Motorized still camera

A motorized still camera has a housing which can receive film cassettes in a film chamber at the rear side of the housing. A motor-drive of the camera includes a motor which is located forwardly of the cassette take-up section, in direction towards the front side of the camera. A motor-controlling mechanism and a film transporting mechanism of the motor drive are so dimensioned as to require relatively little space in direction vertically of the camera and in direction between the front and rear side, but instead to have their major dimensions extending lengthwise of the housing so as to make optimum use of the space available in the housing.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to still cameras. 
More particularly, the invention relates to a motorized still camera. 
2. The Prior Art 
Motorized still cameras are known in the camera art. They may use roll film 
or film which is contained in film cassettes, e.g. the type of cassette 
which is known world-wide under the "Type 110"designation. 
Still cameras having motor-driven film transport mechanism have many 
advantages over those wherein film transport, setting of the shutter 
and/or operation of a flash unit are carried out manually. However, the 
inclusion of a motor, an energy source for the same and the various 
motion-transmitting components makes the dimensions of such cameras of 
necessity relatively large, a disadvantage which at least to a significant 
extent counteracts the advantages obtained by inclusion of the motor 
drive. 
This is particularly noticeable in the case of still cameras using film 
cassettes, a type of camera often referred-to as a "pocket camera". One of 
the particular advantages of such cassettes has been that they permitted 
the development of cameras small enough to be conveniently carried on the 
person of a user, often in a pocket (hence the name "pocket camera"). 
Evidently, any enlargement of the overall size of such cameras, resulting 
from the inclusion of a motor drive, is highly undesirable since it will 
defeat the original purpose, the concept of miniaturizing the camera to 
the point where it can be conveniently carried about on the person of a 
user. Yet, in the miniature (e.g. 110-type) cameras which have heretofore 
been motorized, this is exactly what has happened. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is a general object of the present invention to overcome the above 
described disadvantages. 
More particularly, it is an object of the invention to provide a motorized 
still camera whose overall dimensions--even in the case of a miniaturized 
camera--do not exceed those of a similar but non-motorized camera, or do 
so only very slightly. 
Another object of the invention is to provide a motorized still camera 
which, utilizing the optimizing aspects of the disclosure herein, may even 
be smaller than many of the known non-motorized still cameras having the 
same picture format. 
Pursuant to these objects, and still others which will become apparent 
hereafter, one feature of the invention resides, in a motorized still 
camera, in a combination comprising a camera housing having a front side 
and a rear side and, adjacent the rear side, a compartment for a film 
supply section and a film take-up section; a motor drive, including a film 
transporting mechanism in the housing; and electric motor means 
operatively connected with the film transporting mechanism for driving the 
same, the electric motor means being located in the housing forwardly of 
the film take-up section in direction towards the front side. 
The novel features which are considered as characteristic are set forth in 
particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as 
to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional 
objects and advantages thereof will be best understood from the following 
description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the 
accompanying drawing.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
In the FIGURE the reference numeral 1 denotes a portion of the housing of a 
still camera; the illustration is symbolic of the entire camera housing. 
The camera housing is provided with a release button (or diaphragm) 2 
which, when depressed in the direction of arrow 3, presses down upon a 
lateral tab on the left arm of a double-armed lever 6. The lever 6 is 
pivoted about a stationary pin 4 and is urged clockwise by a tension 
spring 5. The left end 6b of lever 6 serves as a switch activator. 
