Improvements in and connected with Photographic Cameras.
Year: 1899

page_text: f
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and connected with Photographic Cameras.
We, WILLIAM FRANK CARLTON, and HARVEY W. LOCKE, Citizens of the United
States, residing at 45, South Street, Rochester, in the County of Monroe and
State of New York, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement: —
This invention relates to photographic cameras in which the back (in other
words the portion of the camera which supports the holder for the sensitive plate
or film) can be swung into different positions relatively to the front (or lens-bear-
ing portion) of the camera; and in part it extends to such cameras in general; but
it has more particular reference to cameras in which there is a bellows, fastened
as one end to the lens holder and at the other end to a hollow frame supporting
the plate or film holder and in which, further, the said frame (being termed the
camera box") forms part of a shallow case for housing the camera front and
bellows when the instrument is closed and in which the board (herein termed the
camera bed") whereon the front is adjusted in focussing is hinged and, when
turned up, constitutes a cover to said case.
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case.
It may also be here observed that in the camera just described the arrangement
of the front and back could be reversed, that is to say, the lens could be mounted
on the frame (or camera box) which forms part of the said shallow case. and a
suitable support for the plate or film holder could be adjusted on the board which
constitutes the cover to said case and could be housed with the bellows in gaid
The invention extends to both arrangements and the following description
and claims are to be understood to refer (without further particularization) to
both. It will, however, ordinarily and perhaps always, be found most advanta-
geous to use the arrangement in which the plate or film holder is mounted on the
camera box and the lensholder is housed therein; and the invention will be des-
cribed and claimed in terms of this arrangement, it being left in general to the
reader to make the necessary changes in verbiage to adapt said description and
claims to the other arrangement.
In accordance with the present invention, a swinging camera box, of sufficient

page_text: swinging camera box encases the camera front and collapsed bellows and is
mounted on supports inside said box, and in which also the camera bed has a
hinged connection with said supports and when folded up closes the mouth of
said box, that is to say, so to construct such camera as that the said inside sup-
ports shall be clamped to the side of said box at a point where said box has in
swinging a motion of translation relatively to the corresponding supports, by
means of a suitable screw fastener, preferably the double headed nut and screw
fastener hereinabove specified, but it may be of any known or suitable description.
The invention also consists in providing a swinging back camera with a pivotal
connection composed of two pins travelling in corresponding slots or other guides
and interconnected so as to work simultaneously and not independently in said
guides, these latter being eccentric with reference to both the pins working there-
in. By this application of such connection, the axis of swing will not be in line
with either of said pins and consequently the said axis may be made to lie in (or
even behind) the plane of the sensitive plate or film, although the said pins may be
wholly in front of said plane. This description is specially useful in cameras in
which the pivotal connection is inside of the camera box; for said inside connec-
tions must necessarily be in front of the sensitive plate or film; and such use
of said connection is the subject of special claim; but the use thereof in swing
backs in general is believed to be new and is covered also by appropriate claim.
The invention also includes the other parts, improvements or combinations
hereinafter set forth.
In the accompanying drawings, three forms of camera (each within the inven-
tion) are shown.
Figure 1 is a side view partly in section of a camera of one of said forms, the
camera being open or in other words extended for use;
Figure 2 is a perspective view, partly in section, of the camera bed, the sup-
ports for the camera box and the cross piece through the intermediary of which
the said bed and supports are connected
Figure 3 is a vertical section, taken longitudinally of the bed and showing the
camera box, the camera box supports with their cross piece, and a portion of the
camera bed;
Figure 4 is a vertical section of the camera box;
Figure 5 is a face view of the camera box with the camera front and bellows
encased therein, the camera bed and its supports, with their cross piece being
removed;
Figures 6 and 7 are detail views:
Figures 8, 9 and 10, are views of a camera embodying another of suid forms
and corresponding respectively with Figures 2, 3 and 4, except that in Figure 9,
a smaller part of the camera bed is shown; and
Figures 11, 12 and 13, are similar views of a camera of the third of said forms,
except that no part of the camera bed is shown in Figure 12.
The camera box A, (at one end of the bellows B) is of sufficient size to encase said
bellows B (when this is collapsed) as well as the camera front C (at the other end
of said bellows B) and the supports 1), on which said box is mounted. The mount-
ing, as will be described below. is such that said box can be adjusted angularly
in order to vary the angle of the sensitive surface in the camera back to the axis
of the lens in the camera front.
The camera bed E, is secured to said box A, through the intermediary of the
supports D: and there are hinges 2, for said bed E, on which it can be turned
relatively to said supports 1), for closing the mouth of said box A, or for forming
a focussing board on which the camera front C, can be set at the desired distance
from the camera back. One or more hinges can be used; but two of them are
shown. As shown also the supports D, are united into a frame by means of a
cross piece 4, at the bottom of the box A: and it is to this cross piece that the
hinges 2, of the bed E, are shown as more directly attached, such hinging fur-

