Improvements in Apparatus for Manufacturing Photographic and other Films.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 22nd Feb., 1898-Accepted, 11th June, 1898
Improvements in Apparatus for Manufacturing Photographic and
other Films.
A communication from HENRY MAXIMILIAN REICHENBACH, of Rochester, in the
County of Monroe, State of New York, United States of America, Manufac-
turing Chemist.
I, ALFRED JULIUS BOULT, of 111, Hatton Garden, in the County of Middlesex,
Chartered Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement:-
In the accompanying drawings representing this improved apparatus for manu-
facturing flexible photographic films-
Fig. 1 is a plan view.
Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the apparatus represented in Fig. 1-the casing
next the observer being removed.
Fig. 3 is a detail view, representing the bracket for the carrying rolls.
Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the carriage.
Fig. 5 is an end elevation of the same.
Fig. 6 is a side elevation of a portion of the train of gears employed for feed-
ing the sheets.
Fig. 7 is a plan view of the upper portion of said train of gears.
Fig. 8 is a vertical section of the same.
Fig. 9 is a plan view of the carriage.
Fig. 10 is a side view of the polishing and preliminary coating device.
Fig. 11 is a partial plan view of the same.
Fig. 12 is a transverse section of the same.
Fig. 13 is a side view of the celluloid coating device.
Fig. 14 is a partial plan view of the same.
Fig. 15 is a transverse section of the same.
Fig. 16 is a side view of the emulsion coating device.
Fig. 17 is a partial plan view of the same.
Fig. 18 is a transverse section of the same.
Fig. 19 is a side view of the stripper.
Fig. 20 is a partial plan view of the same.
This invention rests on the discovery which my correspondent has made that
nitro-cellulose suitable for the production of transparent films for use for photo-
graphic purposes, is not reduced or decomposed by aluminium, or those alloys of
aluminium in which this metal preponderates. In consequence of this property,
sheets of aluminium may be utilized as a support on which to spread the nitro-
cellulose while in a semi-liquid condition, so as to form, after the evaporation of
the solvents, a transparent flexible film suitable for a support or base for a coat-
ing sensitive to light. This invention is specially designated for the production
of transparent flexible films adapted for use for making negatives in the camera,
but it will be understood that it can be employed for many other purposes, and
that the films may be coated with sensitive material other than the gelatino-

page_text: bromide emulsions now ordinarily employed. Aluminium can now be obtained
rolled in sheets of any required dimensions, say up to forty or fifty inches wide
and from fifty to two hundred and fifty feet long; the sheets being stiffened by
the rolling operation, and thereby adapted to use for making films, which requires
the maintenance of a true horizontal surface. Although such sheets may be
employed while stationary, the hopper or spreading device for the nitro-cellulose
being arranged to travel along them, it is preferred to make the hopper relatively
stationary and to move the sheet under it, as thereby a very important economy
can be secured in the size of the structure required to enclose the apparatus and
in the production of a given amount of film within a definite space. The alu-
minium sheets are continuous from end to end, and consequently the joints at the
ends of glass plates, which have heretofore proved seriously objectionable are
avoided. The films made on glass invariably show the joints between the plates,
whereas my correspondent's films are of one uniform thickness throughout the
whole of their length. The feeding of the sheets from side to side also enables the
sheets to be introduced, when coated with nitrocellulose, into a heated chamber,
where the drying or evaporation of the solvents is rapidly and perfectly effected,
while, on the other hand, on coating the emulsion on the dried film, the sheets
may be fed into the same or an oppositely located chilled chamber, whereby is
secured an important economy, in the time required for the setting or drying of
the emulsion. In order to carry these ideas into effect, and to render them prac-
tically available, this invention, in its simplest form, when the aluminium sheet
is made to travel, involves the use of a stationary hopper, a chamber on each side
of it, and means for feeding the sheet under the hopper from one chamber to the
other. These means are also preferably constructed so as to be reversed, so as
to feed the sheet back again, the hopper having been changed so as to permit of
coating with emulsion. By arranging the feeding devices in series one above the
other, and making the hopper or coating devices adjustable vertically, it will be
perceived that a considerable number of sheets placed in banks one above the
other, may be operated on and covered with the requisite coatings-thereby effect-
ing a great economy in space. It will also be understood that by making the
hopper or coating devices adjustable laterally as well as vertically, a series of
adjacent banks of sheets can be coated, by the same coating mechanism, which
is adjusted up and down to suit the different positions of the sheets in the same
bank, and laterally to adapt itself in the different banks-and that therefore by
this arrangement, a very large surface for the production of film may be arranged
within the minimum cubic volume. The space required by this apparatus is there-
fore materially reduced.
