Patent GB-124225-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in and relating to Photographic Cameras of the Type Employed on Aircraft.
Inventor: LAWS FREDERICK CHARLES VICTOR
IPC: G03B19/02
Filed: 1917-04-20
Abstract: 124,225. Laws, F. C. V. April 20, 1917. Aeronautical photography; m a g a z i n e cameras with connected action between shutter and changing mechanism.-Relates to cameras of the kind employed on aircraft for taking a number of photographs in a short space of time at varying intervals at the will of the operator. Interchangeable locking-means are provided for enabling the camera to be operated either manually or by means of an air-screw. The mechanism for changing the plates and setting the shutter comprises a shaft 2, Fig. 3, having mounted thereon a handle 1, Fig. 1, rigidly connected with a toothed segment 3, engaging with a pinion 4 mounted on a shaft 36 of the plate-charging means. A pair of gear wheels 5, Fig. 5, on the shaft 36 engage with racks on the under side of a sliding plate-carrier 7. The handle 1 and the toothed segment 3 can be locked by means of a removable locking-pin 28 with a reciprocating lever 29 freely mounted on the shaft 2 and connected by a link 30 to a mutilated wheel 17 adapted to be rotated by an air-screw or like means. If it is desired to reciprocate the handle 1 manually, the pin 28 is removed; it mav be used to lock the wheel 17 by passing it through the holes 51 and 52 in the casing and wheel 17 respectively. The blind shutter 9 is operated through gearing between the handle 1 and roller 11. A capping flap 12 is operated during the process of exposure. The air-screw is connected to a worm 14 driving the wheel 17 through the gearwheels shown; the wheel 17 makes one complete revolution until the portion 21 from which the teeth have been removed comes into such a position that the gearing driven by the air-screw can rotate without driving the wheel 17 and actuating the shutter-resetting and plate-changing mechanism until the shutter is released by the pressing of the trigger 22. After the release of the shutter, the wheel 17 is carried round by a spring 33 acting upon a pin 34 so as to bring the wheel 17 again into gear. The pressing of the trigger 22 will, when the parts are correctly positioned for an exposure, rock a lever 20 carrying a pin 26 to engage a lever 27 and release the roller-blind. Operation of the trigger when the parts are not in position for exposure is prevented, as shown in Fig. 9, by the engagement of the heel 44 of the lever or pallet 20 with a flanged escapement wheel 19 mounted on the same shaft as the mutilated wheel 17. In Fig. 7 the parts are shown with the escapement wheel 19 prevented from rotation by the engagement of the heel 44 with a pin 45 on the wheel 19. In Fig. 8 the lever 20 is shown as raised by means of the trigger and allowing the pin 45 to escape so that the spring 33 can act to bring the wheel 17 into gear. The shutter is wound up from the shaft 36 by a hammer 38 engaging with a pin 39 on a gear wheel 37 which is loose on the shaft 36 geared up to the blind roller 11; a pin 42 on the wheel 37 is engaged by a notch in the lever 27 to hold the shutter set. The capping flap 12 is operated from the lever 20 by a connecting- rod and bell-crank lever as shown in Fig. 4.