Improvements in Photographic Cameras and in Stands for same.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 1st Apr., 1892
Complete Specification Left. 1st Feb., 1893-Accepted, 13th Mar., 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Photographic Cameras and in Stands for same.
I, JOHN BOULTBEE BROOKS, 115 Great Charles Street Birmingham, in the
County of Warwick, Manufacturer do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows :-
:-
I make the case or dark slide for the plate, of card board or other suitable
material; the slide consisting of two parts,-the plate holder & its cover. The
plate holder is a flat box, open at its front face to expose the surface of the plate, & is
a little longer at each end than the plate is. At the back of the plate holder at
one end is a hole, & at the other end a stud for the purposes hereinafter described.
The cover is a flat box, open at one end only, & is just sufficiently large to slide
over the plate-holder & completely cover it except a small part at the one end.
The cover has a slot or groove which extends nearly from end to end of its length,
to admit of the stud above mentioned as being on the plate-holder. The cover
can thus be slid back & forth, covering or exposing the plate, but the stud engaging
in the slot prevents the cover being drawn completely off the inner case.
To prevent the light from entering when the slide is closed, the cover has a tongue
projecting from its front edge, which, when the cover is closed, enters a groove across
the end of the inner case.
At the rear part of the camera is a slot which admits the dark slide to enter a
groove which runs round the inside of the camera; & at the back of the camera,
at the side opposite to the slot, I attach a bolt, preferably a spring bolt,-which
projects through to the inside.
Thus when the slide is slid into the camera, the bolt engages with the hole
before mentioned which is in the back of the plate holder, & holds the latter fast
while the slide cover is drawn out of the exposure. After the exposure, the cover is
again thrust in, & on the bolt being pulled back, the whole slide (now closed) can
be drawn from the camera.
I put an exposure plate or shutter on the camera as follows. The lens is sunk
flush with, or below, the outside of the camera box; & on the outside of the
camera I fix a pair of parallel grooves or slides, one on each side of the lens.
For simplicity of manufacture, I may make these grooves by taking a strip of metal,
& turning the two longer edges over to form a groove down each side; a hole
is then pierced out of the centre of the strip to allow the lens to show through.
The shutter is a flat strip of metal of the proper width to slide easily in the
grooves, & of such length that when it is at either end of the grooves, it covers
over & shuts out the light from the lens. The shutter has a hole pierced-in
its centre to give the requisite exposure, & a small projection, or a notch, at one
end, to engage with the catch hereinafter mentioned. At one end of the grooves
I fix a screw or stud projecting from the camera, to which I attach a spring of
india-rubber: the other end of the spring I attach to the shutter. Or instead of
attaching the spring to one point on the camera as described, I may attach it to two
points at a distance from each other, so as to use a longer spring. At the opposite
end of the grooves, I affix to the camera either a spring trigger catch, or a catch
bolt, so that when the shutter is drawn down by the finger, it is held by the catch,
& on the catch being released, the shutter is drawn rapidly across the lens, the
central hole making the necessary exposure.
For giving a time exposure, the spring may be detached from the shutter, & the
shutter worked with the hand.
I construct a stand for supporting or carrying the camera in the following
manner. I construct a metal top plate having on its under side, flat metal brackets

page_text: arranged radially. Towards one end of each bracket I pierce a hole, & at the
other end, a quadrant shaped slot. I cut out a slot in the end of each of the wooden
supports or legs of the stand, so that it will fit on the metal bracket, to which I
pivotally attach it by means of a pin passing through the leg & the hole of the
bracket. A screwed pin is now passed through the leg & the quadrant shaped
slot, & by tightening this pin, the leg or support is fixed at any desired. position
or angle.
I make these wooden supports in two or more lengths, & I fix them in any
position I desire by means of spring clips hereinafter described. The clip is made
from a piece of folded metal, which is made fast to one of the supports by encircling
it & fixing with a screw or rivet. The remaining portion of the clip encircles the
other part of the support, but slides thereon readily & is fixed or tightened by means
of a lever so arranged that it draws the two ends of the clip together when pressed
downwards, & releases on the action being reversed. This lever action is much
quicker & readier than a screw.
I may also make the support to the camera so that one leg only is employed; &
in so doing I affix the aforesaid clip on the camera, & let the support slide into it :
or. I fix a peg or projection on the camera, & the clip on the support, & let them
slide into one another.
Dated this Thirty-first day of March 1892.
