Eastman-Kodak Company

James A Oldfield

Paul C Ward

Leslie J Pummell

Stephen J Kingdon

It is known to use the leading edge of a film strip to guide the strip through processing apparatus. However, this leading edge may be damaged as the film is loaded into and unloaded out of a camera. Described herein is a film unloading device in which a curved guillotine blade (240) is used to provide a newly cut leading edge by which a film strip can be guided through processing apparatus. The guillotine blade (240) is reciprocated between a rest and an operative position by a motor which operates in one direction only. The blade (240) is mounted on a rotating drum (250) by means of a crank pin (258), the drum being rotated through 180.degree., in the direction indicated by arrow 252, to move the blade (240) from its rest to its operative position and then through a further 180.degree. to move the blade (240) back to its rest position.

Flexible guillotines

In some types of processing apparatus, there is a minimum length of film strip which can be processed. To overcome this problem, several film strips may be spliced together to provide the desired length and/or a leader attached to the leading edge of the film strip to guide it through the apparatus for processing. Described herein is a loading device which removes the need for splicing and attachment of leaders to the film strip prior to processing. The device allows a film to be automatically removed from its cassette and loaded into processing apparatus and comprises a housing in which a cassette unloading station (12), a film delivery station (14) connected to processing apparatus, a storage station (16), a film length measuring station (18), a direct film loading station (22), and a cutting station (24) are arranged. Pairs of transport rollers (26, 28) and (30, 32) are provided to transport the film through the device.

Photographic processing apparatus

It is well-known to use grooves to guide photographic material through processing apparatus. However, there is a tendency for debris to accumulate in the bottom of the grooves. Furthermore, the machining operation needed to form such grooves is complicated in particular where bends and changes in direction are required. Described herein is a guiding arrangement in which pairs of parallel plates (20, 22, 24, 26) are used to define a gap (30) through which material (40) is transported. The arrangement comprises an upper plate pair (20, 22) which is arranged to be offset with respect to a lower plate pair (24, 26), the plates in each pair being parallel to one another.

Guide apparatus

In some types of processing apparatus, there is a minimum length of film strip which can be processed. To overcome this problem, several film strips may be spliced together to provide the desired length and/or a leader attached to the leading edge of the film strip to guide it through the apparatus for processing. Described herein is a loading device (10) for photographic processing apparatus which allows a length of film (102) to be unloaded from its cassette (100) in a film unloading station, its length checked at a film length checking station (18), and passed to a storage station (16) prior to being directed to the processing apparatus. Any length of film not exceeding the minimum length requirement for the processing apparatus can be removed from the storage station thereby avoiding film jams because the film is too short to pass from one transport station to another in the processing apparatus.

Film length checking apparatus

Described herein is a film extraction unit for use in a loading device for photographic processing apparatus. The unit comprises an unloading station (12) into which a film cassette (100) is positioned with the film leader extending therefrom to lie between rollers (26, 28). Roller (26) is a pinch roller which engages with drive roller (28) to transport the film out of its cassette. Drive roller (28) is driven by a motor via a clutch arrangement so that once all the film (102) has been extracted from the cassette (100), the clutch will slip allowing the motor to continue to rotate whilst the drive roller (28) becomes stationary, thereby preventing damage to the film (102).

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Great Missenden, United Kingdom

James A Oldfield