GB2088571A - Roll film camera - Google Patents

Abstract

In a manual or motorised camera using roll film having numbered frames and apertures indicating frame position, etc., as in application No. 8125310, means are provided for synchronising advance of the film to the first frame position with charging of the photographing mechanism. Charging of the photographing mechanism may be completed at a preframe film position. A clutch having change over means may enable transmission of the rotation of a wind-up shaft to the film feeding mechanism or to both said film feeding mechanism and said photographing mechanism. The camera may have a film frame number display. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Camera using a roll film BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention This invention relates to a film and shutter windup device of a camera, and more particularly to a device in a camera using a roll film for causing the first object image recording frame of the loaded film to be opposed to an exposure aperture in a prescribed positional relation.

Description of the prior art The conventional cameras using a roll film has required to wind-up operation for preparation for photography which comprises winding up the leader portion of the film drawn out from a film magazine during the loading of the film and exposed to become unstable, and causing the unexposed portion of the film to be opposed to an aperture to bring about a read-to-photograph condition. This amount of wind-up is set by taking into account persons who draw out a relatively great amount of the film from the magazine during the loading of the film.Acutrally, however, the amount of wind-up at this time has been variable because it is the sum of this set amount and the remaining amount of charge required to bring into a charge-completed condition a photographing mechanism such as the shutter, diaphragm, etc. which has been left as it is in the course of charging because the film used in the previous photography has been terminated in the course of wind-up and has become incapable of being wound up. The reason is that at the time of completion of the operation for preparation for photography, the charging of the photographing mechanism must be completed with such mechanism being in a ready-to-photograph condition.

For example, assuming that said set amount of a camera is 3 frames and the then remaining amount of charge is 0.5 frame, this camera will not be brought into a ready-to-photograph condition unless the film is wound up by an amount corresponding to 3.5 frames after the back lid of the camera is closed with the film loaded into the camera. This amount of wind-up becomes irregular in the range of 3 to 4 frames because the remaining amount of charge is irregular in the range of 0 to 1 frame depending on the completed condition of the previous photography. In spite of the unexposed film having already become opposed to the aperture upon wind-up of 3 frames, the unexposed film further wound up to eliminate the remaining amount of charge has become entirely useless.

On the other hand, there have been devised systems whereby film information such as the speed, length, classification, etc. of the film may be automatically transmitted to a camera. For example, as seen in Japanese Utility Model Publication No.

31539/1980 (U.S. Patent No. 4,024,557), there is a system in which a conductive portion differing in pattern depending on the classification of the film is provided on the body of a film magazine and a terminal on the camera side is short-circuited to thereby transmit the information to the camera, or a system in which a cut-away is formed in a portion of a magazine and it is introduced as information into the camera by a detecting member on the camera side. In any of these systems, a signal is provided on the casing portion of the magazine, but as an alternative method, it would also occur to mind to form signal openings other than perforations in the film itself and read them by the camera, and such method has partly been used for the purpose of making no mistake in judging the developing conditions during development of the film.

If the aforementioned signal opening is provided at a prescribed position near the leading end of the film, the positional relation of the first recording frame can be decided with this signal opening as the reference. However, the length of the leader portion drawn out from the film magazine during the loading of the film into the camera is variable and the aforementioned remaining amount of charge is also variable and therefore, it will be seen that it is difficult to synchronize the phase of the charging system of the photographing mechanism with the phase of the film feeding mechanism so that the photographing mechanism is just in chargecompleted condition when the first recording frame has become opposed to the exposure aperture.

Summary ofthe invention It is an object of the present invention to provide a camera in which the position of the first recording picture plane formed in a loaded roll film by exposure can be made fixed in the direction of feeding of the film with respect to a referential position of the roll film.

In the present invention, the said referential position can be set on the basis of the aforementioned film information signal provided on the roll film, but alternatively may be set on the basis of any signal representing the position of the film which can be detected before or in the course of the wind-up operation effected for preparation for photography.

In the present invention, the photographing mechanism of the camera is synchronized with the film wind-up system so that it is in charge-completed condition when an area on the roll film corresponding to the said first recording picture plane has been opposed to the exposure aperture by the film feeding mechanism of the camera.

The camera of the present invention, in a preferred embodiment thereof, is provided with clutch means capable of coupling the photographing mechanism and the film feeding system together with the phase of the photographing mechanism at the time of completion of charging being coincident with the phase of the film feeding system when the first recording picture plane of the film has become opposed to the aperture.

The invention will become more fully apparent from the following detailed description thereof taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Brief description of the drawings Figure lisa plan view of a roll film used with the camera of the present invention.

Figures 2, 3A and 3Bare a cross-sectional view and detection output charts, respectively, of an embodiment of the detecting device of the present invention.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of a modification of the detecting device.

Figure 5 is a diagram of the circuit of a camera using the detecting device of Figure 2.

Figures 6, 7 and 8 are a perspective view, a cross-sectional view and a detection output chart, respectively, of another embodiment of the detecting device.

Figure 9 is a diagram of the circuit of a camera using the detecting device of Figure 6.

Figures 10 and 11 are a perspective view and a detection output chart, respectively, of still another embodiment of the detecting device.

Figures 12, 13A, 138, 13C and 130 are a crosssectional view and detection output charts, respectively, of a modification of the detecting device.

Figures 14, 75A and 15B are a perspective view and detection output charts, respectively, of another modification of the detecting device.

Figure 16 is a plan view showing a modification of the roll film.

Figure 17 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of the camera according to the present invention.

Figure 18 illustrates the positional relations between film information openings and the first photographing frame and between the camera and the aperture.

Figure 19 is a diagram of a circuit adapted for the embodiment of Figure 17.

Figure 20 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the camera according to the present invention.

Figure 21 is a cross-sectional view of the phase clutch in the embodiment of Figure 20.

Figure 22 is a front view of the shaft of the phase clutch.

Figure 23 is a cross-sectional view of the friction clutch in the embodiment of Figure 20.

Figure 24 is a perspective view of a third embodiment of the camera according to the present invention.

Figure 25 is a diagram of a circuit adapted for the embodiment of Figure 24.

Figure 26 is a perspective view of a fourth embodiment of the camera according to the present invention.

Figure 27 is a diagram of a circuit adapted for the embodiment of Figure 26.

Description of the preferred embodiments Figure 1 shows a film having the aforementioned information as fully drawn outfrom a film magazine FM. The film F has perforations P formed along the opposite side edges thereof throughout the length thereof, and film information signals H representing film information such as film speed, number of photographable film frames (for example, 12, 20, 24 or 36 frames), latitude, color sensing property, etc.

are provided in the film from between thexth perforation Px from the first perforation P1 in one side edge of the film and the (x+t)th perforation Px+ to the (x+n)th perforation Px+n). The information signals H are provided between the perforaions P and one side edge of the film and comprise openings he formed between adjacent perforations and nonholed portions h1 indicated by dotted lines between adjacent perforations (these non-holed portions will hereinafter be referred to as non-openings). Openings ho always exist at the opposite ends of the information signals H. The above-described film information is represented by an arrangement combination of such openings ho and non-openings h1.

The first photographing frame F1 of the film F begins with the nth perforation from the xth perforation. On one side or the opposite side of the photographing frame F1, there is pre-printed a symbol "No. 1" which signifies that it is the first frame. On the other hand, film end signals he representing the end of the film are formed as film information, similarly to the information signals H, after the last photographing frame Ef of the film, for example, the 36th frame from the first frame F1.

Figure 2 shows a device for photoelectrically detecting such perforations P and film information signals H. In Figure 2, the film F runs through the gap between a camera body 4 and a film pressure plate 5. The camera body 4 has a perforation detecting through-hole 4a and an information signal detecting through-hole 4b formed therein at locations which can be opposed to a perforation P and an information opening ho, respectively. The positional relation between the two through-holes 4a and 4b is determined such that whenever one hole 4b is opposed to an information opening ho, a perforation P is also opposed to the other hole 4a. The pressure plate 5 is also formed therein with a perforation detecting through-hole 5a and an information signal detecting through-hole 5b opposed to the through-holes 4a and 4b, respectively.A light-emitting element e1 and a light-receiving element r1 are disposed in the perforation detecting through-holes 4a and 5a, respectively, and a light-emitting element e2 and a light-receiving element r2 are likewise disposed in the information signal detecting through-holes 4b and 5b, respectively. Although the light-emitting elements el and e2 are installed on the camera body side and the light-receiving elements r1 and r2 are installed on the pressure plate side, namely, on the back lid side, the locations of these elements may also be reversed. When the film F is wound up and transported in the direction of arrow while the light-emitting elements e1 and e2 emit light, and a perforation P comes to lie between the perforation detecting through-holes 4a and 5a, then the light from the light-emitting element e1 passes through the through-hole 4a, the perforaton P and the through-hole 5a in succession and enters the lightreceiving element r1,which thus produces a great photoelectric output, and when the film surface comes to be positioned between the two throughholes 4a and 5a, of the light from the light-emitting element e1, only the light which has passed through the film surface arrives at the light-receiving element r1, which thus produces a small output.This also holds true of the detecting portions e2, 4b, 5b and r2 for the information opening ho. Thus, the perforation detecting light-receiving element r1 produces a pulse output corresponding to the position of the perforation, as shown in Figure 3A, and the information signal detecting light-receiving element r2 produces a pulse output corresponding to the information signals H, as shown in Figure 3B. Of course, since the potential relation between the perforation detecting portions e1, 4a, 5a, r1 and the information signal detecting portions e2, 4b, 5b, r2 is selected as described above, the pulse output of the lightreceiving element r2 is produced simultaneously with the pulse output of the light-receiving element r1.