Any suitable means for shifting the aluminium plates, and any suitable coating
devices may be employed, but, in practice for factories of medium capacity, a con-
struction is adopted substantially such as is shown in the accompanying draw-
ings, in which, in Fig. 1, the arrangement of three banks of 1000 sheets is repre-
sented side by side, with the drying or cooling chambers on opposite sides of a
central passage in which the carriage which sustains the coating device is arranged
It will be obvious that the construction may be extended to any desired number of
banks of sheets. A, Fig. 1 represents one chamber, and B another, arranged on
opposite sides of a central passage C, in which the carriage D is placed. These
chambers or compartments are made of any suitable dimensions adapted to the
length or number of the metallic sheets employed, or the number of banks of sheets
which the apparatus is designed to use. The aluminium sheets E are shifted
from one chamber to the other by any suitable mechanical devices, such as being
carried on belts or rollers,-the rollers being adopted in the construction shown..
For the manufacture of sensitive goods, the structure will be enclosed within
suitable walls or a casing which excludes with light. The devices for feeding the
sheets are preferably operated by power, being placed under the control of the
operatives who manage the coating mechanism, by clutches or other suitable
means.
The carriage itself can be most suitably shifted vertically or laterally by

page_text: the operatives. The construction of the carriage is shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 9,
from which it will be understood that the coating devices are adjustable vertically
on the carriage to suit the height of the different sheets in the same bank, and that
the carriage can be shifted laterally so that the coating devices can be brought in
line with the sheets of any particular bank E, E1, E2 &c. As indicated in Figs. 14
and 5, the carriage is provided with rollers t, which run on the track J, and also
with a bolt or suitable locking device u, which serves to fasten the carriage in
line with any particular bank of sheets.
Confining attention in the first place, to the bank of metallic sheets E, it will
be understood that they may be shifted in any preferred order, from the chamber A
to the position 13 in the chamber B, see Figs. 1 and 2, and that they must be
shifted back again, as many times as may be required,-the devices used on the
carriage for polishing or cleaning the sheets, for applying a suitable
material to prevent adherence, for spreading the nitro-cellulose, and for
coating the dried film with the sensitive substance, being changed as the opera-
tions proceed. To produce the movement of the sheets, a shaft F is employed,
Fig. 1, so connected that it can be revolved in either direction, by straight and
crossed belts, or by any other suitable device, preferably so arranged as to be con-
trolled from within the central passage C. The shaft F is provided with bevel
gears G G¹, which drive the transverse shafts a and b, from which the rollers or
other mechanism for moving the sheets are driven. h Fig. 1 is a lever, extending
inside the passage C, which may be used to engage a clutch i, splined on the
shaft F, with either of the pulleys, which are driven in opposite direction by
straight and crossed belts from any suitable driving shaft. By this or other
similar means, the shafts a and b may be caused to revolve in either direction so
as to operate the mechanism for shifting the sheets so as to transfer the sheets
from chamber A to chamber B, or vice versa.
In the construction shown a number of series of rollers, c, is arranged to sup-
port and feed the sheets, such rollers being driven by any suitable belt or chain-
the construction being such that the rollers under any one of the sheets may be
set in operation independently of the others, so that only one sheet is fed forward
at a time. The rollers c are sustained within the chambers by any suitable frame-
work, which may consist of uprights d, arranged at any suitable distances apart,
and connected together by horizontal braces f if desired. The shafts or pivots
of the rollers revolve in suitable bearings, m Fig. 7, attached to the standards d
in any suitable way, and preferably so that they can be adjusted to level the
rollers up, as by the adjusting screw k, Figs. 3 and 8. The shaft s is provided
with a clutch n which engages with gear e, at one end of a train of gears e¹³ ³ et
&c. which gears revolve continuously when the clutch is engaged. The gear el
and every other successive gear in the train, such as ce &c. is provided with a
clutch, which connects them with sprocket wheels which drive the chains which
operate the rollers in the different series for feeding the different sheets. P, pp²,
Fig. 6, are levers reaching into the passage C, by means of which the different
clutches are operated. is a clutch splined on the shaft of the innermost of the
upper series of rollers c, and so arranged that when shifted so as to engage with
the gear cl the roller will be driven. The motion is transferred to the other
rollers of the upper series by the chain o, connecting the sprocket wheel r, attached
to the clutch n¹ and similar sprockets w, Figs. 1 and 3 on the rest of the rollers.
