Microfilm camera

Claim 2

A microfilm camera comprising: a lightproof housing, a supply reel containing microfilm in roll form, an aperture plate having an aperture therein, said microfilm passing adjacent said aperture, means optically imaging desired information on said microfilm through said aperture, frame advance means for moving said microfilm a predetermined amount relative to said aperture on demand, supply means independent of said frame advance means for supplying said microfilm from said supply reel under substantially constant tension in response to the movement of said microfilm by said frame advance means, a take-up reel and take-up means independent of said frame advance means for takingup said microfilm on said take-up reel under substantially constant tension in response to the movement of said microfilm by said frame advance means.

Claim 3

Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said supply means comprises a supply drive roller, said microfilm passing over said supply drive roller, a supply drive motor rotatably mounted to said supply drive roller, a pivotally mounted idler arm engaging said microfilm, said idler arm being disposed between said supply drive roller and said frame advance means along the path of said microfilm, means resiliently biasing said idler arm along its arcuate path, and means energizing said supply drive motor in response to the arcuate position of said idler arm.

Claim 4

Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said take-up means comprises a take-up drive roller, said microfilm passing over said take-up drive roller, a take-up drive motor rotatably mounted to said take-up drive roller, a pivotally mounted idler arm engaging said microfilm, said idler arm being disposed between said frame advance means and said take-up drive roller along the path of said microfilm, means resiliently biasing said idler arm along its arcuate path, and means energizing said take-up drive motor in response to the arcuate position of said idler arm.

Claim 5

A microfilm camera comprising: a lightproof housing, a supply reel containing microfilm in roll form, said supply reel being rotatably mounted by a drag brake mechanism within said housing, a take-up reel rotatably mounted by a slip clutch mechanism within said housing, said microfilm passing along a path from said supply reel to said take-up reel, imaging means for optically imaging desired information on said microfilm at a location along said path, frame advance means for advancing said microfilm relative to said imaging means on demand, said frame advance means being disposed between said imaging means and said take-up reel along said path, supply means independent of said frame advance means for supplying said microfilm from said supply reel under substantially constant tension in response to the movement of said microfilm by said frame advance means, said supply means being disposed between said supply reel and said imaging means along said path, and take-up means independent of said frame advance means for taking-up said microfilm on said take-up reel under substantially constant tension in response to the movement of said microfilm by said frame advance means, said take-up means being disposed between said frame advance means and said take-up reel along said path.

Claim 6

A microfilm camera comprising: a lightproof housing, a supply reel containing microfilm in roll form, said supply reel being rotatably mounted by a drag brake mechanism within said housing, a take-up reel rotatably mounted by a slip clutch mechanism within said housing, said microfilm passing along a path from said supply reel to said take-up reel, imaging means for optically imaging desired information on said microfilm at a location along said path, frame advance means for advancing said microfilm relative to said imaging means on demand, said frame advance means being disposed between said imaging means and said take-up reel along said path, supply means independent of said frame advance means for supplying said microfilm from said supply reel under substantially constant tension in response to the movement of said microfilm by said frame advance means, said supply means being disposed between said supply reel and said imaging means along said path, and take-up means independent of said frame advance means for taking-up said microfilm on said take-up reel under substantially constant tension in response to the movement of said microfilm by said frame advance means, said take-up means being disposed between said frame advance means and said take-up reel along said path.

Claim 7

Apparatus according to claim 4 wherein said imaging means comprises an aperture plate having an aperture therein, a pressure plate disposed adjacent said aperture plate, said microfilm passing between said aperture plate and said pressure plate, means resiliently urging said pressure plate towards said aperture plate, and optical means imaging desired information on said microfilm through said aperture.

Claim 8

Apparatus according to claim 5 wherein said resilient urging means comprises a bi-stable spring disposed behind said pressure plate, said spring urging said pressure plate towards said aperture plate.

