Photographic Camera Having An Electric Timer Device

Abstract

A photographic camera having an electric timer device incorporated therein permits a power supply unit for the electric timer and a flash unit to be interchangeably mounted on the body of the camera by means of a retainer provided on the camera body. Detector means is provided for detecting the presence of the power supply unit or the flash unit retained by the retainer.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a photographic camera having an electric timer device, and more particularly to a photographic camera having a flash unit therewithin or a camera of which a flash unit can be removably mounted.

2. Description of the Prior Art

With a so-called electric shutter having an electric timer device for controlling the time during which the shutter is opened and closed, it is usually the case that comsumption of a power supply battery would prevent obtainment of a proper shutter speed, thus resulting in an improper exposure. For this reason, the use of an electric shutter would not ensure the taking of a picture under an accurate proper exposure without the operating condition of the battery being checked every time. If one forgets to load one's camera with a battery, the electric shutter would remain entirely inoperative and thus fail to provide a proper exposure.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to eliminate these disadvantages existing in the prior art and to enable an electric shutter to be converted into a mechanical shutter when the power supply battery for the electric shutter becomes unusable or when one forgets loading of the battery, whereby the mechanical shutter is set to a predetermined shutter speed.

To achieve the above object, the present invention incorporates an electric timer circuit in a camera body and enables a power supply unit for the electric timer circuit and a flash unit to be interchangeably and removably mounted on the camera body. When the power supply unit is mounted on the camera body, a first detector member for detecting it is displaced to mechanically release a rear screen retainer member which in turn is held by an electromagnet as soon as the shutter release button is pressed. After an exposure time determined by the electric timer started upon operation of a front screen has passed, the power supply to the electromagnet is cut off and the rear screen is operated for automatic photography. When the power supply unit for the electric timer is removed from the camera body, the first detector member returns to its initial position to hold the rear screen retainer member and immediately after the front screen operated upon shutter release terminates its movement, the retention of the rear screen is released to provide a predetermined time of fully open shutter position, so that a proper F-value for such time is provided by manual adjustment to accomplish photography.

The present invention achieves additional effects as shown below.

1. Where artificial light (especially, electronic flash) is used for photography, a predetermined time of fully open shutter position may be mechanically provided without using the electric timer;

2. Where the electric timer cannot be used, ordinary daylight photography can be accomplished by utilizing the predetermined time of fully open shutter position mentioned in item (1) above;

3. During daylight photography, the power supply unit for the electric timer may be removed from the camera body to make the camera lighter in weight and easier to handle; and

4. When the flash unit, instead of the power supply unit, is mounted on the camera body, a distance adjust mechanism and aperture adjust mechanism for the objective lens are operatively associated together to enable an F-value matching the guide number of the flash unit to be automatically selected in accordance with the object distance.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will become fully apparent from the following detailed description thereof taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGS. 1 to 3 are pictorial views of the camera according to the present invention, FIG. 1 showing the camera with a power supply unit mounted thereon, FIG. 2 showing the camera with the power supply unit removed therefrom, and FIG. 3 showing the camera with a flash unit mounted thereon instead of the power supply unit;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the interior mechanism of the camera according to the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a side elevation, in vertical section, of the shutter drive system of the camera;

FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 are transverse sectional views taken along lines VI--VI, VII--VII and VIII--VIII of FIG. 5, respectively;

FIG. 9 is a view illustrating the operation of the rear screen with the shutter charged;

FIG. 10 is a view similar to FIG. 9 and showing the front screen released and the rear screen retainer member held;

FIG. 11 shows a mechanism for mechanically providing a predetermined time of fully open shutter position, with a power supply unit mounted and the shutter charged;

FIG. 12 is a view similar to FIG. 11 but with a flash unit mounted instead of a power supply unit;

FIG. 13 is a view similar to FIG. 12 but with the front screen released and the rear screen released;

FIG. 14 is a perspective view illustrating the operative association between a distance ring and an aperture ring;

FIG. 15 is a view of the mechanism for operatively associating the distance ring with the aperture ring; and

FIG. 16 is a view similar to FIG. 15 but with the flash unit removed from the camera body.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIG. 1, a single lens reflex camera body C includes an interchangeable lens L, a release button RB, a film advance knob K1, a film rewind knob K2, and a finder eyepiece I. In the front face of the camera body, an accessory shoe SH is provided for selectively mounting a power supply battery unit P or a flash unit F.

When the power supply unit P is mounted on the camera C as shown in FIG. 1, an electric shutter circuit contained within the camera C becomes effective and the exposure control may be effected in accordance with a shutter speed determined by a later-described photoelectric element for receiving a light beam passed through the interchangeable lens L. When the power supply unit P is removed from the camera C as shown in FIG. 2, the electric shutter in the camera automatically becomes inoperative and provides a constant speed shutter whose speed is mechanically controlled. When, as shown in FIG. 3, the flash unit is mounted on the camera in the position of FIG. 2, the electric shutter in the camera remains inoperative and again provides a constant speed shutter whose speed is mechanically controlled.

