IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR FACILITATING THE TRACING AND COPYING OF DESIGNS, DRAWINGS, AND ETCHINGS OF ALL KINDS, EITHER OF THE ORIGINAL SIZE, OR UPON AN ENLARGED OR REDUCED SCALE
Year: 1844

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Sixteenth day of January, in the seventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Edward Newton, Her especial licence, full power, sole
privilege and authority, that I, the said William Edward Newton, my execu-
tors, administrators, and assigns, and such others as I, the said William
Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the
term of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR
FACILITATING THE TRACING AND COPYING OF DESIGNS, DRAWINGS, AND ETCHINGS
OF ALL KINDS, EITHER OF THE ORIGINAL SIZE, OR UPON AN ENLARGED OR REDUCED
SCALE," being a communication from a Foreigner residing abroad; in which
said Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging me, the said William
Edward Newton, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be
inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months

page_text: next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters
Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, may more
fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Edward Newton, do hereby declare that the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is parti-
cularly described and ascertained in and by the following description thereof,
reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and
figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
The machine or apparatus which constitutes the Invention that has been
communicated to me as aforesaid is constructed according to a principle of
dioptrics, which is rendered applicable to the copying of drawings by the
construction and arrangement of the moveable parts, which are so arranged
that the operator can work the same by hand, and is enabled, without quitting
his seat, to make a copy of a drawing on a different scale, consequently the
copy of any drawing intended for pattern cards, for silken or other fabrics,
may be made on any scale, however small, in a much shorter space of time
than by the means heretofore employed for that purpose. It applies also to
designs, which are required to be drawn of any size that may be required,
such as those used in the manufacture of printed papers, fabrics of various
kinds, such as shawls, for architectural and geographical drawings, &c., and
also to drawings required to be of the same size as the original. It will be
seen, upon carefully perusing the following description, that Invention consists
in a new application of, or rather a novel method of, employing the camera
obscura. In order to adapt this instrument to copying drawings on the same
or on a larger or smaller scale, several conditions are indispensable. First,
the framing carrying the camera obscura must be capable of moving easily in
a vertical direction, in order that it may be adjusted to any required point or
focus. Second, the design to be copied must be placed in a frame, which
frame must have a lateral and also a backward and forward motion, either
horizontally or vertically, according to whether the light is received from above
or at the side. Third, the apparatus carrying the lens must also be moveable;
motion may be given to the different parts by any suitable mechanical means,
such as pullies and weights, endless screws, rack and pinion, chains and chain
pullies, or other analogous arrangements which will produce the same effect.
The machine must be modified according to the direction in which light is to
be admitted (i.e.) from above or at the side.
Description of a Machine in which the Light is received from Above.-
Fig. 1. This machine consists of a wooden framing about eight or nine fect

page_text: in height, formed of four uprights placed parallel to each other, at about four
and a half feet apart. They are joined by cross pieces of equal length, four
of which are placed at the upper and four at the lower part of the framing,
and fastened by sixteen screw bolts. Eight iron supports are also fixed
diagonally to the upper part, in order to render it more secure in the direction
of its height. At the upper part of this framework and upon the first frame
or table, an inclined glass is fixed to receive the light which enters the
apartment in a horizontal direction, and reflect it perpendicularly down upon
the design to be copied, which is placed horizontally upon a plate of trans-
parent glass. The first frame is moveable in three different directions, for which
purpose it is constructed in the following manner:-It consists first of a frame
upon which the glass or mirror is fixed, formed of four cross pieces firmly
joined together; at each angle of this frame two antifriction rollers are fixed
at right angles, in such a manner that the eight rollers are at the four interior
angles of the four uprights of the framing. In this manner an ascending
movement is obtained by means of cords and pullies placed at the four angles.
These cords communicate two together with a double weight, which, by its
gravity keeps the frame suspended in such a manner that it may be very
easily raised or lowered, and, by the mere gravity of the weight, the frame
carrying the mirror may be adjusted at any required point or focus, for the
purpose of reducing or enlarging the drawing to be copied, or reproducing it
of the same size. In the interior of this frame two grooves are made for the
purpose of receiving a second frame. The grooves are furnished with tongue
pieces which move horizontally therein. In this second frame two grooves
are also made to receive a third frame, the movement of which is at right
angles to the other, and in a horizontal direction. This third grooved frame
is furnished with a glass (not silvered or tinned), the position of which forms
or determines the area, situation, or position of the frame which receives the
design that is to be copied, and the two double horizontal backward and
forward and lateral movements, which are effected by the arrangements of
the parts above described, afford the means of moving successively all the
parts of the design, so that they may all in turn be placed so as to
correspond with the centre of the first frame, which is effected by means
of cords and pullies under the command of the operator. There is a second
frame E, capable of moving up and down like the first. It is painted black
underneath, and furnished all round with some black stuff, so that no light.
may enter the interior except that from above, by which means its intensity
will be preserved. The second frame may, like the first, be adjusted at any
height by pullies and weights; it is perforated in the centre to allow the light