The chain or belt employed permits the shifting of the sprocket wheel r with the
clutch on the shaft far enough to engage or disengage the clutch. The clutch
employed is of course a square jawed clutch, which will drive in either direction.
Any suitable tightener may be employed on the belt or chain. In a similar
manner the next lower series of rollers is operated from the gear e³, by the clutch n³
sprocket r¹, chain and suitable sprockets on the rollers, and so on through the
different series. If therefore the operator, in the central passage C, desires to
transfer the sheets E from chamber A to B, the shaft a and train of gears being
in operation in the proper direction, he uses the lever p¹ Figs. 2 and 6, to engage

page_text: the clutch n and sprocket
with the gear c¹ and the movement of the rollers c
shifts the sheet E from left to right, passes it across the carriage, where it
is subjected to the necessary cleaning, polishing or coating operation, and delivers
it in the chamber B at E3. In a similar manner, the lever 22 starts the proper set
of rollers into operation so that the Sheet E, Fig. 2, is transferred to E3, and so
on successively or in other preferred order, throughout the bank of sheets. The
intermediate gears e², 4 &c. revolve on studs attached to the upright d. It is pre-
ferable to start the rollers c in the chamber which receives the sheets, as B, at the
same time that the sheet is started out of the opposite chamber, and this may be
accomplished by means of the levers q, Figs. 1 and 2, which control a set of sheet-
moving devices similar to that already described as located in chamber A, such
set being driven by the shaft b. And the levers p and q, p and q &c. as they
correspond to the different sets of feed-rollers on the same level in the opposite
chambers, may be connected together so as to be operated simultaneously to any
suitable mechanism, which will allow the lateral shifting of the carriage in the
passage C. Such connection may be made by rock-shafts, and cranks and con-
nections above or below the path of the carriage, by electricity and suitable
magnets, or by pneumatic pressure distributed by pipes to suitable pistons or
diaphragms. The skilled constructor will readily secure the simultaneous move-
ments of the levers 2 and 9, or the engagement of the clutches n on opposite sides
of the central passage C, if desired. It will be observed however that the operator,
standing in the foot-board H of the carriage as shown can control these levers with
sufficient quickness-the usual rate of feed of the sheets being about twenty feet
per minute. The levers 2 are pivotted in arms attached to the upright d.
The chambers A and B are preferably separated from the central passage C,
by the walls II, so that the temperature of the chambers is better preserved
these walls having slots s, Fig. 6, through which the sheets pass, and these slots
being provided with suitable doors by which they may be closed, if desired. The
doors on the opposite walls may be connected together, in any suitable way, so as
to be opened or closed at the same time.
The regulation of the temperature of the chamber A is provided for in any
suitable manner, such for instance as a series of coils of pipes K K', Fig. 1 arranged
along the sides or ends of the chamber, or between the sheets, or otherwise suit-
ably disposed, which coils are connected with a source of heat or steam-supply,
or with any suitable refrigerating apparatus. A similar arrangement of pipes
is adopted in the chamber B. The enclosing walls L of the apparatus may be of
any preferred construction, to retain heat or cold, and to secure the greatest
economy in regulating the temperatures of the chambers.
