APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING INITIALIZATION OF A FRAME COUNTER IN A CAMERA

Abstract: Apparatus for preventing initialization of a frame counter in a camera comprising a take-up spool (1) for winding succes­ sive convolutions of a filmstrip (F) onto the spool (1) and a frame counter (29 or 67) which when disabled is biased to be initialized to an original empty setting, characterized in that a film-on-spool sensor (43 or 51) is normally positioned in the absence of any film (F) on the take-up spool (1) in abutment against the spool (1) to sense that the spool (1) is empty and is moved away from the spool (1) by the first convolution (X) of film wound onto the spool (1), and a counter enabling device (23 or 65) is actuated in response to movement of the film-on-­ spool sensor (48 or 51) by the first convolution (X) of film wound onto the take-up spool (1) to enable the frame counter (29 or 67) to prevent its initialization. Thus, as long as any film (F) is wound on the take-up spool (1), the frame counter (29 or 67) is enabled and will not be initialized, regardless of whether a camera door is opened prematurely, for example, with the film only partially exposed. This allows the frame counter (29 or 67) to continue its frame count from the last numbered setting after the door is re-closed, should the photographer wish to use any unexposed frames remaining on the film.

Description: The invention relates generally to the field of photographic cameras and in particular to those cameras in which a take-up spool winds successive convolutions of a filmstrip onto the spool and a frame counter counts the number of frames exposed or remaining to be exposed on the filmstrip. As is known in the prior art relating to 35mm cameras, when the rear door of a camera is opened prematurely, for example, with the filmstrip only partially exposed, a frame counter of the camera will be automatically initialized to an original empty setting. This may be considered undesirable because the frame counter cannot continue its frame count from the last numbered setting after the door is re-closed, should the photographer wish to use any unexposed frames remaining on the filmstrip. Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide camera apparatus which prevents a frame counter from being initialized to its original empty setting in the event a camera door is opened prematurely, for example, with the filmstrip only partially exposed. This object is achieved pursuant to the invention by providing an apparatus as claimed in claim 1. Thus, as long as any film is wound on the take-up spool, the frame counter is enabled and will not be initialized, regardless of whether a camera door is opened prematurely, for example, with the film only partially exposed. This allows the frame counter to continue its frame count from the last numbered setting after the door is re-closed, should the photographer wish to use any unexposed frames remaining on the film. A preferred way and an alternate way of carrying out the invention are described below with reference to the drawings, wherein, FIG. 1 is a perspective view of camera apparatus including a frame counter for counting exposed or unexposed frames on a filmstrip and a film-on-spool sensor for preventing initialization of the counter whenever the filmstrip is wound on a take-up spool, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention; FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the frame counter and the film-on-spool sensor, showing their relative positions in the absence of a filmstrip on the take-up spool; FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the frame counter and the film-on-spool sensor, showing their relative positions with a filmstrip present on the take-up spool; and FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a frame counter and a film-on-spool sensor according to an alternate embodiment of the invention. The invention is disclosed as being embodied preferably in a 35 mm camera. Because the features of this type camera are well known, the description which follows is directed in particular to photographic elements forming part of or cooperating directly with the disclosed embodiment. It is to be understood however that other elements not specifically shown or described may take various forms known to persons of ordinary skill in the art. In the type of camera to be described those photographic elements shown in the drawings will be assigned successive reference numbers. Other photographic elements not shown in the drawings are well known or conventional and will not be assigned any reference numbers. Thus, in the description which follows, the absence of a reference number in connection with a mentioned element indicates that such element is not shown in the drawings. Referring now to the drawings and in particular to FIG. 1, there is shown certain elements of a 35 mm camera of the type in which a motorized film transport mechanism pre-winds substantially the entire length of a filmstrip F from a light-tight film cartridge C onto a take-up spool or drum 1 before any exposures are taken at an aperture 3. Then, after each exposure at the apeture 3 the filmstrip F is rewound one frame at a time into the cartridge C. This is done to protect the exposed frames on the filmstrip F in the event a rear door of the camera is accidentally or inadvertently opened prematurely, i.e., before the filmstrip is rewound completely into the cartridge. When the cartridge C is loaded in the camera, as shown in FIG.2, a leading end portion L of the filmstrip F is placed over a metering sprocket 5 to position one or more successive perforations P in the leading end portion in engagement with respective teeth 7 on the sprocket. Glosing the rear door of the camera actuates the motorized film transport mechanism to rotate the metering sprocket 5 in order to advance the leading end portion L of the filmstrip F onto the take-up spool 1. The take-up spool 1 has respective teeth 8 for engaging the successive perforations P in the leading end portion of the filmstrip F and is rotated by the motorized transport mechanism at a faster speed than the metering sprocket 5. A film tension responsive clutch de-couples the metering sprocket 5 from its rotational drive in response to the resulting pull on the filmstrip F caused by engagement of the leading end portion of the filmstrip to the faster rotating spool 1. Thereafter, the metering sprocket 5 operates in an idling capacity, that is, it is rotated by movement of the filmstrip F from the cartridge C onto the take-up spool 1. Even though a substantial length of the filmstrip F has been pre-wound onto the take-up spool 1, a trailing end portion of the filmstrip will remain attached to a supply spool within the cartridge C. The end of film condition during pre-winding is signaled by a sudden increase in film tension as the take-up spool 1 attempts to withdraw the reminder of the filmstrip from the cartridge. A tension sensing member responds to this increase in film tension by reversing the motorized transport mechanism to reverse rotation of the teake-up spool 1. The reversed transport mechanism pivots a gear or the like into driving relation with a rotation hub which engages the supply spool within the cartridge C. Then, after each exposure of a frame on the filmstrip F, the supply spool is rotated by the hub a sufficient angle to rewind the exposed frame into the cartridge C. At the same time, the take-up spool 1 is rotated to advance a fresh frame off the take-up spool. During rewinding movement of the filmstrip F from the take-up spool 1 into the cartridge C, the metering sprocket 5 governs the termination of film movement between successive frames on the filmstrip. After being rotated a single revolution by rewinding movement of the filmstrip F, the metering sprocket 5 closes a metering switch to discontinue film movement each time a fresh frame is positioned at the aperture 3. Film movement is resumed each time a shutter actuating button is released by the photographer, after the button has been depressed. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a coaxial shaft 9 connects the metering sprocket 5 and a metering gear 11 to enable the sprocket and the gear to rotate in unison. The metering gear 11 continuously engages an intermediate gear 13 which, in turn, continuously engages a pivot gear 15. The pivot gear 15 is supported for rotation about a pivot shaft 17 and continuously engages a counter gear 19. A swing plate 21 on which the pivot gear 15 and the counter gear 19 are disposed is supported on the shaft 17 for pivotal movement about the shaft without disengaging the pivot gear from the counter gear or the intermediate gear 13. A motion-transmitting or enabling member 23 is coaxially fixed on the counter gear 19 and has a single recess 25 for receiving successive peripheral teeth 27 of a counter disk 29 to periodically engage the single recess with the respective teeth. The counter disk 29 is rotatably mounted on the body of the camera and has thirty-six evenly spaced settings represented by the numbers "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, ... 36" imprinted on the disk. These numbers correspond to successive frames on the filmstrip F. An original empty setting of the counter disk 29 is represented by the letter "E" imprinted on the disk. This is to indicate that the camera is empty. When the cartridge C is loaded in the camera and the filmstrip F is pre-wound onto the take-up spool 1, the metering sprocket 5 is rotated by pre-winding movement of the filmstrip to increment the counter disk 29 from its original "E" setting to a maximum number setting, such as the "36" setting or a lesser number setting, to indicate the maximum number of unexposed frames on the filmstrip F. Conversely, as the filmstrip F is rewound into the cartridge C after each exposure, the metering sprocket 5 is rotated by rewinding movement of the filmstrip to decrement the counter disk 29 one setting at a time from its maximum number setting to indicate the remaining number of unexposed frames on the filmstrip. In operation, the metering sprocket 5, the gears 11, 13, 15, and 19, and the motion-transmitting member 23 are each rotated one revolution between successive frames. Normally, as shown in FIG. 2, a relatively light separating spring 31 urges the swing plate 21 to pivot in a counter-clockwise direction about the shaft 17 into abutment against a stop pin 33 on the body of the camera. This will cause the motion-transmitting member 23 to move out of its position against at least one of the peripheral teeth 27 of the counter disk 29 to thereby release the counter disk. Release of the counter disk 29 allows a relatively light initializing spring 35 to rotate the counter disk to reset the disk to its original "E" setting. A stop pin 37 on the underside of the counter disk 29 will contact a fixed pin 39 on the body of the camera to halt the counter disk at its "E" setting. When the motion-transmitting member 23 is in its position against at least one of the peripheral teeth 27 of the counter disk 29, the initializing spring 35 is not strong enough to rotate the counter disk. The means for moving the motion-transmitting member 23 to its position against at least one of the peripheral teeth 27 of the counter disk 29 is described below. The take-up spool 1 includes a relieved annular portion 41 on its peripheral edge having a smaller diameter than the remainder of the take-up spool. A film-on-spool sensor 43, integrally formed with the swing plate 21, includes a resiliently flexible sensing finger 45. As shown in FIG. 2, the separating spring 31 urges the swing plate 21 to position an idler roller 47 on a free end of the sensing finger 45 in abutment against the relieved annular portion 41 of the take-up spool 1. In this instance, the motion-transmitting member 23 is removed from its position against at least one of the peripheral teeth 27 of the counter disk 29. When the filmstrip F is initially wound onto the take-up spool 1, a longitudinal section X of the first convolution of the filmstrip will be spaced opposite the relieved annular portion 41. See FIG. 3. The idler roller 47 will ride on the longitudinal section X, thereby being separated from the relieved annular portion 41. This causes the sensing finger 45 of the film-on-spool sensor 43 to pivot the swing plate 21 in a clockwise direction about the shaft 17 until the motion-transmitting member 23 is returned to its position against at least one of the peripheral teeth 27 of the counter disk 29 If the rear door of the camera is accidentally or inadvertently opened when the filmstrip F is wound at least partly onto the take-up spool 1, the counter disk 29 will not be affected. The counter disk 29 remains enabled to provide a frame count as long as the motion-transmitting member 23 is in its position against at least one of peripheral teeth 27 of the counter disk. Thus, the counter disk 29 will remain at its numbered setting and the frame count may be continued after the rear door is re-closed. This allows the photographer to use any unexposed portion of the filmstrip F remaining on the take-up spool 1. In FIG. 4, there is shown an alternate embodiment of the invention in which like reference numbers and letters are used to indicate those elements previously described in connection with the preferred embodiment of the invention. According to the alternate embodiment, a film-on-spool sensor 51 is pivotally mounted on the body of the camera by a pivot pin 53 and includes a resiliently flexible sensing finger 55 and a resiliently flexible switching finger 57. A return spring 59 urges the film-on-spool sensor 51 to pivot in a counterclockwise direction about the pin 53 to position an idler roller 61 on a free end of the sensing finger 55 in abutment against the relieved annular portion 41 of the take-up spool 1 and to position a tab element 63 of the switching finger 57 spaced from a normally open counter enabling switch 65. The counter enabling switch 65 is connected to a known up-down counter 67, such as disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 4,021,828, and in its opened state disables the counter. The up-down counter 67 is biased to an initial setting, e.g., a zero setting, whenever it is disabled. When the filmstrip F is initially wound onto the take-up spool 1, the longitudinal section X of the first convolution of the filmstrip will be spaced opposite the relieved annular portion 41. The idler roller 61 will ride on the longitudinal section X, thereby being separated from the relieved annular portion 41, as shown in FIG. 4. This causes the film-on-spool sensor 51 to swing in a clockwise direction about the pivot pin 53 until the tab element 63 of the switching 58 closes the counter enabling switch 65 to enable the up-down counter 67. If the rear door of the camera is