Photography – With film drive – Mechanical detail
Reexamination Certificate
2000-03-08
2001-12-04
Mathews, Alan A. (Department: 2851)
Photography
With film drive
Mechanical detail
C396S387000, C396S536000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06325555
ABSTRACT:
The present invention relates to cameras and, more particularly, to a camera having means for pre-winding unexposed film from a film cartridge loaded in the camera to a take-up spool in the camera in a non-darkroom environment and locking means to limit removal and replacement of the film cartridge. The present invention further relates to a method for accomplishing such pre-winding and locking.
BACKGROUND
Customer loyalty is a desired objective of all businesses. As such, businesses are continuously searching for ways to keep their customers coming back. For businesses in highly competitive industries, customer loyalty is often vital to the success of the business.
However, for businesses which mainly sell common consumable products, this is a particularly difficult problem. In such industries, price is often the force driving customer purchases and, consequently, customer loyalty tends to be low. Accordingly, businesses in these industries are particularly interested in means for generating repeat business.
One means of accomplishing this is to provide a consumable product which cannot be replenished by others. However, as stated previously, this is particularly difficult to accomplish when dealing with common consumables. For instance, film processing services are widely available and, for the most part, are virtually indistinguishable from one business to another. Thus, consumers tend to choose film processing services based on price. Accordingly, film processing services are constantly searching for means to guide consumers back into their stores.
One such device developed to address this need is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,752,085 to Cloutier. Cloutier discloses a rental camera having an auxiliary key structured to open the film and battery reloading doors and to initiate the camera rewind mechanism. Although somewhat useful for its intended purpose, the Cloutier camera includes certain inherent limitations which limit its overall effectiveness. First, the Cloutier locking mechanism includes a fairly specific and complicated structure, which is not easily adaptable to existing camera configurations.
Additionally, many cameras are structured so that the unexposed film is pre-wound from a film cartridge loaded in the camera onto a take-up spool in the camera, with the exposed film being fed back into the cartridge as pictures are taken. Cloutier does not include means for such pre-winding. In fact, the Cloutier camera is specifically designed for rewinding after the film has been exposed and, accordingly, does not contemplate use with such pre-winding systems. Moreover, it is often desirable for such pre-wind cameras to include means for pre-winding in non-darkroom conditions so that film may be readily loaded and pre-wound at any location and in any ambient conditions. This is especially desirable for so-called “rental” cameras like that disclosed in Cloutier, which will, typically, be reloaded in a film processing store, while the consumer awaits the return of the reloaded camera.
Accordingly, there is still a need in the art for a system for cameras of the type structured for film pre-winding, which includes means for pre-winding the unexposed film in non-darkroom conditions and locking means for limiting the ability to remove and replace film to those having the proper key. Any such system should include a single tool for accomplishing both the pre-winding and unlocking functions. Any such system should also be easily adaptable to existing camera structures and easy to operate. The present invention is particularly suited to overcome those problems which remain in the art in a manner not previously known.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed towards a new and improved camera having means for pre-winding unexposed film, in non-darkroom conditions, from a film cartridge to a take up spool and limiting removal and replacement of the film cartridge to those designated to do so. The camera includes a main body and rear door structured to mate with one another to form a light-tight casing. The rear door provides access to a film cartridge receiving compartment, a substantially cylindrical-shaped take-up spool and battery compartment disposed within the spool. The take-up spool includes an outer end zone extending through the top face of the main body, so as to be accessible exteriorly of the camera, and is structured to rotate within the camera about an axis perpendicular to the optical axis of the camera. A locking mechanism secures the rear door to the main body to prevent the rear door from being opened. The locking mechanism comprises a latching member having upper and lower slots structured to slidingly engage a pair of upper and lower guide pins disposed on a side wall of the main body and upper and lower hooks structured to matingly engage a pair of upper and lower hooks extending tangently out from a side wall of the rear door. A pair of outwardly biased locking pins, extending through and out from the side wall of the main body, are structured and disposed for inward and outward movement from a first extended position, wherein the pins extend through a pair of corresponding holes in the latching member, thereby retaining the latching member in a first upper position, to a second depressed position, wherein the latching member may be slid downward to a second lower position, thereby permitting the rear door to be opened. The latching member further includes a generally s-shaped, resilient biasing member seated above a generally horizontally disposed bar extending out from the side wall of the main body, structured to compress against the bar when the latching member is in the second lower position and force the latching member back into the first upper position. An external tool includes a pair of pins, structured to depress the locking pins into the second depressed position so that the latching member may be slid into the second lower position and the rear door opened, and a generally circular-shaped rim, with at least one inwardly disposed tab, extending out from its bottom face, structured to mate with a corresponding shaped structure on the outer end of the take-up spool to facilitate the pre-winding of the unexposed film.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved camera having all of the advantages of the prior art and none of the disadvantages.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a camera which includes means for pre-winding unexposed film from a film cartridge loaded in the camera to a spool in the camera in non-darkroom conditions and locking means for limiting the ability to remove and replace the film cartridge.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide such a camera which includes a single tool for accomplishing both the pre-winding and unlocking functions.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such a system for a camera which is easily adaptable to existing camera structures.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide such a system which is easy to operate.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent in the description which follows.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3096699 (1963-07-01), Harvey et al.
patent: 5708856 (1998-01-01), Cloutier
patent: 5752085 (1998-05-01), Cloutier et al.
patent: 6049675 (2000-04-01), DiRisio et al.
Chung Franco Yik Kai
Zawodny Arthur
Concord Camera Corp.
Lampert Scott
Mathews Alan A.
LandOfFree
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