Year: 1886

page_text: Date of Application, 26th July, 1886.
Complete Left, 26th Apr., 1887.
Complete Accepted, 27th May, 1887.
I THOMAS SAMUELS of Monken Hadley in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My Invention relates first to improvements in apparatus (such as that for which
foriner Letters Patent were granted to me dated 15th February 1883 No. 843) for
holding a stock of dry plates or films, and exposing them in succession in the photo-
graphic Camera. This apparatus consists of two boxes or compartments juxtaposed
and communicating, and provided with a dark shutter acting also as a means of
propelling the plates or films in succession from one box to the other.
My present improvements have for their object, first, to provide a means (in
addition to, or in lieu of, that described in the specification of my former Letters
Patent) whereby the canting of the sheathed plates or films in the receiving box or
compartment may be effected. For this purpose, I provide on the base board opposite
the receiving box or compartment a means of forcing backwards or canting the plates
or films to make room for the incoming plate or film. Such means may consist of
springs, or of lever arms on a rock shaft, or of a combination of the two, the same
being so situated as to act on the sheath or holder, and not upon the plate or film, for
the purpose of canting it, and so as not to obstruct the passage from one box or
compartment to the other.
My improvements have, secondly, for their object to adapt the apparatus to be
applied to Cameras to which the apparatus described in my aforesaid specification
could not be conveniently adapted; also to avoid any projection of the dark shutter
beyond the end of the apparatus when drawn back for exposure of a plate, and to
avoid the necessity for providing against the leakage of light into the apparatus on
drawing out the said shutter; also to enable the capacity of that form of the apparatus
which consists of a single box divided into two compartments to be doubled without
increasing its dimensions, whereby it is adapted for tourist, as well as for studio use.
The improvements consist in placing the exposing aperture opposite the receiving
compartment, so that the plates or films will be brought by the shutter to the
exposing position instead of being moved thereby out of exposing position, as in the
former case. To enable this to be done, and to make the shutter wholly contained

page_text: within the apparatus, I use a shutter of thin sheet metal which is actuated by a sliding
rod connected to its front or outer face at a point near its leading edge, the rod
passing through the exposing aperture, and through a suitable guide outside or along
the front face of the apparatus without projecting beyond the end thereof.
The propelling part of this shutter is situated at the rear edge of its inner face, the
sheathed plate or film resting, whilst being propelled, against the shutter, and being
left by it opposite the exposing aperture on the withdrawal of the shutter, spring
detents being provided, if necessary, to prevent the plate being carried back with the
shutter. To permit this shutter to work easily, springs are provided, against which
the plates, pushed forwards towards the shutter, rest so as to relieve the shutter of
part of the pressure during its motion. On the shutter reaching the end of its motion
these springs are pushed aside and the front plate allowed to come forward into
position against the shutter to be propelled thereby. The old form of shutter may,
however, be adopted, with the addition of the sheet metal portion herein described.
The canting of the plates in the receiving compartment, in order to allow another
plate to come in front of them, is effected either by the levers and rock shaft above
referred to, operated by hand, or by similar levers actuated automatically by the
shutter itself the actuating parts of the shutter and the levers being so formed and
arranged as to be inoperative during the motion of the shutter in one direction.
In order to enable both compartments to be filled with plates or films, and so double
the capacity of the apparatus, I provide a second passage between the compartments
at the back, and also a means of propelling the plates from one compartment to the
other in the opposite direction to that in which they are moved at the front, so that
the plates will be caused to perform a complete cycle of motion.
Such means may consist of a sliding catch actuated from the outside of the back
cover of the apparatus, and engaging at the inside with the sheath of the rearmost
plate or film for the purpose of moving it from one compartment to the rear of the
plates in the other compartment. This sliding catch may be worked alternately with
the shutter, or it may be connected therewith, so that the two will work together.
The combined working may be effected either directly by hand or through a
mechanical movement, such as a transverse shaft gearing at front and back by rack,
slotted cams, levers, or other motion with the two parts to be operated.
The springs by which the plates are pressed forwards in both compartments are
necessarily modified to adapt them to the altered circumstances, and they are so
placed, and act on the plates in such manner as to produce the least pressure against
the sliding shutter compatible with holding the plates in their proper position..
My Invention has, thirdly, for its object to dispense with the division of the
apparatus into two compartments, the whole of the plates being placed in a trough-
like compartment in front of one another, and transferred successively from one end
of the series to the other as they are exposed. This is effected by the use, in com-
bination with a shutter constructed and operated as above described, of a flexible
bag-like chamber enclosing the top of the trough-like compartment above referred to,
through which flexible chamber the plates are transferred from one end of the series
to the other.
