Optical projector capable of random access and repeat projections

Claim 1

A slide film projecting system capable of random access projection comprising: a. slide film holding means for holding a plurality of slide films; b. drive means operative upon energization to drive said slide film holding means along a predetermined path to a slide delivery position where a selected slide film can be set for projection; c. detecting means for detecting the address of the one of said slide films located in said slide delivery position during the operation of said drive means to produce an electrical signal representing the detected address of the slide film in the delivery position; d. selector means for inputting a digital signal representing an address of a desired slide film for random access projection, said selector means comprising at least one array of switching members each having one terminal connected to a common connection and being arranged to connect said common connection to one or more code busses which are fewer in number than the switching members of one of said array, and e. control circuitry connected to said drive means for actuating said drive means to place the desired slide film into the slide delivery position, said circuitry comprising a plurality of signal holding means each individual to one of said code busses, said signal holding means being operable to hold the electrical signal produced by the selector means during a complete operation of said driving means irrespective of the operating condition of said switching members after said switching members were once operated.

Claim 5

A device for automatically selecting a desired slide film out of a plurality of slide films and projecting said selected slide film comprising: a. a slide holder for holding a plurality of slide films; b. drive means operative upon energization to drive said slide holder along a predetermined path including a slide film delivery location; c. detecting means for detecting the address of a slide film in said slide film delivery location during the operation of said drive means, said detecting means including a plurality of digital signal generating means operative to intermittently produce a digital signal in response to the detecting operation, the digital signal produced by each of said signal generating means, per se or in combination with other digital signals being representative of the address of said slide within said film delivery location; d. selector means for inputting a digital signal representing an address of a desired slide film for random access projection, said selector means comprising at least one array of switching members each having one terminal connected to a common connection and being arranged to connect said common connection to one or more code busses which are fewer in number than the switching members of one of said array; e. a first converter means coupled to an output of said digital signal generating means for converting the digital signal therefrom to an electrical current signal; f. second converter means connected to said busses for converting the digital signals thereon to an electrical current signal, said second converter means comprising a converter circuit for each of said code busses and means for combining the outputs of the converter means connected to the code busses associated with each array of switching members of said selector means, and g. comparator means connected to the outputs of said first converter means and said second converter means for comparing the respective amounts of current thereof to produce a control signal corresponding the difference between said respective converter output currents for controlling The energization of said drive means.

Claim 6

A device for automatically selecting a desired slide film out of a plurality of slide films and projecting said selected slide film comprising: a. a slide holder for holding a plurality of slide films; b. drive means operative upon energization to drive said slide holder along a predetermined path including a slide film delivery location; c. detecting means for detecting the address of a slide film in said slide film delivery location during the operation of said drive means, said detecting means including a plurality of digital signal generating means operative to intermittently produce a digital signal in response to the detecting operation, the digital signal produced by each of said signal generating means, per se or in combination with other digital signals being representative of the address of said slide within said film delivery location; d. selector means for inputting a digital signal representing an address of a desired slide film for random access projection, said selector means comprising at least one array of switching members each having one terminal connected to a common connection and being arranged to connect said common connection to one or more code busses which are fewer in number than the switching members of one of said array; e. a first converter means coupled to an output of said digital signal generating means for converting the digital signal therefrom to an electrical current signal; f. second converter means connected to said busses for converting the digital signals thereon to an electrical current signal, said second converter means comprising a converter circuit for each of said code busses and means for combining the outputs of the converter means connected to the code busses associated with each array of switching members of said selector means, and g. comparator means connected to the outputs of said first converter means and said second converter means for comparing the respective amounts of current thereof to produce a control signal corresponding the difference between said respective converter output currents for controlling The energization of said drive means.

