Selftimer on camera

A camera shutter equipped with a selftimer device has an interlocking member for coordinating the movement of the camera operating member and the selftimer device to obtain accurate operation of the shutter release member. The interlocking member has a first arm which engages with the operating member during movement thereof at the beginning portion of the shutter release motion and the operating member thereafter drives the interlocking member to a position in which the interlocking member actuates the selftimer device to initiate a timing operation. Near the end of the timing operation, the selftimer device engages with a second arm of the interlocking member and thereafter drives the interlocking member to another position during the course of which a translating lever mounted on the interlocking member actuates the shutter release member to initiate release of the shutter.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to a selftimer device on a camera, and more 
particularly to a selftimer device suitable to a single lens reflex camera 
wherein an image produced by incident rays through the lens and reflected 
by the mirror is observed in the viewfinder before actuating the shutter 
and the mirror is withdrawn upwardly before starting the shutter at the 
shutter releasing operation. 
In the conventional selftimer of this type, it is usual to provide two 
retaining hooks for retaining the shutter driving member at two different 
positions. When the selftimer is used, the shutter driving member is 
started by releasing the first retaining hook by shutter releasing motion 
or by the action of a member actuated by shutter releasing motion, then 
retained again by the second retaining hook after a fixed stroke. This 
fixed stroke of the shutter driving member serves as a signal to start the 
selftimer device. The second retaining hook is released at the final stage 
of operation of the selftimer device so that the shutter is started. 
According to this construction, variation of the speed of the shutter 
driving member due to different starting positions depending on use or not 
use of the selftimer device causes inaccurate shutter speed. Furthermore, 
this construction is disadvantageous in productivity and manufacturing 
cost because of the delicate mechanism employing the fractional stroke of 
the driving member as selftimer starting signal. 
An object of the present invention is to provide a selftimer device for a 
camera which overcomes the abovementioned drawbacks and disadvantages.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION 
FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate a first embodiment of the present invention. In 
FIG. 1 the selftimer is disenabled while in FIG. 2 the selftimer is 
charged and enabled. Referring to the drawings, an operating member 1 is 
moved within a fixed range during the shutter release motion. An 
interlocking lever 2 having three arms 2a, 2b and 2c is rotatably fitted 
on a pin 2d fixed on a translating lever 3 having two arms 3a and 3c, 
rotatably fitted on a pin 3b and strained counterclockwise by a spring 7f. 
A release member 4 starts the shutter operation. A first wheel 5 of the 
selftimer having a pin 5a is rotatably fitted on a pin 5b and strained 
clockwise by a spring 5f. A delay governor 6 is of well known 
construction. A stop lever 7 having a curved portion 7a, a cam portion 7b 
and an arm 7c, is rotatably fitted on a pin 7d and strained 
counterclockwise by a spring 7f retain the delay governor 6. 
First, explanation will be made of the motion of the aforesaid mechanism 
with the selftimer in its disenabled state. Starting from the state as 
shown in FIG. 1, the operating member 1 is moved in the direction shown by 
an arrow by the shutter releasing motion and pushes the interlocking lever 
2 at the arm 2a. The interlocking lever 2 rotates clockwise about the 
supporting point made up of the contact of the arm 2b and the pin 5a of 
the first wheel 5 and pushes the translating lever 3 clockwise by the pin 
2d so that the arm 3a of the translating member 3 pushes the release lever 
4 to start the operation of the shutter. The mechanism is reset to the 
initial state as shown by FIG. 1 by returning the operating member 1 to 
the initial position by the interlocking motion of film winding-up or by a 
shutter operation completion signal. 
Explanation will be made of the motion of the mechanism when the selftimer 
is enabled for operation. Starting from the state as shown in FIG. 2, the 
operating member 1 is moved in the direction shown by an arrow by the 
shutter releasing motion and pushes the interlocking lever 2 at the arm 
2a. Consequently, the interlocking lever 2 rotates clockwise about the pin 
2d so that the arm 2c pushes the stop lever 7 at the arm 7c turning the 
stop lever 7 clockwise to release the engagement of the curved portion 7a 
with the wheel 6d of the delay device 6, then the selftimer device is 
started because the first wheel 5 beings rotating clockwise by the spring 
force applied by the spring 5f under the speed control of the delay device 
6. When the pin 5a of the first wheel 5 comes into the final operating 
range after a predetermined selftimer operating time, the pin 5a pushes 
the interlocking lever 2 at the arm 2b to turn the interlocking lever 2 
counterclockwise about the supporting point made up of the contact of the 
arm 2a and the operating member 1 so that the translating lever 3 
connected with the interlocking lever 2 by the pin 2d is turned clockwise 
to start the shutter operation by pushing the shutter release member 4 by 
the arm 3a of the translating lever 3. The mechanism is reset to the 
initial state as shown by FIG. 1 by returning the operating plate 1 to the 
initial position by the interlocking motion of film winding-up or by a 
shutter operation completion signal. 
The engagement of the arm 3c of the translating lever 3 with the pin 5a of 
the first wheel 5 when the selftimer is charged prevents errorneous 
clockwise rotation, against the spring force applied by the spring 7f, of 
the translating lever supporting the interlocking lever 2 when the camera 
is shocked or vibrated or when the operating member 1 strikes violently 
against the interlocking lever 2. 
Furthermore, the distance between the arm 3a of the translating lever 3 and 
the operating member 1 being smaller than the distance between the arm 3a 
and the shutter releasing member 4, the arm 3a of the translating lever 3 
is prevented from errorneously pushing the shutter releasing member 4 
limited by the operating member 1 if the camera is shocked or vibrated. 
The signal motion to start the stop lever 7 turning clockwise may be 
performed by directly pushing the stop lever 7 with the operating plate 1. 
FIG. 3 illustrates a second embodiment of the present invention. The 
second embodiment is a partial modification of the first embodiment. The 
interlocking lever 2 and the translating lever 3 of the first embodiment 
are replaced with an interlocking lever 12 rotatably supported on a base 
plate (not shown) by means of a slot 12e and a pin 12d and a translating 
lever 13 additionally provided with a side portion 13d pushed by a side 
portion 12g of the interlocking lever 12, respectively. The performance of 
the second embodiment being substantially similar to that of the first 
embodiment, explanation will be omitted to avoid duplication. Although the 
interlocking lever 12 pushes the shutter release member 4 in the present 
embodiment, the shutter release member 4 may be pushed directly by the 
side portion 12g of the interlocking lever 12. 
As explained above, the selftimer device according to the present invention 
is constructed that the signal motion of the operating member 1 operated 
by the shutter releasing motion and the signal motion of the pin 5a of the 
selftimer are combined and converted into a single signal motion to 
actuate the shutter release member 4 for starting the shutter, therefore 
it has no deterimental effect on the operation of the shutter as compared 
with the conventional construction. Furthermore, the productivity is 
improved as the selftimer is started by a larger stroke of the actuating 
members thereby eliminating of sophisticated component parts. Still 
further, this invention provides a selftimer on a camera having excellent 
shock-proof or vibration-proof properties by the provision of arrangement 
of the interlocking lever 3 or 13 for pushing the shutter release member 4 
and the operating member 1 and arrangement of the pin 5a of the selftimer 
and the arm 3c of the translating lever 3 in the charged state of the 
selftimer.