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MAY 16, 2008 |
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The Kinoton E Drive System Technical Philosophy Those who have been around this business a while can easily remember when the mono sound equipment in a single theater took a four hour monthly service call to maintain. Many manual tasks and mechanical adjustments that once consumed enormous amounts of time have been obviated by electronics. Perhaps the only equipment in the cinema not to undergo a significant change in design is the projector. While some will resist this change, one only has to compare today's standards of reliability, lack of required maintenance and quality in sound systems with those of forty years ago, when most of today's projection designs originated, to glimpse the potential for progress. But this desire to advance is tempered by the understanding of our customers' need for reliability, thus our use of only well-proven technology. Concept and Design More than 14 years ago, Kinoton succeeded in developing a high speed projector with superior image quality for studio applications. Instead of the Maltese cross, the intermittent sprocket is driven by an electronically controlled servomotor. These versatile and heavy-duty projectors are in continuous operation at leading studios around the world. The following is a brief description of their development: Kinoton began investing heavily in electronic intermittent technology. After extensive experimentation with compound motors, steppers and conventional servos, the designers found none of them could produce all 3 required elements: Work began to develop a new motor technology. Of the 2 most appropriate motor types the stepper had to be eliminated because its nature precludes a truly stable lock, and its strength is lost at high speeds. Analysis of servos found that nothing being produced was acceptable; only a specially designed unit would do the job. Kinoton created a brushless 3 phase AC servomotor with an integral biphase optical encoder. A significant obstacle was maintaining a low inertia rotor design while producing great rotational force. After extensive experimentation a successful motor was made with a rotor incorporating Cobalt and rare earth Lanthanide metals. A custom designed servo control was created that could drive the new motor to achieve all 3 requirements. To provide extremely accurate positional feedback an encoder system was developed that measures position to within 1/2,048 of each 35mm frame. Software was written to make the system perform with extraordinary smoothness, both in simulating the action of a Geneva and in transitioning between any combination of operating modes. The software also offers sprocket eccentricity correction producing unparalleled vertical stability. The design of this motor, control system and its software is the heart of the E series; the ability of this system to manipulate the film perfectly in each of the 3 aforementioned regimes is the patented technology which is different from those of any other projector. The result is truly the best of both worlds; a projector that has image stability better than a Geneva and has acceleration and maximum slew speed far faster than any other projector. Let me mention a few of the maximum 35mm specifications: When the designers of the EC determined they had to engineer an electronic film drive system beyond any other, they unexpectedly invented a projection pulldown system better than even the superb Geneva movements they aimed to match. As a result Kinoton found it had to produce its own test films to accurately measure and adjust the E’s.
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