To improve the detection accuracy, a slit or a diaphragm 10 may be provided before the lightemitting element or the light-receiving element, as shown in Figure 4. Also, the function of the slit or the diaphragm 10 may be replaced by that of the through-holes 4a, 4b, 5a, 5b. The locations of the information signal detecting portions e2, 4b, 5b and r2 are selected such that when detection of the series of film information signals H has been completed, the first photographing frame F1 of the film becomes opposed to the film exposure aperture af the camera.

Reference is now had to Figure 5 to describe a circuit arrangement using such perforation detection signal and information signal detection signal.

In Figure 5, a semi-push switch SW1 adapted to be closed by a first stroke depression of the release button of the camera is parallel-connected to a wind-up switch SW2 adapted to be closed in response to film wind-up operation, through a diode D1. A first power supply control transistor Tr1 controls the power supply from a power source E to a film frame number display device 11 and an exposure control circuit 12 which will hereinafter be described. A second power supply control transistor Tr2 controls the power supply to a photoelectric detecting portion 13. A resistor R1, a capacitor C1 and a transistor Tr3 together constitute a timer circuit.This timer circuit maintains the first power supply control transistor Tri conductive for a predetermined time even if the semi-push switch SW1 is opened after the transistor Trl has been turned on by closing of the switch SW1, and likewise maintains the first and second power supply control transistors Trl and Tr2 conductive for a predetermined time even if the wind-up switch SW2 is opened after the transistors Trl and Tr2 have been turned on by closing of the switch SW2.The photoelectric detecting portion 13 comprises a perforation detecting light-emitting element el represented as LED, a corresponding light-receiving element rl represented as photodiode, an amplifier opl therefore, an information opening detecting light-emitting element e2 represented as LED, a light-receiving element r2 represented as photodiode, an amplifier OP2 therefor, voltage dividing resistors R2 and R3 for producing a reference voltage, and hysteresis comparators CP1 and CP2 for comparing the outputs of the amplifiers OP1 and OP2 with the reference voltage. The comparators CP1 and CP2 generate perforation detection voltages and information signal detection pulses, respectively, as shown in Figures 3A and 3B.A camera back lid interlocking switch SW3 is operatively associated with the back lid of the camera so that it is opened upon opening of the back lid and closed upon closing of the back lid and, when this switch is closed, power is supplied to a digital circuit 14which comprises IC of CMOS.

Upon closing of the switch SW3, a reset signal appears on a reset line 14A through a buffer amplifier Al for a short time determined by the time constant of a CR circuit C2, R4to reset a film information recording unit RG1 comprising an RS flip-flop FF1 and a shift register, and counters C01 and C02. The flip-flop FF1 is set by the information signal detection pulse from the comparator CP2 and opens and AND gate AND1.Thus, the perforation detection pulse from the comparator CP1 is supplied to counter C01 and AND gates AND2 and AND3. By being reset, the counter C01 produces an H-level output and, when it counts a predetermined number of perforation detection pulses, it produces an L-level output and closes the gate AND2. This predetermined number is determined so as to be equal to the number of perforations from the perforation corresponding to the first information opening hoo of the series of information signals to the perforation corresponding to the last information opening hoe, namely, 14 in the present example.

Accordingly, the gate AND2 sends to the clock input CL of the register RG1 the detection pulse of the perforation corresponding to the first information opening hoo to the detection pulse of the perforation corresponding to the last information opening hoe.

Thus, the register RG1 stores the information signal detection pulses from the comparator CPl in succession in accordance with the perforation detection pulses input to CL. In this manner, when the output of the counter C01 has changed from H-level to L-level, the register RG1 stores the series of film information signals H as 1, 1, 1,0, 1,0, 1,0, 0, 0, 1,0, O, 1.

When counter C01 counts said predetermined number of pulses, its output changes from H-level to L-level and this opens the AND gate AND3 through an inverter IV1. The time when the counter C01 completes counting of said predetermined number of pulses is the time when detection of the series of information signals H is completed, and this is just the time when the first photographing frame F1 of the film has become opposed to the exposure aperture of the camera. Accordingly, when perforations are photoelectrically detected due to the movement of the film resulting from the start of photography, the detection pulses are sent to the counter C02 through the gates AND1 and AND2. C02 is a counter which counts the number of photographed frames of the film, and the number represented by its output is increased by 1 each time it counts the number of perforations corresponding to one frame, for example, 8 pulses. Thus, the output of the counter C02 represents the number of photographed frames. An AND gate AND4 turns on FETtransistors FET1 and FET2 when the output of the counter C01 is H, namely, during the detection of the series of information signals. Since the transistor FET1 is parallel connected to the wind-up switch SW2, the conduction thereby forcibly turns on the transistors Tr1 and Tr2 during the detection of the film information signals H independently of the wind-up switch SW2, thereby ensuring the power supply to each circuit.

On the other hand, the conduction of the transistor FET2 turns on the transistor Tr4, which thus operates a warning device 15 and causes LED1 6 to emit light and drives a sound generating element 17, which thus gives the photographer a warning that detection of the film information signals H is taking place.

The conduction of the transistor Tr4 further turns on and off transistors Tr5 and Tr6, respectively. Release switch SW4 is closed by depression of the release button of the camera to a second stroke. Upon conduction of the transistor Tr6 and closing of the release switch SW4, an exposure control circuit 12 operates a magnet Mg1 for shutter release to release the shutter. The circuit 12 also operates a proper shutter speed from an exposure control metering element 18 and an exposure factor introducing resistor 19 and controls a shutter closing magnet Mg2.

Operation of this circuit will now be described.

When a film is loaded into the camera and the back lid of the camera is closed, the switch SW3 is closed and power is supplied to the digital circuit 14 while, at the same time, FF1 RG1, C01 and C02 are reset.

When the film is wound up manually or by means of a motor, the switch SW2 is closed to turn on the transistors Tr1 and Tr2 and power is supplied to a photoelectric detecting circuit 13, warning circuit 15, film frame number display device 11, exposure control circuit 12, etc. When the first opening hoo of the series of film information signals H is detected by the film information signal detecting portion e2, r2, 4b, 5b due to the feeding of the film, FF1 is set by the detection pulse from CP2 and AND1 is opened. Thus, the detection pulse of the perforation corresponding to the first information opening hoo is input from CP1 through AND1 to the counter C01 and is also supplied to the clock input CL of the register RG1 through AND2.Accordingly, the register RG1 reads in the detection pulse of the first information opening hoo, whereafter the register RG 1 reads in the detection pulses of the film information signals H from CP2 each time a perforation detection pulse is supplied to the clock input CL. During the detection of the information signals H, the output of the counter C01 is at H-level and so, both FET1 and FET2 are in their ON state. By the conduction of FET2, the warning circuit 15 is operated to warn by LED16 and the sound generating element 17 that the detection of the information signals H is taking place. At the same time, the conduction of FET2 turns off the transistor Tr6 and therefore, even if the release switch SW4 is closed at this time, the release magnet Mg1 remains inoperative and thus, shutter release is prevented.Of course, a self-cocking mechanism is released during the detection of the information signals H and film wind-up is possible even if shutter release is not effected. Thereafter, the peforation corresponding to the last information opening hoe is photoelectrically detected and, when the counter C01 counts the detection pulse, the content of this counter assumes said predetermined value and the output thereof changes from H-level to L-level.

Therefore, the gate AND2 is closed and the register RG1 stops reading in any more. In this manner, the series of information signals H are all stored in the register RG1. Also, said L-level turns off both FET1 and FET2. This turn-off of FET2 renders the warning circuit 15 inoperative while, at the same time, it turns on the transistor Tr6 to enable shutter release thereafter. When the information signals H represent the exposure factors such as film speed, etc., the film information stored in the register RG1 is introduced into the exposure control circuit 12. The exposure control circuit 12 effects exposure control by taking such information into consideration.

