Apparatus for producing color separation negatives and the like

Claim 1

APPARATUS FOR RESOLUTION OF AN ORIGINAL MULTICOLORED IMAGE INTO A PLURALITY OF CORRESPONDING MONOCOLOR PHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGES, EACH OF SAID MONOCOLOR IMAGES BEING REPRESENTATIVE OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF ONE COMPLEMENTARY COLOR REQUIRED TO PRODUCE IN COMBINATION WITH THE OTHER MONOCOLOR IMAGES THE MULTICOLORS OF THE ORIGINAL IMAGE, WHICH APPARATUS COMPRISES MEANS FOR ILLUMINATING AND OPTICALLY SCANNING AN ORIGINAL MULTICOLORED IMAGE ELEMENT BY ELEMENT AND FOR RESOLVING THE LIGHT RECEIVED FROM THE ORIGINAL IMAGE INTO THE PRIMARY COLORS OF WHICH EACH ELEMENT OF THE ORIGINAL IMAGE IS COMPOSED, PHOTOELECTRIC MEANS FOR DEVELOPING A SEPARATE SIGNAL POTENTIAL PROPORTIONAL TO THE INTENSITY OF EACH OF THE PRIMARY COLORS INTO WHICH THE LIGHT FROM EACH ELEMENT OF THE ORIGINAL IMAGE IS RESOLVED, WHICH PHOTOELECTRIC MEANS FOR EACH COLOR COMPRISES A PHOTOELECTRON MULTIPLIER TUBE HAVING A LIGHT SENSITIVE PHOTO-CATHODE, A PLURALITY OF ELECTRON EMITTING DYNODES AND AN ANODE, A SOURCE OF REFERENCE POTENTIAL, MEANS FOR ENERGIZING SAID PHOTO-CATHODE AT A NEGATIVE POTENTIAL WITH RESPECT TO SAID REFERENCE POTENTIAL, MEANS FOR ENERGIZING SAID ANODE AT A POSITIVE POTENTIAL WITH RESPECT TO THE POTENTIAL OF SAID PHOTO-CATHODE, MEANS FOR ENERGIZING SAID DYNODES AT PROGRESSIVELY GREATER POTENTIALS WITHIN THE RANGE BETWEEN THE POTENTIAL OF SAID PHOTO-CATHODE AND THE REFERENCE POTENTIAL, SAID DYNODES BEING ARRANGED SUCH THAT THAT DYNODE AT THE LOWEST POTENTIAL RECEIVES ELECTRONS EMITTED BY SAID PHOTO-CATHODE AND EMITS ONE OR MORE SECONDARY ELECTRONS IN RESPONSE TO THE RECEIVED ELECTRON AND, FURTHER, SUCH THAT A DYNODE AT A HIGHER POTENTIAL RECEIVES ELECTRONS EMITTED BY THE DYNODE AT THE NEXT LOWER POTENTIAL AND EMITS AT LEAST ONE SECONDARY ELECTRON IN RESPONSE TO EACH RECEIVED ELECTRON, AN INDIVIDUAL COMPUTING CHANNEL FOR THE SIGNAL POTENTIAL DEVELOPED BY EACH OF SAID PHOTOELECTRIC MEANS, EACH OF SAID CHANNELS FURTHER COMPRISING MEANS RESPONSIVE TO THE SIGNAL POTENTIAL DEVELOPED BY THE PHOTOELECTRIC MEANS, WHICH RESPONSIVE MEANS COMPRISES A VACUUM TUBE HAVING AN ANODE, A GRID AND A CATHODE, SAID CATHODE BEING CONNECTED TO SAID SOURCE OF REFERENCE POTENTIAL, SAID ANODE BEING ENERGIZED AT A POTENTIAL POSITIVE WITH RESPECT TO SAID REFERENCE POTENTIAL, AND SAID GRID BEING CONNECTED TO ONE OF SAID DYNODES HAVING A POTENTIAL SUCH THAT THE CATHODE-GRID CURRENT OF SAID VACUUM TUBE IS LOGARITHMICALLY PROPORTIONAL TO THE POTENTIAL OF THE DYNODE CONNECTED TO THE GRID OF THE VACUUM TUBE, MEANS FOR DEVELOPING A SIGNAL POTENTIAL INVERSELY RELATED TO THE SIGNAL POTENTIAL PROPORTIONAL TO OPTICAL DENSITY OF SAID ORIGINAL IMAGE, AN ELECTRO-LUMINESCENT TRANSDUCER ENERGIZED BY SAID SIGNAL POTENTIAL INVERSELY RELATED TO OPTICAL DENSITY, MEANS FOR DIRECTING ALONG A PREDETERMINED PATH THE LIGHT EMANATING FROM THE ELECTRO-LUMINESCENT MEANS OF EACH CHANNEL, AND MEANS FOR MOUNTING A PHOTOSENSITIVE SURFACE SUCH THAT THERE IS RELATIVE MOTION, SYNCHRONIZED WITH SAID IMAGE SCANNING MEANS, BETWEEN SAID SURFACE AND THE LIGHT EMANATING FROM SAID ELECTRO-LUMINESCENT MEANS, WHEREBY THE PLATECATHODE CURRENT IN SAID VACUUM TUBE IS LOGARITHMICALLY PROPORTIONAL TO SAID SIGNAL POTENTIAL AND IS THEREFORE DIRECTLY PROPORTIONAL TO OPTICAL DENSITY OF THE PRIMARY COLOR OF THE ORIGINAL IMAGE TO WHICH THE PHOTOELECTRIC MEANS ASSOCIATED WITH THE PARTICULAR CHANNEL IS RESPONSIVE.