Film handling system
OwnerMichael Tenbrockinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A film handling system is described, including: a supply container for supporting a plurality of sheets of film; a film receiver; and a transport mechanism for retrieving a sheet of film from the supply container and transporting the sheet of film to the receiving mechanism, said transport mechanism comprising a vacuum head for adhering the sheet of film to the vacuum head; wherein the film receiver comprises a feed mechanism for conveying the sheet of film received by the film receiver, said feed mechanism including a sprocket for mating with at least one of a plurality of sprocket holes in the sheet of film transported by the transport mechanism.
Claims22
A film handling system, comprising:
- a supply container for supporting a plurality of sheets of film;
- a film receiving mechanism;
- and
- a transport mechanism for retrieving a sheet of film from the supply container and transporting the sheet of film to the film receiving mechanism, said transport mechanism comprising a vacuum head for adhering the sheet of film to the transport mechanism;
- wherein the film receiving mechanism comprises a feed mechanism for conveying the sheet of film received by the film receiving mechanism, said feed mechanism comprising at least one sprocket for mating with at least one of a plurality of sprocket holes in the sheet of film transported by the transport mechanism;
- and
- said supply container further comprises at least one elongated film guide having a first end for insertion into one of the sprocket holes in the sheet of film in said supply container;
- and
- said sprocket of the film receiving mechanism is adapted to be adjacent to a distal second end of the film guide as the transport mechanism transports the sheet of film along said film guide to the receiving mechanism.
A film handling system, comprising:
- a supply container for supporting a plurality of sheets of film, each sheet of film comprising a plurality of sprocket holes, said supply container comprising at least one elongated film guide having a first end for insertion into one of the sprocket holes in each sheet of film supported by the supply container;
- a film receiver mechanism comprising a feed mechanism for conveying the sheet of film received by the film receiver mechanism, said feed mechanism comprising a rotatable belt, said belt comprising one or more sprockets for mating with sprocket holes in the sheet of film;
- and
- a transport mechanism for retrieving a sheet of film from the supply container and transporting the sheet of film to the film receiver mechanism alone said elongated film guide, said transport mechanism comprising a vacuum head for adhering the sheet of film to the transport mechanism.
A film handling system, comprising:
- a supply container for supporting a plurality of sheets of film in a first orientation, each sheet of film comprising a plurality of sprocket holes;
- a film receiver including an alignment member for aligning an inserted sheet of film;
- and
- a transport mechanism for retrieving a sheet of film from the supply container, rotating the sheet of film to a second orientation non-parallel with the first orientation, and transporting the sheet of film to the film receiver, said transport mechanism comprising a vacuum head for adhering the sheet of film to the transport mechanism;
- said transport mechanism is adapted to position the sheet of film in the film receiver such that an edge of the sheet of film is supported by the alignment member;
- wherein,
- the film receiver comprises a feed mechanism for conveying the sheet of film received by the film receiver, said feed mechanism comprising a sprocket for mating with at least one of a plurality of sprocket holes in the sheet of film and a flattening member for maintaining a flatness of the sheet of film.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.