate that causes the rotational velocity of the outer roll of the film to be approximately the same as the extraction velocity of the extractor blade. During this phase, the film tongue  22  engages the forward tip of the stripper tongue  52  and is separated from the outer layer of the film roll. As the film tongue is pulled out of the film cartridge mouth, it is guided along the upper surface of stripper tongue  52  through the gap between the cartridge mouth  14   a  and the film channel  34  and thence into the entrance of the film channel  34 . As seen in  FIG. 8E , once inside the film channel, the film is separated from the high friction strip on the extractor tongue by skiving blade  38  allowing the film to be translated separately down the film channel to subsequent film handling equipment (not shown). Although not shown in  FIG. 8E , film drive rollers  43  ( FIG. 1 ) positioned at the entrance to film channel  34  are actuated to continue pulling the film from the cartridge after the extractor blade has been removed from the cartridge thereby continuing the withdrawal of the complete film roll from the cartridge and the translation thereof through the film channel  
         [0033]     In a presently preferred embodiment of the inventive method, the steps further include providing the stripper blade with an aft portion having laterally outwardly extending flank sides; mounting said aft portion with the extended flank sides curved around a mandrel having a curved surface in contact with the stripper blade; and stressing the stripper blade to induce transverse curvature of the tongue by pulling the extended flank sides of the stripper blade downwardly across the curved surface of the blade supporting mandrel. A subsidiary novel feature of the extraction method involves the step, during the film extraction phase of utilizing the upper surface of the film stripper blade to guide the extracted film into a film channel thereby allowing extraction of the entire roll of film from the cartridge; and continuing to extract film from the cartridge into the channel with film extraction drive rollers after the film extraction blade is removed from the cartridge, as described above.  
         [0034]     In  FIG. 9 , a modified form of film stripper blade  100  includes a tongue portion T and an extended aft portion A, the aft portion having longitudinally extending sides  102  generally, but not necessarily exactly, coextensive with sides  104  of the tongue portion. Like the stripper blade  51 , a natural curve portion NC is formed during fabrication of the blade in the rear portion of the tongue T near its juncture with aft portion A. In  FIG. 10 a  stripper blade channel is shown in which the extended aft sides of blade  100  are captured between elongated raised sides  106 , 107  which are mounted on a base  110 . In this embodiment, side  106  is fixed and side  108  is laterally movable in response to an actuator mechanism comprising solenoid  112  and link  113  under the control of controller  80 ′. With this arrangement, curvature of the tongue portion  2  is achieved by actuation of the solenoid to move side  108  by an amount sufficient to achieve the tongue curvature needed to realize the desired straightening and stiffening of the tongue. A rack and pinion drive mechanism (not shown) similar to that of  FIG. 1  may be employed to the drive the stripper tongue into and out of the film cartridge. In  FIG. 11 , a stripper mechanism is shown in which both sides  106 ′ and  108  are movable in response to an actuator mechanism including solenoids  112  and  112 ′ to achieve the desired curvature in the stripper tongue portion.  
         [0035]     The invention has been described in detail with particular reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, but it will be understood that variations and modifications can be effected within the spirit and scope of the invention.  
       PARTS LIST  
       [0000]    
       
           10 . film extraction apparatus  
           12 . film cartridge nest  
           14 . film cartridge  
           15 . support wall plate  
           16 . trough  
           17 . rotatable shaft tab  
           18 . magnetic cylinder  
           19 . cylindrical sheath  
           20 . film roll  
           21 . film cartridge core  
           22 . film tongue  
           30 . film extractor mechanism  
           32 . extractor blade  
           34 . film channel  
           36 . friction material  
           38 . skiving blade  
           40 . extractor blade spool  
           41 . drive pulleys  
           42 . timing belt  
           43 . film drive wheel  
           44 . drive pulleys  
           45  timing belt  
           50 . film stripper mechanism  
           51 . film stripper blade  
           52 . elongated tongue  
           52   a  natural curve in tongue  
           53 . aft portion of stripper blade  51   
           53   a  lateral wings in aft portion  
           54 . support structure  
           56 . mandrel  
           58 . L-shaped bracket  
           60 . support shafts  
           62 . pistons  
           64 . mounting block  
           66 . stripper actuator mechanism  
           68 . solenoid  
           70 . solenoid shaft  
           72 . stiffener bars  
           74 . stripper blade aft portion  
           76 . stripper blade lateral wings  
           78 . blade fasteners  
           80 . drive motor  
           81 ,  82  rack and pinion  
           90 . controller  
           100 . modified stripper blade  
           102  aft sides of stripper blade  100   
           104  sides of tongue portion  
           106  fixed channel side  
           108  movable channel side  
           110  channel base  
           112  solenoid  
           113  solenoid link