IMPROVE- MENTS IN PHOTOGRAPHIC APPARATUS
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Peter Armand le Comte de Fontaine Moreau, of
the General Patent Offices, 10, Rue de la Fidélité, Paris, and 4, South
Street, Finsbury, London, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN PHOTOGRAPHIC APPARATUS."-A communication from Messieurs
Alphonse Liébert and Jean Lafon-Saint-Cyr, residing at Paris.
Sealed the 1st August 1864, and dated the 11th February 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Peter Armand le Comte
de Fontaine Moreau at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with his Petition, on the 11th February 1864.
I, PETER ARMAND LE COMTE DE FONTAINE MOREAU, of the General Patent
Offices, 10, Rue de la Fidélité, Paris, and 4, South Street, Finsbury, London,
Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN PHOTOGRAPHIC APPARATUS," to be as follows, that is
to say-
The Invention communicated to me consists in the construction of
cameras for magnifying, in which the solar rays are received direct on the
condenser without the use of a reflector. By my arrangement the solar
chamber is made to follow all the movements of the sun, either alone with
the heliostat and a wheelwork or by using the band to put in motion the
circular and swing gearing placed on a pivot stand, and by adapting to one
of the extremities of any camera a cone serving to receive an enlarged
Price 1

page_text: image from a small negative placed at the other extremity of the camera,
the said extremity being provided with an objective and condenser, and
the camera being mounted on a pivot stand allowing of its receiving the
Bun perpendicularly on its axis during the operation.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Peter Armand le Comte de Fontaine Moreau in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 9th August 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PETER
ARMAND LE COMTE DE FONTAINE MOREAU, of the General Patent Offices,
10, Rue de la Fidélité, Paris, and 4, South Street, Finsbury, London,
Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Peter Armand le Comte de Fontaine Moreau, Her special
license that I, the said Peter Armand le Comte de Fontainemoreau, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Peter
Armand le Comte de Fontaine Moreau, my executors, administrators, or
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PHOTOGRAPHIC APPARATUS," communicated to
me from Messieurs Alphonse Liébert and Jean Lafon-Saint-Cyr, persons
resident at Paris, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Peter
Armand le Comte de Fontaine Moreau, my executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, or under the hand and
seal of one of them, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature
of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed,
and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Peter Armand le Comte de Fontaine
Moreau, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-

page_text: tained in and by the following statement, reference being had to the
Drawing hereto annexed and to the figures and letters marked thereon,
that is to say:-
The Invention communicated to me consists in the construction of cameras,
for magnifying, in which the solar rays are received direct on the condenser
without the use of a reflector. In consequence of the disposition the solar
chamber is made to follow all the movements of the sun, either alone with the
heliostat and a wheelwork or by using the hand to put in motion the circular
and swing gearing placed on a pivot stand, and by adapting to one of the
extremities of any camera obscura a coneserving to receive an enlarged image
from a small negative placed at the other extremity of the camera, the said
extremity being provided with an objective and condenser, and the camera
being mounted on a pivot stand, allowing the sun's rays to be perpendicularly
received in the axis of the camera during the operation.
Having thus briefly described the Invention, I will now proceed to describe
the same more particularly, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings
hereto annexed, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.
A, Figure 1, is a very powerful bi-convex lens, having its diameter in due
proportion with the size of the images to be enlarged, and the curved rays
calculated to reduce the spherical aberration to its minimum. Its focus must be
one and half or twice its diameter; Xis a second chrono-convexo-concavelens
serving to unbend the convergent rays proceeding from the condenser when of
a large diameter, it is set between the condenser and the negative plate; B is
a double th usual size objective glass, having a middle or long focus, and which
can be replaced by a th or objective glass according to the necessity of
enlarging more or less in consequence of the distance of the sensitive sheet
and of the size of the negative; C, frame containing the negative serving for
the magnifying; E, frame, with grooved wooden funnel, in which is placed
the sheet prepared to receive the image. This moveable frame fits the extre-
mity of the apparatus by means of a groove; F is a cast-iron rack having a
semicircular shape, giving with the endless crank screw G the required incli-
nation to the instrument to ensure the solar rays striking verticallyin the axis
of the lens A;H is the support of the apparatus, which moves as a pivot in the
stand I by means of a circular gear fitting at the junction T. This rack causes
the endless screw crank S to move for the purpose of keeping the apparatus
constantly in the direction of the sun as fast as the last describes its circle in
the space. This mechanism causes the camera to pivot, and the semicircle F,
which gives to the camera a swing motion, serves both to keep permanently
the sun within the axis of the lens A, provided these two movements are.