Claim 9

A microfilm camera comprising: a light-proof housing, a supply reel containing microfilm in roll form, an aperture plate having an aperture therein, said microfilm passing adjacent said aperture, means optically imaging desired information on said microfilm through said aperture, a frame advance roller, said microfilm passing over said frame advance roller, a servomotor rotatably connected to said frame advance roller, a shaft encoder rotatably connected to said servomotor, control circuit means for applying voltage to said servomotor, on demand, in response to the output signal of said shaft encoder to move said microfilm a predetermined amount relative to said aperture, supply means for supplying said microfilm from said supply reel under substantially constant tension in response to the movement of said microfilm by said frame advance roller, a take-up reel and take-up means for taking-up said microfilm on said take-up reel under substantially constant tension in response to the movement of said microfilm by said frame advance roller.

Claim 10

A microfilm camera comprising: a light-proof housing, a supply reel containing microfilm in roll form, an aperture plate having an aperture therein, said microfilm passing adjacent said aperture, means optically imaging desired information on said microfilm through said aperture, a frame advance roller, said microfilm passing over said frame advance roller, a servomotor rotatably connected to said frame advance roller, a shaft encoder rotatably connected to said servomotor, control circuit means for applying voltage to said servomotor, on demand, in response to the output signal of said shaft encoder to move said microfilm a predetermined amount relative to said aperture, supply means for supplying said microfilm from said supply reel under substantially constant tension in response to the movement of said microfilm by said frame advance roller, a take-up reel and take-up means for taking-up said microfilm on said take-up reel under substantially constant tension in response to the movement of said microfilm by said frame advance roller.

Claim 11

Apparatus according to claim 7 wherein said control circuit means includes means for generating pulses in response to the output signal of said shaft encoder, means for counting said pulses, and means for varying the voltage applied to said servomotor in response to the sum of said pulses.

Claim 12

A microfilm camera comprising: a light-proof housing, a supply reel containing microfilm in roll form, an aperture plate having an aperture theRein, said microfilm passing adjacent said aperture, means optically imaging desired information on said microfilm through said aperture, frame advance means for moving said microfilm a predetermined amount relative to said aperture on demand, a supply drive roller, said microfilm passing over said supply drive roller, a supply drive motor rotatably mounted to said supply drive roller, a pivotally mounted idler arm engaging said microfilm, said idler arm being disposed between said supply drive roller and said frame advance means along the path of said microfilm, means resiliently biasing said idler arm along its arcuate path, an arm having a magnet thereon pivotally connected to said idler arm, and a magnetically-actuated reed switch disposed at a predetermined position relative to the arcuate path of said arm, said switch energizing said supply drive motor in response to the arcuate position of said idler arm to supply said microfilm from said supply reel under substantially constant tension in response to the movement of said microfilm by said frame advance means, a take-up reel and take-up means for taking-up said microfilm on said take-up reel under substantially constant tension in response to the movement of said microfilm by said frame advance means.

Claim 13

A microfilm camera comprising: a light-proof housing, a supply reel containing microfilm in roll form, an aperture plate having an aperture theRein, said microfilm passing adjacent said aperture, means optically imaging desired information on said microfilm through said aperture, frame advance means for moving said microfilm a predetermined amount relative to said aperture on demand, a supply drive roller, said microfilm passing over said supply drive roller, a supply drive motor rotatably mounted to said supply drive roller, a pivotally mounted idler arm engaging said microfilm, said idler arm being disposed between said supply drive roller and said frame advance means along the path of said microfilm, means resiliently biasing said idler arm along its arcuate path, an arm having a magnet thereon pivotally connected to said idler arm, and a magnetically-actuated reed switch disposed at a predetermined position relative to the arcuate path of said arm, said switch energizing said supply drive motor in response to the arcuate position of said idler arm to supply said microfilm from said supply reel under substantially constant tension in response to the movement of said microfilm by said frame advance means, a take-up reel and take-up means for taking-up said microfilm on said take-up reel under substantially constant tension in response to the movement of said microfilm by said frame advance means.