The illustrated camera is for use with film 7 of the type having one 
perforation 7a per film frame. In this embodiment the film 7 is 
accommodated in a cassette 8 (e.g. of the type 110) comprising a film 
supply compartment 8a, a film take-up compartment 8b, and an intermediate 
bridge 8c joining these compartments and being provided with an exposure 
window (not shown). The cassette 8 is located in a compartment 
(diagrammatically shown by the dashed line C) at the rear side of the 
camera housing 1; the front side being provided with a picture-taking lens 
(not shown). The camera includes a stationary stop 1a and stationary 
camming pin 1b, between which a feeler 9 can move. The feeler 9 has an 
elongated slot 9a through which a stationary pin extends (not shown) which 
mounts the feeler for horizontal pivoting movement about the axis of the 
pin as well as for horizontal shifting movement towards and away from the 
film 7. A tension spring 10 pulls the feeler 9 towards the film 7, and 
another tension spring 11 pulls the feeler 9 leftwards, i.e., opposite to 
the direction of film transport. Feeler 9 has a bent-up arm 9b the free 
end of which is located in the vicinity of one arm 12a of a triple-armed 
control lever 12. To facilitate visualization in this exploded perspective 
view the vertical arm 9b is shown in broken lines as elongated up beyond 
its actual length, so as to make clear its cooperation with the lever arm 
12a. Control lever 12 is mounted for horizontal pivoting movement about an 
axis 13 defined by a stationary vertical pin (not shown). The second arm 
12b of lever 12 carries a pin 12c which extends into a slot 14a at the end 
of a double-armed lever 14, the latter being mounted for horizontal 
swinging movement about an axis 15 defined by another stationary pin (not 
shown). The third arm 12d of the control lever 12 is angled off as shown 
and at its end carries a downwardly extending switch-control pin 12e. 
Control lever 12 also has an aperture 12g in its arm 12d. 
An electric motor 16 is provided to drive the illustrated film-transport 
system, and is energized by e.g. batteries 17. A switch 18 is connected in 
the current path between motor 16 and batteries 17; switch 18 closes when 
pressed down by the left end 6b of lever 6, upon depressing of the release 
member 2. Connected in series with switch 18 is another switch 19 and 
connected in parallel to the series-combination of switches 18, 19 is 
still a further switch 20. An additional switch 21, 22 is connected in 
series with the parallel combination of switches 18, 19 and 20; it 
comprises a stationary contact 21 and a moving contact 22. Moving contact 
22 also cooperates with a further stationary contact 23, so as to act as a 
changeover switch. Thus, engagement of the moving contact 22 with the 
stationary contact 23 directly short-circuits the drive motor 16. 
The shutter unit of the camera is designated with reference numeral 24. It 
has a wind-up pinion 24b which, when it is turned counterclockwise, idles 
but when it is turned clockwise, winds-up or otherwise sets the shutter 
via an internal one-way coupling. When the shutter unit 24 is in wound-up 
or set condition, the shutter can be actuated by moving a shutter-trigger 
pin 24c from its illustrated position towards the other end of the slot 
through which it projects, whereupon the shutter will open and then close, 
after which the shutter unit 24 must then be wound-up or set again. In 
addition, the shutter unit 24 also has a switch-actuating pin 24a 
projecting through a slot. When the shutter unit 24 is in set condition, 
i.e., ready to be triggered, the switch-actuating pin 24a is at the left 
end of its slot, as illustrated. When the shutter unit 24 is triggered, 
switch-actuating pin 24a moves to the right, engaging and closing the 
electrical switch 19 at or near the end of the shutter operation. 
The motor 16 has an output pinion 16a which drives a speed-reducing 
transmission. The transmission comprises two dual-diameter gears 26, 26. 
The drive pinion 16a meshes with the larger-diameter part of the first 
dual-diameter gear 26; the smaller-diameter part 26a of the first dual 
diameter gear meshes with the larger-diameter part of the second 
dual-diameter gear and the smaller-diameter part 26a of the second 
dual-diameter gear meshes with a gear 27 (shown further above in the 
exploded view). Gear 27 in turn meshes with the gear 28 of a 
centrifugal-force switch 29. To facilitate visualization, gear 28 is 
illustrated twice, once with a solid lead line to show its cooperation 
with gear 27, and once with a broken line to show its cooperation with 
centrifugal-force switch 29. The switch 29 has a downwardly extending 
switch-actuating pin 29a. Whenever the motor 16 is running, pin 29a 
presses down upon the electrical switch 20, keeping the same closed; 
whenever the motor 16 is not running, the switch 20 is open. Reference 
numeral 25 designates a braking lever, one end of which can move into and 
out of engagement with the motor drive pinion 16a. The other end of 
braking lever 25 carries a pin 25a which extends upwards through the 
aperture 12g in control lever 12. Braking lever 25 either brakes or does 
not brake the motor drive pinion 16a, depending upon the position of 
control lever 12, as described below. 
