Film exposing machine for making negatives

Claim 2

A film-exposing machine comprising a table having an unexposed film-supporting planar surface, means for maintaining the film against the surface, a support mounted for planar movement at least along an axis and on which the table is mounted for movement therewith, light source means for directing a beam of light onto said film an aperture wheel mounted between said source and film to have a peripheral arcuate portion disposed in the path of the beam, said wheel having a plurality of apertures with there being a different shape to each of said apertures and means for indexing the aperture wheel to position the desired shaped aperture in the path of the beam to thereby control the shape of the beam striking the film to form an image with at least the peripheral portion of the wheel having the desired shaped aperture being closely spaced from the supporting surface to minimize divergence of the light beam passing through the aperture onto the portion of the film positioned just beyond the aperture and in which there is a plate for supporting the aperture wheel and means for supporting the plate for pivotal movement, whereby said plate may be pivoted to a position near the film-supporting surface and away from the film-supporting surface to permit access to the said surface.

Claim 3

A film-exposing machine comprising a table having an unexposed film-supporting planar surface, means for maintaining the film against the surface, a support mounted for planar movement at least along an axis and on which the table is mounted for movement therewith, light source means for directing a beam of light onto said film, an aperture wheel mounted between said source and film to have a peripheral arcuate portion disposed in the path of the beam, said wheel having a plurality of apertures with there being a different shape to each of said apertures and means for indexing the aperture wheel to position the desired shape aperture in the path of the beam to thereby control the shape of the beam striking the film to form an image with at least the peripheral portion of the wheel having the desired shaped aperture being closely spaced from the supporting surface to minimize divergence of the light beam passing through the aperture onto the portion of the film positioned just beyond the aperture and in which the indexing means includes a stepping motor, means directly connecting the aperture wheel to the motor and in which the motor moves a selectEd number of steps to position another aperture in the path of the light beam.

Claim 4

A film-exposing machine comprising a table having an unexposed film-supporting planar surface, means for maintaining the film against the surface, a support mounted for planar movement at least along an axis and on which the table is mounted for movement therewith, light source means for directing a beam of light onto said film, an aperture wheel mounted between said source and film to have a peripheral arcuate portion disposed in the path of the beam, said wheel having a plurality of apertures with there being a different shape to each of said apertures and means for indexing the aperture wheel to position the desired shape aperture in the path of the beam to thereby control the shape of the beam striking the film to form an image with at least the peripheral portion of the wheel having the desired shaped aperture being closely spaced from the supporting surface to minimize divergence of the light beam passing through the aperture onto the portion of the film positioned just beyond the aperture and in which the indexing means includes a stepping motor, means directly connecting the aperture wheel to the motor and in which the motor moves a selectEd number of steps to position another aperture in the path of the light beam.

Claim 5

A film-exposing machine comprising a table having an unexposed film-supporting planar surface, means for maintaining the film against the surface, a support mounted for planar movement at least along an axis and on which the table is mounted for movement therewith, light source means for directing a beam of light onto said film, an aperture wheel mounted between said source and film to have a peripheral arcuate portion disposed in the path of the beam, said wheel having a plurality of apertures with there being a different shape to each of said apertures and means for indexing the aperture wheel to position the desired shaped aperture in the path of the beam to thereby control the shape of the beam striking the film to form an image with at least the peripheral portion of the wheel having the desired shaped aperture being closely spaced from the supporting surface to minimize divergence of the light beam passing through the aperture onto the portion of the film positioned just beyond the aperture and in which the light source means includes an electric bulb and adjustable means for energizing the bulb to alter the intensity of the light from the bulb with the adjustable means being interconnected with the indexing means to alter the intensity with respect to at least some of the apertures being aligned with the beam and means for enabling said adjustable means to be effective to regulate the light intensity only when some of the apertures are aligned with the beam.

Claim 6

A film-exposing machine comprising a table having an unexposed film-supporting planar surface, means for maintaining the film against the surface, a support mounted for planar movement at least along an axis and on which the table is mounted for movement therewith, light source means for directing a beam of light onto said film, an aperture wheel mounted between said source and film to have a peripheral arcuate portion disposed in the path of the beam, said wheel having a plurality of apertures with there being a different shape to each of said apertures and means for indexing the aperture wheel to position the desired shaped aperture in the path of the beam to thereby control the shape of the beam striking the film to form an image with at least the peripheral portion of the wheel having the desired shaped aperture being closely spaced from the supporting surface to minimize divergence of the light beam passing through the aperture onto the portion of the film positioned just beyond the aperture and in which the light source means includes an electric bulb and adjustable means for energizing the bulb to alter the intensity of the light from the bulb with the adjustable means being interconnected with the indexing means to alter the intensity with respect to at least some of the apertures being aligned with the beam and means for enabling said adjustable means to be effective to regulate the light intensity only when some of the apertures are aligned with the beam.

Claim 7

A film -exposing machine comprising a table having an unexposed film-supporting planar surface, means for maintaining the film against the surface, a support mounted for planar movement at least along an axis and on which the table is mounted for movement therewith, light source means for directing a beam of light onto said film, an aperture wheel mounted between said source and film to have a peripheral arcuate portion disposed in the path of the beam, said wheel having a plurality of apertures with there being a different shape to each of said apertures and means for indexing the aperture wheel to position the desired shaped aperture in the path of the beam to thereby control the shape of the beam striking the film to form an image with at least the peripheral portion of the wheel having the desired shaped aperture being closely spaced from the supporting surface to minimize divergence of the light beam passing through the aperture onto the portion of the film positioned just beyond the aperture and in which the means for relatively moving the table and wheel includes a first motor operable to control movement on one axis and a second motor operable to control movement on the other axis, shutter means interposed between the light source and the aperture wheel and including means for moving the shutter means to either an open beam passing position or a closed beam blocking position; in which there are means for translating programmed instructions to the axes motors, the indexing means and the shutter means to effect automatic control over their operation; and in which the motors relatively move the table along their respective axes at a preselected speed and in which there are means for decreasing the speed of the table when the table is being moved at an angle to the axes by both motors being simultaneously energized.

Claim 8

A film -exposing machine comprising a table having an unexposed film-supporting planar surface, means for maintaining the film against the surface, a support mounted for planar movement at least along an axis and on which the table is mounted for movement therewith, light source means for directing a beam of light onto said film, an aperture wheel mounted between said source and film to have a peripheral arcuate portion disposed in the path of the beam, said wheel having a plurality of apertures with there being a different shape to each of said apertures and means for indexing the aperture wheel to position the desired shaped aperture in the path of the beam to thereby control the shape of the beam striking the film to form an image with at least the peripheral portion of the wheel having the desired shaped aperture being closely spaced from the supporting surface to minimize divergence of the light beam passing through the aperture onto the portion of the film positioned just beyond the aperture and in which the means for relatively moving the table and wheel includes a first motor operable to control movement on one axis and a second motor operable to control movement on the other axis, shutter means interposed between the light source and the aperture wheel and including means for moving the shutter means to either an open beam passing position or a closed beam blocking position; in which there are means for translating programmed instructions to the axes motors, the indexing means and the shutter means to effect automatic control over their operation; and in which the motors relatively move the table along their respective axes at a preselected speed and in which there are means for decreasing the speed of the table when the table is being moved at an angle to the axes by both motors being simultaneously energized.