By reversing the direction of the movement of the shaft F, the rollers in the
opposite chambers will feed the sheets back from chamber B to chamber A,
from position E3 to E, from E^3 to E* &c., the suitable levers and clutches being
operated to secure these results, and the sheets passing under the mechanism for
cleaning, polishing and coating with nitro-cellulose and emulsion, and for strip-
ping the coated film, located on the carriage, in the central passage. This opera-
tion of transferring the sheets from one chamber to another, and submitting them
to the proper operation during their passage through the central chamber may be
repeated any requisite number of times. When two or more banks of sheets are
employed, I support the ends of the rollers e of the first bank by arms or brackets v,
Figures 1 and 3, which are attached to the uprights d and are bent outwards so
as to avoid the sprockets w on the rollers c¹ of the second and also of succeeding
banks. Any other suitable construction may be adopted in this respect. The
metallic sheets should be supported by the rollers at suitable distances apart,
dependent on the dimensions and thickness of the sheets, but, as indicated in the
drawings, only a portion of the rollers are driven, sufficient to drive the sheets.
Any suitable provision may be made for automatically throwing off the feed motion,
when one of the shafts has fully entered into one of the chambers. Thus at the
outer end of the chamber B, a rock-shaft or other suitable device may be arranged,

page_text: by suitable connections, to operate the lever q, and disconnect its clutch, or the
same result may be secured by electricity or pneumatic pressure. When how-
ever the end of the sheet passes the carriage, the operator will understand that he
should work the lever q, and the walls at the end of the chambers will arrest the
sheets, even if they be not immediately stopped.
The construction of the carriage 1), which adjustably supports the devices for
operating on and coating the surfaces of the sheets passing across it, will be under-
stood from Figures 4, 5 and 9. As already mentioned, the carriage is arranged
to be shifted laterally in the central passage C on the track J, where two or more
banks of sheets are employed, being provided with the rollers t and the locking
device u.
The carriage supports the necessary cleaning, coating and stripping
devices, which are adjustable vertically, to adapt the devices to the different sheets
in any of the banks. The carriage may be of any suitable construction, adapted
to performing the required functions. In the construction shown, the carriage
consists of the sills or base N, supporting the uprights O, on which the platform
or gauge P is arranged to be adjusted up and down, to adapt the apparatus to the
different heights of the sheets in any one bank. The cage carries the rollers QQ
over which the sheets pass, in travelling from the chamber A to the chamber B,
or vice versa. The lowest position of the cage is represented by the full lines in
Figures 4 and 5, and the highest position, in which it registers with the upper-
most sheet E in any of the banks, is indicated by the dotted lines. Any suitable
mechanism may be adopted for adjusting the platform vertically on the carriage,
but the arrangement shown, by which the operative, while standing
onl the projecting foot-board H, is enabled to raise or lower himself
along with the platform, is preferred, as it keeps the coating devices,
&c. under the convenient control of the operative in all positions of
adjustment. For this purpose my correspondent provides the shafts a, having
the hand-wheels M, arranged within convenient reach of a person on the foot-
board H, and my correspondent employs the worn-gears and worms y and z to
revolve the shaft R by which the ropes or chains S are wound up or unwound, to
raise and lower the cage or platform. The shafts R are provided with the drums T,
about which the rope S is wound,-passing up around the pulleys U U at the top
of the carriage from the drum on one shaft to the other, and, since the drums are
attached to their respective shafts, the operative at one side of the carriage on one
of the foot-boards, can raise or lower the carriage, and himself with it. Any other
suitable arrangement or construction of the carriage may however be adopted.
The upright may be provided with any suitable guides for the platform, such
as the ribs W, Figs. 4 and 9. The platform or cage consists of any suitable frame-
work arranged to support the various shafts and other parts.
The devices for operating on the sheet while it is passing from one chamber to
the other, are represented in Figures 10 to 20 inclusive. V, Figures 10, 11 and 12,
is a rotary cleaning or polishing brush, supported on the carriage D, and driven
by any suitable power, by a belt or by the electric motor X, which may be either
connected to the brush shaft by gears or a belt, or directly, as shown. The brush
may be of any suitable construction, such as a series of discs of cloth or other suit-
able material secured together between the collars on the shaft. The brush may
run in either direction. Y is a roller which may be used to apply to the surface
of the sheet E passing under it a thin coating of any suitable material adapted
to prevent the film from adhering to the plate,-such for instance as paraffine
dissolved in benzine. The roller y receives its supply of such material from the
trough a¹, by the rollers b¹², which are supported in any suitable manner. These
rollers may be driven by the sheet itself, or in any other suitable way. The
paraffine or other substance may be applied to the sheet either before or after the
polishing or it may be supplied to the brush itself by any suitable means.
polishing device is provided with a base Z, by which it is attached to the plat-
form or cage,--such base also serving to support the sheet E during its movement,
or, a suitable supporting roller, such as is indicated at Q¹ Figure 15, may be employed.
