Photography – With film drive – Having significant electronic circuit detail
Reexamination Certificate
1999-04-02
2001-04-24
Mathews, Alan A. (Department: 2851)
Photography
With film drive
Having significant electronic circuit detail
C396S413000, C396S538000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06223003
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a camera having an automatic film winding mechanism which automatically winds a roll film, and more precisely, it relates to a camera for receiving a roll film which can be advantageously applied to a medium-sized camera using a Brownie film or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
A 135 roll film which has been most widely used is stored in a cartridge. Upon photographing, the film is loaded in a film compartment of a camera and is wound around a spool provided in a spool compartment. Upon completion of the photographing operation, the film is rewound in the cartridge and is removed from the camera. A Brownie film used in a medium-sized camera is wound around a film spool. Upon photographing, the film is wound onto another spool provided in the camera. When the Brownie film is loaded in the camera, the spool of the film is connected to a spool rotating shaft provided in the film compartment of the camera, and thereafter, the leading end of the film is wound around a film winding spool which is provided in a film winding compartment of the camera and which is connected to the spool rotating shaft, so that the photographing operation can be carried out while rotating the film winding spool by a drive source, such as a motor to wind the film. When the photographing operation for the last frame of the film is completed, the film is wound further in the same direction until the film is entirely wound on the film winding spool. Thereafter, the film is taken out together with the film winding spool from the camera. Therefore, the film spool on which the film has been wound is vacant, so that the film spool can be used as a film winding spool for a subsequent photographing operation.
In a camera using a Brownie film, in order to load a new film in the camera after an old film whose frames have been all exposed is removed from the camera, the spool remaining in the camera is moved from the film loading compartment to the film winding compartment, so that the new film can be loaded in the vacant film loading compartment. Therefore, the movement of the film spool must be carried out for each film replacement, thus resulting in a troublesome film replacement operation. In particular, each movement of the spool obstructs a fast film replacement, thus leading to missing a shutter chance.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a camera for receiving a roll film having a film winding mechanism in which no movement of the film spool is needed upon film replacement, so that a new film can be quickly loaded.
To achieve the object mentioned above, according to the present invention, there is provided a camera for receiving a roll film that is provided with a separate film strip wound around a first spool, and a second spool. The camera includes a first and second spool compartment, wherein the roll film can be loaded into either the first or second spool compartments and the second spool can be loaded into either the second or first spool compartments, respectively; and a reversible film winding mechanism that winds the film strip of the roll film onto the second spool, wherein the film winding direction can be reversed depending on which one of the first and second spool compartments the roll film is loaded into.
Preferably, the reversible film winding mechanism is driven by a reversible motor, so that the film can be unwound from the first spool compartment and wound into the second spool compartment or unwound from the second spool compartment and wound into the first spool compartment, in accordance with the forward or reverse rotation of the motor.
Preferably, the reversible film winding mechanism includes a drive gear portion which is driven by the reversible motor, and driven gear portions which are connected to spool rotating shafts provided in the spool compartments. The drive gear portion can selectively engage with the driven gear portions in accordance with the rotation direction of the reversible motor so as to transmit the rotation of the reversible motor to the selected spool rotating shaft.
Preferably, gear portions of the reversible film winding mechanism are constructed so that the rotational speeds of the spool rotating shafts and the film winding speeds are substantially the same when the motor is rotated in the forward direction and reverse direction.
Preferably, the first and second spool compartments are each provided therein with a sensor which detects whether the roll film is loaded in the associated spool compartment, and the reversible film winding mechanism determines the film winding direction to wind the film toward one of the first or second spool compartments in which no film is loaded from the other of the first and second spool compartments in which the film is loaded, in accordance with the detection result of the sensors.
Preferably, the sensors each include a photoreflector which optically detects the film wound around the spool.
Preferably, the sensors each include a switch which is brought into elastic contact with the outer surface of the film wound about the spool and which is turned ON or OFF in accordance with a change in the contact position of the switch.
Preferably, when the film loaded in one of the first and second spool compartments has been wound around the second spool in the other of the first and second spool compartments, only the first spool of the film is left in one of the first and second spool compartments.
Preferably, the roll film is a Brownie film.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a camera for receiving a roll film that is provided with a spool and a separate film strip wound around the spool. The camera includes a pair of spool compartments, each being provided with a spool rotating shaft, a pair of drive gear mechanisms to rotate the spool rotating shafts in the pair of spool compartments, a reversible motor, and a planet gear device which transmits the rotation of the reversible motor to one of the pair of drive gear mechanisms in accordance with the rotating direction of the reversible motor.
Preferably, the pair of spool compartments are each provided therein with a sensor which detects whether the roll film is loaded in the associated spool compartment, and further includes a controller that determines the rotating direction of the reversible motor in accordance with the detection result of the sensors.
Preferably, the sensors each include a photoreflector which optically detects the film wound around the spool.
Preferably, the sensors each include a switch which is brought into elastic contact with the outer surface of the film wound about the spool and which is turned ON or OFF in accordance with a change in the contact position of the switch. Preferably, the switch includes a microswitch.
Upon film replacement, a new film is loaded in the spool compartment from which the exposed film has been removed, and thereafter, the leading end of the film is connected to a spool in the other spool compartment. When the rear cover is closed, the camera automatically detects the spool compartment in which the film is loaded and winds the film onto the spool in the other spool compartment to complete the loading operation. Thereafter, the film can be wound onto the other spool at each photographing operation. Thus, no movement of the vacant spool in the spool compartment into the other spool compartment is needed upon replacement of the film, thus resulting in a quick and easy film replacement.
The present disclosure relates to subject matter contained in Japanese Patent Application No.10-91291 (filed on Apr. 3, 1998) which is expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
REFERENCES:
patent: 1314523 (1919-09-01), Kroedel
patent: 2029476 (1936-02-01), Githens
patent: 5918083 (1999-06-01), Aoki et al.
Asahi Kogaku Kabushiki Kaisha
Greenblum & Bernstein P.L.C.
Mathews Alan A.
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