The invention has further for its object to dispense with the usual rack and pinion
or screw motion used for focussing, and consists in a lever adapted to engage with the
focussing slide (which carries the movable part of the Camera) at different points
thereof, the angular motion of said lever producing a rectilinear motion of the slide,
the lever working on a movable centre, or other means being provided, of allowing
for the difference between the two motions.
Dated this 26th day of Tule 1000
THOMAS SAMUELS.
By A. M. & Wm. Clark,
53, Chancery Lane, London,
Patent Agents.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or Connected with Photographic Cameras.
I THOMAS SAMUELS of Monken Hadley in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman,
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:
My Invention relates first to improvements in apparatus (such as that for which
former Letters Patent were granted to me dated 15th February 1883 No. 843) for
holding a stock of dry plates or films and exposing them in succession in the
photographic camera. This apparatus consists of two boxes or compartments
juxtaposed and communicating and provided with a dark shutter acting also as a
means of propelling the plates or films from one box to the other, these being protected
from damage in transit by sheaths also the subject of my former Patent.
My present improvements have for their object, first to provide a means (in
addition to, or in lieu of, that described in the Specification of my former Letters
Patent) whereby the canting of the sheathed plates or films in the receiving box or
compartment may be effected. For this purpose, I provide on the base board opposite
the receiving box or compartment, a means of forcing backwards or canting the plates
or films to make room for the incoming plate or film. Such means may consist of
springs or of lever arms on a rock shaft, or of a combination of the two, the same being
so situated as to act on the sheath or holder, and not upon the plate or film, for the
purpose of canting it, and so as not to obstruct the passage from one box or
compartment to. the other.
My improvements have, secondly, for their object to adapt the apparatus to be
applied to cameras to which the apparatus described in my aforesaid Specification
could not be conveniently adapted, for instance cameras with side checks projecting at
the back for connection with the base board; also to avoid any projection of the dark
shutter beyond the end of the apparatus when drawn back for exposure of a plate, and
to avoid the necessity for providing against the leakage of light into the apparatus on
drawing out the said shutter; also to enable the capacity of that form of the apparatus
which consists of a single box divided into two compartiments to be doubled without
increasing its dimensions whereby it is adapted for tourist, as well as for studio, use.
Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming part of this
Specification wherein figure 1 is a rear view of the improved changing back, the
cover and plates being removed, and the shutter drawn as for exposing a plate.
Figure 2 is a horizontal section of the same (on line 1-1 figure 1) both compartments
being filled with sheathed plates or films, the shutter being drawn and about to be
returned after exposing a plate, the plates in the left hand compartment being canted
to admit the incoming plate from the right hand compartment. Figure 3 is a cross
section on line 2-2 figure 1. Figures 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 shows details and
modifications hereafter referred to. The same letters of reference indicate similar
parts in all the figures,

page_text: The improvements forming the first head of my Invention, are illustrated in
figures 1 to 10 as applied to the form of changing back constituting the second head of
my Invention, but it will be readily understood without further illustration how the
same may be applied to the changing back described aml shewn in the Specification
of my previous patent aforesaid, it being understood that they are placed in the
receiving compartment or box and act on the sheathed plates or films for the purpose
of canting them therein in precisely the same way in either case, the only difference
being that in the apparatus about to be described the canting springs or lever arms are
above and below the exposing aperture and act on the rims of the sheath at top and
bottom, whereas when applied to the old form of apparatus they would occupy the same
position and act in the same way but the exposing aperture is opposite the other
compartment or box. The apparatus to which the improvements are shewn as applied
is of the kind shown in Figure 13 of the former Specification but modified according
to my present Invention.
A is the front or base plate, B¹ B² are the two juxtaposed compartments containing
the sheathed plate or films, the compartments being separated by a partition D and
communicating with each other as hereafter described. C is the aperture in the
plate A at which the plates are successively exposed, the aperture being now situated
opposite the compartment B¹.
