IMPROVED PROCESSES AND APPARATUS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF MICROSCOPIC PHOTOGRAPS, CHIEFLY DESIGNED FOR OBTAINING AND PRESERVING COPIES OF RECORDS, PICTURES, STATUARY, NATURAL OBJECTS, AND THE LIKE
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake,
66
& Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for an Invention of
IMPROVED PROCESSES AND APPARATUS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF MICROSCOPIC
PHOTOGRAPS, CHIEFLY DESIGNED FOR OBTAINING AND PRESERVING COPIES OF
RECORDS, PICTURES, STATUARY, NATURAL OBJECTS, AND THE LIKE" A
communication from abroad by Eusebius J. Molera and John C. Cebrian, both
of San Francisco, California, United States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 20th March 1880.,
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. "IMPROVED PROCESSES AND APPARATUS FOR THE
PRODUCTION OF MICROSCOPIC PHOTOGRAPHS, CHIEFLY DESIGNED FOR OBTAINING
AND PRESERVING COPIES OF RECORDS, PICTURES, STATUARY, NATURAL OBJECTS,
AND THE LIKE" [A communication from abroad by Eusebius J. Molera and John
C. Cebrian, both of San Francisco, California, United States of America.]
This Invention relates partly to an improved method of collecting, keeping,
using, and transmitting in a condensed and imperishable manner all kinds of copies
or records, whether manuscripts, printings, engravings, lithographs, photographs,
pictures, chromos, statuary, natural objects, and the like, any or all of which must
be understood under the general words, copies or records, whenever used in this
Specification.
The different methods heretofore adopted for such purposes are inadequate to the
actual needs and demands; they all have several defects, and in common they have
these four, that is to say, excessive bulkiness, great weight, great difficulty in
multiplying or copying them, and excessive cost, and to these common defects
several particular ones may be added.
This Invention provides a new practical method or system to obviate such
defects, and to gain many advantages in order that all kinds of records may be
universally accessible by reason of their cheapness, their small size and light
weight, their imperishable character, and the facility with which they may be
multiplied.

page_text: These results are effected, 1st, by collecting or reducing all kinds of records or
copies to a microscopical size; 2nd, by using instruments or apparatus which
permit the reading or examination of such reductions in an enlarged size with
comfort, so as to substitute them for all present uses of books and other records or
copics.
Microscopic photographs have been already used, but with a different purpose,
chiefly as toys and in jewellery charms, and microscopical views of scenery,
portraits, and other subjects are made, but these are not intended as a substitute for
books, engravings, and other copies or records; nor could they in that shape serve
for this purpose conveniently, nor has the manufacture thereof been methodized or
adapted for the purpose. They can be seen through a microscope, but they cannot
be read or studied with the easiness or quickness of ordinary reading, but this
Invention renders their use for this purpose practical.
All of the reduced copies or records should be collected in adjoining columns
similar to a newspaper, so that in a small plate or slicet of glass, pasteboard, paper,
or other material the matter of hundreds of volumes may be condensed. By
means of two rectangular distances I can find in the said plate or sheet any
particular place needed; I have then to index all the matter of the plate by relation
to the coluinn it is in, and the height in the said column; any chapter, paragraph,
heading, object, or other reference will be determined by two figures. Each plate
must be provided with such index at any point of its surface, or in a separate plato
or in common size print. Each plate must have also a corresponding conspicuous
title or its equivalent for ready reference.
According to the first part of the said Invention the matter to be reduced is
arranged in columns on a band, which is adapted to intermittingly present a new
photographic field. The camera employed to make the reduction is composed of a
photograph camera, a microscopical focusing device, and an intermediate plate-
holder, the latter adapted to be moved so as to present space for a new impression
simultaneously with the movement of the band which presonts a new photographic
field. If an additional reduction is required the matter is subjected to a further
process, which is substantially the duplicate of the first; the matter to be reduced
in such case is preferably contained on a plate, whose holder is adjustable in the
same manner as the plate-holder of the cainera. The camera employed in making
the additional reductions, whether the latter be one or more following the first
reduction, is the same as the one employed in making the first reduction. In
making any one of these several reductions a screen automatically closes
over the objective glass of the camera immediately prior to the simultaneous
movement of the photographic plate, and the band or plate which contains the
matter to be reduced.
And immediately after the said photographic-plate and band or plate containing
the matter to be reduced have simultaneously ceased their movement the screen
automatically exposes the objective glass of the camera.
