JP2002372770A - Film counter display device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable quickly finding the display position of the number of photographing times, and to enhance the visibility of the display. SOLUTION: A counter disk with marks 30a is covered with a transparent top plate 29 where a lens part 37, an index 38 and a rough surface part 40 are formed. The index 38 is arranged on the rough surface part 40, the shape of the index 38 strikingly stands out, then, the index can be clearly confirmed. A counter window 36 is formed so that the outer peripheral edge of the counter disk and the outside area can be viewed, then, the index 38 and the white rough surface part 40 are observed in addition to the mark 30a, and the existence of the counter window 36 can stand out.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a film counter display device which is incorporated in a film unit with a lens or a general camera and displays the number of times of photographing and the remaining number of photographing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An unexposed photographic film is loaded in advance.
2. Description of the Related Art A single-use lens-equipped film unit that does not require a rewind operation after photographing is widely used. The film unit with lens has a built-in counter disk that rotates in conjunction with the film feed for each shot, and a circular scale along the outer peripheral edge of the counter disk. And numbers are arranged. These scales and numbers indicate the number of remaining frames of the photographic film to the photographer, and are observed through a counter window provided on the outer cover of the film unit with the lens.

[0003] The counter disk is disposed on the top surface of the film unit with a lens, and has a diameter determined so as to be within the thickness of the unit. In addition, a transparent top plate that covers the counter window is provided above the counter disk to prevent sand and dust from entering from outside. In recent years, film units with lenses have become smaller and smaller,
As a result, the size of the counter disk and the counter window has been reduced. For this reason, for example, a method has been devised in which numbers are written in correspondence with the scales of the counter disk to increase the size of each number so that the display is easy to see. In some cases, a lens portion is formed on a transparent top plate to enlarge the display to make it easier to see.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-338032 describes an index indicating the scale of a counter disk in which a groove or a ridge is formed in a lens portion of a transparent top plate. This groove or ridge is displayed as a white line on the counter disk. The scale displayed at the position overlapping the white line indicates the number of remaining frames of the loaded photo film,
The photographer can know how many remaining shots can be taken.

Conventionally, an index is printed on a paper cover or an adhesive label wound around the outer periphery of a film unit with a lens, and the scale is indicated from the outside of the counter window. Some are raised or depressed. In addition, there is a type in which a counter window is formed to be large enough to display one number by eliminating the need to display continuous numbers on the counter disk to provide indices and scales.

[0006]

However, in the technique disclosed in the above publication, since the index indicating the number of times of photographing is formed so as to overlap the scale, some of the scale and the number indicated by the index are hidden, making it difficult to see. There was an inconvenience that it could not be confirmed.

In the case where the index is printed on a paper cover or an adhesive label, the position indicated by the index shifts unless it is wrapped with high accuracy.
There is a problem that the productivity of the product is reduced. In addition, in the case where the index is formed in a relief shape outside the counter window, the index becomes the same color as the outer cover, so that it is difficult to see unless the index is colored. Furthermore, if a small index is not accurately painted, the function as the index is impaired, so that there is a problem that this operation is troublesome and costs increase. If the counter window is formed to have a size capable of displaying one number, the size of the counter window becomes substantially small, and there is a disadvantage that the counter window becomes difficult to find.

The present invention has been made in view of the above, and even when a miniaturized counter disk is used, the position of the counter window and the presence of the index can be made more conspicuous, and the scale and numerals can be displayed. It is an object of the present invention to provide a film counter display device in which the visibility of the number of times of photographing can be immediately and clearly understood by improving visibility.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, in the film counter display device according to the present invention, the counter window is formed so as to be large enough to display the outside of the outer peripheral edge of the counter disk. By increasing the feeling, it is possible to immediately recognize where the display position of the number of times of photographing is located. When making the counter window large, a part of the transparent plate covering the counter window is made opaque by rough surface treatment etc. so that the complicated photographing mechanism inside the camera can not be seen from the outside of the outer periphery of the counter disk. Hide the outside of the display range of the number of shots. Since the rough surface portion of the transparent plate is observed as a white mask, the counter window becomes conspicuous and its position is easily found.

