Photography – Disposable or recyclable camera
Reexamination Certificate
1999-05-06
2002-01-22
Mathews, Alan A. (Department: 2851)
Photography
Disposable or recyclable camera
C396S322000, C396S335000, C355S040000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06341200
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a photographic film wherein latent images of characters and others are formed in advance, a method to manufacture the same, a photographic film for a lens-fitted film unit (or a single use camera) wherein latent images of characters and others are formed in advance, a method to manufacture the same, and to a lens-fitted film unit in which the photographic film mentioned above is loaded.
There is available on the market a lens-fitted film unit which is loaded with an unexposed film which has been exposed to images of characters in a belt shape to form latent images thereof in advance, and makes it possible to obtain a print wherein images of the characters are adjacent to an image plane formed through photographing.
In the lens-fitted film unit, a shutter speed is fixed to a single speed, a diaphragm has only an F-number at open aperture, and no exposure control mechanism is provided, because simplification and a low price are targets to be attained by the lens-fitted film unit. Therefore, over exposure is observed on an image obtained by the lens-fitted film unit through its photographing operation in the light, while under exposure is observed on an image obtained by the lens-fitted film unit through its photographing operation in the dark.
On the other hand, in the lens-fitted film unit stated above, images of characters are photographed on an unexposed film equally by a photographing device for exclusive use in advance. Therefore, an exposure amount is constant.
However, if an exposure amount with which images of characters are photographed is not stipulated within a prescribed range, there is caused a problem that exposure for the photographed image plane is appropriate, but that for images of characters is not appropriate. Thus, a photograph wherein exposure for the photographed image plane which is of great importance is not appropriate is caused by printing which causes both photographed image plane and images of characters to be balanced, which is a problem.
As an example of a lens-fitted film unit provided with film
105
having therein belt-shaped unexposed section
201
and belt-shaped exposed section
103
on which an image such as a character or the like has already been exposed as shown in
FIG. 13
, there is described the structure in Japanese Patent No. 2507221.
In this lens-fitted film unit, shutter
9
and exposure frame
11
are arranged between film
105
and lens
7
, as shown in FIG.
14
. Masking member (mask)
13
which covers the exposed section
103
of the film
105
is provided on the exposure frame
11
so that the exposed section
103
may be prevented from being exposed when the unexposed section
201
is exposed to light.
The lens-fitted film unit stated above is of the structure wherein an edge of the masking member
13
and an edge section of the exposed section agree positionally (forming a boundary between the exposed section and the unexposed section).
In this structure, it is necessary to cause a film width and a width of a film conveyance path to agree in size and to convey the film accurately. This makes production to be difficult and a load for film winding is increased, which is a problem.
When the regulation of the film conveyance path in the direction of a film width is eased, it sometimes occurs that the exposed section overlaps with a photographed image, or an unexposed section is created between the exposed section and a photographed image. In this case, there sometimes occurs a problem that edges of the image on the exposed section and of the image exposed to the unexposed section are irregular.
In the lens-fitted film unit mentioned above, a latent image section is shielded against light by a masking member so that the latent image may not be double-exposed to light in the course of photographing. In addition, the lens-fitted film unit is provided with an exposure aperture for forming a photographed image plane by causing a film to be exposed to light of an object, and rail-shaped members located respectively above and under the exposure aperture regulate the position of the film in its lateral direction. However, the rail-shaped members are formed in a way that a size of the rail-shaped members is naturally greater than that of a film in its lateral direction, and the rail-shaped members and a film width vary in terms of dimension. Further, a dimension of a latent image section in its lateral direction varies also in the course of forming a latent image in advance.
Due to this dimensional dispersion, it is very difficult to make an edge section of an image plane to be exposed and an edge section of a latent image section to agree accurately in terms of position, and the image plane to be exposed and the latent image section are overlapped each other to cause double-exposure, and an unexposed clearance section is generated between the image plane to be exposed and the latent image section, resulting in a black boundary line on a print.
In any case, it is impossible to avoid that a boundary line having a certain thickness is generated between the image plane to be exposed and the latent image section. When this boundary line is too thick, or a line width at right is different from that at left, or the boundary line is inclined, it looks awkward with a sense of incompatibility.
The invention further relates to a film-loaded cartridge housing therein an unexposed film, a manufacturing method for the same, a latent image exposing device for a film which makes an unexposed film to be exposed to a latent image, a manufacturing method for a lens-fitted film unit in which a film-loaded cartridge is loaded, and a lens-fitted film unit.
When assembling a lens-fitted film unit in which a film exposed to a latent image is loaded, a film having a prescribed length is manufactured first, and this film is exposed to a latent image. Then, the film exposed to latent images is divided into films each having prescribed number of frames. Further, the divided film is fixed on a film winding shaft and is loaded in a lens-fitted film unit.
However, as stated above, when manufacturing a lens-fitted film unit in which a film exposed to a latent image is loaded, the film to be exposed to latent images needs to be handled in a dark room until it is loaded in the lens-fitted film unit, which has made manufacturing facilities large. In addition, the method stated above is not suitable for the manufacture of diverse products in a small quantity, and in his method, a lot control is complicated, which has been a problem.
The first object of the invention is to propose a photographic film which makes it possible to obtain images with appropriate print density together with photographed images by stipulating an exposure amount for photographing images of characters on an unexposed film in advance within a prescribed range and thereby by forming latent images with prescribed density, a method to manufacture the aforesaid film, a photographic film for a lens-fitted film unit, a method to manufacture the same, and a lens-fitted film unit loaded with the film mentioned above.
The second object of the invention is to provide a lens-fitted film unit for which the manufacture is simple, and a film winding load is small.
Further, the object is to provide a lens-fitted film unit wherein an edge section of the image on the portion which is exposed in advance and that of the image on the unexposed section are clear.
One of the third object of the invention is to suggest a negative film and a lens-fitted film unit which have been achieved in view of the problem stated above and do not cause a awkward boundary line.
In the aforesaid lens-fitted film unit available on the market, the negative density on the entire latent image section is established to be high so that double-exposure on the image plane to be exposed and the latent image section may not be noticeable. However, when the negative density is established to be high, options for colors to be used for characters in comics are limited, which is a problem.
Aoki Akira
Hiroshima Wataru
Kibayashi Hiroshi
Nakanishi Hiromi
Nakanishi Kazuhiro
Cantor & Colburn LLP
Konica Corporation
Mathews Alan A.
LandOfFree
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