US361826A

US361826A - William h

Info

Publication number: US361826A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1887-04-26
Anticipated expiration: 1904-04-26

Description

(No Model.)

. W. H. LEWIS.

FOLDING TOP FOR GAMERA STANDS.

Patented Apr. 26, 1887.

I ((lllllllm) v WITNESS ATTORNEYS.

N PETERS. Pimlohlhngmphcn Wnhinglnn. D. C.

' UNITED, STATES PATENT OFFICE.

XVILLIAM H. LEWVIS,

OF BROOKLYN, ASSIGNOR TO E. & H. T. ANTHONY &

(30., OF'NEW YORK, N. Y.

FOLDING TOP FOR CAMERA-STANDS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 361,826, dated April 26, 1887.

Application filed February 7, 1887. Serial No. 226,778. (No model.) I

To aZ Z whom it may concern:

Be 1t known that I, 'WILLIAM H. LEWIS, of the city of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Folding Top for Camera- Stands, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to the tops of stands or trlpods for photographic cameras and for other objects or purposes, which tops, when not 1n use for carrying the camera, 850., are capable of being folded, so as to occupy less space or compass, to facilitate transportation and packing away.

The invention consists in a folding camerastand top of novel construction, whereby it may not only be folded into a vertical position and be made to occupy a very contracted space when folded, but whereby great strength and stability are secured and every convenience afforded for attaching and detaching the camera and legs of the tripod or stand, substantially as hereinafter described.

Reference isto be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, lll'WhlOh similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 represents a plan View of my improved folding top when extended as for use and showing the legs of the stand in part attached. Fig. 2 is an elevation of the same, also showing by dottedlines the position that the folding top assumes when detached from the legs of the stand and folded, and Fig. 3 is a partly sectional elevation showing a modified construction of the folding top.

A A are the folding arms or wings of the camerastand top, upon the upper edges of whlch, when extended, the camera rests. These arms or wings are made of flat bars hinged or pivoted at their inner ends horizontally, so as to independently swing vertically, their pivots 0 passing through them and through supports d, bent or shaped to space the arms at equal distances apart, as required, and to form the fixed portions of the hinged joints. Said supports d, when the pivots c are riveted or secured in place, also serve as braces to the arms A A. These supports d are arranged around a central tube, 6, which in Figs. 1 and 2 projects upward from a central disk or plate, f, that, when the arms A A are thrown into a horizontal position, serves to support and keep them in such position; but, as shown in Fig. 3, this plate f might be dispensed with and the inner ends of the arms A A made square or straight to bear against the sides of the tube 6 to similarly hold said arms in position when extended. The tube e also serves to carry or form a bearing for the thumb-screw B, which is arranged to pass upward from beneath for manipulation from below, and is provided with a screw-thread, g, at its top, that projects above the tube 6 and arms A A when down, to provide for its being screwed into or out of the bottom of the camera, or screw-threaded box therein, for the purpose of centering and attaching or detaching the camera to or from the top, as required.

The outer ends of the armsA A are bent or flared to form wings h h, which are provided with the usual pins,i i, for the legs 0 G of the camerastand to engage with when fitting said legs to the stand-top, and afterward binding or locking them at their properstretch by the ordinary or any suitable means.

To give increased strength and stability to the pivoted or folding arms A A, I construct each arm of two independent strips parallel with each other and at a suitable distance apart throughout their straight portions, bending their outer ends to form the wings h h and interposing between their straight portions blocks or washers is k, which are riveted to their places. This construction not onlygives increased strength to the arms, but also a large bearing or supporting surface thereto.

The folding top, when not in use and when detached from the legs of the stand and from the camera, may be folded into an exceedingly compact space and into a most convenient shape or form of package for carriage in the pocket'or elsewhere, the legs A A then being turned up into an approximately vertical position around the axial line of the top and screw B, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A folding top for camera and other like stands, having a series of more than two radial arms hinged or pivoted at or near their inner ends, and all adapted to fold and close upward about or around the axial line of the top into approximately parallel relation with said axial line, and to unfold into a horizontal position, substantially as specified.

2. In a folding top for camera and other like stands, the combination, with the hinged or pivoted arms adapted to fold upward about or around the axial line of the top, and to unfold into a horizontal position, of the central tube, 6, and the cameraholding screw B, essentially as described.

3. In a camera tripod or stand, the combination, with the fixed or central portion of the top, of the folding arms arranged to work on horizontal pivots to fold upward, and When let down provided with a rest to support them in horizontal position, the outer ends of said arms being constructed to form flaring wings for attachment and detachment of the legs of the stand, substantially as specified.

4, In afolding top for camera and other like stands,the combination, with the verticallyfolding arms, of the supports and braces d and the pivots c, essentially as described.

5. The combination, with the verticallyfolding arms of the top of the stand, having outer flaring wings h h, of the plate f, the tubular bearing e, and the screw B, substantially as specified.

6. In a folding top for camera and other like stands, the vertically-folding arms A A, constructed of spaced double bars having flaring Wings h h, adapted to provide for the attachment and detachment of the legs of the stand, in combination with the spacing blocks or pieces h, the supports and braces d, and the pivots c, essentially as described.

WILLIAM H. LEWIS.