The

page_text: The base is attached to the platform in any suitable manner, such for instance
as bolts passing through the perforated lugs Figure 11.
After a series of sheets or if preferred the sheets in two or more banks, have
been subjected to suitable cleaning operations, while being fed from one chamber
to the other, they are next coated with the nitro-cellulose, by a suitable coating
device, such as is represented in Figures 13 and 14 and 15. This device is placed
on the carriage after the sheets have been cleaned and prepared, and is used to
spread the nitro-cellulose, in a semi-liquid condition, on the sheets as they are
transferred from one chamber to the other. A is the hopper, fl the scraper or
straight-edged instrument which spreads the celluloid evenly on the sheet, and g
a valve or gate which regulates the amount of material allowed to flow down from
the hopper. In Figure 15, the coating apparatus is represented in the proper
position when the sheet is fed in the direction indicated by the arrow, but it will
be understood that all of the cleaning, coating or other devices employed, are
reversible on the carriage, so as to adapt themselves to the sheets who fed from
either direction. The scraper f¹ is made adjustable vertically so as to vary the
thickness of the coating of nitro-cellulose applied to the sheet, which is supported
by the base Z, or the roller Q¹. In order to hold the sheet firmly down on the
base or roller my correspondent employs on the inside of the ends of the hopper,
a flange which projects inward over the edges of the sheet, which pass between
it and the base or roller. These flanges are used on both edges of the sheet, and
they may be made adjustable on the ends of the hopper, by slotted lugs j Figure 15,
of other suitable devices. Similar flanges may be employed in connection with
the emulsion coating apparatus shown in Figures 16, 17, and 18, and the polishing
or cleaning devices already mentioned. The gate g is made adjustable, to vary
the flow of the celluloid, in any suitable manner, such for instance as by the
inclined slots and screws k¹, Figure 14, and the lever m¹. Blocks s¹, Figure 14,
in the ends of the hopper, serve to prevent the flow of the celluloid at these points.
After the metallic sheets in any bank, or number of banks, have been shifted
from one chamber to the other, having had a thin, uniform layer of celluloid
applied upon their upper surfaces by the coating device, steam is preferably turned
on to the pipes of coils K in the chamber into which said coated sheets have been
fed, to hasten the evaporation of the solvents employed, and suitable fans or other
means of rapidly renewing the air in such chamber may also be employed. As
soon as the nitro-cellulose film is freed from the solvents, it is ready for the next
operation in the production of photographic films, which consist in coating the
film with a suitable compound sensitive to light, such as any ordinary or preferred
gelatinobromide emulsion. Apparatus for effecting such coating is represented in
Figures 16, 17, and 18, although any other suitable apparatus may be employed.
The emulsion coating device shown consists of a suitable hopper, H', provided
with a regulating valve u¹, Figure 18, and a trail-strip t¹, which rests on the sheet E
as it traverses under the hopper. The rate of feed of the emulsion, which must
of course be proportioned to the movement of the sheets, is regulated by the arm v¹
attached to the valve u¹, and provided, if desired, with the adjusting screw w¹
bearing on the lug ¹ on the outside of one of the ends of the hopper. To cut off
the flow of emulsion entirely, the arm v¹ is swung to the position indicated by the
dotted lines in Figure 16, when the valve u¹ is turned so as to entirely cut off
the flow of the emulsion. The hopper H¹ consists of suitable side-walls connected
at their lower ends by a part which receives the valve u and is provided with
suitable ports or openings for the feeding of the emulsion. The passage for the
emulsion is represented as fully open in Figure 18. The trail-strip extends
across the whole surface of the sheet which has been coated with the film, and is
supported by the arm y', attached to the sides of ends of the hopper, so that its
position may be reversed, as indicated by the dotted lines in Figure 18, to adapt
the device to the traverse of the sheets in either direction. The emulsion flows
through the valve u on to the trail-strip, and is by it deposited in a uniform and
regular layer on the nitro-cellulose film on the sheet. The trail-strip is preferably

page_text: made of flexible rubber, but any other suitable material such as thin wood may
be employed. The arms y¹ are provided with pins on which the strip is hung, so
that it may readily be reversed, to suit the different directions in which the sheet
is fed.
