GB2247755A - Lens-fitted photographic film package - Google Patents

Abstract

A lens-fitted photographic film package has at least a rolled film, a taking lens (32), a film transporting mechanism, an exposure mechanism and an electronic flash as an integral whole contained in a light-tight case. The lens-fitted photographic film package including the light-tight case is enclosed in an external case (61) having a weakened openable portion (67) capable of being broken away from the external case to expose the contained rolled film for removal. <IMAGE>

Description

LENS-FITTED PHOTOGRAPHIC FILM PACKAGE The present invention relates to a lens-fitted photographic film package, and more particularly to a photographic film package which has a photographic film, a taking lens, a film transporting means, an exposure means and their associated elements incorporated in a light-tight film case as an integral whole.

A lens-fitted photographic film package can provide many chances to enjoy oneself by enabling pictures to be taken even when one does not possess a conventional camera. Such a lens-fitted photographic film package comprises a light-tight film case with a taking lens fitted thereto, a simple exposure mechanism which includes a film transporting mechanism and a shutter mechanism with their associated elements incorporated in the film case, and a 110-size cartridge film or a 35mm full-size film previously contained in the light-tight film case, which can be sold wherever photographic film is sold. The lens-fitted photographic film package, after the exposure of all frames of a roll of film, is forwarded to a photo-shop or photo laboratory without removing the film.There, the exposed film is removed by breaking open the lens-fitted photographic film package and is developed to make prints therefrom while the lens-fitted photographic film package without film is scrapped. The prints together with the developed film is returned to the customer. The lens-fitted single-use photographic film package makes it easy to take pictures because of no requirement of film loading and unloading.

For economy, the film case that incorporates a roll of film and the necessary elements all in one is :ase of plastic materials and configured as simple as possible.

The lens-fitted photographic film package is generally divided into three sections, a main body structure which is formed with a film patrone receiving chamber and a film take-up chamber and mounts a taking lens, a shutter charging, film transporting mechanism; a front cover section attached to the main body section to support the taking lens and cover various elements attached to or mounted on the main body section, and a back cover section attached to the back side of the main body section to cover light-tightly the patrone receiving and film take-up chambers. The lens-fitted photographic film package is enclosed in a thin cardboard or plasticmade external case with an ornament pattern printed thereon for sale.

A commercial demand of such a lens-fitted photographic film package is that it be thin and compact. For example, it is preferred to be pocketable so as to be put in a breast pocket.

A recent tendency is to incorporate electronic flash units in such lens-fitted photographic film packages. Incorporating an electronic flash unit can increase widely the usage of such lens-fitted photographic film packages.

In manufacturing such lens-fitted photographic film packages with electronic flash units incorporated therein, it is necessary to make a test discharge of the electronic flash unit in advance to loading a roll of film in the lens-fitted photographic film package.

Because the electronic flash unit is charged again after the test discharge, the condenser may be accidentally discharged to expose the film during loading a roll of film in the lens-fitted photographic film package, in particular, of the type in which the film is fully wound up in advance exposures. Therefore, it is necessary to maintain the condenser of the electronic flash unit discharged.

Viewed from one aspect the present invention provides a lens-fitted photographic film package having at least a roll of photographic film, a taking lens, film exposing means and film transporting means, said lens-fitted photographic film package comprising: a main body section mounting at least said exposure means, film transporting means, and containing lighttightly said roll of photographic film; and a front cover section which is attached to said main body section to cover the majority of said taking lens, exposure means and film transporting means, said front cover section being formed with at least one opening for partly receiving therein a member of one of said means projecting beyond surfaces of said main body section which are in contact with an inner surface of said front cover section when said front cover section is securely attached to said main body section.

By providing an opening for receiving therein partly a member projecting beyond a spatial datum plane defined by surfaces of the main body section which are in contact with an inner surface of the front cover section when the front cover section is securely attached to the main body section, there is provided a lens-fitted photographic film package which is thin and compact for carrying convenience and portability.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the openings formed in the front cover section receive therein a film transporting knob of the film transporting means and a member covering a part of the shutter mechanism, such as a shutter biasing spring, of the exposure means.

