Grain spacing to light intensity translator for photographic enlargements

Claim 1

APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING A GRAY SCALE REPRESENTATION OF THE VARIATION IN THE AVERAGE SILVER GRAIN SPACING IN A LOW CONTRAST SPECTROGRAM, SAID SPECTROGRAM BEING IN THE FORM OF A PHOTOGRAPHIC TRANSPARENCY AND HAVING A WAVELENGTH AXIS WITH SPECTRAL LINES AT RIGHT ANGLES THERETO, SAID APPARATUS COMPRISING: A TRANSDUCER FOR CONVERTING INCIDENT LIGHT INTO AN ELECTRICAL SIGNAL OF MAGNITUDE PROPORTIONAL TO THE LIGHT INTENSITY; MEANS FOR ILLUMINATING SAID SPECTROGRAM WITH COLLIMATED MONOCHROMATIC LIGHT; AN OPAQUE PLATE HAVING A NARROW SLIT; MEANS FORMING AN IMAGE OF SAID ILLUMINATED SPECTROGRAM ON SAID PLATE WITH THE WAVELENGTH AXIS OF THE SPECTROGRAM NORMAL TO SAID NARROW SLIT; SAID ILLUMINATING MEANS, SAID SPECTROGRAM, SAID PLATE AND SAID TRANSDUCER BEING SO POSITIONED THAT LIGHT PASSING THROUGH THE SPECTROGRAM AND THE NARROW SLIT FALLS ON SAID TRANSDUCER; A MODULATABLE SOURCE OF MONOCHROMATIC LIGHT; A TRANSMISSION NETWORK HAVING AN ADJUSTABLE THRESHOLD AND AN AMPLIFIER CONNECTED IN CASCADE BETWEEN SAID TRANSDUCER AND SAID MODULATABLE LIGHT SOURCE; A PHOTOGRAPHIC PLATE; MEANS PROVIDING A LIGHT TRANSMITTING SLIT SITUATED BETWEEN SAID MODULATABLE LIGHT SOURCE AND SAID PHOTOGRAPHIC PLATE; A LENS SITUATED BETWEEN SAID SLIT AND SAID PHOTOGRAPHIC PLATE FOR FORMING AN IMAGE OF SAID SLIT OF PREDETERMINED WIDTH ON SAID PHOTOGRAPHIC PLATE; AND MEANS FOR SIMULTANEOUSLY MOVING SAID SPECTROGRAM AND SAID PHOTOGRAPHIC PLATE RELATIVE TO SAID NARROW SLIT AND SAID SLIT IMAGE, RESPECTIVELY, AT CONSTANT SPEEDS AND IN DIRECTIONS AT RIGHT ANGLES TO SAID SLIT AND SLIT IMAGE, THE RATIO OF THE SAID PREDETERMINED WIDTH OF SAID SLIT IMAGE TO THE WIDTH OF SAID NARROW SLIT BEING THE SAME AS THE RATIO OF THE SPEED OF SAID PHOTOGRAPHIC PLATE TO THE SPEED OF SAID SPECTROGRAM AND BEING GREATER THAN UNITY.