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US 5,255,034 AGranted
Camera having an automatic film loading mechanism
AssigneeMinolta Camera Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorsTakahisa Shimada, Junichi Tanii, Ikushi Nakamura, Masaaki Chikasaki, Sadafusa Tsuji
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A camera according to the present invention is a camera which feeds a film from a film feed opening of a patrone chamber and it includes a film feeder for feeding the film drawn from the film feed opening to a spool chamber through a film exposure portion, a detector for detecting whether or not the fed film passes through the film exposure portion, and a controller for controlling operation of the film feeder in response to an output of the detector.
Claims21
A camera which feeds a film from a patrone chamber to a spool chamber, comprising:
- a film exposure portion having a first edge at the patrone chamber side and a second edge at the spool chamber side for forming an opening to expose a film to light;
- film feed means for feeding the film from the patrone chamber to the spool chamber through said film exposure portion;
- first detection means provided on the spool chamber side of the second edge for detecting whether or not a lead of the film which is fed to the spool chamber by said film feed means successfully passes the second edge in the direction of the spool chamber from the patrone chamber;
- and
- control means for controlling operation of said film feed means in response to an output of said first detection means.
2 more elements
A camera which feeds a film from a patrone chamber to a spool chamber, comprising:
- a film exposure portion having a first edge at the patrone chamber side and a second edge at the spool chamber side for forming an opening to expose a film to light;
- film feed means for feeding the film from the patrone chamber to the spool chamber through said film exposure portion;
- first detection means provided on the spool chamber side of the second edge for detecting whether or not a lead of the film fed by said feed means successfully passes the second edge;
- control means for controlling operation of said film feed means in response to an output of said first detection means;
- and
- rewinding means for rewinding the film toward the patrone chamber, wherein
- said control means operates said rewinding means when said first detection means fails to detect a passage of the lead of the film beyond the second edge after lapse of a prescribed time from a start of operation of said film feed means.
4 more elements
A camera which feeds a film from a film feed opening of a patrone chamber, comprising:
- film feed means for feeding said film from said film feed opening to a spool chamber through a film exposure portion;
- first detection means for detecting whether or not said fed film passes through said film exposure portion;
- second detection means for detecting that a lead of said film exists between said film feed opening and said film exposure portion,
- rewinding means for rewinding said fed film toward said patrone chamber;
- and
- control means for controlling operation of said film feed means in response to an output of said first detection means, wherein
- said control means operates said rewinding means when said first detection means does not detect passage of said film through said film exposure portion after an elapse of a prescribed time from a start of operation of said film feed means, and wherein
- said control means stops said rewinding means in response to an output of said second detection means after a start of operation of said rewinding means and operates said film feed means.
5 more elements
A camera which feeds a film from a film feed opening of a patrone chamber, comprising:
- film feed means for feeding said film from said film feed opening to a spool chamber through a film exposure portion;
- first detection means for detecting whether or not said fed film passes through said film exposure portion;
- second detection means for detecting that a lead of said film exists between said film feed opening and said film exposure portion;
- rewinding means for rewinding said fed film toward said patrone chamber;
- and
- control means for controlling operation of said film feed means in response to an output of said first detection means, wherein
- said control means operates said rewinding means when said first detection means does not detect passage of said film through said film exposure portion after an elapse of a prescribed time after said second detection means detects passage of said film.
4 more elements
A camera comprising:
- a patrone chamber for containing a film patrone;
- a spool chamber for winding a film;
- a film exposure portion having a frame constituting an opening for exposing said film to light;
- film feed means for transporting said film from a film feed opening of said patrone chamber and feeding said film to said spool chamber through said film exposure portion;
- and
- guide means movable between a first position to cover at least a part of said opening and a second position to be away from said opening, for preventing a lead of said film from entering said opening at said first position when said lead of said film passes through said film exposure portion, and moving to said second position after said lead has passed through said film exposure portion.
3 more elements
A camera comprising:
- a patrone chamber for containing a film patrone wherein a lead of a film is positioned fully in said patrone chamber when the film patrone is first loaded in the patrone chamber and then the lead is fed from a film feed opening of said patrone chamber;
- a film exposure portion forming an opening for exposing a film to light;
- film feed means for feeding the film through the film feed opening of said patrone chamber to a spool chamber through said film exposure portion;
- and
- detection means positioned closer to said patrone chamber than to said spool chamber and near said film feed opening for detecting whether or not the lead of the film successfully comes out of the film feed opening.
2 more elements
A method of loading a film in a camera, comprising the steps of:
- feeding a film from a film feed opening to a film winding portion;
- detecting whether or not said fed film passes, at a first point located between said film feed opening and said film winding portion;
- and
- controlling the feeding of said film dependent on whether or not said film passes at said first point, said controlling step comprising the steps of:
- rewinding said film toward said film feed opening when passage of said film at said first point is not detected;
- detecting passage of said rewound film at a second point located between said film feed opening and said first point;
- and
- feeding said film again to said film winding portion when the passage of said film at said second point is detected.
5 more elements
A camera comprising:
- a film exposure portion forming an opening for exposing a film to light;
- a patrone chamber for containing a film patrone, wherein a film is wound on a patrone shaft of the film patrone and a lead of the film exists in said patrone chamber when the film patrone is first loaded in said patrone chamber, said patrone chamber including a film feed opening positioned on the patrone chamber side of the opening of the film exposure portion;
- a film feeding member positioned outside of said patrone chamber for directly engaging with the film to feed the film, wherein said film feeding member does not engage with the film when the film patrone is first loaded in said patrone chamber;
- film feed means for feeding the film from said patrone chamber to said film feeding member, said film feed means including means for rotating the patrone shaft of the film patrone in a direction loosening the winding of the film causing the lead of the film to come out of the film feed opening;
- and
- detection means positioned between the film feed opening and said film feeding member for detecting whether or not the lead of the film successfully comes out of the film feed opening under an operation of the rotating means.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.