Improvements in the. Adjustment of Cameras.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 6th Feb., 1886
Complete Specification Left, hth Nov., 1596-Accepted, 9th Jan., 1897
Improvements in the. Adjustment of Cameras.
OWEN LINLEY, Engineer 42, St. Luke's Road, Clapham, FREDERICK OSWALD
SCOTT Camera Apparatus Maker, 60, Gravel Lane, Southwark do hereby declare
the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The object of our improvements is to facilitate the handling of cameras more par-
ticularly large ones for copying & process work. When a camera is used on a cradle
in conjunction with a mirror or prism for reversing the image, fix on the end of the
focussing screw farthest from the operator a mitre wheel which engages another mitre
wheel on a slotted shaft extending the length of the cradle. This latter mitre wheel
is provided with a gib which engages in the slot of the shaft. On the copying
board end of this shaft is also fixed a mitre wheel which engages in a mitre wheel
fixed on the end of a screw of the same pitch as the focussing screw & parallel
with it. The nut of this screw is fixed to the copying board which slides in
grooves in the direction of its length. The result of this arrangement is that
when the operator turns the handle of the focussing screw & moves the front of
the camera for the purpose of focussing, the movement is communicated through
the slotted shaft to the second screw which actuates the copying board, causing it
to move in unision.with the front of the camera. When the camera has to be
moved to or from the copying board the mitre wheel on the slotted shaft can slide
thereon so that the aforesaid motion can be conveyed to the copying board
whatever position the camera may be in on the cradle. We make the focussing
screw hollow & containing a spindle at which carries the mitre wheel which actuates
the slotted shaft. When the focussing screw & spindle are locked together the
action before mentioned takes place, but when they are disconnected & moved
independently the operator can adjust the relative position of the front of the
camera & the copying board so as to centre the picture on the ground glass of the
focussing screen. Instead of mitre or bevel wheels to connect the two screws &
the slotted shaft, we may prefer to use skew gearing or we may have a rack
fixed to the base board of the camera & another rack fixed to the groove in which
the copying board slides. A slotted shaft running in two bearings one fixed on
the front of the camera & the other on the copying board & carrying two pinions,
ne engaging in each of the afore mentioned racks, so that when the front cf the
camera is moved along the base board, the rack thereon causes the pinion engaging
in it to revolve & thus motion is communicated to the copying board causing it to
move in unison with the front of the camera. The frame carrying the ruled screen
for producing half tone, or process negatives is fixed on a slide similar to the slide
rest of a lathe. From the plate of this slide two rods extend through the body
of the camera & project beyond it below the aperture for receiving the dark
slide. The ends of these rods outside the body of the camera are connected to a
pair of bell crank levers. When the free ends of these levers are raised or
depressed they communicate movement through the rods to the plate of the slide
carrying the screen frame. Between the alore rods a set screw is threaded into
the end of the body of the slide. The end of this set screw outside the camera is
provided with a disc graduated with suitable divisions. The other end of the set
screw forms a stop for a piece of metal projecting from the plate of the slide, or

page_text: the plate its self. The disc or graduated head of the set screw revolves against a
scale whose divisions equal the pitch of the thread of the set screw. By means
of the divisions on the scale & on the tread of the set screw the position of the
plate of the slide can be determinded with great accuracy.
The nut, in which the set screw engages is cut through in one part of its length
& furnished with a bolt so as to form a clamp to prevent any accidental movement
of the set screw after its correct position has been found.
When by pressing on the free ends of the bell crank levers, & thus bringing the
plate of the slide in contact with the end of the set screw by rotating the latter
the position of the ruled screw in relation to the ground glass of the focussing
screen can be determinded & having once been obtained need not be disturbed for
the movement of the ruled screw necessary to enable the operator to substitute the
dark slide for the ground glass can be effected by the bell crank levers independently
of the fine adjustment of the set screw.
We do not confine ourselves to the use of a set screw for the fiue adjustment
but in some cases use a sliding wedge or incline & in others a volute cam or a crank
or excentric with its connecting rod attached to the plate, this crank or excentric
to be on a spindle actuated by a lever.
The excentric or crank is so arranged that as the screen approaches the focal
plane the crank approaches the dead centre thus giving a slow movement when the
screen in the position in which it is required to adjust it with accuracy.