Viewed from another broad aspect the present invention provides a lens-fitted photographic film package having at least a roll of photographic film, a taking lens, and electronic flash means, as an integral whole contained in a case, said lens-fitted photographic film package comprising: a main body section of said case, mounting said taking lens means, film taking lens means and said electronic flash means, and containing light-tightly said roll of photographic film; a pair of terminals mounted on said main body section and electrically connected to electrodes of a condenser of said electronic flash means; front cover section of said case, securely attached to said main body section to cover said means mounted on said main body section; and at least one opening provided in said case so as to allow a short-circuit means access to said pair of terminals through said opening for discharging said condenser.

In this way there is provided a lens-fitted photographic film package in which a condenser of the electronic flash unit can be maintained discharged during assembling the lens-fitted photographic film package.

Viewed from a further aspect the present invention provides a lens-fitted photographic film package having at least a roll of photographic film and taking lens means, comprising: a light-tight case mounting said taking lens means and containing said roll of photographic film in a chamber formed therein, said chamber being closed by an openable cover; and an external case in which said light-tight film case is enclosed having a weakened openable portion capable of being broken away from said external case to expose said openable cover.

With this arrangement there is provided lens-fitted photographic film package which enables the removal of a film from the lens-fitted photographic film package without taking the film out of an external case.

Some embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a front view showing a conventional lens-fitted photographic film package; Figure 2 is a top view showing the lens-fitted photographic film package of Figure 1; Figure 3 is an exploded perspective view showing a lens-fitted photographic film package according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention; Figure 4 is a front view, similar to Fig. 1, showing a front case section of the lens-fitted photographic film package shown in Fig. 3; Figure 5 is a front view showing the lens-fitted photographic film package shown in Fig. 3; Figure 6 is a top view, similar to Fig. 2, showing the lens-fitted photographic film package shown in Fig.

3; Figure 7 is a sectional view showing the structure of an electronic flash unit incorporated in the lensfitted photographic film package shown in Fig. 3; Figure 8 is a perspective view showing an external case in which the lens-fitted photographic film package of Fig. 3 is to be enclosed; Figure 9 is a perspective view showing the lensfitted photographic film package enclosed in the external case with the bottom cover is opened; Figures 10 is a perspective views showing an external case of another preferred embodiment of the present invention; Figure 11 is a perspective view showing a lensfitted photographic film package with a bottom cover opened which is enclosed in the external film case shown in Fig. 10.

Before describing a preferred embodiment in detail, reference is made to Figs. 1 and 2 for the purpose of providing a brief background that will enhance an understanding of the structural feature of the lensfitted photographic film package described later. As shown in Fig. 1, the conventional lens-fitted photographic film package has a front cover 1 of which the front wall 2 is formed with several openings such as a lens opening 2a for exposing a taking lens, semicircular slots 2b enclosing the lens opening 2a for making the part surrounding the lens opening 2a relatively elastic, small openings 2c which are engaged with lugs of a main body section to retain the front cover 1 attached to the main body section, and some holes used in molding the front cover 1.The front cover 1 further has a top wall 3 formed with openings such as an opening 3a for receiving a shutter button 4 and a counter window 3b through which a frame counter is viewed.

As clearly shown in Fig. 2, the main body section mounts on its front wall a lens holder 5 and a chamber 6 for containing a shutter biasing or charging spring, and on its top wall a film transporting knob 7 which is partly uncovered by the package case. Indicated by a reference la is the inner surface of the front wall 2 of the front cover 1. The lens holder 5 and the spring chamber 6 project from the front wall of the main body section.

As apparent, the thickness of the package is defined between the external surface of the front wall 2 and the external surface of a rear cover. In the aspect of thickness, because of the provision of the lens holder 5 and the spring chamber 6, the conventional lens-fitted photographic film package is thick.

Referring now to Figs. 3 to 6, shown therein is a lens-fitted photographic film package (which is hereinafter referred to as a film package for simplicity) of a first preferred embodiment of the present invention. The film package of the present invention comprises a main body section 11, a front cover section 12 and a back cover section 13 which are made of plastic materials and fitted or welded in a well known manner, such as an ultrasonic welding, to form a light-tight box-shaped film container.