The said first part of this Invention comprises, first, a method of reducing,
keeping, and transmitting all kinds of records or copies in a microscopic form;
second, a method of preserving copies of any records or other suitable matter,
consisting in reducing the said records or matter to a microscopic form by one or
inore photographic reductions of the same; third, a process of reducing to a
microscopic scale any suitable matter, consisting in photographing from an
adjustable band containing said matter; fourth, reducing to a microscopic scale any
suitable matter consisting of the following steps, viz., collecting on a band the
matter to be reduced; also intermittently moving the band; also photographing
the field exposed by said band during its intervals at rest. It comprises, tiful, the
combination with a camera of a band containing the matter and mechanism for
adjusting the band to intermittently expose new photographic fields; sixth, the
combination with a band containing the matter and means for intermittently
exposing new photographic fields on the band of a photographic camera a
microscopic focusing-device, and an intermediate transparent sensitized piate;

page_text: seventh, the combination with a band containing the matter and mechanism for
intermittently exposing new photographic fields on the band of a photographic camera
a microscopic focusing device and an intermediate adjusting plato-holder; eighth,
the combination with a camera provided with an adjustable plate-holder and an
adjustable band or plate containing the matter to be reduced, of intermediate
automatic mechanism adapted to relatively adjust said plate-holder, and band or
plate; ninth, the combination with a camera provided with an adjustable plate-
holder and an adjustable band or plate containing the matter to be reduced, of
electric connections, and automatic devices adapted to simultaneously move said
plate-holder, and band or plate respectively any predetermined distance; tenth, the
combination with a camera provided with an adjustable screen for the objectivo
glass, and an adjustable band or plate containing the matter to bo reduced, of
electric connections, and automatic devices adapted to move the said screen over
the glass; also to move the said band or plate into a new position; also to move said
screen from the glass. The first part of this Invention also comprises, eleventh,
the combination with a photographic camera of a microscopical focusing apparatus,
and an intermediato adjustable plate-holder; twelfth, the combination with a
photographic camera, a microscopical focusing apparatus, and an intermediate
plate-holder, of adjusting mechanisin which moves the photographic camera to or
from said plate-holder and focusing apparatus; thirteenth, the combination with
a photographic camera, a microscopical focusing apparatus, and an intermediate
plate-holder, of adjusting mechanism which moves the said focusing apparatus to
or from the said plate-holder and photographic camera; fourteenth, the
combination with a plate-holder, a shaft gearing therewith, and ratchet mechanism
of a spring coiled about the shaft, a spring pressed stop which prevents said spring
from uncoiling, and an electro-magnet which operates to retract tho stop and
pernit the shaft to rotate; fifteenth, the combination with a plate-holder two
rotary shafts respectively gearing therewith to move it in different directions, and
independent ratchet mechanisin, of coil springs fitted in boxes secured to the
shafts, spring-pressed stops which engage with said boxes, and electro-magnets
adapted to retract said stops; sixteenth, the combination with a plate-holder, a
shaft gearing therewith, and a coil spring having one end secured to the shaft and
the opposite end secured to a box fitted on the shaft, of ratchet mechanisin, a
spring-pressed stop which engages with a cam formed on the spring box, and an
electro-magnet which operates to retract said stop from its cam engagement;
seventeenth; the combination with a plate-holder, and a rotary shaft gearing
therewith, of duplicate devices secured respectively to the shaft extremities, and
adapted to rotate said shaft in opposite directions independently of each other;
eighteenth, the combination with a photographic camera and intermediate plate-
holder, and a microscopical focusing apparatus, of a rotary shaft whose forward end
is detachedly clamped to the photographic camera, and whose opposite and works
in a screw-threaded opening formed in the focusing apparatus, and a sliding shaft
whose forward end is secured to the photographic camera, and whose opposite end
extends rearward; nineteenth, the combination with an objective glass and an
adjustable screen, of a spring which maintains the latter free from the glass, and an
electro-magnet which operates to move the screen over the glass; twentieth, tho
combination with a band containing the matter to be reduced, and one or more
feed-rollers provided with a device for automatically rotating them, of a spring-
pressed stop which prevents said device from actuating the roller or rollers, and au
electro-magnet which operates to retract said stop; twenty first, the combination
with a band containing the matter to be reduced, rolls on which the band-ends
are wound, and one or more feed-rollers, of an automatically rotating shaft
connected to said roller or rollers, a spring-pressed stop engaging with said shaft,
and an electro-magnet which operates to retract said stop; twenty second, the
combination with a band containing the matter to be reduced, and means for
intermittingly moving it, of a transverse bar over which the band passes in

page_text: presenting its photographic field, one or both extremities of the said bar being
adapted to be adjusted vertically and horizontally; twenty third, the combination
with a band containing the matter to be reduced, and means for intermittingly
moving it, of upper and lower transverse bars over which the band passes in
presenting its photographic field, the said bars being independently adjustable to
maintain said field in position.
The second part of this Invention provides means for quickly and automatically
producing positives from a negative containing in greatly reduced dimensions any
inatter capable of being photographed.
This part of the said Invention relates to the apparatus for printing the positives
from the reduced negative, the object thereof is to subject the sensitized plates in
rapid succession to the action of the camera, delivering the plates to the camera,
and discharging them therefrom by automatic mechanism. This part of the said
Invention comprises, first, the combination with a camera and a chute which com-
municates with its plate-holder, of automatic stops governing respectively the
upper and lower communications of said chute and plate-holder; second, the
combination with a camera and a chute which communicates with its plate-holder,
of a spring-pressed stop controlling said communication, and an electro-magnet
which operates to retract the stop; third, the combination with a camera and a
chute which communicates with its plate-holder of upper and lower ways intersecting
the chute, and plate carriers adapted to be moved over said ways; fourth, the
combination with a camera, of a chute which communicates with its plate-holder,
and upper and lower ways intersecting the chute, of a plate-carrier which moves on
the upper way, and has an open bottom, and a plate carrier which moves on the
lower way, and has an open top; fifth, the combination with a camera, a chute
which communicates with its plate-holder, and ways intersecting the chute, of plate
carriers which move over the ways, and a connecting belt which maintains said
carriers, moving at the same rate of speed.
The third part of the said Invention is more especially intended for use in
connection with the apparatus for reducing to a microscopic scale any matter capable
of being photographed, as set forth. Its object is to provide improved mcaus
whereby one or more circuits may be closed at predetermined intervals, and for any
length of time.
