U.S. patent application number 09/809397 was filed with the patent office on 2002-09-19 for camera with belt clip movable to ready an electronic device such as an electronic flash.
This patent application is currently assigned to Eastman kodak Company. Invention is credited to Stiehler, Wayne E., Teremy, Paul.
Application Number | 20020131774 09/809397 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 25201251 |
Filed Date | 2002-09-19 |
United States Patent
Application |
20020131774 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Stiehler, Wayne E. ; et
al. |
September 19, 2002 |
CAMERA WITH BELT CLIP MOVABLE TO READY AN ELECTRONIC DEVICE SUCH AS
AN ELECTRONIC FLASH
Abstract
A camera comprising a particular device such as an electronic
flash that needs electrical energy to be able to operate and has a
power switch capable of being changed from a normal state to a
working state in order to provide electrical energy to the device,
and an activating member supported to be manually moved to change
the power switch from its normal to working state, is characterized
in that the activating member is a belt clip constructed to be
placed on and removed from one's belt and supported to be pivoted
against the power switch to change the power switch from its normal
to working state as the belt clip is removed from one's belt,
whereby when the belt clip is removed from one's belt the device
will be made ready to operate.
Inventors: |
Stiehler, Wayne E.;
(Spencerport, NY) ; Teremy, Paul; (Rochester,
NY) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Milton S. Sales
Patent Legal Staff
Eastman Kodak Company
343 State Street
Rochester
NY
14650-2201
US
|
Assignee: |
Eastman kodak Company
|
Family ID: |
25201251 |
Appl. No.: |
09/809397 |
Filed: |
March 15, 2001 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
396/206 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G03B 17/02 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
396/206 |
International
Class: |
G03B 007/26 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A camera comprising a particular device that needs electrical
energy to be able to operate and has a power switch capable of
being changed from a normal state to a working state in order to
provide electrical energy to said device, and an activating member
supported to be manually moved to change said power switch from its
normal to working state, is characterized in that: said activating
member is a belt clip constructed to be placed on and removed from
one's belt and supported to be pivoted against said power switch to
change said power switch from its normal to working state as said
belt clip is removed from one's belt, whereby when said belt clip
is removed from one's belt said device will be made ready to
operate.
2. A camera as recited in claim 1, wherein said device is an
electronic flash, said power switch is a flash charge switch that
is closed to be in the working state, and said belt clip is
supported to be momentarily pivoted to close said flash charge
switch as said belt clip is removed from one's belt.
3. A camera comprising a rear cover part, a particular device that
needs electrical energy to be able to operate and has a power
switch with a movable switch element that is moved to change said
power switch from a normal state to a working state in order to
provide electrical energy to said device, and an activating member
supported to be manually moved to move said movable switch element
to change said power switch from its normal to working state, is
characterized in that: said activating member is a belt clip which
has a clip portion that faces said rear cover part to hold one's
belt between said clip portion and said rear cover part and that is
supported to be pivoted away from said rear cover part to permit
one's belt to be removed from between said clip portion and said
rear cover part in order to use said camera, and which has an
actuating portion supported to be pivoted to move said movable
switch element to change said power switch from its normal to
working state as said clip portion is pivoted away from said rear
cover part, whereby said device will be made ready to operate.
4. A camera as recited in claim 3, wherein a main body part has a
fixed fulcrum that supports said belt clip between said clip
portion and said actuating portion to permit said clip portion and
said actuating portion to be pivoted.
5. A camera as recited in claim 4, wherein, and said belt clip has
a resilient cantilever that engages said main body part to normally
urge said clip portion towards said rear cover part and said
actuating portion away from said movable switch element and to be
deformed when said clip portion is pivoted away from said rear
cover part and said actuating portion is pivoted to move said
movable switch element.
6. A camera as recited in claim 5, wherein said belt clip has a
concavity adjacent said resilient cantilever, and said fixed
fulcrum resides in said concavity.
7. A camera as recited in claim 3, wherein a front cover part and
said rear cover part house said power switch including said movable
switch element, and said actuating portion projects inwardly from
an opening in said front cover part and toward said movable switch
element and has a manually depressible portion at said opening to
optionally move said actuating portion to move said movable switch
element to change said power switch from its normal to working
state.
8. A camera as recited in claim 7, wherein said manually
depressible portion has a ribbed finger grip projecting outwardly
from said opening in said front cover part
9. A method in a camera of changing a power switch from a normal
state to a working state in order to provide electrical energy to a
particular device that needs electrical energy to be able to
operate, comprises the steps of: pivoting a belt clip for the
camera, which is constructed to be placed on and removed from one's
belt away from the camera, to permit one's belt to be removed from
between the belt clip and the camera, and simultaneously pivoting
the belt clip against the power switch to change the power switch
from its normal to working state, whereby when one's belt is
removed from between the belt clip and the camera the device will
be made ready to operate.
10. A method in a camera of changing a power switch from a normal
state to a working state in order to provide electrical energy to a
particular device that needs electrical energy to be able to
operate, comprises the steps of: pivoting a belt clip for the
camera away from the camera at a clip portion of the belt clip to
permit one's belt to be removed from between the clip portion and
the camera, and simultaneously pivoting the belt clip against the
power switch at an actuating portion of the belt clip to change the
power switch from its normal to working state, whereby when one's
belt is removed from between the clip portion and the camera the
device will be made ready to operate.
11. A camera comprising a pair of front and rear cover parts, an
electronic flash between said front and rear cover parts which
needs electrical energy to be able to operate and has a flash
charge switch with a movable switch element that is moved to change
said flash charge switch from a normal state to a working state in
order to provide electrical energy to said electronic flash, and an
activating member supported to be manually moved to move said
movable switch element to change said flash charge switch from its
normal to working state, is characterized in that: said activating
member is a belt clip which has a clip portion that faces said rear
cover part to hold one's belt between said clip portion and said
rear cover part and is that supported to be pivoted away from said
rear cover part to permit one's belt to be removed from between
said clip portion and said rear cover part in order to use said
camera, and which has an actuating portion supported to be pivoted
inwardly of said front cover part to move said movable switch
element to change said flash charge switch from its normal to
working state as said clip portion is pivoted away from said rear
cover part, whereby said electronic flash will be made ready to
operate.
12. A camera comprising a pair of front and rear cover parts, a
main body part between said front and rear cover parts, and a
particular device on said main body part that needs electrical
energy to be able to operate and has a power switch with a movable
switch element that is moved to change said power switch from a
normal state to a working state in order to provide electrical
energy to said device, is characterized in that: a belt clip has a
clip portion for holding one's belt between said clip portion and
said rear cover part, an actuating portion for moving said movable
switch element to change said power switch from its normal to
working state, and an intermediate portion between said clip and
actuating portions; and said intermediate portion is configured to
be pivotally coupled with said main body part to permit said clip
portion to pivot away from said rear cover part in order to remove
one's belt from between said clip portion and said rear cover part
and to pivot said actuating portion to move said movable switch
element to change said power switch from its normal to working
state as said clip portion is pivoted away from said rear cover
part.
13. A camera as recited in claim 12, wherein said intermediate
portion is resiliently biased to pivot said clip portion towards
from said rear cover part and to pivot said actuating portion away
from said movable switch element.
14. A method of assembling a belt clip to a camera to allow the
belt clip to change a power switch in the camera from a normal
state to a working state in order to provide electrical energy to a
particular device in the camera that needs electrical energy to be
able to operate, comprising the steps of: pivotally connecting the
belt clip to the camera at an intermediate portion of the belt clip
between a clip portion of the belt clip and an actuating portion of
the belt clip, to cause the clip portion to be pivoted away from
the camera as one's belt is removed from between the clip portion
and the camera and to simultaneously cause the actuating portion to
be pivoted against the power switch to change the power switch from
its normal to working state; and resiliently engaging the belt clip
with the camera to cause the clip portion to be urged towards the
camera and the actuating portion to be urged away from the power
switch.