When the detection of the information signal is terminated, the first frame F1 of the film becomes opposed to the exposure aperture. Thereafter, photography is effected and, when the film is wound up, the perforation detection pulse is sent to the counter C02 through the gate AND1 and the gate AND3 which is opened by the L-level output of the counter COl. This counter C02 produces an output representing 1 when it counts the number of perforations corresponding to one frame of the film, for example, 8 perforations, and the display device 11 displays 1. Thereafter, as photography progresses, the number represented by the output of the counter C02 is increased by 1 each time the counter C02 counts the pulses corresponding to the number of perforations in one frame and thus, the display device 11 displays the number of photographed film frames.Where the substance of the film information signals H includes the number of photographable frames of the film, for example, 12, 24 or 36, the film frame number information stored in the register RG1 may be introduced into the display device 11 as indicated by dotted line, whereby the display device 11 may display the number of remaining film frames, namely, the number of remaining photographable frames, from the difference between such information and the output of the counter C02.

Thus, even if the information signals H imparted to the film comprise openings and non-openings positionally corresponding to the perforations, the openings and non-openings can be reliably detected by effecting the detection of the film information signals correspondingly to the detection of the perforations.

Thus, the substance of the film information imparted to the film in advance can be detected prior to the start of the first photography, and it can be stored in the register RG1, and in the photography thereafter, exposure control can be effected on the basis of the exposure factor information of such information.

Also, since the counting of the perforations is started in accordance with the detection of the film information signals H, the measurement of the amount of film fed after the start of photography can be reliably accomplished.

Figures 6 and 7 show another embodiment of the detecting device. A prism 20 having a light-emerging surface is mounted in through-holes 4a and 4b formed in the camera body. A reflecting plate 21 is mounted in through-holes 5a and 5b formed in a pressure plate 5. The light from a light-emitting element e3 is partly reflected by the semitransmitting surface 20a of the prism and passes through the perforation detecting through-hole 4a to detect the perforations. On the other hand, the light passed through the semi-transmitting surface 20a is reflected by a reflecting surface 20b, whereafter it passes through the film information signal detecting through-hole 4b to detect the film information signals. A light-receiving element r3 receives the sum of the perforation detection light and the film information signal detection light.Accordingly, the output of this light-receiving element r3 assumes such a waveform as shown in Figure 8. The L-level output corresponds to the sum of the light passed through a perforation and reflected by the reflecting plate 21, the light passed through the through-hole 4b and reflected by the film surface, and the light passed through the film and reflected by the reflecting plate 21 and again passed through the film, and the H-level output corresponds to the sum of the light passed through the through-hole 4a and a perforation and reflected by the reflecting plate 21 and the light passed through the through-hole 4b and the film information opening ho and reflected by the reflecting plate 21.

Two different levels of outputs are obtained correspondingly to the quantity of light diffused or absorbed in the film surface or the film layer and therefore, the presence of the film information signals H can be easily detected from the output value.

If the transmission factor of the reflecting surface 20a of the prism is 50%, the intensity of the light received by the element r3, as compared with the light emitted by the light-emitting element e3, is such that both of the reflected light of the light passed through a perforation P and the reflected light of the light passed through the opening ho are 25%. (However, it is to be understood that the reflecting plate 21 and the reflecting surface 20b are complete mirror surfaces.) Also, in the embodiment of Figure 6, the light-emitting element and the light-receiving element may be replaced with each other. Further, the reflecting plate 21 fixed to the pressure plates 5 may be a light-absorbing member and may be attached to the back lid of the camera.

Figure 9 shows the arrangement of a photoelectric detecting circuit when the light-emitting elements and light-receiving elements for perforation detection and for information signal detection are thus common with each other. Two reference voltages are produced by voltage dividing resistors R5, R6 and R7. The photoelectric output from an operational amplifier OP3 is compared with said reference voltages by a pair of hysteresis comparators CP'1 and CP'2, whereby perforation detection pulse is put outtothecomparatorCP'1 and film information signal detection pulse is put out to the comparator CP'2.

Figure 10 shows still another embodiment of the detecting device. The information opening ho is provided at a position substantially immediate the perforations P and at a size smaller than the size of the perforations.

A light-emitting element e4 and a light-receiving element r4 are provided so as to be capable of illuminating both the perforations P and the information opening ho and receiving the light, respectively.

As the film is fed, an output as shown in Figure 11 is obtained in the light-receiving element r4. When a perforation has passed the light-receiving element, a high level output is obtained, and when the information opening has passed the light-receiving element, a low level output is obtained. If the feeding of the film is substantially constant, the high level output will match the pitch of the perforations and will always appear at a substantially constant interval.

The low level output will appear at a position of about 1/2 of the pitch of the perforations only when the information opening ho is present. Discrimination between the openings P and ho may be accomplished by means of the difference between the output levels, and the start or termination of the counting of the high level output can be easily effected in response to the low level output.

Figure 12 shows an application of the Figure 2 embodiment. The detection position of the information opening ho in the film is somewhat deviated from the position of Figure 2 and the phases of the outputs of the light-receiving elements r1 and r2 are set as shown in Figures 13A and 13B.

When the film is fed at a substantially constant feed speed in the direction opposite to the direction of arrow, herein the rewind direction, the outputs become such as shown in Figures 13C and 13D. If the deviation between the phases of such outputs is detected, the direction of movement of the film can be easily detected. Of course, it is possible to determine the output of the element r1, namely, the start and termination of the counting of the perforations, by the pulse of the output of the element r2.

Figure 14 shows an embodiment in which the embodiment of Figure 13 has been improved so as to be capable of detecting the direction of movement of the film from the phase relation as in the embodiment of Figure 12. The spacing between the perforation detecting light-receiving element rl and the information signal detecting light-receiving element r2, as in the case of Figure 12, is determined so as to be smaller than the spacing between a perforation and an information opening. Figure 15 shows the output waveforms of the light-receiving elements r1 and r2.

The information openings in the film F may be formed separately from the perforations as shown in Figure 1, but alternatively, two kinds of openings may be formed integrally by varying the area of the perforations in the manner as shown in Figure 16. If the significant difference between the outputs of the two kinds of openings P and hp is detected, the detection of the start of signal or the start and termination of the counting of the perforations by the signal can be determined.

It is desirable that the light of the light-emitting element be a light of the type to which the film used is not sensitized (for example) infrared light for ordinarily film) so that the film is not detrimentally sensitized by the light of the light-emitting element.

The film information signals are not restricted to openings, but may also be magnetic signals attached to the film.

Description will hereinafter be made of an embodiment of the camera in which the first picture plane can always be recorded at a predetermined position in the direction of feeding of the film with respect to a referential positon on the film set on the basis of the film information signals detected by the hitherto described detecting device.

In the camera shown in Figure 17, there is provided a spring charged by a film wind-up lever and capable of driving a film feeding mechanism in response to an operating member for the preparation for photography and charging a photographing mechanism including a shutter and a mirror mechanism, and a device for operating the amount of feed of the film which does not involve the charging operation of the photographing mechanism just necessary for the charging of the photographing mechanism to be completed when the detecting device detects the first one of the information signals from the film being fed to the first picture plane becomes opposed to the exposure aperture When a reciprocally pivotable wind-up lever 101 is rotated in the direction of arrow, a spring motor charge disc 103 id rotated in the direction of arrow through the agency of a one-way clutch 102 comprising a roller and a groove. The disc 103 has secured thereto one end of a charge spring 104whose other end is secured to a spring motor output disc 107. The disc 107 has a ratchet gear of fine pitch formed on its outer periphery, and is prevented from rotating in the directionof arrow by a lever 139 meshing with the ratchet gear. The charge disc 103 has a ratchet gear formed on its outer periphery in the opposite direction to the output disc 107, and is prevented from rotating in the direction of arrow by a restraining pawl 136.When the charging of the change spring 104 by the wind-up lever 101 is completed, the disc 103 is locked by conventional means, not shown, to thereby prevent damage of the charge spring 104 which would otherwise result from over-charging and inform the operator of the completion of the charging.

After completion of the charging, a lever 142 is clockwisely rotated by depressing an exclusive push button (not shown) provided externally of the camera or a release button to push one end of the lever 142 in the direction of arrow. By the movement of the lever 142, the circuit of the detecting device including an information signal detecting lightemitting element e5, a light-receiving element r5 and a phase detecting pattern 130 is closed and a lever 139 so far restrained by the fore end of the lever 142 is counterclockwisely rotated by the force of a spring 140 to thereby release the restraint of the disc 107.

Thus, the disc 107 now begins to rotate in the direction of arrow with the aid of the force of the charge spring 104. The rotation of the disc 107 is transmitted through a shaft 107ato a gear 110to rotate a gear 111 in the direction of arrow. The shaft 111 a of the gear 111 is disposed on a gear 115 which is in mesh engagement with the pawl of a lever 148 and therefore, in this condition, the rotation of the gear 111 does not cause rotation of the gear 115. The gear 111 is in mesh engagement with the internal gear of a gear 112, so that the gear 112 is rotated in the direction of arrow by the rotation of the gear 111.