page_text: worked by hand. In that case two knobs or guides, placed on the side of the
apparatus and within the parallel of the condenser and objective axis, permit
to keep the sun continually in the centre with the greatest facility, the sun
itself serving as a guide. They can however be re placed by the heliostat,
which by means of its wheelwork will cause the apparatus to follow auto-
matically all the movements of the sun, for that purpose it suffices when the
heliostat is to be used to set it according to the hour of the day and to the
sun's declination; J and K are two knobs, connected with two internal racks,
one of them causes to recede or to approach the object glass B from the
condenser A in order to place it to its solar focus, the other knob serves to
recede or to approach the frame containing the negative used for enlarging;
for this purpose, to set it to the focus of the object glass B, these knobs can
be set either to the upper or lower part of the apparatus; L is the rack of the
object glass B, causing also the image to be set at the proper point; N is a
string, connected to a spring frame provided with silk, paper, or ground glass,
which may be placed before the object glass to veil the image, though allowing
the diffused lightto penetrate when it is required to watch the progress of the
impression by looking through a small shutter set on the side of the box; O is
a crank rack causing to approach or recede from the frame E, which contains
the sensitive sheet. The front train J and K supports the optic and the
negative by means of the part P, Q, according to the dimension to be given
to the image. This front train slides on a truck in a groove, and is afterwards
firmly fixed by two adjusting screws set underneath; M is a lid placed on
the lens A when the impression is to be stopped. The pannels of the cone of
the back train can be of a thin sheet of iron, especially for the apparatuses
constructed for use in hot climates where the heat causes the wood to warp
or crack.
This apparatus can also be employed for reproducing, by means of a
negative, images requiring a long focus in the camera; for that purpose I take
off the lens A and the frame C containing the negative serving for the
enlargement, and I then turn the objective B to have the tube directed
towards the outside, and the objective will be regulated according to the sort
of proofs to be reproduced. The catching F will set the chamber horizontally
and support it at the two extremities by means of a trestle.
Figure 2, which represents the whole of the apparatus,and Figure 3 a section
of the cylinder, are some modifications in the construction of the apparatus
herein-before described. Thus the frame which carries the condenser A the
object glass B, and the negative C, is in brass instead of being of wood, the
small board supporting the object glass B will remain moveable, and the

page_text: focus of the condenser A will be determined by causing it to approach or
recede by the knob K, which causes a double external cylinder to recede.
The small board carrying the negative c will be set in motion by the knob J,
which also puts in motion another external cylinder which supports it, and
serves to determine the point of the image; a knob N causes to slide a small
ground glass frame serving to veil the image, but allowing nevertheless the
diffused light to penetrate into the apparatus when it is necessary to observe
the progress of the impression. The cylinder into which is enclosed the whole
of the optics of the apparatus is similar to a large objective glass attached to a
small board fixed to the part P, Q, which in the Figure 3 is slightly conical,
that part of the train will move by means of an endless gear, which will
permit the apparatus to develope more or less. I make use also of a triplet
actinic lens with diaphragmed centers, and replacing the one-half, one-fourth,
one-sixth, and one-ninth objectives. To straighten the converging rays of the
sun and render them achromatic, I place a convexo-concave lens between the
condenser and the negative plate, as described above. The back conical train
of this camera can be constructed in wood or metal, or stuff; a small door
V, X, V¹, X¹, can be cut to observe nearer the proof. The same apparatus
can be also employed for reproducing pictures requiring a very long focus in
the camera; in that case I place a simple object glass for sights instead of the
double lens, and to place intermediates for collodion in the frame E. To
produce images of a very large dimension direct on the collodion it is merely
necessary to fix a double object glass, having five or six inches in diameter, and
place, as aforesaid, the apparatus in a horizontal position; this chamber can
therefore be used, first, for the production of positive proofs or merely
albumenized, salted, or iodized paper by enlarging from a small negative;
secondly, for the production of a large negative on collodion, albumen, or
negative paper from a small positive proof by transparency; thirdly, for the
reproduction of all kinds and of all sorts of dimensions, exactly similar to the
models, and either reduced or enlarged; fourthly, for the production of direct
images of large dimensions as well as they are produced by chambers con-
structed for that special purpose. The size I adopt as a maximum to produce
proofs of about twenty-six by thirty-six inches can be modified according to
he requirements of the operator.
And having now described the Invention communicated to me, and the
est mode to put the same into execution, I wish it to be understood that I do
ot confine myself to the precise details of construction herein-before described,
s the same may vary without deviating from the principle of the Invention;

page_text: but what I claim as my Invention, and wish to be protected by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
First, the adapting to one of the extremities of a camera obscura a cone
receiving a magnified image from a negative plate placed at the other.
extremity, as herein-before described, reference being had to the Figures of
the Drawing.
Secondly, the mechanical arrangement by which the camera obscura
receives the rays of the sun perpendicularly to its axis during the magnifying.
operation, as herein-before described, reference being had to the Figures of
the Drawing.
Thirdly, the application of a convexo-concave lens placed between the
condenser and negative plate for rendering straight and achromatic the
converging rays of the sun, as herein-before described, reference being had to
tne Figures of the annexed Drawing.
Fourthly, the application of a triple actinic objective to replace the one-
half, one-fourth, one-sixth, and one-ninth objectives, as herein-before described,
reference being had to the Figures of the Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Peter Armand Le Comte de Fontaine
Moreau, have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fourth day of
August, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
sixty-four.
Witness,
HY. GILBEE,
10, Rue de la Fidélité,
Paris..
DE FONTAINE MOREAU. (L.S.)