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Rotary Gravity Slide Projector
Straight slide magazines pushed slides sideways and jammed. Kodak's round tray, designed by David E. Hansen, stood the slides on edge in a ring above the projector: each one fell into the gate by gravity when it reached the drop point and was lifted back when the tray moved on, so nothing had to push a slide sideways.
**US 3,276,314**, "Automatic slide projector", Herbert T. Robinson, assigned to Eastman Kodak, filed 1. June 1965 (continuing an application of 23. February 1962), granted 4. October 1966: a tray of two relatively movable portions with a passageway "through which the slides are adapted to pass substantially vertically, one at a time, in coordination with relative movement of the portions".
**You build the mechanism**: a 12-slot tray turned by a stepper, a servo that lifts each slide back, a torch and a lens to project it.
Advanced
6 hours
Instructions
1
1
Make twelve slides
Make twelve slides
Cut 50 x 50 mm frames from black card with a 36 x 24 mm window. Draw or print images on transparency film and tape one behind each window. Number them 0 to 11.
Materials for this step:
Black Card Stock2 sheets
Inkjet Transparency Film2 sheetsTools needed:
Craft Knife
Permanent Marker
Steel Ruler2
2
Build the tray
Build the tray
Glue two 240 mm foam-board discs together. Cut 12 radial slots 4 mm wide and 55 mm long, 30 degrees apart, open underneath so a slide can fall through. Glue a hub on the motor shaft and the tray on the hub.
Materials for this step:
Model Building Foam Board2 sheets
Stepper Motor - 68 oz.in (400 steps/rev)1 pieceTools needed:
Craft Knife
Hot Glue Gun3
3
Base, gate and lift
Base, gate and lift
On a plywood base cut one drop slot under the tray. Below it, build a foam-board gate channel that holds a dropped slide upright between the torch and a 100 mm convex lens. Mount the servo so its arm, raised, pushes the slide back up into the tray.
Materials for this step:
Plywood Sheet1 piece
SG90 Micro Servo Motor (5-Pack)1 pack
Convex Lens Set (Assorted Focal Lengths)1 setTools needed:
Hand Saw
Hot Glue Gun
LED Inspection Flashlight4
4
Wire and flash
Wire and flash
EasyDriver STEP to D3, DIR to D4, motor coils to A and B, 12 V supply to its power input, GND shared with the Uno. Servo signal D9. Button between D2 and GND. Set the EasyDriver current adjuster low - the tray is light. Turn the tray by hand so slot 0 is over the gate before powering up.
rotary_slide_tray.inocpp
Materials for this step:
EasyDriver Stepper Motor Driver1 piece
Microswitch (Lever Actuated)1 piece
Dupont Jumper Wire Set (M-F)1 setTools needed:
Arduino Uno R3
DC Power Supply
Breadboard - Classic
SparkFun Cerberus USB Cable - 1.8 meter5
5
Why the steps must not drift
Why the steps must not drift
Loading Jupyter Notebook...
6
6
Show
Show
Load the slides upside down and reversed (a projector inverts the image). Darken the room, focus the lens on a wall, and press to advance. Count misfeeds over two full turns.
Tools needed:
Tape Measure7
7
History & Context
History & Context
**What the patent specifies:** a projector for a tray of two relatively movable portions, slides passing substantially vertically through a passageway one at a time in step with the tray's movement. **Modern build (derived):** foam-board tray, stepper, servo lift and a torch.
Kodak made Carousel projectors from 1961 until 2004; a round tray held 80 slides. The limits: bent or thick mounts jam the gate, and the gravity drop needs the projector level.

Materials
10- 2 sheetsPlaceholder
- 2 sheetsPlaceholder
- 2 sheetsPlaceholder
- Stepper Motor - 68 oz.in (400 steps/rev)10% commission1 piece$15.43
- 1 piecePlaceholder
- Placeholder
- 1 setPlaceholder
- EasyDriver Stepper Motor Driver10% commission1 piece$13.93
- 1 piecePlaceholder
- Placeholder
Tools Required
11- Placeholder
- Placeholder
- Placeholder
- Placeholder
- Placeholder
- Placeholder
- 1 vendor sell this, none ship to you yetPlaceholder
- Placeholder
- Breadboard - Classic10% commission$9.29
- SparkFun Cerberus USB Cable - 1.8 meter10% commission$5.56
- 1 vendor sell this, none ship to you yetPlaceholder
Estimated Total
What the maker bought. Materials shown without a price are sourced wherever you buy them.
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