The rotation of the gear 112 rotates a pgear 114in the direction of arrow through the agency of a one-way clutch comprising a pawl 113 provided on the underside of the gear 112 and a cut-away 1 14a provided in the inner periphery of the gear 114, and the rotation of the gear 114 is transmitted to a sprocket 125 through gears 122,123, 124, shaft 124a and gear 121. The rotation of the gear 121 is transmitted to a gear 118 through idle gears 119 and 120, while the rotation of the gear 118 in the direction of arrow is not transmitted to a gear 116 due to a one-way clutch comprising a pawl 117 disposed on the gear 116 and a cut-away provided in the gear 118. The above-described gears 110-118 together constitute a differential gear device.

The rotation of the gear 124 is further transmitted to a gear 126 to rotate a take-up spool gear 108 in the direction of arrow through the agency of idle gears 127 and 128, so that a take-up spool 109 one-way frictionally coupled to the gear 108 by a conventional method is rotated in the direction of arrow.

Assuming that, as shown in Figure 18, the distance from the first information opening hoo to the first photographing frame F1 is Land that the distance from the first information opening hoo to the exposure aperture A at a point of time whereat the detecting device e5, r5 has detected the first information opening hoo is e, the amount of feed of the film F necessary for the first photographing frame F1 to become opposed to the aperture A after the first information opening hoo has been detected corresponds to L-e. The aforementioned distances e and L are given as constants inherent to the camera.

Charging of the mirror and shutter system is to be noted. The mirror and shutter system is in no way concerned with the aforementioned film wind-up operation for preparation for photography and therefore, it remains in the condition in which rewind has been effected after termination of the previous cycle of photography, and it does not necessarily follow that the charging of the mirror and shutter system has been completed.If the shutter charge cam 131 of Figure 17 adapted to rotate in response to the charging operation has shifted to the present film loading while leaving 5/8 of the angle of rotation of charge completion (assuming that 8 perforations are required to feed the film by one frame), the shutter charge cam 131 may be operatively associated with the rotation of the sprocket 125 at 5 perforation before the completion of the film windup stroke of an amount corresponding to the aformentioned L-e. In the present embodiment, the angle of rotation of the charge cam 131 can be read from the gray coded phase detection pattern 130 by brushes 130a, 130b and 130c, and the timing of the operative association between the shutter charge cam 131 and the sprocket 125 is obtained by effecting the operation of L-e e, in an electric circuit, to be described, on the basis of the detection signal of the first information opening hoo. Here, e1 is a value obtained by converting into a film length the angle of rotation of the charge cam 131 required till the completion of the charging of the shutter and mirror. The amount of feed of the film is always measured by a generator 184 and sensor 185 provided on the sprocket 125.When the sensor 185 detects the amount of feed corresponding to the aforementioned operated value, power is momentarily supplied to a combination magnet Mg3 comprising a combination of a permanent magnet and an electromagnet, whereupon an armature 1 50a provided on the end of a lever 150 is liberated and the lever 150 is rotated in the direction of arrow by the force of a spring lever 151. The rotation of the lever 150 is transmitted to levers 148 and 149 by a shaft 150b, so that the pawl of the lever 148 is disengaged from the gear 115 while, at the same time, the pawl of the lever 149 is brought into engagement with a tooth on the outer periphery of the gear 112, thereby preventing rotation of the gear 112 in the direction of arrow.Accordingly, the rotation of the gear 110 is transmitted through gear 111 to gears 115,116 and 118-121 to rotate the sprocket 125 in the direction of arrow. The rotation of the gear 115 further causes a gear 129 and shutter charge cam 131 to charge the shutter by an amount corresponding to the aformentioned 5 perforations buy a mechanism, not shown. At this time, the mirror is also charged by an amount corresponding to the shutter charge in response to the rotation of the gear 129 by a mechanism, not shown. As soon as the shutter charge and the mirror charge are completed, the lever 132 is rotated by the force of a spring 133 and comes into engagement with a cut-away 131a formed in the cam 131, thus locking the cam 131.The locking of the cam 131 prevents rotation of the gear 115, whereupon the film wind-up is also stopped and, as previously mentioned, the first photograhing frame F1 becomes opposed to the aperture A of the camera.

Upon operation of the release button, a combination magnet Mg4 is electrically energized only for a moment and liberates the armature to permit a lever 179 to be rotated in the direction of arrow by the force of a spring 183, so that the end of a pawl 180 provided at the end of the lever 179 releases the restraint of a mirror interlocking lever 182, which thus moves in the direction of arrow to effect upward movement of the mirror, movement of the forward and rearward shutter curtains and downward movement of the mirror. The rotation of the lever 179 is transmitted to a pin 164a to rotate a lever 164 in the direction of arrow. A pin 164b provided on the other end of the lever 164 rotates a lever 167 in the direction of arrow by the rotation of the lever 164, and urges a feed gear 169, disposed on the lever 167, against a gear 170.Further, the rotation of the lever 164 causes a shaft 161a to rotate a lever 161 in the direction of arrow and bring the lever 161 out of engagement with the upper surface of a cylinder 157 integral with the disc 107 and shaft 107b. The cylinder 157, upwardly biased by the force of a spring 190, moves up with the disc 107. A phase clutch 106 integrally provided on the disc 107 moves up toward a pin 105 provided on a shaft 130a. When the pin 105 and a groove 106a provided in the clutch 106 are in phase with each other, the pin 105 is engaged with the groove 106a, and when they are not in phase with each other, after the first photographing frame F1 has been photographed, the pin 105 drops into the groove 106a after the wind-up by the wind-up lever 101.In thine manner, after the photographing of the first photographing frame F1 has been terminated or immediately after the windup after termination of photography has been started, the charge disc 103 and the output disc 107 become unitary to permit the wind-up by the wind-up lever 101.

The end of the lever 161 comes into contact with the side surface of a cylinder 157 due to upward movement ofthe cylinder 157, and the feed gear 169 maintains its mesh engagement with the gear 170.

Thus, the rotation of the wind-up lever 101 is transmitted from the gear 126 to a counter 174 through gears 165,166,169 and 170.

Design is made such that deenergization by the power supply to a magnet 77 is not possible until the first photographing frame F1 becomes opposed to the aperture A. The locking of the charge disc 103 is released simultaneously with movement of the shutter to render the wind-up lever operable. The mirror interlocking lever 182 is returned from its solid line position to its broken line position in response to the charging of the mirror mechanism. A cam 178 rotates with a gear 176 operatively associated with the gear 129 to return the lever 179 to its position shown. Accordingly, when wind-up by an amount corresponding to one film frame is completed, the pawl 180 restrains the mirror interlocking lever 182 to maintain the shutter mechanism and the mirror mechanism in their charged conditions.

When a film rewind button 189 is operated upwardly, the sprocket 125 is disengaged from the gears 121 and 124 to permit the film to be rewound. When the rewind is terminated and the back lid (not shown) of the camera is opened, the end 145a of the lever 145 which has so far borne against the back lid is liberated and the lever 145 is rotated in the direction of arrow by the force of a spring 146 to bring the pawl of the lever 139 into mesh engagement with the outer peripheral ratchet gear of the disc 107, and the other end of the lever 139 is restrained buy a lever 142.By the opening of the back lid, the end 154a of a lever 154 which has so far borne against the back lid is also liberated and the biasing force of a spring 155 rotates the lever 154 and the lever 150 in the direction of arrow and in the direction opposite to the direction of arrow, respectively, and causes the armature 150a to be attracted to the magnet Mg3.

The rotation of the lever 150 brings the pawl of the lever 148 into engagement with the gear 115 and brings the pawl of the lever 149 out of engagement with the outer peripheral tooth of the gear 112.

The opening of the back lid further liberates the end 1 58a of a lever 158 which has so far borne against the back lid and the lever 158 is rotated in the direction of arrow by the force of a spring 159 to thereby push down a cylinder 157 against the force of a spring 190. Spring 162 increases its spring force by a mechanism, not shown, due to the operation of opening the back lid. As a resuit, a lever 161 is rotated in the direction opposite to the direction of arrow and the fore end of the lever 161 comes into the upper surface of the cylinder 157. The rotation of the lever 161 in the direction opposite to the direction of arrow is transmitted through a shaft 161a to a lever 164 to rotate this lever 164 in the direction opposite to the direction of arrow and bring the feed gear 169 out of mesh engagement with the gear 170.Accordingly, the counter 174 returns to its start position with the aid of the force of a torsion spring 171.

The lever 135 moves in the direction of arrow upon completion of the movement of the rearward shutter curtain to bring the fore end of the lever 132 out of engagement with the cut-away 131 a. The lever 135 maintains the lever 132 in this position as long as wind-up operation does not take place.

Reference is now had to Figure 19 to describe a circuit for controlling the magnet Mg3 in the embodiment of Figure 17 and a circuit for introducing the film information signals.

A gray-binary converting circuit 201 converts a phase detection signal input by brush switches 130a, 130b, 130c into a binary number because such phase detection signal is a gray code. A predetermined value setting circuit 203 puts out a value obtained by converting into a binary numberthe number of perforations corresponding to the length L-t from the point whereat the first film information opening hoo has passed the film information detecting unit e5, r5 to the point whereat the first photographing frame F1 becomes opposed to the aperture A of the camera.A digissssseduction circuit 202 puts out to a digital comparator 204 a number obtained by subtracting from the output of the circuit 203 the binary number of a phase deviation (an amount corresponding to the angle of rotation required till the completion of the charging of the shutter and mirror), namely, the output of the gray-binary converting circuit 201. This represents only the amount of film fed without charging the shutter and mirror.

