Photography – Disposable or recyclable camera
Reexamination Certificate
1999-10-20
2002-04-30
Gray, David M. (Department: 2851)
Photography
Disposable or recyclable camera
C396S429000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06381409
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of disassembling a lens-fitted photo film unit, and a disassembling apparatus therefor, by which the lens-fitted photo film unit is disassembled efficiently and economically in view of reusing respective parts.
2. Background Arts
Many types of lens-fitted photo film units, hereinafter referred to as the film units, have been known and widely sold in the markets. Recently, a film unit with a lens cover for protecting its taking lens from dusts and stains has been brought into the market. The film unit contains a roll of photo filmstrip therein and has simple photographic mechanisms incorporated thereinto. A unit body of the film unit consists of a body base portion pre-loaded with the filmstrip, and having the photographic mechanisms, including an exposure unit, mounted thereto, a front cover section covering the front side of the body base portion, and a rear cover section covering the rear side of the body base portion. An ornamental sheet made of paper or plastic is put around the unit body, for labeling as well as for covering up those openings which are unnecessary for using the film unit, but necessary for assembling or disassembling the film unit.
After the pre-loaded filmstrip is fully exposed, the whole film unit is forwarded to a photo finisher for development and printing. The photo finisher removes the exposed filmstrip from the unit body, and the emptied film unit is collected for recycling parts of the film unit.
In the recycling process, respective parts of the film unit are sorted into those parts which are to be reused as they are, and those to be reused as raw materials. For example, JPA 6-161042 discloses a disassembling method for the film units, wherein the film units are sorted according to the film unit type, and sent to an automatic disassembling line provided for each film unit type. To enable disassembling the film unit automatically, most parts of the film unit are coupled to one another through a snap-in engagement between a hook or hooks and a counterpart or counterparts. A claw is inserted into between the hook and its counterpart, and then moved to deform or bend the hook in a direction to release the engagement.
Among the disassembled parts, the exposure unit with a taking lens mounted thereon, a flash unit and other functional parts are reused as they are after inspecting their functions. Other parts, such as the front and rear cover sections and the body base portion, are reused as a raw material, since they are formed from the same plastic material.
The exposure unit removed from the body base portion is subjected to a lens cleaning process for cleaning the taking lens before being reused. For example, JPA 10-62915 discloses a lens cleaning process for the taking lens of the film unit. If the taking lens is scratched or deformed, the exposure unit cannot be reused just by cleaning it. Therefore, it is desirable to remove the taking lens from the exposure unit, and reuse the taking lens as a raw material.
It is easy to automatically remove the taking lens from the exposure unit when the taking lens is composed of a single lens element. However, where the taking lens is composed of front and rear lenses and a spacer disposed between the front and rear lenses, it is not so easy to remove the lens elements from the exposure unit. Especially where the spacer is formed from a different material from the front and rear lenses, it is necessary to remove them individually from the exposure unit. However, since the spacer has been tightly nipped between the lenses, and also these lens elements are plastic and thus tend to be charged with static electricity, they are likely to attract each other. So it is difficult to pick up them separately from each other. Moreover, when the spacer or the lens is removed along with another element of the taking lens, it may drop off before being collected, and may cause a trouble in the disassembling machine.
Before disassembling the film unit, the labeling and covering sheet has conventionally been peeled off from the unit body. However, since the sheet or label adheres to the unit body, it has been necessary to position a specific tool precisely, and move the tool slowly relative to the unit body, for peeling off the label. This process certainly lowers the speed and thus efficiency of the disassembling line.
To insert the disengaging tool into between the hook and the engaged counterpart, the hook must be accessible from the outside of the unit body. However, for the sake of fastening the front and rear cover sections securely to the body base portion, the unit body is often provided with a number of internal engaging portions which are located inside the unit body. In that case, it is hard to disassemble the unit body automatically.
Moreover, where the film unit is provided with the lens cover, and the lens cover must be removed from the front cover section to disassemble the film unit, the number of disassembling processes would be increased, and thus the cost of disassembling would be raised and the efficiency would be lowered.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the foregoing, an object of the present invention is to provide a disassembling method and a disassembling apparatus, by which a film unit with a label around its unit body is efficiently disassembled.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a disassembling method and a disassembling apparatus, by which a film unit with a lens cover is efficiently disassembled.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a disassembling method and a disassembling apparatus, by which a film unit with internal engaging portions is efficiently disassembled.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a disassembling method and a disassembling apparatus, by which a taking lens of a film unit is efficiently decomposed into individual lens elements, while sorting the lens elements.
According to the present invention, a method of disassembling a film unit that consists of a body base portion having photographic mechanisms incorporated therein, front and rear cover sections removably attached to front and rear sides of the body base portion and joined together to cover up the body base portion, and a label member put across a joint between the front and rear cover sections, is comprised of the steps cutting the label member along the joint between the front and rear cover sections; and separating the front or the rear cover section from the body base portion without removing the label member from the front or the rear cover section.
Since there is no need for peeling off the label member from the front or the rear cover section, the efficiency of disassembling the film unit is remarkably improved.
According to a preferred embodiment, laser beams are used for cutting the label member. It is preferable to use a laser marker for cutting the label member. The laser marker is disposed on the one side of a conveying path along which the film unit is conveyed in a predetermined posture, and the laser marker projects the laser beams toward the portion of the label member extending on the joint of the film unit on the conveying path. The laser marker may project the laser beams while the film unit moves along the conveying path. The film unit may be conveyed intermittently. In that case, the laser marker may project the laser beams toward the film unit while the film unit stops on the conveying path.
According to the present invention, a disassembling method for a film unit whose front cover section has a lens cover that is mounted on a front cover main body so as to be movable between a closed position covering a taking lens and an open position uncovering the taking lens, is comprised of the steps of providing first and second access holes respectively through the lens cover and the front cover main body when manufacturing them, such that the first and second access holes overlap each other in the closed position of the lens cover, to provide an acc
Aoshima Shinsuke
Morita Masaya
Tominaga Yoshihiro
Uchida Shoichi
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