Lens barrel

Abstract

A lens barrel has a cam tube having a cam groove formed on an inner circumferential side thereof. The cam groove has a first cam groove area over which a lens unit slides when the lens barrel is used for photo-taking and a second cam groove area over which the lens unit slides when the lens barrel is not used for photo-taking. A taper angle of a side wall surface of the first cam groove area differs from a taper angle of a side wall surface of the second cam groove area. The large taper angle facilitates removal of a mold from the cam tube at the time of manufacture. The arrangement also permits the first cam groove area which is for photo-taking to have a small taper angle, so that the lens unit can be accurately moved in the first cam groove area.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.