When the count value of a perforation counter 206 has become coincident with the output of the digital reduction circuit 202, the digital comparator 204 triggers a one-shot circuit 205 and supplies power to the coil of the combination magnet Mg3 for a moment (a predetermined time). A circuit 207 which amplifies a waveform-shapes the output of the light-receiving element r5 puts out one pulse output per opening when the film information opening passes the detecting unit. A flip-flop 208 closes a gate 213 in the reset condition by the reset pulse of a resetting circuit 216, and opens the gate 213 when it is set by the output pulse of a circuit 207. A sensor coil 185 detects any variation in magnetic flux caused by the perforation generator 184 and amplifiers and waveform-shapes it by a circuit 212, and generates a pulse by a movement corresponding in amount to a perforation.An information introducing counter 214 counts the output of a gate 213 and closes a gate 209 when the count reaches a predetermined count number. A data register 210 for storing the film information has its storing place shifted by the output of a gate 209, and stores for each perforation whether the output pulse of the circuit 207 has been generated during each shift of the register 210. An exposure control circuit 211 effects exposure control on the basis of the factors in the data register 210 regarding the film, namely, film speed, film type, latitude, etc. A circuit 215 which controls the turn-on of the light-emitting element e5 comprising LED turns on the light-emitting element e5 during the time the gate 209 is open, namely, during the time the introduction of the film information is taking place.The resetting circuit 216, when the back lid of the camera has been opened or when the back lid of the camera has been closed with a film loaded into the camera, generates a reset pulse to reset the flip-flop 208, counter 214 perforation counter 206 and data register 210.

Operation of this circuit is carried out in the following manner.

When a film has been loaded into the camera, each circuit 206, 208, 210, 215 is in their reset condition. When the feeding of the film is started, the control circuit 215 becomes ready to turn on the light-emitting element e5. As the feeding of the film progresses and when the first information opening hoo passes the detecting unit e5, r5, a pulse is put out from the circuit 207 to set the flip-flop 208 and pulses corresponding to the number of perforations fed are put out from the gate 213. Avalue subtracted from the output of the circuit 203 in accordance with the phase deviation of the phase detecting pattern 130 s put out from the digital reduction circuit 202.The counter 206 counts the number of perforations from the point whereat the first film information opening hoo has passed the detecting unit e5, r5, and when the output of the reduction circuit 202 has become coincident with the output of the counter 206, it triggers the one-shot circuit 205 to supply power to the coil of the magnet Mg3 for a moment (a predetermined time) to effect separation of the armature 150a, thus rendering the shutter and mirror charging mechanism operable, as previously described. Thereafter, the count value of the counter 206 increases and therefore, power is not supplied to the coil Mg3 until a film is again loaded into the camera. The introduction of the film information is effected until the output of the counter 214 is varied to close the gate 209, and the light-emitting element e5 is turned off as soon as the gate 209 is closed. It occurs before power is supplied to the magnet Mg3 that the gate 209 is closed by the counter 214.

Figures 20 to 23 show a second embodiment of the present invention.

The embodiment of Figure 20 is designed such that when the wind-up lever 101 is operated after film F has been loaded into the camera, the shutter and mirror are charged by an amount left uncharged during the previous cycle of photography, simultaneously with the feeding of the film and when this charging is completed, only the feeding of the film takes place. When the first photographing frame F1 spaced apart a predetermined distance from the first information opening hoo has become opposed to the aperture A, there is provided a condition in which shutter release is possible.

The rotation of a gear 303 operatively associated with the forward rotation of the wind-up lever 101 is transmitted to gears 305 and 307, and the take-up spool 109 and sprocket 125 are rotated by a mechanism, not shown. The rotation of the gear 305 is transmitted to a gear311 through a hollow shaft 310.

A phase clutch 312 formed integrally with the gear 311 is provided with eight concentric grooves 312a, the phases of which correspond to the eight teeth of the sprocket 125. As the gear 311 is rotated, it transmits its rotation via the grooves 312a of the phase clutch 312 to a pin 313 engaged with a groove 312a. The pin 313, as shown in Figures 21 and 22, is slidablydisposed in a groove 315a in a shaft 315 and upwardly biased by a spring 316. On the upper portion of the pin 313, there is a fixed ring 314 fixed to the camera body to prevent the pin 313 from being liberated from the groove 312a. Thus, the rotation of the gear 311 rotates the shutter charge cam 131 through the agency of the shaft 315. As soon as shutter and mirror charge is completed, the fore end of the lever 320 engages the cut-away of the cam 131, thus locking the shaft 315.At this time, the pin 313 confronts the cut-away 314a ofthefixed ring 314 and the pin 313 biased by the spring 316 moves up to the cut-away 314a of the fixed ring 314 and becomes disengaged from the groove 312a of the phase clutch 312. Accordingly, the hollow shaft 310 becomes disconnected from the shutter and mirror charging system and the rotation of the wind-up lever 101 effects only the feeding of the film. In this manner, the charging of the shutter and mirror mechanism left uncharged during the previous cycle of photography is completed. The film is wound up by the operation of the wind-up lever 101 after that, and the light-emitting element e5 and light-receiving element r5 detects the first information opening hoo in the film.Thereupon, power is supplied to a combination magnet Mg5 for a moment, so that an armature 326a disposed at the fore end of the lever 326 is liberated from the magnet Mg5 and the lever 326 is rotated in the direction of arrow by the biasing force of a spring 328. The rotation of the lever 326 causes a lever 327 to rotate in the direction of arrow.

The end 327a of the lever 327 acts on a friction clutch 330 shown in detail in Figure 23. The friction clutch 330 comprises a ring 330a formed of a material of high friction coefficient and a coupling member 330b formed integrally with a cam plate 332 and a flange 356, and when the lever 327 preventing downward movement of the coupling member 330b downward biased by a spring 364 retracts due to the aforementioned rotation, the coupling member 330b moves downwardly and the ring 330a becomes frictionally coupled to the coupling member 330b.

The ring 330a is fixed to a gear 331 with respect to the direction of rotation by some means or other, so that the rotation of the gear 331 is transmitted to the coupling member 330b through the ring 330a, thus rotating the cam plate 332. Accordingly, the rotation of the gear 311 is transmitted to the cam plate 332 through a gear 333. Thereafter, when the cam plage 332 is rotated through a predetermined angle in the direction of arrow by the wind-up lever 101, a pin 334a on a lever 334 biased by a spring 335 comes down into the valley 332a of the cam plate and the lever 334 rotates in the direction of arrow. The lever 334 retracts from the lower end surface of a cylinder 317 integral with the shaft 315 to release the prevention of the lowering of the cylinder 317 and thus, the shaft 315 downwardly biased by a spring 336 moves downwardly.If the phases of the sprocket 125, phase clutch 312 and cam plate 332 are determined so that when the pin 334 comes down into the valley of the cam plate 332, any groove 31 2a of the phase clutch 312 lies just under the cut-away 314a of the fixed ring 314, the pin 313 will come away from the cut-away of the fixed ring 314 and again engage the groove 31 2a of the phase clutch 312 due to the downward movement of the shaft 315. The relation between the shape and the angle of rotation of the cam plate 332 is such that when the pin 334a comes down into the valley 332a of the cam plate 332, the film surface one frame short of the first photographing frame F1 lies on the aperture A of the camera.

Further, the rotation of the lever 334 rotates a lever 337 in the direction of arrow through a pin 334b and disconnects a gear 333 mounted on the lever 337 from the gear 311, thus preventing the rotation of the gear 311 by the wind-up thereafter being transmitted to the cam plate 332. In this manner, there is provided a condition in which the film surface one frame short of the first photographing frame F1 lying at a predetermined distance L from the information opening hoo has become opposed to the aperture A.

Only in this condition, shutter release becomes possible, and if shutter release is not effected, the next wind-up operation will become impossible.

Considering the condition at the point of time whereat the previous cycle of photography has been terminated, the following two conditions would occurto mind. Afirst condition is one in which shutter charge and mirror charge have been terminated while remaining uncompleted or shutter charge and mirror charge have been completed but release has not yet been effected, and a second condition is one in which shutter release has been effected and thereafter, wind-up and charge have not at all been effected.

In the case of the first condition, the uncompleted charge is completed by the above-described windup operation. Therefore, upward movement of the mirror, movement of the forward shutter curtain, movement of the rearward shutter curtain and downward movement of the mirror are effected by the release operation. However, since a pin 362 which restrains the rearward shutter curtain releases its restraint of the rearward shutter curtain due to the action of a lever 326c operatively associated with the rotation of the lever 326 in the direction of arrow, the rearward shutter curtain starts to move simultaneously with the forward shutter curtain and no exposure slit is formed and thus, exposure of the film is not effected.