After the celluloid-coated sheets have received the proper coating of emulsion,
and have been transferred to one of the chambers, in any preferred order, such
chamber is preferably chilled to set and harden the emulsion, by connecting the
pipes or coils K, which may have any suitable location in the chamber, between
the metallic sheets if preferred, with any suitable refrigerating apparatus, and if
desired, the ventilation of the chamber containing the emulsion-coated film may
be effected by any suitable suction or pressure fans. The air entering the chamber
should be thoroughly strained. It is unnecessary to remark that during the coat-
ing with emulsion and the subsequent drying, all white light must be absolutely
excluded, the only light permissible in the central passage or chamber being
red or non-actinic. If the different banks of sheets be separated from each other
by partitions, and the cooling pipes are arranged for such purposes, any one bank
of coated films may be cooled and dried without waiting for the next.
Or even,
in an apparatus constructed for a number of banks, a single sheet may be coated,
cooled and dried, by the proper arrangements.
After the application of the sensitive-emulsion to the films, all subsequent
operations must be conducted in non-actinic light, and the first of these opera-
tions is the stripping of the sensitized film from the sheets. For this purpose the
sheets are fed backwards and an apparatus such as is represented in Figures 19
and 20 is employed to strip the film from the metallic sheet as it traverses the
central passage.
Such stripping mechanism which may be operated by hand or
by power, consists of a suitable frame and a strip roller which may be substituted
for the cleaning or coating devices herein before described. In the accompanying
drawings my correspondent has shown the stripping roller as operated by a hand
crank U T is the stripping roller, on which the sensitized nitro-cellulose film is
wound after the emulsion has set and dried, and as the sheet is fed back from the
chamber which has received it after the emulsion was applied. The operation is
very simple, the front end of the sensitized film is attached to the roller T", and
this roller is turned by hand or power, so as to strip the sensitized film from the
sheet, and to put it in condition for the subsequent operations of slitting and
coiling into forms for commercial delivery. In the arrangement shown, the strip-
ping roller is provided with a hand crank U¹, by which it is operated so as to
detach the film from the sheet, but it will be obvious to the skilled constructor than
any other suitable stripping apparatus may be employed.
It will be understood that the mechanism for shifting the sheets may be variously
modified without departure from the essential features of my correspondent's
invention. Thus the sheets may be supported so as to slide directly on a table
or series of bars without employing the rollers, and the sheets may be operated by
direct connection with a travelling belt or chain, which is provided with a suitable
grip adapted to engage the front edge or side of the sheet, or a lug arranged to
push it forward from the rear. In some forms of these sheet-feeding mechanisms
the belt or chain can be allowed to run continuously, the gripping or driving
device being arranged to be applied to the sheet by the operator. It will also be
understood that with some forms of the sheet-feeding mechanism, the feeding
devices may be located in one of the chambers only, suitable provision being
made for reversing the motion. The arrangement may be such also that
the sheet is operated by mechanism located in the receiving chamber, being then
drawn along in contact with the cleaning, coating or other devices. The mechan-
ism for reversing and stopping and starting the sheet-feeding devices, may also
be constructed in various different ways. Suitable fans are employed for remov-
ing or renewing the air in the chamber, or for promoting the drying of the film.
The polishing and coating devices may be made adjustable on the cage or plat-

page_text: form P by means of adjusting screws, or other suitable devices, as indicated at 2¹,
Figure 5.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is; -
1. The combination, in an apparatus for making flexible films of nitro-cellulose,
of a relatively movable plate of rolled aluminium and a suitable device for spread-
ing fluid nitro-cellulose on the plate, whereby uniformity in the thickness of the
films throughout their length is secured, substantially as described..
2. The combination, in an apparatus for making flexible films of nitro-cellulose,
of a travelling plate of rolled aluminium, and a suitable device for spreading the
fluid nitro-cellulose on the plate during its movement, substantially as described.
3. The combination, in an apparatus for making flexible films of nitro-cellulose,
of a travelling plate of rolled aluminium, a suitable stationary device for spread-
ing the fluid nitro-cellulose on the plate, and a heated drying chamber into which
the coated plate is delivered, substantially as described.
