Photography – Having operator controlled data entry into camera – Manual manipulators on camera body unit
Reexamination Certificate
2002-11-18
2003-05-27
Perkey, W. B. (Department: 2851)
Photography
Having operator controlled data entry into camera
Manual manipulators on camera body unit
C396S300000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06571066
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a camera, and more specifically to camera control electronics.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Still photo cameras are a popular means of recording events and are used by amateurs and professionals alike. Both film (conventional) cameras and digital cameras are widely used and relatively inexpensive. And while digital cameras have enjoyed a recent surge in popularity, film cameras still hold a majority of market share.
Please refer to
FIG. 1
showing a typical camera
10
according to the prior art. The camera
10
is a film camera or a digital camera. The camera
10
comprises a power button
12
for turning the camera
10
on and off, a mode button
14
for changing a mode of the camera
10
, and an exposure button
16
for taking a picture. Camera modes affect how the picture is taken and typically include modes such as a normal mode and a low-light mode. The camera
10
further includes other mechanisms (lenses, shutter, film advance, etc) and electronics (control circuit, auto focus, flash, etc) that are well known in the art. When a photographer wishes to take a picture, she must first press the power button
12
to turn the camera
10
on, then press the mode button
14
to put the camera
10
into a desired mode, and finally, aim the camera
10
and snap the photo with the exposure button
16
. If one of these steps is skipped, the photo opportunity may be missed or the picture may turn out to be poor.
For user convenience it is sometimes desirable that a camera be small. If portability is a main concern of a camera user, camera manufacturers need to address this by reducing or combining components of the camera. The camera should be easy to handle and compact enough so it can be carried in a shirt pocket for instance. While the prior art camera
10
satisfies this compactness requirement in some respects, the buttons
12
,
14
, and
16
have some unnecessary redundancy. Thus, space in the camera
10
is wasted and the number of components and cost of the camera
10
are higher than required.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
It is therefore a primary objective of the claimed invention to provide a camera having a multimode power button that is capable of both turning the camera on and off and switching modes of the camera.
Briefly summarized, the claimed invention includes a camera having a power supply, a microcontroller with a timer, and a button capable of being actuated for an actuation time. When the camera is off and the button is actuated, the microcontroller turns the camera on. When the camera is on and the button is actuated so the actuation time is shorter than a threshold time, the microcontroller changes a mode of the camera. And when the camera is on and the button is actuated so the actuation time is not shorter than (equal to or longer than) the threshold time, the microcontroller turns the camera off.
According to the claimed invention, the threshold time is about 1.5 seconds.
It is an advantage of the claimed invention that the button allows a user to turn the camera off and on as well as to switch modes of the camera thereby reducing components in the camera and saving related costs.
It is a further advantage of the claimed invention that the single button makes the camera easier to use compared to a prior art camera having a multitude of single function buttons.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4206990 (1980-06-01), Imura et al.
patent: 5519468 (1996-05-01), Ohtake
Hsu Winston
Perkey W. B.
Primax Electronics Ltd.
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