The case of the second condition will now be considered. In the condition immediately after shutter release has been effected, the pin 313 of the phase clutch is engaged with a groove 314a in the fixed ring 314, so that shutter charge and mirror charge are not at all effected during the film feeding after the film loading until the pin 334a comes down into the valley 332a of the cam plate 332. Therefore, the release at the point of time whereat the film surface one frame short of the first photographing frame F1 has become opposed to the aperture A cannot take place.

After the pin 334a has come down into the valley 332a of the cam plate, the pin 313 is engaged with the groove 312a of the phase clutch 312 and therefore, shutter and mirror charge is effected during the rotation of the wind-up lever 101 until the first photographing frame F1 becomes opposed to the aperture A. Thereafter, a cam 361 for causing the lever 326 restraining a rearward curtain pin 362 to be attracted to a combination magnet Mg5 is rotated by a gear 360 integral with the cam 361 meshing with an unshown gearformed integrally with the charge cam 131.The phase of the cam 361 has a predetermined relation with the phase of the cam 131 and when shutter charge and mirror charge have been completed, it does not prevent the rotation of the lever 326 in the direction of arrow, namely, the operation of the lever 326 releasing the restraint of the rearward curtain pin 362. When the release button is depressed, upward movement of the mirror, movement of the forward and rearward shutter curtains and downward movement of the mirror are effected and the first photographing frame F1 completes exposure. In response to the movement of the forward or rearward shutter curtain, a lever 338 comes to bear against the end of the lever 320, thereby releasing the engagement between the lever 320 and the cam 131.The rotation of the lever 334 in the direction of arrow further permits the rotation of a lever 342 in the direction of arrow through the agency of a pin 342a, and causes a film counter including a feed gear 169 and a counter 179 to be coupled to the sprocket 125.

When the film rewind which may be accomplished in the same manner as in the first embodiment is completed and the back lid, not shown, is opened for the removal of the film, the end 351 a of a lever 351 which has so far borne against the back lid is liberated from the back lid and thus, the lever 351 is rotated in the direction of arrow by the force of a spring 352 to move the flange 315b of a shaft 315 upwardly against the force of a spring 336. The upward movement of the shaft 315 reads to upward movement of the cylinder 317. The shaft 315 and cam 131 are coupled to each other only in the direction of rotation by a mechanism, not shown, and the cam 131 does not move upwardly and downwardly for the upward and downward movement of the shaft 315.On the other hand, when the back lid is opened, the end 347a of a lever 347 is liberated from the back lid and the lever 347 rotates the lever 334 in the direction opposite to the direction of arrow with the aid of a spring 348, and causes the lever 334 to come into the lower end surface of the cylinder 317 which has been moved upwardly. The rotation of the lever 334 in the direction opposite to the direction of arrow also causes the pin 334a to become disengaged from the valley 332a of the cam plate 322 and also causes the lever 337 to be returned to its original position by the pin 334b, thus causing the gear 333 to mesh with the gear311. Further, the rotation of the lever 334 in the direction opposite to the direction of arrow causes the lever 342 to return to its initial position and breaks the mesh engagement between the feed gear 169 and the gear 170.

Further, the end 353a of a lever 353 which has so far borne againstthe back lid is liberated by opening the back lid and so, the lever 353 is rotated in the direction of arrow and causes a lever 354 to move a flange 356 upwardly and thereby breaks the connection between the gear 331 and the cam plate 332.

The rotation of the lever 353 in the direction of arrow causes the armature 326a at the end of the lever 326 to be attracted to the magnet Mg5 through the agency of the pin 327a, and further, the lever 327 comes into the lower end surface of the clutch 330 which has moved upwardly. By the force of a spring 357, the cam plate 332 is rotated in the direction opposite to the direction of arrow to return to its original position.

Figure 24 shows the camera according to a third embodiment of the present invention. Counterclockwise rotation of a wind-up lever 101 secured to a wind-up shaft 101 a is transmitted to a pawl plate 407 integral with a ratchet pawl 406 and a gear 408.

The pawl plate 407 is provided with three projections at intervals of 1200. Accordingly, if the angle of rotation of the wind-up lever 101 is set to a range of 1200 to 2400, the gear 408 will be rotated through 120 each time the wind-up lever is operated once.

The rotation of the gear 408 is transmitted through a gear train to a sprocket gear 412 secured to a sprocket shaft 41 2a and to a spool gear 421 rotatable about the wind-up shaft 101 a. Below the sprocket shaft 41 2a slidable relative to the camera body, there is provided a phase clutch which is similar to the phase clutches of the embodiments of Figures 17 and 20 and which comprises a pin 415 secured to the shaft 41 2a and a grooved ring 416 having a plurality of grooves 416a and integral with the sprocket 125.

To rewind the film after termination of the previous cycle of photography, the shaft 41 2a is forced upwardly by a rewind button 189 and can rotate only the sprocket 125 independently of the shaft 412a.

Afriction mechanism 422 is secured below the spool gear 421 and a film take-up spool 109 is installed below the friction mechanism 422.

A crank 425 is secured to the lowermost portion of the wind-up shaft 101a and rotation of the crank425 causes rightward movement of a rod 427 and a slide lever 428. By the movement of the slide lever 428, a charge pin 429 charges the driving force of a photographing mechanism such as shutter and mirror, not shown.

After completion of film wind-up and before exposure, a signal lever 434 is retracted from its position shown to permit a lever 430 to be rotated by the force of a signal 433, and after exposure and before wind-up, the signal lever 434 returns to its position shown. When the lever 430 has been rotated by the force of the spring 433, sliding movement of the slide lever 428 is prevented by the engagement of a hook 430a and a pin 428a. Accordingly, after completion of wind-up and before expo sure, rotation of the wind-up lever 101 is prevented, but after exposure, rotation ofthewind-up lever 101 is permitted.

A plurality of teeth are provided on the periphery of the crank 425 and they, with a pendulum lever 435 and a spring 437, constitute a conventional reverse rotation preventing mechanism.

A generator 184 similar to that of Figure 17 is secured above the sprocket 125 and a sensor 185 is disposed in opposed relationship with the generator 184. if the generator 184 is formed of a permanent magnet, for example, and is provided with the same number of projections as the teeth of the sprocket and a Hall element is employed as the sensor 185, then rotation of the sprocket for each tooth thereof may be detected in the form of a variation in current.

A stop gear 446 integral with the grooved ring 416 has on its outer periphery the same number of teeth as the teeth of the sprocket. When power is supplied to a combination magnet Mg6, a stop pawl 445 is rotated by the force of a spring 444 to bear against a gear 446 and restrain the tooth thereof.

A shock absorber material 447 is secured to the rear of the portion of the stop pawl 445 to which an armature 442 is attached. On the other hand, a rotation angle control lever 448 is secured to the lower portion of the wind-up shaft 101 a, and a reset pin 449 is provided on one end of the lever 448 so that by the return operation of the wind-up lever 101, the armature 442 is attracted to the magnet Mg6.

Clockwise rotation of the wind-up lever 101 is limited at this position. A wind-up control member 450 provides a limit for counter-clockwise rotation of the lever 448. The angle of rotation of the lever 448 is set to a range of 120"to 240".

To hold the sprocket shaft 412a moved upwardly by push-up operation of the rewind button 189, a lever 452 adapted to bear against the lower portion of the flange of the button 189 is disposed and held by a holding lever 455. The holding lever 455 is secured to a shaft 443 and is integral with a liberating lever 457. Levers 458 and 459 are rotatably supported on the wind-up shaft 101 a and pull each other with the aid of a spring 461. A pin 458a is studded in the lever 458, and slightly before it bears against a wind-up limiting member 450 in the course of rotation of a lever 448, the lever 448 bears against the pin 458a to rotate the lever 458 clockwisely.

Accordingly, the pin 459a of the lever 459 biases the lever 452 clockwisely with the aid of a spring 461.

The clockwise rotation of the lever 452 enables clockwise rotation of the lever 430 restrained through the agency of an intermediate lever 463.

A circular ring 467 and a feed gear 169 having a V-shaped groove therein are secured to the upper end of the sprocket shaft 412a. The outside diameter of the circular ring 467 is greater than the maximum diameter of the feed gear 169.Afilm counter 174, with a gear 170 integral therewith, is rotatably supported on a lever 476. The lever 476, with a back lid interlocking lever 477, is rotatable about a shaft 478. When the back iid, not shown, of the camera is closed, the projection 477a of the back lid interlocking lever 477 is pushed, so that the levers 477 and 476 are rotated clockwisely. Consequently, a film counter gear 170 is urged against the circular ring 467 or the feed gear 169.That is, when the shaft 412a is in its lowered position, the gear 170 meshes with the feed gear 169 and, when the shaft 41 2a iss moved upwardly, the outer periphery of the circular ring 467 comes into between the teeth of the gear 170, so that the rotation of the sprocket shaft 41 2a is no longer transmitted to the gear 170 and the rotation of the gear 170 is also prevented, and therefore the display of the film counter is maintained. When the back lid is opened, the gear 170 comes apart from the feed gear 169 orthe circular ring 467 and the film counter 174 is returned to its initial position by the force of a spring.