JOHN BOULTBEE BROOKS.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Photographic Cameras and in Stands for same.
I, JOHN BOULTBEE BROOKS, of Great Charles Street, in the City of Birmingham,
Manufacturer, 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 relates first to improvements in the construction and arrangement
of the detail parts of photographic cameras, and secondly, to the construction of
the stands for the same.
In carrying out the first part of my invention, I make the case or dark slide
for the plate, of cardboard, wood, metal or other suitable material: the slide con-
sisting of two parts viz., the plate holder and its cover. The plate holder is a
flat box, open at its front face to expose the surface of the plate, and is a little
longer at each end than the plate. At the back of the plate holder, at one end,
is a hole.
The cover is a flat box, open at one end only, and is just: sufficiently large to
slide over the,.plate-holder, and completely cover it except a small part at the
one end.
The cover can thus be slid back and forth, covering or exposing the plate. The
said cover and carrier being collectively held by the former fitting tightly over the
latter.
To prevent the light from entering when the slide is closed, the cover has a tongue
projecting from its front edge, which, when the cover is closed, enters a groove across
the end of the inner case.
At the rear top part of the camera is a slot, which admits the dark slide to enter
agroove which runs round the inside of the camera; and at the back of the camera,
at the side opposite to the slot, I attach a bolt, preferably a spring bolt,-which
projects through to the inside. Thus, when the slide is slid into the camera, the
bolt engages with the hole before mentioned which is in the back of the plate holder,
and holds the latter fast while the slide. cover is drawn out for the exposure. After
the exposure, the cover is again thrust in, and on the bolt being pulled back, the
combined slide and cover (now closed) can be drawn from the camera.

page_text: I put an exposure plate or shutter on the camera as follows:-The lens is sunk
flush with, or lies back from the outside of the camera box; and on the outside of
the camera I fix a pair of parallel grooves or slides, one on each side of the lens.
For simplicity of manufacture, I may make these grooves by taking a strip of
metal, and turning the two longer edges over to form a groove down each side; a
hole is then pierced out of the centre of the strip to allow the lens to show through.
The shutter is a flat strip of metal of the proper width to slide easily in the grooves,
and of such length that when it is at either end of the grooves, it covers over and
shuts out the light from the lens. The shutter has a hole pierced in its centre to
give the requisite exposure, and a small projection, or a notch, at one end, to engage
with the catch hereinafter mentioned. At one end of the grooves I fix a screw or
stud projecting from the camera, to which I attach a spring of india rubber: the
other end of the spring I attach to the shutter. Or instead of attaching the spring
to one point on the camera as described, I may attach it to two points at a distance
from each other, so as to use a longer spring. At the opposite end of the grooves,
I affix to the camera either a spring trigger catch, or a catch bolt, so that when
the shutter is drawn down by the finger, it is held by the catch, and on the catch
being released, the shutter is drawn rapidly across the lens, the central hole making
the necessary exposure. For giving a time exposure, the spring may be detached
from the shutter, and the shutter worked with the hand.
Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings represents in longitudinal vertical section,
a photographic camera, or a hand photographic camera, containing improvements
constructed, arranged and provided according to my invention.
The fore part or front of the camera represents the shutter or time shutter
arrangement, with the trigger lever or catch for the releasing of the same after
being set, and kept in a state of tension by the extension of a spring.
The other or after end of the camera represents the dark slide fully in section,
and with the plate carrier or holder shown attachedly connected to the camera by
a spring bolt, so as to prevent the same from being accidentally pulled up with
the cover or sheath, which moves stiffly over the plate carrier on exposure being
made.
Figure 2 represents a front elevation of the camera, with a portion of the trigger
lever catch in section.
Figure 3 represents the rear portion of the camera, with the cover or sheath of
the dark slide partially lifted from over the plate, or from over the plate carrier or
holder.
Figure 4 represents the lower portion of the dark slide in the position as in
Figure 3, or partially lifted. This view also more clearly shows the light-tight
lip at the lower terminal edge of the cover or sheath, which said casing is of an
elongated and flat box-like construction.
Figure 5 represents an elevation of the back side of the dark slide, with the same
broken off about its middle.
In Figures 1 to 5, a is the camera box, with the rear part a³, fitted with a dark
slide b, which takes through a transversely directed slot or opening a³, in the rear
part of the top a', and which slot or opening leads to upright or vertical
grooves a, a, sunken within or formed upon the two opposite sides and bottom of
the camera box.
