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Operation:
General Operation:
The basic operation of the BIG SKY P-SERIES Platter is similar to most other
platters available today. The entire presentation is built into one length of film on
one deck. It is wound from the beginning (inside), including previews, policies,
and advertising, to the end of the feature film (outside). The film is fed through a
pay-out head, which governs that deck s speed, through guidance rollers, to and
through the projector, and back to the platter through guidance rollers, to a
speed control for a different deck on the same platter, and is wound around a
take-up ring on that corresponding deck. The film is ready for the next
presentation by exchanging the pay-out head and take-up ring, and re-threading
the system.
P-SERIES Platters:
The same basic principle as described above is applied to the P-SERIES
Platters. The differences are in the specific designs of the decks, film path,
speed controls, function switches, etc.
The main control for each deck is it s control plate, mounted on the side of the
main mast, correspondingly located just below the top surface of it s controlled
deck. Each deck operates as it s own independent unit, with the location of the
take-up slider determining if the deck is in take-up or pay-out mode. If the slider
is at rest (bottom of it s travel), the pay-out head will be enabled as the deck
speed control. Once the slider is raised from the bottom position, control is
transferred to the slider itself for take-up speed control.
PAY-OUT:
In Pay-Out mode, the speed of the deck is controlled by the position of the
swinging arm in the pay-out head assembly. The pay-out head is placed
in the center of the deck, and the take-up ring is removed. Film is
threaded through the pay-out head (see the drawing for Payout Head
Threading for film path) and to the pay-out sensor rollers on the mast.
These rollers sense that film is being pulled by the projector, and the film
is moving normally. As long as these rollers are turning, operation is
normal. If no movement is sensed, the control will interrupt the speed
control, and stop the deck until the rollers are being turned by the film,
which is being pulled by the projector.
