1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to photographic slide mounting apparatus.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Photographic slides are produced by mounting a photographic film transparency into a slide mount frame so that the image of the photographic transparency is aligned with the aperture of the slide mount frame. A variety of different types of mounting frames and mounting apparatus have been developed.
One particularly advantageous type of photographic slide mount is the Pakon Slide Mount, which is a one-piece plastic slide mount sold by Pako Corporation, the assignee of the present application. The film transparency is mounted by flexing open a film insertion slot in the slide mount by means of mounting equipment. The transparency is inserted into the mount and the mount is closed. The spring-like properties of the plastic slide mount material provide the transparency with a safe and tight fit in the slide mount without the need for welding or sealing. United States Patents showing slide mounts and slide mounting apparatus of this general type include the following patents:
______________________________________ Inventor(s) U.S. Pat. No. ______________________________________ Florjancic et al. 3,341,960 Mundt et al. 3,470,642 Mundt et al. 3,478,456 Mundt et al. 3,524,299 Mundt et al. 3,562,074 Mundt 3,570,342 Mundt et al. 3,614,854 Florjancic 3,788,031 Mundt et al. 3,807,121 Mundt et al. 3,943,029 Mundt et al. 3,977,280 Urban 4,004,340 Urban et al. 4,135,343 Thompson 4,102,029 ______________________________________
Apparatus has been developed for both manual and automatic mounting of transparencies in Pakon Slide Mounts. The manual mounting procedure utilizes a hand-held mounting device into which the slide mount is inserted. By grasping the mount and the mounter together at one side, the film insertion opening is widened to permit insertion of a transparency into the slide mount. The transparency has previously been cut from a strip or web of photographic film containing many individual transparencies and is inserted manually into the slide mount.
While the hand mounting apparatus procedure is adequate for mounting small quantities of transparencies in slide mounts, it clearly is not suitable for large-scale production of mounted transparencies as is required in professional photofinishing laboratories. The Pakon 509 Slide Mounter sold by Pako Corporation is an automatic, motor-driven apparatus which mounts photographic film transparencies in Pakon Slide Mounts at rates of up to 160 slides per minute.
In some cases, however, the quantity of transparencies to be mounted by a photofinishing laboratory is not enough to justify the use of automatic slide mounting apparatus such as the Pakon Slide Mounter, yet is greater than that which can be efficiently performed manually. To meet this need, semi-automatic slide mounters have been developed, such as the Type 6001 and 7004 slide mounters developed by Geimuplast Peter and Mundt KG. These semi-automatic slide mounters operate in a manner generally similar to the automatic Pakon 509 Slide Mounter but are driven by an operating handle which is moved by the operator, rather than being motor driven.
The Type 6001 and 7004 semi-automatic slide mounters are operated by moving the operating lever through an operating cycle. During this cycle, the following five functions are performed. First, an insertion slot in a slide mount is widened to receive the transparency. Second, the film web is advanced and inserted into the mount. Third, the transparency is severed from the remainder of the film web. Fourth, the transparency is inserted completely into the slide mount. Fifth, the mounter ejects the mounted slide. These five functions form a complete mounting cycle for each transparency.
Each transparency of a film web contains a photographic image representing a singular instant in time, which in many cases cannot be recreated if the transparency is lost or damaged. Since photographic film transparencies are such a unique commodity, it is very important that the film web and transparencies progress smoothly through the slide mounter to prevent damage to the photographic images contained thereon. If the film web becomes misaligned in the film track, it can become jammed in the machine or miscut by the knife and destroyed. This problem is amplified by the fact that photographic film is coated on one side with an emulsion and this emulsion causes the film to curl transverse to its direction of advancement through the slide mounter. In addition, photographic film strips are usually spliced together to form a "film web" and wound on a reel for developing so that when unwound for mounting in slide mounts, the film web has a longitudinal curl due to being wrapped around the reel. These two types of curl, transverse and longitudinal, can cause considerable problems in feeding the film web through the film track into the slide mount insertion opening in a uniform manner.
In addition to the problems of film curl, it is important that the film track and any areas through which the film web passes be clear of possible obstructions on which the film web could catch and be damaged. Once a transparency has been partially inserted into the slide mount and severed from the film web, it must still be fully inserted into the slide mount without damage to the transparency. The insertion opening of a slide mount must be maintained in a flexed open position as the transparency is fully inserted into the slide mount to prevent scratching or damage to the photographic image.