Daylight film splicer

Abstract

An apparatus for unloading a length of film from a cartridge, trimming the ends from the film, splicing the leading edge of the film to the trailing edge of the previously unloaded film, placing an identifying mark on the film and on an envelope and winding the film on a magazine. The unloading device allows the film to be removed from the cartridge by manually pulling the sheet of backing paper from the film in the daylight while shielding the film from light. The cartridge is locked to the loading device until all of the film in the cartridge has been loaded through a film guide into a storage box. The leading edge of the film is then trimmed by upward movement of a cutting blade allowing the film to advance through an aperture in the cutting blade until the trailing edge is trimmed by downward movement of the cutting blade. The splicer for securing the film to the previously unloaded film includes a heated press for applying heat and pressure to the film and to a length of conventional heat seal tape which is selectively fed from a reel positioned to one side of the film guide. An identifying number is then photographically recorded on the film while the same number is being printed on an envelope to insure proper registry of the film and envelope. The position of the film at various points is detected by infrared sensors, and the film is moved by stepping motors which are actuated by a microprocessor based control system responsive to inputs from the position sensors.