The main front body section 11 is formed with a film patrone receiving chamber 14 on the left side and a film take-up chamber 15 on the right side. The patrone receiving chamber 14 receives therein a film patrone 16 containing a roll of photographic film and the film take-up chamber 15 receives the photographic film woundup or withdrawn from the film patrone 16 in a roll. The film package of this embodiment incorporates a prewinding system in which the full length of film is wound up into the film take-up chamber 15 before making a first exposure and the film is rewound from the take-up chamber 15 into the film patrone 16 in the film patrone receiving chamber 14 by one frame every exposure.

The main body section 11 is provided with a film rewinding knob 18 rotatably mounted thereon above the film patrone receiving chamber 14. The film rewinding knob 18 has a film rewinding shaft 18a with a forked end extending into the film patrone receiving chamber 14 and engaging an external end of a spool 16a of the film patrone 16. The film rewinding knob 18 is formed with teeth on the periphery thereof which is engaged with a ratchet 19 mounted on the main body section 11 for the prevention of rotation thereof in a direction in which the film is rewound.

An exposure chamber 20 is provided between the film patrone receiving chamber 14 and the film take-up chamber 15 and is formed with an exposure opening 21 in the front wall thereof. A lens holder plate 30 with a lens mount 31 is attached to the front wall of the exposure chamber 20. A taking lens or lens assembly 32 having a fixed focal length is held by the lens mount 31. The lens holder plate 30 is integrally formed with a rectangular projecting cap 33 forming therebehind a space for receiving therein a spring 23 therein. The lens holder plate 30 is attached by way of engaging hooks 34 engageable with detents 28 formed integrally with the main body section 11.

Between the front wall of the exposure chamber 20 and the lens holder plate 30, there is a shutter blade 22 mounted on the front wall of the exposure chamber 20 for rotation about an axis parallel with the optical axis of the taking lens 32. The shutter blade 22 is biased by way of the spring 23 to turn in the counterclockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 1 so as to close the exposure opening 21. The shutter blade 22 is formed with a projection 22a. A shutter charge lever 24 can move to push the projection 22a of the shutter blade 22 so as to turn the shutter blade 22 to close the exposure opening 21 and to charge the biasing spring 23.

A sprocket wheel (not shown) with sprockets, which is well known in the art, is provided behind and close to the film take-up chamber 15 to rotate following the advancement of a film 17 with its perforation in engagement with the sprockets. A one-frame metering cam (not shown) is in cooperation with the sprocket wheel to turn, moving the shutter charge lever 24. With the movement of the shutter charge lever 24, a hook lever 25 is turned and is brought into engagement with the film rewinding knob 18 and the shutter charge lever 24, stopping the rotation of the film rewinding knob 18. As such a mechanism is well known in the photographic art as a self cocking mechanism and, therefore, a more detailed description need not be included herein. The sprocket wheel has a shaft 26 with an axially extending V-shaped groove which is engageable with teeth formed on the periphery of a frame or exposure counter disk 27.

Through the engagement, the exposure counter disk 27 is advanced by the shaft 26 by one pitch every revolution of the shaft to increment or decrement the exposed number of the film by one every exposure.

The front cover section 12 is formed with a finder window 36 and a lens hole 37 in its front wall 12a. The lens hole 37 is defined by a circular swelling 37a.

This swelling 37a covers inside the lens mount 31 and the taking lens 32. The outer periphery of the taking lens 32 is pressed down by the inner surface of the swelling 37a of the front wall 12a of the front cover section 12 attached to the main body 11. In such a way, the taking lens 32 is fixed between the front cover section 12 and the main body section 11. Due to the provision of the swelling 37a for receiving therein the taking lens 32, it is made possible to provide a necessary back focal distance in a thin film package.

The front cover section 12 is formed in the front wall 12a with a vertically extending rectangular opening 38 in which the rectangular projected cap 33 is received and a horizontally extending rectangular opening 39 in which the film rewinding knob 18 is received. The front cover section 12 is further formed in its top wall 12b with a counter opening 41 through which the exposure counter disk 27 can be viewed.

