Patent GB-917837-A (GB)
Title: Improvements relating to justifying text photographically
Inventor: HIGONNET RENE ALPHONSE EUGENE
IPC: B41B13/08
Filed: 1958-09-03
Abstract: 917,837. Photographically justifying unjustified lines of text. INTERNATIONAL PHOTON CORPORATION. Oct. 14, 1959 [Sept. 3, 1958], No. 28256/58. Class 98 (1). Unjustified lines of text are justified photographically by mounting a sheet bearing the unjustified text on a first support; illuminating a line of the text; determining from the line the space adjustments required to be made to the interword spaces to bring the line to a justified length; effecting continuous relative movement between the illuminated line and an optical projection system to project progressively without interruption an image of the line on to a light-sensitive surface carried by a second support; detecting during said continuous relative movement, by means of an electrically operating photo-sensitive device, the positions of the interword spaces ; and effecting at said positions relative movement between the text-bearing sheet and the light-sensitive surface to incorporate in said positions the required space adjustments. Unjustified line production.-On depression of a chosen key 42 of a typewriter, preferably an electric one having a power-driven actuator as in U.S.A. Specification 2,254,764, an associated lever 2 is drawn down into the path of a continuously driven star-shaped roller 1 which actuates the appropriate type impression lever 22 via a linkage including a bell-crank or lever 4. The keyboard is provided with an interlock comprising rockers 46 as in Specification 704,825 to prevent simultaneous operation of more than one key and each key is provided with a pivoted latch lever 12 engageable with a plate 13 extending across the keyboard and rockable on energization of an electromagnet 17 to free the latch lever. Each bell-crank lever 4 is connected by a link 5 to a second bell-crank 6 which closes contacts 62, 64 for controlling, respectively, spacing and photographing of the selected character. A bell-crank 6 and contacts 62, 64 are provided also for operation by the space bar, the interword space being accompanied by an identifiable mark on the film clear of the characters in the line. Closure of contacts 64 applies a potential to an appropriate terminal 104 on a fixed insulating disc 102 scanned by a continuously rotating brush 106 on a sleeve 108 connected by a wire 110 through contacts 160 when operated to wire 111 and thence to a mechanism 74 for applying thereto a broad gating pulse, the mechanism 74 controlling the instant at which the lamp 114 is flashed to select the required character on the continuously rotating disc 116 moving in step with the brush 106, as described in Specification 669,609. To prevent this pulse being applied erroneously due to the brush accidentally finding the chosen contact 104 at the moment that the key is operated, the potential via contacts 64 is applied also to a relay 76 controlling the contacts 160 so that if this accidental engagement of brush and key occurs relay 76 is shortcircuited and the contacts 160 remain in the unoperated state shown until the engagement is broken. A photo-cell 122 activated by pulses of light produced by a peripheral array of timing slits controls the mechanism 74 so that a pulse is sent over wire 113 and the lamp 114 is flashed only when a character on the disc is properly located in the projection position, so that when brush 106 and the chosen terminal 104 engage the chosen character is recorded in the proper attitude on the film 138 by means of an optical system with a travelling prism as in Specification 691,763. The collimating lens 124 may be carried on a turret to permit change of point size and the disc 116 may carry several different fonts of characters selected as described in Specification 706,690. Meanwhile closure of contacts 62 has applied a voltage to " style card " 78 and " set card " 80 as in Specification 807,752 to give an output on wires 150 of cable 151 representing in binary form the width of the character in the chosen style and size, each energized wire operating a relay 82 each of which closes switches 146, 148, switches 148 closing holding circuits for the relays while switches 146 prepare for the energization of the appropriate solenoids 84 . . . 98 controlling the escapement 100 which moves the prism unit 128 to effect along the line spacing, the escapement being of the kind described in Specifications 794,499 or 846,261. Immediately following the pulse over wire 113 energizing the printing lamp 114, a pulse is applied over wire 115 energizing relay 72 and slugged relay 70 so that contact 154 opens before contact 158 closes and contact 156 closes to form holding circuits for the two relays. When relay 72 operates, contact 152 closes so that the escapement solenoids are energized and the escapement 100 is operated to effect spacing and contacts 144, 162 of the energized solenoids open to break the holding circuits for the relays 70, 72 which release. Thereupon contact 154 recloses before contact 158 opens, so energizing the electromagnet 17 which releases the latch for the operated key lever 63 only after spacing has been effected. Means are provided for perforating or marking photographically the film in a position preceding the start of each unjustified line with a binary code representing the line deficit relative to a chosen justified length. Producing justified copy from unjustified line.-The developed film 138 is placed in a magazine 174 where the film is identified as 182, the magazine being supported on a carriage 186 normally located by a ball catch 188 but movable along rails 226 to allow exchange with a carriage 230 supporting a magazine containing a film bearing corrections. Means in the magazine 174 sense the code indicia on the film 182 signifying the line deficit and this value is stored on a counter AC. An optical carriage 232 projecting images of the characters on the film 182 on to a light-sensitive film 200 in a magazine 176 on a carriage 204 is movable along rails 222, 224 by a rack-and-pinion driven by a motor 240 to allow a photo-cell 216 in the carriage 232 to count the interword indicating marks on the film 182, the count being registered on counter CI. When the photo-cell has traversed the width of the film 182, the carriage 232 closes a switch 250 to initiate the justification calculation in which a computer CP divides the line deficit by the number of interwords, the quotient Q being set on switch SZ while the remainder R is set on switch PR. When the calculation is completed the carriage 232 is returned to its starting position and the film 200 is progressively exposed to the projected image of the line on film 182 which is illuminated by lamp 178, the interword responses of the photo-cell 216 being diverted by closure of the open contacts in Fig. 4 to the switches SZ and PR to operate the escapement VE which moves the carriage 204 to provide justifying interword spaces, there being inserted in addition to the standard interword space provided on the film 182 increments for R spaces of (Q+ 1) units, the increments for the remaining spaces being of Q units as described in Specification 691,738. Instead of employing minimum standard interwords and positive justifying increments, maximum standard interwords and " negative increments," i.e. reductions, may be employed. The light-sensitive films employed may be such as to give a direct visual image on exposure facilitating proof reading of the film 138, or a silver or dye image on development. Specifications 669,531 and 669,556 also are referred to.