Patent GB-340667-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to observation towers
IPC: G02B23/00
Filed: 1929-10-22
Abstract: 340,667. Stands for telescopes, cameras, guns, &c. BRETON, J. L. and BRETON, P., 21 bis, Grand Rue, Bellevue, Seine-et-Oise, France. Oct. 22, 1929, No. 32030. Convention date, Oct. 22, 1928. [Class 20 (i).] An observatory tower for use with a telescope or other observation device is formed of aluminium and consists of a plate 1, Fig. 2, provided with a hollow column 2 rotatably supported on ballbearings on a fixed pivot 4, which may also be hollow to allow of the passage of control or lighting wires. The tower is rotated from a hand-wheel 6 through gearing 8, 9 and the telescope or aiming instrument is so positioned that the axis of rotation 14 of the counter-weighted frame 16, Fig. 1, on which it is adjustably mounted by means of screw 27 of support 26, passes through the centre of observation, so that the movement of the eyepiece of the instrument 17 approximates closely with the movement of the eye of the observer as he inclines his head rearwardly for observation from horizontal to vertical. The frame of the instrument is rotated from a hand-wheel 38 through pinion 36 and sector 35. The observer's seat is adjustable by screw 73 and may be mounted for tilting sideways. Photographic or cinematographic appliances may be combined with the telescope. The Specification as open to inspection under Sect. 91 (3) (a) comprises also an observatory formed as a rigid structure shown in Figs. 1 and 2 (cancelled) and consisting of a plate 1 and uprights 10 connected by a platform 18, the plate and platform being connected by a tube 2 mounted to rotate on ball bearings 3, 5 on a central pedestal 4 which is hollow to allow of the passage of electrical wires. The upper ends of the uprights form hollow bearings for the pivots of the telescope frame 16 which is counterbalanced by external weights 30 and adjustable internal weights 32. The framework is covered by a dome plate 25 provided with a shuttered aperture 43 for the telescope. The frame is provided with a rear door 22 whereby access is had to the seating platform 58 and also with two gear operated sliding doors 48 at each side of the telescope. The tower is rotated through gearing from a hand-wheel 6 and the elevation of the telescope is controlled by the hand-wheel 38, a locking device 39 being provided for the telescope frame. In a modification for use with long telescopes, Fig. 4 (cancelled), the telescope frame 64 is wholly external to the main frame and is formed of horizontal side bars 63, and semicircular side bars 67 joined at the front to form a bearing 65 for the telescope and at the rear by the counterbalance weights 30. A locking device 68 controlled by the observer is provided for the telescope frame. In a further modification for use with a bent telescope, (Fig. 8 cancelled), the oscillating telescope frame 16 is mounted on rotatable axis 14 supported in a framework carried by the tubular portion 2, all the controlling handles being within easy reach of the observer. The framework may be fixed or mounted on a trolley in which case jacks are provided on the trolley for levelling and steadying purposes. Fixing or aiming devices such as guns or small cannon or cameras may be substituted for or combined with the telescope. This subject-matter does not appear in the Specification as accepted.