US2033290A - Photographic copying machine - Google Patents

Description

March 10, 1936. P, LANDROCK PHOTOGRAPHIC COPYING MACHINE Filed Dec. 21, 1932 6 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR 2:5 JTORNEY P. LANDROCK 2,033,290

PHOTOGRAPHIC COPYING MACHINE March 10, 1936.

Filed Dec. 21, 1952 6 Sheets-$het 2 IN VEN T OR rmzjma mz %zs ATTO EY March 10, 1936. F'. LANDROCK PHOTOGRAPHIC COPYIN G MACHINE Filed Dec. 21, 1932 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 w w a 15 ATTO EY March 10, 1936 PHOTOGRAPHIG COPYING MACHINE 6 Sheets-"Sheet 4 Filed Dec. 21,

B Y M? v "L sA Timmy March 10, 1936. P. LANDROCK PHOTOGRAPHIC COPYING MACHINE Filed Dec. 21, 1932 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 BY W %ZIS ATTO EY Patented Mar. 10, 1936 PHOTOGRAPHIC COPYING MACHINE Paul Landrock, Rochester, N. Y., assi'gnor to Photostat Corporation, Providence, R. L, a corporation of Rhode Island Application December 21,1932. Serial No. 648,183

8 Claims. (01. 88-24) This invention relates to a photographic copying machine.

' An object of the invention is the provision of a simple and sturdy copying machine, of few parts, easy and comparatively inexpensive to construct, which is not liable to get out of order.

Another object is'the provision of such a machine so designed and constructed that it may be operated satisfactorily and efliciently by a comparatively inexperienced operator.

Still another object is the provision of a simple and compact machine with relatively few moving parts, in which actuation of the machine may be manually initiated, but which has various functions performed automatically.

A further object is the provision of a photographic copying machine in which the performance of an act in connection with placing the copy .to be photographed, such as the closing of the copy holder, for example, will automatically cause an exposure of the proper duration to be 3 made.

A still further object is .the provision of a photographic copying machine which, although simple and having but few parts, is substantially foolproof in operation. 1

To these and other ends the invention resides in certain improvements and combinations of parts, all as will be hereinafter more fully described, the novel features being pointedout in the claims at the end of the specification.

In the drawings: Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a photographic copying machine constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view of a'portion of the 'machine shown in Fig. 1, with parts broken away,

to illustrate the shutter of the camera;

40 Fig. 3 is a vertical section through the lower part of the camera body taken substantially on the line 33 of Fig. '1; I

Fig. 4 is a vertical section through a clutch,

taken substantially on the line 44 of Fig. 3;

45 Fig. 5 is a similar section through another clutch, taken substantially on the line 55 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a view of part of the mechanism used to prevent overrunning of the feed rollers;

50 Fig. 7 is a side elevation of a part of the camera, illustrating certain of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1, with the parts in a different position;

Fig. 8 isa view of a fragment of the opposite 3 side of the camera from that shown in Figs. 1 and 7; v

Fig. 9 is a vertical section taken substantially on the line 9-9 of Fig. 7;

Fig. 10 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially centrally through portion of the camera illustrating the sheet fading and severing 5 mechanism;

Fig. 11 is a general plan of the copy holder and the associated illuminating means; v

Fig. 12 is a side elevation of the copy holder in its closed position, with parts in vertical section; 10

' Fig. 13 is a view of a backing plate used in connection with the copy holder;

Fig. 14 is a view of the opposite side of the same backing plate;

Fig. 15 is a plan of the copy holder on a some- 15 what larger scale than Fig. 11, and with the illuminating means broken away;

Fig. 16 is a transverse section through the copy holder taken substantially on the line lG-IS of Fig. 15 illustrating the parts in their closed posi- 20 tion;

Fig. 1'7 is a fragmentary view of certain of the parts shown at the right hand end of Fig. 16, as they appear when the copy holder is in its open position; v 5

Fig. 18 is a side elevation somewhat similar to Fig. 12 but showing the copy holder in its open position;

Fig. 19 is a substantially horizontal sectionthrough the pneumatic cylinder for controlling 30 the, copy holder, and' Fig. 20 is a substantially vertical section through the same cylinder.

