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US 4,335,941 AGranted
Photocomposing machine
AssigneeAutologic, S.A.
InventorsLouis M. Moyroud, Grant T. Morgan
Life of this patent
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AssigneeAutologic, S.A.
InventorsLouis M. Moyroud, Grant T. Morgan
Estimating the term…
The photocomposing machine has an integral keyboard and is especially useful in composing headlines and similar graphic material. A zoom lens is used to provide infinitely variable magnification of the characters. An especially simple manual zoom lens magnification control mechanism is provided, together with an electrical digital display device for indicating accurately the setting of the zoom lens. A line measure display is provided to indicate the total length of a line of characters being composed. The line measure is automatically re-calculated and a new measure is displayed after a change of the zoom lens setting, or of the "set size", so as to give an up-to-date reading of the line measure with the new size. Character widths are stored in pluggable read-only memory chips, one type style per chip. Kerning and white-space reduction values for each style are stored in the same chip as the width values. A rotary disc is used as a character matrix. The disc has characters in a plurality of concentric rows. This disc preferably is segmented, with one complete font of characters on each segment. A relatively simple arrangement is provided for changing from one row of characters to the next.
A rotary character matrix bearing a plurality of concentric arcuate rows of characters and at least one arcuate row of timing slits, there being a slit adjacent and aligned with each character along the circumference of an alignment circle having a center offset from the rotational axis of said matrix.
A rotary character matrix bearing a plurality of concentric arcuate rows of characters and at least one arcuate row of timing slits, there being a slit adjacent and aligned with each character along the circumference of an alignment circle having a center offset from the rotational axis of said matrix, said matrix being shaped like a segment of a disc and bearing a complete font of characters, whereby said segment can be combined with one or more other segments to form a complete disc, with each segment bearing at least one font of characters.
In or for a photocomposing machine having a rotary character matrix bearing concentric arcuate rows of characters and at least one concentric row of timing slits, there being a slit aligned with each character along an alignment circle whose center is offset from the rotational axis of said matrix, a mounting structure for rotatably mounting said matrix, a support structure, said mounting structure being mounted on said support structure so as to be pivotable about a pivot axis coincident with said center of said alignment circle, a flash lamp, and a slit detector unit, said flash lamp and said detector unit being aligned with one another along said alignment circle.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.