IMPROVEMENTS IN, AND IN APPARATUS FOR, CHANGING AND STORING PHOTOGRAPHERS' BACKGROUNDS AND OTHER MOVABLE SCENERY
Year: 1883

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Melville Clark of the firm of A M and
W Clark of 53 Chancery Lane in the County of Middlesex, Fellow of the
Institute of Patent Agents for an Invention of IMPROVEMENTS IN, AND
IN APPARATUS FOR, CHANGING AND STORING PHOTOGRAPHERS' BACKGROUNDS
AND OTHER MOVABLE SCENERY communicated to him from abroad by William
Evans Lindop, of St Thomas in the Province of Ontario and Dominion of
Canada
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Melville Clark at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 30th May 1883.
ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK of the firm of A. M. and W. Clark of 53 Chancery
Lane in the County of Middlesex Fellow of the Institute of Patent Agents
"IMPROVEMENTS IN, AND IN APPARATUS FOR, CHANGING AND STORING PHOTO-
GRAPHERS' BACKGROUNDS AND OTHER MOVABLE SCENERY" [communicated to him
from abroad by William Evans Lindop, of St Thomas in the Province of Ontario
and Dominion of Canada]
This Invention consists of a gate or switch like frame provided with rails at
top and bottom together with a series of stalls each having rails at corresponding
heights to those of the gate to receive a back ground, the gate or switch being so
pivoted that it may be brought opposite to any one of these stalls so that the
background therein may be readily run on to the gate for use from any one of the
stalls and vice versa.
The back-grounds have rollers at back which run on the rails of the gate and
sustain the background in position and the gate is pivoted or hinged to any
suitable support at one end or at some intermediate point and its hinge rod made
double jointed or cranked in order to enable the gate to be shifted about for
altering the position of the background.
The stile of the swinging end of the gate is provided with one or more spring
catches to engage with the posts of the stalls to hold the gate while changing the
background.

page_text: A spring holds the other end of the gate at the same time said spring being
attached to the floor to receive the bottom part or crank of the hinge rod and
fastened at one end only in order that the other end may slide along the floor and
be depressed by the crank which passes into a notch in the spring whereby the
hinge rod is held in the required line with the stall
Where space will allow of it the stalls will be extended in a straight line and
backgrounds of said construction employed but to provide for storing the back-
grounds in less space they may be made flexible by means of narrow strips or slats
properly jointed together the stalls being curved so as to turn corners or run in
circles or nearly so if desired.
The rollers on the backgrounds are grooved for running on the rails, but
grooved rails may be employed with rollers to run in them if desired, and other
modifications of the details may be made.
The gate is provided with a caster wheel on its
sagging and by preference the lower guide rolls on
will be located under the lower rails of the gate to
the flexible backgrounds to the rails.
free end to prevent it from
the backgrounds (when used)
have better effect in bending
The Invention is applicable to other scenery as well as to the backgrounds of
photographers' rooms.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Alexander Melville Clark in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
30th November 1883.
ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK of the firm of A. M. and W. Clark of 53 Chancery
Lane in the County of Middlesex Fellow of the Institute of Patent Agents
IMPROVEMENTS IN AND IN APPARATUS FOR CHANGING AND STORING PHOTO-
GRAPHERS' BACKGROUNDS AND OTHER MOVABLE SCENERY A communication to
<<
"
me from abroad by William Evans Lindop of St. Thomas in the province of
Ontario and Dominion of Canada.
This Invention consists of a gate on which the back grounds used in photo-
graphic galleries are to be hung or suspended for use by means of rollers and rails
so contrived that the back ground may be readily run off and on the gate to and.
from other rails, together with a series of stalls each having rails to receive a back
ground, and with any one of which the gate may be brought into range by
swinging on its hinge for the purpose, so that a back ground for any one of the
stalls may be run on it at will. The hinge of the gate is preferably of a cranked
or eccentric character to allow of shifting the position of the back ground at will
for the benefit of placing it in different positions.
Where plenty of room is available for the stalls of the back grounds to bo
extended in a straight line from the gate, the back grounds may be of rigid con-
struction, but where the space is not sufficient for such arrangement, I propose to
contrive the back grounds in flexible construction and make the stalls to curve, so
as to turn corners, and to run in circles, in whole or in part if need be, to store the
back grounds in smaller space, all as herein after fully described.
The Invention is illustrated in the accompanying Drawings forming part of this
Specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in
all the figures.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of the gate, part of a back ground, and a series of
stalls contrived according to this Invention, the back ground being flexible, and
the stalls being curved suitably for turning a corner to dispose the back grounds
along the side of a room. Figure 2 is a plan view of Figure 1. Figure 3 is a hori-
zontal section of the apparatus through the stalls, curved so as to dispose the back
grounds in the corner of a room. Figure 4 is a perspective view of some of the
parts in detail and on an enlarged scale and Figure 5 is a perspective view of a
spring that may be attached to the floor for holding the gate in position when
changing the back grounds.
I propose to employ a gate a, b, with rails or ways c, on the horizontal bars for
the reception of the back grounds d, by means of rollers e arranged on the back of
it suitably for rolling along the rails and holding the background on it-as repre-
sented in the drawing, the gate being pivoted or hinged to any suitable support at
one end as in Figure 1 or at some intermediate point as in Figure 3 and the hinge
rod f being double jointed or cranked between pivots g and h in order to enable
the gate to be shifted about for altering the position of the background.
With such a gate to hold the backgrounds and being free to swing at one end I
arrange a series of stalls i to receive and store the backgrounds, said stalls being
arranged as close together as the requisite space for the reception of the back-
grounds will allow, and each having rails j with which the rails c of the gate will
coincide when swung to them so that the backgrounds will readily run from the
stalls to the gate and from the gate to the stalls.
The stile b of the swinging end of the gate is provided with one or more spring
catches to engage with the post of the stalls to bold the gate while changing
the background.

