Improvements in Stereoscopes and similar Instruments for Viewing Stereoscopic and other Photographs or Pictures
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 2nd July, 1895
Complete Specification Left, 2nd Apr., 1896-Accepted, 2nd May, 1896
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Stereoscopes and similar Instruments for Viewing
Stereoscopic and other Photographs or Pictures.
We, CHARLIE BRIGGS, of 3 Greek Street, St Mary's, Manchester, in the
County of Lancaster, Merchant, and FREDERICK WILLIAM MASTERS, of The
Crescent, Victoria Park, Rusholme, Manchester aforesaid, Dentist, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
Our invention relates to improvements in stereoscopes and similar instruments
for viewing stereoscopic and other photographs or pictures, and the chief object of
our improvements is to improve the construction and arrangement of parts so that
the slides or pictures can be changed much more quickly and conveniently than at
present.
In carrying our improvements into effect we fit any desired number of stereo-
scopic or other slides or pictures in a drawer or receptacle provided with grooves
or divisions which separate the slides; this drawer full of slides is placed upon a
movable carriage mounted in the stereoscope in such manner that by moving a
lever or handle and thereby actuating sliding rods or equivalent mechanism one of
the slides of the series in the drawer is raised and brought into the correct position
to be viewed through the lenses or lens. When it is desired to change the slide
the lever or handle is moved back by which means the slide descends into the
drawer and then the sliding carriage with the drawer is moved forward sufficiently
to bring the next slide into position so that by again moving the lever or handle
the next slide is raised into the correct position for being viewed.
After all or any required number of the slides have been viewed the drawer can be
drawn back in any convenient manner and a new drawer full of slides substituted.
Dated this 1st day of July 1895.
H. B. BARLOW & GILLETT.
Agents for Applicants.
Improvements in Stereoscopes and similar Instruments for Viewing
Stereoscopic and other Photographs or Pictures.
We, CHARLIE BRIGGS, of 3 Greek Street, St. Mary's, Manchester, in the
County of Lancaster, Merchant, and FREDERICK WILLIAM MASTERS, of The
Crescent, Victoria Park, Rusholme, Manchester aforesaid, Dentist, 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:-
Our invention relates to improvements in stereoscopes and similar instruments
for viewing stereoscopic and other photographs or pictures, and the chief object of
our improvements is to improve the construction and arrangement of parts so that
the slides or pictures can be changed much more quickly and conveniently than at
present.

page_text: In carrying our improvements into effect we fit any desired number of stereo-
scopic or other slides or pictures in a drawer or receptacle provided with grooves
or divisions which separate the slides; this drawer full of slides is placed upon a
movable carriage mounted in the stereoscope in such manner that by moving a
lever or handle and thereby actuating sliding rods or equivalent mechanism one of
the slides of the series in the drawer is raised and brought into the correct position
to be viewed through the lenses or lens. When it is desired to change the slide
the lever or handle is moved back by which means the slide descends into the
drawer and then the sliding carriage with the drawer is moved forward sufficiently
to bring the next slide into position so that by again moving the lever or handle
the next slide is raised into the correct position for being viewed.
And in order that our invention may be fully understood and readily carried into
effect we will describe the accompanying two sheets of drawings reference being
had to the figures and letters marked thereon.
Fig. 1 is a front elevation, Fig. 2 a vertical section and Fig. 3 a front sectional
elevation, on the line A B, Fig. 2, of a stereoscope made according to our
invention.
In the drawings,-a represents the lower and the upper portion of a stereo-
scope, e a drawer or receptacle with grooves or divisions in which the stereoscopic
or other slides or pictures d are fitted; this drawer full of slides is placed upon a
movable carriage e preferably mounted on small antifriction rollers f.