The same reference numerals throughout th several views indicate the same parts.

The machine illustrated in the accompanying drawings and described in detail in this specification as the preferred embodiment of the invention, is a machine particularly adapted for the rapid photographic copying of various docu- 40 ments and papers, at a predetermined constant size ratio (preferably one to one) It comprises,

in general, a base 30 having near its left hand end an upwardly extending casing or chamber 3| constituting the camera body, in the upper part of which is placed a roll box 32 accessible through a door 33. The roll box may carry a roll 3410f sensitized photographic material such as paper,

for example. The strip of sensitized material is gradually unwound from the roll 34, passed over a suitable guide roller 35, and led thence downwardly through the focal plane of the camera as indicated at 36.

Light enteringthe camera through the prism 31 and suitable lenses within the lens casing 38 passes through the .bellows 39 and to the focal plane, where the light falls upon the sheet material at 35 and causes an exposure of this sheet material.

After each exposure, theexposed portion of the sheet materi'alis moved out of the focal plane to bring a fresh unexposed'portion of the sheet material into the focal plane ready for the next exposure. This feeding may be accomplished, for example, by means of a feed roller 4 (Figs. 1, 3, and 10) engaging one side of the sheet material, while another roller M mounted on swing ing arms 42 presses the sheet material against the feed roller 60. The two rollers Q5 and 5! are preferably connectedto each other to rotate together, by means of a gear 43 on the shaft of the roller 45 meshing with another gear on the shaft of'the roller 46. I

Rotation of the rollers 65 and M feeds the sheet material downwardly past a severing knife 15 and into the lower part of the casing 38, where always kept reasonably tightly wound on the.

the sheet material is indicated at 46 and where it is preferably rewound on a suitable winding spool or' reel El held, for example, on the tapered driven trunnion 48 and the supporting trunnion 49 (Figs. 3 and 9) which supporting trunnion is normally held in proper efiective position by the spring 50 and may be withdrawn longitudinally against the action of the spring by .pulling on the external knob 5|, to' release the trunnion from the spool and permit the spool to'be withdrawn from the machine through a door 52.

The trunnion 48 may be driven in any suitable manner to produce the desired rotation of the spool 41 for rewinding purposes. For example, a pulley 55 may be mounted on the shaft of the feed roller 40 and connected by means of a coiled spring belt 56 to a pulley 51 on the shaft of the trunnion 48, so that rotation of the feed roller 40 causes rotation of the rewinding trunnion 48, but the coiled spring belt 56 may slip over the pulleys in known manner so that the sheet material is spool without being sion on it.

In many instances, the entire roll of sheet mabroken by too great a tenterial from the roll 34 will be exposed and re-' wound on the spool 41 before the spoolis removed from the machine to be developed and fixed. In other instances, however, it may be desired to develop part of a strip of sheet material without waiting for the entire strip to be exposed. This may be accomplished by cutting the strip at the proper point by means of the previously mentioned knife 45 (Fig. which may be actuated by means of an arm 50 (Figs. 1 and 10) engaging the knife to reciprocate it, which arm is preferably directly connected to. and operated by the external operating lever or arm 6| (Fig. 1).

The feed rollers 40 andll may be actuated in any suitable manner. It is an object of thepresent invention, however, to provide a machine which is substantially foolproof and which may be operated satisfactorily by a person having sub-' stantially no previous experience withv machines of this kind. To this end, novel and improvedmechanism of simplified construction is provided for operating the feed rolls.

Heretofore, it has been customary in machines of this same general characterto operate the feed rolls by means of a crank which has usually had to be turned repeatedly through a number of revolutions in order to produce the proper amount of feeding for each exposure. This has required the operators to have some experience, at

witht he attendant necessity of instructing the operator in the function and use of such a stop device.

In the simplified and foolproof construction according to the present invention, however, a lever )or arm is provided,which, upon a single oscillation through materially less than one complete revolution, is effective tov produce the desired amount of feeding of the sensitized sheet material. Thus, it is not necessary for an operator to be trainedto turn a crankthrough a certain number of revolutions, to to understand the use of a stop device. All that it is necessary for him to do, when using the simplified machine of the present invention, is to grasp the feeding arm or lever and give it one pull as far as it will go,

thi s being sufficient to produce the desired feeding,-

and 7, and is mountedfor oseillation about an axis H. A gear segment i2 is directly connected to the arm ID to move therewith. This gear segment, as plainly shown in the drawings, extends through only a small part of a complete circle.