The improvements forming the subject of the second head of my Invention consist
in placing the exposing aperture opposite the compartment B' instead of opposite B³
as in the former Patent, so that the plates or films will be brought by the shutter Eto
the expo _ position instead of being moved thereby out of exposing position as in
the former case. To enable this to be done, and to make the shutter wholly contained
within the apparatus, I use a shutter E of thin sheet metal which is actuated by a
sliding rod F connected to its front or outer face at a point near its leading edge, the
rod passing through the exposing aperture (and through a suitable guide outside or
along the front face A of the apparatus, without projecting to any great extent beyond
the end thereof. The propelling part of this shutter consists of a strip of wood or
metale and is fixed to its inner face at the rear edge, the sheathed plate or film resting,
whilst being propelled, against the shutter and being left by it opposite the exposing
aperture Con the withdrawal of the shutter; bevelled detents d (figures 1 and 6) pressed
forwards by springs d¹ being provided in the contral partition D and projecting into the
front passage between the two compartments, so as to prevent the plate being carried
back with the shutter upon its being drawn back to expose the plate. The propelling
strip e is of such a width that after it has propelled a plate from compartment B³ to
compartment B₁ the plate so propelled will be clear of the central partition D but the
strip e will project a short distance into the compartment B' (as in figure 4) so as to
form a rest for the leading end of the next following plate in compartment B³ to bear
against, and so that on the withdrawal of the shutter for the purpose of
exposing a plate in compartment B', the strip e will pass easily in front of the plates
in compartment B. At the top and bottom of the closed compartment B' near the
outer end springs f (figures 1 and 4) are provided which project in front of the plates
in the compartment B2 during the motion of the shutter. When the shutter is closed,
the front plate in compartment B' rests partly against the propelling stripe and
partly against springs f, as in figure 4, so that the shutter is relieved of part of the
pressure and the plates are prevented entering the cavity provided in the outer end
of the close compartment B2 for the propelling stripe of the shutter to pass into when
the shutter is drawn quite back, in order to permit of the foremost plate in
compartment B¹ coming forward against the thin part of the shutter and in front of
the propelling strip e for the purpose of being pushed into the compartment B'. On
the shutter being drawn back, these springs fare pushed aside by the ends of the
propelling stripe and tho front plate is then free to come forward into position against
the shutter to be propelled thereby. The old form of shutter may however, be
adopted with the addition of the sheet metal portion herein described.
The canting of the plates in the compartment. B¹, in order to allow the next incoming
plate to enter in front of them, is effected either by the levers and rock shaft above

page_text: referred to, operated by hand or by similar levers actuated automatically by the shutter
itself, the actuating parts of the shutter and the levers being so formed and arranged
as to be in operation during the motion of the shutter in one direction. The rock shaft
arrangement represented in Figures 1 and 2 consists of two lever arms g affixed to a
rock shaft G recessed in the inner face of the board A about opposite the partition D, the
lever arms being in such positions as to act on the rim or guard edges of the sheaths
in which the plates are encased. The lever arms are in length about one third the
width of the compartment B¹ in front of which they project and the ends are turned
backwards in a curve to about the thickness of a sheath. The one end of the shaft G
projects beyond the top side of the changing back and to this end is attached a lever
arm G¹ for operating the lever arms within the compartment B'. The lever arms g
are also received in grooves in the board A, so as to offer no obstruction to the incoming
plate and shutter. In the example illustrated, the lever arms are just above and below
the exposure opening C but when similarly applied to the old form of apparatus shewn
in my former Specification they occupy the same position in the receiving
compartment the exposing aperture being opposite the other compartment. Instead
of the lever aims acting directly on the sheathed plate, they may be covered by flat
steel springs i, figure 7, flush with the inner face of board A, these springs being
moved by the lever arms, and in turn acting on and canting the plates in compart-
ment B. These springs tend to return the lever arins to their normal position after
having acted on a plate. Instead of levers, springs k alone may be applied to the old
form of apparatus, but they are not suitable for the new form as they tend to
constantly cant the plates in the compartment B¹. They occupy the same positions as
the levers and are curved, so that their free ends project from the inner face of
board A as shewn in figure.
Instead of the two levers being pivoted to a rock shaft and actuated by hand, they
may be pivoted to the board A at the top and bottom ends of aperture C and
provided at their tail ends with pins projecting at right angles and in position to be
acted on by inclined studs fixed to the outer face of the shutter, of such a length
that the lever will press against and cant the plates in the compartment B¹ backwards
until the leading edge of the incoming plate is in front of the plates so canted. Theso
levers may be flexible laterally at the tail ends so as to be moved aside by inclines on
the studs on the motion of the shutter in the other direction.
In order to enable both compartments B1 B2 to be filled with plates or films at the same
time and the whole of the plates to be exposed in succession, so doubling the capacity
of the apparatus, I provide a second- passage y between the compartments B¹ B³ at the
back and also a means of propelling the plates from the compartment B¹ to the other
compartment B-that is to say-in the opposite direction to that in which they are
moved at the front, so that the plates will be caused to perform a complete cycle of
motion. Such means consists of a sliding catch actuated from the outside of the
back cover of the apparatus and engaging at the inside with the sheath of the rearmost
plate or film contained in compartment B₁ for the purpose of moving it from that
compartment to the rear of the plates in the other compartment B. The catch or
drag-hook is carried by a sliding bar or plate L fitted in a guide in the back cover M
and having an outwardly projecting thumb piece at its other end for operating it.