page_text: to pass, and to receive a double convex lens, which is fixed in a tube sliding
inside another which is stationary, and of about four inches in diameter; it is
constructed so as to receive the lens either at the upper or lower part. This
tube moves up and down with the frame which carries it; it is also furnished
with a rack and pinion for raising or lowering it, for the purpose of regulating
the height of the lens, and adjusting it so that the lines of the design thrown
downwards by the light may pass through the said lens, and be received upon
the paper upon the table placed below. The size of the design to be drawn
is previously to be fixed upon the said paper by marking the distances thereon,
which serves as a scale for the whole, and also as a guide to regulate the
height of the two frames, and of the lens and its moveable tube, so that they
may be placed at such distances as to produce the design of the size required.
It will be readily understood by this description, that the design to be copied
must be upon varnished or transparent paper, so that the light may pass
freely through the same, and that the lines of the design may be projected
with clearness and precision. This machine may nevertheless be employed for
copying and altering the proportions of designs drawn upon ordinary paper, not
transparent; it is also applicable to restoring designs executed upon fabrics of
any sort; but in this case the glass is dispensed with. The frames for receiving
the drawings, which in the former arrangement were horizontal, are vertical,
and must be capable of moving in such a manner that all the parts of a design
may be successively brought in a vertical position, opposite a prism, so as
to be thereby reflected downwards and pass through the lens, by which means
they are altered and regulated in size at pleasure.
Fig. 1 is an elevation of a machine which receives light from above.
A, A, is the framework, consisting of uprights and cross pieces. This frame-
work has four sides, one only of which is represented. B is an inclined glass
supported between two uprights on two pins, pivots, or axles. C, are cross
pieces forming part of the first frame upon which the glass is fixed. D,
first moveable frame held suspended by the weight d by means of cords and
pullies d, d, friction rollers b, b, working against the uprights A, A, cause the
frame to work easily. This first frame carries two grooved cross pieces in
which the frame 2, 2, moves in the direction of its breadth, as shewn by the
line 1. 2. A section of another frame is shewn at y, y, which is inside the
other one, and is moveable therein in grooves in the same horizontal plane,
but in a direction at right angles to the first, that is to say, from front to back.
The frame y, y, is furnished with a plain glass, upon which is placed the
design to be copied, as shewn at x. These two frames are moved by hand
with the help of cords and pullies. E, second frame furnished like the first