Rigidly coupled to gear 27 is a smaller-diameter gear 30 which may, e.g., 
be of one piece therewith. Gear 30 meshes with a larger gear 31. Rigidly 
coupled to the gear 31 is a smaller diameter gear 32, e.g., of one piece 
therewith. Gear 32 drives a gear 35 via intermediate gears 33 and 34. Gear 
35 is coupled to and drives the take-up core located in the interior of 
the take-up end 8b of the cassette 8. 
A gear segment 37 and a crankwheel 38 are both mounted for rotation about a 
common stationary pin, as indicated at 36. They are also rigidly coupled 
to each other so as to share rotation. Depending upon the angular position 
of crankwheel 38, gear segment 37 does or does not mesh with gear 27. When 
the gear segment 37 meshes with gear 27, it is driven by the latter. 
The crankwheel 38 carries an eccentrically located pin 39 on which the 
right end of a long crank rod 40 is pivotally mounted. Crank rod 40 
carries a vertical camming pin 30a. Approximately midway between its right 
and left ends, crank rod 40 has a rearwardly extending projection, the 
left edge 40b of which acts as a holding edge for purposes to be described 
below. Near its left end, crank rod 40 has a bent-up vertical tab, the 
left edge 40c of which acts as a trigger edge. At its left end, crank rod 
40 has an elongated slot through which a stationary vertical pin (no 
reference numeral) projects which guides crank rod 40 for lengthwise 
displacement. Near its left end the crank rod 40 has a bent-down part, the 
bottom edge of which is configurated as a rack 40e which meshes with the 
wind-up or setting pinion 24b of the shutter unit 24. A tension spring 41 
is connected to this bent-down part of crank rod 40 and pulls the crank 
rod 40 leftward, i.e., in the direction opposite to the wind-up direction 
for wind-up pinion 24b. This bent-down part of crank rod 40 extends 
further down as a trigger arm 40d. When crank rod 40 moves to the left, 
trigger arm 40d displaces pin 24c, thereby triggering the shutter unit 24. 
A second triple-armed lever is designated with reference numeral 42. The 
first arm 42a of this lever has a slot, through which extends a vertical 
pin 12f carried by the arm 12d of the control lever 12. The second arm of 
lever 42 is located in the path of movement of pin 40a and its right edge 
is configurated as a camming surface 42b. The third arm of lever 42 has a 
holding edge 42c. A tension spring 43 pulls lever 42 towards a stationary 
stop 1c. Numeral 44 denotes a one-armed lever mounted for horizontal 
pivoting movement about a vertical pin, as indicated at 45. One end of the 
spring 43 is connected to the lever 43, and its other end is connected to 
the one-armed lever 44. The latter has a leftwards projection, a back edge 
44a of which is a blocking edge. Spring 43 pulls the blocking edge 44a 
towards the holding edge 42c and also pulls the rear end 44b of lever 44 
towards the right end of the crank rod 40. Reference numeral 46 identifies 
a further one-armed lever which is mounted for pivoting movement about a 
stationary pin, as indicated at 47. The rearward end of lever 14 has a 
rearwards facing control edge 14b. A tension spring 48 pulls the lever 46 
towards the control edge 14b and into a position blocking the holding edge 
40b of the crank rod 40. 
The film-transport system of the camera is shown in the FIGURE in the 
setting which it assumes upon completion of a film-transport operation. 
The electrical switches 18, 19, 20, 21 are all open, and the motor 16 is 
short-circuited by the switch 22, 23. The blocking edge 6a of the trigger 
lever 6 blocks the trigger edge 40c of the crank rod 40, holding the 
latter in its cocked position, i.e., with tension spring 41 stretched as 
shown. The front end of feeler 9 extends into a film-frame perforation 7a. 
Because of this, and via the engagement between arm 9a and arm 12a, lever 
12 causes double-armed lever 14 to push, at its rearwards control edge 
14b, against the one-armed lever 46, keeping the latter swung away from 
the holding edge 40b; i.e., in the illustrated setting of the system, the 
crank rod 40 is not blocked at its holding edge 40b. 
