Patent Publication Number: US-2011063599-A1

Title: Film holder

Description:
This application claims the benefit of People&#39;s Republic of China application Serial No. 200920169692.7, filed Sep. 12, 2009, the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The invention relates in general to a film holder, and more particularly to a film holder applied in a film scanning device for amending the film deformation and for avoiding the film from being scratched. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Nowadays, various image scanning devices have been widely used in work or everydayness. Examples of the image scanning devices include flatbed scanners or portable scanners with film scanning function, or apparatus capable of converting films, such as positives, negatives, slides and reversal films, into electronic images. During scanning of a film, the user normally places the film into a film holder and inserts the film holder into the scanning device; and scanning of the film is completed via a drive device and a light source. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , a schematic diagram of a film holder  1  according to the prior art is shown. The film holder  1  is for carrying a to-be-scanned film. The film holder  1  includes an input portion  11  and a guiding portion  12 . 
     During scanning, the film holder  1  is inserted into the film scanning device. The film passes through the input portion  11  and the guiding slot  120  of the guiding portion  12 . However, during movement, the film in severe deformation rubs with the input portion  11 , for example, at the position  10  of  FIG. 1 . The film may be scratched and damaged, hence negatively affecting the quality of image scanning. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY 
     To resolve the above problems, according to embodiments of the invention, a leveling device is disposed in the film holder for adjusting the deformation of the film in the film holder. So that the sensing unit can stably sense the to-be-scanned object. The to-be-scanned object inside the film holder is kept from being scratched; and the to-be-scanned object is in smooth move during scanning. 
     One possible embodiment of the invention provides a film holder for carrying the to-be-scanned object. During scanning of the to-be-scanned object, the film holder is inserted into a scanning device. The film holder includes an input portion, a guiding portion and a leveling portion. The input portion has an entrance, a channel and an exit, wherein the channel is disposed between the entrance and the exit. During scanning of the to-be-scanned object, the to-be-scanned object passes through the channel. The guiding portion connects to the input portion for guiding the to-be-scanned object. The leveling portion is disposed on one side of the channel. During scanning of the to-be-scanned object, the leveling portion leans against the to-be-scanned object. 
     According to the film holder of the embodiment of the invention, the leveling portion is realized by a cylinder having a rotatable shaft fixed at the input portion. Alternatively, the leveling portion is realized by a slide block disposed at the input portion. 
     According to the film holder of the embodiment of the invention, the width of the leveling portion is larger than or equal to that of the channel. Alternatively, the leveling portion is disposed along a center of a width direction of the channel. 
     According to the film holder of the embodiment of the invention, the input portion includes an incoming surface disposed at the entrance and is further extended to the channel. Furthermore, the input portion further includes an upper cover; and the channel is surrounded by the upper cover and the incoming surface. 
     Furthermore, the leveling portion is disposed on the upper cover; and during scanning of the to-be-scanned object, the to-be-scanned object passes between the leveling portion and the incoming surface. 
     Furthermore, the input portion further includes a protrusion disposed on the upper cover; and when the film holder is inserted into the scanning device, the protrusion leans against the scanning device. 
     According to the film holder of the embodiment of the invention, a slide boosting coating is formed on the guiding portion. Further, the slide boosting coating is a PTFE layer. 
     According to the film holder of the embodiment of the invention, a blocker is further disposed at one end of the guiding portion far away from the input portion. The blocker has a bevel. When the film holder is inserted into the scanning device, the bevel leans against the scanning device. 
     Embodiments of the invention effectively avoid the to-be-scanned object inside the film holder from being scratched, and make the to-be-scanned object move smoothly during scanning 
     It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the disclosed embodiments, as claimed. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  shows a schematic diagram of a prior film holder; 
         FIG. 2  shows a schematic diagram of a film holder according to an embodiment of the invention; 
         FIG. 3  shows operations of the film holder according to the embodiment of the invention; 
         FIG. 4  shows a schematic diagram of a first example of a leveling portion according to the embodiment of  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 5  shows a schematic diagram of a second example of a leveling portion according to the embodiment of  FIG. 2 ; and 
         FIG. 6  shows a structural diagram of a scanning device according to another embodiment of the invention, wherein a film holder is inserted into the scanning device. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION 
     Objects, structures, characteristics and functions of embodiments of the invention are disclosed below with accompanying drawings. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3 .  FIG. 2  shows a schematic diagram of a film holder  2  according to an embodiment of the invention.  FIG. 3  shows operations of the film holder  2  according to the embodiment of the invention. The film holder  2  is for carrying a to-be-scanned film  20 . During scanning of the film, the film holder  2  is inserted into a scanning device  200  (not illustrated in  FIG. 2  but partially illustrated in  FIG. 3 ). The scanning device  200  includes a driving roller  201  for driving the film  20  to move along a first direction X. The film holder  2  includes an input portion  21 , a guiding portion  22  and a leveling portion  23 . The input portion  21  has an entrance  210 , a channel  211  and an exit  212 , wherein the channel  211  is disposed between the entrance  210  and the exit  212 . During scanning of the film, the film  20  passes through the channel  211 . The guiding portion  22  connects to the input portion  21  for guiding the film  20 . For example, the guiding portion  22  is disposed at the exit  212 , but the invention is not limited thereto. In other possible embodiments, the guiding portion  22  could be made from metal or plastics. The guiding portion  22  is fixed on the input portion  21 , or integrally formed in one piece with the input portion  21 . In other possible embodiment, a slide boosting coating is formed on the guiding portion  22  for reducing the friction between the film  20  and the guiding portion  22 . In practical application, the slide boosting coating could be realized by a PTFE layer. In other possible embodiment, the guiding portion  22  could include two guiding slots  220  opposite to each other. Two lateral sides of the film are respectively received in the two guiding slots  220  of the guiding slot  220 . The image region (or the center region) of the film is located between the two guiding slots  220 . The guiding slots  220  and the channel  211  are interconnected. 