When an index is provided on the counter window, if the index is made to overlap the rough surface of the transparent plate, the index can be made more conspicuous. Specifically, a noticeable index can be easily provided by leaving a part of the transparent plate transparent so as to be in the form of the index and roughening the periphery of the transparent index. In addition to forming such an indicator on a transparent plate, it is also a simple method to devise the shape of the exterior cover so that a part of the counter window protrudes from its edge to function as a pointer. It is. For the exterior cover,
Since it is common to use a black material in consideration of photographic properties, if a black pointer is superimposed on a white rough surface, this difference in color will highlight the presence of the index.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A lens-fitted film unit 1 shown in FIG. 1 has a photographing lens 2 exposed on the front surface thereof. A finder 3 is provided above the taking lens 2. The flash switch 4 is slid when performing flash photography. After the flash charging process is performed by turning on the flash switch 4, the shutter button 5
When the button is pressed, the strobe light is emitted from the strobe light emitting unit 6 simultaneously with the operation of the shutter. Counter display section 7
Is provided on the top surface of the film unit 1 with a lens, and the remaining number of times of shooting is displayed to the photographer. An opening is formed in the label 8 wound around the lens-fitted film unit 1 in accordance with the positions of the photographing lens 2, the viewfinder 3, and the counter display unit 7.

As shown in FIG. 2, a film unit 1 with a lens includes a camera body 10 provided with a photographing mechanism.
Are covered by a black outer cover composed of a front cover 11 and a rear cover 12. A flash unit 13 is incorporated between the camera body 10 and the front cover 11. As is well known, the camera body 10 includes the photographing lens 2.
A shutter mechanism that performs exposure by kicking shutter blades (not shown) provided behind the shutter, a shutter charging mechanism that performs shutter charging in conjunction with film feeding by rotating a winding knob 14, and one frame of film. At the same time, a film winding stop mechanism for locking the winding knob 14 is provided.

The camera body 10 is formed of a molded plastic product, and a film cartridge chamber 15 and a film roll chamber 16 are provided on both left and right sides, respectively. In the film cartridge chamber 15, a film cartridge 18 from which a photographic film 17 has been drawn out is stored. In the film roll chamber 16, a film roll 1 in which a drawn-out photo film 17 is wound in a roll shape.
9 are stored. One end of the photo film 17 is locked on a spool 20 provided on the film cartridge 18.

The spool 20 is engaged with the lower end of the winding knob 14 and moves the exposed film frame into the film cartridge 18 as the winding knob 14 rotates. At the time of feeding the film, the sprocket 22
Rotates in mesh with the perforations 21 of the photo film 17. When the sprocket 22 rotates, a shutter charge is performed accordingly, and preparation for the next photographing is made.

On the upper part of the camera body 10, a counter disk 25 is provided. On top of the counter disk 25, a top plate unit 26 is further attached. The top plate unit 26 includes the shutter button 5 and the shutter button 5
Shutter lever 27 for transmitting the pressing displacement of the shutter to the shutter device
Are formed, and a colorless transparent top plate 29 provided with the counter display unit 7.

As shown in FIG. 3, graduations 30a are provided on the counter disk 25 along its outer peripheral edge, and numerals 30b are provided for every three graduations, for example. When the sprocket 22 rotates following the feeding of the film, the gear member 31 engaged with the sprocket 22 rotates. When the photographic film 17 is fed by one frame, the sprocket 22 makes a half turn, and accordingly, the gear member 31 makes a half turn. The gear member 31 is provided with a pair of gear grooves 33, which mesh with counter teeth 32 projecting outward from the circumference of the counter disk 25. When the gear member 31 makes a half rotation, only one counter tooth 32 is fed, and the counter disk 25 rotates around the counter shaft 34 by an angle of one division.

In FIG. 4, the counter display section 7 provided on the transparent top plate 29 is exposed from a counter window 36 formed when the front cover 11 and the rear cover 12 are joined. A counter disk 25 is arranged below the counter display unit 7. Scale 30a attached to counter disk 25
A lens part 37 is formed at a position directly above the lens part 37. The scale 30a and the numeral 30b are enlarged and displayed by the lens unit 37. The index 38 indicates one scale observed from the counter window 36, which will be described later in detail. The lens portion 37 and the index 38 are provided at positions sandwiched between a pair of ridges 39. The ridge portion 39 prevents the lens portion 37 from being damaged when the transparent top plate 29 is transported as a component. The index 38 is the rough surface 4 on the transparent top plate 29.
It is provided at a position slightly protruding from zero. Rough surface 4
0 is provided by embossing the front side on which the index 38 is provided and the back side surface immediately below the front side.

As shown in FIG. 5, the scale 30a and the numeral 30b are enlarged and displayed on the lens unit 37. The counter window 36 is formed in such a size that the outer peripheral edge of the counter disk 25 and the range outside thereof can be seen. In addition, two or three scales before and after the scale including the scale indicated by the index 38 are formed in a size to be displayed. That is, from the counter window 36, the scale 30a and the number 30b on the counter disk 25, the index 38, and the rough surface portion 40 are observed.