page_text: The fastener G, G', passing through the wall of the camera box A, could also
be utilized in connection with one or each of the slotted links F; in order to
secure the box A, at any desired angle to the bed E; for, so long
as the links F' are free to move, the hinges 2, wili allow the
box A, with its supports D, to be swung relatively to said bed E,
and if a fastener G G were substituted for one or each of the pins 11,
showu, said link or links could be clamped in any position, and it or they would
then be an inside device or devices for holding the camera box in the position
to which it may be swung. This adjustment might be relied upon as the sole
swing of the box A, if it should be preferred for any reason to dispense with the
intermediate frame composed of the supports D and cross piece 4, by attaching
the hinges 2, directly to the bottom of box B, and consequently dispensing with
the advantages attained by said intermediate frame; or said adjustment of the
box B, by the links F, might be used to give an additional swing to the camera
back. The use generally of said double-headed screw and nut fastener with out-
side exposed thumb head for clamping a swinging back camera box to an inside
holding device is included in the invention, as well as its particular use in
cameras in which intermediate supports D, for the camera box are employed
between the bed E, and the said camera box A.
In order to prevent the turning of the inside element of the fastener G, G¹,
when the fastener is closed or clamped, the said element (which is the screw G
in the arrangement shown) is provided with the squared or angular portion 23,
which fits in a correspondingly shaped hole (as shown the width of slot 24 corres-
ponds with that of said portion 23) so that it cannot revolve therein.
If the camera box were arranged to swing by mere rotation about the axis of a
fastener G G (as might be the case if such a fastener were substituted for the
pin 11 in Figure 9) the hole for securing the squared or angular portion 23 might
be of the saine shape as said portion and the latter could be made angular by
means of a notch in or projection on a cylindrical surface or in various ways;
but there is an advantage in placing the fastener at a point where the box has a
movement of translation (as distinguished from a movement of mere rotation)
and in such case it is necessary that one (at least) of the holes should be in the
form of a slot.
It is most advantageous in such case to form the squared portion 23, for travel-
ling along such a slot and to place the same therein. Such construction is an
clement of special claims, applicable respectively to swing back cameras in
general and to particular forms of such cameras.
In the forms of cameras shown respectively in Figures 8, 9 and 10, and in
Figures 11, 12 and 13, the camera box A is pivotted to each of the supports ]),
by means of pins 11, and 25 respectively, on which said box turns as on centres.
Each pin 11, screws into a hole 110, in a metal plate on the metal box A, and each
pin 25. into a hole 250. The fastener (whose inner clamping head 18 only is
shown in these figures--see Figures 9 and 12) passes through a round hole 22, in
the wall of box B, and through a curved slot 24 in the corresponding support 1),
which slot is concentric in each case with the corresponding pins (11, or 25, as
the case may be). With this arrangement the axis of swing niny be at the level
of the middle of the sensitive surface of the plate or film in its holder on said
hox A, and is less distant from said surface than the depth of the box A, so that
optically the arrangement of Figures 8, 9 and 10, or of Figures 11, 12 and 13,
is superior to an arrangement (used in some cameras and obtained by clamping
links F to box A) in which the axis of swing coincides with the axis of the
hinges 2 for the bed E; although it is not as advantageous in an optical sense
as for said axis to be in the plane of said surface.
With the pivotal connection shown in Figures 2, 3 and 4. the said axis of
swing may be in said plane, or it can be placed wherever desired; and it may
(if desired) be made to shift according to the greater or less angle through which
the box A may be turned. This pivotal connection (believed now first to be used