15. A method as recited in claim 14, wherein the belt is pivotally
connected to the camera by placing a concavity in the intermediate
portion onto a fixed fulcrum on a main body part of the camera.
16. A method as recited in claim 15, wherein the clip portion is
positioned facing a rear cover part of the camera and the actuating
portion is positioned inward of an opening in a front cover part of
the camera and close to a switch-closing element of the power
switch.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] Reference is made to commonly-assigned copending U.S. Pat.
application Ser. No. (our Docket No. 82435RAF), filed concurrently
herewith, entitled BELT CLIP MOVABLE TO READY AN ELECTRONIC DEVICE
SUCH AS AN ELECTRONIC FLASH, by Stiehler et al.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The invention relates generally to the field of photography,
and in particular to cameras. More specifically, the invention
relates to a camera including an electronic device such as an
electronic flash that needs electrical energy to be able to operate
and has a power switch such as a flash charge switch capable of
being changed from a normal state to a working state in order to
provide electrical energy to the device, and an activating member
supported to be manually moved to change the power switch from its
normal to working state.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] Film and cameras that are all in one, commonly referred to
as disposable single-use or one-time-use cameras, have become well
known. The one-time-use camera is a simple point-and-shoot type
camera comprising an opaque plastic main body part that supports a
conventional film cartridge in a cartridge receiving chamber, an
unexposed film roll prewound from the film cartridge onto a film
supply spool in a film supply chamber, a fixed-focus taking lens, a
film metering mechanism with a rotatably supported metering
sprocket that engages the filmstrip, a manually rotatable film
winding thumbwheel rotatably engaged with a film winding or take-up
spool inside the film cartridge, a single-blade shutter, a manually
depressible shutter release button, an exposure counter wheel that
has a numerical series of evenly spaced exposure count indicia and
is incrementally rotated to successively view the exposure count
indicia, an anti-backup pawl that engages the exposure counter
wheel to prevent its reverse rotation, a direct see-through
viewfinder having front and rear viewfinder lenses, and in most
models an electronic flash. A pair of opaque plastic front and rear
cover parts house the main body part between them to complete the
camera. The rear cover part connects to the main body part and/or
to the front cover part to make the main body part light-tight. A
decorative cardboard outer box or label at least partially covers
the front and rear cover parts and has respective openings for the
taking lens, etc.
[0004] After each picture is taken with the one-time-use camera,
the photographer manually rotates the thumbwheel in a film winding
direction to similarly rotate the film winding spool inside the
film cartridge. This winds an exposed frame of the filmstrip from a
rear backframe opening in the main body part into the film
cartridge and advances an unexposed frame of the filmstrip from the
unexposed film roll to the rear backframe opening. The rewinding
movement of the filmstrip the equivalent of slightly more than one
frame width rotates the metering sprocket in engagement with the
filmstrip to decrement the exposure counter wheel to its next
lower-numbered indicia and to pivot a metering lever into
engagement with the thumbwheel in order to prevent further manual
rotation of the thumbwheel in the film winding direction. Manually
depressing the shutter release button to take another picture
pivots the metering lever out of engagement with the thumbwheel to
permit renewed rotation of the thumbwheel in the film winding
direction. When the maximum number of exposures available on the
filmstrip have been made, and the filmstrip is completely wound
into the film cartridge, the one-time-use camera is given to a
photofinisher who separates the rear cover part from the main body
part and removes the film cartridge with the exposed filmstrip from
the cartridge receiving chamber. Then, he removes the exposed
filmstrip from the film cartridge to develop the latent images and
make prints for the customer.
PRIOR ART PROBLEM
[0005] The electronic flash is mounted on the main body part
between the front and rear cover parts and includes a flash circuit
board with a normally open flash charge switch. The flash charge
switch consists of one or two fixed switch contacts and a movable
switch element that is moved against the one or two fixed switch
contacts to close the flash charge switch in order to charge the
electronic flash for use. See prior art U.S. Pat. No. 5,565,943
issued Oct. 15, 1996, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,943,521 issued Aug. 24,
1999, each of which is incorporated in this application. Various
activating members are provided to be manually moved to move the
movable switch element to close the flash charge switch. For
example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,565,943 discloses a lever that is manually
pivotable from a folded position to an erected position on the
front cover part to move the movable switch element. An improvement
from the standpoint of consolidating parts is disclosed in U.S.