     The leveling portion  23  is disposed on one side of the channel  211 . During scanning, the leveling portion  23  leans against the film  20  for keeping the film leveled. As indicated in  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3 , the leveling portion  23  is disposed on an upper side of the channel  211 . In other words, the leveling portion  23  and the driving roller  201  are disposed on different sides of the film  20 . In practical application, the leveling portion  23  could be independent, or integrally formed in one piece with the guiding portion  22 , so as to level the film. 
     Referring to  FIG. 4 , a schematic diagram of the leveling portion  23  according to the embodiment of  FIG. 2  is shown. The width W 1  of the leveling portion  23  is larger than or equal to that of the channel  211 ; and further the width W 1  is larger than or equal to the width W 2  of the film  20 . In practical application, preferably, the leveling portion  23  is realized by a cylinder whose rotating shaft is fixed at the input portion  21 , so as to avoid the surface of the film  20  from being scratched due to the friction between the film  20  and the input portion  21 . Also, the leveling portion  23  could be realized by a slide block disposed on the input portion  21 . However, the contact surface between the slide block and the film are smooth for reducing the sliding friction. 
     Referring to  FIG. 5 , another schematic diagram of the leveling portion  23 ′ according to the embodiment of  FIG. 2  is shown. The leveling portion  23 ′ is disposed along a center of the width direction Y of the channel  211 . In comparison to the leveling portion  23 , the position of the leveling portion  23 ′ is described but the width thereof is not described. In general, the film  20 , if deformed, usually curls up from the center. So, the position of the leveling portion  23 ′ corresponds to the curved center of the film for enhancing leveling of the film. The leveling portion  23 ′ could be realized by a cylinder or a slide block, and the similarities between the leveling portion  23 ′ and the leveling portion  23  are not repeated here. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3  again. In an embodiment, the input portion  21  includes an incoming surface  213  disposed at the entrance  210 ; and the incoming surface  213  is further extended to the channel  211 . The input portion  21  further includes an upper cover  214  and the channel  211  is surrounded by the upper cover  214  and the incoming surface  213 . In practical application, the leveling portion  23  is disposed on the upper cover  214 . During scanning, the film  20  passes between the leveling portion  23  and the incoming surface  213 . To increase the friction between the film  20  and the driving roller  201  inside the scanning device  200  so that the driving roller  201  can easily drive the film  20 , the input portion  21  further includes a protrusion  215  disposed on the upper cover  214 . When the film holder  2  is inserted into the scanning device  200 , the protrusion  215  leans against the scanning device  200 . For example, the protrusion  215  leans against the housing (not illustrated in  FIG. 3 ) of the scanning device  200 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 6 , a structural diagram of a scanning device  600  according to another embodiment of the invention is shown, wherein a film holder  6  is inserted into the scanning device  600 . The film holder  6  includes an input portion  61 , a guiding portion  62  and a leveling portion. The similarities between the film holder  6  of the present embodiment and the film holder of the above embodiment are not repeated here. The film holder  6  further includes a blocker  64  disposed at one end of the guiding portion  62  far away from the input portion  61 . The blocker  64  has a bevel  640 . When the film holder  6  is inserted into the scanning device  600 , the bevel  640  leans against the scanning device  600 . For example, the bevel  640  leans against the passive roller  601  inside the scanning device  600 , so that the passive roller  601  and the bevel  640  generate a pushing force to assist element positioning and to increase the hand feeling. 
     The film holder of the above embodiments of the invention could also be used for carrying other to-be-scanned objects such as a film with a positive, and the invention is not limited thereto. 
     Embodiments of the invention effectively avoid the to-be-scanned object inside the film holder from being scratched, and make the to-be-scanned object move smoothly during scanning, hence improving the quality of scanned image. 
     It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes could be made to the disclosed embodiments described above without departing from the broad inventive concept thereof. It is understood, therefore, that the disclosed embodiments are not limited to the particular examples disclosed, but is intended to cover modifications within the spirit and scope of the disclosed embodiments as defined by the claims that follow.