The catch projects from a groove on the inner face of that part of the cover M which
is opposite to the compartment B¹, but the thumb piece projects from a slot in the
other part of the cover opposite the compartment B covered on the inside by a plate
so that there is no aperture directly through the cover at which light can enter. The
lid or cover M of the two compartiments B1 and B2 is in one piece. The springs N N'
by which the plates are pressed forwards in both compartments are necessarily
modified to adapt them to the altered circumstances, and they are so placed and act on
the plates in such manner as to produce the least pressure against the shutter
compatible with holding the plates in their proper position. They are formed and
fixed as follows;-Four curved springs N are provided for the close compartment B² of
just sufficient strength to force the plates forward. They are fixed on to the cover so
as to act on the rearmost sheath near the top and bottom, their free ends being directed.

page_text: away from the drag hook 7. The incoming plate can thus press them flat against the
lid in its passage. The springs N¹ in the other compartment are preferably made as
two curved springs fixed in the centre to the lid in a line with the others in such a
manner that one free end projects over the central division D and the other free end
towards the opposite side of the compartment B¹. The ends of these springs
projecting over the partition D are turned back so as to form a stop to prevent the
uppermost plate in the close compartment B from being shaken back into the
compartment B¹.
The sliding catch is worked alternately with the shutter E, and after having trans-
ferred a plate from compartment B¹ to compartment B2, it must be returned to its
former position in compartment B₁ before the shutter is operated.
My invention has thirdly for its object to dispense with the division of the apparatus
into two compartments, the whole of the plates being placed in a trough like com-
partment in front of one another and transferred successively from one end of the
series to the other as they are exposed. This part of my invention is illustrated in
Figures 11 to 17. In Figures 11 and 12 which are vertical sections at right angles
to each other, the desired ond is effected by the use in combination with a shutter
constructed and operated as above described but disposed to act as a plate lifter, of
a flexible bag like chamber O enclosing the top of the trough like compartment P
above referred to, through which flexible chamber the plates are transferred from one
end of the series to the other. The compartment P is applied to the back of the
camera in the usual way. The flexible bag O takes the place of the closed compart-
ment B2 of the apparatus before described, but it is used only for the transfer of the
plates after exposure. In fixing the metal-shutter so as to raise the plates by it into
the bag, the stripe is at the lower edge of the shutter and the springs f are also at
the bottom of the compartment, so that when the shutter is raised the next plate will
rest at its lower corners against the springs f, and at its upper edge against the
strip e. This shutter may be operated by a bar across the face of the shutter, as
described in the former arrangement, the shutter rising inside the flexible bag and tho
bar or handle outside in front of the bag. Or the shutter may be operated from the
outside of the bag. On the foremost plate being raised or partly raised into the bag
by the lifting shutter, it is moved by the hands of the operator working outside the
bag to the rear of the other plates in the compartment P and pressed down into the
compartment and is forced forward therein by springs fixed to the back as before
described for the close compartment B2, and this back may be a cover removable for
filling the compartment P, or the flexible bag may be made removable. In the latter
case the plates are inserted singly and the compartment P is separated from the bag
by a division piece D with passages for the plates at front and back thereof, the
purpose of the division piece being to prevent the plates falling bodily out of P into
the bag in carrying the camera. This division may be dispensed with and in this
case the whole number of plates may be placed in a skeleton inner frame or liner
(Figure 17) fitting in the compartment P, and so be inserted all at once.
When a focussing screen is not used and a shutter consequently not required, it
may be reduced to a simple lifting bar for the purpose of partly raising the foremost
plate after exposure into the flexible bag to enable it to be grasped by the operator
for transfer to the rear. This arrangement is shown in Figures 13 16. The lifting
bar Qis shaped, its lower member being received in a recess in the bottom of the
compartment P immediately beneath the foremost plate, and its vertical member
sliding in a covered slot in the side of the said compartment and terminating at its
upper end in an outwardly projecting thumb piece for operating it. This lifting bar
may also be used when an ordinary shutter is used.