This part of the said Invention comprises, first, the combination with a plate and
pins adjustable relatively to the plate surface, of a device adapted by movement
over the latter to join any pin projecting therefrom, and connected with one electric
pole, to means which connect with the opposite pole; second, the combination with
a plate provided with holes in which pins are adjustable, of a device adapted to
move over said plate, and join any projecting pin connected with one electric pole,
to means connected with the opposite pole; third, in the combination with a non
conducting plate and conducting pins adjustable in holes formed in the plate of
a conducted device adapted to join any two consecutive pins projecting beyond the
plate, and means which connect the several pins in alternate order respectively to
opposite electric poles; fourth, the combination with a non-conducting plate
provided with a conducting band, of conducting pins fitted in holes formed in the
plate, and conducting strips which connect said pin-holes with the band; fifth,
the combination with a non conducting plate provided with a conducting band,
aud conducting pins adjustable in holes formed in the plate, of conducting strips
which independently connect the several pin-holes with the band, and a movable
conducting device adapted to join any two consecutive pins which may project
beyond the plate; sixth, the combination with a nonconducting plate provided
with two or more conducting bands, of concentric sets of conducting pins adjustablo
in holes formed in the plate, and conducting strips which independently connect
the several pin-holes of each set to the band of said set; seventh, the com-
bination with a non conducting plate, and a circular series of conducting pins
having sliding movement in holes formed in the plate, of a conducting roller, a

page_text: radial arm which supports the latter, and means which actuate the said roller arm
in circular movement; eighth, the combination with a non-conducting plato
provided with a conducting band, adjustable conducting pins, and conducting strips
which connect said pin-holes with the band, of a conducting plate provided with
conducting pins adapted to be adjusted in holes formed in the non-conducting
plate, a conducting device having movement over the latter, and means which
connect the conducting plate and the conducting band to opposite clectric poles;
ninth, the combination with a non-conducting plate provided with a conducting
band, conducting slide pins, and conducting strips which connect said pin-holes with
the band, of a conducting plate provided with conducting pins adapted to slide in
holes formed in the non-conducting plate alternately with the first mentioned pin-
holes, a conducting device which moves over the non-conducting plate, and means
which connect the conducting plate and the conducting band to opposite electric
poles.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 20th
Soptember 1880.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. "IMPROVED PROCESSES AND APPARATUS FOR THE
PRODUCTION OF MICROSCOPIC PHOTOGRAPHS, CHIEFLY DESIGNED FOR OBTAINING
AND PRESERVING COPIES OF RECORDS, PICTURES, STATUARY, NATURAL OBJECTS,
AND THE LIKE." A communication from abroad by Eusebius J. Molera and John
C. Cebrian, both of San Francisco, California, United States of America.
This Invention relates to an improved method of collecting, keeping, using, and
transmitting in a condensed and imperishable manner all kinds of copies or records,
whether manuscripts, prints, engravings, lithographs, photographs, pictures,
chromos, statuary, natural objects, or the like, any or all of which are to be
understood as included under the general terms, copies or records, whenever such
words occur in this Specification.
The different methods heretofore adopted for such purposes are inadequate to the
actual needs and demands, and have several defects, and in common the following,
that is to say, excessive bulkiness, great weight, great difficulty in multiplying or
copying them, and excessive cost, and to these common defects several particular
ones may be added.
This Invention provides a new practical method or system to obviate such
defects, and to gain very many advantages in order that all kinds of records may
be rendered universally accessible by reason of their cheapness, their small size and
light weight, their imperishable character, and the facility with which they may be
multiplied.
These result are effected, first, by collecting or reducing all kinds of records or
copies to a microscopical size; second, by using appropriate instruments or appa-
ratus which permit the reading or examination of such reductions on an enlarged
size with comfort, so as to substitute them for all present uses of books and other
records or copies.
Microscopic photographs have been already used, but with a different purpose,
that is to say, chiefly as toys, and in jewellery charms; microscopical views of
scenery, portraits, short pieces of painted matter, or other subjects are morcover
made, but they are or were not intended as a substitute for books, engravings, and
other copies or records, nor could they in that shape serve for this purpose
conveniently; nor has the manufacture thereof been methodized or adapted for the
purpose. They can be seen through a microscope, but they cannot be read or
studied with the case or quickness of ordinary reading. This Invention however
renders their use for this purpose practical.
All of the reduced copies or records should be collected in adjoining columns
similar to a newspaper, so that in a small plate or sheet of glass, pasteboard, paper,
or other material, the matter of hundreds of volumes may be compressed. By
means of two rectangular distances I can find in the said plate or sheet any
particular place needed. I have then to index all the matter of the plate according
to the column it is in, and the height in the said column; any chapter, paragraph,
heading, object, or other reference will be determined by two figures. Each plate
must be provided with such index at any point of its surface, or in a separate plate
or in ordinary sized print. Each plate must have also a corresponding
conspicuous title or its equivalent for ready reference.
According to the first part of the said Invention the matter to be reduced is
arranged in columns on a band, which is adapted to intermittingly present a new
photographic field. The camera employed to make the reduction is composed of a
photograph camera, a microscopical focussing device, and an intermediate plate-

page_text: holder, the latter being adapted to be moved, so as to present a space for a new
impression simultaneously with the movement of the band which presents a new
photographic field. If an additional reduction is required the matter is subjected
to a further process, which is substantially the same as the first, the matter to be
reduced in such case is preferably contained on a plate whose holder is adjustable
in the same manner as the plate-holder of the camera. The camera employed in
making the additional reductions, whether the latter be one or more following the
first reduction, is the same as the one employed in making the first reduction. In
making any one of these several reductions, a screen automatically closes over the
objective glass of the camera immediately prior to the simultaneous movement of
the photographic plate, and the band or plate which contains the matter to bo
reduced. Moreover, immediately after the said photographic-plato and band, or
plate containing the matter to be reduced have simultaneously ceased to move, the
screen automatically exposes the objective glass of the camera.
