GB2248308A

GB2248308A - Contact assembly for reading patrone data

Info

Publication number: GB2248308A
Application number: GB9119252A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Shinya Suzuka
Original assignee: Asahi Kogaku Kogyo Co Ltd
Current assignee: Pentax Corp
Priority date: 1990-09-11
Filing date: 1991-09-09
Publication date: 1992-04-01
Also published as: GB9119252D0; FR2666694A1; JPH0453227U; DE4129920A1; JP2511687Y2

Abstract

A contact assembly includes contact members (10) (Figure 1 not shown) which electrically connect a data portion (41) of a surface of a patrone (40) loaded in a patrone loading chamber of a camera body (30) to electrical contacts (51) of the electronic circuits (50) incorporated in the camera body (30), and a contact member (20) holder which holds the contact members (10) to attach them to the patrone loading chamber. Each of the contact members (10) is elastically deformable and provided with an intermediate connecting portion which elastically engages with the contact member holder (20) due to the elasticity, a data contact portion (15) which comes into elastic contact with the data portion (41), and a circuit contact portion (16) which comes into elastic contact with the associated electrical contact (51). <IMAGE>

Description

1 3 -, - 1 CONTACT ASSEMBLY FOR READING PATRONE DATA -- i.

The present invention relates to a patrone data reading contact assembly for reading film data provided on a surface of a patrone.

There have recently been known cameras in which contact members are provided to read film data, such as DX codes, etc., provided on a patrone surface of a film. The contact members are electrically connected to portions which constitute the DX codes and electronic circuits in a camera body, such as electrical contacts of a micro computer to electrically connect the DX codes and the electrical contacts. The DX code data, for example, film sensitivity data Sv (ISO sensitivity), which is electrically read through the contact members is used to calculate an exposure value.

in the prior art, the contact members are in the form of pins or leaf springs. These contact members are secured to a single holder made of synthetic resin by machine screws, thermal fusion, or an insert molding, etc., for the purpose of a simple and easy treatment. The electrical connection between the contact members secured to the holder and the - 2 electrical contact of the electronic circuits in the camera body is established by solder.

However, connecting the contact members to the holder by machine screws is troublesome and soldering requires a highly skilled operator and a long period of time.

An object of the present invention is to provide a simple contact assembly for reading patrone data in which no soldering operation is necessary.

According to the present invention, there is provided a contact assembly for reading patrone data, said contact assembly comprising:- contact members for electrically connecting a data portion on a surface of a patrone loaded in a patrone loading chamber of a camera body and electrical contacts of electronic circuits incorporated in aid camera body; and a contact member holder which holds the contact members to attach them to the patrone loading chamber, wherein each of said contact members is elastically deformable and provided with a connecting portion for elastically engaging with said contact member holder, a data contact portion for coming into elastic contact with the data portion, and a circuit contact portion for coming into elastic contact with the associated electrical contact.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the contact members are each made of a leaf spring, and each of the contact - 3 members is provided with a connecting portion which comes into engagement with the contact member holder due to the elasticity, a data contact portion which comes into elastic contact with the data portion, and a circuit contact portion which comes into elastic contact with the associated electrical contact.

With this arrangement, no soldering of the contact members is necessary, and the mounting operation of the contact members to the patrone loading chamber can be simplified.

Furthermore, in the preferred embodiment, electrical contacts are opposed to the data portion ofthe patrone accommodated in the patrone loading chamber, and the data contact portion and the circuit contact portion are brought into elastic contact with the data portion and the electrical contacts in opposing directions, respectively. This ensures a more reliable electrical connection.

the A preferred embodiment of the invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which; Figure 1 is an exploded perspective view of contact members and a contact member holder, embodying the present invention; Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the contact member holder of Fig. 1 with the contact members held thereon and a camera body before the contact member holder is attached to the camera body; Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view of the contact member holder and the camera body of Fig. 2 to which the contact member holder is attached; Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view attached to the camera body shown in Fig. 3 and, of a patrone In the embodiment illustrated in Figure I which shows a disassembled perspective view of a contact assembly applied to a patrone having DX codes of four bits, there are four contact members 10 which read the film sensitivity data Sv, but the number of the contact members is not limited to four and may be less or more than four.

Each contact member 10 is made of a metal plate which is pressed into a generally U-shaped clipping portion 11 as a connecting portion, and bifurcated portions 13 and 14 extending from front ends of the clipping portion 11, so that the contact member 10 is wholly elastically deformable.

The clipping portion 11 has a positioning hole 12 in which a positioning projection 21 formed on a contact member holder 20 is fitted. The positioning projections 21 and the positioning holes 12 of the contact members 10 constitute an engaging portion.

