HK1028111A - One-time-use camera with electronic flash having film identifying indicia - Google Patents

Description

Disposable camera with electronic flash lamp with film identification mark

no marking

The present invention relates to the field of photography, and in particular to disposable cameras. More particularly, the present invention relates to a disposable camera with an electronic flash having a film identification indicia on the flash.

Cameras in which a film commonly called a disposable camera and a camera are integrated are widely known. This disposable camera is a simple aim-and-shoot type comprising: an opaque plastic body portion having a film cassette housing supporting a conventional film cassette therein; an unexposed film spool prewound from the cassette to a film take-up cassette in a film supply cassette; a fixed focus photographing lens; a film metering mechanism rotatably supported on the metering sprocket engaging the film strip; a manually rotatable film take-up finger engaged with the take-up reel and rotatable within the cartridge; a single-chip shutter; a manually depressible shutter release button; a rotatable frame counter for indicating the number of exposed film remaining on the film strip; a direct perspective viewfinder having front and rear viewfinder lenses; and in some models an electronic flash. The body portion is mounted in a pair of opaque front and rear plastic covers to form a complete camera assembly. The rear cover portion is connected with the main body portion and/or the front cover portion to make the main body portion opaque. A decorative cardboard outer box or logo at least partially covers the camera assembly and has corresponding openings for the projection of the camera lenses and the like.

After taking each picture with the disposable camera, the operator manually rotates the thumbwheel in the film winding direction to rotate the film spool in the cassette, which draws the exposed film from the film strip into the cassette. The rewinding motion of the film strip slightly exceeds the width of a frame of the picture and this motion causes the metering sprocket to rotate into engagement with the film strip, thereby decrementing the frame counter to the next smaller number setting and causing the metering bar to engage the thumbwheel to prevent further manual rotation of the thumbwheel. The shutter release button is manually depressed when another picture is taken, causing the metering lever to pivot out of engagement with the thumbwheel, thereby allowing the thumbwheel to be rotated again. When the film strip is fully wound into the cassette after the maximum amount of film that can be filmed on the film strip has been exposed, the disposable camera is sent to the photofinisher. He tears open the outer casing of the camera module, separates the rear cover from the main body, removes the cassette containing the exposed film strip from the film cassette receiving case, and then he removes the exposed film strip from the cassette to develop the film and wash out the photo for the customer. At least a portion of the used camera components may be recycled, i.e., reused, to make a new camera.

There is a well-known problem in recycling, i.e. reusing, camera components: the reused components may be damaged and thus cannot be reused. It has therefore been proposed to break any damaged parts to make them look unusual when the disposable camera is disassembled to take exposed film. This allows damaged parts to be easily identified and discarded, thereby preventing them from being used again by mistake.

It has also been proposed to incorporate a film identification mark on the opaque front cover portion of the reconstructed disposable camera so that the brand of new film contained in the camera can be seen. This identification allows one to know the brand of film used and therefore may ensure that a high quality photograph can be taken with a camera equipped with a reusable part and a new film roll.

A disposable camera comprising: a film strip; a concave flash reflector having a front open end; a flash tube for emitting a flash of light, mounted in the flash reflector; and a light-transmissive flash cover lens mounted over the open front end of the flash reflector. Such a disposable camera is characterized in that: the flash cover lens has a film identification mark for identifying the film strip, the mark being substantially the same as the amount of light transmitted through the flash cover lens, and being separated so that the amount of light transmitted through the flash tube to emit a flash corresponds to the amount of light transmitted through the flash cover lens.

FIG. 1 is an enlarged front perspective view of a disposable camera with an electronic flash in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged front perspective view of the electronic flash;

FIG. 3 is a front perspective view of a flash cover lens of the electronic flash;

FIG. 4 is a rear side elevational view of the flash cover lens;

fig. 5 is a cross-sectional elevation view of the flash cover lens, as viewed in the direction of arrow 5-5 in fig. 4.

The present invention is preferably disclosed by embodying its principles in a disposable camera. Since the features of disposable cameras are well known, the following description is directed in particular to only those elements that constitute or cooperate directly with embodiments of the present disclosure.

Referring now to the drawings, FIGS. 1-5 illustrate a disposable camera 10 comprising: an opaque plastic body portion 12 and a pair of opaque plastic front and rear cover portions 14 and 16 sandwiching the body portion 12 therebetween. The front and rear cover portions 14 and 16 are connected to each other and to the main body portion 12 by a well-known hook and loop connector (not shown) such as those disclosed in the prior art, U.S. patent No.5,815,740 issued on 9/29 of 1998 and U.S. patent No.5,349,510 issued on 9/20 of 1994.

As is known, the main body portion 12 has a rear opening film cassette housing case 18 for housing a conventional film cassette 20; there is also a film cassette 22 of the open-backed type for supporting and rotating a film spool pre-wound with an unexposed film roll (not shown), see fig. 1. A rear open back frame opening (not shown) is provided between the film cassette housing shell 18 and the film support cassette 22 for successively exposing the image side (frames) of the film strip 24, the film strip 24 forming an unexposed film roll.