If, now, the user depresses the release member 2, the trigger lever 6 
swings counterclockwise and its switch-actuating part 6b closes the switch 
18. Switch 18 stays closed as long as the element 2 continues to be 
depressed. At the same time, blocking edge 6a moves up out of the path of 
trigger edge 40c, thereby releasing the crank rod 40. Tension spring 41 
begins to pull crank rod 40 leftwards, i.e., opposite to the 
film-transport direction. As a result the crankwheel 38 and with it the 
gear segment 37 begin to turn. As crank rod 40 moves leftward, its 
downwardly projecting trigger arm 40d displaces trigger pin 24c leftwards, 
thereby triggering a shutter operation. Upon completion of the shutter 
operation, pin 24a closes switch 19, so that now both switches 18, 19 are 
closed. 
Simultaneously with the foregoing, the first tooth of gear segment 37 has 
begun to mesh with gear 32. Also, the pin 40a on crank rod 40 has engaged 
the camming surface 42b of the second double-armed lever 42 and has swung 
the lever 42 counterclockwise to such an extent that the blocking edge 44a 
of one-armed lever 44 latches in front of the holding edge 42c of the 
lever 42 and holds that lever in position. Also, this counterclockwise 
swinging of lever 42, due to the pin and slot coupling at 42a, 12f, has 
caused the first triple-armed lever 12 to turn clockwise so that its arm 
12a has moved back and unblocked arm 9b and also caused braking lever 25 
to move away from motor drive pinion 16a. 
Because of this clockwise displacement of lever 12, its pin 12e ceases to 
press the springy movable contact 22 into engagement with stationary 
contact 23, so that contact 22 due to its own spring action has now moved 
into engagement with stationary contact 21. Because the three switches 18, 
19 and 21, 22 are now all closed, the motor 16 begins to operate. However, 
as soon as motor 16 starts up, the switch-actuating pin 29a of centrifugal 
switch 29 closes switch 20, and keeps switch 20 closed so long as the 
motor is running. Accordingly, the user can now disengage the release 
member button 2 and although switch 18 then opens, the switch 20 being 
connected in parallel to the series combination of switches 18, 19 keeps 
the motor 16 energized. Because of this, when switch 19 later opens also, 
i.e., upon resetting of the shutter unit 24, this likewise will not 
terminate motor energization. 
With the motor 16 running, the crankwheel 38 is driven counterclockwise, 
via the gear segment 37 and the gear 32. As a result, the crank rod 40 is 
pulled rightwards, i.e., in the film-transport direction, against the 
opposition of tension spring 41. Also, through the intermediary of gears 
31-35, the take-up spool in the section 8b of film cassette 8 is turned, 
resulting in film transport. 
During the first phase of such film transport, the part of film 7 just 
upstream of film perforation 7a pushes the end of perforation feeler 9 
rightwards, but as this happens the camming pin 1b is engaged by the 
slanting camming surface at the right edge of feeler 9, causing feeler 9 
to retract away from the film 7. As soon as the feeler 9 has emerged from 
film perforation 7a, tension spring 11 pulls feeler 9 leftwards until 
feeler 9 abuts the stop 1a. As a result, feeler 9 cannot enter a second 
time into this same film perforation 7a. Instead, under the action of its 
springs 10, 11, the feeler 9 is pressed leftwards against stop 1a and 
forwards against the film 7. With feeler 9 in this setting during the 
film-transport operation, the tension spring 43 is urging the lever 42 
clockwise and the latter in turn urges the lever 12 counterclockwise, with 
the front edge at the very end of arm 12a being pressed against the back 
edge of arm 9b, so that feeler 9 is additionally pressed against film 7 
from behind. Also, because arm 12a is pressing against arm 9b, lever 12 
cannot turn further in counterclockwise direction and the lever 42 cannot 
turn further in clockwise direction, i.e., despite the pull exerted upon 
lever 42 by tension spring 43. As a result, neither of the three-armed 
levers 12, 42 can leave the position just described during the remainder 
of the film-transport operation, i.e., even when, somewhat later during 
the rightwards travel of crank rod 40, pin 40a no longer blocks lever 42 
against clockwise movement and blocking edge 44a likewise no longer blocks 
lever 42 against clockwise movement. It will be understood that the 
blocking edge 44a ceases to block clockwise movement of lever 42 when the 
right end of crank rod 40 displaces the free end 44b of one-armed lever 44 
rightwards. Also, with the lever 12 arrested in the position just 
described, it can no longer push one-armed lever 46 back via the lever 14. 
