US3512887A - Photographic enlarging easel - Google Patents

Description

y 1970 J. E. CARABALLO PHQTOGRAPHIC ENLARGING EASEL 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed NOV. 7. 1967 INVENTOR Julia n E. Caro baI/o ATTORNEY y 9, 1970 J. E. CARABALLO 3,512,887

PHOTOGRAPHIC ENLARGING EASEI:

Filed NOV. 7. 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 4.

INVENTOR Julian E. Combo/Io ATTORNEY United States Patent US. Cl. 355-72 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An easel adapted for use in photographic enlarging processes and permitting the production of borderless prints. A supporting plate for the sheet is provided with a plurality of spaced apertures and when the plate is placed in a predetermined position relative to a second member, an adhesive bearing pressure surface carried by the second member is disposed Within each such aperture in the supporting plate substantially flush with the supporting plate so that a sheet of paper placed on the supporting plate will adhere to each pressure surface. When the supporting plate is moved from the predetermined position, the adhesive contact with the pressure surfaces is immediately broken so that the sheet of paper may readily be removed from the easel.

In the production of photographic enlargements, it is often desirable to produce enlargements which do not have a white border. The presence of such margins comes about as a result of the necessity of providing, in an enlarging easel, a mask or similar means which Will hold the paper securely and in a plane position by pressing against the borders or margins of the paper as the image is projected upon the paper. Frequently, however, for aesthetic reasons, it is desired to produce enlargements which do not have the customary white borders, and easels have been designed to accomplish this. For the most part, such easels comprise a flat plate for supporting the photo-sensitive paper and upon the plate is placed a tape coated with an adhesive or tacky substance on both sides so that the tape can be held in place uponthe easel and, at the same time, persent a tacky surface for holding the paper in place once it is positioned upon the easel. Easels of this type are, however, not satisfactory, especially for volume production, because of the considerable difliculty encountered in removing the photographic paper from the easel once the exposure has been made. The area of contact of the tape with the easel is generally the same as the area of contact with the paper. As a result, the tape may become loose or be removed from the easel in the process of removing the paper. In addition, there is a natural tendency to attempt to remove the paper from such an easel by pulling at a corner or edge of the paper, and the resultant excessive curling of the paper may readily cause cracking on the emulsion side of the paper.

The enlarging easel of the present invention overcomes these obstacles. The user may quickly and conveniently place a sheet of photographic paper on the easel and it will immediately be held securely in place and in a perfectly planar position as required. Only a very slight downward pressure on the sheet of paper adjacent its corners need be applied in order to ensure that the sheet will be securely held in place. At the end of the projection period, the paper is readily removed from the easel,

and the easel is immediately available for a subsequent enlargement.

Described briefly, the invention comprises a supporting plate which is of a size at least as large as the largest size of the photographic paper to be accommodated. The supporting plate defines in its surface a plurality of apertures, at least one at each of the four corners of the photographic enlarging paper to be placed thereon, and it is also possible to provide one or more additional such apertures at other spaced locations if additional contacting points are believed desirable. This supporting plate is adapted to be moved to a predetermined position relative to a second member which preferably comprises another base plate which is secured by means of a hinge connection to the first-mentioned supporting plate. The base plate is preferably adapted for secure positioning on the table or mounting board of the enlarger. When the supporting plate is moved to the predetermined position, a plurality of small pressure surfaces which are carried by the second member becomes positioned within the aforementioned apertures, and each such pressure surface preferably is formed of a relatively small planar surface which is so positioned that it is substantially coplanar with the top surface of the supporting plate for the paper. Each of the individual pressure surfaces is provided with an adhesive material thereupon which may be either a coating or may comprise a tape having an outer adhesive surface. When the supporting plate carrying the paper is moved to a predetermined position relative to the base plate, the back surface of the paper makes contact with the adhesive coated pressure surfaces each of which is then in a position Where it can readily contact the back surface of the enlarging paper. When the supporting surface is moved out of the predetermined position, the photographic paper is of course carried with the support ing surface and the adhesive contact with the pressure surfaces is then broken so that the paper can now be very readily removed from the supporting surface and another sheet of paper placed thereupon. It is thus possible to make successive enlargements rapidly with the paper in each case being held securely and yet with no frame or the like overlying the paper so as to produce a margin 7 thereupon.