The said first part of this Invention consists, first, in a method of reducing,
keeping, and transmitting all kinds of records or copies in a microscopic
form; secondly, in a method of preserving copies of any records or other
suitable matter, consisting in reducing the said records or matter to a microscopic
form by one or more photographic reductions of the same; thirdly, in a
process of reducing to a microscopic scale any suitable matter consisting in
photographing from an adjustable band containing said matter; fourthly, in
reducing to a microscopic scale any suitable matter consisting of the following steps,
namely, first, collecting on a band the matter to be reduced; second, intermittently
moving the said band; third, photographing the field exposed by said band during
its intervals of rest. It also consists, fifthly, in the combination with a camera of a
band containing the matter, and mechanism for adjusting the band to intermittently
expose new photographic fields; sixthly, in the combination with a band containing
the inatter, and means for intermittently exposing new photographic fields on the
band of a photographic camera, a microscopic focussing dovice, and an intermediate
transparent sensitized plate; soventhly, in the combination with a band containing
the matter and mechanism for intermittently exposing new photographic fields on the
band of a photographic camera, a microscopic focussing device, and an intermediate
adjusting plate-holder; eighthly, in the combination with a camera provided with
an adjustable plate-holder, and an adjustable band or plate containing the matter to
be reduced, of intermediate automatic mechanism adapted to relatively adjust the
said plate-holder and band or plate; ninthly, in the combination with a camera
provided with an adjustable plate holder and an adjustable band or plate containing
the matter to be reduced, of electric connections and automatic devices adapted to
simultaneously move the said plate holder and band or plate any predetermined
distance; tenthly, in the combination with a camera provided with an adjustable
screen for the objective glass and an adjustable band or plate containing the matter
to be reduced, of electric connections and automatic devices adapted, first, to move
the said screen over the glass; secondly, to move the said band or plate into a
new position; and, thirdly, to move the said screen from the glass. The first
part of the said Invention also consists, cleventhly, in the combination with n
photographic camera of a microscopical focussing apparatus and an intermediate
adjustable plate-holder; twelfthly, in the combination with a photographic camera.
a microscopical focussing apparatus and an intermediate plate-holder, of adjusting
mechanism which moves the photographic camera to or from the said plate-holder
and focussing apparatus; thirteenthly, in the combination with a photographic
camera, a microscopical focussing apparatus, and an intermediate plate-holder, of
adjusting mechanisin which moves the said focussing apparatus to or from the said
plate-holder and photographic camera; fourteenthly, in the combination with a
plate-holder, a shaft gearing therewith, and ratchet mechanism, of a spring coiled
around the shaft, a spring pressed stop which prevents the said spring from uncoiling,
and an electro-magnet which operates to retract the stop and permit the shaft lo
rotate; fifteenthly, in the combination with a plate holder, two rotary shafts

page_text: respectively gearing therewith to move it in different directions, and independent
ratchet mechanism, of coiled springs fitted in boxes secured to the shafts, spring
pressed-stops which engage with the said boxes, and electro-magnets adapted to
retract the said stops; sixteenthly, in the combination with a plate-holder, a shaft
gearing therewith, and a coiled spring having one end secured to the shaft and the
opposite end secured to a box fitted on the shaft of ratchet-mechanism, a spring-
pressed stop which engages with a can formed on the spring-box, and an electro-
magnet which operates to retract the said stop from engagement with the said cam ;
seventeenthly, in the combination with a plate-holder and a rotary shaft gearing
therewith, of duplicate devices secured respectively to the extremities of the shaft
and adapted to rotate the said shaft in opposite directions independently of each
other eighteenthly, in the combination with a photographic camera and inter-
mediate plate-holder and a microscopical focussing apparatus, of a rotary shaft
whose forward end is detachably clamped to the photographic camera, and whose
opposite end works in a screw-threaded opening formed in the focussing apparatus,
and a sliding shaft whose forward end is secured to the photographic camera, and
whose opposite end extends rearward; nineteenthly, in the combination with an
objective glass and an adjustable screen, of a spring which maintains the latter free
from the glass, and an electro-magnet which operates to move the screen over the
glass; twentiethly, in the combination with a band containing the inatter to be
reduced and one or more feed-rollers provided with a device for automatically
rotating them, of a spring-pressed stop which prevents the said device from actuating
the roller or rollers, and an electro-magnet which operates to retract the said stop;
twenty-firstly, in the combination with a band containing the matter to be reduced,
rolls on which the band-ends are wound, and one or more feed-rollers, of an
automatically rotating-shaft connected to the said roller or rollers, a spring-pressed
stop engaging with the said shaft, and an electro-magnet which operates to
retract the said stop; twenty-secondly, in the combination with a band containing
the matter to be reduced, and means for intermittingly moving it, of a transverse
bar over which the band passes in presenting its photographic field, one or both
extremities of the said bar being adapted to be adjusted vertically and horizontally;
twenty thirdly, the combination with a band containing the matter to be reduced,
and means for intermittingly moving it, of upper and lower transverse bars over
which the band passes in presenting its photographic field, the said bars being
independently adjustable to maintain the said field in position.
The second part of this Invention provides means for quickly and automatically
producing positives from a negative containing in greatly reduced dimension any
matter capable of being photographed.
This part of the said Invention relates to the apparatus for printing the positives
from the reduced negative. The object thereof is to subject the sensitized plates in
rapid succession to the action of the camera delivering the plates to the camera, and
discharging them therefrom by automatic incchanism. This part of the said
Invention consists, firstly, in the combination with a camera and a chute which
communicates with its plate-holder, of automatic stops governing respectively the
upper and lower communications of tho said chuto and plate-holder; secondly, in
the combination with a camera and a chute which communicates with its plate-
holder, of a spring-pressed stop controlling the said communication, and an electro-
magnet which operates to retract the stop; thirdly, in the combination with a
camera and a chute which communicates with its plate-holder of upper and lower
ways intersecting the chute and plate-carriers, adapted to be moved over the said
ways; fourthly, in the combination with a camera a chute which communicates with
its plate-holder, and upper and lower ways intersecting the said chute, of a plate-
carrier which moves on the upper way and has an open bottom, and a plate-carrier
which moves on the lower way and has an open top; lifthly, in the combination with
a camera a chute which communicates with its plate-holder and ways intersecting
the said chute, of plate-carriers which move over the ways, and a connecting belt
which ensures the said carriers moving at the same rate of speed.

page_text: The third part of the said Invention is more especially intended for use in
connection with the apparatus for reducing to a microscopic scale any matter
capable of being photographed. Its object is to provide improved means whereby
one or more circuits may be closed at predetermined intervals, and for any length
of time.