As a result, the free end of one-armed lever 46 is not being pushed back 
out of the path of movement of holding edge 40b. This makes it impossible 
for the tension spring 41 to again pull crank rod 40 leftwards prior to 
completion of the still ongoing film-transport operation. 
During rightward movement of the crank rod 40, i.e., in the film-transport 
direction, its rack 40e drives the wind-up pinion 24b clockwise, thereby 
winding-up or otherwise setting shutter unit 24 to a condition in which 
the unit 24 is again ready to be triggered. With the shutter unit 24 thus 
reset, switch-actuating pin 24a reassumes its illustrated position, 
permitting the electrical switch 19 to open. As mentioned just above, 
because the series-connected switches 18, 19, both of which are now open, 
are shunted by closed switch 20, the drive motor 16 continues to be 
energized. 
During the leftwards and then rightwards movement of crank rod 40, pin 40a 
slides along the cam surface 42b of three-armed lever 42 until, on 
completion of one rotation of crankwheel 38, the crank rod 40 has returned 
to the position illustrated in the FIGURE. The gear segment 37 has by then 
turned to such an extent that it now ceases to mesh with gear 32, and the 
right end of crank rod 40 pushes the free end of one-armed lever 44 
leftwards against the force of tension spring 43, as a result of which the 
blocking edge 44a moves rightwards out of the path of holding edge 42c, 
thereby releasing the lever 42. 
At this stage the film-transport operation has not yet been completed and 
the arm 12a is pressing forwards against the arm 9b of feeler 9, which 
latter continues to be pressed against the film 7. Due to this, the levers 
12, 42 still cannot return to their starting positions, the switches 20 
and 21, 22 continue to stay closed, and the motor 16 continues to operate. 
When, finally, upon completion of the one-frame film-transport operation, 
the feeler 9 enters into the next film-frame perforation 7a, this movement 
of the feeler 9 now allows the lever 12 to turn counterclockwise and 
therefore the lever 42 is permitted to turn clockwise. When lever 12 turns 
counterclockwise its switch-controlling pin 12e moves springy contact 22 
out of engagement with stationary contact 21, thereby terminating motor 
energization, and furthermore into engagement with stationary contact 23, 
thereby short-circuiting the motor. The kinetic energy of the motor is 
then almost instantly converted into dissipated electrical energy, and the 
motor therefore comes to a standstill. As a result, the pin 29a of 
centrifugal-force switch 29 rises, permitting switch 20 to open again, at 
which point all switches in the motor-current path are in open setting. 
During the turning of lever 12 the braking lever 25 has come into 
engagement with the motor output pinion 16a, and the rearwards facing 
control edge 14b of lever 14b has once again pushed one-armed lever 26 
rearwards out of the path of movement of the holding edge 40b of crank rod 
40. At this point, both the shutter operation and the film-transport 
operation are entirely completed, and the film-transport system is once 
more in the setting shown in the FIGURE. 
If the camera is to operate in the sequential-exposure mode, the user 
maintains trigger button 2 depressed for as long as the exposure sequence 
is to continue. Each constituent shutter operation and film-transport 
operation is then performed in the manner already described, but with 
switch 18 staying uninterruptedly closed and the blocking edge 6a being 
uninterruptedly located out of the path of movement of trigger edge 40c. 
During the time interval between the completion of one complete rotation 
of crankwheel 38 and the termination of a film-transport operation, the 
gear segment 37 does not mesh with gear 32 and the one-armed lever 46 is 
located in the path of movement of holding edge 40b, i.e., until the 
feeler 9 enters into the next film-frame perforation 7a; this serves to 
assure that the crank rod 40 cannot again be triggered until the still 
ongoing film-transport operation is finished, i.e., until feeler 9 enters 
the next perforation. 
