Method of preventing clockspringing of a wound web within a cassette

Abstract

A method of preventing clockspringing of a web wound inside a cassette (10) having a tubular web core (12) onto which is wound a web (14) of photosensitive material to form a web roll. The web roll is housed within a substantially rectangular jacket (16) which has a exit slot (20) extending substantially from one side edge of the jacket (16) through which the web (14) may be drawn from the cassette (10). Moreover, cassette (10) comprises a pair of end caps (22) having tubular hub members (25) insertable over opposite ends of tubular core opening (39) defined by sleeve portion (38) of tubular web core (12) for rotatably supporting tubular web core (12). In the preferred embodiment, each hub member (25) has at least one flexible lock (44) at the free end thereof such that when the flexible lock (44) rotatably engages core grooves (36), separation of the end caps (22) from the jacket (16) is prevented. Furthermore, a substantially flat, H-shaped fork (42), having at least one flexible camming ramp (40) on one end and graspable pinch fingers (46) exposed thorough the hub member (25) on the opposite end is mounted within at least one the hub members (25) to prevent rotation of the web core (12).

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.