Pat. No. 5,943,521 in that a protective lens cover is supported to
be manually pivoted when open to move the movable switch
element.
[0006] Often it is desirable to include an accessory belt clip with
the camera, but this would be in addition to the activating member
for manually moving the movable switch element to close the flash
charge switch
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] According to one aspect of the invention, a camera
comprising a particular device such as an electronic flash that
needs electrical energy to be able to operate and has a power
switch capable of being changed from a normal state to a working
state in order to provide electrical energy to the device, and an
activating member supported to be manually moved to change the
power switch from its normal to working state, is characterized in
that:
[0008] the activating member is a belt clip constructed to be
placed on and removed from one's belt and supported to be pivoted
against the power switch to change the power switch from its normal
to working state as the belt clip is removed from one's belt,
whereby when the belt clip is removed from one's belt the device
will be made ready to operate.
[0009] According to another aspect of the invention, a method in a
camera of changing a power switch from a normal state to a working
state in order to provide electrical energy to a particular device
that needs electrical energy to be able to operate, comprises the
steps of:
[0010] pivoting a belt clip for the camera, which is constructed to
be placed on and removed from one's belt away from the camera, to
permit one's belt to be removed from between the belt clip and the
camera, and simultaneously pivoting the belt clip against the power
switch to change the power switch from its normal to working state,
whereby when one's belt is removed from between the belt clip and
the camera the device will be made ready to operate.
[0011] According to another aspect of the invention, a method of
assembling a belt clip to a camera to allow the belt clip to change
a power switch in the camera from a normal state to a working state
in order to provide electrical energy to a particular device in the
camera that needs electrical energy to be able to operate,
comprises the steps of:
[0012] pivotally connecting the belt clip to the camera at an
intermediate portion of the belt clip between a clip portion of the
belt clip and an actuating portion of the belt clip, to cause the
clip portion to be pivoted away from the camera as one's belt is
removed from between the clip portion and the camera and to
simultaneously cause the actuating portion to be pivoted against
the power switch to change the power switch from its normal to
working state; and
[0013] resiliently engaging the belt clip with the camera to cause
the clip portion to be urged towards the camera and the actuating
portion to be urged away from the power switch.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0014] FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a camera and a belt
clip pursuant to a preferred embodiment of the invention, showing
the belt clip separated from the camera for clarity of
illustration;
[0015] FIG. 2 is a front elevation view of the camera and the belt
clip, showing the belt clip connected to the camera;
[0016] FIG. 3 is a full cross-section view of the camera and the
belt clip as seen in the direction of the line-connected arrows 3,
3 in FIG. 2, showing the belt clip connected to the camera;
[0017] FIG. 4 is a partial cross-section view of the camera and the
belt clip, showing the belt clip separated from the camera;
[0018] FIG. 5 is a partial cross-section view of the camera and the
belt clip, showing the belt clip connected to the camera;
[0019] FIG. 6 is a partial cross-section view similar to FIG. 5,
showing the belt clip pivoted to close a power switch.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0020] The invention is disclosed as being embodied preferably in a
disposable one-time-use flash camera with a built-in electronic
flash. Because the features of a one-time-use flash camera with a
built-in electronic flash are generally known, the description
which follows is directed in particular only to those elements
forming part of or cooperating directly with the disclosed
embodiment. It is to be understood, however, that other elements
may take various forms known to a person of ordinary skill in the
art.
[0021] Referring now to the drawings, FIGS. 1-6 show a disposable
one-time-use camera 10 including a plastic opaque interior main
body part 12, a plastic opaque exterior front cover part 14, and a
plastic opaque exterior rear cover part 16. The front cover part 14
and the rear cover part 16 house the main body part 12 between them
and are connected releasably to one another and to the main body
part via known hook-in-hole connections.
