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)

680,063 mechanism exoept the spring 27 and the rockshaft 30 and parts connected therewith have a continuous uniform rotary motion, and therefore no jar or vibration results from their 5 motion. The spring 27 and the rock-shaft 30 and the parts connected therewith are so small and light, have such small amplitudes of movement, and are so .irmly supported that no jar results from their movement, to The drum 14 and roller 19 are placed. as close as possible to the plate 23, as are the auxiliary feed-rolls 24 and 25,. so that the length of film set in motion by the rolls 24 and 25 may be as small as possible. This is 15 done so that the iilm may start to feed across the plate 23 promptly when released by the spring 27 and also to avoid the danger of tearing of the film, which results when a considerable length of film is started into motion 20 suddenly. In practice in order toavoid any danger of the gradual accumulation of film in the loop between the drum 14 and the plate 23, due to possible slipping of the film between the aux25 iliary feed-rolls 24 and 25, I gear these roils to revolve somewhat faster than would be theoretically required— that is, in the machine showu in the drawings to revolve with somewhat more than twice the peripheral speed of 30 the drum 14 — so that each time that the film is fed forward by the roiJs 24 and 25 the loop between the plate 23 aad the drum 14 is entirely taken up. In order to provide for the gradual increase in diameter oi: the cpooi 9, 35 upon which the exposed film is wound, which tends to cause the spool to take up the film more and more rapidly, the spool is not directly connected to its shaft 10, but is mouuted loosely upon it, while the legs of a tripod 40 shaped spring-washer 38, itself so secured to the shaft 10 as to be caused to revolve therewith, press against the spool 9 aud cause it to revolve by frictional contact. Whan the film between the spool 9 and tho drum 14 is 45 tight, however, the spool will slip somewhat with respect to the shaft 10 and washer 38. All of the feeding-rolls revolye continuously and uniformly, and therefore when the film is to be fed across the field of the lens it is never 50 necessary to overcome the inertia of any of the parts of the apparatus, only the inertia of a very short section of the fiim requiring to be overcome. It is therefore possible to feed a considerable length of film across the 55 plate .23 in a brief time allotted for that purpose. As showain the drawings, the shutterdisk is arranged to admit light during nearly one-half of its re volution . If desired, the shutter may be arranged to be open a much 60 greater portion of the revolution than onehalf, all that is required being the cutting away of a greater portion of the periphery of the shutter, a proportionate increase in the peripheral speed of the auxiliary feed-rolls 65 24 and 25 with respect to the speed of the drum 14, and an adjustment of the amplitude of movement and of position of the pin 29, so that the spring 27 may be released and lifted at the proper time; and because of the lightness of the parts &ad of the fact that all 76 of the parts which have directly to do with the feeding of the film move continuously, as does the great body of the film, a much higher speed of the rolls 24 and 25 is well within the limits of the machine. In this 75 manner the time allowed for each exposure may be considerably increased. It will be noted that the greater' portion of the work of feeding the film — viz., the drawing of ti3 film from the roll 6— -is done by the 8© drum 14 and that the rolls 24 and 25 are required to feed only a very short and looselyheld length of film, so that their hold on the film is very light and no injury results to the film because of the slipping of these rolls 85 upon it. Having thus completely described my invention, v/hat I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is — 1. In a consecutiveview apparatus, Che 90 combination, with a supply-spool carrying a strip, a winding-spool upon which the strip may be wound, a main feeding-drum arranged to deliver the strip from said supply-spool and to carry it to the winding-spool, and means 95 for holding the strip in contact with the surface of said drum, of continuously-moving auxiliary feed-rolls havingahighor peripheral velocity than said drum, acting upon the strip by frictional contact, and arranged to feed 100 the strip across the field of the apparatus, an intermittently -operating catch arranged to grasp the 3ti ip intermittently and thereby to prevent the feeding of the strip across the field of the apparatus, thereby causing the xt\ auxiliary feed-rolls to slip thereon, a shutter arranged to cut off light from the strip1 while the same is moving in the field of the apparatus, and means for synch roriously operating the shutter and catch, substantially as de no scribed. 2. Iu a consecutive -view apparatus, the combination, with a lens, and film-feeding'devices arranged to feed a strip of sensitive film across" the field of said lens intermittently, of 115 a shutter arranged to cut off light from the film while the same is moving in the field of the lens, means for synehrononsly operating the shutter and film-feeding mechanism, and a marking device, arranged to mark the posi iao tion of each view upon the film, and operated each time the film-feeding mechanism operates, substantially as described. 3. In a consecutive -view apparatus, the combination, with a lens, and continuously **5 moving film-feeding devices arranged to feed a strip of sensitive film across the field of the lens, of an intermittently-operating catch arranged to grasp the film intermittently, thereby momentarily preventing the feeding of the r 3° film across the field of the lens, a shutter arranged to cutoff light from the film while the same is moving in the field of the lens, means for synchronously operating the. shutter and