Electronic stencil cutter having means to vary size of reproduced picture

In a stencil cutting machine, rotatable drum means having means for mounting on original sheet and a stencil sheet thereon, a carriage having scanning means and reproducing means registrable respectively with said original and stencil sheets, said carriage being guided for movement along the drum means parallel to the axis thereof while the latter is rotating to scan an image on the original sheet while synchronously reproducing said image on the stencil sheet, improved means for moving said carriage along the drum means comprising:

• a cable connected to the carriage and trained about a drive pulley to provide a driving connection for moving the carriage in response to rotation of the drive pulley;
• handle means supported on said carriage for movement in opposite directions from a center position relative thereto and manually graspable by an operator for manually moving the carriage in opposite directions along the drum;
• and
• release means responsive to movement of said handle means in either direction from said center position relative to the carriage to release the carriage from driving relation with the drive pulley and enable the carriage to be moved, independently of the drive pulley, by manual pressure exerted on the handle means in either direction of movement of the handle means from said center position.

In a stencil cutting machine, rotatable drum means having means for mounting an original sheet and a stencil sheet thereon, a carriage having scanning means and reproducing means registrable respectively with said original and stencil sheets, said carriage being guided for movement along the drum means parallel to the axis thereof while the latter is rotating to scan an image on the original sheet while synchronously reproducing said image on the stencil sheet, improved means for moving said carriage along the drum means comprising:

• a cable extending along the drum means and trained for orbital movement between drive and idler pulleys, the ends of said cable being interconnected by a spring to tension the cable for frictional engagement with the drive pulley;
• motor means connected to the drive pulley to move the carriage in response to actutation of the motor means;
• handle means supported on said carriage for movement relative thereto in opposite directions from a neutral position to two operative positions and manually graspable by an operator for manually moving the carriage along the drum;
• and
• release means responsive to movement of said handle means relative to the carriage to release the carriage from driving relation with the drive pulley and enable the carriage to be moved manually independently of the drive pulley, said release means including means connecting said carriage to the cable at one side of the spring, a bellcrank pivotally mounted on the carriage, one arm of the bellcrank being connected to the cable at the opposite side of the spring, said handle means having a cam face with a pair of cam lobes which are alternatively engageable with the other arm of the bellcrank to move the bellcrank in a direction to release the tension of the cable in each of said two operative positions.

In a stencil cutter, a frame, four basic operating members, a pair of said four members comprising an original drum member and a stencil drum member connected and aligned along a common drum rotational axis and having means for mounting an image-bearing original subject sheet and a stencil sheet respectively thereon, and a pair of said four members comprising a scanning head member positioned alongside said original drum member and a reproducing head member positioned alongside said stencil drum member, one of said pairs of members being movable relative to the other of said pairs of members, and reproducing means for actuating said reproducing head member to copy an image from the original subject sheet onto the stencil sheet in response to scanning the original subject sheet by the scanning head member, improved means responsive to movement of a first member of one of said pairs of members to modify movement of a second member of said one of said pairs of members to move said second member an amount different from said first member, and thereby vary the size of the image copied onto the stencil sheet from the size of the image on the original subject sheet, comprising:

• said first member being mounted on a first carriage which is guided for movement parallel to said rotational axis;
• means for moving said first carriage;
• a second carriage being mounted on said first carriage for movement relative to said first carriage parallel to said rotational axis;
• said second member being mounted on said second carriage;
• lever means pivotally connected respectively to a main pivot member on the first carriage and a fixed pivot member on said frame;
• an adjustment member mounted on the second carriage and having a slideable connection with the lever means;
• and
• the adjustment member being movable for adjustment in a direction transverse to the rotational axis of the drum members through a range of adjusted positions to determine the degree of enlargement or reduction of the image copied onto the stencil sheet.

In a stencil cutter, a frame, rotatable drum means and means for mounting an original subject sheet and a stencil sheet thereon, scanning and reproducing heads mounted on separate carriages for movement lengthwise of said drum means, means for rotating said drum means while simultaneously moving said scanning head relative to the drum means to scan an image on said original subject sheet and moving said reproducing head relative to the drum means to copy the image from the original subject sheet onto said stencil sheet, improved means for controlling the size of the image copied onto the stencil sheet comprising:

• means for mounting one of said carriages in overlying relation with the other and guided for movement thereon;
• extendible retractible lever means swingable about a fixed pivot on the frame and having a first pivotal connection to one carriage and a second pivotal connection to the other carriage at the end portion of the lever means remote from the fixed pivot;
• and
• said first and second pivotal connections being movable with the carriage along lines of movement parallel to the axis of the drum means to vary the width of the image copied onto the stencil sheet in accordance with the magnitude of the spacing between said lines of movement.

In a stencil cutting machine, rotatable drum means having means for mounting an original sheet and a stencil sheet thereon, a carriage having scanning means and reproducing means registerable respectively with said original and stencil sheets, said carriage being guided for movement along the drum means parallel to the axis thereof while the latter is rotating to scan an image on the original sheet while synchronously reproducing said image on the stencil sheet, improved means for moving said carriage along the drum means comprising:

• a cable extending along the drum means and trained for orbital movement between drive and idler pulleys, the ends of said cable being interconnected by a spring to tension the cable for frictional engagement with the drive pulley;
• drive motor means connected to the drive pulley;
• and
• manual override means for manually moving the carriage independently of the drive motor means including a handle mounted on the carriage for rocking movement in either direction of movement of the carriage, means connecting the cable to the carriage on one side of the spring, and a release clamp member connected to the cable on the opposite side of the spring, said clamp member movable by the handle in a direction to deflect the spring for releasing the frictional engagement between the drive pulley and the cable in response to rocking movement of the handle.

In a stencil cutting machine, a rotatable drum member with copy sheet means attachable thereto, a carriage member supporting reproducing means thereon, means to provide movement of one of said members in a direction lengthwise of the drum member while the latter is rotating comprising:

• a cable connected to the movable one of said members and trained across a drive pulley;
• a plurality of drive motor means independently connected through separate drive trains to said drive pulley;
• overrunning clutch means in the drive train between each individual drive motor means and said drive pulley enabling any selected drive motor means to drive said drive pulley through its respective overrunning clutch means while the other overrunning clutch means free wheel and
• manual override means for moving the movable member independently of the drive motor means in opposite directions including handle means carried by said movable member, and release means responsive to manual actuation of said handle means in at least one direction to release said cable from said drive pulley, and said overrunning clutch means being oriented to free-wheel in response to manual actuation of the movable member in the opposite direction.