Improvements in Cameras for Photographic Purposes.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 5th Nov., 1889
Complete Specification Left, 5th Aug., 1890-Accepted, 25th Oct., 1890
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Cameras for Photographic Purposes.
1 FRANCIS BEAUCHAMP of Hope Cottage Chadwell Heath in the County of Essex
Engineer do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to a camera for photographic purposes, which may be
used either on the tripod stand or for detective work and is made to carry any
suitable number of plates the said camera is divided with partitions for the purpose
of forming dark chambers one chamber has a ground glass for focussing purposes,
the plates are held up to an adjustable face by springs cach plate is provided with
a frame which has an arm attached-each arni has a hole in-which is threaded on
to a rod or a piece of tube for the purpose of working thereon, each arm is
provided with a notch which comes in contact with a push piece from the outside
of the camera for the purpose of lifting the said frame which holds the plate up
or down for exposure through a slot provided with a cover the frame has a spring
tension for clutching the plate firmly. The camera is so arranged that it can be
drawn in or out by hand or by a rack and pinion working in a tube which acts
as a guide for focussing purposes. As the front of the camera for carrying the lens
works telescopically by tubes working in each other or springs at each corner of
sufficient strength for supporting the covering which may be of any suitable
material for excluding the light in the moveable part of the camera, I sometimes
employ two chambers for the plates one for the exposed plates and one for the
unexposed the plates are held by a spring frame in the same manner as before
described but in this case the ground glass is not used as it has a fixed focus and
a finder is required.
132 1:1
11 1
1
1000
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Cameras for Photographic Purposes.
I, FRANCIS BEAUCHAMP, of "The Poplars," Chadwell Heath, in the County of
Essex, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying sheet of
drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
This invention relates to cameras for photographic purposes which are adapted
to carry any suitable number of photographic plates or films in such manner that
they can be exposed in succession to the action of light in one portion or chamber
of the camera, and be then removed from that portion or chamber and deposited
in another portion or chamber where they are stored until required for developement
and further treatment.
In the drawings hereto annexed,
Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of so much of a camera, constructed
in accordance with my invention, as is necessary to enable the same to be under-
stood,
Figure 2 is a transverse section of same taken on the line X X of Figure 1,
Figures 3 and 4 are perspective views of frames or backings for carrying the
photographic plates, and
Figure 5 represents a modification of certain of the parts shown in Figures 1
and 2.
A is the front part of the camera to which the lens, not shown in the drawings, is

page_text: C
fixed as usual at F; this front part of the camera may be connected adjustably to the
rear part B of the camera by means of the usual flexible light-proof connection (
and springs D, or it may be connected rigidly thereto so as to form a box-like
extension thereof as may be best suited to the purpose for which the camera is
intended to be used.
The rear part B of the camera is divided by a horizontal partition B₁ into an
upper chamber B2 and a lower chamber B3. The upper chamber B2 is closed in
front by the partition B and forms a dark chamber for the reception and storage
of the photographic plates after they have been exposed. The lower chamber B³
is open in front, so that the photographic plates or films placed at E can bo
exposed to the action of the light passing through the lens at F when the shutter
of the latter. is operated. The back of the part B of the camera may be provided
with a door at B5 to enable the unexposed plates or films at E to be introduced
into the lower chamber B³, and with another door at B6 to enable the plates or
films, which have been exposed, to be withdrawn from the upper chamber B² after
they have been transferred thereto from the lower chamber 33 by the mechanism
to be hereafter described.
Each photographic plate or film is proferably carried in a frame or backing
piece G, provided with a spring clutch for holding the plate firmly. The frame or
backing piece G may be composed of a sheet of thin metal, and the clutch for holding
the plate may be formed by folding-over three of the edges of such sheet, as shown
in Figure 3. so as to form a groove or rebate into which the plate or film can be
slipped and held by friction, or it may be formed of a sheet of any suitable material
(preferably of as light weight as possible) as shown in Figure 4, and the clutch for
holding the plate may be formed of a spring G1, the ends of which are secured to the
sheet G at G². The plate or film being pushed in between the spring G' and the
sheet G, is held in position on the latter by the pressure of the former against it.
Each frame or backing G has an arm H attached thereto in which is formed a notch
or a hole I. J is an axis turning in bearings in the sides of the camera, and operated
by a lever or handle K. Lis an arm secured on the axis J and provided with a
catch M so placed that when the arm L is depressed into the position shown in
Figure 2, the said catch M takes into the hole I in the arm H of the frame G which
happens to be foremost of those placed at E as shown in Figure 1. N is an arm
secured on the axis J. O is a pawl arm pin-jointed to the arm N and resting normally
on the.pin P fixed in the said arm. Qis a pin fixed near the end of the pawl arm
and adapted to take into the teeth of the star or ratchet wheel R, on the axis of which
is secured the indicating disc S for showing the number of plates that have been
exposed. T is a spring-urged retaining pawl to prevent backward movement of the
star or ratchet wheel R.
If preferred, the separate frame or backing G may be omitted, the plate or film
being provided with a paper or other opaque backing, and with a hole or notch at one
of its edges for the catch M to take into.
It will now be understood that if the shutter of the lens be operated, the foremost
of the plates at E will be exposed to the action of light and the photographic image
formed thereon. If now the handle K be turned, so as to raise the arm L, the
catch M on the latter, being in gear with the hole 1 in the arm H, will raise the
frame G and with it. the plate which has been exposed until the lower end of said frame
is above the partition B; the springs U then press such frame and plate forward
into the chamber B2, the upper end of the said frame coming against and being held
by the spring V. A spring W presses the remaining frames and. plates at E forward
against the stops E¹ as soon as the foremost has been removed by the arm L. The
raising of the arm L causes the pawl arm O to be raised also, so that the pin Qacts
upon the star or ratchet wheel R and moves it forward one tooth; this turns the
indicating disc S one division, showing, through a hole in the back of the camera,
the rotation number of the plates last exposed. When the handle K is turned in the
opposite direction, the pawl arm O is withdrawn from the teeth of the star wheel R,
by reason of its being pin-jointed to the arm N, without turning the said wheel back-

