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)

678186 tion of the light by the interposition of a shutter or opaque substance across its path, so that the impression of the picture on the eye is so much longer and more permanent 5 than the distortion or shadow effect incident to its movement, and the interval of change or interruption is so infinitesimal that" the image of the picture is readily retained until displacement and substitution takes effect, to and owing to the inability of the eye to receive an impression from every phase of motion the interruption or change is wholly imperceptible, and the result is a most vivid appearance of an object in motion,otherwise un 15 changing, clearly exhibiting all the phases of such motion with life-like effect. This I accomplish by improved mechanism for moving the film or other picture-carrying surface intermittently in such a manner that the inter 20 val of exposure and illumination of the picture shall so far exceed the interval of time required to effect a change as to enable the eye to receive a perfect impression or image at each exposure and to retain it through the 25 interval of motion or change and until another picture has been superimposed, as it were, upon the one displaced, thus taking advantage both of the inability of the eye to receive an impression of movement exceeding ^o a certain rapidity and upon that faculty of the eye which enables it to retain an.impression after each, phase or view of the object has vanished — the persistence of vision — which enables me to change the pictures one 35 for another imperceptibly, so as to give to the eye the impression of objects in motion. In practice I employ, as usual, an illuminator ancfaeondensing-lens (not shown) adapted to concentrate the rays of light upon a pic 40 ttire located in the focus of an objective lens A, the latter, a* well as the illuminator and condensing-lens, being of the usual or of any preferred construction and being arranged in any suitable manner. The strip or film B 45 may be composed of any suitable transparent or translucent flexible substance adapted to provide a surface for carrying pictures produced thereon by photographic or other means, the several pictures in the series rep 50 resenting, auccessively, different positions of a moving object, so that the rapid exhibition of the entire series of pictures in the order in which they were made or taken may result in the reproduction of the appearance of the 55 moving object in every phase of its motion. This film may be either an endless or a continuous band and supported upon rollers or in any o**ier suitable manner, but I prefer to make the film endless and arrange the same 60 as shown in Fig. 11. In this case a box or inclosure C is provided with a lid or cover C, preferably partly or wholly of glass, so as to permit the interior of the box or casing to be readily seen, and slots or guiding portions c 65 through which the film may pass, said guiding portions being provided with a soft covering of suitable material to prevent injury to the film during its rapid movement into and out-of the casing. Within the casing are arrarigea an upper 70 and a lower bank of rollers or spools D D', respectively, each comprising two series or rows of rollers of any desired number and of different diameters, the smaller rollers d being interposed between the outer or larger 75 rollers d'. The smaller rollers of each bank are preferably arranged in the same vertical plane as the larger rollers, so as to provide a number pf pairs according to the length of the film it is desired to inclose within the cas 80 ing, and the rollers, of one bank-are directly opposed to the spaces between the rollers of the other bank, so that the film may be made to pass successively around e>r partially around the larger rollers of one of the banks and the 85 smaller rollers of the other bank, as D' and D, respectively, and then to the initial roller d* of the bank D to>the isitial smaller roller of the bank D',-and so on successively through the series of rollers to the last roller cPof the 90 bank D' and then over a guide-roller d4, arranged adjacent to the upper guiding portion or slot -c'of the casing or box C, though it is to be understood that the reverse of this winding may take place, as from the smaller roll 95 ers to the larger, or there may be provided more than two banks of rollers if desired. Oue of the rollers of the bank D', preferably roller d3, maybe journaled upon an arm, as d5, which has one end pivoted to the casing, too so,as to permit free upward and downward movement of the roller, said roller being of sufficient weight, or independently weighted, to provide sufficient tension on the film to take up any slack therein, while either or both of 105 the banks or a number of the rollers thereof may be made adjustable, as, for instance, the three pairs of rollers of the bank D. These adjustable rollers or spools may be journaled upon spindles extending outwardly from a ne base-plated8, the outer ends of these spindles being supported in preferably Lshaped brackets d', extending outwardly from the base-plate on the side opposite to where the film passesaround the rollers. Theotherroll 115 ers of each bank, except the tension roller d8, are also preferably journaled in similar brackets, which may be secured to the casing or secured to or formed integrally with a plate held or arranged in the casing in any suitable 1 20 manner. The base-plate of the adjustable rollers is provided with an outwardly-extending stem or bolt which passes through a slot arranged in the casing and has a nut d9 arranged on its 1 25 'outer end adapted to rigidly bind the baseplate to the casing in various adjustments. By this means a very long film may be protected and arranged in a very compact space, so as to be readily fed into and out of the J 30 inclosure or casing and provision made so as to compensate for varying lengths of film. The rilm B may pass from vne casing C to a roller or idler e, Fig. 1, journaled in