US794639A

US794639A - Loading device for automatic photograph-machines.

Info

Publication number: US794639A
Application number: US18903404A
Authority: US
Inventors: George N Pifer
Original assignee: AMERICAN AUTOMATIC PHOTOGRAPH Co
Current assignee: AMERICAN AUTOMATIC PHOTOGRAPH Co
Priority date: 1904-01-14
Filing date: 1904-01-14
Publication date: 1905-07-11
Anticipated expiration: 1922-07-11

Description

No. 794,639. I PATENTED JULY 11, 1905.

v G. N. PIPER. LOADING DEVICE FOR AUTOMATIC PHOTOGRAPH MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 14, 1004.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1 PATENTED JULY 11, 1905.

7 G. N. PIPER.

' LOADING DEVICE FOR AUTOMATIC PHOTOGRAPH MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED JAN, 14, 19,04.

2 BHBETSSHEET Z.

UNITED STATES I Patented July 11, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE N. PIFER, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE AMERICAN AUTOMATIC PHOTOGRAPH COMPANY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO. A COR- PORATION OF OHIO.

LOADING DEVICE FOR AUTOMATIC PHOTOGRAPH-MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 794,639, dated July 11, 1905. Application filed January 14:, 1904- Serial No. 189,084.

T at whom it may concern,-

Be it known that I, GEORGE N. PIFER, a citizen of the United States, residing in Cleveland, Ohio, have invented certain Improvements in Loading Devices for Automatic Photograph-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention consists of certain improvements in the means for loading automatic 1o photographic apparatus shown and described in my Patent No. 708,164, dated September 2, 1902, the objects of my present invention being to simplify and cheapen the construction of the plate-holder and of the re- I 5 movable closure whereby the plates are normally retained therein, and to increase the capacity of the holder, so as to provide for a much greater number of exposures than be fore, without the necessity of recharging the machine.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a sectional view illustrating my improved plate-holder and those parts of an automatic photographmachine in connection with which said plate -holder is intended to be used, the parts being shown in the position occupied by them when the holder is first introduced into the machine and before the removal of the temporary closures, whereby 0 the plates are normallyretained in the holder.

Fig. 2 is a similar View showing the temporary closures removed and the plates in position for being fed into the machine. Fig. 3 is a transverse section on the line a a, Fig.2. 3 5 Fig. 4 is a plan view of the device shownin Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a sectional view illustrating a single plate-holder constructed in accordance with my invention; and Fig. 6 is a sectional view of the lower portion of a plateholder, illustrating a modified form of removable closure therefor.

In the drawings, 1 represents part of thefrom a holder revolubly mounted upon the structure 1. This holder consists in the present instance of a cylindrical block 3, having therein four vertical cylindrical bores 4, each permanently closed at the top, said block being composed of paper, wood, or other material which will combine the qualities of lightness and cheapness. The block 3 is preferably formed with a central opening in the bottom for the reception of the upper end of a short vertical shaft or spindle 5, which has a bearing upon the structure 1 of the machine and is provided below the same with a ratchet-wheel 6, with which is adapted to engage a pawl 7, pivotally mounted upon the sliding pusher 2, so that as the latter is reciprocated intermittent movements of partial rotation will be imparted to the ratchet-wheel 6, and hence to the block 3. Each of the bores 4 in said block carries a column of sensitive plates 8, which are in the first instance fed face downward into said bores while the block 3 is held in an inverted position, a ball or other weight 9 being first inserted in one of the bores for a purpose described hereinafter. 4 in the inverted holder has been filled almost to the top with the sensitive plates 8, each bore is closed by means of a concavoconvex disk 10, of rubber or other flexible material, which fits snugly against the walls of the bore and by reason of its frictional hold upon said walls not only retains its position in the bore against the pressure exerted upon it by the column of plates whenthe holder has been turned right side up, but it also serves to seal the bore against the entrance of light. The concave-convex disk 10 has secured to it a looped cord or wire 11, which When each of the bores when the disk has been properly applied to the bore of the tube projects beyond said disk, as shown in Fig. 1.

In applying the plate-holder to the machine the central opening in the bottom of the same is fitted upon the projecting upper end of the shaft or spindle 5, which may, if desired, be square or otherwise shaped,'so as to fit a correspondingly-shaped opening in plate-holder 3 provided with a temporary the holder, and thus insure rotation of the latter when the shaft or spindle is rotated. l

When thus adjusted, one of the bores of the plate-holder is vertically in line with an opening 12 in the lower portion of the structure 1, which openin is of lesser diameter than the diameter of the plate-holder bore or of the sensitized plates contained therein. The temporary closure 10 of said bore of the plate holder can therefore be readily re moved by means of a suitable implement engaging the looped cord or wire 1 1 of each closure, a downward pull upon said loop drawing downward the center portion of the flexible disk 10, so as to first reverse the direction of its concavity and then withdraw the disk through the opening 12, the lowermost plate of the column of plates in the bore dropping onto the support a'llorded by the structure 1., and by partially rotating the block 8 another of its columns of plates can be brought into line with the opening 12, the closure 10 removed, and so on until all of said closures have been withdrawn. As the first of the free columns of plates comes over the opening 13 in the pusher-slide 2 it drops into said opening, so as to be ejected when the pusherslide is projected. As the pusher-slide 2 is reciprocated so as to eject the plate movement to the extent of a quarter-turn is imparted to the ratchet-wheel 6 and plateholder 3, so as to bring another column of plates into position to feed its lowermost plate into the opening 13 of the pusher-slkle when the latter is retracted, and this operation is repeated on each reciprocation of said pushel slide until all of the plates in all of the bores of the holder are discharged, the final action being to permit the ball or weight 9 to drop through the opening 13 and through an opening 14 in the structure 1 for the purpose of tripping the cut-0H device of the machine.