This part of the said Invention consists, first, in the combination with a plate
and pins, adjustable relatively to the plate surface, of a device adapted by movement
over the latter to join any pin projecting therefrom, and connected with one electric
pole to means which connect with the opposito pole; secondly, in the combination
with a plate provided with holes in which pins are adjustable, of a device adapted
to move over the said plate, and join any projecting pin connected with one electric
polo to incans connected with the opposite pole; thirdly, in the combination with a
non-conducting plate, and conducting pins adjustable in holes formed in the plate,
of a conducting device adapted to join any two consecutive pins projecting beyond
the plate, and means which connect the several pins in alternate order to opposite
electro-poles; fourthly, in the combination with a non-conducting plate provided
with a conducting band, of conducting pins fitted in holes formed in the plate, and
conducting strips which connect the said pin-holes with the band; fifthly, in the
combination with a non-conducting plate provided with a conducting band, and
conducting pins adjustable in holes formed in the said plato, of conducting strips
which independently connect the several pin-holes with the band, and a movable
conducting device adapted to join any two consecutive pins which may project beyond
the plate; sixthly, in the combination with a non-conducting plate, provided with
two or more conducting bands, of concentric sets of conducting pins adjustable in
boles formed in the plate, and conducting strips which independently connect the
several pin-holes of cach set to the band of the said set; seventhly, in the combina-
tion with a non-conducting plate, and a circular series of conducting pins having
sliding movement in holes formed in the said plate, of a conducting roller, a radial
arin which supports the latter, and means which actuate the said roller-arm in
circular movement; eighthly, in the combination with a non-conducting plate
provided with a conducting band, adjustable conducting pins and conducting strips,
which connect the said pin-holes with the band, of a conducting plate provided with
conducting pins adapted to be adjusted in holes formed in the non-conducting plate,
a conducting device having movement over the latter, and means which connect the
conducting plate and the conducting band to opposite electric poles; ninthly, in the
combination with a non-conducting plate, provided with a conducting band, con-
ducting slide-pins, and conducting strips which connect the said pin-holes with the
band, of a conducting plate provided with conducting pins adapted to slide in holes
formed in the non-conducting plate alternately with the first mentioned pin-holes,
a conducting device which moves over the non-conducting plate, and incans which
connect the conducting plate and the conducting band to opposite electric poles.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.

page_text: The matter to be subjected to the first reduction is placed in one or more
longitudinal columns on a band A, whose ends are wound on upper and lower
rolls B. This band passes over the two feed-rollers C before entering and after
leaving the photographic field; D represents an automatically rotating shaft which
gears with the upper feed-roller, and a is a belt which connects the latter with
the lower feed-roller. The roll on which the lower end of the band containing the
matter to be reduced is connected is adapted to automatically wind the said band
around it as the feed-rollers feed it. A sliding stop C is maintained in engagement
with one or more cams c formed on the shaft D by a spring, and an electro-magnet E
serves to retract the stop and release it from engagement with the said cains, when
the circuit is closed through the said electro-magnet. The gearing between the
shaft D and the feed-roller is adapted to cause the band to be fed forward to
present a new photographic field cach time that the stop is released from
engagement with the cam. If the gearing is not arranged in this manner, the same
result may be accomplished by controlling the duration of the closed circuit through
the said electro-magnet. The photographic field is maintained smooth and in due
position by upper and lower transverse bars F, over which the band passes; one or
both extremities of each bar may be adjusted horizontally and vertically by set-
screws c. The camera employed consists of a photographic camera G, a microscopical
focussing apparatus H, and an intermediate adjustable plate-holder J. A rotary
shaft K has its forward extremity connected to that portion of the photographic
camera which carries the objective glass by a clamp, which permits it to be
loosened therefrom when desired. The rear extremity of the shaft is screw-threaded
and works in a corresponding screw-threaded opening formed in that portion of
the focussing apparatus which carries the eye-piece. This shaft may be operated
directly, or a delicate movement may be imparted to it by turning a long pinion l
which engages with a gear wheel m rigidly secured to the said shaft. This shaft
adjusts the objective glass of the photographic camera relatively to the plate-holder
and the focussing apparatus. A rod L has its forward extremity secured to the
portion of the photographic camera which carries the objective glass, and extends
rearward, so as to be in reach of the observer. By loosening the shaft K from the
clamp the said rod may be drawn rearward or pushed forward, so as to rapidly
adjust the objective glass of the photographic camera relatively to the plate-holler
and focussing apparatus. A. rotary shaft M has its forward extremity connected to
the plate-holder, and its rear extremity screw-threaded, and working through a
screw-threaded opening formed in that portion of the focussing apparatus which
carries the eye-piece. A delicate movement may be imparted to the same in a
similar manner to that described with reference to shaft K, and its function is to
adjust the plate-holder relatively to the focussing apparatus. If desired similar
means may be employed to adjust the field-glass of the focussing apparatus relatively
to the eye-glass. The plate-holder J is provided with a horizontal rack 7 (Figure 7) in
which meshes a pinion secured to an upright rotating shaft N; as this shaft rotates the
plate-holder is moved in a horizontal direction. To accomplish this result the plate-
holder has a free sliding movement in a transverse frame P. This frame has a free
sliding movement in a vertical frame Q, and is adjusted therein by a rotary screw-
shaft R, which works in screw-threaded openings formed in the said transverse
frame. Each shaft N and R is provided at one extremity with a spring 7 (Figure 3)
having one end secured thereto, and the other end secured to a box S provided
with one or more cams & on its outer periphery. This spring can be wound like a
watch-spring, and a ratchet device T prevents the shaft from rotating under the
pressure of the said spring. Spring-pressed stops & engage with the cams of the
spring-boxes, and electro-magnets V operate to retract the stops and free the said
engagement, when the circuits through said electro-magnets are closed. The lower
extremity of the screw-shaft R is provided with mechanism, as shewn at W,
substantially the same as that just described as being connected with its opposite