The front cover section 12 is further provided with a shutter release member 40 elastically bridged with its top wall 12b at 40a. The shutter release member 40 thus formed can be flexibly bent when pushed with a finger and return on removing the finger. The shutter release member 40 is provided with an integrally formed shutter release lever 40b extending downwardly therebehind. The rear end of the shutter release lever 40b is engaged by the hook lever 25.

The front cover section 12 is further formed in the front wall 12a with an opening 42 through which a mold for molding the shutter release lever 40b is withdrawn and openings 43 through which molds for molding hooks on the back surface of the front wall 12a are withdrawn.

Engaging openings 44 formed in the front wall 12a of the front cover section 12 are engaged by hooks 13b formed integrally with a cover of the back cover section 13 which will be described in detail hereafter. Formed in the front wall 12a of the front cover section 12 are a pair of openings 48a and 48b through which a short circuit rod having electrically integral contact points is inserted for test discharging of the electronic flash unit 50 that will be described in detail later.

Designated by numeral 59 is a flash discharge button for making a flash light.

The back cover section 13 is attached to the main body section 11 to close light-tightly the film patrone receiving chamber 14 and the film take-up chamber 15, and the exposure chamber 20. For securely shielding the film from light, the back cover section 13 is welded to the main body section 11 by way of an ultrasonic welding or a special attaching mechanism so as not to be detached by users. The back cover section 13 is formed at the bottom with an integral bottom cover 13a flexibly hinged to the bottom edge of thereof. The bottom cover 13a is formed with the hooks 13b along with the front edge which are received and engaged by the engaging openings 44 of the front cover section 12 to close up the bottom opening of the film patrone receiving chamber 14.The back cover section 13 is formed in the back wall with a horizontally extending thin opening 46 in which the film rewinding knob 18 is received. The film rewind knob 18 partly extends outside the film package to be operated with fingers. The back cover section is further formed in the back wall with a finder opening 47 in alignment with the front finder opening 36 formed in the front cover section 12.

The film package is assembled by attaching the front cover section 12 to the main body section 11 through the engagement of the detents 28 of the main body section 11 with the hooks (not shown) of the front cover section 12 and then ultrasonic welding the backcover section 13 to the main body section 11 and, thereafter, engaging the hooks 13b of the bottom cover 13a of the back cover section 13 with the engaging openings 44 of the front cover section 12. The assembled film package is shown in Figs. 5 and 6.

As seen in Fig. 5, the assembled film package contains the periphery of the film rewinding knob 18 and the ratchet 19 in mesh with the peripheral teeth of the film rewinding knob 18 which are placed in the horizontally extending rectangular opening 39 formed in the front wall 12a of the front cover section 12, and the vertically extending projected cap 33 of the lens holder plate 30 placed in the vertically extending rectangular opening 38. That is, as is shown in Fig. 6, the top of the periphery of the film rewinding knob 18 and the front surface of the vertically extending projected cap 33 are slightly behind the front surface of the front wall 12a of the front cover section 12.

Therefore, the substantial thickness of the film package becomes equal to the total of the diameter of the film rewinding knob 18 and the thickness of the front wall 12a of the front cover section 12 is decreased by the overlapped thickness of the front wall 12a by the film rewinding knob 18.

As seen in Fig. 5, the top of the swelling 37a is cut away horizontally. The cut-away portion of the swelling 37a provides enough space between the lens opening 37 and the front finder window 36 to allow part of the cardboard external case bridging openings of the external case, formed to receive the taking lens and the front finder window, to be formed wide. Such a wide bridging part between openings is contributive to the prevention of breakage of the external case.

It is to be noted that the front cover section may be formed with other openings which receive therein parts, if permissible, projecting in an axial forward direction from the main body section 11 and that the back cover section can be formed with openings which receive therein parts projecting in an axially backward direction from the main body section 11.

As shown in Fig.7, the electronic flash unit 50 attached to the main body section 11 comprises a reflector 51 having a parabolic reflective surface disposed behind the diffusion glass 50a, a discharge tube 52 disposed along the horizontal axis of the parabolic reflective surface of the reflector 51, and a flash power source (not shown). A cylindrical condenser 53 is vertically disposed behind right the reflector 51.

A circuit board 55 on which a flash control circuit is printed is disposed in front of the film take-up chamber 15. The condenser 53 is connected to the flash control circuit as well as to short-circuit terminals 56a and 56b disposed on the circuit board 55 correspondingly to the openings 48a and 48b of the front cover section 12a, respectively. The short-circuit terminals 56a and 56b on the circuit board 55 can be electrically connected by means of the short-circuit rod 58 of which contact arms 58a and 58b are inserted through the access openings 48a and 48b to short circuit the condenser 53.

The main body section 11 on which the electronic flash unit 50 is installed is attached and covered with the front cover section 12. Then, in advance to loading a film, the electronic flash unit 50 is subjected to test discharging. For this, the short-circuit rod 58 is used. If the discharge tube 52 properly flashes when short-circuiting the condenser 53 with the short-circuit rod 58, the short-circuit rod 58 is kept inserted in the access openings 48a and 48b to maintain the condenser 53 fully discharged until a film patrone is loaded and the back cover section 13 is attached to close light-tightly the film patrone receiving chamber 14 and the film takeup chamber 15.

After having completely assembled the film package but before inserting it into an external case, the short-circuit rod 58 is removed.

Referring to Fig. 8, there is shown an external case 61 made of a printable cardboard or printable plastic material for receiving therein the film package shown in Figs. 3 to 6. As shown, the external case 61 is formed with openings 63a, 63b and 63c in its front wall 62a for exposing the swelling 37a receiving and enclosing the taking lens 32 therebehind, the front finder window 36 and the diffusion glass 50a of the electronic flash unit 50, respectively. The external case 61 is further formed with an openable portion 67 defined by three perforated lines 69 in the bottom wall 62b. The openable portion 67 is so located as to overlap the bottom cover 13a of the back cover section 13 when the film package is encased and is formed similar to but slight larger than the outline of the bottom cover 13a of the back cover section 13.A tab 68 is defined by a semi-circular perforated line in one of the three perforated lines 69. The tab 68 is partly separated from the bottom wall 62b of the external case 61 for being easily picked up and peeled off with fingers.

The external case 61 has a side flap 62c which is closed and adhesively secured thereto after inserting the film package thereinto so as to form a side wall of the external case 61.

After the use of the film package, as is shown in Fig. 9, the openable portion 67 is broken or torn off along the perforated lines 69 by pulling off the tab 68 with fingers to expose the bottom cover 13a of the back cover section 13. Then, the bottom cover 13a is opened by disengaging the hooks 13b from the engaging openings 44 of the front wall 12a of the front cover section 12.

Thereupon, the patrone 16 can be easily removed axially.

The film patrone 16 taken out is then handled in the same manner as conventional film patrones while the film package is scrapped.

Referring now to Fig. 10, there is shown another external case 61 made of a printable cardboard or printable plastic material for receiving therein a film package shown in Fig. 11. In Fig. 11, parts and elements which are identical in structure and operation to those of the film package shown in Figs. 3 to 6 are designated by similar reference characters and, therefore, need not be described in detail herein. The film package shown in Fig. 11 is generally similar in construction to the film package shown in Figs. 3 to 6.

The only difference of the film package shown in Fig. 11 is that a power source of the electronic flash unit 50 such as a battery 80 is received in an open bottom battery chamber 81 formed adjacent to the bottom opening of the film patrone receiving chamber 14 in the film package. The battery 80 in the open bottom battery chamber 81 is held down by a tong section 13c integrally formed with the bottom cover 13a when the bottom cover 13a of the back cover section 13 is closed to close the film patrone receiving chamber light-tightly, thereby being prevented from coming off from the film package.

