IL33139A - Cameras - Google Patents

Description

•s-»«-«—sr—sa— ss—a—ea—sa— Improvements in cameras INSRA S PHOTO SHOP (PROPRIETARY) LIMITED O i-31403 THIS invention relates to cameras. ^ \v More particularly, the invention relates to cameras for use in photographing the commitment of traffic offenses and, at the same time, recording the exact time that the photograph in question vas taken.

Several suggestions have been made in regard to a camera of the type described above and, as far as the Applicant is aware, at least one such camera is presently in use. All of the ' suggested cameras arid the one that is presently in use have however a common disadvantage and that is that the unit is large and therefore cumbersome to operate, particularly within the confines of a motor car.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a camera of the type described above which is considerably smaller than anything that has hitherto been suggested.

According to the invention there is provided, in combination with a camera having a front lens and means for moving the respective frames of a photographic film past the back of the lens, an attachment comprising a housing secured 'to the rear face of the camera body, a second lens mounted in the housing in optical communication with the rear surface of the film through an opening in.the rear face of the camera body, a subject inside the housing and laterally spaced from the principal axis of the second lens, means to illuminate the subject, and means to reflect the subject onto the rear surface of the film through the second lens.

The combination In accordance with the present invention which in effect constitutes a separate attachment which could be used with any conventional camera, for example for traffic photography purposes can be clearly distinguished from the speciflo device in the form of a gun camera to be used in target practice apparatus and as disclosed in U.S. patent specification Ho. 1,722,935· Thus, whilst the prior art device is a very specific device for a very specific purpose the device in accordance with the present invention is capable of versatile applications with any form of camera.

To illustrate the Invention an embodiment thereof is described hereunder with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a plan view of the camera, and its attachment in a motor housing; Figure 2 is a side view of the motor housing; Figure 3 is a view of the back of the camera with the motor housing and the attachment removed; Figure 4 is a sectional side view of the attachment and portion of the camera; Figure 5 is a view in the direction of the arrows 5 - 5 in Figure 4; Figure 6 is an exploded diagrajmmatlc view of the camera and the attachment; and <¾-' Figure 7 shows a piece of photographic film.

One of the features- of this invention is that just about any commercially available camera can be used with the attachment. It is only necessary to make minor modif cat ons to the camera Purely by way of example the camera 10 which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings is a 35 mm. camera which is sold under the trade name NIKON. This particular camera has been found to work admirably with the attachment of the invention.

With reference to Figure 1 the camera 10 is shown mounted in a conventional motor drive housing 11. In such an arrangement the ..normal pressure plate and back plate of the camera are provided by the pressure plate 12 and a back plate 13 in the . motor drive housing (see Figures 2, 4, 5 and 6). The minor modification which is mentioned above consists merely in the provision of two holes 14 and 15 in the pressure plate 12 and the back plate 13 respectively and the provision of a masking plate 16 the purpose of which will become apparent as this specification progresses. The two holes 14 and 15 are in register with each other.

The attachment 17 to be used with the camera is in the shape of a small housing one side 18 of which slopes relative to the opposed side at an a'rigle of 45 degrees. The sloping side 18 functions as a lid and, to this end, is hinged along one edge 19 and is provided with a thumbscrew 20 near the opposed edge.

A mirror 21 is mounted on the inner surface of the sloping > side 18 of the housing so that the reflective surface of the mirror faces into the interior of the housing.

A clock 22 (see Figures 4 and 5 ) is mounted inside the housing so that the face of the clock faces the sloping mirror 21. The clock 22 is provided with ho.ur, minute and second hands and is also adapted to display the date, the month and the year and whether the time indicated is before noon or after noon.

Suitable lamps 23 -are arranged around the periphery of the clock face to provide the necessary illumination. The lamps 23 are adapted to be illuminated from a suitable power supply 24 (see Figure 1) when a trigger 25» which is connected to the camera trigger 26 by means of a cable 27» is depressed.

An opening 28 is provided in the base of the housing of the attachment 17 and a suitable lens.29 is mounted in this opening. It will be seen from Figure 4 that the principal axis 30 of this lens will intersect the mirror 21 at substantially the midpoint of the mirror. In other words, as shown diagrammatically in. Figure 6, the lens 29 will "see", in the mirror 21, the re-flection of the clock face 22· / It is essentially due' to this change of direction of the light path between the clock face and the lens 15 (due to the presence of the mirror 21 and the orientation of the clock face) that the attachment 17 can in fact be made substantially smaller than the camera itself.

In use, the attachment 17 is secured to the back side of the camera body in any suitable manner so that the lens 29 is exactly in register vith the two openings 14 and 15· When the frame of a photographic film..31 is in position (and the lamps 23 are illuminated) the image of the clock face ' vill therefore be exposed onto the back of the film 31 via the mirror 21 and the lens 29. The purpose of the mask 16 is to prevent light coming through the main lens 32 of the camera from fall g on that area of the frame vhich is reserved for the clock face. The exposed frame vill thus appear as shovn in Figure 7 in vhich the square 33 vill be occupied by the image of the clock face vhilst the remainder of the frame vill be occupied by the scene vhich vas photographed.

The purpose of the motor drive is to enable the photographer to obtain a series of photographs in rapid succession of for example a motorist passing through a traffic light in its STOP phase · 33139/2

Claims (7)

1. In combination with a camera having a front lens and means for moving the respective frames of a photographic film past the hack of the lens, an attachment comprising a housing secured to the rear faoe of the camera body, a second lens mounted in the housing in optical communication with the rear surface of the film through an opening in the rear surface of the camera body, a subject Inside th housing and laterally spaced from the principal axis of the second lens, means to illuminate the subject, and means to reflect the subject onto the rear surface of the film through the second lens.

2. The combination as claimed in claim 1 in which the desired surface of the subject faces in a direction which is substantially perpendicular to the principal axis of the second lens,

3. · The combination as claimed In either of claims 1 or 2 in which the reflecting surface of the reflecting means subtends an angle of approximately 45 degrees with the principal axis of the second lens*

4. The combination as claimed in any one of the above Claims in which the reflecting means is a mirror,

5. The combination as claimed in any one of the above claims i which the subject is a clock,

6. The combination of a camera and an attachment substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

7. An attachment for use with a camera substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings. For the Applicants I OLD COHN AND PARTNERS IS:OB