The bifurcated portions 13 and 14 are provided on their front ends or in the vicinity thereof with a pair of - 6 contact portions 15 and 16, each projecting outward. As can be seen in Fig. 4, the portions 15 f or DX contact come into elastic contact with DX codes 41 (data portion) formed on the surface of a patrone 40 loaded in a patrone loading chamber 31 (Fig. 3) to establish an electrical connection therebetween. The other contact portions 16 come into elastic and electrical contact with electrical contacts 51 of a printed circuit board 50 having thereon electronic circuits (not shown) incorporated in the camera body. The bifurcated portions 13 and the DX contact portions 15 constitute a data contact portion, and the bifurcated portions 14 and the connector contact portions 16 constitute a circuit contact portion, respectively.

The contact member holder 20 to which t he contact members 10 are to be attached is made of an electrically insulating material (e.g., synthetic resin), separate from a camera body 30. The holder 20 is provided on its rear portion at the side and end (as illustrated in Fig. 1) with guide grooves 22 which are spaced apart height wise from one another at a predetermined distance, so that the clipping portions 11 of the associated contact members 10 can be fitted thereto. The positioning projections 21 are provided on the recessed surface of the guide grooves 22 to project therefrom. The width of the holder 20 at its edge at the recessed surface of the guide grooves 22 is slightly larger than the width of the clipping portions 11 (i.e., the distance between the two legs defining - 7 the U-shaped clipping portion 11).

The projection distance of each individual positioning projection 21 gradually increases in the direction away from the U-shaped clipping portion 11, so that the positioning projections 21 have inclined top surfaces (see Figs. 3 and 4). Namely, the positioning projections 21 are shaped so that the contact members 10 can be easily fitted on the holder 20, fitted in contact members holder 20.

The holder 20 is provided on its upper and lower ends with holes 23 which can be secured to a holder mounting portion 32 (Fig. 2) of the camera body by set Screws (not shown).

The holder mounting portion 32 is provided on the outer face of the patrone loading chamber 31 which is formed in the camera body 30 as shown in Fig. 3. The holder mounting portion 32 is provided with a pair of threaded holes 33 corresponding to the holes 23 of the holder 20, and has openings 34 through which the DX contact portions 15 can project into the patrone loading chamber 31.

The holder mounting portion 32 has projections 35 on the opposite side edge thereof to the openings 34, so that the projections 35 can be fitted in the associated guide and once the positioning projections 21 the corresponding positioning holes 12, can not be easily detached from are the the grooves 22 of the holder 20.

32 is also provided, on the the projections 35, with a end edge of the holder 20 can The assembly operation the holder 20, and the sub-assembly of the contact are carried out as follows.

The clipping portions 11 of the contact members 10 are inserted in the corresponding guide grooves 22 until the positioning projections 21 of the holder 20 are fitted in the corresponding positioning holes 12 of the contact members 10, so that the contact members 10 are mounted to the holder 20.

Thereafter, the front end edge of the holder 20 with the contact members 10 is inserted in the guide groove 36 of the camera body 30 and is fitted in the mounting portion 32 of the camera body, so that the projections 35 arp engaged in the guide grooves 22 of the holder 20. After that, set screws (not shown) are inserted through the holes 23 and secured to the threaded holes 33 of the camera body. Thus, the contact members 10 and the holder 20 are mounted to the camera body, as shown in Fig. 3. In this state, the DX contact portions 15 project into the patrone loading chamber 31 through the openings 34 due to 8 - The holder mounting portion side edge thereof opposite to groove 36 in which the front be fitted. of the contact members 10 and attachment operation of the members 10 and the holder 20 - 9 the elasticity of the bifurcated portions 13. The front ends of the bifurcated portions 13 abut against the edge of the openings 34 to restrict the amount of projection of the DX contact portions 15 into the patrone loading chamber 31. The printed circuit board 50 is then incorporated in the camera body 30, so that the circuit contact portions 16 are brought into elastic contact with the electrical contacts 51 of the printed circuit board 50 to establish an electrical connection therebetween (Fig. 4).

When a patrone 40 is charged in the patrone loading chamber 31 of the camera body 30, the DX code portion 41 of the patrone 40 is electrically connected to the DX contact portions 15 of the contact members 10. The DX contact portions 15 are forced into a space between the contact member holder 20 and the patrone loading chamber 31 against the elasticity of the bifurcated portions 13. As a result, the contact members 10 electrically connect the DX code portion 41 and the electrical contacts 51.

As can be understood from the foregoing, with this embodiment of the present invention, the contact members 10 can be secured to the camera body 30 without using a screw or soldering.

Furthermore, since the DX contact portions 15 and the circuit contact portions 16 are biased in opposite directions against the elasticity thereof when the patrone is loaded in the patrone loading chamber 31, the contact portions 15 and 16, the DX code portion 41, and the electrical contacts 51 are securely connected to each other.

