Structure of lid of battery chamber in camera

Details Structure of lid of battery chamber in camera Structure of lid of battery chamber in camera

1999-09-30

2001-06-12

Perkey, W. B. (Department: 2851)

Photography

With object illumination for exposure

Having flash built into camera

C396S539000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06246835

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the structure of a lid of a battery chamber in a camera, and more particularly to the structure of a lid for closing a battery chamber defined between an electronic flash part and a film chamber in a camera casing.
2. Description of Related Art
A camera disclosed in Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 7-295048 has a battery chamber defined at the rear of an electronic flash part arranged at the upper front corner of a camera casing. The longitudinal direction of the battery chamber is parallel to the film feeding direction. A battery is loaded into the battery chamber by opening a battery chamber lid, which is openably attached to the side of the camera casing. When the battery chamber lid is closed, the battery chamber lid appears to be a part of the camera casing. The camera also has an electronic flash part that is fixed in the camera casing.
In a well-known camera with a pop-up electronic flash part, the electronic flash part is arranged in an electronic flash housing, which is attached to the camera casing so that the electronic flash part can pivot from a recessed position to its operating position.
FIG. 4
shows a part of the top of a camera casing
1
of a conventional camera, which is provided with the pop-up electronic flash part.
FIG. 5
is a partially sectional view of the camera casing
1
. As shown in
FIG. 4
, a top face
2
of the camera casing
1
is cut off at widthwise side corners. An electronic flash housing
3
is arranged at the front side of the camera casing
1
and a battery chamber lid
4
is arranged at the rear side. In short, the electronic flash housing
3
is arranged opposite to the battery chamber lid
4
across a filler piece
5
formed in the top face
2
.
The conventional camera has the following disadvantages. The filler piece
5
must be formed in the top face
2
of the camera casing
1
, and this makes it difficult to manufacture the camera casing
1
. Moreover, the strength of the filler piece
5
is unavoidably lowered, and this decreases the strength of the camera casing
1
.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention to provide a structure of a battery chamber lid for a camera, which makes it easier to manufacture the camera casing, and increases the strength of the camera casing.
To achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention is directed to a camera, comprising: a casing of the camera; a pop-up electronic flash part having an electronic flash housing; a film chamber; a battery chamber defined between the pop-up electronic flash part and the film chamber; and a battery chamber lid which opens and closes the battery chamber; wherein the battery chamber lid and the electronic flash housing are adjacently arranged to form a part of a top face of the casing.
According to the present invention, the battery chamber effectively utilizes the space between the electronic flash part and the film chamber in order to reduce the size of the camera. Moreover, the battery chamber lid and the electronic flash housing are formed and arranged adjacently to form a part of the top face of the camera casing. This eliminates the difference in level between the battery chamber lid and the electronic flash housing. It is therefore unnecessary to form a filler member for filling the difference in level, and this makes it easier to manufacture the camera casing and raises the strength of the camera casing.
Preferably, the pop-up electronic flash part is supported on a pivot provided in the casing, the pop-up electronic flash part pivoting on the pivot; and an edge of the electronic flash housing adjacent to the battery chamber lid is formed in such a manner as to be positioned inside the battery chamber lid when the pop-up electronic flash part pivots. This makes inconspicuous the difference in level at the boundary between the electronic flash housing and the battery chamber lid. This improves the external appearance of the camera.


REFERENCES:
patent: 5943520 (1999-08-01), Komatsuzaki et al.
patent: 7-295048 (1995-10-01), None

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