A spring 73 coiled around a hub on the arm 10 tends to hold this arm in its extreme clockwise position, in which an edge of the gear segment 72 abutsagainst a suitable stop on the side of the casing 3|, such as the housing cooperating with the trunnion 49.

A pinion 15 mounted on the shaft of the feed roller 40 meshes with the gear teeth on. the gear segment 12. The radius of the pinion is materially less than the radius of the gear segment,

so that a single oscillation of the gear segment" through a minor( part of a single revolution will cause the necessary plurality of revolutions f the feed roller to feed the sheet material t ough the required distance. The relative proportions of the radii of the pinion andof the gear segment may be varied as circumstances may require, but in practice it is found to be satisfactory to have the radius of the gear 12 approximately te times the radius of the pinion l5. 4

To produce a feeding operation, the arm 10 is.

produces a predetermined pluralityof clockwise revolutions of the pinion 15 and of the feeding roller 40, thus feeding the sheet material accurately through exactly the predetermined amount necessary to remove the exposed portion of sheet material .from thejfocal plane and to bring a fresh unexposed portion into the focal plane.

When the single pull on the operating member v 10 has been completed, to the position shown in Fig. 7, the operator lets go of the arm 10 and the spring 13 causes it to move back from the positionv shown in Fig. 7 to its initial or normal position shown in Fig. 1. During this return-movement of the parts, the pinion .15 has a corresponding return movement in a counterclockwise direction,-but this does not affect the feed roller 40 because of the clutch arrangement now to be de scribed with reference to Figs. 3, '4, and 5.

The pinion I is not directly connected to the shaft of the feed roller 40 but is free to rotate thereon. A clutch block 18 is fixed to the shaft betweenthe pinion l5 and the wall of the casing movement.

of the feeding rollers would be undesirable, not

3|. The pinion is provided with an annular flange l9 cooperating with rollers or balls 80 pressed by springs 8| toward the small ends of tapered recesses in the block 18. These parts constitute a one-way clutch operating in a manner well understood in the art, whereby clockwise rotation of the pinion l5 and annular flange 19 is effective to cause corresponding clockwise rotation of the block 18 and the roller shaft on which it is mounted. counterclockwise rotation of the pinion 15, however, causes no corresponding movement of the block 18 or the feed roller.

A similar one-way clutch, but effective in an opposite direction, is interposed between the block 18 and the casing 3| so as to prevent any possibility of accidental retrograde or counterclockwise rotation of the feed roller while the pinion 15 is moving in a counterclockwise direction. Thus, as shown in Figs. 3 and 5, the block" has an annular flange 82 cooperating with balls or rollers 83 similarly pressed by springs toward the small ends of tapered recesses which extend in an opposite direction from'the recesses of the clutch shown in Fig. 4, these tapered recesses being formed in a block 85 fixed toithe casing 3|. These parts constitute a one-way clutch permitting the block 18 and the feed roller shaft to turn freely in a clockwise direction but preventing any retrograde or counterclockwise rotation.

By this arrangement, the movements of the feeding lever 10 are transferred to the feed roller 40 only when the lever is moved rightwardly or in a counterclockwise direction. When the lever 70 is released at the end of the stroke and is allowed to return to initialposition under the influence of the spring 13, the pinion 15 rotates idly on the feed roller shaft and the feed roller is held against reverse rotation by means of the clutch illustrated in Fig. 5.

Because of the comparatively great step-up ratio of the gearing between the lever 10 and the feed roller 40, it is obvious that the feed roller will move much faster than the rate of angular movement of the lever 10. If an operator moves the lever I0 comparatively rapidly while making a feeding operation, the feed rollers 40 and 4| may attain a considerable velocity and the incrtia of the parts might be so great that rotation of the rollers might continue to some extent even after the lever 10 had reached the limit of its Such additional or excess rotation only from the standpoint of waste of sensitized material, but also because it would be more difficult to cut the separate exposures apart after a long roll ofexposed sensitized material had been.

developed. Consequently, in furtherance of the object of making the machine simple and foolproof,-the machine is preferably provided with stop mechanism which will prevent any such exeess rotation or overthrow of the feed rollers, even if the feeding lever 10 is actuated rapidly or violently.