[0022] As is typical, the main body part 12 has a rearwardly open
cartridge receiving chamber 18 for a conventional film cartridge 20
and a rearwardly open film supply or film roll chamber 22. See FIG.
3. During manufacture, a filmstrip 24 is prewound from the film
cartridge 20 into an unexposed film roll 26 on a film supply spool
28 which is placed in the film supply chamber 22. A rearwardly open
backframe opening 30 is located between the cartridge receiving
chamber 18 and the film supply chamber 22 for exposing successive
frames of the filmstrip 24 when ambient light is received through a
front taking lens 32 on the main body part 12.
[0023] A known optical viewfinder 34 is mounted on top of the main
body part 12 and has a pair of optically aligned front and rear
viewfinder lenses for viewing a subject to be photographed. See
FIGS. 1 and 2.
[0024] A film winding thumbwheel (not shown), rotatably supported
on top of the main body part 12, above the cartridge receiving
chamber 18, radially protrudes partially from an elongate narrow
opening (not shown) in the rear cover part 16 and has a depending
coaxial stem (not shown) in coaxial engagement with an exposed top
end (not shown) of a film take-up spool 36 inside the film
cartridge 20. The film winding thumbwheel has a continuous
alternating series of peripheral-edge symmetrical teeth that
readily permit the thumbwheel to be manually grasped or fingered to
incrementally rotate the thumbwheel in a film winding direction,
i.e. counter-clockwise in FIG. 3, to similarly rotate the film
take-up spool 36 inside the film cartridge 20. This is done in
order to wind an exposed frame of the filmstrip 24 from the
backframe opening 30 into the film cartridge 20 after each film
exposure, and to move a fresh frame of the filmstrip from the
unexposed film roll 26 to the backframe opening. Each time the
filmstrip 24 is advanced slightly greater than a frame width, a
known metering lever or other known metering device (not shown)
engages one of the teeth of the film winding thumbwheel to prevent
rotation of the thumbwheel. The metering lever is disengaged from
one of the teeth as an incident of each film exposure.
[0025] When the filmstrip 24 is wound completely into the film
cartridge 20, a rear or bottom portion of the rear cover part 16
which at least partially covers the cartridge receiving chamber 18
is disengaged from the main body part 12 to permit the film
cartridge to be removed from the cartridge receiving chamber.
[0026] A built-in known electronic flash 38 is mounted on the main
body part 12 in the vicinity of the film supply chamber 22. See
FIGS. 3-6. The electronic flash unit 38 includes a flat flash
circuit board 40 with a manually depressible (movable) dome-shaped
switch-closing element 42 and a single fixed contact pad 44 spaced
slightly beneath the switch-closing element. A circular periphery
of the switch-closing element 42 and the whole contact pad 44 are
soldered on the flash circuit board 40. The switch-closing element
42 is deformable to permit it be manually depressed (moved) against
the contact pad 44, and it is resilient to recover an original
shape separated from the contact pad. See FIGS. 6 and 5. The
switch-closing element 42 and the contact pad 44 constitute a
normally biased-open flash charge switch 46 which when closed by
temporarily deforming the switch-closing element against the
contact pad permits a main capacitor (not shown) on the flash
circuit board 40 to be charged.
[0027] When the normally open flash charge switch 46 is closed by
temporarily deforming (moving) the switch-closing element 44
against the contact pad 44, a high-frequency oscillator (not shown)
on the flash circuit board 40 converts the dc voltage from a
battery 48 to an ac voltage that is stepped up in a transformer
(not shown) on the flash circuit board. This high voltage is
rectified by a rectifier (not shown) on the flash circuit board 40
back to dc and stored in the main capacitor. The oscillator, the
rectifier, the transformer, and the battery 48 constitute a known
flash charging circuit that is activated when the flash charge
switch 46 is closed. A known monitoring circuit (not shown) on the
flash circuit board 40 ignites a flash ready light (not shown) when
the stored voltage in the main capacitor approaches a peak
capacity.
