Improvements in Binocular Glasses.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 16th Nov., 1894-Accepted, 29th Dec., 1894
Improvements in Binocular Glasses.
I WILLIAM HENRY HARVEY, Journalist, of 77 Montholme Road, Wandsworth
Common, in the County of Surrey, 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 for improvements in binocular glasses has for its object to provide
improved means whereby binocular glasses serving for distant vision can be so folded
and arranged as to become very compact and portable and serve also as a reading
glass or pocket magnifier when occasion requires.
In a binocular glass constructed according to this invention the extensible
frame carrying the object and eye glasses is flat and is hinged in the joint of a
pocket case so that it can be enclosed completely within the case when
it is collapsed, and the object glasses and eye pieces are hinged to the two
parts of the extensible frame so that they can be folded down on to the frame when
it is to be enclosed in its case, or they can be opened out at right angles for use,
the lenses then taking up precisely the same relative positions as in a binocular
glass of the ordinary draw-tube pattern and the case serving as a roof or covering
to shut off extraneous light rays, thus compensating for the absence of the ordinary
draw-tubes.
The extensible part of the frame consists of a crossbar, to which are hinged the
arms carrying the eye-pieces, and of two rods or bars projecting at right angles
from the ends of the crossbar and adapted to slide in two parallel grooves slots or
tubes in the main part of the frame. This slide arrangement enables the necessary
focal adjustment to be obtained by moving the eye pieces to the required distance
from the object glasses and also secures the requisite rigidity. The slide may be
regulated by hand, by rack and pinion, by the screw motion commonly used in
opera glasses or by other device.
The frame is so constructed that the two object-glasses close up on opposite sides
of a ring or orifice in the frame and come into juxta-position with each other with
a clear unimpeded view through, thus forming an effective reading glass or
magnifier without the necessity of unscrewing or disconnecting any of the parts
concerned. The two eyepieces also close up and fit into a hole or recess in the
frame.
In the accompanying sheets of drawings:
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a binocular glass constructed according to this
invention and shows the lenses opened out at right angles to the extensible frame
for use as a binocular field or opera glass; and
Fig. 2 is an inverted plan showing one set of lenses folded in upon the extensible
frame and the other set opened out:
Fig. 3 is an end view showing both eye-pieces and both object-glasses opened out
for use; and
Fig. 4 is a plan of the case when closed indicating the position of the instrument
folded up within it.
The extensible frame is shown in a partially collapsed position in all the views.
The plates a carrying the object-glasses are butt-hinged at 6 to the main frame c,
and the plates or arms d carrying the eye-pieces are butt-hinged at f to a sliding
extension of the main frame in such a way that when opened out at right angles
to the frame the lenses take up precisely the same relative positions as in a binocular
glass of the ordinary draw-tube pattern.
g

page_text: The sliding extension g comprises two parallel guide rods or tongues i pro-
jecting at right angles and sliding accurately in corresponding holes grooves or
slots in the main frame c. These slides i enable the eye pieces to be moved to
the required focal distance from the object glasses and being spaced widely apart
enable great accuracy to be obtained in the motion of the eye pieces with the
minimum of risk of lateral play. To one of the slides may be fitted the screw
motion commonly used with opera glasses to facilitate adjustment.
In the main frame c an orifice or hole allows the two object glasses when closed
ap upon opposite sides of the frame to come into juxta position with each other,
with a clear unimpeded view through, so as to permit of the lenses being used as a
reading glass or simple magnifier when required without it being necessary to
unscrew or disconnect any of the parts concerned. Another orifice m receives the
eye pieces when closed up upon opposite sides of the frame thus giving room in
the thickness of the main frame for the use of short tubes and stops with the eye
pieces without affecting the general compactness of the whole apparatus.
The main frame c is hinged at no in the joint of the two-leaved case p which
when opened out as shown in Fig. 3 serves as a roof or covering for the instrument
when in use and by shutting off extraneous light rays compensates for the absence
of the ordinary draw tubes.
To hold the object-glasses firmly in position when opened out, suitable catches
may if desired be fitted on the inside of the leaves of the case at y to engage with
the top of the plates a; and to hold the eye piece arms firm and rigid, and to
prevent them folding back when pressed against the face whilst in use, a double
armed catch pivoted at to the cross bar g may be used engaging under studs t
fixed in the eye piece arms d.
The main frame c may be in one piece or built up of tubes or the like.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is
1. A binocular glass consisting of a pocket case, a flat extensible frame binged
on the inside of the joint of the pocket case, and object-glasses and eye-pieces
hinged to the extensible frame substantially as described for the purpose specified.
2. The extensible frame of a folding binocular glass consisting of a flat main
frame having guides near its edges, and of a sliding extension having two guide
rods working in the said guides of the main frame substantially as described for the
purpose specified.
3. A binocular glass consisting of an extensible flat frame provided with openings
and of object glasses and eye pieces hinged to the extensible frame so that they can
be folded down over the said boles with a clear view through in respect to the
object glasses, substantially as described and for the purpose specified.
Dated this 16th day of November 1894.
WHEATLEY & MACKENZIE,
40, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Agents.