Claim 14

A microfilm camera comprising: a light-proof housing, a supply reel containing microfilm in roll form, an aperture plate having an aperture therein, said microfilm passing adjacent said aperture, means optically imaging desired information on said microfilm through said aperture, frame advance means for moving said microfilm a predetermined amount relative to said aperture on demand, supply means for supplying said microfilm from said supply reel under substantially constant tension in response to the movement of said microfilm by said frame advance means, a take-up reel, a take-up drive motor rotatably mounted to said take-up drive roller, a pivotally mounted idler arm engaging said microfilm, said idler arm being disposed between said frame advance means and said take-up drive roller along the path of said microfilm, means resiliently biasing said idler arm along its arcuate path, an arm having a magnet thereon pivotally connected to said idler arm, and a magnetically-actuated reed switch disposed at a predetermined position relative to the arcuate position of said arm, said switch energizing said take-up drive motor in response to the arcuate position of said idler arm to take-up said microfilm on said take-up reel under substantially constant tension in response to the movement of said microfilm by said frame advance means.

Claim 15

A microfilm camera comprising: a light-proof housing, a supply reel containing microfilm in roll form, an aperture plate having an aperture therein, said microfilm passing adjacent said aperture, means optically imaging desired information on said microfilm through said aperture, frame advance means for moving said microfilm a predetermined amount relative to said aperture on demand, supply means for supplying said microfilm from said supply reel under substantially constant tension in response to the movement of said microfilm by said frame advance means, a take-up reel, a take-up drive motor rotatably mounted to said take-up drive roller, a pivotally mounted idler arm engaging said microfilm, said idler arm being disposed between said frame advance means and said take-up drive roller along the path of said microfilm, means resiliently biasing said idler arm along its arcuate path, an arm having a magnet thereon pivotally connected to said idler arm, and a magnetically-actuated reed switch disposed at a predetermined position relative to the arcuate position of said arm, said switch energizing said take-up drive motor in response to the arcuate position of said idler arm to take-up said microfilm on said take-up reel under substantially constant tension in response to the movement of said microfilm by said frame advance means.

Claim 16

A microfilm camera comprising: a light-proof housing, a supply reel containing microfilm in roll form, said supply reel being rotatably mounted by a drag brake mechanism within said housing, a take-up reel rotatably mounted by a slip clutch mechanism within said housing, said microfilm passing along a path from said supply reel to said take-up reel, imaging means for optically imaging desired information on said microfilm at a location along said path, a frame advance roller disposed between said imaging means and said take-up reel along said path, said microfilm passing over said frame advance roller, a servomotor rotatably connected to said frame advance roller, a shaft encoder rotatably connected to said servomotor, control circuit means for applying voltage to said servomotor, on demand, in response to the output signal of said shaft encoder to advance said microfilm relative to said imaging means on demand, supply means for supplying said microfilm from said supply reel under substantially constant tension in response to the movement of said microfilm by said frame advance roller, said supply means being disposed between said supply reel and said imaging means along said path, and take-up means for taking-up said microfilm on said take-up reel under substantially constant tension in response to the movement of said microfilm by said frame advance roller, said take-up means being disposed between saiD frame advance roller and said take-up reel along said path.

Claim 17

A microfilm camera comprising: a light-proof housing, a supply reel containing microfilm in roll form, said supply reel being rotatably mounted by a drag brake mechanism within said housing, a take-up reel rotatably mounted by a slip clutch mechanism within said housing, said microfilm passing along a path from said supply reel to said take-up reel, imaging means for optically imaging desired information on said microfilm at a location along said path, a frame advance roller disposed between said imaging means and said take-up reel along said path, said microfilm passing over said frame advance roller, a servomotor rotatably connected to said frame advance roller, a shaft encoder rotatably connected to said servomotor, control circuit means for applying voltage to said servomotor, on demand, in response to the output signal of said shaft encoder to advance said microfilm relative to said imaging means on demand, supply means for supplying said microfilm from said supply reel under substantially constant tension in response to the movement of said microfilm by said frame advance roller, said supply means being disposed between said supply reel and said imaging means along said path, and take-up means for taking-up said microfilm on said take-up reel under substantially constant tension in response to the movement of said microfilm by said frame advance roller, said take-up means being disposed between saiD frame advance roller and said take-up reel along said path.

Claim 18

Apparatus according to claim 11 wherein said control circuit means includes means for generating pulses in response to the output signal of said shaft encoder, means for counting said pulses, and means for varying the voltage applied to said servomotor in response to the sum of said pulses.