THE FROOME SHUTTER

John R. Froome, Vinton Place, Ohio 1884

Source: Google Patents

John R. Froome of Vinton Place, Ohio applied for a patent on this shutter's pneumatically-actuated barn door-style design, on July 28, 1884. He was granted Patent No. 343,367 on June 8, 1886.

Although no ads have been found, mention of the shutter's exhibition by the firm of Sheen & Simpkinson was made in Scovill's The Photographic Times and American Photographer , 1884, alongside the Lightning and Champion Shutters. This indicates the Froome Shutter was being produced well in advance of the patent's issuance.

Probably made for a year or so, I've yet to encounter an example.