Photography – With object illumination for exposure – Having flash built into camera
Reexamination Certificate
2000-06-02
2002-04-16
Gray, David M. (Department: 2851)
Photography
With object illumination for exposure
Having flash built into camera
C396S175000, C396S178000, C396S176000, C396S062000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06374051
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a camera having a pop-up strobe for moving a flash light-emitting unit attached to the camera between an irradiation position for shooting and an accommodation position.
2. Description of the Related Art
Some cameras include an electronic flash (strobe) so that many people can enjoy picture taking easily without failure. The strobe is controlled such that it automatically flashes when the subject brightness is insufficient at the time of picture taking. Of this kind of cameras, there is one having a so-called pop-up mechanism in which, if a main-switch or the like is turned ON so as to bring the camera into a picture taking state, a flash light-emitting unit pops up from an upper face of the camera to a light-emitting position and, if the switch is turned OFF, the light-emitting unit pops down into the accommodation position inside the camera body.
Conventionally, as a pop-up driving mechanism of a strobe for a camera including this kind of pop-up mechanism, especially for a camera also including an action mechanism for changing an irradiation angle of a flash light-emitting unit in synchronization with change of a focal length of a lens (“zoom action” hereinafter), there is a pop-up strobe device described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 03038626 A, a retractable zoom strobe device described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 03043721 A, a camera with a built-in strobe is described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 06075278 A, and a camera described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 07110512 A. All of them includes a motor for a strobe only. Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 04199034 A discloses a camera in which a motor for moving a mirror up and down and for charging a shutter is also used for pop-up operation of a strobe and zooming operation.
Of this kind of cameras, there is one in which a barrel holding a lens can be retracted from a shooting position for taking a picture to a retracted position where the lens is accommodated in a casing of the camera so that the outer size of the camera can be compact when the camera is carried or kept in storage. A powered motor built in the camera is utilized for moving the barrel between the shooting position and the retracted position.
When the strobe is popped up, the flash light-emitting unit moves between the light-emitting position and the accommodating position and thus, a power of a motor can be utilized, and there is a camera in which a motor for driving the strobe is mounted as described above. Especially in a camera in which a lens can change the focal length and flash light-emitting unit also can be zoomed, a strobe-driving motor for popping up the strobe and moving the flash light-emitting unit is mounted as described above.
If a camera separately includes a lens-driving, motor and a strobe-driving motor, the weight of the camera and the size thereof are increased. Further, positions for these motors must be allocated inside the camera, and flexibility in the design of camera is lowered.
In the case of a camera in which a strobe-driving motor is also used for moving up and down the mirror and charging the shutter as the one described in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. H4-199034, since there is no direct relation between these mechanisms, the rotation direction of the motor is changed when the motor is used for driving the strobe and when the motor is used for the mirror. However, when a camera includes a zoom mechanism of a lens, it is preferable if the flash light-emitting unit is popped down when the lens is retracted because these actions can be synchronized.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Thereupon, it is a first object of the present invention to reduce weight and size of a camera including a retractable barrel and a pop-up mechanism, by using a strobe-driving motor for driving a lens, and popping the strobe up and down in accordance with a retracting action of the barrel.
In order to pop-up the strobe reliably, it is necessary to drive the strobe such that a, sufficient distance is secured for pop-up action. If sufficient distance is secured for pop-up action, there is an adverse possibility that a distance between the shooting position and the retracted position of the barrel is increased. If the distance between the shooting position and the retracted position is increased, a length of optical axis of the camera, i.e., a thickness of the camera is adversely increased.
Thereupon, it is another object of the invention to provide a camera including a pop-up strobe in which the strobe can be popped up utilizing the power of a barrel-driving motor, and the barrel can reliably move between a shooting position and a retracted position.
As technical means for achieving the above object, there is provided a camera including a pop-up strobe, comprising a retracting mechanism for moving a barrel between a retracted position and a shooting position by a power output from a driving source, a pop-up mechanism for moving a flash light-emitting unit between an accommodated position and an irradiating position, power branching means provided in an intermediate portion of a barrel-power transmitting path between the driving source to the barrel, and a pop-up power transmitting path for transmitting a power of the driving source from the power branching means to a driving mechanism of the pop-up mechanism.
For example, in the case of a structure in which an output of the driving source is transmitted to the barrel through the power transmitting path comprising a gear train, an appropriate gear constituting the gear train is meshed with another gear as power branching means, and the driving force for the pop-up mechanism of the strobe is obtained from this other gear. Further, the pop-up action is carried out when the barrel is advanced to the shooting position, and the pop-down action is carried out when the barrel is retracted to the retracted position. Therefore, the retracting action of the barrel and the pop-up action of the flash light-emitting unit can be synchronized.
According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a camera, including a pop-up strobe, comprising a retracting mechanism for moving a barrel between a retracted position and a shooting position by a power output from a driving source, a pop-up mechanism for moving a flash light-emitting unit between an accommodated position and an irradiating position, power branching means provided in an intermediate portion of a barrel-power transmitting path between the driving source to the barrel, and a pop-up power transmitting path for transmitting a power of the driving source from the power branching means to a driving mechanism of the pop-up mechanism, wherein when the barrel is moved from the retracted position to the shooting position, the barrel is further moved forward from the shooting position, a pop-up action for moving the flash light-emitting unit from the accommodated position to the irradiating position is carried out, and, after the pop-up action is completed, the barrel is retracted and moved to the shooting position.
As described above, it is preferable to reduce the movement amount of the barrel between the retracted position and the shooting position in order to make the camera thinner. However, if the moving amount from retracted position to the shooting position is reduced, there is an adverse possibility that a sufficient moving amount for pop-up action cannot be obtained. Thereupon, the barrel is further advanced forward from the shooting position to increase the moving amount, and the pop-up action is carried out utilizing this moving amount. Thereafter, the barrel is retracted to the shooting position to bring the camera into the shootable state. If the pop-up mechanism of the strobe is provided with appropriate engaging/disengaging means so that the power caused by the retracting action to the shooting position of the barrel is not transmitted the strobe by the action of the engaging/dise
Blackman Rochelle
Fuji Photo Optical Co., Ltd.
Gray David M.
Price Heneveld Cooper DeWitt & Litton
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