Although the above discussion has been directed to the illustrated embodiment, the invention is not limited thereto. For instance, the holder 20 can be attached to the camera body 30 by a hook mechanism. Also, it is possible to make the contact member holder integral with the camera body 30.

The shape of the contact members 10 is not limited to the illustrated embodiment. For example, it is possible to split each of the opposite ends of the contact members 10 into more than two legs, instead of the bifurcated legs. Alternatively, it is possible to use a contact member which is not bifurcated at the opposite ends thereof.

It is possible to insert the clipping portions 11 of the contact members 10 in corresponding slots or holes or the like, formed in the contact member holder 20.

The attaching mechanism of the contact members 10 to the holder 20 is not limited to the illustrated embodiment. For example, contrary to the illustrated embodiment, the projections 21 and the holes 12 can be provided on the contact members 10 and the holder 20, respectively. The contact members 10 can be made of synthetic resin which is - 11 coated with electrically conductive layers, rather than be wholly metal.

As can be seen from the above discussion, with to the present invention, since the contact members are detachably attached to the contact member holder which is inserted between the electrical contacts provided in the camera body and the data portion of the patrone loaded in the camera body so that the contact members can be brought into elastic contact with the electrical contacts and the data portion to establish an electrical connection therebetween, no soldering is necessary and the assembly can be simplified.

f

Claims

1 A contact assembly f or reading patrone data, said contact assembly comprising:- contact members for electrically connecting a data portion on a surface of a patrone loaded in a patrone loading chamber of a camera body and electrical contacts of electronic circuits incorporated in said camera body; and a contact member holder which holds the contact members to attach them to the patrone loading chamber, wherein each of said contact members is elastically deformable and provided with a connecting portion for elastically engaging with said contact member holder, a data contact portion for coming into elastic contact with the data portion, and a circuit contact portion f or coming into elastic contact with the associated electrical contact.

2. A contact assembly according to claim 1, wherein said data contact portions are for coming into elastic contact with a data portion constituted by DX codes.

3. A contact assembly according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said data contact portions are for coming into elastic contact with a data portion including film sensitivity data.

4. A contact assembly according to claim 3, wherein said data contact portions are for coming into elastic contact with a data portion including film sensitivity data of four bits.

5. A contact assembly according to claim 4, wherein there are four said contact members corresponding to four bits of film sensitivity data.

6. A contact assembly according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said connecting portions of the contact members are provided with generally U-shaped clipping portions in which the contact member holder can be elastically held.

7. A contact assembly according to claim 6, wherein said U-shaped clipping portions and said contact member holder are provided with engaging members which engage with each other when the U-shaped clipping portions are connected to the contact member holder at a predetermined position.

8. A contact assembly according to claim 7, 'wherein said engaging members of the U-shaped clipping portions and said contact member holder are constituted in combination by projections and holes in which the corresponding projections can be fitted.

9. A contact assembly according to any one of claims 6 to 8, wherein said contact member holder is provided with guide grooves in which the associated U-shaped clipping portions are fitted.

10. A contact assembly according to any one of claims 6 to 9, wherein said data contact portions and the circuit contact portions of the contact members are provided on opposite arms - 14 of the U-shape thereof in the vicinity of or at the free ends of the contact members.

11. A contact assembly according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said data contact portions and the circuit contact portions of the contact members are brought in use into elastic contact with the data portion of the patrone and the electrical contacts of the electronic circuits, respectively, in opposing directions.

12. A contact assembly according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said data contact portions and the circuit contact portions of the contact members are both formed by bifurcated arms.

13. A contact assembly according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein each of said contact members is made of a metal plate and is shaped to have an elasticity.

14. A camera comprising a contact assembly according to any one of the preceding claims, and including electrical contacts of electronic circuits which are in use opposed to a data portion of a patrone loaded in a patrone loading chamber, so that the contact members are inserted between the electrical contacts and the data portion of the patrone.

15. A camera according to claim 14, wherein said contact member holder is made separate from the patrone loading chamber.

16. A camera according to claim 14 or 15, wherein said patrone loading chamber is defined by the camera body, and - is - wherein said camera body is provided with a holder mounting portion to which the contact member holder is attached in use.

17. A camera according to claim 16, wherein said holder mounting portion of the camera body is shaped so that the contact member holder is detachably attached thereto in use to the outside of the patrone loading chamber.

18. A camera according to claim 16 or 17, wherein said holder mounting portion of the camera body is provided with opening through which the contact members come into contact in use with the data portion of the patrone which is loaded in the patrone loading chamber of the camera body.

19. A contact assembly substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

20. A camera substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.