The index 38 is formed by displaying the transparent ground color of the transparent top plate 29 in a triangular shape. The tip of the index 38 indicates the scale 30a from the outside of the counter disk 25.
The rough surface portion 40 around the index 38 is provided on both front and back surfaces of the transparent top plate 29 and is displayed as a clear white surface. Rough surface 4
0 hides the area between the counter disk 25 and the counter window 36, including the counter teeth 32, to prevent a complicated photographing mechanism from being exposed, and at the same time, to emphasize the shape of the transparent index 38. .

By forming the counter window 36 large, a user who has picked up the film unit 1 with a lens can find the counter display section 7 immediately. At this time, the white display of the rough surface portion 40 is very conspicuous, and is useful as a mark when searching for the counter window 36. In addition, by forming the counter window 36 to be large, the display range of the counter display unit 7 is increased, so that the number size of the sequence 30b can be increased, and the thickness of the lens unit 37 can be increased to increase the display magnification. In other words, the number of remaining shots can be checked at a glance.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS. Note that components having the same operation and configuration as those of the previous embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted. The counter window 41 provided on the front cover 11 and the rear cover 12 which is the exterior of the lens-fitted film unit is provided with a pointer 42 projecting from the edge thereof. The pointer 42 is an index for indicating the scale 30 a from outside the counter disk 25. The pointer 42 is formed simultaneously with the counter window 41 when the front cover 11 and the rear cover 12 are formed. The pointer 42 is provided at a position accurately pointing the scale 30a on the counter disk 25 by a high-precision plastic molding method.

A transparent display 43 provided on the upper part of the counter disk 25 is provided with a counter display part 47 including a rough surface part 44 and a lens part 45. The rough surface portion 44 is provided on both the front and back surfaces of the transparent top plate 43 and is a textured white surface. Black front cover 11 and rear cover 12
Are projected from the edge of the counter window 41 and are provided right above the rough surface portion 44. Rough surface 44
The white surface makes the position of the counter window 41 prominent on the outer surface of the cover, and makes the shape of the black pointer 42 stand out so that the display can be easily checked.

Next, as a third embodiment, a counter disk 50 shown in FIG.
Ones are arranged, and only one number is displayed from the counter window 52. The counter window 52 is formed in a size that allows one number on the counter disk 50 and the outer periphery of the disk to be seen through. The counter disk 50 is a transparent flat plate provided with a rough surface portion 53. Covered. Rough surface 5
Numeral 3 can be seen as a white surface outside the counter disk 50, concealing the inside of the camera and highlighting the presence of the counter window 52 so that the photographer can see the display position of the number of times of shooting at a glance.

In the present invention, in forming the opaque portion formed on the transparent plate, in addition to the graining,
Appropriate surface roughening methods such as knurling can be used.
By forming a diffuse reflection surface of light with multiple grooves and projections,
This may be an opaque portion. Furthermore, in a film unit with a lens around which a paper cover or an adhesive label can be wound, an opening is provided to expose the counter window on the paper cover or the adhesive label. The position can be made more prominent. And, the present invention can be incorporated into a general photographic camera in addition to the film unit with a lens,
The counter window may be incorporated not only on the top of the camera but also on the front and back of the camera so that the size of the counter disk can be increased.

[0025]

As described above, according to the film counter display device of the present invention, the size of the counter window is formed so that the outer peripheral edge of the counter disk and the outside thereof can be seen. Since the surface is covered with the transparent plate having the rough surface, the display position of the number of times of photographing can be immediately found. In addition, the index indicating the scale is made to stand out according to the difference in color from the rough surface portion, so that the index is easy to see.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view of a film unit with a lens.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of a film unit with a lens.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a counter disk.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view around a counter display unit.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a counter window.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the second embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of the third embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 7 Counter display section 10 Camera body section 22 Sprocket 25,50 Counter disk 29 Transparent top plate 30a Scale 30b, 51 Numeral 31 Gear member 36,41,52 Counter window 38 Index 40,44,53 Rough surface section 42 Pointer section

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A film counter display device for displaying the number of times of photographing through a counter window by means of scales and numerals arranged along the outer peripheral edge of a counter disk that rotates each time a photograph is taken. The count window is covered with a transparent plate, and the outside of the outer periphery of the counter disk is made invisible on this transparent plate. A film counter display device comprising an opaque portion. 2. The film counter display device according to claim 1, wherein the opaque portion is formed by roughening. 3. The counter window according to claim 1, wherein an index for indicating a scale or a number provided on the counter disk from outside thereof is provided in the counter window.
The film counter display device as described in the above.