We raise or lower the rising front of the camera by means of a slotted shaft
extending along the base board.
The end of the shaft at the back of the camera is fitted with a lever working
against a racketted arc..
The lever is provided with a paul so arranged that the operator can at will
cause it to engage the arc or not.
Another lever boxed to fit the slotted shaft & furnished with a gib to fit the
slot is caused to travel along the shaft by means of two bearings fixed to the
front of the camera & embracing the shaft with the lever in between them.
The free end of this lever is connected with the rising front of the camera
by being furnished with a slot engaging a pin fixed to the rising front or by a
link.
The racketted are at the operator's end of the shaft prevents the rising front
falling by its own weight except when the operator releases the pawl.
Date this 6th de of February 1806
OWEN LINLEY.
F. O. SCOTT.
Adjustment
ameras.
We, OWEN LINLEY of 42, St. Luke's Road, Clapham, London, Engineer, and
FREDERICK OSWALD SCOTT of 60, Gravel Lane, Southwark, Camera Apparatus
Maker, 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 to photographic cameras used for copying and for the
production of negatives to be used for making what are known as "process" blocks
for printing purposes.
The camera is of that kind in which the camera front carrying the lens is
movable (for the purpose of focussing the picture) in a plane parallel to the plane

page_text: or the copying board carrying the subject to be copied, the image projecte by the
lens is rectified as regards right and left by being reflected by a mirror or prism
in a direction at right angles to the optical axis of the lens, and in which the
whole camera is movable (for the purpose of varying the size of the picture
photographed) in a plane perpendicular to the plane of the copying board, and the
invention so far as the general arrangement of the camera is concerned has for
object, whilst permitting independent motion of the camera front and of the copying
board for the purpose of centering the picture on the focussing screen, to facilitate
the manipulation of the camera by ensuring such correlated movements of the
copying board and of the lens in the operation of focussing as to maintain the
central position of the picture on the focussing screen, notwithstanding the motion
of the camera as a whole towards or away from the copying board for varying the
size of the picture.
The invention also relates to mechanism for adjusting the ruled screen which is
applied within the camera in front of the plate when the negative is to be used for
the production of so-called "process" blocks.
The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings forming part of this
specification wherein
Figure 1 is a plan shewing the camera in two positions in full and dotted
lines.
Figure 2 is a rear elevation, Figure 3 a side elevation, and Figure 4 a front
elevation of the camera.
Figure 5 is a horizontal section through the back of the camera shewing the
"process" screen adjusting device, drawn to a larger scale.
Figure 6 is a rear elevation and Figure 7 a vertical section of the same.
Figure 8 shews a detail.
The camera is carried by a base board B fitted to slide along a cradle C upon
which it is traversed by a shaft D turned by a hand wheel D and having spur
wheels d gearing with racks e along the bars of the cradle. The back part A of
the camera body is fixed rigidly to the base board, the front A' only being movable
for the purpose of focussing, by means of the screw spindle F turned by the hand
wheel F. The copying board G is placed parallel to this direction of motion and
is fitted to slide in the direction of its own plane in guide grooves g at one end of
the cradle C, the image of the subject carried by the copying board being projected
by the lens H on to a prism or mirror at I by which it is reflected on to the
focussing plane of the camera.
In order that the lens and copying board may move in unison when focussing so
as to maintain the central position of the image on the focussing screen, the
focussing screw F is geared by a mitre wheel with another mitre wheel & sliding
upon a shaft K mounted on and extending the whole length of the cradle. This
shaft K is geared by mitre wheels k¹ with a screw shaft L parallel to, and of the
same pitch as, the focussing screw and mounted to rotate in bearings in the cradle
and upon which is traversed a nut g¹ attached to the copying board so that as the
camera front is moved to and fro in focussing, the copying board is simultaneously
moved in the same direction and to the same extent. The mitre wheel f is loose on
the focussing screw F to which it is normally coupled by a friction clutch (Figure 8)
tightened by a bolt 1 passing through the tubular focussing screw rod F and by
a locking nut f. For the purpose of adjusting the relative position of the front
of the camera and of the copying board so as to bring the picture centrally on the
focussing screen the locking nut f' is released to allow the screw F to revolve for
moving the camera front to or fro as required without transmitting the motion to
the copying board.