The invention has further for its object to supersede the usual rack and pinion or
screw motion used for focussing and consists in a lever adapted to engage with the
focussing slide (which carries the movable part of the camera) at different points
thereof, the angular motion of the said lever producing a rectilinear motion of the slide,
as shown in Figures 18 to 21, wherein R is the base board, S the slide carrying the
movable part of the camera-which may either be the back or the front. The lever T

page_text: is pivoted to it at one side of the slide S and engages with the slide S at a series of
points, or it might be pivoted to S and engage at a series of points with R. In either
case the free end of the lever projects at the opposite side of the base board in position
for being moved by the hand and the same means of allowing for the angular motion
of the lever relatively to the rectilinear motion of the slide may be adopted, of which
several examples are illustrated in the following figures.
In Figure 18 the lever is pivoted at t to the frame and has a fixed stud t¹ which
engages in one of a row of transverse slots in the slide, the slot permitting of the
stud moving in an arc.
In Figure 19 the lever is slotted at t so as to slide across its centre t, the stud t¹
entering round holes s.
In Figure 20 the stud t on which the lever pivots is movable
in a transverse slot in the base board. In Figure 21 the lever is pivoted as in
Figure 18, but has a slot t' at the middle of its length which engages on studs s¹ fixed
in the slide S.
The lever is held to the base by a clamping or other screw on its pivotal centre. By
oscillating the lever on its centre and transferring it successively from point to point
of connection with the slide, any desired extent of motion of the slide may be
obtained.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what 1 claim is;
1. The employment in a photographic changing back of the kind described in the
Specification of my former Patent or of the kind herein described, of a rock shaft and
levers (either with or without springs) arranged and operated as described, for the
purpose of canting the plates, as specified.
2. The employment in a photographic changing back of the kind described in my
former Patent, of springs applied as described for the purpose of canting the plates
automatically, as described.
3. The employment in a photographic changing back of the kind herein described,
of levers actuated by projections on the shutter and applied so as to act on and cant
the plates, the action of the levers being dependent on the motion of the shutter, as
specified.
4. In a photographic changing back consisting of two juxtaposed compartments as.
herein described, a shutter working wholly within the apparatus and actuated by a
handle or bar connected to the front of the shutter and passing through the exposure
aperture and sliding along the front of the changing back, substantially as specified.
5. A sliding shutter for a photographic changing back of the kind described working
wholly within the two compartments of the back and consisting of a thin metal plate
provided with a projection on the rear face in such position as to carry the sheathed
plate or film from one compartment to the other whilst the same is resting against
the shutter in the manner described.
6. In a photographic changing back of the kind described, the combination with a
shutter provided with a projection on its rear face for propelling the sheathed plate or
film whilst the same is resting against the shutter as described, of springs acting in
conjunction with the said projection for preventing the next succeeding plate or film
advancing until the shutter has been moved back into position to receive it, the springs
being moved back out of the way by the shutter substantially as described.
7. In a photographic changing back of the kind described, the combination with a
shutter acting also as a carrier for propelling the sheathed plate or film whilst the
same is resting against it, as described, of spring detents applied as shewn and
described, to prevent the shutter, on its withdrawal, drawing back with it the plate or
film which it has just propelled.
8. A photographic changing back constructed and operating as herein specified and
comprising a box divided into two compartments communicating at back and front as
described and both filled with sheathed plates or films a shutter acting also as a carrier
for propelling the sheathed plates or films successively from the front of the one
compartment to the front of the other as described, plate canting levers arranged and

page_text: operating as described, a drag hook or catch carried by a slide working in the back
cover as described, for moving the rearmost plate or film from the one compartment to
the other in the opposite direction to that in which the foremost one is moved by the
shutter and springs attached to the back cover and pressing the plates or films forwards
in both compartments, all combined for operation substantially as shewn in the
drawings.
9. The combination with a changing back consisting of a box divided into two juxta-
posed compartments communicating at front and back as described, of a drag hook or
catch projecting into the one compartment and attached to a sliding bar fitted to work
in a groove in the interior of the part of the back cover opposite the one compartment,
and in the exterior of the part opposite to the other compartment, so that the catch and
the means of operating it are not opposite the same compartment and there is no slot
directly through the cover, as described.
10. A photographic changing back consisting in the combination with a trough like
compartment containing a series of plates placed in front of one another of a flexible-
or bag like chamber communicating with the said compartment, and of a means of
lifting the foremost plate partly or wholly out of the compartment into the bag so as
to enable it to be seized from outside the bag and transferred from the one end of the
series in the compartment to the other, as described whether such means be a shutter
acting also as a lifter as described, or a simple lifter only, substantially as specified.
11. The improved motion for operating the focussing slide, consisting of a lever
pivoted to the base board and engaging with the said slide as described, or vice versa,
the varying angle of the lever relatively to the slide being allowed for in one of the
ways specified.