The interior construction of the camera C will now be described more particularly with reference to FIG. 4 and so on.

When a power supply unit P for the electric timer is mounted on the camera body (see FIG. 11), electrical connection is established among terminals T1, T2, electric timer components R, C, A and electromagnet 80 through a main switch MS. At the same time, lever 113 (a first detector) has one end 117 thereof urged into rotation against the force of spring 118 by a wall of the power supply unit P while a pin 116 provided on the other end of the lever is brought to a position beyond the operating range of lever 104, and lever 109 is also rotated by pin 115 until one end 110 thereof is brought to a position beyond the operating range of lever 73.

When the film advance knob 1 is rotated, gear 5 is rotated by means of pins 2 and 6. This causes gear 9 meshing with gear 5 and gears 12 and 14 to be all rotated in the directions of respective arrows, which in turn causes gear 17 to be rotated by lever 16 on a disc 15 secured to the shaft of the gear 14. The rotation of gear 17 is transmitted to gear 19, which rotates rollers 20 and 21 integral therewith and accordingly moves front screen ribbons 29 wound on the rollers, thus winding up a front screen against the force of spring 31.

Concurrently therewith, a rear screen drum 23 is also rotated by means of pin 24 received in a groove 27 formed in the front screen ribbon roller 21, thereby causing a rear screen wound on the drum 23 to be wound up against the force of drive spring 35 until pawl 26 of a pawl plate 25 rotatable with the drum 23 is engaged with a pawled portion of lever 82, whereafter a pin on the gear 17 is stopped by a stop member 132 (FIG. 6).

On the other hand, rotation of pin 11 on the intermediate gear 9 charges a charge lever 43 against the force of spring 54 until pin 46 on the lever 43 is engaged with pawl 42 of release lever 39, whereafter the pin 11 may be shifted beyond the operating range of one end of the lever 43 and stopped there.

Since the other end of the spring 54 is secured to a pin 52 on lever 48, clockwise rotation of the charge lever 43 causes the lever 48 to be rotated in the same direction, so that a pin 51 formed on the other end of lever 48 urges a portion 78 of lever 73 until an iron piece 79 attached to one end of lever 73 is urged into contact with an electromagnet 80.

When shutter button 37 is depressed to release the shutter, the main switch MS is closed to energize the electromagnet 80. Also, the tapered end portion 38 of the release button 37 causes release lever 39 to be rotated clockwise against the force of spring 41 and thereby disengage the pawl 42 of lever 39 from pin 46, so that charge lever 43 is rotated counter-clockwise by spring 54. Thereupon, the end 55 of charge lever 43 causes pin 50 to rotate lever 48 counterclockwise, thus disengaging pin 51 from the contact portion 78 of lever 73.

Thereafter, the other end 43' of lever 43 strikes lever 16 at one end 139 thereof (FIG. 6), to thereby rotate the lever 16 counter-clockwise against the force of spring 140 and disengage the pawled portion 138 of lever 16 from a pin 131 on the front screen gear, thus permitting the front screen to be moved with rotation of the ribbon rollers 20 and 21. Simultaneously therewith, a pin 47 on charge lever 43 is displaced to disengage switch contacts 98 and 99 from each other and start charging a capacitor C.

After a time determined by the resistance value R of the photoelectric element and capacitor C at that moment has passed, a time control circuit A is operated to deenergize the electromagnet 80. As a result, the iron piece 79 is released from the electromagnet to allow lever 73 to be rotated clockwise by spring 81. At the same time, lever 82 engaged with pin 77 on lever 73 is rotated in the same direction to disengage pawl 85 from the pawled portion 26 of the rear screen moving pawl plate 25, so that the rear screen wound on the drum 23 is moved to cover the surface of film, thus completing a picture-taking cycle.

Flash Photography

With the flash unit F, instead of the power supply unit P, being mounted on the camera body, the lever 113 (first detector member) causes lever 109 to be rotated by the force of spring 118 until the end 110 of the lever 109 strikes the lever 73. Thereupon, pin 116 on lever 113 is positioned within the operating range of lever 104.