This is accomplished, in the present instance, by stop means actuated by the gear segment 12 when it reaches its predetermined limit of motion. The previously mentioned adjustable abutment screw 16 on the gear segment 12 is adapted,

as previously stated, to cooperate with an abutshaft 92 which is capable of slight oscillation and which extends through the casing 3| from one side to the other. A spring 93 normally pulls the lever 9| in a clockwise direction and holds it at the extreme rightward limit of its motion, where the left hand end of a slot 94 in the lever engages a stud 95 screwed ttough the slot and into the casing. The arm 9| can move counterclockwise or leftwardly against the influence of the spring 93 to a limited extent 'until the left hand edge of the arm comes into contact with a-stop member 96 in the form of a lug or plate securely fastened to the casing 9|.

As the gear segment 12 is swung leftwardly or in a counterclockwise direction by actuation of the lever Hi, the adjustable abutment screw 16 comes into contact with the ear 90 on the lever 9| and thus moves the lever'slightly leftwardly until it, in turn, comes into contact with the stop plate 96, when further motion of the parts is arrested. This determines the extreme limit of motion of the operating lever 10 and gear segment 12.

When the, lever 9| is turned slightly as above described, a slight counterclockwise rotation of the shaft 92 is thereby produced, which moves an arm 99 (Figs. 3, 6, and 8) fixed to the opposite end of the shaft 92, which are 98 presses upon and moves an arm 99 of a two armed lever pivoted at I00 to the casing; The other arm |0| of this lever, normally pulled downwardly by a spring I02, has an end which, when it is elevated, constitutes a pawl engaging teeth I03 of a ratchet fixed to the shaft of the feed roller 40, thus stopping the rotation of the feed roller and preventing it from continuing to rotate by momentum after the feeding lever 10 has reached the limit of its motion.

Thus it is seen that the feeding lever 10, at the end of its stroke, operates stop mechanism for stopping the rotation of the feed rollers so that the sensitized sheet material is fed accurately {through the same distance each time that the claimed per se in this application but forms the subject matter of a co-pending divisional application, Serial No. 707,001, filed Jan. 17, 1934.

Mounted near the right hand end of the base 30 of the machine is a copy holder for holding the articles to be photographed in proper position in the photographic field of the camera. This copy holder may comprise, for example, a base. or body plate 0 suitably mounted on the base 30, and a holding member such as the transparent plate ill (of glass or other suitable material) held in a frame! hinged to the body at H3. Springs ||4 normally tend to throw the holding member I, III upwardly to the open position shown in Fig. 18, but permit it to be forced downwardly when desired to the closed position shown in Fig. 12, in which the holding member will overlie the article to be photographed and hold it down flat in the photographic field of the camera. The copy holder is substantially centered under the prism 31, of course, so that light rays from objects held by the copy holder may pass upwardly to the prism, be bent by the prism through approximately a right angle, and enter A stop member such as the link us (Fig. 1e)

' pivoted to the frame IIZ and extending through a slot in the base member I I0, is provided for limiting the upward movement of the frame under the influence of the spring H0. A coil spring H6 may surround the link I I5 beneath the plate I I0, as plainly shown in the drawings, to provide cushioning means for stopping the upward movement without jar or undue strain.