page_text: wards, the pawl arm O then falling, when clear of the teeth of the star wheel R, against
the pin P. The arm L is also returned into the position shown in Figure 2, and the
front of the catch M being inclined the said catch takes into the hole I in the arm H
of such frame when the arm L has passed in between the said foremost frame and the
next behind it as shown. The foremost plate can now be exposed and with its frame
be removed to the upper chamber B2 as described in reference to the preceding plate
and frame, being delivered behind the latter; the operations may be repeated until all
the plates at E have been successively exposed and, with their frames, removed from
the lower chamber B3, to the upper chamber B whence they may be taken when
required to be developed and otherwise finished, and a fresh supply of unexposed plates
and frames may be supplied at E for future operations.
Y is a spring buffer which acts on the ends of the frames as they are brought up
and deposited in the chamber B2 in order to assist in holding them steady.
In the arrangements above described, the chamber for containing the unexposed
plates is placed over that for containing the exposed plates but it is obvious that the
relative positions of those chambers may be reversed, or instead of being placed one
over the other they may bo placed side by side, the position of the lens and the
arrangement of the transferring mechanism being altered accordingly.
When the front part of the camera is made adjustable for purposes of focussing or
for reducing the camera to a smaller compass, the said front part may be moved to and
from the rear part by the mechanism for that purpose shown in Figures 1 and 2.
a are toothed racks fixed at one end to the moveable front A of the camera and sliding
at the other end in tubes b in the rear part B of the camera. e are pinions gearing
with the racks a and secured on the axis d, one end of which extends through the side
of the camera and is furnished with a handle or milled button e by which it may be
turned. On turning the axis d, the pinions act on the racks a, and the front A of the
camera, with the lens mounted on it, is moved towards or away from the rear part as
may be required.
The front A of the camera may also be moved to or from the rear part of the camera
by the arrangement shown in Figure 5, in which represents one of a pair of plain
rods or tubes which take the place of the racks a shown in Figures 1 and 2. g is one
of a pair of lever arms connected together by the rocking shaft g'. This lever arm has
a slot near its end which takes on to a pin h, secured in the rod or tube f, and passing
through a slot in the side of the tube (Figure 1) in which the said rod or tube f
slides. is an actuating lever or handle outside the camera, by which the lever arm g
and rod or tube f may be moved forward or backward at pleasure. The lever or
handle i may be clamped in position by the binding screw which traverses in the
slot l. m is a graduated scale for setting the lever into any desired position.
In a camera arranged with an upper and lower chamber for receiving the exposed
and unexposed photographic plates, as above described and as illustrated in the
drawings, I prefer to employ a fixed focus and a suitable finder, as the position of the
unexposed plates does not allow of focussing in the usual way.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is.
First. In a camera for photographic purposes, the arrangement of a chamber for
containing a number of photographic plates or films before, and while they are being
successively exposed, a chamber for receiving and containing such plates succesively
after they have been exposed, and mechanism for transferring such plates one by one
from one chamber to the other, substantially as hereinbefore described, and illustrated
in the drawings.
Second. In a camera for photographic purposes, mechanism, for transferring the
photographic plates or films from one containing chamber to another, consisting of a
catch or other suitable instrument operated from the outside of the camera and adapted
to take hold successively of each plate or film or of each frame or backing containing
or carrying a plate or film and to move the same vertically or laterally from the

page_text: "
exposing chamber to the storing chamber substantially as hereinbefore described, and
illustrated in the drawings.
Third. In a camera for photographic purposes in which the photographic plates or
films are transferred from one chamber to another after exposure, the use of frames or
backings for carrying the plates or films, such frames or backings being provided with
arms or ears adapted to be taken hold of by the transferring mechanism substantially
as hereinbefore described, and illustrated in the drawings.
Fourth. In a camera for photographic purposes the mechanism, for moving the front
part of the camera to or from the back part, consisting of toothed racks sliding in
guides and actuated by pinions substantially as hereinbefore described, and illustrated
in Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings.
Fifth. In a camera for photographic purposes the mechanism, for moving the front
part of the camera to or from the back part, consisting of rods or tubes sliding in
guides and actuated by lever arms substantially as hereinbefore described, and illustrated
in Figure 5 of the drawings.
1000
F. BEAUCHAMP..
Per W. H. Beck,
115, Cannon Street, London, Agent.
F. BEAUCHAMP.
Per W. H. Beck,
115, Cannon Street, London, Agent.