Patent GB-1025483-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in and relating to photographic type composition
Inventor: MOYROUD LOUIS MARIUS
IPC: B41B17/08
Filed: 1962-11-08
Abstract: 1,025,483. Photographic type-composing apparatus. INTERNATIONAL PHOTON CORPORATION. Nov. 8, 1963 [Nov. 8, 1962], No. 42197/62. Heading B6W. Apparatus.-A fixed character matrix plate 2, Fig. 6 (not shown), is provided in association with a fixed aperture plate 6 having apertures 7. By movement of the matrix plate 2 against a return-spring 130 or 131, horizontally and/or vertically to engage fixed margins 114, 116, 118 or 120, one of six different parts may be selected, similarly to that described in Specification 905,105. In one embodiment, Fig. 2, the character plate 2 is provided with flash units 8, one for each character. Any character selectively illuminated by a flash is projected on to a lightsensitive surface at a point X. Eight lenses 10a to 10h, one per column of characters, are positioned between the point X and the matrix plate 2 and perform the first optical merger, effectively reducing the number of projected columns of characters to one column. The second optical merger of reducing the number of projected rows of characters to one is achieved with a reflecting block 12, which comprises a pair of parallel reflecting surfaces 15a, 15b, the distance between the surfaces being determined as explained in Specification 970,979. The magazine 20 containing the film is reciprocated between the positions indicated by broken lines 26 and 28 on the parallel rails 22. This motion is achieved with the tractor belts 22 and motor 32 and provides linewise movement of the film. Line spacing is achieved with a motor 52 operating through an electromagnetic clutch 48 to drive the wheel 46 attached to the shaft 44 of the take-up spool for the film. A grid 30 attached to the magazine 20 provides electrical pulses proportional to basic width units (i.e. E.W.U. or Units) with the aid of the optical system including a photo-electric device 42. In a second embodiment, Fig. 3 (not shown), the matrix plate 2, aperture plate 6 and reflecting block 12 providing the second optical merger are the same as in Fig. 2 above. The difference is that the magazine 20 is fixed and the lenses 10a to 10h reciprocate so that the image of a character illuminated at the plate 2 may take any position along the line of the film. The lenses are carried in a frame 62 which is continuously reciprocated by a driving finger 82 attached to a belt or chain 78 engaging a slot 80 provided in an extension of the frame 62. A similar driving system may be provided for the magazine 20 in Fig. 2. In order to confine the light striking the film to one character only and avoid the projection of parasitic images, a shutter blade 88 of flexible steel is provided with an aperture 89, Fig. 1 (not shown). The blade 88 is attached to a drum 84 at one end, runs around an idler roller 90, and is attached to a spring-loaded drum 91 at the other end. The frame 62, Fig. 3, drives a spring-loaded drum 86 around a pivot 85 through a band 83. The drum 84 is attached to drum 86 so that as the frame 62 moves, the shutter blade 88 moves at the same speed as the projected image. A grid 70, similar to the grid 30 in Fig. 2, is attached to the frame 62. In a third embodiment, Fig. 14 (not shown), which may be a modification of the embodiment of Fig. 2, a cathode-ray tube 402 is positioned so that the photo-sensitive cathode 403 is in the image plane of the image director. There is no reciprocating mechanism to control the character spacing. The yoke 404 of the tube 402 deflects the rays on to the screen to provide the character spacing. Images of characters, lines and pages are formed on the film contained in the magazine 410 by a mirror 406 and a lens 408. The images of characters can also be formed on the face of an iconoscope and closed loop television techniques utilized to form lines or pages on the face of a second cathode-ray tube. Justifying.-The apparatus described above can be operated by punched cards or magnetic or perforated tape. Fig. 10 (not shown) represents the loading and justifying circuit of the machine, utilizing perforated tape 152. The tape 152 representing an unjustified line of characters, is fed through the machine and each character code is transferred to a line storage unit 182. Each character, interword and shift code is decoded in input decoder 157 in order to give to each character a width expressed in Units as called for by a shift code and a width selection means which operates as described in Specification 807,752. The width of each character is added in a widths accumulator 180, which transfers the accumulated width value to the line storage unit 182 after the addition of each character, this accumulated width value being associated with its particular character code in the line storage. Means are provided to stop reading tape when an end-of-line signal is decoded, and the line is justified by increasing the accumulated width associated to the characters of the storage following the first interword space until the total accumulated width as represented by the last character of the line is equal to the desired length of line. If the text on the tape has not been divided into lines, no carriage return signals will be present. In this case, the circuit will look for a possible insertion of a hyphen (if the discretionary hyphen system as described in Specifications 910,783 and 956,968 is used) or the presence of an interword space. If none of these appear before the accumulator reaches full capacity, an alarm stops the tape reader and notifies the operator. As the line is read by the tape reader, 156, the codes are transferred by wires 160 to the shift register 386, Fig. 13 (not shown), of a display unit of known construction. A bank of contact keys 390 is provided adjacent the display unit block 388. One key associated with each displayed character returns the tape 152 back one step when depressed. The HYP key 392 causes a hyphen code to be entered into the tape reader 156, and the CR key 394 enters a carriage return code, signalling that the line can proceed. Assuming that a hyphen should be inserted between the N and I of the last word in a line, namely CONVENIENTLY, the operator runs his finger over the keys following the path 396 indicated in broken lines. Transcription.-Fig. 11 (not shown) represents the transcription circuit of the machine. A justified line is transferred from storage 182 to storage 302, Fig. 11. Each character code and its flash value is sequentially read and transferred to register 318 and decoder 322. The decoder 322 selects the flash unit 8 to be flashed and the exposure is made at an instance determined by agreement of the position of the image as determined by counting impulses generated photo-electrically by the grating 30 or 70 carried by the magazine 20, Fig. 2, or the frame 62, Fig. 3. When a line is made up of characters using different fonts, the line is traversed and character images of one particular font are exposed first, leaving the necessary blank spaces for subsequent exposures of character images of different fonts, when the line is traversed second and subsequent times to complete the full exposure of the line. In response to a flash, the register 318 is reset, cancelling the value of the character which has just been exposed. If no flash occurs the character and its flash value is returned to the line storage unit 302. Fig. 15 (not shown) represents a grid which differs from the pulse producing grids 30 and 70 used in Figs. 2 and 3 respectively. The length of the grid 500 is set out in Units, namely 1023. These Units are set out in binary fashion using 10 channels. A bank of 10 photoelectric cells a to k, Fig. 16 (not shown) are mounted behind the grid, and when the grid is in a particular position, e.g. the exposure point X at the position represented by the line 503, light sensed by the cells b, c, e, f, g, indicates that the film is at a position 118 Units from the beginning of the line. In this manner, the position of the film can be compared with character accumulated widths value in the line storage unit to control the flash units.