Automatic photographic apparatus and postcard vending machine

Claim 1

A coin or token operable automatic photographic apparatus and postcard vending machine for the taking, developing and vending of photographs in a picture postcard format, the apparatus comprising, in combination: a cubicle accessible to an individual using the apparatus and having a horizontal top wall surface, a vertical back wall surface, a vertical front wall surface forming a picture end wall surface, and a pair of vertically extending closed sidewall surfaces interconnecting adjacentmost edges of the vertical front and back wall surfaces; a compartment defined interiorly of the cubicle between the wall surfaces; a doorway defined in one of the side wall surfaces providing ingress and egress of the cubicle compartment; a horizontally extending curtain rod disposed along the topmost edge of the doorway extending between the opposite vertical edges of the doorway; a curtain suspended from the rod within the doorway and slidably operable thereon between a position opening the doorway to provide access to the compartment and a position closing the doorway to provide privacy to an individual within the compartment; the front end wall surface forming the picture end wall surface having rounded side edges which bend contiguously into the sidewall surfaces to provide a smooth continuous background; a panoramic scene of the scenery around the cubicle disposed on the picture end wall surface extending completely across the rounded edges thereof to provide a smooth panoramic scenery background; a bench forming seat extending transversely of the compartment between the side wall surfaces and having a curved back to fit snugly against the curved picture end wall surface in a position immediately beneath the panoramic scenery, the seat intended for use by an individual to sit on the same during the picture taking procedure with the portion of the individual''s body above the individual''s waist projecting in front of the panoramic scenery background; a camera of the self-developing Polaroid type wherein an exposed picture is developed automatically upon being dispensed from the camera; a hollow box-like housing affixed to the interior of the compartment''s back wall surface and having a top surface, a bottom surface, a front surface, a back surface, and opposed side wall surfaces; a chamber defined interiorly of the hollow box-like housing within the surfaces thereof; an aperture disposed in the front wall surface of the housing and in communication with the chamber, the aperture being in a position above said seat to provide a line of vision through the aperture to the panoramic scenery background; said camera mounted within said housing chamber with the lens of the camera in alignment with said aperture to provide a free line of vision to the lens and at a level spaced vertically above the bottom of the cubicle compartment selected for appropriate field of vision viewing of the lens in a manner to encompass an individual sitting on the seat and the panoramic scene behind the individual; said lens having an adjustable focal lens to vary the field of vision thereof between a close-up position where only the individual will be on the photograph taken by the camera and a panoramic scene position where both the individual and the surrounding panoramic scene will be within the field of vision of the lens and be imprinted on the photograph taken by the camera; a knob rotatively mounted on the exterior of said housing top surface for rotation about its axis; a linkage assembly interconnecting said knob to said camera lens for adjusting said lens relatIve to the rotation of said knob between said close-up and said panoramic scene position; a timer adjustable from zero to thirty seconds; a knob rotatively mounted on the exterior of the housing top surface and projecting outwardly therefrom and rotatable about its axis; a shutter associated with the camera lens and operable from a position exteriorly of the camera; a linkage assembly interconnecting the timer to the camera shutter mechanism to provide operation of said shutter by said timer; a drive mechanism interconnecting said second mentioned knob to said timer for adjustively setting said timer between a shutter actuating position and zero to thirty second time delay position providing a selective adjustment to an individual in the cubicle compartment for selecting the desired time delay for actuation of the camera shutter mechanism to provide sufficient time for the individual to pose and seat themselves on the bench seat prior to the picture being taken by the camera; the rotation of said second mentioned knob to the desired time delay position activating the timer for the set period of time with said shutter mechanism being activated upon expiration of said time delay period for the taking of the picture; a slot extending vertically in the side surface of the housing in communication with the chamber; a photograph dispensing lever operatively associated with the camera to effect dispensing of the photographs therefrom with the free end of the lever projecting outwardly from the camera and extending through the slot, the lever being movable in a vertical blade from an initial position downward to a dispensing position; a vertically disposed dispensing slot provided in the housing side wall surface adjacent the dispensing lever slot; the movement of the dispensing lever effecting the dispensing of the exposed photograph from the camera outwardly of the camera housing for delivery to an individual with the photograph being in a picture postcard type format having a rigid cardboard backing suitable for use in the mails.