| 摘要 |
Method and apparatus are described for automatically loading film transparencies into pre-closed slide mounts either of plastic or of cardboard material and having an internal pocket for receiving the film transparency which is inserted through an openable region near one edge of the mount. In loading operation, wedge means temporarily spread the openable portion of the slide mount, defining a passageway for the film transparency to pass through into the mount, and then the two sides of the mount are allowed to spring back to their closed position after loading. Advantageously, the film transparency is cut off from the filmstrip before loading, with the freshly cut end of the strip serving as pushing means for pushing the film transparency into its mount, and thus low inertial forces are involved, because the individual cut transparency has only a small mass to be accelerated and moved. The film strip is bowed into a longitudinally extending arch for providing longitudinal stiffness for pushing the transparency. A common drive assembly performs the multiple functions of advancing the preclosed slide mounts from the stack station, through loading and printing stations and into the outlet, while also transporting the filmstrip to push the cut film transparency into the internal pocket in the slide mount, and thus a compact machine of relatively low power consumption can be constructed to embody this invention. In this embodiment, the edgewise movement of the pre-closed slide mount into the loading station achieves the slot spread wedging action, while the apparatus provides a convenient view of the advancing film strip and of the cut transparency during actual loading into the slide mount. An improved pre-closed slide mount is described. |