On the other hand, the flash unit F thus mounted causes a circuit to be formed by timing terminals T3, T4 and switches 107, 108, 123, 124. Also, lever 151 (second detector member) has the end 154 thereof urged against the wall of the flash unit F, thereby bringing about a position as shown in FIG. 15. When a distance adjust ring 169 is then rotated counter-clockwise, lever 160 is rotated by means of cam 171 and roller 164 to displace pin 159 engaged with the other end of lever 160, thereby rotating lever 156 also counter-clockwise to displace to the right a portion 167 of lever 165 which is in engagement with one end 158 of lever 156. As a result, the lever 165 is rotated clockwise to cause the arm 181 of ring 180 to rotate cam ring 175, thus providing an F-value matching the distance determined by the distance adjust ring 169.

The camming surface 177 of cam ring 175 is engaged by a pin 184 on bell crank lever 182. The intermediate lever 195 is restrained from movement with the underside of the arm 197 thereof engaged with unshown shutter operating lever of the camera body.

When the shutter button 37 is depressed to release the shutter, the main switch MS is first closed but no current flows to the electromagnet 80 and the iron piece 79 is not attracted, because the power supply unit P is not mounted on the camera body.

As the shutter operating lever is operated with the depression of the shutter button 37, a windmill ring 186 operatively associated therewith via intermediate lever 195, projection 196 and arm 189 is rotated by the force of spring 190 until the arm 187 of ring 186 strikes the end of bell crank ring 182. Thereupon, a shutter blade 191 having a pin 192 received in an aperture 188 formed in the windmill ring 186 is rotated to provide a predetermined F-value. The position of the camming surface 177 of cam ring 175 may be adjusted also by a preset ring 172.

Thereafter, as the front screen moving gear 17 is rotated with the release of the front screen release lever 16, pin 51 urging a portion 78 of lever 73 is disengaged from pin 51, but the lever 73 is not allowed to rotate because it is restrained by the end 110 of lever 109.

Immediately before the movement of the front screen is terminated, pin 131 strikes one end 102 of lever 101 to rotate this lever, which closes switch contacts 107 and 108 to cause flashing of the flash unit. Also, a portion 105 of lever 104 and pin 116 cooperate together to rotate levers 113 and 109 against the force of spring 118. Thus, the end 110 of lever 109 escapes beyond the operating range of lever 73 and the levers 73 and 82 are rotated clockwise by the force of spring 81 to disengage pawl 85 from the pawl 26 of pawl plate 25 to thereby allow movement of the rear screen. Immediately before the movement of the rear screen is terminated, the end 121 of lever 119 is struck to open switch contacts 123 and 124, thus completing a series of operations.

In the foregoing case, by forming a stepped portion 200 in the wall surface of the flash unit F to be mounted on the camera body and by making the dimensions of the stepped portion correspond to the guide number, it is possible to provide a proper F-value in accordance with the object distance.

Daylight Photography Using No Electric Timer

When the flash unit is removed from the camera body, the lever 151 (second detector member) is rotated by the force of spring 155 to thereby displace the center of rotation of lever 156 pivotally mounted on lever 151, so that levers 167 and 158 may not be engaged with each other in any position of the distance adjust ring 169. On the other hand, a predetermined time of fully open shutter position is provided as described previously when the power supply unit P is not mounted on the camera body, and therefore daylight photography can be accomplished by using the preset ring 172 to set an F-value matching the predetermined time.

Bulb Photography

By converting the change-over disc 95 to the bulb photography mode, it is set so that the recessed camming surface 97 of the disc 95 may be engaged by one end 93 of lever 89 and at the same time, the switch in the power supply circuit is opened.

When the shutter button 37 is depressed with the disc 95 converted to the bulb photography mode, lever 56 is rotated clockwise against the force of spring 59 to disengage the end 58 of lever 56 from pin 62. This permits levers 60 and 64 to be rotated by the force of spring 68 to engage pawl 67 with a tooth of gear 5 to thereby inhibit film advance during depression of the shutter button 37, while pin 62 is moved to permit lever 89 to be rotated counter-clockwise by the force of spring 94 and thus, the lever 89 is received into the recessed camming surface 97 of the change-over disc 95. As a result, the pawled portion 95 is moved into engagement with the pawl 53 of lever 48. In addition to the described operation, the depression of the shutter button 37 releases the engagement between the pawl 42 of release lever 39 and pin 46. Therefore, lever 43 is rotated counter-clockwise by the force of spring 54 so that the end 43' thereof rotates lever 16 to disengage pawl 138 from pin 131, thus starting the front screen. One end 55 of lever 43 tends to actuate to rotate the pin 50 on the lever 48, whereas such tendency is prevented by the engagement between the pawl 53 of lever 48 and the pawl 92 of lever 89 and accordingly, levers 78 and 82 are not actuated with the pawl 85 of lever 82 maintained in engagement with the pawl 26 of the rear screen moving pawl plate 25, thus maintaining the rear screen unactuated.