My invention is, as will be evident, applicable to plate-holders having a single bore equally as well as to plate-holders having a plurality of bores, and in Fig. 5 I have illustrated suchsingle plate-holder 3, which instead of being supported upon a revoluble shaft has a shoulder 15 resting upon a tube 16, which is supported upon a portion of the fixed structure of the machine and extends down to or supports the structure 1, in which the pusher-slide is guided. Either the support of the plate-holder upon the shaft 5, as in Figs. 1 and 2, or the support of the single holder by means of its shoulder 15 upon the tube 16 relieves the pusher-slide from the weight of the holder, and thereby lessens the friction upon said slide which would interfere with its free reciprocation.

In carrying out my invention also other forms of externally-accessible closure for the plate-holder may be employed. For instance, in Fig. 6 I have shown the open end of the closure consisting of a flat disk 17, secured to the lower end of the holder by means of a strip or sheet 18 of thin paper, so that after the holder has been properly inserted into the receiving-tube 16 of the machine the closure 17 can be readily removed either by the action of the pusher-slide 2 or by a similar device which will tear or sever the thin paperretainer, whereby the disk is normally held in place and will thus permit said disk to be thrust transversely away from the lower end of the tube, so as to permit of the descent of the plates in the holder and their delivery from the open end of the same.

By providing a holder for the plates with a temporary and removable closure accessible from the outside of the holder the necessity of providing the holder with a movable cap or other movable member at its upper end, as in my previous patent, No. 708,164, is rendered unnecessary and the construction of the holder is simplified and cheapened, since the same can be made of wood or paper in one piece instead of being constructed of metal in more than one piece. Hence the holder when empty can be discarded instead of being returned for refilling. Furthermore, the operation of the holder is not interfered with by the rusting in place of a metallic cap. Hence the improved holder is more certain in its action than the patented holder, and the temporary closure now employed is also materially simplified and cheapened as compared with a closure of the character shown and described in said patent.

By providing the machine with a plateholder carrying a plurality of columns of plates the capacity of the same is correspondingly increased, thereby resulting in a desirable increase in the number of exposures permitted between successive chargings of the machine.

Any desired form. of movable carrier for conveying the plate from the plate-holder to the point of discharge may be used, the reciprocating pusher being simply one form of device available for the purpose.

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. Means forloading a photograpllic appa ratus, comprising a receptacle for carrying a column of photographic plates and a re movable closure at one end of said receptacle, said closure having a portion accessible from the outside of the receptacle, whereby it can be removed by external means, substantially as specified.

2. Means for loading a photographic apparatus, comprising a receptacle for carrying a column of photographic plates, said receptacle being permanently closed at one end and having a removable closure at the opposite end, which closure has a portion accessible from the outside of the receptacle, whereby it can be removed therefromby external means, substantially as specified.

3. Means for loading a photographic apparatus, comprising a receptacle for containing a column ofphotographic plates and a removable closurefor one end of said receptacle, said closure comprising a disk of flexible material, having a downwardly-extended portion whereby it can be engaged by externally-operating means to effect removal of 1siaid temporary closure, substantially as speci- 4. Means for loading a photographic apparatus, comprising a receptacle for carrying a column of photographic plates and a disk of flexible material serving as a tem orary closure at one end of said receptac e, said disk having a looped cord or wire engaging the same and extending downwardly from said disk, substantially as specified.

5. Means for loading a photographic apparatus, comprising, in combination, a receptacle carrying a plurality of columns of photographic plates, a movable pusher, and means for mounting said receptacle so that it is movable in respect to said pusher, whereby the columns of plates may be brought successively into position to feed the pusher, substantially as specified.

6. Means for loading a photographic apparatus, comprising, in combination, a receptacle carrying a plurality of columns of photographic plates, a movable pusher, and means for revolubly mounting said receptacle, whereby its columns of plates may be brought successively into position to feed the pusher, substantially as specified.

7. Means for loading a photographic apparatus, comprising, in combination, a receptacle carrying a plurality of columns of photographic plates, a movable pusher, means for mounting the receptacle so that it can rotate, and means whereby the intermittent movement of the pusher is caused to impart intermittent movements of partial rotation to 316 plate-receptacle, substantially as speci- In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GEORGE N. PIFER.

Witnesses:

JAMEs MGMORRIs, Jos. H. KLEIN.