[0028] A belt clip 50 has a clip portion 52 facing the rear cover
part 16 to hold one's belt 54 between the clip portion and the rear
cover part 16 as in FIG. 3, an actuating portion 56 for closing the
normally open flash charge switch 46 by temporarily deforming
(moving) the switch-closing element 44 against the contact pad 44
as in FIG. 6, and an intermediate portion 58 between the clip and
actuating portions. See FIGS. 3-6. The intermediate portion 58 is
curved approximately 180.degree. to extend around respective common
ends 60 and 62 of the front and rear cover parts 14 and 16, is
dimensioned to fit partially within a curved opening 64 in the end
60 of the front cover part, has a concavity 66 in which a fixed
fulcrum 68 on the main body part resides to pivotally support the
belt clip at its intermediate portion, has a resilient cantilever
70 with a single-hook end 72 that engages two parallel identical
projections 74 on the main body part to normally urge (bias) the
clip portion towards the rear cover part and to simultaneously urge
(bias) the actuating portion 56 away from the switch-closing
element 44. When the clip portion 52 is placed on or removed from
one's belt 54, that is, when one's belt is received between or
removed from between the clip portion and the rear cover part 16,
the clip portion is momentarily pivoted away from the rear cover
part, in a clockwise direction in FIG. 6 about the fixed fulcrum
68, slightly deforming the resilient cantilever 70, and pivoting
the actuating portion 56 in the same direction. The actuating
portion 56 then closes the normally open flash charge switch 46 by
temporarily deforming (moving) the switch-closing element 44
against the contact pad 44. Thus, when the belt clip 50 is removed
from one's belt 54, the electronic flash 38 is ready to be used
because its main capacitor will be charged.
[0029] The actuating portion 56 includes a manually depressible
portion in the form of a ribbed finger grip 76 at the opening 64 in
the front cover part 14, which can be manually depressed to
optionally pivot the actuating portion 56 in a clockwise direction
in FIG. 6. The actuating portion 56 then closes the normally open
flash charge switch 46 by temporarily deforming (moving) the
switch-closing element 44 against the contact pad 44.
[0030] To assemble the belt clip 50 to the camera 10, the concavity
66 is placed onto the fixed fulcrum 68 and the single-hook end 72
is engaged with the two projections 74. See FIGS. 5 and 6. This
locates the clip portion 52 facing the rear cover part 16 and the
actuating portion 56 inward of the opening 64 and close to the
switch-closing element 42.
[0031] The invention has been described with reference to a
preferred embodiment. However, it will be appreciated that
variations and modifications can be effected by a person of
ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope of the
invention. For example, the switch-closing element 42 that is
manually depressed against the contact pad 44 to close the normally
open flash charge switch 46 could be located on the belt clip 50 in
place of the actuating portion 56. In this instance, as in the
preferred embodiment, the switch closing element 42 would have to
be conductively connected to the flash circuit board 40
[0032] Parts List
[0033] 10. one-time-use camera
[0034] 12. main body part
[0035] 14. front cover part
[0036] 16. rear cover part
[0037] 18. cartridge receiving chamber
[0038] 20. film cartridge
[0039] 22. film supply or film roll chamber
[0040] 24. filmstrip
[0041] 26. unexposed film roll
[0042] 28. film supply spool
[0043] 30. backframe opening
[0044] 32. front taking lens
[0045] 34. viewfinder
[0046] 36. film take-up spool
[0047] 38. electronic flash
[0048] 40. flash circuit board
[0049] 42. movable switch-closing element
[0050] 44. fixed contact pad
[0051] 46. flash charge switch
[0052] 48. battery
[0053] 50. belt clip
[0054] 52. clip portion
[0055] 54. one's belt
[0056] 56. actuating portion
[0057] 58. intermediate portion
[0058] 60. end
[0059] 62. end
[0060] 64. curved opening
[0061] 66. concavity
[0062] 68. fixed fulcrum
[0063] 70. resilient cantilever
[0064] 72. single-hook end
[0065] 74, 74. projections
[0066] 76. manually depressible portion/ribbed finger grip
* * * * *