Improvements in or applicable to Photographic Cameras.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 13th Feb., 1892,
Complete Specification Left, 14th Nov., 1892-Accepted, 17th Dec., 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or applicable to Photographic Cameras.
We, GEORGE HOWARD CRICKS, of Woodford Green, in the County of Essex,
Photographic Apparatus Dealer, and GEORGE ALFRED TAYLOR, of 53, Norcott
Road, Stoke Newington, in the County of London, Shipping Clerk, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:—
Our invention relates to photographic cameras and comprises improved means for
successively releasing a series of sensitized plates after exposure and it also com-
prises an improved shutter.
According to the first part of our invention the sensitized plates are carried in
suitable frames, upon the exterior edges of which are projections designed to pass
through slots formed in stops at the front end of the chamber in which the said
plates are placed. The plates are pressed forwards towards the stops by a spring
but the slots in the said stops are so placed that the projections upon the frames
cannot pass therethrough until the plates are shifted to the required position. In
order to effect this movement of the frames carrying the plates we provide a slide
of the same thickness as the plates and designed to be operated from the exterior of
the apparatus.
When one of the frames is moved by this slide to bring its projections opposite
to the slots, the spring presses the series of plates forward, the front plate falling
into a receptacle designed to receive it.
Our improvements in lens' shutters comprise a sliding frame carrying the plate or
diaphragm for closing the aperture of the lens. This sliding frame is normally
retained with the shutter in a closed position by means of a spring and is opened
for the exposure of a plate by means of a rotating cam operated by clock mechanism
and arranged in conjunction with an escapement in such a manner that when the
cam is released by the escapement it will make half a revolution to open the shutter,
the closing thereof being effected by the spring. In conjunction with the cam we
provide a stop which serves to arrest the rotation of the cam when the shutter is
open in order to enable the said shutter to be used for time exposures.
Dated the 13th day of February 1892.
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicants.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or applicable to Photographic Cameras.
We, GEORGE HOWARD CRICKS, of Woodford Green, in the County of Essex,
Photographic Apparatus Dealer, and GEORGE ALFRED TAYLOR of 53, Norcott
Road, Stoke Newington, in the County of London, Shipping Clerk, 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 photographic cameras and comprises improved means for
successively releasing a series of sensitized plates after exposure, and it also con-
prises an improved shutter.
According to the first part of our invention the sensitized plates are carried in
suitable frames upon the exterior edges of which are projections designed to pass
through grooves or slots formed in connection with stops at the front end of the

page_text: chamber in which the said plates are placed. The plates are pressed forwards
towards the stops by a spring, but the grooves in the said stops are so placed that
the projections upon the frames cannot pass until the plates are shifted to the
required position. In order to effect this movement of the frames carrying the
plates we provide a slide of the same thickness as the plates and designed to be
operated from the exterior of the apparatus.-
When one of the frames is moved by this slide to bring its projections opposite to
the grooves or slots, the spring presses the series of plates forward, the front plate
falling into a receptacle designed to receive it.
Our improvements in lens shutters comprise a sliding plate or diaphragm for
closing the aperture of the lens. This sliding plate is normally retained in a closed
position by means of a spring and is opened for the exposure of a sensitized plate
by means of a rotating cam operated by clock mechanism and arranged in conjunc-
tion with an escapement in such a manner that when the cam is released by the
escapement it will make half a revolution to open the shutter, the closing thereof
being effected by the spring.
In conjunction with the cam we provide a stop which serves to arrest the rotation
of the cam when the shutter is open in order to enable the said shutter to be used
for time exposures.
To enable our invention to be fully understood we will describe the same by
reference to the accompanying drawings, in which :-
Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of a camera provided with our improvements.
Figure 2 is a similar view of part of the same illustrating the operation.
Figure 3 is a section on the line a Figure 1.
Figure is a view of the camera with the front of the outer casing removed,
and
Figure 5 is a similar view shewing the parts in a different position.
Figure 6 and 7 are a front view and plan of one of the frames for holding the
sensitized plates drawn to an enlarged scale.
Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.
a is the casing or box of the camera, and b is the chamber or compartment for
containing the sensitized plates previously to and during exposure, the said com-
partment being normally closed by a door c formed in one side of the case a and
by a second sliding door c' adapted to be moved in guides c². d is the chamber or
compartment into which the plates drop after exposure, and e is the chamber or
compartment for, containing the lens f and shutter g, together with the mechanism
for operating the latter.
h, h are the frames for containing the sensitized plates, the said frames being
open at the top to allow of introducing and removing the plates, and being provided
with solid backs so that when the foremost plate is exposed the light will not pass
through it and injure the plate immediately behind, the said plates being as herein-
before stated placed in the compartment and arranged one behind the other.
,,,are the projections upon the upper and lower ends of the said frames.
One of the said frames is shewn in Figures 6 and 7.
jis a piston or pusher fitting within the compartment b and acted upon by a
spring in such a manner that as the front plate is released the other plates
will be pustied forward in the chamber b. is a ledge or flange which projects
slightly above the floor of the compartment band-serves as a stop for retaining the
lower ends of the plates in the said compartment against the pressure of the spring k,
and m, m'are side-pieces forming stops against which the projections i, i on the
upper ends of the frames h, h bear to retain the upper ends of the said plates in
position against the pressure of the said spring k. The said side pieces m, marc
placed so that there is a small space between the top of the camera and themselves
and between themselves and the ledge and these side pieces are also curved as
at m', m' and extended nearly across the compartment d to form guides along
which the projections i, i of the frames will be guided in order to cause the
plates to fall into the said compartment d in their proper position. n, n are