In describing the invention, reference will be made to the accompanying drawings in which like reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views and in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the easel of the present invention in use;

FIG. 2 is a top view of the easel of the invention showing the top plate or paper-supporting surface in place;

FIG. 3 is a top view of the easel of FIG. 2 but with the top or paper-supporting surface removed to show the construction of the base plate of the easel;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the cross section line 44 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the crosssection line 55 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of one of the pressure surfaces on the base plate and illustrating the manner in which the adhesive tape may be applied to such pressure surface;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the easel of the invention particularly illustrating one of the pressure surfaces on the base plate;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a portion of the easel of FIGS. 1-7; and

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a modified form of pressure plate of the invention.

Referring to FIG; 1, the easel .10 of the present invention is shown as being positioned upon a supporting plate or table 11 which may form a part of the enlarger 12. In use, the easel 10 is placed upon the board or plate 11 beneath the enlarger 12 so that an image projected through the lens 13 will be cast upon a sheet of photosensitive paper which is placed upon the upper surface of the easel 10 as will be hereinafter described. When an image has been projected thereupon, the photographic paper is removed from the easel 10 for developing and fixation and a subsequent sheet of photographic paper is then put in place. It will be evident that it is desirable that the easel 10 be so constructed as to permit the ready insertion and placing of photographic paper thereupon and the quick removal of the paper from its upper surface so that successive enlargements can quickly and conveniently be made.

Referring now to FIGS. 2, 3, 4, and 5, the easel of the present invention comprises a base plate 14 and a papersupporting plate 15 upon which may be placed a sheet of photographic enlarging paper 16 which has been shown in dotted lines in FIGS. 2-5 and 7 since it of course forms no part of the present invention.

In FIG. 2, the paper supporting plate 15 is shown in place; whereas in FIG. 3, it has been removed so as to reveal the details of the base plate 14.

As shown in FIG. 3, the base plate 14 comprises a flat surface 17 which is provided with a plurality of apertures 18-2.1 along its rear edge a similar plurality of apertures 2224 along its front edge, and a further plurality of apertures 25 and 26 located horizontally along the mid-section of the plate '17. Supported by the plate 17 along its left-hand edge is a longitudinal member 27, and a similar longitudinal member 28 is supported adjacent the right-hand edge of plate 17 as well. Both the longitudinal members 27 and 28 extend rearwardly of the rear edge of plate 17 and each is hingedly connected by means of a hinge pin 29 and 30, respectively, to a respective longitudinal member 31 and 32 to which is affixed the paper-supporting plate 15 which is not shown in detail in FIG. 3 but is shown in FIG. 2.

In addition to the longitudinal members 27 and 28, shorter longitudinal members 33 and 34 are provided adjacent the rear edge of plate 17 and similar longitudinal members 35 and 36 are positioned adjacent its front edge as well. Another short longitudinal member 37 is positioned adjacent to aperture 26.

The detailsof construction of one of the longer longitudinal members such as the member 27 is best illustrated in FIG. 8. As shown there, the member 27 provides a supporting surface 40 along a major portion of its length, and this surface 40 provides a support for the upper paper-supporting plate 15 when it is rotated into position on top of the lower plate 14. In addition, the member 27 is provided with a pair of raised pressure surfaces 4.1 and 42, and the function of these, as will be seen, is to provide a support for an adhesive material which will contact the rear surface of the photographic paper when an enlargement is to be made. As shown in FIG. 8, the raised pressure surface 42 is positioned so as to substantially overlie the aperture 25. In a similar manner, the raised pressure surface 41 is adapted to overlie the aperture 18. The functions of the apertures 18 and 25 is to permit the use of an adhesive material such as a cloth or paper tape 43 which is adhesive only on one side thereof since, as shown in FIG. 8, one can then place a length of such tape 43 upon the top of the pressure surface 42 with the adhesive side up, and then run the ends of the tape 43 through the aperture 25 and underneath the bottom surface of plate 17 so that the adhesive upper side of the tape 43 can then adhere tightly to the bottom surface of plate 17. As a result, it becomes readily possible to place a new section of tape 43 on the easel when it is found that the adhesive characteristics of the tape previously used have become impaired, and it is also possible to provide a substantial amount of surface along the bottom surface of plate 17 to which the tape 43 may adhere to ensure thereby that the tape will not be inadvertently removed when one attempts to remove from the easel a sheet of photosensitive paper which has been allowed to adhere to the tape. In a similar manner, the pressure surface 41 is covered with a piece of adhesive tape 44 which extends not only over the pressure surface 41 but also downwardly through the aperture 18 on each side of the pressure surface 41 and thence along the bottom surface of plate 17.