page_text: cut away to receive the cross piece 4, which forms the bottom of the said inter-
mediate frame. This construction is to be found in all the forms of camera
shown. It is best exhibited in Figure 3, where the cross piece 4 to which the
bed E is hinged at 2, is clearly shown on a level with the bottom portion 32 of
the box A. In Figure 12 the bottom portion 32 of such box appears above the
cross piece 4; but the slots 33 and 34 allow the pins 25, (and consequently also
the box A, to which the said pins are anchored) to descend so that the bottoms 4
and 32 may be brought into the same horizontal plane.
The raising of the box A, in Figure 12, is for the purpose of enabling the
bottom 32, of the box A, to swing over the cross piece 4, which forms the bottom
of the intermediate frame D, and 4. So long as the said bottoms 4 and 32 are in
the same horizontal plane, the top of box A can be swung inward as far as may
be desired in any case, but the cross piece or bottom 4 will limit the inward
motion of the bottom 32; to obtain any inward motion of the said bottom 32, it
is consequently necessary (if the box A be not lifted) to leave more or less of a
gap between said bottoms 4 and 32, when the box A shall be upright. Such gap
is unnecessary when the box A can ve lifted as in Figure 12, and the bottom of
said box can then be moved inward as far as the supports D will permit.
This feature (of a camera box which both lifts and swings relatively to the
piece to which the camera bed is hinged) can be applied to other forms of camera.
It can be applied for example to the construction of Figures 1 to 7. by raising
the plates 29 and providing in them vertical slots corresponding with the slot 34
of Figure 12, open at the upper ends to the slots 28, the slot 24 being suitably
lengthened if necessary.
To cover the joint between the bottom 32 of the box A and the cross piece or
bottom 4 of the intermediate frame, the lip 36 is provided, the same being placed
on the said box A, (as in Figure 9) or on the said cross piece 4 (as in Figure 3)
as may be most advantageous. The use of this lip is the subject of special claim.
The camera may be supported in use in any suitable way, as shown a nut 37
provided with a head (see Figures 3, 9 and 12) and fastened permanently to the
cross piece 4, or the bed E, as may be preferred, is used to secure the camera to a
screw in the top of a tripod.
The camera front may be of any suitable construction and arrangement.
A lens carrier is shown which is arranged to be raised and lowered by sliding
on the rods 39 (fastened to the carriage travelling on the runway of the bed E)
and which is provided with a sliding diaphragm with different sized apertures
therein as customary, and with a shutter for the exposure. At 40 is the set screw
for securing the lens carrier at the height to which it may be adjusted, at 41 is
the handle for shifting the diaphragm, at 42, a milled head for setting the shutter,
and at 43 a handle for tripping the shutter when the picture is to be taken.
To take a picture, the bed E will be dropped (extended); then the camera front
will be moved out until the image is properly seen on the ground glass (which
will have been exposed by removal of the panel 44); and if necessary the camera
box will then be swung through its pivotal connections with the supports D. As
this swing need change but little or not at all the distance of the centre line
of the ground glass from the lens, little or no further adjustment of the camera
front will be necessary by reason of the swing. The centre line of the ground
glass becomes the centre line of the sensitive surface when the film or plate holder
is in place.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed. we declare that what
we claim is: -
1. A swing back photographic camera having, in connection with the camera
front, and bellows, a swinging camera box of sufficient size to encase the said
camera front and bellows when this latter is collapsed, supports inside of said
box on which said box is angularly adjustable, and a camera bed having a hinge

page_text: to which it may be swung, and a fastener which passes through said device and
the wall of said box for clamping them together and which is composed of a nut
and a screw, one of them provided with a head inside of said box and a squared
portion fitting in a correspondingly shaped hole and the other with a thumb head
exposed on the outside of said box for manipulation by the photographer's fingers,
substantially as described.
9. In a swing back photographic camera, in combination with two parts which
are movable relatively to each other in swinging the camera back, a double-
headed screw and nut fastener which passes through both said parts at a point
where they have relatively to each other a motion of translation, as opposed to a
mere rotation about the axis of said fastener, one of the clamped parts being pro-
vided with a slot to permit said motion of translation and one element of the
fastener having a squared portion travelling in said slot, the width of the slot
corresponding with that of the said squared portion, substantially as described.
10. In a swing back camera, in combination with the swinging camera box
and a slotted device inside of said box for supporting or holding said box in the
position to which it may be swung, a fastener which passes through the wall of
said box and the slot in said inside device at a point where said
box has in swinging a motion of translation relatively to said device and which
is composed of a nut and a screw, one of them provided with a head inside of
said box and a squared portion fitting in the slot of corresponding width in said
device and the other of them provided with a thumb head exposed on the outside
of said box for manipulation by the photographer's fingers, substantially as
described.
11. A swing back photographic camera having in connection with the camera
front and bellows, a swinging camera box of sufficient size to encase the said
camera front and bellows when this latter is collapsed, supports inside of said
box on which said box is angularly adjustable, a screw fastener for clamping
together the side of said box and the corresponding inside support, which fastener
is located at a point where said box has in swinging a motion of translation rela-
tively to said corresponding support, and a camera bed having a hinge connection
with said supports and provided with means for locking it thereto in the extended
position, said bed forming when turned up a cover to the mouth of said box,
substantially as described.
12. A swing back photographic camera, in which the swing back is pivotally
connected with the rest of the camera by means of two pins travelling in guides
eccentric to both said pins and interconnected so as to travel together and not
independently, substantially as described.
13. A swing back photographic camera, in which a camera box of sufficient
size to encase the camera front and collapsed bellows is pivotally connected with
supports inside of said box by means of two pins travelling in guides eccentric
to both said pins, and inter-connected so as to travel together and not indepen-
dently, substantially as described.
encase
14. A swing back photographic camera having in connection with the camera
front and bellows, a swinging camera box of sufficient size to
the said camera front and bellows when this latter is collapsed, sup-
ports inside of said box on which said box is angularly adjustable, and a camera
bed having a hinge connection with said supports and provided with means for
locking it thereto in the extended position: said bed forming when turned up a
cover to the mouth of said box, and the said box being pivotally connected with
said supports by means of two pins travelling in guides eccentric to both said
pins and interconnected so as to travel together and not independently, substan-
tially as described.
15. In a photographic camera, the camera box of sufficient size to encase the
camera front and the collapsed bellows, which box has its bottom cut away, in
combination with an intermediate frame having the cross piece which forms the
bottom of said frame hinged to the camera bed and located in the cut away place