Improvements in Apparatus for Developing, Fixing, and Toning Photographs.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, oth Apr., 1894
Complete Specification Left. 1st Jan., 1805-Accepted. 2nd Feb.. 1395
Date of Application, oth Apr., 1894
Complete Specification Left. 1st Jan., 1895-Accepted. 2nd Feb.. 1395
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Developing, Fixing, and
Toning Photographs.
I, ELMER FOREST MACKUSICK of No. 15 West 24th Street, in the City,
County and State of New York, United States of America, Architect and Builder,
do hereby declare the nature of the said invention to be as follows:-
This invention is especially adapted to the developing, fixing and toning of
photographs that are printed upon a long sheet or strip of paper, which for
convenience is wound up in the form of a roll, it being understood that the paper
is first prepared with proper chemicals and then exposed under negatives to the
action of light, after which the strip of paper is rolled up and contains the latent
or undeveloped pictures.
This part of the operation is to be performed in any suitable manner, and my
present improvements relate especially to the apparatus that is used for developing,
fixing and toning the pictures, which operations are performed in a dark room
until after the pictures have passed through the fixing solutions.
I provide a series of tanks for containing the various chemical solutions and
water, and at the top edges of the tanks and crossing the range, rollers are pro-
vided in adjustable bearings and driven at a uniform speed by a shaft running
along the range of tanks and provided with gearing, such as screw pinions, acting
upon gear wheels upon the respective rolls, so that these rolls are all driven at the
same surface speed, and to prevent the paper that passes over these rolls retaining
bubbles of air between the wet paper and the rolls, such rolls are grooved to allow for
the air to pass out, the grooves sometimes running longitudinally, sometimes circum-
ferentially and sometimes helically, or in opposite inclined directions, for acting upon
the web in the proper manner as the web is passed over these rolls, and in lower
portions of the tanks there are rolls, the axes of which are received into and guided by
channel bars, affixed to the inner surfaces of the tanks and preferably receiving slats
of wood or similar devices for holding down the arbors of the tank rolls; and endless
belts are provided usually of metallic wires or strips covered with india-rubber and
passing into grooves at the ends of the respective rolls, so that the belts go over
the upper rolls down into the tanks and below the lower rolls, and so on throughout
the whole series, and a cross-bar is connected to these belts, and the advancing end
of the strip of paper is connected to the cross-bar, so that the belt as it is moved
progressively throughout the range of tanks carries the advancing end of the strip
of paper over the upper rolls and down into the slots below the lower rolls, and up
again until the strip of paper has passed all through the respective tanks, and the
latent pictures have been developed, fixed, and toned, and the strip is passed off to
a suitable dryer, usually upon an endless belt of muslin or similar material.
It is advantageous at one or more places to provide a sufficient distance between
one tank and the next, for the strip of paper to hang down in the form of a loop
and be distended by a roller lying in such loop, and a water pipe is provided over
the roller and perforated, so that sprays of water are directed upon the paper to
thoroughly wash the same at the desired places, and one of these sprinkling or
washing devices is usually provided for acting upon the paper immediately before
the strip is received upon the belt that conveys the same away to the drying

page_text: 66
"
chamber, and a squeegee acting upon the strip of paper adjacent to one of the
belt rolls, serves to remove surplus water.
A lead-lined trough is usually provided beneath the range of tanks for the
washing water and also for running off spent solutions, the tanks being provided
with stoppers in the bottom, by the withdrawal of which the contents may be
discharged.
Dated this 6th day of Anril 1001
Improvements in Apparatus for Developing, Fixing, and
Toning Photographs.
I, ELMER FOREST MACKUSICK, of No. 15 West 24th Street, in the City,
County and State of New York, United States of America, Architect and
Builder, 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 is especially adapted to the developing, fixing and toning of
photographs that are printed upon a long sheet or strip of paper, which for
convenience is wound up in the form of a roll, it being understood that the paper
is first prepared with proper chemicals and then exposed under negatives to the
action of light, after which the strip of paper is rolled up and contains the latent
or undeveloped pictures.
This part of the operation is to be performed in any suitable manner, and my
present improvements relate especially to the apparatus that is used for developing,
fixing and toning the pictures, which operations are performed in a dark room
until after the pictures have passed through the fixing solutions.
I provide a series of tanks for containing the various chemical solutions and
water, and at the top edges of the tanks and crossing the range, rollers are
provided in adjustable bearings and driven at a uniform speed by a shaft running
along the range of tanks and provided with gearing such as screw pinions acting
upon gear wheels upon the respective rolls, so that these rolls are all driven at the
same surface speed, and to prevent the paper that passes over these rolls retaining
bubbles of air between the wet paper and the rolls, such rolls are grooved to allow
for the air to pass out, the grooves sometimes running longitudinally, sometimes
circumferentially and sometimes helically or in opposite inclined directions for
acting upon the web in the proper manner as the web is passed over these rolls,
and in lower portions of the tanks there are rolls, the axes of which are received
into and guided by channel bars affixed to the inner surfaces of the tanks and
preferably receiving slats of wood or similar devices for holding down the arbors
of the tank rolls, and endless belts are provided, usually of metallic wires or strips
covered with india rubber and passing into grooves at the ends of the respective
rolls, so that the belts go over the upper rolls down into the tanks and below the
lower rolls, and so on throughout the whole series, and a cross-bar is connected to
these belts, and the advancing end of the strip of paper is connected to the cross-
bar, so that the belt as it is moved progressively throughout the range of tanks
carries the advancing end of the strip of paper over the upper rolls and down into
the slots below the lower rolls, and up again until the strip of paper has passed all
through the respective tanks and the latent pictures have been developed, fixed and
toned, and the strip is passed off to a suitable dryer usually upon an endless belt of
amuslin or similar material.
It is advantageous at one or more places to provide a sufficient distance between

page_text: one tank and the next for the strip of paper to hang down in the form of a loop
and be distended by a roller lying in such loop, and a water pipe is provided over
the roller and perforated so that sprays of water are directed upon
the paper to
thoroughly wash the same at the desired places, and one of these sprinkling or
washing devices is usually provided for acting upon the paper immediately before
the strip is received upon the belt that conveys the same away to the drying
chamber, and a squeegee acting upon the strip of paper adjacent to one of the belt
rolls, serves to remove surplus water.
A lead-lined trough is usually provided beneath the range of tanks for the
washing water and also for running off spent solutions, the tanks being provided
with stoppers in the bottom, by the withdrawal of which the contents may be
discharged.
In the drawings,
Fig. 1 is a plan view. Fig. 2 is an elevation partially in section. Fig. 3 is a
cross section of the apparatus.
Fig. 4 is an elevation in larger size at one end of one of the upper rollers.
Fig. 5 is a detached view of the cross-bar at one end and a section of
one band.
Fig. 6 is a section of one of the lower rollers, and
Fig. 7, is a plan, sectional, at one end, of one of the lower rollers.
The number of tanks or vessels made use of for holding the different chemical
solutions or water as required will vary according to the nature of the work to be
done, and the chemical solutions in such tanks are prepared and applied with
reference to the development of the pictures in any well known or desired manner.
I have shown for example ten tanks marked respectively ABCDEFGHI
and J, but the tanks may be more or less numerous and may be either larger or
smaller according to the solutions or liquids which they are to contain and
according to whether the paper is to be immersed once or more often in a given
solution, and these tanks may be of any suitable material and of the desired size
and shape.
Along near the upper edges of the tanks in the range of tanks there are bearers
or beams K suitably affixed to the tanks and receiving the adjustable two-part
journal boxes or bearings 7 8 for the rollers that extend across the tanks from one
bearer K to the other, and upon the outer ends of the shafts or arbors of the rolls
there are gear wheels that are driven by screw pinions N upon the longitudinal
shaft L. which is supported by suitable bearing or journal boxes upon the side of
one of the bearers K below such wheels O, and the screw pinions and wheels are
to be of uniform size so that all the rolls are driven at the same speed, and any
suitable power is applied to the shaft L to rotate the same. I have shown a pulley
at L' adapted to the reception of a driving belt.
I have found that when a strip of paper in a wet condition is passed over a
smooth cylindrical roller, bubbles of air are often confined between the roll and
the paper, and in so doing the paper is liable to become wrinkled or injured. To
avoid this difficulty 1 make use of rollers Q that are grooved longitudinally in
order that the air of the bubbles that may intervene between the paper and the
roll may escape through the longitudinal channels or grooves and pass off at the
ends of such grooves, and I find it advantageous to employ at intervals rollers R
that are provided with divergent helical grooves that act by the rotation of the
roller to aid in spreading the paper transversely and lessening the risk that might
otherwise exist of longitudinal folds in the paper, and in portions of the apparatus
I find it advantageous to groove the rollers with peripheral grooves, as shown
at R and the paper from the roller 6 passes over the first roller P which is
plain and beneath the presser roller U which is preferably of rubber, so that
the paper passes through between these rollers with regularity as it is drawn
off the roll.
It is to be understood that the paper for the roll is first prepared with proper
chemicals and then exposed under negatives to the action of light in another

page_text: apparatus and contains the latent picture to be developed, and the paper
is rolled
up ready to be developed, fixed and toned in the apparatus herein described
within a "dark room," as it is necessary to avoid white light until after the
pictures have passed through the fixing solutions. I make use of two endless
belts, preferably made of rubber, each containing one or more metallic wires or
narrow strips, so as to render such belt inelastic without interfering materially
with its flexibility, and in all of the rollers made use of, near their ends, are
narrow peripheral grooves adapted to the reception of the belts, and these belts
pass over the rollers that are at the top of the tanks and under rollers T that are
located near the bottoms of the respective tanks. These rollers T are each upon
an arbor or axis received at its ends into the slots of vertical channel bars 4 that
are placed against the inner surfaces of the tanks at opposite sides, and these
tank rollers are kept down at the proper places either by their own weight or by
rods or bars introduced into the channel of the bars over the arbors of the rollers
and secured in place if necessary, and each of these rollers T is made of glass,
metal, rubber, celluloid, or other suitable material which will not contaminate the
solutions into which they may be submerged. Pulleys upon the arbor near each
end and adjacent to the channel bars are provided, such pulleys being grooved
for the reception of the bands of rubber 9 before mentioned, so that these endless
bands pass over the rollers above the tanks and descend below the submerged
rollers, as indicated in Fig. 2, and after passing the entire series the bands return
either above or below the tanks to the entrance end. It is now to be understood
that in applying this apparatus, one end of the photographic strip is connected by
a cross-bar 10 to the endless bands 9, and said cross-bar and the bands carry the
strip of paper through the respective solutions with regularity and with but little
strain upon the paper because the bands and the paper are moved along with
regularity and uniformity by the rollers that are over the tanks, and such paper
is only subjected to the strain necessary for drawing the same through the
solution between one of the upper rollers and the next, and the air that may be
confined in the form of bubbles between the wet paper and the rollers, escapes
freely through the grooves or channels of the rollers so as not to interfere with
the paper as it rests upon the surfaces of such rollers.
Some of the tanks are larger than others for the reception of more than one
tank roller T. I have shown two rollers T in the tanks A DEH and J and three
rollers T in the tanks F and G, and in some instances it is advisable to apply a
tank roller T at the upper part of the tank and below the surface of the
solution, so that the paper remains immersed the proper length of time within one
solution.
It is necessary in some instances to freely wash the paper between one immersion
and another in the chemical solutions, and with this object in view a water pipe V
is provided with branches V1 V2 and cocks for regulating the volume of water,
and these branches V1 V2 are perforated, and the paper of the roll hangs down as
a loop below the respective branches of the pipes and is kept in position by the
weight of a distending roll W, so that the sprays of water abundantly wash the
picture surfaces of the photographic paper before entering another solution or
before drying such paper. I have shown the paper as distended by the rolls W
between the tanks B and C, G and H, and a branch V3 perforated to spray the
water upon the surface of the roll of paper is provided for washing the paper after it
leaves the last tank J, and such paper may then be received upon a canvas web Y
to be taken to a suitable drying chamber; and it is advantageous to employ a
squeegee or scraper Z having a rubber or other soft edge to remove the surplus
water from the paper before it passes to the drying chamber.
I usually provide below the tanks a gutter M, preferably lead-lined, and inclined
toward the middle, into which the water passes from between the tanks in the
respective washing operations, and it is also advantageous to employ stoppers 11 in
the bottoms of the respective tanks, so that the contents of the tanks can be run
off when desired.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is :-
First. In an apparatus for developing, fixing and toning photographs, a series
of tanks for containing the chemical solutions, a series of rollers crossing the top
edges of the tanks, mechanism for rotating the rollers at a uniform surface speed,
tank rollers in the lower parts of the respective tanks, an endless belt composed
of two inelastic bands passing over the upper rollers and below the tank rollers
adjacent to the respective ends, and means for connecting the strip of photo-
graphic paper with the bands, so as to be carried through the respective solutions
by such bands acting at or near the edges of the paper and leaving both surfaces
of the photographic paper free to be acted upon by the chemicals and in the
washing operation, substantially as set forth.
Second. The combination in an apparatus for developing, fixing and toning
photographs, of a range of tanks for holding the chemical solutions, rollers crossing
the upper ends of the tanks and mechanism for driving the rollers at a uniform
speed, a pair of feeding in rollers for the photographic paper, and endless belts
composed of strips of rubber incasing metallic wires for carrying the web of
photographic paper through the respective solutions, substantially as set forth.
Third. In an apparatus for developing, fixing and toning photographs, a series of
tanks for containing the chemical solutions, a series of rollers crossing the top
edges of the tanks, a longitudinal shaft with screw pinions and gears on the axes
of the respective rollers for rotating the rollers at a uniform surface speed, tank
rollers in the lower parts of the respective tanks, an endless belt composed of two
inclastic bands passing over the upper roliers and below the tank rollers adjacent
to the respective ends, and means for connecting the strip of photographic paper
with the bands, so as to be carried through the respective solutions by such bands
acting at or near the edges of the paper and leaving both surfaces of the photo-
graphic paper free to be acted upon by the chemicals and in the washing operation,
substantially as set forth.
Fourth. The combination in an apparatus for developing, fixing and toning
photographs, of a range of tanks for containing the chemical solutions, vertically
slotted channel bars connected to the interior surfaces of the tanks, tank rollers
having their axes extending into the channel bars and by which the rollers are
guided and held in position near the bottoms of the respective tanks, rollers
crossing the upper ends of the tanks and mechanism for rotating the roliers at a
uniform surface speed, an endless belt passing over the upper rollers and below
the tank rollers and composed of two bands near the ends of the respective
rollers, and means for connecting the photographic paper to such bands so as to be
carried by such bands through the respective tanks, substantially as set forth.
Fifth. The combination in an apparatus for developing, fixing and toning
photographs, of tanks for containing the chemical solutions, rollers crossing the
tanks, mechanism for rotating the rollers at a uniform surface speed, an endless
belt passing over the rollers and extending down into the respective tanks and
between one tank and another, such belt being composed of two iuelastic bands at
the ends of the respective rollers so as to come at the edges of the photographic
paper, and means for connecting the end of the photographic paper to such
endless belt, and a perforated pipe for spraying water upon the paper between one
tank and another, substantially as set forth.
Sixth. The combination in an apparatus for developing, fixing and toning
photographs, of a range of tanks for containing the chemical solutions, an inclined
gutter under such tanks, stoppers in the tanks for allowing the contents to run
off, perforated water pipes between one tank and another, rollers crossing the
respective tanks, mechanism for revolving such rollers at a uniform surface speed,
and an endless belt passing over the respective rollers and into the tanks, such
endless belt being composed of two bands near the ends of the respective rollers

page_text: so as to be adapted to receive the photographic paper between them for carrying
such paper through the respective tanks, substantially as set forth.
Dated this 1st day of January 1895.
BREWER & SON,
Agents.