IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF CAMERAS FOR OBTAINING PHOTOGRAPHIC PICTURES
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Arthur James Melhuish, of. Holborn Bars, and also
of Bowater Place, Blackheath, Optician, for the Invention of " IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF CAMERAS FOR OBTAINING PHOTOGRAPHIC
PICTURES."
Sealed the 8th May 1860, and dated the 10th November 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Arthur James Melhuish
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
10th November 1859.
I, ARTHUR JAMES MELHUISH, of Holborn Bars, and also of Bowater Place,
Blackheath, Optician, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF CAMERAS FOR OBTAINING PHOTOGRAPHIC
PICTURES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the construction of
cameras for obtaining photographic pictures. For this purpose, in place of
making the body of the camera in the front of which the lens or lenses is or are
mounted of wood, as heretofore, I form it entirely of metal. The lens, when
one only is used, is carried by a tube, which is capable of being moved or slid
to and fro in a tube on the front of the camera, in order to adjust the focus,
as heretofore; but in place of mounting the latter tube direct on the front of
the box, I sometimes mount it on, conical tubes projecting from the front of
the body, so that the same sized images may be obtained with a shorter length

page_text: of box. The front of the camera is of metal, and is made to slide in and out
of grooves in the sides, and the front may be kept in the desired position by a
set screw. The case or dark slide for containing the sensitive plates is also of
metal, and is made to slide in at the top of the body of the camera, as
heretofore, and is arranged so that one or two sensitive plates (with yellow
paper between them when two plates are used) may be placed in it, and the
same is made so that when two plates are used both sides can slide out, and
in such manner that when one picture has been taken on one plate the case
or dark slide may be turned round and a picture taken on the other plate, as
has been proposed heretofore; but in place of the sides being withdrawn (to
expose the plates) from the top, as heretofore, the case or dark slide is formed
so that the sides may be withdrawn from the bottom, there being a slot in the
bottom of the body of the camera to admit of their being so withdrawn; the
slides are secured when shut by spring bolts. The top of the case is also
'made, when two plates are used, so that it will slide out to admit of the plates
being introduced into the case through the opening, and it carries a spring
which conforms itself to the plates if they should vary in size. The top of the
case or dark slide is provided with a spring handle, which admits of being
pressed down, so as to occupy but a small space, and each of its sides is pro-
vided with small folding handles to facilitate the drawing of such slides.
order that the ground glass employed for viewing the image to adjust the
lenses may occupy less space when packed than heretofore I fix it in a metal
frame, and at the back of the frame there are springs, which, when the glass
is in the camera, keep the glass up to its proper position, but which, when the
glass is packed, press down flat on the glass, when two lenses are used the
partition which divides the body of the camera to keep the two images
distinct, I make capable of sliding in and out of the body of the camera, so
that when the camera is out of use, a number of slides containing sensitive
plates and the focussing frame may be packed away within the box of
the camera.
In
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Arthur James Melhuish in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 10th May 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ARTHUR
JAMES MELHUISH, of Holborn Bars, and also of Bowater Place, Blackheath, s
Optician, send greeting..

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Arthur James Melhuish, Her special licence that I, the said
Arthur James Melhuish, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Arthur James Melhuish, my executors, administrators,
and 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 THE CONSTRUCTION OF CAMERAS FOR OBTAINING
PHOTOGRAPHIC PICTURES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Arthur James Melhuish, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 Arthur James Melhuish, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the construction: of
cameras for obtaining photographic pictures. In constructing cameras ac--
cording to my Invention, I make the body of the camera of metal (usually of
brass), the bottom, top, and sides of the body are soldered, or otherwise fixed
together, and the front which carries the lens or lenses, which are mounted in.
the usual manner, slides in guides fixed to the sides of the body, so that the
front can be moved up or down to adjust the position of the image before
taking the picture, and the front with the lens or lenses may be entirely
removed from the body of the camera for convenience of packing the slides
therein. When it is desired to reduce the depth of the camera from front to
back as much as possible, a tube or tubes are fixed to the front of the body,
so as to project therefrom, and on the ends of the tube or tubes the lens or
lenses are mounted. The case or dark slide for containing the sensitive plate
or surface is introduced by an opening at the top of the camera, as heretofore,
and in the bottom of the camera and at the back thereof a slit is formed,
through which the slide may be drawn down to expose the sensitive surface