page_text: guide strips placed beneath the side pieces m, m for a purpose hereinafter
described.
o is the slide by means of which the plates are successively released from the
chamber b. This slide which is of the same or slightly less thickness than the
frames and of substantially the same breadth as the said, frames is located in a
compartment p beneath the compartment 6 with its upper end projecting through
but normally level with the floor of the said compartment. pl is a lever pivotted
in the compartment p and at one end connected to the slide o whilst the other end
extends outside the box a. A strip o¹ extends along each side of the casing a
above the pins of all the frames except the front one, so that the front frames
can be raised to release it without raising the others.
The operation of the apparatus as thus far described is as follows:-Assume the
compartment 6 to contain a series of frames h, each containing a sensitized plate,
the said plates being acted upon by the spring-pusher j in such a manner that the
frame which is immediately above the slide o bears with its lower end against the
ledge and with its projections i, i against the side-pieces or stops m, m: if now
the lever p' is depressed the slide o is lifted so that the lower edge of the frame
above the said slide is lifted level with or slightly above the top of the ledge / and
the projections i, i are moved above the side-pieces m, m. The frame with its plate
is now free to fall forward, the projections i, i running upon the curved surfaces m³, m²,
which surfaces are so shaped that the lower end of the plate is drawn over the
ledge and drops against the guide-strips n, n, as shewn in Figure 2. The plate
then continues to drop until it falls flat in the compartment d. The slide is
returned by a suitable spring to its normal position so that the spring-pusher
moves the whole of the plates forward bringing the foremost plate into position for
exposure.
In order that the operator may know how many plates have been exposed we
provide a bar jattached to the pusher; and sliding in a groove in the casing a
the said bar having imprinted thereon numbers which are successively exposed
through a hole j³.
The shutter 9 which is a thin strip of metal sliding through slots in the casing
of the lens and provided with a hole for uncovering the lens is operated by the
following means:-
Beneath the said shutter is a rotating cam 9 on the spindle carrying which is a
pinion engaging with a gear-wheel driven by a clock spring contained in a barrel a,.
one end of which spring is connected to the spindle t upon which the wheel is.
mounted whilst the other end is fixed to the barrel. The wheel is connected to
its spindle by means of a ratchet-wheel u and a pawl in a well known manner so
that the said spindle can be readily turned for winding up the spring without affecting
the wheel r.
is an escapement which comprises two rods ', v³ adapted to be projected into
the path of pins w, w' upon the cam q. In practice the cam normally rests in the
position shewn in dotted lines in Figure 5, that is to say, with say the pin w in
contact with the rod v' and the shutter in its lowermost position: if now the rod v
is pressed inwards the rod o' is moved outwards so that the pin w strikes against.
the rod and if the pin is pressed inwards the pin ³ is pressed outwards so that the
pin wis released for the escapement whereby the cam is free to rotate to lift
the shutter in position until the pin to comes into contact with the rod vl. After
the shutter has been opened by the rotation of the cam as hereinbefore described
it is closed by a spring .
y is a pivotted spring lever arranged with one end projecting outside the case a
and so that its other end may be brought in the path of the pins w, w¹ so that either
of the said pins may strike against it in order to stop the cam in a position
in which the shutter is held open to provide for longer exposures than is provided
for by the escapement hereinbefore described. This position of the cam 9 and
lever y is shewn in Figure 5.
As shewn in the drawing the lens with its shutter and the shutter operating

page_text: 'mechanism is mounted upon a slide z which is adapted to be moved backwards and
forwards in guides relatively to the sensitized plates for the purpose of focusing, a
suitable bellows being arranged between the lens and the partition between the
compartments e and d.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. In a photographic camera, the employment of a series of frames having
projections upon them and adapted to be lifted in order that the said projections
may pass through grooves or slots in the stops which retain the said frames in
position, substantially as described.
2. In a camera in which the sensitized plates are carried in frames having
projections as hereinbefore described the arrangement of the guides m³, n for
causing the plates to fall in proper position after exposure, substantially as
described.
3. In a camera the combination with the lens of a shutter operated by a cam
worked by a spring substantially in the manner hereinbefore described.
4. The manufacture and use of the improved camera hereinbefore described and
illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Deted the 14th dow of Norombon 1802
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicants.