In the District Court of the United States, for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the United States of America, petitioner, vs. Motion Picture Patents Company, et al., defendants (1914)

12,192 10 is another pulley 16, which is connected by a cross-belt 17 to a pulley 18, also f rictionaUy connected to its shaft, and which carries the reel to which .the tape is connected in casing | 5 2. The film passes from the casing 1 through a slit formed by the edge 19 and the sliding j door 20, which is normally thrown forward i by the spring 21, Fig. 2, with sufficient force to clamp the film and lipid it from movement. io When the door 20 is retracted by pulling on the rod or string 22, which is connected to the arm 22', the film is liberated and allowed to advance. Film-case 2 is provided with a similar door, but the device for moving the t$ door is cot illustrated. This arrangement of the sliding door not only holds the film, but it tightly closes the casing, thus excluding j light and protecting the sensitive film. The casings or boxes 1 2 are removable, so that ( 2o they, with the inclosed film, may be taken bodily from the apparatus. The shaft 6, heretofore referred to, is provided with a detent or stop-wheel 23, the form of which is most clearly shown in Fi^s. 3 and 4. The wheel 25 23 is provided with a number of projecting teeth 24, six being shown, which teeth are adapted to strike successively against the face of the cooperating detent or stop-wheel 25 on the shaft 26, which is the armature-shaft of the 30 motor or a shaft which is constantly driven by the motor. The wheel 25 has a corresponding -number of notches 27 at regular intervals around its periphery. These notches are of such size and shape that the teeth 24 35 can pass through them, and when the wheels 23 and 25 are rotated in the direction indicated by the arrows each tooth in succession will strike the face of wheel 25, thereby bringing the film absolutely to rest at the same mo 40 ment that an opening in the shutter exposes the film, and will then pass through a notch, allowing the tape-film to be moved forward another step while it is covered by the shutter. To avoid the danger of the wheel 25 45 moving so quickly that a tooth cannot enter the proper notch, a laterally-projecting tooth 29 is provided adjacent to each notch. When a tooth 29 strikes a tooth 24, the latter tooth will be guided by the tooth 29 into the adja 50 cent notch 27. 30 is a detent spring or pawl to prevent backward movement of the wheel 23. I prefer to so proportion the parts above described that the wheel 23 is at rest for nine 55 tenths of the time in order to give to the sensitized film as long am exposure as practicable and is moving forward one-tenth of the time, and said forward movement is made to take place thirty or more times per second, pref 60 erably at least as high as forty-six times per second, although the rapidity of movment or number of times per second may be regulated as desired to give satisfactory results. The longer interval of rest of the film insures a 65 good impression of the object projected there on and results in a picture having clean and sharp lines, since the film has sufficient time to become steady and overcome the vibration caused by the sudden and rapid motions of the feed mechanism. On the shaft 26 or on any 70 suitable shaft driven by the motor is a revolving disk 31, serving as a shutter for alternately exposing and covering the sensitive film. This disk, which is continuously revolving, is provided with six or any other suitable num 75 ber of apertures 32 at regular intervals around it near the edge, they being so arranged that one of the apertures passes directly between the camera-lens 33 and the film each time the film is brought to rest, the light-rays passing 80 through the opening 33' and falling on the film half-way between the reels on which the film is wound. 34 is a device for adjusting the camera-lens toward or from the film, and 35 is a device by 85 means of which the operator can focus the camera on the object to be photographed. Although the operation has been partially indicated in the description of the apparatus, it will now be set forth more in detail. 90 The apparatus is first charged with a sensitive tape-film several hundred or even thousands of feet long and the motor is set in operation. Since the spring 21 causes the door 20 to' clamp the film, as already described, the 95 loose pulleys 7 18 slip without pulling said film along; but when a moving object — for example, a man gesticulating — is placed in the field of the camera and the handle 22 is pulled the film is released and. the pulleys operate to 100 pull the same along. At the same time the reel in case 2 is rotated to wind up the film, thus transferring it from the reel in easel to the reel in case 2. This movement is intermittent, the film advancing by very rapid 105 steps, which are definitely and positively controlled by means of the peculiar detent or escapement described, and a photograph is taken after each step. While I do not care to limit myself to any no particular number of steps per second, there should be. at least enough so that the eye of an observer cannot distinguish, or at least cannot clearly and positively distinguish, at a glance a difference in the position occupied by 1 1 5 the object in the successive pictures, as illustrated in Fig. 7. A less speed in taking the pictures will cause a trembling or ierky appearance in the, reproduced picture. ' When the movement of the object being photo 120 , graphed has ceased or the desired number of photographs has been obtained, the apparatus is stopped. The film is suitably treated for de? veloping and fixing the pictures, when it is ready for use in an exhibiting apparatus. It 125 will be observed that all the photographs' on the film arc taken through the same cameralens, which results in such a uniformity of phc«tographs as would be unattainable were thev photographs talyCn through different lenses. Jjo