extremity. The spring and connecting parts are however adapted to operate in the
opposite direction to the said mechanism at the upper extremity of the shaft, and

page_text: hence the mechanism at both ends of the shaft oporate independently of each other;
the screw-shaft is thereby adapted to be rotated either to the right or the left as
may be desired, thus adjusting the plate-holder either up or down, according as
the vertical column of matter undergoing reduction is being photographed from the
bottom upwards or from the top downwards. If the matter to be reduced is
arranged in horizontal columns it is apparent that the shaft N should be adapted
in this manner to move the plate-holder either to the right or the left, and that the
shaft R need not he then adapted. The objective glass of the camera is provided
with a screen A', which is maintained in a position to expose the glass by a
spring a B is an electro-magnet which operates to overcome the force of the
said spring, and when the circuit is closed the said electro-magnet draws the screen
over the glass. The camera employed in the additional reduction of the matter to
be reduced is the same as that employed in making the first reduction; but the
mcans for presenting a photographic field thereto is preferably different from the
travelling band used for the first reduction. I employ a plate-holder and connecting
parts similar to the corresponding parts used in the camera. A light may be
thrown upon the plate-holder in such case, and the apparatus c² shown by way of
illustration may be employed for this purpose. If the plate containing the matter
to be reduced is opaque the light should be thrown upon the front face. The
several electro-magnets hereinbefore mentioned are connected with an electric
switch D', the particular construction of which constitutes the subject matter of
the third part of this Invention. The switch is adapted to permit a current
or several different currents to form closed circuits through their respective
electro-magnets at predetermined intervals, and for any length of time. Thus
if five seconds are required in which to make an impression on the sensitized
plate, and fifty five seconds are required in which to move said plate and the band
or plate presenting the photographic field, then the switch may be regulated so as
to close the circuit every sixty seconds through the electro-magucts controlling the
movement of said sensitized plate, and of the said band or plate presenting the
photographic field. One second before closing the said circuits the regulator will
close the circuit through the electro-magnet, which controls the screen of the
objective glass of the camera, and one second after the circuit, through the electro-
magnets governing the movements of the sensitized plate, and the band or plate
presenting the photographic field, are opened, then the circuit through the electro-
magnet governing the screen is opened. Hence the regulator operates to move the
several different parts of the apparatus in their proper order automatically and
swiftly. In the foregoing description I have set forth the construction and
operation of certain specific mechanisms constituting one form of completo apparatus
for carrying out this part of the said Invention. It is obvious however that the
principle only of this part of the said Invention is illustrated by the said detail
mechanism. Many changes, substitutions, and omissions may however be made as
regards the means previously described without departing from the principle of
the Invention. It is also apparent that certain parts of the Invention are relatively
distinct, and may be independently used or omitted.
and
The second part of this Invention is represented in Figures 8 and 9.
Figure 8 is a central vertical section illustrating this part of the said Invention,
Figure is a plan or top view of the same.
The camera employed consists of a photographic camera A, a microscopical
focussing apparatus B, and an intermediate plate-holder C. The latter has both
upper and lower communication with a chute D. Spring-pressed stops E, E¹,
control these communicators, and electro-magnets F, F', serve to retract the said
stops and permit free passage through the chute. Upper and lower ways Ģ
intersect the chute respectively at both extremities. Plate-carriers H are adapted
to have longitudinal movement on these ways, and they or the sensitized plates
should be arranged in any desired manner to prevent injury to the said plates.
The plate-carrier, which moves over the upper way, is formed with an open bottom,

page_text: so that as the plates are successively brought to the point at which the said carrier
intersects the chute they may pass into the latter. This plate-carrier is preferably
formed with a detachable botton, so that after the carrier is filled with plates and
placed on the way the bottom may be drawn out and perinit the plates to rest on
the said way. The plate-carrier, which moves over the lower way, is provided
with an open top, so that the plates, which have been subjected to the action of
the camera, may pass through the chute onto the said carrier. The negative, from
which the positives are to be printed, is placed in the frame K. The electro-
magnets, which control the chute-stops, are connected with an electric switch L
adapted to close the respective circuits through them at predetermined intervals.
The objective glass of the camera is provided with an adjustable screen M, which
is maintained in a position to uncover the glass by a spring al. An electro-magnet
N connects with the switch L, and at any predetermined time the circuit is closed
in the electro-magnet, and the latter overcomes the pressure of the spring a¹ and
causes the screen to cover the glass. The electric switch being duly adjusted first
operates to cause the screen to be drawn over or cover the objective glass, so as to
intercept the focal line of the camera during the time that the plates are changing
their positions. The switch then causes the lower stop to be retracted, so as to
permit the plate which has received an impression to pass onto the lower carrier.
The switch then operates to cause the upper stop to be retracted, so that a fresh
plate may pass into the plate-holder. A final operation of the switch causes the
screen to be removed from the glass, and an impression is taken. After a proper
interval the foregoing operation is repeated.
The chute should be lined or otherwise so adapted or constructed that the
sensitized plates may not be injured during their passage therethrough. When the
lower plate-holder is filled it should be covered and taken to a dark room. The
upper and lower ways may be inclined in opposite directions, so that the gravity
of the plate carriers may automatically move the latter over them, or any suitablo
means may be employed to actuate the said carrier. It will be readily understood
that changes, substitutions, and omissions may be made in the details of the
apparatus above described without departing from the principle of this Invention.
It will also be apparent that certain portions of this part of the said Invention are
relatively distinct, and may be independently used or omitted.
The third part of the said Invention is represented in Figures 10 and 11 of the
Drawings. Figure 10 is an elevation partly in central vertical section, and
Figure 11 is a plan.
