Film splicer

Claim 2

A film splicer for taping the ends of two film sections in a substantially abutting position to each other comprising a base, a U-shaped swivel plate pivotably mounted on said base, means for pivoting said swivel plate about a pivot axis extending parallel to the plane of said plate to a rear cutting position and to a forward position on said base, a cutting lever pivotably mounted near one end on said base, a cutting blade mounted on said lever, at least one clamp slide mounted on and slidable along said swivel plate at each lateral side of and spaced from said cutting lever, a depressor lever pivotable near one end about the same axis as, and together with, said cutting lever for pressing at least upon the end of one of said film sections so as to hold it in a fixed position during the cutting stroke of said cutting blade on said cutting lever, and means for guiding said cutting blade at least during its cutting stroke in a direction substantially at a right angle to the longitudinal axis of said film sections.

Claim 3

A film splicer as defined in claim 1, in which each of said clamp slides comprises a two-armed clamping lever having a first arm adapted to be pivoted away from one side of said swivel plate and toward said plate for clamping one of said film sections tightly down upon said side of said plate, means for manually sliding said clamping lever at least while said first arm is pivoted upwardly from a rear position along said plate in a direction substantially at a right angle to said longitudinal axis of one of said film sections to a forward clamping position and over said film section, and spring means for pressing said first arm of said clamping lever toward said plate and thus upon said film section.

Claim 4

A film splicer as defined in claim 2, in which said means for sliding said clamping lever comprise a slide member on one flat side of said swivel plate, said clamping lever being pivotably mounted on said side of said slide member, said swivel plate having slots, said slide member having a projection extending through and slidable along one of said slots, and a guide member on the other side of said swivel plate and secured to said projection in a manner so as to permit said slide member to be easily slidable along said plate, said spring means extending through said slide member and its opposite ends acting upon said guide member and said clamping lever.

Claim 5

A film splicer as defined in claim 3, in which the second arm of said clamping lever has an outer surface facing away from said swivel plate, said surface having a concave shape and finger-gripping serrations in said surface.

Claim 6

A film splicer as defined in claim 2, in which each of said clamping levers has a pivot point between the two arms thereof and said first arm has a contact surface near its free end adapted to engage upon one of said film sections when said lever is shifted to one end position over said film section, the opposite surfaces of said swivel plate and of said first arm facing each other having a substantially corresponding projection and recess, said projection on one of said opposite surfaces engaging under the action of said spring means with the opposite surface as long as said lever has not been shifted to said end position so as to prevent said contact surface from engaging directly with said swivel plate and said film section, said projection engaging under the action of said spring means into said recess when said lever has been shifted to said end position for then preventing said contact surface from sliding relative to said film section.

Claim 7

A film splicer as defined in claim 1, in which the upper surface of said base has recesses for receiving the parts of said clamp slides projecting from either side of said swivel plate when said plate is pivoted in either direction so as to rest on said base.

Claim 8

A film splicer as defined in claim 1, in which said pivot axis of said swivel plate extends parallel to, but is spaced from the plane of said plate so that, when said plate is pivoted from one to another of two parallel end positions upon parts of said base, said plane of said plate will be located at two different elevations.

Claim 9

A film splicer as defined in claim 7, in which said means for pivoting said swivel plate comprise bearing means mounted on said base and means for adjusting said bearing means in the direction of said pivot axis of said plate, said bearing means having at least in said parallel end positions of said plate a sufficient play so as to insure that said plate when in said end positions will rest firmly and uniformly on said parts of said base.

Claim 10

A film splicer as defined in claim 1, in which said swivel plate and said base are each provided with at least one centering bore, the axes of said two bores coinciding with each other when said plate is pivoted to one of its end positions.

Claim 11

A film splicer as defined in claim 1, further comprising a cutting plate secured to said base and having a cuttingedge extending substantially within the plane of the pivoting movement of said cutting blade on said cutting lever and adapted to extend substantially at a right angle to the longitudinal axis of said film sections on said swivel plate, and an inclined guide edge tapering toward the beginning of said cutting edge for guiding said cutting blade during its pivoting movement toward the cutting edge of said cutting plate in the event that the plane of the cutting edge of said cutting blade deviates during said pivoting movement slightly from the plane of the cutting edge of said cutting plate.

Claim 12

A film splicer as defined in claim 10, in which said inclined guide edge is integral with said cutting plate.

Claim 13

A film splicer as defined in claim 1, further comprising a cutting plate secured to said base and having a cutting edge extending within the plane of the pivoting movement of said cutting blade and adapted to extend substantially at a right angle to the longitudinal axis of said film sections on said swivel plate, and a film supporting surface at one side of said cutting plate having an upper surface disposed at the same level as the upper surfaces of said U-shaped cutting plate and of said swivel plate when pivoted to its cutting position and separated by a slot from said cutting plate, said cutting plate and said supporting surface then being disposed within the U of said swivel plate, said slot being adapted to receive said cutting blade during its cutting stroke, said film supporting surface having an edge facing the cutting edge of said cutting plate, at least the part of said edge of said supporting surface facing said cutting edge being rounded and tapered downwardly so that, when the cutting edge of said cutting blade slides along said cutting edge of said cutting plate so as to cut off the overlapping ends of two film sections along a single straight line, the other noncutting edge of said blade will bend the end of one of said film sections downwardly along said tapered edge and into said slot.

Claim 14

A film splicer as defined in claim 1, in which at least the main part of the length of said cutting lever has a U-shaped cross section with lateral arms and a connecting web between said arms, the open side of said cutting lever facing said base when said cutting lever is pivoted to its cutting position, said cutting blade being mounted on the cutting lever so as to project through said open side thereof.

Claim 15

A film splicer as defined in claim 13, in which said depressor lever is locateD within said cutting lever between said arms thereof, one of said arms of said cutting lever having a slot therein extending substantially at a right angle to said connecting web, and a pin-shaped member secured to said depressor lever and extending through and slidable along said slot and alternately adapted to engage with one or the other end of said slot for limiting the extent of the pivoting movement of said depressor lever relative to said cutting lever.

Claim 16

A film splicer as defined in claim 14, in which said depressor lever comprises a hold-down member disposed on each lateral side of, but spaced from, said cutting blade and adapted to press resiliently upon said film sections during the cutting stroke of said cutting blade.

Claim 17

A film splicer as defined in claim 15, in which at least the end part of said depressor lever which is pivotably mounted on the same axis as said cutting lever has a substantially U-shaped cross section inverted to the U shape cross section inverted to the U shape of said cutting lever and having lateral arms, a connecting web between said arms, and longitudinal extensions on said arms, said hold-down members being integrally secured to said extensions and forming a pair of flat tabs projecting from said extensions toward each other and having free ends spaced at small distances from the opposite lateral sides of said cutting blade and extending parallel to the common pivot axis of said two levers.

Claim 18

A film splicer as defined in claim 16, in which said pivoting means of said cutting lever and said depressor lever comprise at least one bearing bracket secured to said base and having upstanding arms, both of said levers having substantially coaxial bearing bores, a pivot pin extending through said bracket and through said bearing bores, said bearing bores of said depressor lever having a sufficient amount of bearing play relative to said pivot pin so that, if said flat surfaces of said hold-down members are not exactly parallel to the plane of said swivel plate when moving toward the overlapping ends of said film sections to be cut, said hold-down members will automatically adjust themselves so as to engage uniformly with said film ends and press resiliently thereon.

Claim 19

A film splicer as defined in claim 1, in which said means for pivoting said swivel plate comprise a pair of angular bearing brackets mounted on said base, said base having a recess between said bearing brackets for receiving the cut-off ends of said film sections.