U.S. patent application number 10/004499 was filed with the patent office on 2002-06-13 for camera.
Invention is credited to Omiya, Akio.
Application Number | 20020071679 10/004499 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 18844542 |
Filed Date | 2002-06-13 |
United States Patent
Application |
20020071679 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Omiya, Akio |
June 13, 2002 |
Camera
Abstract
A cassette chamber, a take-up chamber and a battery room are
formed on a main body. A rear cover is attached to the main body.
The rear cover is molded from plastics and integrated with an outer
cover section and a frame section. In the frame section, a
light-shielding segment is integrally formed. The light-shielding
segment inserts between the take-up chamber and the battery room to
form a partition wall between them.
Inventors: |
Omiya, Akio; (Saitama,
JP) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Arnold International
P.O. Box 585
Great Falls
VA
22066
US
|
Family ID: |
18844542 |
Appl. No.: |
10/004499 |
Filed: |
December 6, 2001 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
396/538 ;
396/539 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G03B 17/02 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
396/538 ;
396/539 |
International
Class: |
G03B 017/02 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Dec 11, 2000 |
JP |
2000-375542 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A camera including a main body and a rear cover attached to said
main body, said main body being provided with a cassette chamber
and a take-up chamber in respective both sides, said rear cover
comprising: an outer cover section for covering a part of said main
body; a frame section having an exposure aperture for determining
an exposure area on a photo film and guide rails for guiding said
photo film behind said exposure aperture; and a light-shielding
segment formed on said frame section, for forming an partition wall
between said take-up chamber and a battery room.
2. A camera described in claim 1, wherein said frame section
further includes a guide plate for guiding an end of said photo
film fed in take-up chamber toward a periphery of a spool provided
in said take-up chamber.
3. A camera described in claim 2, wherein said frame section
further includes an opening used for detecting perforations formed
on said photo film.
4. A camera described in claim 3, wherein a rear lid is attached to
said main body through a hinge, and protrusions are formed on said
outer cover section to hold a shaft member of said hinge.
5. A camera described in claim 4, wherein said frame section has
outer rails and inner rails which are disposed outside of said
exposure aperture, said outer rails receive a film pressure plate
of said rear lid and form a film passage way through which said
photo film passes behind said exposure opening, and said inner
rails contact to said photo film to regulate a position
thereof.
6. A camera described in claim 5, wherein said rear cover is a
plastic molded article.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a camera, and more
particularly to a camera providing a rear cover molded from
plastics.
[0003] 2. Description Related to the Prior Art
[0004] Several kinds of cameras are recently supplied in the
market. The cameras have a main body integrally formed with an
exposure aperture and guide rails for guiding a photo film behind
the exposure aperture, which causes a complex structure of the main
body. The guide rails must be formed exactly, as they are planed,
in order to make a precise regulation of the position of the photo
film. However, the change of the molding temperature often has an
influence on the main body. For example, the change of the
temperature easily extends or shrinks materials that the main body
has a deformed shape. Accordingly, the guide rails are hardly
molded from plastics with high precision.
[0005] In order to solve the problem, the Japanese Utility Model
Laid-Open Publication, No. H6-43638 proposes a camera in which an
exposure aperture and guide rails are integrated with a rear cover,
and the rear cover is attached to a main body. In this camera, the
influences during molding, for example deformation of the guide
rails, become smaller, and the guide rails can be formed more
precisely.
[0006] In the main body, a cassette chamber, a take-up chamber, a
battery room and the like are formed. The main body is formed by
molding plastic with plurality of metallic molds having complex
shapes. After molding the main body, each molds are retracted in
several directions. The main body cannot have its parts in a region
in which the metallic molds are retracted. Accordingly, there are
some parts which cannot be integrally formed with the main body.
Such parts are separately molded from plastics, and then fixed to
the main body or the rear cover with screws and the like, which
causes the complex process for production of the camera and
increases the cost. Further, it is necessary to keep spaces for
attachment of the parts. Accordingly, the camera hardly becomes
smaller.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] A main object of the present invention is to provide a
camera which can be produced at a low cost.
[0008] Another object of the present invention is to provide a
camera whose size is smaller.
[0009] Still another object of the present invention is to provide
a camera in which some members are integrated with a rear
cover.
[0010] In order to achieve the above objects, in a camera of the
present invention, a rear cover is attached to a main body, and a
cassette chamber and a take-up chamber are provided in respective
both sides of the main body. The rear cover includes an outer cover
section and a frame section. In the frame section, an exposure
aperture and guide rails are formed. The exposure aperture
determines an exposure area on the photo film, and the guide rails
are disposed both sides of the exposure aperture and guides the
photo film. A light-shielding segment is provided on the frame
section to form a partition wall between the take-up chamber and a
battery room.
[0011] Further, a guide plate is formed on the frame section for
guiding an end of the photo film fed in the take-up chamber toward
a periphery of a spool which is provided in the take-up chamber.
Furthermore, a rear cover is attached to the main body with a
hinge. In order to hold a shaft member of the hinge, a protrusion
is formed on the outer cover section of the rear cover.
[0012] According to the invention, a light-shielding property of
the take-up chamber is increased and a cost for producing the
camera becomes lower. Further, as the partition wall and the like
are integrated with the rear cover, the size of the camera becomes
smaller.
BRIEF DISCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0013] The above objects and advantages of the present invention
will become easily understood by one of ordinary skill in the art
when the following detailed description would be read in connection
with the accompanying drawings.
[0014] FIG. 1 is a perspective view from a front of a camera;
[0015] FIG. 2 is a perspective view from a back of the camera;
[0016] FIG. 3 is a perspective view from a back of a rear
cover;
[0017] FIG. 4 is a perspective view from a front of the rear cover
illustrated in FIG. 3;
[0018] FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view of the camera;
[0019] FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of the camera
illustrating positions of a detection sensor and an opening
therefore.
PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION
[0020] In FIG. 1, the camera is constituted of a camera body 10 and
a zoom lens 15. The camera body 10 includes a main body 62 (see
FIG. 5) and a cover 13 covering the main body 62. The cover 13 has
a front cover 11 and a rear cover 12, which are respectively
attached onto front and rear faces of the camera body 10. The zoom
lens 15 is retracted in the camera body 10 (as illustrated with a
solid line) when the camera is not used. When the camera is used,
the zoom lens 15 protrudes from the camera body 10 (as illustrated
with a dotted line) by a motor (not shown). In the position
illustrated with the dotted line, the zoom lens 15 is a telephoto
end. The camera body 10 is provided with a finder objective window
17, a flash light emitter 18, light projecting and receiving
windows 19, 20 for auto-focusing, a light emitting window 21 for
preventing the red eye effect, a photo measuring window 22 for
automatic exposure and a indication window 23 for a self-timer.
[0021] On a top face of the camera body 10, an LCD panel 25, an
operation button 26 and a shutter releasing button 27 are formed.
On the LCD panel 25, a number of remaining picture frames, a mark
of the photographic mode, a date and the like are indicated. When
the operation button 26 is pushed, photographic conditions, such as
photographic mode, are set.
[0022] As shown in FIG. 2, in the upper side of a rear face of the
camera body 10, a finder eye-piece window 29, a light emitting
portion 30, a switch button 31, and zooming buttons 33, 34 are
disposed. From the light emitting portion 30, a light is emitted
when the measuring of the distance to the photographic subject is
complete. When the zooming button 33 is pushed, the motor drives to
shift the movable lens barrel 16 toward the camera body 10 such
that a wide-angle photograph may be taken. When the zooming button
34 is pushed, the motor drives to protrude the movable lens barrel
16 from the camera body 10 such that a telephotograph may be
taken.
[0023] A rear lid 35 and a battery room lid 36 are attached to a
rear face of the camera body 10 with a hinge 37. In order to load
and unload a film cartridge 38, an operation member 39 disposed on
a side face of the camera body 10 is slid upwards to open the rear
lid 35. After loading or unloading the film cartridge 38, the rear
lid 35 is closed, and the inside of the camera body 10 is kept in a
light-tight fashion. Further, when batteries are loaded and
unloaded, the battery room lid 36 is opened.
[0024] As shown in FIG. 3, the rear cover 12 is formed of plastics
which is less rigid than that used for the main body 62. An outer
section 41 and a frame section 42 are integrated with the rear
cover 12. The outer section 41 forms a part of appearance of the
camera body 10, and the frame section 42 is covered with the rear
lid 35 when it is closed. The outer section 41 is provided with the
finder eye-piece window 29 and openings 43, 44 for switch button 31
and a zoom lens operating section 32. A protrusion 45 is formed at
a position to contact to a top of the hinge 37 (see FIG. 2), in
order to hold a shaft of the hinge 37. The outer section 41 has
also engaging segments 47 in which holes 46 are formed. The holes
46 are engaged with protuberances (not shown) formed in an inner
face of the front cover 11.
[0025] The frame section 42 has an exposure aperture 48 and a feed
opening 51 for feeding the photo film 49 to the take-up chamber 50.
At upper and lower of the exposure aperture 48, guide rails 52 are
disposed. The guide rails 52 consist of inner rails 53 and outer
rails 54. The outer rails 54 receive a film pressure plate 55 (see
FIGS. 5 and 6) and form a film passage way 56 between the film
pressure plate 55 and the frame section 42. In the film passage way
56, the photo film 49 is located at a predetermined position behind
the exposure aperture 48, and an image of object is focused on the
photo film 49.
[0026] There is an opening 60 on the inner rail 53 forming a top
edge of the exposure aperture 48. The opening 60 is used for
detecting perforations formed on the photo film 49. As shown in
FIG. 4, a recess 61 is formed in another side of the opening 60. A
detection sensor 58 is thrust in the recess 61 and attached to the
main body 62. Namely, the recess 61 receives the detection sensor
58 in a thrusting direction.
[0027] Further, the frame section 42 has a light-shielding segment
63 and a guide plate 65. As shown in FIG. 5, the light-shielding
segment 63 constructs a part of a partition wall between the
take-up chamber 50 and a battery room 64 disposed in the outer side
of the take-up chamber 50. The take-up chamber 50 is kept in a
light-tight fashion by the partition wall. The guide plate 65 has
plurality of nearly triangular blades 65a and is formed between the
exposure aperture 48 and the feed opening 51 in order to guide the
photo film 49 fed in the take-up chamber 50 toward a spool 70. The
photo film 49 is pressed on the spool 70 by an end portion 57a of a
film pressing spring 57. The film pressing spring 57 is fixed to an
inner surface of the rear lid 35, and the end portion 57a has an
arc-shaped form. The photo film 49 which is pressed on the spool 70
by the film pressing spring 57 is wound on a periphery of the spool
70 when it is rotated.
[0028] The effects of the present invention will be described now.
As shown in FIG. 5, the take-up chamber 50 and the battery room 64
are separated, when the rear cover 12 including the light-shielding
segment 63 and guide plate 65 is attached to the main body 62 in
which several photographic mechanisms are provided. Further, the
guide plate 65 guides the photo film 49 on winding the photo film
49. Furthermore, as shown in FIG, 6, the opening 60 formed in the
inner rail 53 is used for detecting the perforations by the
detection sensor 58. The recess 61 formed around the opening 60
holds the detection sensor 58.
[0029] Various changes and modifications are possible in the
present invention and may be understood to be within the present
invention.
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