Photography – Having camera indicator – Nonmechanical visual display
Reexamination Certificate
2001-07-19
2002-10-01
Gray, David M. (Department: 2851)
Photography
Having camera indicator
Nonmechanical visual display
C396S299000, C396S543000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06459856
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a camera (e.g., a conventional camera using sensitive film, a hand-held video recorder, or a digital camera), having a control dial through which a display panel can be viewed.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A camera which is provided on a camera body thereof with a control dial (e.g., a mode select dial) through which a display panel (e.g., an LCD panel or an LED panel which is surrounded by the control dial) can be viewed, is known in the art.
FIG. 11
is a perspective view of such a combination of a control dial
101
and an LCD panel
102
on the top panel (not shown) of an SLR camera. The control dial
101
is manually turned to select, e.g., an exposure mode from a plurality of exposure modes including a manual photometering mode, an aperture-priority auto-exposure mode and a programmed auto exposure mode. As can be seen in
FIG. 11
, information indicated by the LCD panel
102
is read through a circular transparent window plate
103
fitted in the center opening of the control dial
101
. The LCD panel
102
indicates, e.g., information corresponding to the rotational position of the control dial
101
.
The control dial
101
is provided with a switching protrusion
104
which protrudes downward from an outer periphery thereof. The protrusion
104
turns ON and OFF a plurality of switches
105
(only one is shown in
FIG. 11
) which are arranged on a circle the protrusion
104
moves, upon rotation of the dial
101
. A plurality of pins
106
prevent the dial
101
from detaching from a camera body. The rotational position (rotational angle) of the control dial
101
is detected by the switches
105
which are turned ON by the protrusion
104
when the dial
101
is rotated.
In such a control dial, the rotational position thereof can be detected only at wide intervals, and therefore cannot fill the needs of providing the control dial with many detectable rotational positions with fine precision.
FIG. 12
shows a combination of a control dial
201
provided on an external panel
205
and a display panel
202
of another conventional camera which provides a solution to the above-described problem. In this example, a code plate
204
, which has a predetermined conductive code pattern (not shown) printed thereon, is fixed to a frame
206
of a camera body, and a brush
207
having a plurality of electrical contacts which come in sliding contact with the conductive code pattern of the code plate
204
is fixed to an inner peripheral portion of the control dial
201
. The rotational position of the control dial
201
is detected via the brush
207
and the code plate
204
. The display panel
202
is mounted onto the center of the code plate
204
so that information indicated by the display panel
202
can be read through a transparent window plate
203
fitted in a circular opening formed in the center of the control dial
201
.
In the control dial
201
, since the brush
207
is positioned inside the control dial
201
, the display panel
202
has to be small so as not to interfere with the brush
207
; however, this does not allow for a large display panel.
FIG. 13
shows a conventional mechanism wherein the control dial
201
has a clicking action upon rotation thereof, which prevents the control dial from rotating unintentionally. Namely, a click mechanism is provided on an outer peripheral face of the control dial
201
with a plurality of notches
301
, and is further provided with a steel ball
303
which can be engaged in each notch
301
, a compression coil spring
302
which normally biases the steel ball
303
against the outer peripheral face of the control dial
201
, and a screw
304
which is screwed into a radial through hole formed in the external panel
205
to hold the compression coil spring
302
and the steel ball
303
between the screw
304
and the outer peripheral face of the control dial
201
.
In such a mechanism, a space for arranging the compression coil spring
302
and the steel ball
303
is required and at the same time a device including the screw
304
for preventing the compression coil spring
302
and the steel ball
303
from coming out of the through hole accidentally is also required, which complicates the structure of the mechanism.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been made in view of the aforementioned problems described above, and accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a camera having a control dial through which a display panel can be viewed, wherein the rotational position of the control dial can be detected at close intervals with fine precision, and wherein the display panel, which is surrounded by the control dial, is large.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a camera having a control dial and a display panel, wherein the camera is provided with a simple mechanism which provides the control dial with a clicking action, upon rotation thereof, which prevents the control dial from rotating unintentionally.
To achieve the objects mentioned above, according to an aspect of the present invention, a camera having a control dial/display panel unit is provided, the control dial/display panel unit including a ring member which can be manually rotated about a first axis; a display panel which is surrounded by the ring member so as to be viewed through an aperture of the ring member from outside the camera; a rotational member which is rotatable about a second axis which is inclined with respect to the first axis; a transmission device for transmitting the rotation of the ring member to the rotational member; a detection device which is disposed on the rotational member to detect rotation information of the rotational member; and a controller which determines rotation information of the ring member via the rotation information of the rotational member, which is detected by the detection device, to indicate information corresponding to the rotation information of the ring member on the display panel.
Preferably, the rotation information of the ring member includes information on a direction of rotation of the ring member.
In an embodiment, the rotation information of the ring member includes information on a rotational angle of the ring member.
In an embodiment, the rotation information of the ring member includes information on an absolute rotational angle of the ring member.
Preferably, a transparent window plate is further provided, which is fitted in the aperture of the ring member.
Preferably, the display panel has a polygonal shape including at least eight sides, the perimeter of the display panel being positioned closely to an inner peripheral surface of the ring member without coming in contact therewith.
Preferably, the transmission device includes a first gear formed on an inner peripheral surface of the ring member, and a second gear which is formed on an outer peripheral surface of the rotational member to be in mesh with the first gear.
The detection device can include a code plate having a predetermined conductive code pattern, the code plate being mounted to the rotational member, and a brush which comes into contact with the predetermined conductive code pattern.
Preferably, the control dial/display panel unit further includes a plurality of notches formed on an inner peripheral surface of the ring member, a support which supports the display panel, a hole formed on the support, a ball positioned in the hole, a biasing member positioned in the hole to bias the ball toward the inner peripheral surface of the ring member so that the ball can be engaged in one of the plurality of notches with a click, and a brush holding member which holds the brush. The support includes an insertion opening which communicatively connects with the hole so that the ball and the biasing member can be inserted into the hole via the insertion opening. The brush holding member includes a protrusion which is engaged in the insertion opening to prevent the ball and the biasing member from coming ou
Asahi Kogaku Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
Gray David M.
Greenblum & Bernstein P.L.C.
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