The upper plate A is made of non-conducting material, and is provided with a
set of conducting pins a, adapted to have a sliding movement in holes b formed in
said plate. The lower plate B is made of conducting material, and is provided
with a set of conducting pins c; the lower extremities of the latter have a sliding
movement in holes formed in the said plate, and their upper extremities have a
corresponding movement in holes formed in the non-conducting plate. Holes
alternate in succession with the holes in the non-conducting plate, and hence
when both sets of pins project beyond the upper surface of the non-conducting
plate any one pin of the latter plate is intermediate of or between two pins of the
conducting plate, and vice versa. The non-conducting plate is provided with one
or more conducting bands E; conducting strips f independently connect the several
pin-holes b with the respective bands. If one band only is used there will be but
one circular row of pin-holes, all connected with the said band. If more than one
row of pin-holes is formed on the plate there will be a corresponding number of
bands, and the pin-holes b of each row will be severally connected to the one
appropriate band. In using a single circuit the conducting plate is connected to
one electric-pole, and the conducting band on the non-conducting plate is connected
to the opposite electric pole.
In employing more than one circuit the conducting plate is connected to one
electric pole of all the batteries, and the conducting bands are respectively connected
to the opposite poles of the several batteries.

page_text: Rollers C, made of conducting material, are mounted on radial arms D; these
arms have a circular or rotary movement imparted to them by any suitable means.
I prefer however to employ clock-work or some other automatic device, so that
the rollers may be moved over the plate at a pre-determined rate. Each roller is
adapted to serve as a conducting device to join any two consecutive pins at c which
may project above the plate A, thereby closing the circuit which passes through
the said circular row of pins on the non-conducting plate. There may be one or
more rollers for each row of pins. As the time required for a roller to complete its
revolution is known, and also the number of pins in the row over which the said
roller moves, it is evident that by causing any two consecutive pins to project
above the surface of the plate A I may cause the circuit to be closed at any desired
time. The number of theso pairs of pins to be brought into action must correspond
with the number of times the circuit is to be closed during one revolution of tho
roller. By causing any number of the consecutive pins greater than two to project
above the plate A, it is evident that the circuit may be maintained closed for a
corresponding longer duration of time.
The form of mechanism, above described, for carrying this part of the said
Invention into practice may obviously be modified, and changes, substitutions,
and omissions of the various parts made without departing from the principle of
this Invention.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondents, and the manner of performing the same, I wish it under-
stood that I claim,-
First. The herein described process of reducing, keeping, and transmitting all
kinds of records or copies in a microscopic form, substantially as above set
forth.
Second. The herein described process of preserving copies of any record or other
suitable matter, consisting in reducing the said record or matter to a microscopic
form by one or more photographic reductions of the same, substantially as herein
set forth.
Third. The process of reducing to a microscopic scale any suitable matter, and
consisting in photographing the said matter from an adjustable band containing the
same, substantially as above set forth.
Fourth. The process of reducing to a microscopic scale any suitable matter
consisting of the following steps, namely:-First, collecting on a band the matter
to be reduced; secondly, intermittently moving the band; and thirdly, photo-
graphing the field exposed by the said band during its intervals of rest, substantially
as above set forth.
Fifth. In an apparatus adapted to reduce any suitable matter to a microscopic
scale, the combination with a camera of a band containing the said matter, and
mechanism for adjusting the band so as to intermittently expose new photographic
fields, substantially as above set forth.
Sixth. In an apparatus adapted to reduce to a microscopic scale any suitable
matter, the combination with a band containing the said matter, and means for
intermittently exposing new photographic fields ou the band of a photographic
camera, a microscopic focussing device and an intermediate transparent sensitized
plate, substantially as above set forth.
Seventh. In an apparatus adapted to reduce to a microscopic scale any suitable
matter, the combination with a band containing the said matter, and mechanisın
for intermittently exposing new photographic fields on the said band of a photo-
graphic camera, a microscopic focussing device, and an intermediate adjustable
plate-holder, substantially as set forth.
Eighth. The combination with a camera provided with an adjustable plate-holder,
and an adjustable plate or band containing the matter to be reduced, of intermediate
automatic mechanism, substantially as described, adapted relatively to adjust the
said plate-holder and the band or plate, substantially as above set forth.
Ninth. The combination with a camera provided with an adjustable plate-holder,

page_text: and an adjustable band or plate containing the matter to be reduced, of electric
connections and automatic devices adapted to simultaneously move the said plate-
holder and band or plate respectively any predetermined distance, substantially as
above set forth.
Tenth. The combination with a camera provided with an adjustable plate-holder,
an adjustable screen for the objective glass, and an adjustable band or plate con-
taining the matter to be reduced, of electric connections and automatic devices,
substantially as described, adapted, first, to move the said screen over the glass;
secondly, to move the said band or plate into a new position; and, thirdly, to move
the said screen from the glass, substantially as above set forth.
Eleventh. The combination with a photographic camera of a microscopical
focussing apparatus and an intermediate adjustable plate-holder, substantially as
herein set forth.
Twelfth. The combination with a photographic camera, a microscopical focussing
apparatus, and an intermediate plate-holder of adjusting mechanism which moves
the photographic camera to or from the said plate-holder and focussing apparatus,
substantially as above set forth.
Thirteenth. The combination with a photographic camera, a microscopical
focussing apparatus, and an intermediate plate-holder of adjusting mechanisin
which moves the said focussing apparatus to or from the said plate-holder and
photographic camerora.
Fourteenth. The combination with a plate-holder, a shaft gearing therewith, and
ratchet-mechanism, of a spring coiled around the shaft, a spring-pressed stop which
prevents the said spring from uncoiling, and an electro-magnet which serves to
withdraw the stop and permit the shaft to rotate, substantially as set forth.
Fifteenth. The combination with a plate-holder, two rotary shafts respectively
gearing therewith to move it in different directions, and independent ratchet-
mechanism, of coil springs fitted in boxes secured to the shafts, spring-pressed stops
which engage with the said boxes, and electro-magnets adapted to retract the said
stops, substantially as above set forth.
Sixteenth. The combination with a plate-holder, a shaft gearing therewith, and a
coil spring having one end secured to the shaft and the opposite end secured to a
box fitted on the shaft of ratchet-mechanism, a spring-pressed stop which engages
with a cam formed on the spring box and an electro-magnet which serves to retract
the said stop from its cam-engagement, substantially as set forth.