Suitable guide pins may be provided for accurately positioning the documents or other copy to be photographed, especially when it is intended to use the machine for photographing a series of documents of substantially the same size. Guide pins I20 may be provided along theright hand, side of jzhecopy holder, and other guide pins I 2'Ia1ong the -back edge of the copy holder, as indicated particularly in Fig. 15, which pins may'all be of the construction indicated in Figs.

back of the copy holder,- the documents to be copied can thus be accurately positioned in predetermined relation to the photographic field 0f the camera, as" by sliding a document rearwardly (when theframe H2 is open) with its right hand edge in contact with the side pins I20, until the rear edge comes into contact with the back pins I2I. A document thus positioned is shown at I25 in Figs. 15, 16, and 17. J

In many cases, when an exposure is made,-

the field of view .of the camera takes in not only the actual document itself but a slight margin around the edge of the document. In other cases, even when the field of view of the camera is adjusted to take in only the document itself,

' it sometimes happens that one or several docuthe background on which the document is laid of substantially the same color as the document itself, so that any margin which may-appear around the document in the finished photoments of the series being photographed-may have frayed edges or otherwise be slightly smaller than the standard size, in which case the r'esulting photographic copy would show a slight margin in addition to the documentitself.

In either case, it is usually desirable to have graphic co y will be of substantially the same color as .the document and-not of a conspicuous contrasting color. This result of a margin of the same color as the document can not be attained readily by coloring the copy holder base "itself, because the documents to be photographed I are frequentlyof materially different colors. For

example, original documents to be photographed usually have writing or printing in black or dark colored letters on a white oflight background, and in'such cases it would be desirable to have "the margin around the documents also of a white or, light colored nature. In other cases, it may bedesired with this copying machine to photoraph photographic copies previously made of original documents. Such photographic copies,

frequently called negatives inthe photocopying art, usually have the colors ofthe original docuzment reversed; that is, the writing or printing on the photographic copy will appear in white or light colored letters on a background which aoaaaeo is black or dark colored. When photographing such articles, it is desirable to have the margin around the document of a black or dark colored nature. e

In order to accommodate the copy holder to eflicient and satisfactory copying of both classes of documents, the-present invention provides a reversible backing plate of thin sheet material such as metal, indicated at I30 in Figs. 13 to 18 inclusive. One side of this plate is white or of a light color, as indicated in Fig. 13, while the opposite side is black or of a dark color, as indieated in Fig. 14. The plate has holes I3I near its rear edge to fit over the rear guide pins I2I, and holes I32 at each of its opposite side edges,

one paii o f such holes I32 fitting over the, side guide pins I20 when the plate has one side up, and the other pair of holes I32' fitting over the pins I20 when the plate is reversed ,with the other side up. v I

This plate,-as will be plainly-seen from Figs.

15 and 16, for example, is of greater lengthand breadth than the size of the document to be photographed, so that amargin is provided around all "four sides of the document, which margin may be changed in color by turning the plate I30 over. Thus the apparatus is adapted for quick and easy copying of documents with either white backgrounds or black backgrounds. It will also benoted that the plate I30 has its edges just inside the frame I.I2 which holds the transparent plate III, so that when the copy holder is closedthe transparent plate rests upon the document on the backing plate I30 but the frame II2 does not contact or interfere with the plate I30 or with the base plate I I0.

Illuminating means is provided for giving the proper illuminationto articles held in, the copy holder. Such-illuminating means may comprise, for example, electric lamps I40 preferably arranged in the positions shown in Fig. 11 within a pair of lamp housings I mounted on brackets I42 (Fig. 1) secured as by means of thumb screws I43 to outwardly extending flanges I on the copy-holder plate 0-. I

It "is found that such illuminating means, arranged as shown in casingsproportioned and placed substantially as shown iii the drawings,

give excellent illumination over most of the area of the copy holder, but that near the center of eachend of the copy holder there isa small area having aless intensity of illumination than other parts of the copy holder. In order to remedy this, the present invention provides a pair of reflectors I50 in'the form of upstanding members mounted on the front and back edges of the frame II2 to move bodily with the frame in its opening and closing movements. These reflectors I50 are found to be eificient and satisfactory if formed merely as thin upstanding plates having their inner surfaces painted or enameled white. It will be noted from Fig. 1 that these reflectors I50 do not extend the entire length of each"end of the copyho der, .but are materially narrower than the copy older, being approximately the width of the dark spots for of the copy holder which would otherwise be darker than the rest of the copy'holder.

According to the present invention/the camera shutter and preferably. also the illuminating and closing movements of the copy holder. Thus efflcient and'rapid operation is secured, because as soon as the copy holder is closed, thelights go on and the shutter is opened to start an exposure, and as soon as the copy holder is opened, the

shutter is closed to stop the exposure and the lights go off not only to save electricity but to calfattention forcibly to the fact that the apparatus is ready for the removal of the photographed document and the insertion of the next document.

To accomplish these ends, a connection is provided between the camera shutter and the copy holder frame II2. This connection, in the present preferred embodiment, comprises the construction best shown in Fig. 1, in which a short coiled spring" I has its lower end attached to the copy holder .frame H2 and-its upper end attached to a cord I 56 extending upwardlythrough a guiding eyelet I51 and to a member I58 for controlling the shutter. The member I58 may be a wheel. or pulley around which the cord I56 extends, which wheel or pulley may be mounted'on the shaft I59 (Fig. 2) carrying a shutter flap I60 which, in its closed position, extends over the end of a tube I6I as shown in Fig. 2 so as to prevent passage of light into the camera. When the pulley I58 is rotated in a clockwise direction, the consequent turning of the shaft I59 moves the flap I60 tothe open position illustrated in dotted lines in Fig. 2 so that light entering through the prism and lens system can-pass the shutter. A spring I62 normallyholds the shutter closed."

When the copy holder is open or in the position shown in Fig. 18, the cord I56 is slack and the shutter is closed. As the copy holder is closed, near the lower limit of its motion the cord I56 is tensioned and pulled downwardly, which turns the pulley I58 and opens the shutter, holding it open until the copy holder is again opened, at which time the shutter is closed. The illuminating means, as above stated, are

I preferably also controlled from; the copy holder.

To this end there may be provided an. electric switch of the plunger type indicated diagrammatically at I65 in Figs. 12 and 18, the switch being closed by depressing a plunger, I 66' and opened by releasing the plunger. The, switch is mounted in such position that the plunger I66 will be depressed upon the closing of the copy holder frame III, as shown in Fig. 12, and will be permitted to rise when the copy holder is opened, as in Fig. 18. The switch, of course, is

' connected to an electric circuit controlling the ilso that no experience is necessary to o luminating lamps I40. -Thus, when the copy holder is closed, the switch is closed and the lamps are lit, and when the copy holder is opened the switch is opened and the lamps are extinguished. Preferably the switch I65 is the only switch effective to light the lights,. so that it is not possible to light them except by closing the copy holderor otherwise depressing the plunger I86. Thus waste of current is eliminated and a careless operator can not leave the lights burning continuously even if he wishes to.

.In furtherance ofthe object of making the copying machine extremely simple and foolproof, rate it, the present invention provides automa ic timing mechanism for holding the copy holder closed during a predetermined amount of time necessary for making the proper exposure, and for then opening the copy holder. This timing mechanism may be of any suitable construction for accomplishing this purpose, but according to the L plate I I0 of. the copy holder is a pneumatic cylin= air behind the piston.

present preferred embodiment it is made as indicated particularly in Figs. 12 15, and 18 to 20 inclusive, to which reference will now be made.

Mounted near the left hand edge of the base der I10 having within it a piston I provided with suitable packing I12 and connected to a connecting rod or link I13. When the piston-is drawn forwardly (or to the right when viewed as in Figs. 19 and 20) air is readily admitted behind rearward travel after a predetermined forward stroke.

The forward end of the connecting link I18 is. 2

pivoted to a lever I the lower end of which is pivotally mounted at I8I on a bracket I82 securedto a fixed part such as the plate IIO. A spring I83 connected to the lever I80 and to anyone of a series of holes in the plate I84, pulls rearwardly on the lever I80 and thus tends to move the piston rearwardly within the cylinder I 10.

At its upper end, the lever I80 carries a roller I85 laterally offset from the lever and in the plane of a cam member I86 which is pivoted at I81 to a bracket I88 secured to the frame N2 of the movable part of the copy holder. A pin I88 on the cam I86 rides in an arcuate slot I60 of the bracket I88 to limit the extent of oscillation of 10 the piston through a check valve I15 mounted H2 is depressed to close the copy holder, the 50 lower corner of the cam I86 comes down just behind (to the left when viewed as in Fig. 18) the roller I86, and the inclined forward edge of the cam causes the roller I85 to move forwardly, thus pulling the piston I'II forwardly and admitting Then, just as the copy holder reaches its fully closed position, the roller I85 rides around the front comer of the cam I86 and begins to ride rearwardly on the top edge of the cam under the influence of the spring 60 I83. The position of the parts at this moment is shown in Fig. 12. As soon as the roller has caught the upper edge of the cam in this manner, the roller holds the cam and consequently the frame II! against upward movement under they;

influence of the spring Ill, and thus the operator who depressedthe copy holder frame can now let go of it.

The roller I86 now rides rearwardly along the upper surface of thecam I86 but this rearward 7o movement is comparatively slow because of the, dashpot action of the cylinder I10 and piston I1 I, the air escaping from behind the piston only at a relatively slow rate determined by the adjust ment of the needle valve m. inallyrthe roller 75 in the drawings.

I85 passes beyond the upper rear cornea or the cam, so that it no longerholds the cam downwardly and thus the spring I M is permitted to raise the frame H2 and cam I86 upwardly to the open position shown in Fig. 18. During this C upward movement, the cam oscillates in a counterclockwise direction about its pivot I87 against the tension of the spring i9I as'the rear inclined edge of the cam rides along the roller I85 which is now substantially stationary, and after the cam has fully passed above the roller, the spring I9I snapsthe cam back to its initial position shown Thus, by means of this timing mechanism, the copy holder is maintained closed during a pre-- determined period of time which is capable of adjustment by means of the member I19. So long as the copy holder is closed the camera shutter is open and the lights are lit.. At the end of the predetermined time, the copy holder is automatically opened without any attention on the part of the operator, and concomitantly with the opening the camera shutter is closed and the lights are extinguished. The photographed document can" then be removed from the copy holder, the next document to be photographed can be placed therein, and, after pulling the lever III to feed the sheet material, the copy holder can be again closed to hold the document flat on the copy holder and to open the shutter and light the lights for the next exposure.

A hand piece I95 may be provided at the forward left hand corner of the frame H2 to be conveniently grasped by the operator for closing the copy holder.

A brief outline of the operation 'of the machine may be convenient at this point. With the copy holder in the open position shown in Fig. 18,

the document to be copied is placed within the copy holder, preferably against the side guide pins I20 and therearguide pins I2i. If the document to be copied has a white or light colored background the backing plate I38 is used with its light side uppermost as in Fig. 13, whereas if the document to be copied has a dark or black background the plate I38 is turned over so that its dark side is uppermost as in Fig. 14.

The operator then grasps the hand piece I95 and depresses the copy holder frame II2 to the v extreme downward limit of its motion. The roller I85 immediately snaps around the corner of and engages the top of the cam I86, which holds the copy holder in closed position so that the operator can immediately let go of it.

The last portion of the downward'movement of the copy holder frame is effective to depress the switch plunger I66 to render the-illuminating means effective, andto tension the cord I55 to open the camera shutter. Thus the actual exposure beginswhen the copy holder is closed, the transparent plate Ill meanwhile holding the document flat and accurately positioned in the photographic field of the camera. I I v No further attention to the exposure is necessary on the part of the operator. He does not have to time the exposure, as this is all done automatically by the timing mechanism, which may be adjusted at the factory making the machine, or by a factory representative installing the machine. No focusing of the camera is necessary, as the camera is preferably of the fixed focus type, always focused on the-copy holder which is in fixed position relative to the camera.

chine satisfactorily, because anyone without previous experience can at least learn quickly to place the documents in the open copy holder .against the guide pins I28 and 02!, and to close the copy holder. a

At the end of the predetermined period of exposure, the roller vI85 rides off of the top of the cam I86, releasing the cam so that the copy holder flies open under the influence of its spring I M. This opening of the copy holder at the same time closes the camera shutter and renders 'the illuminating means inefiective.

The operator then gives a single rightward pull to the feeding lever Ill, which, through the gear segment 52, rotates the feed rollers 48 and II the necessary amount to feed the exposed part -of the sensitized material out of the focal plane of the camera and to bring a fresh unexposed area of sensitized material into the focal plane. No matter how violently he may operate this feeding lever he does not produce excess feeding of'the sheet material because atthe end of the stroke of the feeding lever the stop pawl IOI comes intocontact with the teeth of the ratchet I83 and stops further rotation of the feed rollers.

