I need some help identifying an antique camera.

I've done an extensive internet search for this camera and I haven't found anything. The only marks on the camera are patent pending. It's a 12 exposure, magazine fed, box camera. The shutter is a simple open/close mechanism. All help is appreciated.

It doesn't seem to have a viewfinder so it might have been permanently fixed in place for Law Enforcement to take mugshots of prisoners for example.

The lack of a brand name could indicate it was not necessarily a mass produced camera, it might even have been a prototype. The vintage is 1880s-1890s going by the double decorative lines on the leatherette. Those lines disappeared in the early 1900s on box cameras maybe due to cost saving on production line models.

These two cameras below have those decorative lines but also have viewfinders plus other metal controls. Yours may be earlier than these two by 5-10 years. Perhaps you could track down the patent No in the Patents Office, I doubt they would have destroyed old patent records and if the patent still exists, it will likely have names and dates to help identify the camera.

Link .... Antique leather covered box camera ADLAKE Westlake 4x5" & 11 plate holders 1897 | eBay

Link .... Antique Kodak No 2 Model D Bulls Eye Box Camera AS IS V13 | eBay