When the depression of the shutter button 37 is now stopped, lever 56 is rotated counter-clockwise to its initial position by the force of spring 59 to thereby cause pin 62 to rotate lever 89 clockwise and disengage pawl 92 from pawl 53, thus permitting slight counter-clockwise rotation of lever 48 until the pin 51 thereon is disengaged from a portion 78 of lever 73. Thereupon, levers 73 and 82 are rotated clockwise by the force of spring 81 to disengage the pawl 85 of lever 82 from the pawl 26 of pawl plate 25, thus starting the rear screen to complete an exposure.

According to the present invention, as has been described above, an electric timer circuit is incorporated in the camera body and a power supply unit therefor and a flash unit may be interchangeably mounted on the camera body. Therefore, automatic photography using the electric timer can be accomplished when the power supply unit is mounted on the camera body. When the power supply unit is removed from the camera body, the first detector member retains the rear screen retainer member and such retention of the rear screen is released immediately before the termination of the front screen movement in response to such movement, thereby mechanically providing a predetermined time of fully open shutter position without using the electric shutter. Therefore, ordinary daylight photography can be achieved by manually adjusting and setting a proper F-value for such fully open shutter time.

Also, when the power supply unit is removed and the flash unit is mounted on the camera body, the second detector member establishes an operative association between the distance adjust mechanism and the aperture adjust mechanism to permit an F-value matching the guide number of the flash unit to be automatically selected in accordance with the distance adjustment, thus automating the flash photography. Furthermore, the power supply unit for the electric timer is unused and removed during flash photography, and this contributes to a lighter weight of the camera body and to a greater ease with which the camera body is handled.

Claims

I claim:

1. A photographic camera having an electric shutter comprising:

a shutter;

a housing for the camera;

a power supply unit mounted on a portion of said housing;

power supply unit retainer means provided on a side wall of said housing for mounting said power supply unit;

first detector means for detecting the casing of said power supply unit retained by said retainer means;

shutter opening means;

shutter closing means engageable with said detector means for starting the closing operation of the shutter;

electromagnet means operatively associated with said shutter closing means;

an electronic timer circuit having the output thereof connected with said electromagnet means for electrically effecting a time-counting operation and changing over the operation of said electromagnet means in accordance with the output at the end of said time-counting operation;

said detector means having an engaging member movable into engagement and disengagement with said shutter opening means, said shutter closing means being released in response to said engaging member;

said engaging member being displaced into disengaged position by said detector member when said power supply unit is mounted on said camera housing, and displaced into engaged position when said power supply unit is removed from said camera housing.

2. A photographic camera according to claim 1, wherein said camera housing includes a fixed shoe receiving means for mounting said power supply unit, said shoe receiving means being engageable with a shoe provided on said power supply unit.

3. A photographic camera according to claim 1, wherein said camera housing includes a side wall having retainer means carrying an electrode, and said power supply unit comprises a casing, a power supply battery contained in said casing, a second engaging member formed on one side wall of said casing and engageable with said retainer means, and an electrode led out to the surface of said second engaging member, said power supply unit being held by said retainer means of the camera with the aid of said second engaging member and supplying a current to the camera through said electrode.

4. A photographic camera according to claim 3, wherein said detector means includes a detector member operatively associated with said second engaging member, said detector member being projectedly formed on the surface of said retainer means, said detector member being adapted to be displaced into engagement with the surface of said power supply unit casing when said power supply unit is mounted on said camera, thereby displacing said second engaging member into disengaged position.

5. A photographic camera having an electric shutter comprising:

a shutter;

a housing for the camera;

a power supply unit mounted on a portion of said housing;

power supply unit retainer means provided on a side wall of said housing for mounting said power supply unit;

first detector means for detecting the casing of said power supply unit retained by said retainer means;

shutter opening means;

shutter closing means engageable with said detector means for starting the closing operation of the shutter;

electromagnet means operatively associated with said shutter closing means;

an electronic timer circuit having the output thereof connected with said electromagnet means for electrically effecting a time-counting operation;

said detector means having an engaging member movable into engagement and disengagement with said shutter opening means, said shutter closing means being released in response to said engaging member;

said engaging member being displaced into disengaged position by said detector member when said power supply unit is mounted on said camera housing, and displaced into engaged position when said power supply unit is removed from said camera housing;

second retainer means for retaining a flash unit on said camera housing;

second detector means provided contiguously with said second retainer means and displaceable in engagement with the casing of said flash unit;

aperture stop means;

distance adjust means for the objective lens of said camera;

means for controlling said aperture stop means by said distance adjust means, and

changeover means controlled by said second detector means for enabling operation of said aperture stop control means when said flash unit is retained on said camera housing.

6. A photographic camera according to claim 5, wherein said first and second retainer means are common.

7. A photographic camera according to claim 6, wherein said second retainer means comprises a flash timing contact electrode.