The said dark slide b, consists of an elongated flat cover or sheath b', open at
bottom at 6, closed at top at 63, and provided at the front lower side with a light-
tight lip or overhanging flange or tenon, which latter takes into a groove c',
located at the lower front part of the frame, of the plate carrier or holder c,
which consists essentially of an open-fronted frame, with sides, bottom and top c³,,
and inside shoulders, which latter prevent the full withdrawal of the cover or
sheath from off the plate holder or carrier, by coming against stop shoulders b³,
situated near the mouth of the sheath or holder b.
Thus it will be seen that the said cover or sheath is of slightly greater breadth

page_text: than the plate holder, which has closed-in opposite edges, for the keeping of the
plate d, in position.
It will be also seen that the mouth end of the said cover or sheath, besides being
provided with a light-tight lip, which takes into the groove as aforesaid, overlaps
the lower solid part of the frame of the plate holder or carrier, hence the light-
tight character of the said lower part of the dark slide.
The plate holder or carrier of the dark slide is affixedly held in the back of the
box of the camera by a spring bolt e, taking within a recess c, formed within the
middle of the lower back side of the framing of the said carrier, and which retains
the holder in position when the cover or sheath is drawn up, for the exposure of
the plate carried within the said holder.
The said bolt works within a barrel or casing e³, affixed to the middle of the
bottom a, of the rear part of the camera box, and is automatically held in its acting
position by a coiled spring e³, located at the back of the said bolt and its casing,
whilst the bolt is withdrawn, when the dark slide is required to be bodily removed,
by a pull e¹.
Assuming the dark slide to be slid into position, the forcing of the same home
causes its lower end to press back the bolt, and then for the nose of the latter to
snap into the recess in the plate holder of the former, hence the connecting of the
said plate holder to the camera box, during the time that the cover or sheath is
lifted or removed, (see Figures 1 and 3).
The fore part of the camera, is fitted with a set back lens f, finders 9, g',
reciprocating plate shutter h, having an exposure aperture 1, and working with
slide guides or grooves ²; one end of the said shutter has a bayonet slot ³, with
which a catch, of a trigger lever i, jointed at i¹, and taken into its acting position
by a coiled spring engages. The said trigger lever catch is for the purpose of
holding the shutter in its set position, when under the influence of the pull spring j,
consisting of a rubber band, taking over pins carried by shutter and front of camera
respectively.
28
k is the exposure aperture in the camera box facing the lens f.
When the shutter is in its set position, the catch i³, rests in the shoulder * of
the bayonet slot ³, so that by the pulling back of the trigger, the shutter is
released.
The entrance to the bayonet slot is inclined, so as to automatically push back the
trigger, on the shutter being pushed back by hand.
In carrying out the second part of my invention, I construct the stand, or the
tripod stand for supporting the camera in manner following
I take a table plate, fitted upon its underside with legs made in sections or other-
wise, and I jointedly connect the upper ends of the said legs to depending brackets
directed from the underside of the said plate, and with screws or clamping devices
carried by the legs, below the joints, taking through slots of quadrant-slotted ends
of the said brackets, and by means of which, the said legs are adjustably clamped
or made rigid.
When the legs are made in sections for portability, I unite the said sectional
parts together by clips, drawn together by a bifurcated lever or arm, which, when
turned down, draws the clip parts around the attached ends of the legs, but when
turned up, the said clips are, by their resilient action, opened out.
In a further form of my invention, the camera itself may be supported upon a leg
or prop, fitted with connection clip means as described.
Figure 6 of the accompanying drawings represents in front elevation, a tripod
photographic camera stand constructed, arranged and fitted according to one form
of my invention.
Figure 7 is a portion of the same upon an enlarged scale, showing one of the
legs, or the upper and middle parts of a leg, with the cognate fittings of both middle
and upper ends.
Figure 8 is an edge view of the adjustable upper end portion of the same:

page_text: Figure 9 is an end view of the middle portion of the same, whilst Figure 10 is a
modification of the adjustable upper end portion.
In Figures 6, 7, 8 and 9, m is a table plate, carrying upon its underside radially
disposed and depending brackets m³, with their lower ends terminated by quadrantly
slotted ends m³, through the quadrant slots of which, clamping pins n³, carried by
the subdivided upper ends n', of the upper sectional legs n which are pivoted at n³,
take, so that the said sectional legs n, are pivoted to the brackets m², above the
plane of the quadrant slots m', wherein the pins n³, work, whilst the clamping is
performed by a fly-nut or lever thumb screws n', taking upon the outer screwed
end of the said pin n², so that by releasing the said nut n', in each leg, freedom of
motion of the said legs upon the pins, is admitted, and on the same being adjusted
or the legs opened out to the required extent, the affixing is performed by the
screwing up of the said clamping device.