page_text: when taking a picture; this arrangement is more convenient than drawing the
slide up by the opening at the top, as usual heretofore. The case or dark slide
is also made entirely of metal; the slide which closes the front thereof is,
when closed, secured by bolts. The handle or handles with which the case or
dark slide is fitted are, for convenience of packing, made to spring, so that
they may be pressed down flat on to the case or slide. Frequently I make
the case or dark slide double to receive two sensitive plates or surfaces back
to back. For this purpose both sides of the case slide out to expose the
sensitive plates or surfaces, and the top of the case or slide also slides out to
allow the plates or surfaces to be put in. The ground glass used in focussing
is mounted in a metal frame, that it may frack into as small a space as
possible. Where two lenses are employed in cameras to take stereoscopic
pictures the partition in the camera to separate the two images formed by the
lenses is made to take out, in order that the dark slides and focussing glass
may be packed away in the interior of the camera.
And in order that my said Invention may be most fully understood and
readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto
annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a side view of a camera constructed according to my
Invention,
and suitable for taking stereoscopic pictures; Figure 2 is a front view;
Figure 3 a transverse section, and Figure 4 an under side view of the same
with the lenses removed. a is the top, and 6 is the bottom of the body, which
are soldered or fixed to the sides c, c; the bottom of the body (when made for
stereoscopic pictures) has guides 61, 61, fixed to it, into which a slider on the
tripod or support of the instrument fits, or any other convenient arrangement
may be made for connecting the instrument with its tripod or support, and
the top is strengthened at the front by a strip a', soldered or fixed to it. dis
the front of the camera; it carries the projecting tubes e, e, which receive the
lenses; the rings e', e', at the ends of the tubes having notches in them and
there being pins on the lens rings f, f, the pins enter these notches, and the
rings being turned partly round become fixed to the tubes e, e. The front d
is stiffened by strips d', d', soldered to it at the top and bottom; when it is
slid into its place in front of the body its edges at the two sides enter behind
the guides c', c', fixed to the sides, and the front edges of the sides are thick-
ened interiorly so that the front d slides in between these thickened edges and
the guides c¹, c¹. 62 is a strip projecting up from the bottom of the camera,
and which serves to prevent light entering the interior of the camera when

page_text: the front is raised a short distance in adjusting the position of the image
before taking a picture; g is a set screw passing. through a slot in the front d,
and screwing into the piece 62; it serves to lock the front in any desired position.
At the back of the camera a flange h is attached to the top, bottom, and sides
of the camera, so as to project into the interior of the camera; this flange serves
both to stiffen the back of the camera and to support the case or dark slide
when in its place in the camera. The pieces. a and b are not continued
beyond the flange h; the sides c, c, are of the full depth of the camera, and they
have fixed to them the rectangular frame i, the form of which is clearly shown
in the transverse section, Figure 3, and in the under side view, Figure 4; thus
an opening j, is left at the top of the camera for putting in the case or dark
slide containing the sensitive plate or surface, and another opening k, at the
bottom for withdrawing the sliding front of the same to expose the sensitive
surface; 1,1, are springs which press the case or dark slide close up to the
flange h; m is a partition for separating the images produced by the lens or
lenses at the back of the camera; it is kept in its place by pins m', m', and at
the front there is a projection on it at m³, which enters a notch in the top
plate, so that when the front d is removed the partition m can be taken out.
Figure 5 is a transverse section of one of the dark slides; it consists of three
parts: A rectangular frame a; a slider or shutter b, to close the front of the
frame a, and to be opened to expose the sensitive surface; and a hinged door c,
which is opened to put in and take out the said plate or surface. A back
view and transverse sections of the frame a are shewn separately at Figures 6,
a back view and an edge view of the slider b, at Figures 7, and a back view
and transverse section of the piece c at Figures 8. The forms of the pieces a,
b, and c, are clearly shown, so that but little detailed description of them is
required; a are recesses at the sides and bottom of the frame to receive and
guide the edges of the slider b; a² is a spring handle attached to the frame by
screws passing loosely through slots in the ends of the handle, so that the
handle can be pressed flat against the frame in packing; a* are corner pieces
to support the corners of the prepared plate or surface; a, a, are holes to
receive the bolts of the slider b; on the slider 6 are the sliding bolts b', a
spring handle 63, similar to that already described, and short projecting pins b³,
which stop the slider and prevent its being drawn entirely out of the grooves a¹
of the door; c, c¹, is a piece screwed to the frame a; c' is a hinged joint; c³
are sliding bolts to fasten the door; when closed they enter notches cut for
them in the upper projecting edge of the frame behind which they pass; c' is
a spring to press the prepared plate or surface firmly to the front of the frame,
and so hold it steadily. Figure 9 is a transverse section of a case or dark

page_text: slide to receive two prepared surfaces or plates (with an opaque paper between
them if the plates are transparent), it consists of a frame a, of which a front
view, end view, and transverse sections are shewn separately at Figures 10; it
is closed front and back by sliders b, shown at Figures 11, and at the top by
a sliding piece c, of which a plan and an end view are shewn at Figures 12.
The plates or surfaces are introduced when the slider c is removed between
the sides a', a¹; the spring c¹, on the sliding piece c, presses the plates or
surfaces towards the top of the frame, and thus they are kept steadily in their
places. Figure 13 is a front view and a transverse section of the ground
glass for focussing in its metal frame.
In witness whereof, I, the said Arthur James Melhuish, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Tenth day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
A. J. MELHUISH. (L.S.)