The drawings represent all the slides in the drawer and in order to bring a slide
into the correct position to be viewed through the lenses g we employ a pair of
knobs or handles placed outside the casing one at each end of a rod which
passes through curved slots a' in the frame and also through the end of a lever i
pivoted at to the frame a; to this lever is pivoted a link j connected to one end
of a lever which is secured to a shaft and is held in the position shown in
Fig. 2 by means of a spring 1; secured to the shaft is an arm m pivoted to a
link n which is pivoted to a bracket a¹ secured to a cross rail o which is free to be
moved up and down along a bracket p secured to a cross piece 9. This bracket p
has a bearing at each end for a pair of rods secured to the rail o through which
they pass and to the upper end of each rod r is secured a pin 4. The pins act
upon a pair of arms s secured upon a cross shafts which carries near its centre a
double armed pawl t one end of which is held by a spring in contact with a
rack e secured to the under side of the sliding carriage e. When the shaft s¹ is
oscillated the rack e¹ is free to move tooth by tooth at each oscillation for the
purpose of changing the position of the carriage e drawer c and slides d.
In the upper part of the stereoscope is fitted a frame which carries a sheet of
ground glass and a horizontal mirror and a sheet of ground glass 2 placed
behind the glass vas usual; fitted in slideways immediately above the last slide d
in the drawer is a shutter to which prevents too much light striking on the eye of
the person viewing during the changing of the pictures. A cord y is secured to
the frame e and passed through a hole in the front of the stereoscope for pulling
the carriage e and drawere into the position shown in Fig. 2 or any intermediate
position between the back and front position of the carriage e.
up
In order to view the slides d a drawer full of slides is placed upon the carriage e,
the handles are then drawn from the position shown in Fig. 2 along the slots a
toward the front of the instrument which moves the parts and connections i, j, k, k²
and m, thereby lifting the cross rail o and with it the two rods which come under
the end slide d and lift it and the shutter w the slide being raised into the correct
position to be viewed through the lenses g. To change the slide the handles h
are moved back to the position shown in Fig. 2, thus drawing down the rods r and
the shutter and allowing the slide to descend and resume its position in the drawer;
a further backward movement of the handles h' causes the pins r¹ to act upon the
arms and turn the shaft s' on its axis sufficiently to counteract the spring t¹ and
withdraw the front arm of pawlt from the rack e¹ and so allow the rack and
carriage e to move one tooth the other arm of the pawl t preventing the rack

page_text: moving more than one tooth; the drawer c also moves with the carriage e and so
brings the next slide d over the rods into the position for being raised into view
when the handles are drawn forward. At each forward movement therefore of the
handles and return movement to the far end of the slots a' a slide d will be raised
and lowered and the rack actuated to allow the carriage and drawer to slide one
tooth of the rack over the pawl t and so bring another slide over the rods r.
When all the slides in the drawer have been examined the string y is pulled
forward until the drawer is again in the position shown in Fig. 2 so that it can
then be withdrawn by opening a door 6' and another drawer of slides substituted.
It will be readily understood that we do not wish to limit ourselves to the exact
details of the mechanism herein shown and described as the same may be modified
or varied without departing from the nature of our invention.
For example, instead of the levers, links, rocking shaft and connections specified
any suitable equivalents such as a rack and pinion motion might be employed for
raising and lowering the stereoscopic slides and further any other suitable escape-
ment might be employed to bring the slides successively into the correct position
for being viewed.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what
we claim is :-
1. In combination, a movable carriage supporting a receptacle containing stereo-
scopic slides or the like, mechanism for raising and lowering said slides one by one,
and an automatic escapement for bringing the slides successively into the correct
position to be raised and viewed substantially as herein set forth."
2. The combination with the drawer e, slides d, sliding carriage e and rack e', of
the mechanism actuated by the handles or equivalent mechanism for raising and
lowering each slide in succession and automatically traversing the sliding carriage e
all substantially as herein set forth.
3. The general combination and arrangement of parts embodying our improve-
ments substantially as herein described and as illustrated by the accompanying
drawings.
Dated this 31st day of March 1896.
H. B. BARLOW & GILLETT,
17 St. Ann's Square, Manchester, Agents for Applicants.