Patent GB-615457-A (GB)
Title: Pose-reflecting systems for photographic apparatus
IPC: G03B17/53
Filed: 1946-03-04
Abstract: 615,457. Studio apparatus. FOUFOUNIS, J.-T. March 4, 1946, No. 6711. Convention date, May 3, 1945. [A Specification was laid open to inspection under Sect. 91 of the Acts, Sept. 4, 1946.] [Class 98 (ii)] In a self-posing device, light rays from the user are reflected by way of fixed-inclined mirrors 200,201, Fig. 1, to a mirror 202 rotatable about a vertical axis X, Y, thence by way of a mirror 208 fixed to an arm 207 pivoted about a point on the axis X, Y and a mirror 210 mounted on a vertical support 209 on the arm 207 to the eye of the user, which is adjacent to the axis X, Y, the mirrors 208, 210 being placed one at each end of a light-tight box or bellows (not shown) carried by the support 209. The arm is rotatable by the user and connected by gears to the mirror 202 so that the latter rotates through half the angle through which the arm moves, whereby rays received by the mirror 202 are always reflected to the mirror 208, whatever the position of the arm. The mirror 210 is at the user's eye-level so that he can see therein an image of himself, as viewed from the objective 1 of a photographic camera near the mirror 200. A release 3 within reach of the user actuates the camera shutter through a cable 2. Mirror 210 may be replaced by a mirror 212, Fig. 3, slidably mounted on a rod 211, its inclination being governed by a lever 214 engaging a cam groove 216. A lens may be introduced anywhere in the optical path, or one of the mirrors may be spherical, to form an image on a ground glass screen or on an electronic image intensifier. The Specification as open to inspection under Sect. 91 comprises also the subject-matter of Specification 624,173, and mentions (a) synchronization of the movement of the arm 207 with the film movement in a photographic or kinematographic camera; (b) the application of the invention to a coin-freed device, and (c) illumination of the user by infra-red radiation. It also describes various other devices whereby the user sees an image of himself similar to that formed by the lens of a photographic or kinematographic camera and can take his own photograph. (1) The image is seen in a mirror surrounding the camera lens and the shutter is actuated by a cable release within reach of the user; (2) the mirror is hinged and covers the objective and is retracted therefrom at the instant of exposure by means controlled by the shutter release; (3) a series of fixed mirrors, in conjunction with a fixed or retractable mirror in the objective plane, enables the user to observe his image while looking away from the objective; (4) a device as (3) wherein the fixed mirrors are replaced by a single mirror travelling along a guideway. A lever fast with the mirror has a projection engaging a second guideway so shaped that the mirror is always inclined so that the user sees his image after two reflections. The motion of the mirror may be coupled to that of the film. The device may be mounted on a rotary platform; (5) in a photographic camera similar to a reflex camera, Fig. 5 (Cancelled), the image formed by the objective 1 is thrown on a ground glass screen 11 by a retractable mirror 10, and viewed by reflection in a fixed mirror 13 through a window 14. By introducing a lens into the light path in the camera, the image may be formed on a screen placed at 14. The device may be combined with fixed or movable mirrors as in (3) or (4). The image may be formed by a separate lens near the camera lens. A series of images may be formed round the objective by use of a multiplicity of members or by rotating a part of the apparatus. In any of the above devices (1)-(5), the shutter may be coinfreed, and the coin may have a recess for inserting written instructions. The apparatus may be combined with an automatic developing machine. Infra-red light may be used in conjunction with a fluorescent screen. This subject-matter does not appear in the Specification as accepted.