Camera, such as an APS camera, having a single-piece, rotatable viewfinder and light-pipe mask for format selection
AssigneeConcord Camera Corp.
InventorYeung Chi Ping
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A camera for making pseudo-photographic images has a series of viewfinder masks that define various fields of vision and a series of light-pipe masks that selectively block the passage of light through two light pipes disposed within the camera. The selective blockage causes various patterns of encodement marks to be placed on the edge of the camera's photographic film. The masks are rotatably disposed around the optical axis of the camera's picture-taking lens. The masks are manually rotated by the camera user via a lever and gear assembly disposed on the camera's front cover.
Claims49
A camera comprising:
- a picture-taking lens having an optical axis;
- a viewfinder;
- a light pipe, said light pipe selectively conveying ambient light to fiducial areas on film in said camera;
- and
- a masking element rotatably disposed around said optical axis inside said camera, said masking element comprising a viewfinder mask and a light-pipe mask, said viewfinder mask being selectively alignable with said viewfinder by a rotation of said masking element, said viewfinder mask defining a field of view through said viewfinder, said light-pipe mask being selectively alignable with one end of said light pipe by said rotation of said masking element.
An APS camera comprising:
- a picture-taking lens having an optical axis;
- a viewfinder;
- a first and a second light pipe;
- and
- a masking element rotatably disposed around said optical axis inside said camera, said masking element comprising a first, a second, and a third viewfinder mask and a plurality of light-pipe masks, said viewfinder masks being selectively alignable with said viewfinder by a rotation of said masking element and said light pipes selectively conveying ambient light to fiducial areas on film in said camera, wherein:
- said first viewfinder mask defines a classic field of view through said viewfinder when said first viewfinder mask is aligned with said viewfinder;
- said second viewfinder mask defines a panoramic field of view through said viewfinder when said second viewfinder mask is aligned with said viewfinder;
- and
- said third viewfinder mask defines a high-vision field of view through said viewfinder when said third viewfinder mask is aligned with said viewfinder.
A single-use camera comprising:
- a picture-taking lens having an optical axis;
- a viewfinder;
- a light pipe, said light pipe selectively conveying ambient light to fiducial areas on film in said camera;
- and
- a masking element rotatably disposed around said optical axis inside said camera, said masking element comprising a viewfinder mask and a light-pipe mask, said viewfinder mask being selectively alignable with said viewfinder by a rotation of said masking element, said viewfinder mask defining a field of view through said viewfinder, said light-pipe mask being selectively alignable with one end of said light pipe by said rotation of said masking element.
A camera comprising:
- a picture-taking lens having an optical axis;
- a viewfinder;
- a masking element rotatably disposed around said optical axis inside said camera, said masking element comprising a viewfinder mask and a first gear, said viewfinder mask being selectively alignable with said viewfinder by a rotation of said masking element, said viewfinder mask defining a field of view through said viewfinder;
- and
- a format-selector switch comprising a lever and a second gear, said second gear being coupled to said lever and said first gear so that a movement of said lever causes said rotation of said masking element.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.