We use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) during our scanning and processing workflow to make the content of each page searchable. You can view the automatically generated text below as well as copy and paste individual pieces of text to quote in your own work.
Text recognition is never 100% accurate. Many parts of the scanned page may not be reflected in the OCR text output, including: images, page layout, certain fonts or handwriting.
December 28, 1929
EXHIBITORS HERALD-WORLD
39
SOUND PICTURES
The New Simplex Mechanism
By F. H. RICHARDSON
FOR the past four months, the International Projector Corporation has had your editor sweating blood — and I guess they have been sweating a little themselves, too. 1 have been praying for and demanding the privilege of publishing details of the mechanism of the new Simplex projector, called by them the "Super Simplex." This mechanism is so little like the old one that you will not recognize it at all until you look on the glass of the casing door.
In Figure 1, I give you a view of the mechanism with the casing door removed. You will observe that for one thing, the rotating shutter has been removed from in front of the projection lens and placed between the aperture and the light source, about five inches from the aperture. It is, of course, enclosed, as you will see, in a protective perforated sheet steel casing of very substantial thickness. On the front of this casing is a perforated wire gauze surrounding the opening into the shutter. The shutter itself is in two halves, with vignetted edsres. The net result of all this is that not only is so much of the heat cut off that it is possible to hold your hand over the aperture for two or three seconds without much discomfort, but also, for some reason or other (seems rather impossible, but nevertheless it is a fact), you actually get more light with this shutter than you did with the •old in-front-of-the-lens arrangement. Another point of importance is that the vanes of this shutter are set at a slight angle, the result being that the shutter acts as a very mild blower forcing cold air against the film and the aper
FIG. 2
ture side of the mechanism, tends to keep the film cool,
This, of course, but more impor
FIG. 1
tant still, it dissipates the heat from the mechanism parts very rapidly. I have laid my hand on the metal close to the aperture, after the projector had been running for some while, without the slightest discomfort.
Beside the shutter, but as a matter of fact extending out some two inches from its casing, you will observe two handwheels, the upper one marked the "Film Gate." By rotating this knob to the left the gate is opened. The gate, however, is closed by means of a lever situated just in front of the intermittent sprocket and in very convenient position for use when threading. Just back of the knob marked "Film Gate" is a flat steel lever, the raising of which opens the automatic fire shutter. Framing is accomplished bv means of the knob just under the "Film Gate" wheel, and still below that is a third smaller knob by means of which the position of the rotating shutter may be altered at will, within certain limits.
Just under the projection lens is the focusing knob which, as you will see, is in very convenient position. On top of the lens is a knurled thumbscrew. This thumbscrew locks a clamping ring to the lens. Its operation is as follows :
When a lens is inserted, it is first placed in correct focus ; then the clamping ring referred to is shoved on and up against the front lens clamp. It is then locked rigidly to the barrel by means of the aforesaid knurled thumbscrew. The result of all this is that when it is desired to introduce another lens