Motion picture system and apparatus

Claim 1

A film handling system comprising: a film handling cassette including: a housing; supply and take-up reels having a length of photographic film strip coupled therebetween; means for rotatably mounting said supply and take-up reels within said housing; an exposure and projection station past which incremental sections of said film strip may be progressively transported for exposure and projection; and supply and take-up reel locking means mounted for axial displacement between a normal locking position and an unlocking position; in combination with a motion picture camera and a motion picture projector or viewer, said camera comprising: a camera housing; means for supporting said cassette at an operative position within said camera housing; exposure means adapted to be operatively associated with said exposure station when said cassette is located at its operative position for facilitating film exposure operations; film transport means for progressively transporting said film strip past said exposure station; drive means including a drive shaft adapted to be operatively associated with said take-up reel when said cassette is located at its operative position for rotating said take-up reel to collect said film strip after it has been transported past said exposure station; and actuating means for moving said supply and take-up reel locking means from said locking position to said unlocking position in response to locating said cassette at its operative position within said camera, said actuating means including a take-up reel actuating pin coaxially disposed with and extending outwardly from an end of said take-up reel drive shaft and a supply reel actuating pin mounted in said camera housing; said motion picture projector or viewer comprising: a projector housing; means for supporting said cassette at an operative position within said projector housing; projection means adapted to be operatively associated with said cassette projection station when said cassette is located at its operative position for facilitating film projection operations; film transport means for progressively transporting incremental sections of said film strip past said projection station for projection; drive means including supply and take-up reel drive shafts adapted to be operatively associated, respectively, with said supply and take-up reels when said cassette is located at its operative position for driving said take-up reel to collect said film strip after it has been transported past said projection station and for driving said supply reel during film rewind operations; and actuating means including supply and take-up reel actuating pins coaxially disposed with and extending outwardly from ends of said supply and take-up reel drive shafts, respectively, for moving said supply and take-up reel locking means from said locking position to said unlocking position in response to operatively associated said cassette with said drive means.