Photography – Disposable or recyclable camera
Reexamination Certificate
2000-03-24
2001-02-20
Gray, David M. (Department: 2851)
Photography
Disposable or recyclable camera
C396S284000, C396S411000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06192195
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates generally to the field of photography, and in particular to cameras. More specifically, the invention relates to a camera with a combination anti-backup pawl and viewing window for an exposure counter.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
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 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 said exposure counter wheel to prevent its reverse rotation, a direct see-through viewfinder having front and rear viewfinder lenses, and in some 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.
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 take-up 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.
PROBLEM
It is a continuing challenge to make one-time-use cameras as compact as is reasonably possible. This pursuit often involves the elimination of at least one part whenever possible. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,014,525 issued Jan. 11, 2000 discloses a camera having a combination shutter release button and viewing window for an exposure counter wheel.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A camera comprising an exposure counter wheel that has a series of exposure count indicia and is incrementally rotated in a count direction to successively view the exposure count indicia, and an anti-backup pawl that engages with the exposure counter wheel to prevent rotation of the exposure counter wheel in a reverse direction which is the opposite of the count direction, is characterized in that:
the anti-backup pawl is a combination single-piece unit having a stationary rigid transparent portion fixed in place above the exposure counter wheel to permit the exposure count indicia to be successively seen through the transparent portion when the exposure counter wheel is incrementally rotated in the count direction and having a resilient flexible pawl portion positioned in engagement with the exposure counter wheel to prevent rotation of the exposure counter wheel in the reverse direction but to allow rotation of the exposure count wheel in the count direction.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3057277 (1962-10-01), Swarofsky et al.
patent: 3590711 (1971-07-01), Milanese et al.
patent: 4057814 (1977-11-01), Grunbacher et al.
patent: 4655573 (1987-04-01), Harvey et al.
patent: 4707096 (1987-11-01), Lawther
patent: 5005035 (1991-04-01), Pagano
patent: 6014525 (2000-01-01), Ohkura et al.
patent: 6078754 (2000-06-01), DiRisio
Eastman Kodak Company
Fields Roger A.
Gray David M.
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