Thu's'the operator need have no experience in feeding or winding sheet material in photographic apparatus, for it is necessary only for him to learn to give the feeding lever I0 8. complete stroke in one direction to the limit of its motion, after each exposure. The spring I3 automatically returns the feeding lever to initial position ready for the next feeding operation.

While the copy holder is open, the operator also removes the photographed document and places the next document to be photographed in the copy holder. Then he once more closes the copy holder by pressing downwardly on' the hand piece I95, and the next automatically timed exposure begins. The operation is thus repeated over and over again as often as may be necessary.

ments is completed, the strip of sensitized material can be cut by depressing the knife operating lever Iii if the entire roll of material 34 has not yet been consumed, and the spool 41 on which the exposed material is wound can be removed through the door 52 after releasing the spool by pulling outwardly on the trunnion knob 55 The sensitized material can then be developed and fixed in any desired manner. The advance end of theunexposed strip of material remaining in the camera after it has been cut by the severing knife, can then be pulled downwardly and connected to a fresh rewinding reel in known manner, thus making the machine ready for con- -tinued operation.

tended to cover all variations and modifications thereof falling within the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

l. A photographic copying machine comprising a camera, a copy holder for holding an article to be photographed by said camera, said copy holder'including a member movable to an open position for inserting an article and to a closed position for holding an article, illuminating means adjacent one side of said member for illuminating When the photographing of the several docu- This application is therefore not to be limited to the precise details described, but is inr an article held by said copy holder, light reg- 1 4,22

fleeting means mounted on said movable member adjacent a different side thereof and movable bodily therewith.

2. A photographic copying machine comprising a camera, a copy holder for holding an article to be photographed by said camera, illuminating means for illuminating an article held by said and movable bodily with said hinged member.

5. A photographic copy holder comprising a base, a reversible backing plate supported on said base folunderlying an article to be photographed, said reversible backing plate being of one color on one side foruse with articles having a background of one color, and being of a different color on the opposite side for use with articles having a background of a different color, and cooperating interengaging parts for locating said backing plate with respect to said base.

6. A photographic copy holder comprising a base, a reversible backing plate supported from said base for, underlying an article to be photographed, said reversible backing plate being substantially white on one side, for use with articles having a light background, and substantially black on the opposite side, for use with articles having a dark background, and cooperating interengaging parts'for locating said backing plate with respect to'said base.

"l. A photographic copying machine comprising a substantially horizontal base, copyholding 7 means mounted on said base near. one end there- 01', said means including a substantially horizontal flat surface for receiving a document to be copied and a movable transparent plate for overlying said document to hold it fiat on said surface, a casing rising from said base near the opposite end thereof, said casing including means for holding sensitized material in a substantially vertical plane in position to be exposed, an extension projecting laterally from said casi: toward a point over said copyholding means, 'iight reflecting means mounted on said extension substantially over said copyholding means so that light rays may pass upwardly from said copyholding means to said reflecting means and be reflected thereby through said lateral-extension to said sensitized material, shutter meansin the path of travel of said light rays, and means connecting said shutter means to said transparent plate to operate saiti shutter means by movement of said transparent plate. I

' 8. A photographic copying machine comprising Y a substantially horizontal base, copyholding means mounted on said base near one end thereof, said means including a substantially horizontal flatsurface for receiving a document to be copied and a movable transparent plate for overlying said document to hold it flat on said surface, a casing rising from said base near the opposite end thereof, said casing including means for holding sensitized material in a substantially vertical plane in position to be exposed, an extension projecting laterally from said casing toward a point over said copyholding means, light reflecting means mounted on said extension substantially over said copyholding means so that light rays,

may pass upwardly from said copyholdingmeans to said reflecting means and be reflected thereby through said lateral extension to said sensitized material, shutter means in the path of travel of said light rays, actinic illuminating means for throwing light upon said transparent plate and through said plate to a document held thereunder,

parent plate for opening and closing said shutter means and lighting and extinguishing said illuminating means. 1

PAUL LANDROCK.

40 and means operated by movement of said transr

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