Accessible lamp for a camera

To simplify the replacement of an auxiliary lamp installed in a lamp case inside a camera lamp, such as a built-in strobe, a modular quick-release assembly is used. A lamp case holds the auxiliary lamp and is installed within a holder as a unit coupled to a camera body. On the front end of this holder, a removable protective panel positioned in front of the auxiliary lamp is removably attached by a screw or elastic fastener. The lamp case is secured within the lamp by being held between the front end of the holder and the protective panel. Thus, replacement or repair can be accomplished by simply removing the protective panel from the holder and pulling out the lamp case that holds the auxiliary lamp.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to a camera lamp having an auxiliary lamp 
assembly for preventing the "red-eye phenomenon" applied to a strobe light 
emitting component used for flash photography on various cameras. 
2. Description of Related Art 
A conventional camera lamp is shown in FIG. 6, which is a partial cross 
section of a lamp 2 used as a strobe on a built-in strobe-type single-lens 
reflex camera. A top cover 1 of the main body of a camera is partially 
shown in the drawing. Lamp 2 is attached to the front surface of top cover 
1 by a pivotal joint or other similar connection (not shown) in such a 
manner that it can be freely moved up or down as shown by the double 
headed arrow in FIG. 6. Lamp 2 can be switched between a flash photography 
ready position when it raised upwardly and a stored position, in which it 
is lowered into an indentation on the front side of top cover 1. FIG. 6 
shows lamp 2 in the stored condition. 
A holder 3 that forms the main body of lamp 2 is supported on a shaft (not 
shown) that allows holder 3 to rotate relative to top cover 1. A strobe 
cover 4 is affixed to the top side of holder 3 and encases the internal 
components of lamp 2, which includes a main lamp such as a xenon tube used 
as a strobe light emitting device with a reflecting umbrella that supports 
the xenon tube (not shown). 
An auxiliary lamp 5 acts as an illumination mechanism that irradiates in 
advance of the strobe light emission to alleviate the "red eye phenomenon" 
known to occur in flash photography. Auxiliary lamp 5 is set into and held 
by a holding socket 6a of lamp case 6, which is fastened by a screw 8 to a 
partition 3a that is attached to the inside of holder 3. 
A reflector 6b that reflects irradiated light from auxiliary lamp 5 is 
positioned in holding socket 6a of lamp case 6. Lead lines 5a and 5b 
connect auxiliary lamp 5 with a regulating circuit (not shown) as known. 
A transparent protective panel 7 made of light permeable material is 
positioned as a protector at the front side of auxiliary lamp 5, which is 
used for the "red eye" alleviation. Transparent protective panel 7 also 
covers a xenon tube (not shown), which forms the main lamp embodied as a 
strobe light emitting component. The main lamp is held in the space formed 
by holder 3 and strobe cover 4. Protective panel 7 contains a lens portion 
7a for focusing the irradiated light from auxiliary lamp 5. 
With lamp 2 thus constructed, lamp case 6, which holds auxiliary lamp 5 for 
alleviating the "red eye phenomenon" is attached to holder 3, as described 
below 
Two holes are formed into an attachment piece 6c, which extends from a 
portion of lamp case 6. One of these holes connects with a protuberance 3b 
that protrudes from partition 3a of holder 3. Lamp case 6 is affixed to 
holder 3 by a screw 8 that passes through the other hole into partition 
3a. 
With prior art lamp 2 constructed as described above, auxiliary lamp 5 is 
small. As a result, depending on the conditions during photography, the 
filament of auxiliary lamp 5 may break easily. Hence, it is necessary to 
make auxiliary lamp 5 easily replaceable so that it may be serviced. To 
replace auxiliary lamp 5, strobe cover 4 must be removed from lamp 2 to 
expose holder 3. Then, screw 8 must be unfastened and lamp case 6 removed 
to gain access to auxiliary lamp 5. 
However, strobe cover 4 described above cannot be removed from lamp 2 
without being removed from the camera body. Thus, the operations of 
disassembly and reassembly require extensive labor and time. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
In this regard, it is an object of the present invention to provide a lamp 
for a single-lens reflex camera with a built-in strobe in which the lamp, 
comprising a main lamp and an auxiliary lamp, in the interior of the 
camera may be accessed for service easily and quickly. 
To satisfy this and other objects that will become apparent with this 
disclosure, the lamp for a camera according to this invention comprises a 
lamp case that holds an auxiliary lamp, a holder that holds the lamp case 
and is secured to the side of the camera body, and a light permeable 
protective panel positioned to cover the front surface side of the 
auxiliary lamp on the front end side of the holder. The lamp case is held 
in place by being pressed between the holder and the protective panel. The 
protective panel is removable and is fastened to the front end side of the 
holder component by a screw or by a fastener that utilizes elastic force. 