Rotatably supported on the body portion 12 is a film winding finger (not shown) that projects outwardly from a slot (not shown) in the rear cover portion 16 and has a driven coaxial shaft that coaxially engages an exposed end of the film take-up spool within the cassette 20. Rotating the film winding thumbwheel by winding it counterclockwise by hand, as viewed in fig. 1, also rotates the film take-up spool in the cassette 20 to wind the exposed imaging surface on each film strip 24 into the cassette.

The back cover portion 16 has a door cover portion 26 that covers the film roll housing 18 and a remaining cover portion 28. A weakened line of weakness separates the door portion 26 from the remaining cover portion 28 so that the door portion 26 can pivot relative to the remaining cover portion to remove the cassette 20 from the cassette-receiving housing 18. The cartridge 20 can be removed from the film cartridge receiving housing 18 after the maximum number of films available on the film strip 24 have been exposed, and the film strip can then be completely removed from the cartridge.

A built-in electronic flash 32 comprises: a substantially planar flash circuit board 34 supported on the main body portion 12; a concave flash reflector 36 (partially) mounted in a rectangular opening 38 in the flash circuit board; a flash generating tube 40 mounted within the flash reflector and affixed to the inside of the last curve 42 of the flash reflector; and a light-transmissive transparent (or translucent) plastic flash cover lens 44 mounted over the open front end 46 of the flash reflector, see fig. 2.

The flash tube 40 is filled with an ionizable gas and has at its opposite ends a pair of in-line anode and cathode main electrodes 48 and 50 projecting outwardly from openings 52 in respective sides of the flash reflector 36 and connected to capacitors 54 on the flash circuit board 34, see fig. 1 and 2. The resistance of the gas in the flash tube 40 is typically so high that a direct discharge may result. For igniting the flash tube 40, a 3 rd electrode, i.e. a trigger electrode (not shown), is also provided, for example a trigger wire connected to the rearmost outer side 56 of the flash reflector 36 by means of solder, adhesive tape or the like. When the trigger electrode applies a trigger voltage to the flash reflector 36, the gas in the flash tube 40 is ionized, thereby reducing its resistance so that the capacitor 54 discharges the stored electrical energy through the flash tube in the form of a glaring flash.

The flash reflector 36 is shaped to converge the flash emitted by the flash tube 40 and direct the flash toward the open front end 46 of the reflector, through the flash cover lens 44 and toward the target to be illuminated.

The flash cover lens 44 has two identical resilient side hooks 58 (only one of which is shown in fig. 1 and 2) that fit into corresponding openings 60 in the flash circuit board 34 in a sliding fit to attach the flash cover lens directly to the flash circuit board. A film identification marking 62, such as "kodak film in" for identifying the film strip 24, is integrally formed with a raised portion 64 of the flash cover lens 44, the raised portion 64 projecting outwardly from a flat inner surface 66 of the flash cover lens, see fig. 3-5. Each raised portion 64 has a single letter thereon which, taken together in succession, form a message "inside Kodak film". The raised portion 64 is of the same light transmission, i.e., has the same transparency as the remainder of the flash cover lens 44, so that the amount of flash it emits through the flash tube 40 corresponds to the amount of light transmitted by the flash cover lens.

Claims (6)

1. A disposable camera comprising: a film strip; a concave flash reflector having a front open end; a flash tube for emitting a flash of light, mounted in the flash reflector; and a light-transmissive cover lens mounted over the open front end of the reflector of the flash lamp, characterized in that:

the flash cover lens has a film identification mark for identifying the film strip, the mark being substantially the same as the amount of light transmitted through the flash cover lens so that the amount of light transmitted through the flash tube corresponds to the amount of light transmitted through the flash cover lens.

2. The disposable camera of claim 1, wherein: the film identification mark constitutes a projection of the flash cover lens integrally formed with the mark.

3. The disposable camera of claim 2, wherein: each of the flash cover lens bosses is a separate letter.

4. The disposable camera of claim 2, wherein: the flash cover lens boss projects outward from the inner side surface of the flash cover lens.

5. A disposable camera comprising: a film strip; a concave flash reflector having a front open end; a flash tube for emitting a flash of light, mounted in the flash reflector; and a light-transmitting flash cover lens mounted at the front open end of the flash reflector. The method is characterized in that:

the flash cover lens has a film identification mark for identifying the film strip, the mark being formed integrally with a projection of the flash cover lens, the projection projecting outwardly from an inner surface of the flash cover lens.

6. The disposable camera of claim 5, wherein: the film identification mark has the same transparency as the flash cover lens, so that the flash light emitted by the flash tube can be transmitted by the film identification mark in the same amount as the flash cover lens.