4. In an apparatus for making nitro-cellulose films, the combination of two
chambers arranged to form a central passage between them, suitable sheet feed-
ing devices placed one above the other in the chambers and adapted to feed metallic
sheets in succession from one chamber to the other across the passage and a suit-
able vertically adjustable coating device in the passage, whereby the sheets are
successively coated during their journey from one chamber to the other, substan-
tially as described:
5. In an apparatus for making nitro-cellulose films, the combination of two
chambers arranged to form a central passage between them, suitable sheet feeding
devices placed one above the other in the chambers, corresponding series of clutches
or disconnecting devices, and a suitable vertically adjustable coating device in the
passage, substantially as described.
6. In an apparatus for making nitro-cellulose films, the combination of two
chambers arranged to form a central passage between them, four or more series
of suitable sheet-feeding devices arranged one above the other in parallel banks
in each chamber, and adapted to feed metallic sheets in succession from one
chamber to the other across the passage, and a suitable vertically adjustable and
laterally movable coating device in the passage, substantially as described.
7. In an apparatus for making nitro-cellulose films, the combination of two
chambers arranged to form a central passage between them, two or more series of
suitable sheet-feeding devices arranged on above the other in parallel banks in
each chamber, and adapted to feed metallic sheets in succession from one chamber
to the other across the passage, corresponding clutches or disconnecting devices,
and a suitable vertically adjustable and laterally movable coating device in the
passage, substantially as described.
8. In an apparatus for making nitro-cellulose films, the combination of two
chambers arranged to form a central passage between them, suitable sheet-feed-
ing devices placed one above the other in the chambers & adapted to feed
metallic sheets in succession from one chamber to the other across the passage,
a suitable vertically adjustable coating device in the passage above the sheets, and
suitable vertically adjustable means for supporting the sheets while moving across
the passage, substantially as described.
9. The combination with the chambers A and B, arranged to form the central
passage C between them, of the carriage D, a suitable vertically adjustable coat-
ing device supported thereby, and suitable sheet-feeding mechanism, substantially
as described.
10. The combination with the chambers A and B, arranged to form the central
passage C between them, of the carriage 1), a suitable vertically adjustable coat-
ing device carried thereby, suitable sheet-feeding mechanism, and the circulation

page_text: pipes K for varying the temperature of either of the chambers, substantially as
described.
11. The combination with the chambers A and B, arranged to form the central
passage C between them, of the laterally movable carriage D, a suitable vertically
adjustable coating device supported thereby, and suitable sheet-feeding mechan-
ism, substantially as described.
12. The combination of the chambers A and B arranged to form the central
passage C between them, of the laterally movable carriage D, a vertically adjust-
able coating device supported thereby, suitable sheet-feeding mechanism, and
means for reversing the movement of the feeding mechanism, substantially as
described.
13. The combination with the chambers A and B arranged to form the central
passage C between them, of the slotted partitions I I, the laterally movable
carriage D, a suitable vertically adjustable coating device supported thereby, suit-
able sheet-feeding mechanism, and means for varying the temperature of the
chambers, or either of them, substantially as described.
14. The combination with the chambers A and B, arranged to form the central
passage C between them, of a suitable coating device located in the passage, the
rollers c shafts a, b and F, and suitable reversing mechanism, substantially as
described.
15. The combination with the chambers A and B, arranged to form the central
passage C between them, of the carriage D, having uprights O, the vertically
adjustable platform, a suitable coating device supported thereon, means for rais-
ing and lowering the platform, and suitable sheet-feeding mechanism, substan-
tially as described.
16. The combination with the chambers A and B arranged to form the central
passage C between them, of the carriage D having uprights O, the vertically adjust-
able platform, a suitable coating device supported thereon, means for sustaining
the sheet while passing across the carriage, suitable sheet-feeding mechanism,
and means for raising & lowering the platform, substantially as described.
17. The combination with the chambers A and B, arranged to form the central
passage C between them, of the carriage D, a suitable coating device supported
thereon, the rollers c, shaft a, clutch n, and flexible driving counertion o, substan-
tially as described.
Dated this 22nd day of February 1898.
BOULT & WADE,
Agents for the Applicant.