accidentally or inadvertently opened with the filmstrip F wound at least partly onto the take-up spool 1, the up-down counter 67 will not be disabled. The up-down counter 67 remains enabled as long as the film-on-spool sensor 51 is positioned to hold the counter enabling switch 65 closed. During prewinding and rewinding movement of the filmstrip F onto and off the take-up spool 1, a normally open metering switch 69 is closed once each time the metering sprocket 5 is rotated a single revolution. A cam 71 on a coaxial post 73 fixed to the metering sprocket 5 is provided to close the metering switch 69. When the metering switch 69 is closed, a known differentiating circuit 74, such as disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 4,021,828, produces an output pulse. The number of output pulses are counted by the up-down counter 67 and is decoded by a known decoder 75, such as disclosed in the cited patent. The decoder 75 is designed to drive a conventional liquid crystal display (LCD) 77 which indicates the number of successive frames moved past the aperture 3. Thus, during pre-winding movement of the filmstrip F, the up-down counter 67 will be incremented from an initial setting to a maximum number setting to cause the LCD 77 to indicate the maximum number of unexposed frames. Conversely, during rewinding movement of the filmstrip F, the up-down counter 67 will be decremented from the maximum number setting to cause the LCD 77 to indicate the remaining number of unexposed frames. The invention has been described with reference to preferred and alternate embodiments. However, it will be appreciated that variations and modifications can be effected within the ordinary skill in the art without departing from the invention as claimed. For example, a non-volatile memory may be used to store the pulse count in the preferred embodiment. Moreover, a separate sprocket having teeth engageable with successive perforations in the filmstrip may be used in place of the metering sprocket 5 to rotate the counter disk 23 in the preferred embodiment or to close the metering switch 69 in the alternate embodiment.

Claims: 1. Apparatus for preventing initialization of a frame counter to its empty setting in a camera comprising a take-up spool (1) for winding a strip of film (F) onto the spool (1) and a frame counter (29; 67), the apparatus comprising: a film-on-spool sensor (43; 51) being positioned in the absence of film (F) on the spool in abutment against the spool to sense the absence of film on the spool, and being spaced apart from the spool to sense film wound onto the spool; and a counter enabling device (23; 65) which when actuated enables the frame counter to count and when not actuated disables the frame counter to count, the counter enabling device being actuated in response to the film-on-spool sensor sensing film wound onto the spool; characterized in that means (35) are provided to initialize the frame counter (29; 67) to its empty setting when the frame counter is disabled, which initialization is prevented as long as film (F) wound onto the spool (1) is sensed by the film-on-spool sensor (43; 51) and in response thereto the enabling device (23; 65) is actuated. 2. Apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the counter enabling device includes a motion transmitting member (23) connected to a film engaging sprocket (5) for rotation in synchronization with rotation of the sprocket (5), the motion transmitting member (23) being separated from a rotatable counter disk (29) in the absence of film on the spool (1) to disable the frame counter hereby allowing its initialization but being moved into engagement with the counter disk (29) hereby preventing its initialization in response to the film-on-spool sensor (43) sensing film (F) wound onto the spool (1). 3. Apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that the motion transmitting member (23) and the film-on-spool sensor (43) are located on a common movable support (21) urged by a spring element (31) to separate the motion transmitting member (23) from the counter disk (29) and to abut the film-on-spool sensor (43) against the spool (1). 4. Apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the counter enabling device includes a counter switch (65) which is opened in the absence of film on the spool hereby allowing the frame counter initialization and is closed in response to the film-on-spool sensor (51) sensing film (F) wound onto the spool (1) hereby preventing the frame counter initialization. 5. Apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that a gear assembly (11, 13, 15, 19, 23, 25 and 27) drivingly couples a film engaging sprocket (5) in response to the film-on-spool sensor (43) sensing film (F) would onto the spool (1).

Inventors: MALLOY-DESORMEAUX, STEPHEN GIRARD
Applicants: EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY (A NEW JERSEY CORPORATION)
Application year: 1987
Main classification: G03B17
IPC codes: G03B1, G03B17