According to the present invention, the lamp case can be removed from the 
device along with the auxiliary lamp, which is held by the lamp case, by 
removing the screw or fastening mechanism and removing the protective 
panel from the holder. Thus, the auxiliary lamp can be easily replaced or 
repaired.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
An embodiment of the camera lamp according to the present invention is 
described hereafter, with reference to FIG. 1 through FIG. 4. In the 
figures, components that are identical or similar to components in FIG. 6 
described above are labelled with the same reference numbers; hence, a 
detailed explanation is omitted. 
Any suitable illumination mechanism, such as a lamp with a main strobe-type 
lamp and an auxiliary "red-eye" lamp, can be used in this invention. In 
the first embodiment, an example is shown in which lamp 102 has a built-in 
strobe. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, lamp 102 is installed on the top end of 
a pentagonal prism portion 1a that bulges out from the center of a top 
cover 1 affixed to the top of a camera body 21 of a single-lens reflex 
camera. Lamp 102 can freely lift or retract Similar to lamp 2 described in 
FIG. 6. As seen in FIG. 4, lamp 102 has a protective panel 12 with a lens 
12a. 
Best seen in FIGS. 1-3, a holder 11 holds the light emitting portion of an 
auxiliary lamp 5. The light emitting portion of auxiliary lamp 5 is the 
portion that faces outwardly toward protective panel 12 behind lens 12a. 
Auxiliary lamp 5 emits light in advance of the flash from a strobe light 
emitting component 30 and the strobe light associated therewith, referred 
to in short as a strobe, to alleviate the known "red eye phenomenon." As 
seen in FIG. 3, holder 11 is rotatably supported by a pin 50 on top cover 
1 of camera body 21. In addition, holder 11 holds strobe 30 and is covered 
by strobe cover 4 that overlaps top cover 1 of camera body 21. The front 
surface side of the interior space between holder 11 and strobe cover 4 is 
covered by protective panel 12, which is preferably a light permeable 
synthetic resin or other suitable transparent or translucent material. 
In FIG. 4, lamp 102 is shown in the operating position, raised from the 
concave portion of top cover 1 so strobe 30 and auxiliary lamp 5 face 
outwardly. FIG. 1 shows lamp 102 in the retracted non-operating position. 
A release operating button 22 and a bayonet mount 23 for the installation 
of a photo lens are located on camera body 21, as seen in FIG. 4. Other 
various known mechanisms, components, and operating means necessary on 
this type of camera are appropriately attached. 
According to this invention, auxiliary lamp 5 and lamp case 10 operate to 
alleviate the "red eye phenomenon" by irradiating the object to be 
photographed prior to the flash of strobe 30. Holder 11 holding auxiliary 
lamp 5 installed in lamp case 10 is attached to strobe cover 4. Protective 
panel 12 is positioned to cover the front surface side of auxiliary lamp 5 
at the front end of holder 11. Lamp case 10 is held by being pressed 
between holder 11 and removable protective panel 12, which is removably 
attached to the front end side of holder 11 by a screw 20, as shown in 
FIG. 1 through FIG. 4. In distinction from the prior art shown in FIG. 6, 
no fastener or other fastening mechanism secures lamp case 10 to holder 
11. Thus, lamp case 10 is freely supported within holder 11 and is 
prevented from becoming detached therefrom by removable protective panel 
12. 
Lamp case 10 is formed with a barrel shape that has a larger diameter at 
one end. Holder 11 has a stepped socket 11a that mates with and receives 
lamp case 10, as shown in FIG. 1 through FIG. 3. Lamp case 10 is freely 
supported by stepped socket 11a without any additional fasteners. 
Auxiliary lamp 5 is installed into an interior holding socket 10a of lamp 
case 10. 
Socket 11a has concave cut-out portions 11b formed in at least two places 
on the protective panel 12 side of the opening end of socket 11a on holder 
11 to allow lamp case 10 to be gripped and removed from socket 11a when 
protective panel 12 is removed. 
In addition, holder 11 has a flat surface 11f that faces downward when lamp 
102 is in the stored position inside the concave portion of top cover 1. 
Protective cover 12 is formed so that the upper end of protective cover 12 
connects with strobe cover 4 with a tongue and groove type connection 14 
and the lower end contacts with flat surface 11f. Protective cover 12 is 
fastened by screws 20 to flat surface 11f of holder 11. Through this type 
of fastening with screws 20, the removal of lamp case 10, installed from 
the front side and held by socket 11a of holder 11, is controlled by 
protective panel 12. 