page_text: For properly holding the other end of the gate at the same time, a spring m
shown on an enlarged scale in Figure 5 is to be attached to the floor to receive the
bottom part or crank n of the hinge rod, the spring being fastened at one end only
to allow the other end to slide along the floor for being depressed by arm n to
pass into its notch o by which it is to hold the hinge rod in the required line with
the stall.
As before stated the stalls will be arranged in a straight line when the
Брасо,
space will allow, but to provide for storing the backgrounds in less
I
propose to make them flexible by means of narrow strips or slats properly jointed
together and to curve the stalls around a corner as in Figure 2, or around two
corners as in Figure 3, or more if required, making them in complete circles or
nearly so if desired.
The rollers e are grooved suitably for running on the rails, but grooved rails
may be employed with rollers to run in them if desired, and other modifications of
the details may be made.
The Invention is applicable to other scenery as well as to the backgrounds of
photographers rooms.
The gate is provided with a castor wheel t on its free end to prevent it from
sagging and by preference the lower guide rolls e on the backgrounds (when used)
will be located under the lower rails c to have better effect in bending the flexible
backgrounds to the rails.
Having described the nature of the said Invention and the manner of performing
the same I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be protected by the
hereinbefore in part recited Letters Patent is :-
1st. A series of stalls i, adapted for storing photographers backgrounds and
other scenery and having rails or ways on which to run the backgrounds or other
scenery in or out, in combination with a gate having ways to correspond with the
ways of the stalls and capable of swinging from one to the other, and with back-
grounds and other scenery provided with rollers and adapted to roll along the
ways of the stalls and the gate, substantially as described.
2nd. The combination of flexible back grounds d, with the stalls and gate, the
stalls being curved to change the direction of the backgrounds, substantially as
described.
3rd. The gate a, b, for supporting and changing the back grounds arranged on a
double jointed hinge fg h, in combination with a series of stalls for storing the
back grounds, the said back grounds, gate and stalls being arranged for rolling the
back grounds along the gate and stalls, substantially as described.
4th The combination of a spring m, with the double jointed hinge f, g, h, and
gate a, b, substantially as described.
In witness whereof I the said Alexander Melville Clark have hereunto set
my hand and seal this Twenty ninth day of November in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and eighty three.
A M CLARK (L.S.)