Aone-wayclutch 102 similar to that of Figures 17 and 20 is provided below the spool 109 and clockwise rotation of a spool gear 421 is permitted while counter-clockwise rotation thereof is prevented. On the opposite sides of the sprocket 125, there are provided rollers 486 and 487 which urge film F toward the sprocket so that the perforations in the film F may not be disengaged from the teeth of the sprocket.

There are provided a switch SW2 adapted to be closed at the initial stage of the counter-clockwise rotation of the lever 448, a switch SW3 adapted to be closed in response to clockwise rotation of the interlocking lever 477, and a switch SW10 adapted to be opened by clockwise rotation of the lever 452.

There is also provided a warning lamp 492 which is concerned with information reading and idle feeding of film. The warning lamp may be installed either externally of the camera as shown or within the finder view field.

Operation of the present embodiment will now be described. The take-up spool 109 is rotated by rotation of the wind-up lever 101 to take up the film.

The sprocket shaft 412a is rotated by rotation of the sprocket gear 412, but since the phase clutch is in its disengaged position, the sprocket 125 is not rotated by the sprocket shaft 412a. Instead, the teeth of the sprocket are caused to follow the sprocket shaft by the perforations P in the film F fed by the take-up spool 109 and thus, the sprocket is rotated.

The stroke of rotation of the wind-up lever is limited by the lever 448 secured to the shaft 101a bearing against a limiting plate 450. When the wind-up lever is rotated, the lever 448 closes the switch SW2 and in response thereto, the lightemitting element C5 is turned on. Before bearing against the limiting plate 450, the lever 448 rotates the lever 458 counter-clockwisely through the agency of the pin 458a, and the spring 461 biases the holding lever 452 clockwisely through the agency of the pin 459a secured to the lever 459. At this time, the holding lever 452 is restrained by the lever 455 and therefore is not rotated, and the levers 463 and 430 connected thereto are not displaced from their positions shown.

In the wind-up operation for preparation for photography, the film is fed by several strokes of rotation of the wind-up lever 101 and, when the first information opening hoo is carried to a position opposed to the light-emitting element and lightreceiving element e5 and r5, a counter in a circuit to be described starts to count the number of perforations Pin the film Fwith the aid the generator 184 and sensor 185. Simultaneously therewith, the reading of the film information is started and, each time a pulse is put out from the sensor 185, the presence of the information opening ho is stored in a circuit to be described. Further, the warning lamp 492 provided within the finder view field or externally of the camera is turned on to inform that the reading is taking place.When the wind-up is interrupted during the information reading, the warning lamp 492 is turned on and off after having been left unoperated by the function of a timer to be described, thus calling upon the operator to continue the wind-up.

When a predetermined number of pulses is counted after all the information signals H have been checked up, the first photographing film F comes near a position opposed to the aperture. When power is supplied to the coil of magnet Mg6 in response to the count of the sensor 185, the armature 442 comes away from the magnet Mg6 and the pawl 445 restrains the stop gear 446. Accordingly, the sprocket 125 is stopped and at that time, the first photographing frame F1 of the film F becomes opposed to the aperture and the spool 109 is also stopped from rotating.

Since the spool gear 421 still continues to rotate due to the operation of the wind-up lever 101, the operation of the wind-up lever is possible due to the slip of the spool friction mechanism 422. Of course, a clutch for cutting off the transmission of drive force in response to the restraint of the sprocket 125 may be provided instead of the mechanism 422. The lever 457 and holding lever 455 are also rotated by rotation of the stop pawl 445, and the lever 452 becomes rotatable clockwise. However, the lever 452 will not immediately rotate because it is biased by the spring 454.

When the wind-up progresses with the spool friction mechanism 422 being caused to slip, one end of the rotation angle control lever 448 pushes the pin 458a, so that the levers 458 and 459 are rotated counter-clockwisely and the lever 452 is rotated by being pushed by the pin 459a. At this time, the switch SW10 is opened and the warning lamp 492 which has so far been turned on is turned off, thus indicating that the information reading and the wind-up for preparation for photography have been completed. At the same time, the light-emitting element e5 is also turned off. Upon rotation of the lever 452, the sprocket shaft 41 2a is lowered by a biasing force, not shown, and the pin 415 of the sprocket shaft fits into the groove 416a and the phase clutch assumes its engaged position.

Thereafter, the hand is released from the wind-up lever 101 to return it to its initial position. By this time, the photographing mechanism such as the shutter and mirror system, not shown, has all been charged to move the wind-up lever over one stroke.

With the return of the wind-up lever 101 to its initial position, the rotation angle control lever 448 is also rotated clockwisely and pushes the shock absorber material 447 by means of the pin 449, so that the armature of the stop lever 445 is again attracted to the permanent magnet of the combination magnet Mg6. Accordingly, the rotation of the sprocket 125 thereafter is not impeded. This completes the operation for preparation for photography.

Even if, at this time, an attempt is made to again rotate the wind-up lever 101 by mistake, it is prevented. This is because the lever 430 is rotated and the hook 430a restrains the pin 428a. By this time, the photography completion signal lever 434 has already been retracted from the lever 430.

Where use is made of a film formed with no information signal, the counting of the perforations may be started simultaneously with the start of the wind-up and when it has been detected that a predetermined amount of wind-up sufficient for the unexposed portion of the film to become opposed to the aperture has been effected, power may be supplied to the magnet Mg6 and the sprocket 125 may be restrained.

A circuit corresponding to the embodiment of Figure 24 is shown in Figure 25, but a digital circuit 714 different in construction from the circuit of Figure 5 will chiefly be described.

When the back lid of the camera is closed, switch SW3 is closed and the digital circuit 714 is supplied with power, and RS flip-flops FF1, FF2, FF3, register RG1 and counters CO1, C02, C03, COR are all reset.

When the film is wound up by means of a wind-up lever, switch SW2 is closed and transistors Trl, Tr2 are both turned on, and a detecting circuit 713, a warning device 715, a film frame number display device 11, an exposure control circuit 12, etc. which are similar in construction to those of Figure 5 are supplied with power. Transistor Tr7 is in its OFF state before detection of the film information signals is completed and therefore, power is not supplied to the combination magnet Mg6 and, when the detection is completed, the output of the counter CO1 changes from H-level to L-level to turn on the transistor Tr7, so that power is supplied to the magnet Mg6 and thus, rotation of the sprocket 125 is restrained.

An AND gate ANDS sets the set-reset flip-flop FF3 when the output of the counter CO1 is at L-level and moreover, detection pulses are put out from comparators CPl and CP2, namely, the film end signal he is detected. Thus, the Q output of the flip-flop FF3 assumes H-level to operate the warning device 715 and turn on and off a warning lamp 492 at a short period, thereby displaying the termination of the film.

A safety device during detection of the film information signals will now be described. This device operates the warning circuit 715 when no detection pulse is put out for a pre-determined time in spite of the detection of the information signals taking place, to thereby turn on and off the warning lamp 492 at a long period, thus effecting a warning.

The operation of the circuit is as follows. When the switch SW3 is closed, the counter C03 and SR flip-flop FF2 are reset by the output of the buffer amplifier Al through an OR gate OR1 and the output of the counter C03 assumes L-level while the Q output of the flip-flop FF2 assumes L-level. When the first film information opening hoo is read in, the 0 output of the flip-flop FF1 assumes H-level to open one input of an AND gate AND6. Accordingly, the output of an oscillator O.S.C. appears as the output of the gate AND6 and is applied to the clock input terminal of the counter C03. Another input of the gate AND6 is connected to the output of the counter CO1 and therefore, it is only during the detection of the film information signals that the output of the gate AND6 is produced.When it counts a predetermined number of input pulses, the counter C03 changes its output from H-level to L-level and renders the output of the flip-flop FF3 into H-level, thereby operating the warning device 715. Accordingly, if the pulse output by the detection of the film information opening is not put out from the comparator CP2 for a predetermined time, the resetting of the counter C03 by the OR gate OR1 is not effected and thus, a warning is effected.

A counter C04 operates only during the conduction of transistor Tr4, namely, the detection of the information signals. The output pulse from the comparator CP2 is divided into a suitable frequency by a counter C04 and applied to the warning device.

Accordingly, even where the frequency of the output pulse of the comparator CP2 is great because of the film being wound up at high speed, the turn-on-andoff speed of the warning lamp can be made visually discriminably low. The turn-on-and-off period in this case corresponds to the information openings ho having non-constant intervals, but a predetermined turn-on-and-off period may be obtained by connecting the clock input terminal of the counter C04 to the output of the comparator CP1.

Figure 26 shows an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a camera containing therein an electric motor for driving the camera.

The revolution of a motor M in the direction of arrow is transmitted to a spool shaft 101a through a reduction gear train including a slip clutch 503.