As is made clear from FIG. 1 and FIG. 3, lamp case 10 along with auxiliary 
lamp 5, is removed from lamp 102 in a forward diagonal direction by 
removing screws 20 in the downward direction and then moving protective 
panel 12 in the downward direction to release the tongue and groove 
connection 14. Such removal is extremely easy, and a difficult and complex 
operation is not required to remove strobe cover 4, as in the prior art. 
This enables auxiliary lamp 5 to be easily and quickly replaced or 
repaired. 
Lead lines 5a and 5b at the rear end of auxiliary lamp 5 described above, 
as seen in FIG. 2, are sufficiently long to allow auxiliary lamp 5 to be 
pulled out for replacement or repair. Further, an extra wire is stored 
inside holder 11 and strobe cover 4 for easy repair if needed. When 
replacing auxiliary lamp 5 as described above, lead lines 5a and 5b can be 
removed from auxiliary lamp 5 while lamp case 10 is in the withdrawn 
position and a separate modular lamp case 10 holding a new auxiliary lamp 
5 can be connected to lines 5a and 5b. 
Obviously, after lines 5a and 5b are connected, the replacement or repair 
is completed by inserting lamp case 10 into holding socket 11a of holder 
11 and fastening protective panel 12 in place with screws 20. 
The other components of the above-mentioned builtin strobe used as lamp 102 
are constructed as shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3. 
In simple terms, strobe 30 comprises a xenon tube 31 and a reflection 
umbrella 32 that supports xenon tube 31 and gathers and reflects light 
from the flash of xenon tube 31 to the object being photographed. Xenon 
tube 31 and reflection umbrella 32 are assembled as a single component 
positioned adjacent to holding socket 11a and are covered by protective 
panel 12. 
As seen in FIG. 3, pin holes 11c and 11d in holder 11 accommodate screws 
104 and 101, respectively, to pivotally secure lamp 102 to camera body 21. 
Preferably, an E-ring 103, seen used with screw 101, or other similar 
securement mechanism is used to achieve a rotatable connection. At least 
one of the screws, for example screw 101 as seen in FIG. 3, has a passage 
therethrough for electrical wiring. Alternatively, holder 11 can be 
secured by a snap-fit coupling arrangement. Strobe cover 4 is secured to 
holder 11 by screws 100. 
with the present invention, protective panel 12 is formed as one piece with 
a portion of protective panel 12 positioned over strobe 30 and lens 12a 
positioned over auxiliary lamp 5, as seen in FIG. 4. Thus, the number of 
components of lamp 102 is kept to a minimum. Accordingly, the components 
are more easily processed, are more easily assembled, and are lower in 
cost. Finally, the entire lamp 102 can be constructed with a better 
overall appearance. 
FIG. 5 shows another embodiment of a lamp 202. With this embodiment, a 
portion of removable protective panel 112 is fastened to holder 111 by an 
elastic catch 40 that is used in place of screws 20 described above. 
Elastic connecting catch 40 extends outwardly from an edge of protective 
panel 112. Catch 40 is freely removable and attachable to a connecting 
hole 41 formed in a partition 11e of holder 111. A slot 42 extends 
upwardly into holder 111 to form partition 11e as a flexible finger. Below 
connecting hole 41 is a ramp 43. Protective panel 112 is easily assembled 
by connecting tongue and groove connection 14 and snapping catch 40 into 
connecting hole 41 by sliding catch 40 up ramp 43. Similarly, catch 40 may 
be easily unfastened by bending partition 11e of holder 111 toward the 
left side as seen in FIG. 5 to allow catch 40 to be released from 
connecting hole 41 and slide down ramp 43. 
With this type of construction, the outward appearance of illumination 
device 202 can be made more clean and attractive, and protective cover 112 
can be quickly snapped in and out of place. 
The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, 
and the shape, construction, etc. of each part that comprises lamps 102 
and 202 may be modified or changed as appropriate. 
For example, with the embodiments described above, transparent protective 
panels 12 and 112 are formed from a light permeable synthetic resin. 
However, the present invention is not limited to this application, and any 
type of light permeable material may be used. 
In addition, the present invention is not limited to use with the built-in 
strobe-type single-lens reflex camera described in the embodiments above, 
but may also be applied with demonstrable effect to lamps such as a 
detachable strobe or any other illumination device on a suitable camera. 
While this invention has been described in conjunction with specific 
embodiments thereof, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications 
and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, 
the preferred embodiments of the invention as set forth herein are 
intended to be illustrative, not limiting. Various changes may be made 
without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as derinca in 
the following claims.