With respect to the shorter longitudinal members such as the member 37 of FIG. 3, for example, the constructional details thereof are best shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. FIG. 6 shows the raised pressure surface 45 as overlying the aperture 26 and also shows the use of an adhesive tape 46 which overlies the pressure surface 45 and extends through the aperture 26 so as to bear with its adhesive surface against the bottom edge of plate 17.

An alternative construction is shown in FIG. 9 which illustrates the use of a bracket 47 which may be integrally formed with the plate 17 or otherwise secured thereto as by welding, etc. The bracket '47 comprises an upstanding portion 48 and a horizontally extending portion 49 which is so positioned as to lie substantially adjacent to the pressure surface 50. The adhesive tape 51 is placed with its tacky surface facing upwardly over the top of the pressure surface 50 and then the end of the tape is placed through the gap which separates the bracket 49 from the upstanding projection 52 which carries the raised pressure surface 50 and thence under the bottom surface of the horizontal portion 49 so that the upper adhesive surface of the tape 51 can readily adhere thereto.

The description thus far has concerned itself entirely with the use of an adhesive tape to provide an adhesive or tacky surface upon each of the raised pressure surfaces. It is of course within the scope of this invention to use a coating upon each of the pressure surfaces of an adhesive material instead of using an adhesive tape. Preferably, such a coating should be re-usable so that it will retain its tacky characteristics after having been used a number of times, and it is Well within the scope of the invention as well to use a material which is adapted to be brushed on so that the user of the easel of the invention can brush on a new coating of an adhesive substance in the event that the pressure surfaces lose their desirably tack characteristics. Moreover, it is within the scope of the invention as well to use a tape which is adhesive on both sides although experience has shown that the material specifically referred to above, i.e., a material which is adhesive only on one side, is preferable.

As shown in FIG. 2, the upper plate 15 which is hinged to the lower plate 14 comprises essentially a flat plate of smooth material having raised upper and left side edges 55 and 56 Whose function is to provide guides for the positioning of the paper on top of the easel. In other words, in normal usage the operator will place a sheet of photosensitive paper upon the easel and move it into position so that the upper and lefthand edges of the paper will abut against the raised strips 55 and 56.

With the upper member 15 rotated downwardly so as to overlie the lower member 14, it can be seen that the upper member 15 defines an aperture therein at each location of a pressure surface on the lower plate 14. Each aperture in the upper plate 15 is made sufficiently large so as to provide adequate clearance and thereby enable the raised pressure surface on the lower plate to fit entirely within the corresponding aperture in the upper plate.

As previously stated, the bottom surface of the upper plate 15 rests upon and is supported by the flat surface 40 of each of the longitudinal members 27 and 28. If the amount of vertical distance by which the pressure surface 42 of FIG. 8 is raised above the surface 40 is made to substantially equal the thickness of the upper plate 15, it will be apparent that when the upper plate 15 is lowered into position atop plate 14, the raised pressure surface 42 will lie almost exactly flush with the upper surface of the upper plate 15 as shown in FIG. 5. The shorter longitudinal members such as those designated at 35, 36 and 37 of FIG. 3, may similarly be constructed as at FIG. 7 with a supporting surface 60 for the lower plate 14 which is depressed below the pressure surface 45 by an amount substantially equal to the thickness of the plate 14 so that a smooth surface is provided which will enable holding the photographic paper in a plane position.

From the preceding description, it will be readily apparent how the easel of the invention is to be used in practice. When the upper paper-supporting surface 15 is rotated into position as in FIG. 4, the user may place a sheet of photosensitive paper on the easel properly positioned relative to the margin-defining members 55 and 56, and the various pressure surfaces underlying the rear surface of the paper will then adhere to such rear surface, if the paper is pressed downwardly onto the adhesive, and thus prevent the paper from moving out of position during the enlarging process. When it is desired to remove the paper from the easel, all that is necessary is for the user to grasp the upper surface 15 by the projecting tab 60 (FIG. 2) and rotate the upper surface 15 upwardly away from the lower surface 14. This immediately causes a rupture in the adhesive connection between each of the pressure surfaces and the back surface of the paper so that the paper can then can very readily be removed from the upper surface 15.

FIG. 8 illustrates a means which may be provided to facilitate the positioning of the entire easel upon the larger mounting board 11. Thus, along one edge of the lower plate 17, a plurality of slots 6-1 and 62 are provided. A length of adhesive tape 63, with its adhesive side facing downwardly, is then effectively threaded through the slots 61 and 62 so that an adhesive surface is provided along the bottom edge of plate 17 between the slots 61 and 62. This adhesive tape is readily held onto the plate 17 by means of the adhesive connection which then exists between the tape 63 and the upper surface of plate 17.

