High speed film advancement mechanism and system therefor

A high speed film advancement mechanism comprising the combination of:

• a support plate;
• a pair of elongated members movably carried on said support plate substantially normal with respect to each other;
• means carried on said support plate operably connected to said pair of members for driving the adjacent and opposing ends of said members in a substantially linear manner;
• a selected one of said pair of members having an index pin on its end for registration with holes in the film while the other one of said pair of members has a claw thereon for advancing the film subsequent to registration by said selected member;
• said drive means includes an eccentric drive for each of said members, and said eccentric drive means moves said index pin and said claw in a prescribed timed sequence whereby said index pin registers with the film opening and said claw will enter on adjacent film opening to drive the film for a distance equivalent to a stroke of said other member of said pair;
• drive means for driving said eccentric means so as to effectively engage with each of said respective index and claw members so as to provide the necessary inseration and separation of the respective index pin and said claw with openings of the film;
• said high speed film advancement mechanism is incorporated into a system having a film cartridge and a film backup plate over which a length of film travels;
• said film length having opening along at least one edge;
• said backup plate having an opening over which said film openings travel;
• said index pin in registration with said openings in said backup plate and said film edge;
• and
• said index pin and said claw are folded over upon their respective members so as to pass through said backup plate opening and then through said film opening.