Scovill Mfg. Co. (New York, NY)
Scovill's
Universal Safety Shutter Variation 1
(manual release)
c. 1885-c.1887
Notes:
Scovill's Safety Shutter and Scovill's Universal Safety Shutter were advertised on the same page, the Universal model costing over twice as much as the non-Universal. They did not appear in 1886 catalogs, the Scovill catalog of April 1887 being their first appearance.
Both models had a manner of braking the dropping slide, which prevents the jolt made as a drop shutter suddenly stops dropping. The shutter is equipped with two (sometimes one) brass spring bent outward from the shutter, and a brass rod across the top of the shutter. After the slide has cleared the exposure area, the springs rub on the rod, braking the motion. The further the drop slide proceeds, the more the braking, until finally the hooks at the end of the springs catch on the rod.
The Universal Safety Shutter, differs from the Safety Shutter had a unique way of adjusting the length of the exposure by moving one of the wooden panels, securing it by means of the perforated brass piece.
Starting about 1888, they were equipped with a pneumatic release (brass cylinder), and another name, Scovill's Time and Instantaneous Shutter, was born. The example above shows all the features of the Universal Safety Shutter and the pneumatic release of the Time and Instantaneous Shutter.
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