A wind-up limiting plate 504 having a depression therein is secured to the shaft 101a and is coupled to a gear 521 integral with a spool 109 through a clutch including a lever 506. Rotation of the shaft 101a is transmitted to a charge pin 529 through a cam 508, a rod 527 and a slide level 528. The large-diametered portion of the upper end of the pin 529 charges the shutter mechanism during the sliding movement and the small-diametered portion of the pin 529 rotates a lever 534 clockwisely through the agency of a lever 511 during the sliding movement, thereby charging the biasing forces of a mirror returning spring 514 and a mirror driving spring 515. In the charging position, the lever 534 is held by a lever 516 operated after completion of exposure.A holding frame 521 for the reflecting mirror of the single lens reflex camera is rotated counter-clockwisely by the rotation of a mirror driving lever 517 by the biasing force of a spring 515, the lever 517 being integral with a lever 519 restrained by a restraining hook 520, thereby moving the mirror upwardly.

There is provided a limiting lever 526 for fitting into the depression of the limiting plate 504 to restrain rotation of the plate 504. The lever 526 is biased counter-clockwisely by a spring, but the lever 526 is not rotatable when it is urged clockwisely by a lever 528 and a pin 528a through levers 534 and 530 with the aid of the action of the lever 516 operated after completion of exposure and the mirror driving spring 515, or when a holding lever 532 is in its position shown, or when the depression of the limiting plate 504 is not opposed to the limiting 526.

In a position wherein the depression of the limiting plate 504 is opposed to the lever 526, a cam 508 at the lower end of the shaft 101 a has its smallestdiametered portion opposed to the roller 527a of the lever 527. A sprocket gear 412 connected to the spool gear 521, a sprocket shaft 412a, a stop gear 446 and a clutch 416 between the shaft and the sprocket are similar to those of Figure 24, but the outer periphery of the clutch 416 is provided with a flange to be held bythe holding lever during upward movement. A lever 445 restraining the stop gear 446 and a lever 455 holding the holding lever 532 are operated by an armature lever 534 clockwisely rotated when power is supplied to a combination magnet Mg6.A rewind change-over lever 541 has an arm for raising the flange of a clutch 416 during upward movement and a tapered portion 541a for rotating the holding lever 532 counter-clockwisely.

In Figure 26, there are further shown a switch SW1 adapted to be closed by a release operating button 542, a sensor 185 to which a pulse is imparted by a generator replaced by the stop geae 446, levers 544 and 547 rotatable counter-clockwisely and clockwisely, respectively, by clockwise rotation of the mirror driving lever 517 through a roller 544a, a plate spring 547a for urging the armature of the lever 534 against the magnet Mg6 during rotatiqn of the lever 547, and a switch SW2 adapted to be closed when the limiting lever 526 is in its position shown.

When the motor M starts to revolve upon closing of the switch SW1,film F is fed in the same manner as in Figure 24 and the sprocket 125 is driven by the perforations Pin the film. When the detection of the film information signals is terminated, power is supplied to the coil of the magnet Mg6 and the rotation of the stop gear 446 is restrained and therefore, the film is positionally fixed with the stoppage of the sprocket. Accordingly, rotation of the spool 109 is prevented, but the wind-up shaft 101 a is idly rotated through the agency of a friction mechanism 422.

By the aforementioned power supply to the coil, the armature lever 534 is rotated to rotate a lever 455. However, the holding lever 532 is prevented from rotating by the limiting lever 526.

In the meantime, the wind-up shaft 101 a makes a plurality of full rotations with the cam 508 and therefore, charging of the shutter and charging of the mirror driving spring 515 and mirror returning spring 514 is completed with the lever 534 being in its position shown, and levers 528 and 530 are rotatable.

Under such conditions, the rotation of the limiting plate 504 causes the depression therein to become opposed to the limiting lever 526, so that the lever 526 comes down into the depression to restrain the rotation of the shaft 101 a. The counter-clockwise rotation of the lever 526 at this time rotates the holding lever 532 and lowers the clutch 416 and causes the sprocket 125 to be coupled to the shaft 412a. This completes the wind-up operation for preparation for photography.

When release button 542 is depressed in case of photography, the switch SW1 is closed and a release magnet, not shown, moves a hook 520 and a lever 519 so far restrained thereby is released from its restraint. Accordingly, upward movement of the mirror, movement of the shutter curtains and downward movement of the mirror are accomplished.

During this operation, levers 544 and 547 are rotated by the lever 517 and the armature lever 534 is attracted to the magnet Mg6 and the stop pawl 445 becomes disengaged from the stop gear 446. Further, the limiting lever 526 is disengaged from the limiting plate 504 by the lever 534 through the agency of levers 530 and 528 to thereby close the switch SW2. In response thereto, the motor M revolves. One full rotation of the limiting plate 504 by the revolution of the motor corresponds to the feeding of the film by one frame, and the motor M is stopped by opening of the switch SW20 resulting from the rotation of the lever 526 when the depression in the limiting plate again becomes opposed to the limiting lever 526, thus accomplishing wind-up of one frame.

Film rewind operation is accomplished in the same manner as that described in connection with Figure 24.

A circuit corresponding to the embodiment of Figure 26 is shown in Figure 27. Blocks 713 and 714 are identical to the photoelectric detecting circuit and digital circuit, respectively, of Figure 25. Instead of the release switch SW4, there is provided a transistor Tr19 operatively associated with the switch SW1.

When the back lid of the camera is closed, the switch SW3 is closed and a normally non-conductive transistor is turned on. Subsequently, by depressing the release operating button, the switch SW1 is closed. Since the switch SW2 is in its ON position at this time, the detecting circuit 713 becomes operative. At the same time, transistors Trl 0, Trl 1, Trl 6 and Tr17 are turned on, so that the motor M revoives to start the feeding of the film and the read-out of the film information is started.When measurement of a predetermined length of the film is terminated, the output of the counter1 in the digital circuit 714 assumes L-level and power is supplied to the magnet Mg6 by conduction of transistor Tr7, and thus the feeding of the film is stopped. Further, the switch SW2 is opened and motor driving transistors Tr1 0, Trl 1 and Tr16 are turned off to cut off the power supply to the motor MAt this time, transistor Tr17 is also turned off and therefore, for a predetermined time determined by a resistor R5 and a capacitor C3, transistor Tr18 is turned on and transistor Trill and Trl 2 are turned on, whereby an electromagnetic brake is exerted on the motor M to stop the motor. This completes the feeding of the film up to the first frame, and the film information is stored and the camera becomes ready to photograph.

When the release operating button 143 is again depressed, an exposure control circuit 712 operates a magnet, Mgl for electromagnetic release, which causes the camera to release. When the shutter is operated and the mirror returns to its initial position, the switch SW2 is again closed and the motor M starts to revolve and effects wind-up of the film and charging of the shutter and, when the wind-up is completed, the switch SW2 is again opened to stop the motor M, thus terminating the photography. If a rewind switch SW5 is added, rewind of the film will also be possible.

Claims (7)

1. In a camera using a roll film which includes a photographing mechanism operatively associated with a film feeding mechanism and capable of charging a drive force during the amount of movement of the film corresponding to one photographing frame, a device for carrying a film surface corresponding to the first photographing frame of the loaded film to a position designated with respect to an exposure aperture, said device comprising:: a) clutch means for enabling the operative association between said film feeding mechanism and said photographing mechanism; b) means for detecting the amount of movement of the film effected by said film feeding mechanism and generating a detection signal when said amount of movement has reached a predetermined value; c) means for impeding the movement of the film by said film feeding mechanism in response to said detection signal; d) means responsive to the completion of the charging of said photographing mechanism; and e) means for operating said clutch means for said operative association when both the generation of said detection signal and the response of said responsive means have been accomplished.

2. A camera according to Claim 1, wherein said roll film has detectable information regarding the type of the film provided at a predetermined location in the film itself between at least the leading end of the film and a surface corresponding to said first photographing frame, and said detecting means includes means responsive to said information during the feeding of said film and means responsive to said responsive means to start measurement of the amount of movement of the film.

3. A camera according to Claim 1,wherein said clutch means is provided between said film feeding mechanism and said photographing mechanism.

4. A camera according to Claim 1, wherein said camera includes a wind-up shaft, first transmitting meansfortransmitting the rotation of said wind-up shaft to said film feeding mechanism, and second transmitting means for transmitting the rotation of said wind-up shaft to both of said film feeding mechanism and said photographing mechanism, and said clutch means includes change-over means for selectively operating said first and second transmitting means.

5. A camera according to Claim 1, wherein said camera includes a wind-up driving shaft for driving said film feeding mechanism and charging the drive force of said photographing mechanism, and said clutch means is provided between said wind-up driving shaft and said film feeding mechanism.

6. A camera having means for advancing a film, a charging arrangement for setting photographing means of the camera in readiness for photography, and means for selectively separating and synchronizing operation of the advancing means and the charging arrangement.

7. A camera substantially as herein particularly described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.