Seventeenth. The combination with a plate-holder, and a rotary shaft gearing
therewith, of duplicate devices, substantially as described, secured respectively to
the shaft extremities, and adapted to rotate the said shaft in opposite directions
independently of each other, substantially as above set forth.
Eighteenth. The combination with a photographic camera, an intermediate plate-
holder, and a microscopical focussing apparatus, of a rotary shaft whose forward
end is detachably clamped to the photographic camera, and whose opposite end
works in a screw threaded opening formed in the focussing apparatus, and a sliding
shaft whose forward end is secured to the photographic camera, and whose opposite
end extends rearwardly, substantially as set forth.
Nineteenth. The combination with an objective glass and an adjustable screen of
a spring which maintains the latter free from the glass, and an electro-magnet
which operates to move the screen over the glass, substantially as abovo set
forth.
Twentieth. The combination with a band containing the matter to be reduced
and one or more feed-rollers provided with a device for automatically rotating them,
of a spring-pressed stop, which prevents the said device from actuating the roller or
rollers, and an electro-magnet which operates to retract the said stop, substantially
as herein set forth.
Twenty-first. The combination with a band containing the matters to be reduced,
the roll on which the band ends are wound, and one or more feed-rollers, of an
automatically-rotating shaft connected to the said roller or rollers, a spring-pressed

page_text: stop engaging with the said shaft, and an electro-magnet, which operates to retract
tho said stop, substantially as above set forth.
Twenty-second. The combination with a band containing the matter to be reduced,
and means for intermittently moving it, of a transverse bar, over which the said
band passes in presenting its photographic field, one or both extremities of the said
bar being adapted to be adjusted vertically and horizontally, substantially as above
set forth.
Twenty-third. The combination with a band containing the matter to be reduced,
and means for intermittingly moving it, of upper and lower transverse bars on
which the band passes in presenting its photographic field, the said bars being
independently adjustable to maintain the said field in position, substantially as
above described.
Twenty-fourth. The combination with a camera and a chute, which communicates
with its plate-holder, of the automatic stop governing the upper and lower commuu-
nication of the said chute and plate-holder, substantially as above set forth.
Twenty-fifth. The combination with a camera and a chute, which cominunicates
with its plate-holder, of a spring-pressed stop controlling the said communication,
and an electro-magnet which operates to retract the said stop, substantially as abovo
set forth.
Twenty-sixth. The combination with a camera and a chute, which communicates
with its plate-holder, of upper and lower ways intersecting the chute and plate-
carriers adapted to be moved over the said ways, substantially as herein set forth.
Twenty-seventh. The combination with a camera a chute, which communicates
with its plate-holder, and upper and lower ways intersecting the chute, of a plate-
carrier which moves on the upper way and has an open bottom, and a plate-carrier
which moves on the lower way and has an open top, substantially as above set
forth.
Twenty-eighth. The combination with a camera a chute which, communicates
with its plate-holder, and ways intersecting the chute, of plate-carriers which move
over the ways, and a connecting belt which maintains the said carriers moving at
the same rate of speed, substantially as set forth.
Twenty-ninth. In an electric switch the combination with a plate and pins
adjustable relatively to the plate-surface of a device adapted by movement over
the latter to join any pin projecting therefrom, and connected with ono electric
pole to means which connect with the opposite pole, substantially as herein set
forth.
Thirtieth. In an electric switch the combination with a plate provided with holes
in which pins are adjustable, of a device adapted to move over the said plate and
join any projecting pin connected with one electric pole to means connected with
the opposite pole, substantially as set forth.
Thirty-first. In an electrical switch the combination with a non-conducting plate
and conducting pins adjustable in the holes formed in the plate of a conducting
device adapted to join any two consecutive pins projecting beyond the plate, and
means which connect the several pins in alternate order respectively to opposite
electric poles, substantially as above set forth.
Thirty-second. In an electric switch the combination with a non-conducting
plate provided with a conducting band of conducting pins fitted in holes formed in
the said plate, and conducting strips which connect the said pin-holes with the
band, substantially as above set forth.
Thirty-third. In an electric switch the combination with a non-conducting plate
provided with a conducting band and conducting pins adjustable in holes formed in
the plate of conducting strips which independently connect the several pin-holes
with the band, and a moveable conducting device adapted to join any two conse-
cutive pins which may project beyond the plate, substantially as set forth.
Thirty-fourth. In an electric switch the combination with a non-conducting plate
provided with two or more conducting bands of concentric sets of conducting pins
adjustable in holes formed in the said plate, and conducting strips which

page_text: independently connect the several pin-holes of each set to the band of the said set,
substantially as herein set forth.
Thirty-fifth. In an electric switch the combination with a non-conducting plate
and a circular series of conducting pins having a sliding movement in holes forined
in the plate of a conducting roller, a radial arm which supports the latter, and
means which rotate the said roller-arm, substantially as set forth.
Thirty-sixth. In an electric switch the combination with a non-conducting plate
provided with a conducting band, adjustable conducting pins, and conducting strips
which connect the said pin-holes with the band of a conducting plato provided with
conducting pins adapted to be adjusted in holes formed in the non-conducting plate,
a conducting device having movement over the latter, and means which connect the
conducting plate and the conducting band to opposite electric poles, substantially
as above set forth.
Thirty-seventh. In an electric switch the combination with a non-conducting
plate provided with a conducting band, conducting.slide pins and conducting strips
which connect the said pin-holes with the band of a conducting plate provided with
conducting pins adapted to slide in holes formed in the non-conducting plate
alternately with the first mentioned pin-holes, a conducting device which moves
over the non-conducting plate, and means which connect the conducting plate and
the conducting band to opposite electric poles, substantially as above set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twentieth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and eighty.
WM DODT TATK