It will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the easel of this invention may be made of metal, wood, plastic, or any suitable combination of such materials. The various longitudinal members 27, 28 and also 33 37 may be formed integrally with bottom plate 17 or may be glued, cemented, or welded together. It is readily apparent that the easel of FIGS. 2 and 3 is particularly adapted for making enlargements of several sizes as represented by 16 which designates a smalled sized paper (such as the common 5" x 7") and 16a which represents the larger, commonly used 8" x 10 size, and it is of course within the scope of the invention to con struct the easel to accommodate various sizes of commonly used enlarging paper.

The novel features of this invention have been described as incorporated in a photographic enlarging easel. It should be understood, however, that such features are not necessarily limited to such use but are instead applicable to easels generally or to similar devices in which it is desired to hold a flat sheet of paper or the like in a predetermined position, with the facility of readily removing such sheet, and without requiring that any mask or similar means be placed upon the sheet to hold it in position.

Having described an improved photographic enlarging easel in .one specific embodiment of my invention, I desire it to be understood that various modifications and alterations may be made to the specific forms shown without departing from the spirit and scope of my in vention.

What I claim is:

1. An easel comprising in combination, a base plate,

a plurality of spaced planar pressure surfaces each carried by and supported above the surface of said base plate so as to be mutually coplanar,

a supporting plate adapted to be moved to a predetermined position atop said base plate,

said supporting plate having a planar top surface adapted to support a sheet of paper,

a plurality of apertures in said supporting plate each of such a position and size as to receive a respective one of said planar pressure surfaces,

means for maintaining said supporting plate in said predetermined position with the upper surface of said supporting plate substantially coplanar with the top of each planar pressure surface disposed within one of said apertures,

and means applied to the top of each of said planar pressuresurfaces to provide a plurality of spaced tacky surfaces for holding a sheet of paper in position on said supporting plate.

2. The easel of claim 1 in which said supporting plate and said base plate are hingedly connected together.

3. The easel of claim 1 which includes at least one piece of adhesive tape afiixed to said pressure surfaces with an adhesive surface of said tape facing outwardly to provide said tacky surface.

4. The easel of claim 3 in which said base plate defines at least one aperture therein adjacent each said planar pressure surface, said adhesive tape having a tacky surface on only one side thereof, said tape overlying said pressure surface and also extending through the associated aperture and having its single tacky surface fastened to the underside of said base plate.

5. The easel of claim 1 which includes at least one upstanding longitudinal member supported by said base plate, said member defining a first surface for supporting said supporting plate and also defining at least one of said pressure surfaces.

6. The easel of claim 5 in which said pressure surface defined by said longitudinal member is raised above said first surface by an amount substantially equaling the thickness of said supporting plate so that said pressure surfaces and the top of said supporting plate are substantially coplanar when said supporting plate is moved to its predetermined position in which it rests upon said first surface.

7. The easel of claim 3 which includes a bracket defining a planar bottom surface adjacent opposite edges of at least one of said pressure surfaces, said tape having only one pressure surface and being disposed on said pressure surface with its non-adhesive surface in contact with said pressure surface, opposite ends of said tape being secured to said planar bottom surfaces of said brackets.

8. The easel of claim 1 in which the said base plate is provided with at least two spaced slots adjacent and normal to an edge of said plate, and a length of adhesive tape which is tacky on only one surface thereof being threaded through said slots so as to lie along the bottom surface of said base plate between said two slots with its nontacky surface in contact with said bottom surface and with portions of said tape overlying the top surface of 8 said base plate with the tacky surface thereof adhering to References Cit d the top surface of said base plate.

9. The easel of claim "1 in which said supporting plate UNITED STATES PATENTS includes means for positioning a sheet of paper or the like 2,799,205 7/1957 Bacslc in a predetermined position. r 2,803,166 8/ 1957 Van Deusen 355-72 10. The easel of claim 1 in which said ressure sur faces and the respectively associated aperture in the sup- NORTON ANSHER Prlmary Exammer porting plate are disposed over the surface of the easel to R. A. WINTERCORN, Assistant Examiner permit the securing of at least two commonly used sizes of paper or the like to said supporting plate with each 10 US. Cl. X.R. size being held at least adjacent each corner thereof. 35573, 76

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