Small slide tray

Claim 1

A miniaturized slide tray having increased slide capacity per unit length for use in a slide projector of the type having a slide pusher to transport slides between the tray and a projection gate and a rotatable indexing gear to advance the tray, said tray comprising a rectangular-shaped box having a first open side for receiving a plurality of slides, a second partially open side to permit passage of the slide pusher, a top wall having a series of downwardly extending parallel septa and a corresponding series of finger springs, and a bottom wall having a series of upwardly extending parallel septa, in alignment with the downwardly extending septa to define together with the downwardly extending septa and the finger springs a plurality of slide receiving spaces, said septa extending only partially from their respective walls to permit passage of the slide pusher therebetween and being sized and spaced such that the width of each slide receiving space corresponds to the thickness of each slide, and the width of two septa plus a slide receiving space is greater than the thickness of the slide pusher to permit the pusher to engage one slide and pass between the next adjacent slides; and an elongated rack means formed of compliant material and fixedly attached to one edge of the bottom wall, said rack having a series of teeth for engagement with the indexing gear, which teeth have a pitch corresponding to the distance between the centers of adjacent slide receiving spaces but less than the pitch of the indexing gear to provide for the incremental onespace advance of the slide tray for each incremental one-tooth rotation of said indexing gear.