When cassette film 7 of the type shown is employed, the trailing end of the 
film 7 cannot be pulled out of the supply compartment 8a into the take-up 
compartment 8b of the cassette 8. When this point is reached, the lever 12 
assumes its film-transport setting, because the feeler 9 is presented with 
no next perforation into which to enter. Because the film 7 in the 
cassette 8 cannot be transported any further, the film-transport system 
blocks, and the drive motor 16 comes to a halt. As a result the 
centrifugal-force switch 29 opens switch 20, and motor energization 
terminates. If thereafter the user lets go of trigger button 2 and then 
inserts a fresh cassette 8 into the camera, all components will reassume 
the positions shown in the FIGURE. 
If no cassette 8 is present in the camera, the feeler 9 is held against 
stop 1a, and is displaced forwards, i.e., in the direction towards where 
film 7 would normally be, by a distance corresponding to the length of its 
slot 9a. As a result lever 46 is kept pushed back, out of the path of 
movement of holding edge 40b. In itself this is without significance 
because the trigger edge 40c is blocked by blocking edge 6a. If it is now 
desired to demonstrate the operation of the camera, e.g., to a potential 
purchaser, with no film cassette present in it, the user presses release 
member 2 and the sequence of operations described above will then occur in 
substantially the same way. The switch 21, 22 is kept closed, until 
completion of one rotation of crankwheel 38, by means of the lever 44 via 
the second triple-armed lever 42. Without performing an actual film 
transport the shutter unit 24 is triggered, the motor switches 18, 19, 
21-22 and 20 close in sequence, the motor operates, the shutter unit 24 is 
reset and the motor stops with the switches opening in sequence in the way 
already described. 
Because of the arrangement and cooperation of the components of the motor 
drive in the illustrated manner, the overall dimensions of a camera 
embodying the invention can be very much smaller than those known from 
conventional motor-driven still cameras. In fact, they need not exceed--or 
exceed at most very slightly--the overall dimensions of many manually 
operated still cameras using the same film format. 
Particularly advantageous is the fact that the motor 16 is located--as 
considered with reference to the optical axis of the camera--behind (i.e., 
forwardly relative to the front side of the camera) the take-up section 8b 
of film cassette 8. This permits the motor and the other components of the 
motor drive to be accommodated in the housing 1 in an especially 
space-saving manner. Also, the construction of all gears used in the drive 
as flat, essentially disk-shaped members, reduces the height required for 
the arrangement so that the camera housing can be rather flat. The same is 
true of the elements 9, 12, 40, 42 and 44 which control the operation of 
motor 16; since they are all flat slides or levers the combined space 
required for their installation (i.e., in vertical direction in the 
FIGURE) is equal to or smaller than the space required in the same 
direction by the gears 16a and 26-38, i.e., they do not add to the height 
of the camera. 
The batteries 17 are advantageously located at that side of the camera 
housing 1 in which the supply section 8a of the cassette 8 is 
accommodated--and which is remote from the motor-drive components and thus 
has available space for the accommodation of the batteries. It is 
especially favorable if, when the batteries 17 are of the rod-shaped 
cylindrical type as shown (e.g., type AAA) they are located laterally of 
the supply section 8a and their longitudinal axes extend parallel or 
substantially parallel to the optical axis of the camera. 
Due to the angular positioning of the various pivot axes and axes of 
rotation of the motor-drive components, as well as because of the 
dimensioning of the lengths and the positioning of the bearing locations 
for the components, the entire motor drive requires--as shown in the 
FIGURE--relatively little space lengthwise of the optical axis of the 
camera; instead, it extends parallel to the elongation of the cassette 8 
(i.e., of the camera housing 1). This means that the motor-drive 
arrangement makes the best possible use of the available space, in that 
its maximum dimension coincides with the maximum dimension of the 
available space, i.e., with the elongation of the camera housing. 
While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in a 
still camera of the "pocket type" and which uses cassette film, it is not 
intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications 
and structural changes may be made without departing in any way from the 
spirit of the present invention. 
Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of 
the present invention that others can, by applying current knowledge, 
readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, 
from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential 
characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention.