US2720722A - 3-d drawing device - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 18, 1955 E. F. Hlsx-:R

3-D DRAWING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 22, 1954 Oct. 18, E F HlSER .'5-D DRAWING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 22, 1954 United States Patent O 3-D DRAWING DEVICE Ernest F. Hiser, Oklahoma City, Okla., assignor to Cadaco-Ellis, a partnership Application January 22, 1954, Serial No. 405,622

2 Claims. (Cl. 45-131) This invention relates to a device for producing three dimensional pictures, and in particular it relates to a device which is adapted for use as a toy, for amateur work in the production of anaglyphs, or for advanced professional work in production of 3-D animated cartoons for Polaroid viewing.

The principle of three dimensional viewing by means of anaglyphs is that a base, or window plane is established, which is in the plane of the paper on which the viewers eyes focus by crossing; and the sense of perspective with respect to the plane is produced by the degree of oiset (parallax) of the images viewed by the two eyes, the otset of distant objects being greater than the olset of objects nearby. This principle is relied upon in the drawing of simple plane stage anaglyphs by drawing a heavy border in two complementary colors, such as red and green, to iix the window plane and outlining all objects in the window plane by applying said two colors to the paper in juxtaposition. Assuming that a view is to have objects ahead ot' the base plane and also at varying distances behind the base plane, the anaglyph is produced by drawing each object outside the base plane in one of the two colors, for example green, and then drawing a second reproduction of each article in red which is offset laterally from the green by a predetermined distance such that the parallax provides the desired illusion of longitudinal space, or depth, between the articles. In the case of objects which are to appear closer than the base plane, the red outline is oset, for example, to the right of the green; while in the case of articles which are to appear behind the base plane the red outline is drawn to the left of the green. By varying the degree of parallax various articles may be made to appear at different distances behind the base plane, the largest otset producing the greatest impression of depth. A good illusion of depth may be provided in a simple cartoon-type picture by having one plane in front of the window plane and three planes behind it.

When the two-color anaglyph is viewed through glasses having one green lens and one red lens, one eye will see Vonly the green outlines and the other eye will see only the red outlines, and the varying degree of parallax between the images seen by the two eyes produces the illusion of depth or perspective. The maximum limit of `oii'set for any size View is determined by the maximum Vhuman interpupillary distance, which is about /8 inches.

In accordance with the present invention, a base member is provided with a window and an index mark with which to align a mark or a horizontal edge of a so-called master view. A laterally shiftable member is secured tothe base member to receive a sheet of translucent paper on'which the anaglyph is to be drawn. A shift scale on the base member and the laterally shiftable member permits various parts of the master view to be traced with the proper degree of parallax to produce the desired illusion of depth. A hinged cover has a sight opening which provides guides to outline the anaglyph.

' The base member and shiftable member may be blanked 2,720,722 Patented Oct. 18, 1955 out of paperboard or other inexpensive sheet material, with the lateral shifting afforded by grommets and slots, and the shift scale lithographed or printed to provide a very inexpensive toy with which children may make their Vown 3D cartoon for viewing through cheap two color plastic lrn glasses.

The invention is illustrated in a preferred embodiment in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. l is a front elevational view or" a device coustructed in accordance with the invention, with the hinged frame guide member open;

Fig. 2 is a section taken as indicated along the line 2 2 of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a section taken as 3-3 of Fig. l;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken as indicated along line 4 4 of Fig. l;

Fig. 5 is a front elevational view of the device to a reduced scale with a sheet of paper in place to form an anaglyph and with the frame guide member closed;

Fig. 6 is a View similar to Fig. 5 with the frame guide member open;

Fig. 7 is an exempliiicatiou of a master view which may be used in connection with the device; and

Fig. 3 is an exemplification of an anaglyph vreproduced from the master view of Fig. 7, the green outlines of the anaglyph being in broken line and the red outlines being in solid line.

Referring to the drawings in greater detail, and referring rst to Fig. l, the device includes a base member 10 which is formed of two layers of laminar paperboard, or other inexpensive sheet material, 10a and 10b with a central rectangular window opening 11 around the border of which the front sheet of paperboard 10a is cut out to a larger size than the rear sheet 10b to provide a peripheral ange 12 upon which is supported a rigid sheet of transparent plastic 13. At the two side margins and the bottom margin of the window opening 11 the upper sheet 10a is provided with arcuate slits 14 and crease score lines 15 to form inwardly facing tabs 16 beneath which to insert the edges of a master view M (Fig. 7) so as to hold it in register with the window opening 11.

As best seen in Figs. 1 and 2, a shift member 17 positioned above the window opening 11 is provided with transverse slots 18 which are impaled by headed pins 19 mounted in the base member 1t) so as to provide a pin and slot connection between the shift member 17 and the base member allowing transverse shifting movement of the shift member on the base member. For easy movemeut of the shift member 17, a lever 20 is pivoted on the base member at 21 and has a slot 22 impaled by a headed pin 23 in the shift member 17. A spring clip 24 is mounted at the center of the shift member 17 to receive a sheet of translucent paper P upon `which an anaglyph of the master view M may be reproduced.

integrally connected to the left hand margin of the base member l@ and hinged thereon by a cut score line 25 is a frame guide member 26 which has a rectangular sight opening 27 which is in register with the window opening 11 when the frame guide member is closed (see Fig. 5) so that a heavy border B (Fig. 8) for an anaglyph may be drawn on the sheet of paper P using the margin of the sight opening as a guide.

The device includes a shift scale, indicated generally at 28, which in the illustrated embodiment takes the form of a decorative cartoon-type picture which shows in simple, graphic form the manner of using the shift scale. LOn the shift scale is a shift scale base line 29 which locates the base or window plane of the anaglyph, the base line 29 being projected upwardly to provide a graphic interpretive line which takes the form of a perspective view indicated along the line 29a of a rectangle, and downwardly to provide an index' mark 29b adjacent the lwindow opening 11. As seen inV Fig. 7 the masterview M is provided with an index line 29e which marksthe vertical median line of the master view, and which may be aligned with the index line 29b of the shift scale to assure proper positioning of the master view. Y'Ihe particular shift scale illustrated provides. for the ldrawing of an anaglyph A on the paper P which has six plane stages, including a foreground kplane in which objects appear to be ahead of the window plane, indicated Von the shift scale bythe shift scale line 30, and four planes Y behind the window plane indicated by the shift scale lines Y 31, 32, 33 and 34. Theshift scale lines are all projected upwardly to provide graphic interpretive lines 30a, 31a, 32a, 33a and 34a which, as seen in Fig. l, are keyed to various elements of a view to illustrate graphically the elements which may typically be found in the various plane stages. VThis is best shown by consideration of the cowboy 35 who is in the base, or window plane 29a and has his handextended forwardly so that it is in the plane ahead of the window plane. Similarly, the graphic interpretive line 34a is projected into a plane and the sun Y red. In the master view M these elements are the seated appears on the plane to show that it is the background plane, or innity.

nated with the shift scale 28, the spring clamp 24. cn the shift member is provided with an indexing pointer 36 which extends from the center of the clamp 24 to the upper margin of the shift member so that it may readily be aligned with each of the shift scale lines.

, The use ofthe device is believed to vbe clear from the foregoing'description. A master view M is positioned in register with the window opening 11 with its margins inserted beneath the tabs 16, and has its Vertical median ,index line 29a aligned with the indexrline 29b on the base member 10. YA sheet of translucent paper P, such as tracing paper, is fastened in the spring clip 24 on the shift` member 17 in register with the master view M.k The frame guide member 26 is then closed, and a border B is'drawn on the paper using'the margin of the sight opening 27 for a guide, the border being drown heavily both in green and red, with the two colors superimposed or closely juxtaposed. The Yframe guide member -may then be opened, as seen in Fig. 6, and the indexing pointer 36 of they shift member may be aligned with the base, or window plane .index line 29. Placing the device where light may shine through the window opening 11, the entire view isV then outlined in green, as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. Y8, and any objects which are torappear in the window plane 29 are also outlined in red while the shift-scale indexing pointer 36 remains at the window plane index line 29. In the illustrative masterV view M, only the jug 1 and the hillock Vupon which it rests are in the window plane; The shiftmember may then be moved to align the indexing pointer 36 with, for example, the foreground index plane V3). In the master view M, the only object ,in'the foreground plane-i. e., ahead of the window plane-is the Stork S, and with the indexing pointer in the foreground, position the stork is outlined in red as indicated by the solid line in Fig. 8, which is seen to be offset to the left of the green line.

The indexing pointer 36 may then be moved to the shift scale line'31, which represents the irst background plane behind the window'plane 29, and the elements ofY the master view which are insaid plane 'may be traced in figure, the camel and the adjacent ground Vand rocks. The

red outline in the plane is seen to be offset to the right of the green. Other elements of the view are at a greaterk distance behind the window plane and may be reproduced so as to give the correct parallax by setting the indexing pointer 36 at the shift scale line 32 or 33 for the large pyramids, and at the shift lscale line 34, the infinity plane, for the smaller pyramids'andrclouds.

When the anaglyph is viewedthrough spectacles having one kred lens and one green lens, with the green lens in front of the leftV eye andthe red lens in frontY of the right eye, the original outlines in green areV seen only by the lefteye while the offset outlines in red are seen only by the right eye. The degree of offset Yor'parallax betweenY Y the images viewed by the two eyes gives the impression of depth. The fact that the parallax Vis to the left in the foreground plane 29, and to the right in all of ythe background planes causes the stork S to appear to be ahead of the jug I, which is in the window plane, and causes the other objects in the master view to appear to'be different distances behind the jug J. Y 'Y I f the device is intendedfor use as a toy, vthe master View may conveniently have the various elements of the view numbered to coincide with the numbers on the shift scale 28, so that a child may readily observe which elements should be reproduced in red at various points of the shift scale.

While the device is intended primarily for the production of plane stage anaglyphs, it is obvious that it may also be used for more advanced types of 3-D conversion by altering the ow of the red, or offset,lines in the second drawing so that various parts of a particularV object have the degree of offset increased as the outline is made Vof a portion of the object which extends from one plane toward another. Thus, for example, the cowboy 35 in the graphic illustrative portion of the Yshift scale is partly on the window plane, partly behind the window plane and has Vhis hand extended forwardly of the window plane. The degree of offset to the left would be diminished from the cowboyfs hand toward his body, and a small offset in the opposite direction, but less than that for the irstV background plane, would be provided for the portions .of the cowboys body and hat which are to the rear of the picture plane. depends largely upon artist. n Y Y Y Y The device is in no sense limited to use as a toy. A toy device such as has been heretofore described may convenientlyVV have a window opening about 61/2 x 4% the skill and experience of the inches. For animated motion picture work a .suitable` Vdevice would have a window opening of'about lOl/z x 12% inches. In this type of Work, however, the various elements of an animated cartoon lm in 3-D are not pro'- duced in the form of an anaglyph, but rather are separate sheets designed to be scanned by a Polaroidrmethod. An Y operator may substitute acetate sheets as used by lm animators in the making of animated cartoons for the paper sheets, and finished drawingsrmay be producedA which are ready for photographing just as they come from the device. YIt permits therapid and inexpensive production of black and white 3D work for Polaroid scanning.

The foregoing detailed description is given for clearness of understanding only and no unnecessary limitations are to be understood therefrom, as somemodications will be obviousto those skilled in the art. Y

I claim:

1. Apparatus for drawing anaglyphs, comprising: a base member havinga'central window; fastening means on said base member for detachably'holding a master view in register with said window; an index line on the base member with which to align Vthe* vertical medianrline of a master view; a shift member which makes a pin and ,slot connection with the base member so as to be trans- Proper development of such drawings` versely slidable with respect thereto; a lever pivoted on the base member and the shift member to move the latter on the base member; a shift scale on said members for gauging the movement of the shift member with respect to the index line for the reproduction of a master View on a sheet of paper secured to the shift member with various parts of the reproduction having varying predetermined degrees of parallax to provide a multiple plane anaglyph on said sheet of paper; and a hinged frame guide on the base member for drawing a frame on a sheet of paper secured to the shift member.

2. Apparatus for drawing anaglyphs, comprising, in combination: a base member having a central Window; fastening means on said base member for detachably holding a master view in register with said window; an index line on the base member with which to align the vertical median line of a master view; a master view having a mark at the center of the horizontal margin which lies adjacent said index line when the master view is held in the fastening means; a shift member which makes a pin and slot connection with the base member so as to be transversely slidable With respect thereto; a lever pivoted on the base member and the shift member to move the latter on the base member; a shift scale on said members for gauging the movement of the shift member with respect to the index line for the reproduction of a master view on a sheet of paper secured to the shift member with various parts of the reproduction having varying predetermined degrees of parallax to provide a multiple plane anaglyph on said sheet of paper; and a hinged frame guide on the base member for drawing a frame on a sheet of paper secured to the shift member.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Hand, pages 71-74, American Journal of Science and 20 An, v01. 312nd series, 1861.

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