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US3904285A Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Microreader having an automatic card selection and retrieval apparatus

Assignee: Ricoh Co Ltd
•
Filing: 1973-07-27
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Granted: 1975-09-09
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Expires: 1993-07-27
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Abstract

Abstract A microreader having a projection screen and a card selection and retrieval apparatus for information cards each having, along a side thereof, a magnetic portion and coding bit positions at least a subset of which are represented by notches in that side of the card. A card selector unit selects a desired card from a card cassette, a card moving unit moves the selected card to a desired projection position, and then a light source and a mirror unit are moved to a position with respect to the selected card for projected a desired frame of the card on the screen. An operator of the microreader sets knobs to indicate the number of the desired card, and sets additional knobs to indicate the desired frame of that card; the rest is done automatically by the invented microreader.

Inventors

  • 👤 Nobuyuki Yanagawa

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-10-31 10:23
CPC Classifications
G; G03; G03B; G03B21/00; G03B21/10; G03B21/11; G03B21/115

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 6
Claim 1
Independent Claim 283 words
A microreader having a projection screen and comprising: card selection means comprising means for receiving a card cassette storing a plurality of cards arranged in a randoom sequence in the cassette, each card having a side made of a magnetic material and having a selected pattern of notches, and each card having a plurality of frames arranged in rows and columns along the X and Y direction, and means including a plurality of selector bars and magnetic means engaging the notched side of the cards to move a card having a selected pattern of notches to a selected position in a projection plane; an optical system comprising, in sequence along an optical axis, a light source, a condenser lens system, a projection lens system and a first, second and third mirror with a light beam emanating from the light source, proceeding along said optical path and impinging on the projection screen, with said projection plane being disposed between the condenser lens system and the projection lens system; means operative in response to electrical frame selection signals for moving the card which is in said selected position in the projection plane in the X direction in the projection plane to align a selected row of frames with the optical path portion between the condenser and the projection lens systems; and means operative in response to said electrical frame selection signals for moving the light source, the condenser and projection lens systems and the first mirror as a unit along said Y direction to align said beam with a selected column of frames, to thereby project on the screen a selected frame of the card which is in the selected position of the projection plane.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 283 words
A microreader having a projection screen and comprising: card selection means comprising means for receiving a card cassette storing a plurality of cards arranged in a randoom sequence in the cassette, each card having a side made of a magnetic material and having a selected pattern of notches, and each card having a plurality of frames arranged in rows and columns along the X and Y direction, and means including a plurality of selector bars and magnetic means engaging the notched side of the cards to move a card having a selected pattern of notches to a selected position in a projection plane; an optical system comprising, in sequence along an optical axis, a light source, a condenser lens system, a projection lens system and a first, second and third mirror with a light beam emanating from the light source, proceeding along said optical path and impinging on the projection screen, with said projection plane being disposed between the condenser lens system and the projection lens system; means operative in response to electrical frame selection signals for moving the card which is in said selected position in the projection plane in the X direction in the projection plane to align a selected row of frames with the optical path portion between the condenser and the projection lens systems; and means operative in response to said electrical frame selection signals for moving the light source, the condenser and projection lens systems and the first mirror as a unit along said Y direction to align said beam with a selected column of frames, to thereby project on the screen a selected frame of the card which is in the selected position of the projection plane.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 66 words
A microreader as in claim 1 including means responsive to the movement of the first mirror along the optical path to move each of the second and third mirror along the optical path by a distance corresponding to half the distance of movement of the first mirror, thereby maintaining the length of the optical path constant despite movement of the first mirror along the optical path.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 39 words
A microreader as in claim 2 including means for selectively moving the first mirror along the optical path to thereby selectively change the length of the optical path and thus the magnification of the image projected onto the screen.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 31 words
A microreader as in claim 3 including means for selectively moving the projection lens system along the optical path to thereby change the focusing of the image projected on the screen.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 33 words
A system as in claim 4 including means for selectively rotating the projection lens system around the optical path traversing the projection lens system to thereby rotate the image projected onto the screen.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

US3743400A Cited
US3754817A Cited

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 1978-09-08 1979-03-10 1979-09-09 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 1982-09-08 1983-03-10 1983-09-09 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 1986-09-08 1987-03-10 1987-09-09 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

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