As shown in Fig. 10, the external case 71 is formed with openings 73a, 73b and 73c in its front wall 72a for exposing the swelling 37a receiving and enclosing the taking lens 32 therebehind, the front finder window 36 and the diffusion glass 50a of the electronic flash unit 50, respectively. The external case 71 is further formed with a generally L-shaped openable portion 77 defined by perforated lines 79 in the bottom wall 72b of the external case 71. The openable portion 77 is so located as to overlap the bottom cover 13a and the open bottom battery chamber 81 of the film package when the film package is encased, and is formed similar to but slightly larger than the outline of the bottom cover 13a and the open bottom battery chamber 81 of the film package.In more detail, the L-shaped openable portion 77 comprises a stem portion 77a and an arm section 77b for covering the open bottom battery chamber 81 and the bottom cover 13a, respectively.

A tab 78 is defined by a semi-circular perforated line in one of the three perforated lines 79. The tab 78 is partly separated from the bottom wall 72b of the external case 71 for being easily picked up and peeled off with fingers.

After the use of the film package, the openable portion 77 of the external case 71 is broken or torn off along the perforated lines 79 by pulling off the tab 78 with fingers to expose the bottom cover 13a and the battery chamber 81 of the film package. Then, the bottom cover 13a is opened by disengaging the hooks 13b from the engaging openings 44 of the front wall 12a of the front cover section 12. Thereupon, the patrone 16 and the battery 80 can be easily removed. The film patrone 16 taken out is then handled in the same manner as conventional film patrones while the film package and the battery are scrapped, separately.

In any embodiment described above, it is to be noted that the external case 61 or 71 may be formed with an opening through which a finger can be inserted, in place of the tab 67 or 77 and that, instead of forming the cover section and the perforated line for defining the openable portion in the bottom wall of the main case section and the external case, respectively, the bottom cover may be formed either in back cover section or in side wall of the front case section, and hence the perforated line may be correspondingly formed either in the back wall or in side wall of the external case, respectively. It is also to be noted that the roll of photographic film can be used without being contained in a patrone or cartridge.

Further, though in the above-described embodiments the openings 48a and 58b are formed in the front wall of the front cover section 12, the openings 48a and 48b may be defined in any other wall, for example in a side wall. That is, the position of the openings 48a and 48b may be located according to the position of the curcuit board 55. Instead of the pair of openings 48a and 48b, one opening may be formed if the short-circuit rod 58 can be inserted through the opening. The condenser 53 and flash power source may be disposed in another position though they are disposed behind the reflector 51.

It is to be clearly understood that there are no particular features of the foregoing specification, or of any claims appended hereto, which are at present regarded as being essential to the performance of the present invention, and that any one or more of such features or combinations thereof may therefore be included in, added to, omitted from or deleted from any of such claims if and when amended during the prosecution of this application or in the filing or prosecution of any divisional application based thereon.

Furthermore the manner in which any of such features of the specification or claims are described or defined may be amended, broadened or otherwise modified in any manner which falls within the knowledge of a person skilled in the relevant art, for example so as to encompass, either implicitly or explicitly, equivalents or generalisations thereof.

Claims (7)

1. A lens-fitted photographic film package having at least a roll of photographic film and taking lens, comprising: a light-tight case mounting said taking lens and containing said roll of photographic film in a chamber formed therein, said chamber being closed by an openable cover; and an external case in which said light-tight film case is enclosed having a weakened openable portion capable of being broken away from said external case to expose said openable cover.

2. A lens-fitted photographic film package as defined in claim 1, wherein said openable portion is defined by a perforation.

3. A lens-fitted photographic film package as defined in claim 1 or 2, further comprising electronic flash means contained in said light-tight case and a battery for charging said electronic flash means, said battery being located at the bottom of said light-tight case adjacent to said chamber.

4. A lens-fitted photographic film package as defined in claim 3, wherein said openable cover covers said chamber and partly said battery.

5. A lens-fitted photographic film package as defined in any of claims 1 to 4 wherein said roll of photographic film is previously fully wound and is rewound by one frame every exposure in use.

6. A lens-fitted photographic film package substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figs. 8 and 9.

7. A lens-fitted photographic film package substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figs. 10 and 11.