The camera is traversed upon ways c² on the cradle towards and away from the
copying board for the purpose of varying the size of the picture. The wheel k
(which is connected to the shaft K by a groove and feather connection) is
journalled in a bearing carried by the base board B and slides upon the said
shaft so that motion can be transmitted to the copying board from any part of the

page_text: cradle, as will be apparent from Figure 1 which shews the camera in full and in
dotted lines in two positions on the cradle.
Instead of using bevel gear as above described skew gearing may be used without
otherwise altering the arrangement, or rack gearing may be used, a rack fixed to
the camera front A' gearing with a pinion free to slide on but turning with the
shaft K, another pinion fixed on the end of the said shaft in place of the
bevil pinion gearing with a rack fixed to the copying board in place of
the screw L.
The rising front A² of the camera is adjusted for height by means of a rock
shaft M mounted in bearings on the hase board B alongside the camera body and
actuated by a lever handle m at the rear end provided with a locking latch m
engaging with a quadrant rack m2. Upon this rock shaft and connected to it by
a groove and feather, rides a jockey lever m³ carried along the shaft by a bracket
attached to the front frame A¹ of the camera body, the lever m being connected
by a link m with the rising front A'.
N (Figures 5 and 7) is the ruled or other "process" screen employed for
producing half-tone or "procesa" negatives. It is held by means of adapters
suited to its size in a carrier frame N' mounted by means of gibs to slide to and
fro in the camera upon a dovetailed guide N' fixed within the back part A of
the camera, the sliding motion being imparted through a pair of rods a connected
to the gibs passing light-tight through guide holes in the back of the camera body
below the aperture for receiving the dark alide N the ends of these rods being
connected by pin and alot with the short arms of a double U-shaped bell crank
lever n' pivoted at n. The rearward motion of the screen carrier is limited by a
micrometer screw adjustment formed by a screwed stem o screwing through a
socket o mounted on the back part of the body so that the inner end of the
stem o projects into the camera in position to act as a stop for the screen carrier.
The head O of this screw is graduated in fractions of a turn and is read off in
connection with a rectilinear gauge O graduated to correspond to the pitch of
the screw, by means whereof the position of the "process screen can be deter-
mined with great accuracy. The zero position of the screw stop, corresponding
with the nearest permissible approach of the "process" screen to the sensitive
plate P, is determined by a pia o on the head O of the screw engaging with a
stop on the gauge carrier. The screw socket o' is split and provided with a
tightening screw o by which it may be clamped on the screw o to prevent any
accidental movement of the latter after it has been correctly adjusted. When
this adjustment has been determined the movement of the "process" screen carrier
effected by means of the bell crank lever n' enables the dark slide carrying the
sensitive plate to be substituted for the focussing screen and the "process" screen
to be brought back again into the same relation with the former as it was by trial
adjustment set to with relation to the latter.
It will be obvious that a sliding wedge, a volute cam, a crank, or an eccentric,
might be substituted for the screw stop o the eccentric or crank being so arranged
that it approaches the dead centre as the "process" screen approaches the focal
plane thus giving a slow movement at the point where the utmost accuracy of
adjustment is required.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. The combination, with a copying camera which is bodily movable towards
and away from the copying board and wherein the focussing is effected by a move-
ment of the camera front in a plane parallel with the copying board, of gearing
connecting the camera front with the sliding copying board substantially as
described whereby the copying board is shifted in its own plane in correlation
with the focussing motion so as to maintain constant during the focussing the
predetermined position of the picture on the focussing screen and enable the

page_text: camera to be adjusted for dimension and focussing of the picture whilst continuously
viewing the picture on the screen as described.
2. The combination, with the herein described copying camera and copying
board adjusting mechanism, of means for adjusting the height of the rising front
of the camera substantially as described.
3. In a camera for the production of negatives for "process" blocks the
combination, with the "process" screen carrier, of means of imparting to the said
Ecreen parallel motion towards and away from the focal plane for the purpose
described and of a micrometer screw or other fine adjustment for limiting the
approach of the said screen to the said plane substantially as specified.
Dated this 6th day of November 1896.
A. M. & WM. CLARK,
53, Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agents.