Improvements in Means for Changing Films and Plates in Photographic Cameras.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 6th May, 1892
Complete Specification Left, 3rd Feb., 1893-Accepted, 4th Mar., 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Means for Changing Films and Plates in
Photographic Cameras.
ERNEST ESTCOURT 8 Canfield Gardens Hampstead, London, N.W., Builder, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
A changing back for photographic films and plates whereby a single film can be
raised by means of rollers, covered with india rubber or some such similar material
from magazine into a bag or other light tight receptacle and passed into an exposing
chamber in such back and after exposure returned to magazine.
Dated this 6th day of May 1892.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Means for Changing Films and Plates in
Photographic Cameras.
I, ERNEST ESTCOURT, 8 Canfield Gardens, Hampstead, London, N.W., Builder,
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 :-
This invention has reference to improved means or apparatus for transferring
films or plates, one at a time; from a magazine adapted to be applied to a photo-
graphic camera, into a bag or receptacle formed of material impervious to light, in
order that the film or plate can then be transferred, in a manner well understood,
into the exposing chamber of the camera, the object being to enable a greater
number of films or plates to be carried in a magazine of a given size than has
heretofore been usual.
For this purpose I provide at the back of the magazine a frictional feeding
device that may advantageously consist of friction wheels or rollers covered or
provided at the periphery with suitable material such as india rubber that will
cause motion of a film or plate pressed in rubbing contact therewith.
In order that the nature of my invention and the manner in which it is to be
performed may be readily understood I will proceed to particularly explain the
same by aid of the accompanying drawings, in which
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a camera having a magazine with feeding device
constructed according to this invention applied thereto.
Fig. 2 is a central vertical cross section of the exposing chamber and magazine
with the flexible bag or receptacle and feeding device.
Fig. 3 is a plan thereof, part of the flexible bag or receptacle being removed.
Fig. 4 is an elevation, showing the opposite side of the magazine to that shown
in Fig. 1, the bag or receptacle being removed.

page_text: 1 is a magazine, and 2 an exposing chamber separated from each other by a
board 3 and formed in a casing 4 that is provided with a flexible sliding shutter 5
and with fillets 6 adapted to slide in suitable grooves formed in the rear end of the
camera 7 as well understood. 8 is a bag formed of black textile material impervious
to light. It is secured to a rectangular frame 9 adapted to fit the upward exten-
eion 10 of the casing 4 on which it is held by perforated spring plates 11 that
engage pins 12 on the frame and are fixed to the casing 4. 13, 13 are photographic
films or plates arranged in the magazine 1.
The feeding device comprises two friction wheels or rollers 14 fixed upon a
spindle 15 and inclosed by a casing 4* that is attached to the hack of the casing 4
and in the ends of which the spindle is mounted to rotate. The periphery of each
wheel or roller is formed of material such as india-rubber, and is arranged to
project into the magazine so as to bear against the rearnost film or plate 13 therein,
so that when the wheels or rollers are rotated in the direction of the arrow (Fig. 2)
they will cause the film or plate in contact with them to move into the bag 8. The
board 3, which forms the back of the exposing chamber 1, is hinged or pivoted
at 3* to the bottom of the casing 4 so that it can be turned back into the position
shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2 to facilitate the entrance into the exposing chamber
of a film or plate that has been moved out of the magazine and is held in the bag 8,
and can afterwards be turned into the position shown in full lines in order to hold
the film or plate in a vertical position during the exposure thereof to light. After
such exposure, the board is turned into the position shown in dotted lines to facilitate
the removal of the film or plate from the exposing chamber, and is then moved
back into the vertical position and the film or plate introduced into the forward
end of the magazine preparatory to transferring a fresh film or plate in the manner
described from the rear of the magazine to the exposing chamber. To enable the
board 3 to be thus operated, it is provided with an extension that passes through a
slot 17 in one side of the casing 4 and is connected to an external slide 18. This
slide works in a suitable guide and is acted upon by a spring 19 that serves to hold
the slide and consequently the connected board 3 in either of the positions into
which it is moved.
Assuming the magazine to have been charged with films or plates 13 and the
bag 8 to have been secured in place, then, to use the apparatus the casing 4 is
inclined or inverted whilst detached from the camera and the rollers 14 turned by
the spindle 15 and handle 16 in a direction to move the rearmost film or plate into
the bag 8. The operator then takes hold of the film or plate whilst in the bag and
transfers it into the exposing chamber 18 in front of the board 3 which he then
turns into its vertical position by means of the slide 18 in order to firmly clamp
the film or plate at its edges. The casing 4 is then applied to the rear end of the
camera, and the shutter 5 drawn back to expose the film or plate for the purpose
of taking the photograph. The shutter having been again closed, the casing 4 is
removed from the camera, the board 3 is moved back into the position shown in
dotted lines in Fig. 2, the film or plate is taken hold of in the bag 8 and raised, the
board 3 restored to its vertical position, and the film or plate placed in the forward
end of the magazine between the board and the other films or plates. The board
is now again brought back into the position shown in dotted lines when another film
or plate is taken from the magazine and transferred to the exposing chamber as
before, the operation being repeated as often as desired, and until all the films or
plates have been exposed.
To facilitate the catching hold of a film or plate whilst in the exposing chamber
the central portion of the upper edge of the board 3 is cut away as shown at 3*, as
also is the upper part of the exposing chamber as shown at 2*.
As will be obvious a frictional feeding device adapted to operate in the manner
described may be constructed in various forms. Thus instead of using wheels or
rollers such as shown, a long cylindrical roller may be used; or an endless band
arranged to work around two rollers and to act against the rearmost plate or
film may be used. Or the friction device may be constructed in the form of a

page_text: slide arranged to work vertically with reference to the casing 4 and to act against
the rearmost film or plate in the magazine for the purpose specified.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that I am
aware of the Specification of Letters Patent No. 8329 of 1886 granted to Arthur
Samuel Newman, and I wish it to be understood that I do not claim anything
described and claimed therein; but what I claim is :-
1. In apparatus of the kind herein referred to for changing photographic films
and plates, a friction feeding device arranged to project into the magazine
containing the films or plates to be changed and capable when operated of moving
the film or plate against which it bears, for the time being, into a bag or receptacle
impervious to light whence it can be transferred into the exposing chamber of the
camera substantially as herein described.
2. My improved means or apparatus for changing films or plates in a photo-
graphic camera constructed arranged and operating substantially as described and
shown.
י
•
1000
ERNEST ESTCOURT.
•
W. Lloyd Wise,
46, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agent for the Applicant.