Claim 29

A device for automatically selecting a slide film out of a plurality of slide films stored in a tray and projecting said selected slide film comprises: a. a tray for storing therein a plurality of slide films in a linear parallel arrangement and advancing them to a slide film delivery position from which said selected slide film is to be displaced into a projection position, said tray being arranged for linear advance to said slide film delivery position; b. driving means for advancing said tray step by step to said slide film delivery position; c. means for displacing said selected slide film rectilinearly from said slide film delivery position into said projection position and back, said displacing means applying a force edgewise to said slide film and perpendicular to the direction of linear arrangement of slide films in said tray; d. means operatively coupled to said driving means for identifying, by its position in said tray, a slide film in said slide film delivery position; e. selection signal input means for selecting a single slide film to be projected; f. first comparator means electrically coupled to said identifying means and to said selection signal input means for actuating said driving means in response to the difference between the outputs of said selection signal input means and said detecting means; g. projection mode switching means for switching between the random access projection mode and the automatic repeat projection mode; h. means operatively coupled to said projection mode switching means for interrupting random access projection, thereby deactivating said selection signal input means; i. automatic repeat projection programming means for inputting information representing a sequence of slide films to be sequentially and repeatedly projected; j. means for detecting the last slide film of said sequence of slide films selected by said programming means; k. means responsive to said detecting means for returning said tray to a position in which said first slide film is again in said delivery position, and l. second comparator means coupled to said identifying means and said programming means for actuating said driving means in response to the difference signal between the outputs of said identifying means and a sequential portion of said programming means in succession.

Claim 30

A device for automatically selecting a slide film out of a plurality of slide films stored in a tray and projecting said selected slide film comprises: a. a tray for storing therein a plurality of slide films in a linear parallel arrangement and advancing them to a slide film delivery position from which said selected slide film is to be displaced into a projection position, said tray being arranged for linear advance to said slide film delivery position; b. driving means for advancing said tray step by step to said slide film delivery position; c. means for displacing said selected slide film rectilinearly from said slide film delivery position into said projection position and back, said displacing means applying a force edgewise to said slide film and perpendicular to the direction of linear arrangement of slide films in said tray; d. means operatively coupled to said driving means for identifying, by its position in said tray, a slide film in said slide film delivery position; e. selection signal input means for selecting a single slide film to be projected; f. first comparator means electrically coupled to said identifying means and to said selection signal input means for actuating said driving means in response to the difference between the outputs of said selection signal input means and said detecting means; g. projection mode switching means for switching between the random access projection mode and the automatic repeat projection mode; h. means operatively coupled to said projection mode switching means for interrupting random access projection, thereby deactivating said selection signal input means; i. automatic repeat projection programming means for inputting information representing a sequence of slide films to be sequentially and repeatedly projected; j. means for detecting the last slide film of said sequence of slide films selected by said programming means; k. means responsive to said detecting means for returning said tray to a position in which said first slide film is again in said delivery position, and l. second comparator means coupled to said identifying means and said programming means for actuating said driving means in response to the difference signal between the outputs of said identifying means and a sequential portion of said programming means in succession.

Claim 44

A device for automatically selecting a slide film out of a plurality of slide films and projecting said selected slide film comprising: a. means for storing a plurality of slide films in a linear parallel arrangement; b. driving means for linearly moving said slide film storage means to place said slide films sequentially in a slide film delivery position step by step for projecting said plurality of slide films one by one; c. means for selectively displacing a slide film stored in said storage means rectilinearly from the slide film delivery position into a projection position and back, said displacing means applying force edgewise to said slide films; d. identifying means for identifying the address of a slide film in the slide film delivery position; e. means for inputting information representing the address of a desired slide film for random access projection; f. first comparator means coupled to said identifying Means and said information inputting means for actuating said driving means in response to the difference signal between the outputs of said detecting means and said information inputting means; g. projection mode switching means for switching from the random access projection mode to the automatic repeat projection mode in which a number of slide films arbitrarily selected out of said plurality of slide films may be sequentially and repeatedly projected, and vice versa; h. second means for inputting information for providing information representing the number of slide films to be sequentially and repeatedly projected, and i. second comparator means coupled to said detecting means and said second information inputting means for actuating said driving means in response to the difference signal between the outputs of said detecting means and said second information inputting means.