The lower sectional legs are connected to the upper ones by a clip device o,
carried by the upper terminal ends p³, of the lower legs p by a cross pin or other
means. Each clip consists of a band of metal, made socket-wise and affixed to
the part p', of the leg p, at its return end o³, whilst the middle part o³, is also made.
socket-wise, after the manner of a clip, and is arranged to embrace the lower end n³,
of the upper leg n, whilst the said clip part has extension leaves o*, which are drawn
together for affixing by a bifurcated or cleft lever r, jointed at, to the upper ends
of the said leaves, so that by the bringing down of the lever as represented in the
positions Figures 6, 7 and 9, the cleft part is brought over the leaf parts o*, and
by the tapering of the said cleft ³, the said clamping parts are drawn together,
and the lower end of the upper leg rigidly affixed to the upper end of the
lower one.
Instead of the attachment slip being made fast to the upper end of the lower leg,
it may be made fast to the lower end of the upper leg, so that the clip part is
made to embrace the upper end of the lower leg instead of the lower end of the
upper one.
In the arrangement Figure 10, the quadrant-slotted portion of the fitting is
carried at the upper end of each of the legs, and with the joint disposed below the
clamping means.
Thus, m is the table plate, m' a depending bracket, and n a leg or an upper leg,
whose upper end n', is connected to the said bracket m³, by a pivot or joint
centre n³, and with the said upper end terminated by a quadrant slotted curved
end m³, through the curved slot m', of which the clamping screw pin n³, carried by
the bracket ni, and having a nut at its outer end for clamping the parts together,
takes.
Figure 11 represents the application of the clip part of my invention to the
connection of cameras to their supports.
Figure 12 is a modified form of Figure 11.
Thus, in Figure 11, o is a connection clip, with a socket end o³, made fast to the
underside of a camera 8, whilst the clip part o³, fitted with lever r, jointed at r³,
takes
upon the upper end t', of a support t, consisting preferably of a single rod.'"
In Figure 12, the said connecting device is carried by the camera s, whilst the
stand or support t, has its upper end returned or hooked so as to take into the
socket o of the clip.
Having pow particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:-
First In a photographic camera dark slide, making up the same of an inside
plate carrying frame and an outside sheath, cover or case, open at one end only as
set forth in Figures 1, 3, 4 and 5.
Secondly-In photographic camera dark slides, the employment in connection
with the sliding plate carrier, of a spring bolt, catch or fastener, whereby the said
plate carrier is held or automatically held in position within the camera, during the

page_text: time the dark slide is in position, or during the time the sheath casing is withdrawn,
as set forth in Figures 1 and 3.
Thirdly-In photographic camera dark slides, the employment in connection
with the plate carrier fitted with sheath cover of light-tight lips, tenons or the
like, in conjunction with lip or tenon recesses, as set forth in Figures 1, 3 and 4.
Fourthly-In photographic camera shutters, the combination with a photo-
graphic camera slide shutter, of a trigger-catch-arm or lever, which holds and
releases the shutter in and from its set position, by means and in the way as
described and set forth in Figures 1 and 2.
Fifthly-In photographic camera stands, adjustably connecting the upper ends
of the legs or supports of the same by, or through the instrumentality of, a
quadrant slotted bracket, carried by the stand, or carried at the upper ends of the
said legs, which are pivoted above or below the said clamping device by a carried
or fixed screw pin, which passes through the quadrant slot of the said bracket or
attachment, and is there held by the screwing home of the screw nut, fly nut, head
or their equivalents, as set forth in Figures 6, 7, 8 and 10.
:-
Sixthly In photographic camera stands, connecting the attachable and detach-
able sectional or portable legs together at their upper and lower ends respectively,
by a lever clip, carried either by one or other of the said sectional parts, as set
forth in Figures 6, 7 and 9.
Seventhly-In photographic camera stands, connecting the cameras to their
supports by lever clips applied and fitted as set forth in Figures 11 and 12.
Dand this 21ot
€ Tona 1803
By HENRY SKERRETT,
6, Livery Street, Birmingham, Agent for Applicant.