page_text: with rollers b, which allow it to move easily and readily; it is kept suspended
by the weight f, by the help of cords and pullies f, f, which facilitate its
upward movement. This frame has an aperture w through its centre for the
passage of the light, as shewn by the dotted lines 7, 7, and also of the image
of the design, the size of which is modified by the moveable lens v. F, paper
upon the table, upon which are thrown the outlines of the design a: A
covering of black stuff G, surrounds the second frame to prevent the light
from entering at the side..
Machine receiving Light at the Side.-Figs. 2 and 3. Fig. 2 is a front
elevation, and Fig. 3 a side view of a machine constructed upon the same
principle as that shown in Fig. 1, but the arrangement of some of the parts
are somewhat altered and modified, so as to admit the light at the side.. A
frame which is capable of moving in three different directions, receives the
design to be copied or reduced, which is held therein between two plates of
glass. The design, as before, must be upon transparent paper;
it is placed in
a vertical position against the light which must pass through it before entering
the camera obscura. The frame which contains the design must have. three
movements (viz.), a vertical movement and a lateral horizontal movement, in
order to bring successively all the parts of the design opposite. the. orifice of
the camera obscura; and another horizontal: movement at right angles to
the former, for the purpose of bringing the drawing nearer to or further from
the camera, in order to reduce it to the required size. The other parts of the
machine are similar to those represented. in Fig. 1. In case it should be
required to copy a design on a different scale, from paper. which is not trans-
parent, a prism or reflector must be used, as was observed: with regard to the
machine admitting light from above.
Description of Figures 2 and 3:-A, A, iron framework for supporting the
apparatus; a, a, rods or bars connecting the framing; B, cross piece, having
a female screw 6 in its centre; C, horizontal framing upon which the camera
obscura D is placed and supported by two cross pieces c, c; E, cross piece
forming part of the framing C, and sliding vertically in grooves F,.E, made
on the inner sides of the side framing A, A; G is a male screw fixed to the
cross piece E, and working in the female screw bin the centre of the stationary
cross piece B, before mentioned; b¹ is a small horizontal wheel for turning
the screw round; 9, 9, are small supports or brackets for supporting : or
keeping in a horizontal position the frame C, which supports the camera; H
is a shaft, having at each end a pulley & and pinion e (see Figs. 2 and 4), for
giving motion to the rack I, Fig. 3; J is a vertical frame behind the racks I,
and carrying pullies P, P; h, h, Fig. 2, are rods for guiding the frame J from
side to side by means of the rollers i, i, fixed thereon; K is a frame inside the

page_text: frame J, and capable of sliding vertically in grooves formed therein; and L is
a table placed immediately under the aperture of the camera, and upon which
the design is produced.
Movements. The frame C receives a vertical movement by means of the
screw G, and a horizontal movement backwards by means of the pinions e,
and racks I, I, which receive motion from the cords 1, 1, wound upon the
pullies d, d; one of these cords moves its pulley from front to back, and
the other from back to front. The frame J receives a horizontal move-
_ment from left to right, and vice versâ, by means of the cords 2, 2, fixed
at 3, 3, at the back thereof. Lastly, the frame K is made to slide
inside the frame J by means of a cord 4 fixed at the point 5, and passing
over pullies P, P, P, fixed upon the frame J. This cord 4 is brought
to the front by means of small pullies. In Fig. 2, the dotted lines show the
different positions to which the frame C and J may be brought by the operator.
The cords and weights above mentioned, are for the purpose of assisting the
movements of the several parts, and are not intended to act independently of
the will of the operator, but they are regulated as to weight and arrangement
in such a manner that he is enabled, with a slight touch or very little exertion,
to move the parts about at his pleasure, but they will remain stationary at any
point where he may leave them.
Having now described the Invention that has been communicated to me
as aforesaid, and having explained the manner of carrying the same into
effect, it will be evident to every intelligent mechanic that trifling alterations
may be made in the arrangement and construction of the various working
parts, without departing from the nature of the Invention. I do not, therefore,
intend to confine myself precisely to the arrangement and construction of
apparatus herein-before set forth and described; nor do I intend to claim as
new, any of the various parts which have been separately employed for similar
purposes. But I claim, as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before
in part recited Letters Patent, combining and arranging the various parts so
as to construct or form an apparatus for facilitating the copying of drawings
or designs upon the plan herein set forth and described, in which the various
parts are rendered capable of adjustment, so as to produce the copy of a
larger or smaller size, as may be required, the image or reflection of the object
being thrown down upon a sheet of paper or other material upon a table, on
which it is traced by hand.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Sixth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-four.
W. E. (L.S.) NEWTON.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Sixth day of July, in
the year above mentioned, the aforesaid William Edward Newton came
before our Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specifi-
cation aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained in form above
written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the
tenor of the Statute in that case made and provided.