Claim 45

A device for automatically selecting a slide film out of a plurality of slide films and projecting said selected slide film comprising: a. means for storing a plurality of slide films in a linear parallel arrangement; b. driving means for linearly moving said slide film storage means to place said slide films sequentially in a slide film delivery position step by step for projecting said plurality of slide films one by one; c. means for selectively displacing a slide film stored in said storage means rectilinearly from the slide film delivery position into a projection position and back, said displacing means applying force edgewise to said slide films; d. identifying means for identifying the address of a slide film in the slide film delivery position; e. means for inputting information representing the address of a desired slide film for random access projection; f. first comparator means coupled to said identifying Means and said information inputting means for actuating said driving means in response to the difference signal between the outputs of said detecting means and said information inputting means; g. projection mode switching means for switching from the random access projection mode to the automatic repeat projection mode in which a number of slide films arbitrarily selected out of said plurality of slide films may be sequentially and repeatedly projected, and vice versa; h. second means for inputting information for providing information representing the number of slide films to be sequentially and repeatedly projected, and i. second comparator means coupled to said detecting means and said second information inputting means for actuating said driving means in response to the difference signal between the outputs of said detecting means and said second information inputting means.

Claim 46

A device for automatically selecting a desired slide film out of a plurality of slide films and projecting said selected slide film comprising: a. means for storing therein a plurality of slide films in a linear and parallel arrangement; b. means for driving and linearly moving said slide film storage means step by step for projecting said plurality of slide films one by one; c. means for selectively displacing a slide film stored in said storage means between a slide film projection position and a slide film storage position within the storage means, said displacing means applying a force perpendicular with respect to the direction of linear arrangement of said slide films in the storage means; d. identifying means for identifying the address of a slide film in said storage means in position for displacement by said displacing means; e. first information inputting means for inputting information representing the address of a desired slide film for random access projection; f. first comparator means coupled to said identifying means and said first information inputting means for actuating said driving means in response to a difference signal responsive to difference between the outputs of said identifying means and said first information inputting means; g. projection mode switching means for switching the random access projection mode to the automatic repeat projection mode in which a number of slide films arbitrarily selected out of said plurality of slide films may be sequentially and repeatedly projected, and vice versa; h. means for deactivating said first comparator means in response to the signal from said projection mode switching means representing the switching from the random access mode to the automatic repeat projection mode; i. second information inputting means for inputting said number of arbitrarily selected slide films to be sequentially and repeatedly projected; j. second comparator means for comparing the output of said identifying means with that of said second information inputting means, and k. control means for controlling the advance, stop and reversal of said driving means in response to the output of said second comparator means.

Claim 47

A device for automatically selecting a desired slide film out of a plurality of slide films and projecting said selected slide film comprising: a. means for storing therein a plurality of slide films in a linear and parallel arrangement; b. means for driving and linearly moving said slide film storage means step by step for projecting said plurality of slide films one by one; c. means for selectively displacing a slide film stored in said storage means between a slide film projection position and a slide film storage position within the storage means, said displacing means applying a force perpendicular with respect to the direction of linear arrangement of said slide films in the storage means; d. identifying means for identifying the address of a slide film in said storage means in position for displacement by said displacing means; e. first information inputting means for inputting information representing the address of a desired slide film for random access projection; f. first comparator means coupled to said identifying means and said first information inputting means for actuating said driving means in response to a difference signal responsive to difference between the outputs of said identifying means and said first information inputting means; g. projection mode switching means for switching the random access projection mode to the automatic repeat projection mode in which a number of slide films arbitrarily selected out of said plurality of slide films may be sequentially and repeatedly projected, and vice versa; h. means for deactivating said first comparator means in response to the signal from said projection mode switching means representing the switching from the random access mode to the automatic repeat projection mode; i. second information inputting means for inputting said number of arbitrarily selected slide films to be sequentially and repeatedly projected; j. second comparator means for comparing the output of said identifying means with that of said second information inputting means, and k. control means for controlling the advance, stop and reversal of said driving means in response to the output of said second comparator means.