A photographic camera

Abstract: A photographic camera has a fork disposed in a cassette receiving chamber to be coupled to a spool core of a photographic film cassette. Photographic film from the photographic film cassette is wound on a take-up reel disposed in a photographic film take-up chamber. A magnetic head is disposed on a frame of an exposure aperture, and reads/writes data on a magnetic recording area of the photographic film. A brake pad applies load to the fork, and keeps the photographic film in such a tension as to ensure flatness during the one-frame feeding. A guide member is formed to project from an inner wall of the photographic film take-up chamber. When a photographic film leader is advanced into the photographic film take-up chamber, the photographic film leader is guided downstream from the take-up reel against a curling tendency.

Description: The present invention relates to a photographic camera provided with a photographic film transporting system according to the preamble part of claim 1. Such type of camera is known for example form EP-A-367 996. In a conventional photographic camera generally in use, an auto-loading mechanism is incorporated for making photographic film-loading easy, by which mechanism the leading end of a photographic film leader is automatically captured on a take-up reel in a photographic film take-up chamber. Before loading, the photographic film leader of the conventional photographic film cassette is maintained in a state in which it protrudes from a photographic film passage mouth of the cassette shell. The protruded photographic film leader is inserted together with the cassette shell in the camera, fed to the photographic film take-up chamber by the auto-loading mechanism, and captured on the take-up reel. A camera, in which photographic film provided with a magnetic recording area is used and which reads/writes data thereon, is known as disclosed in International Publications WO 90/04201 and 90/04202. This camera incorporates a magnetic head, which reads/writes data on the magnetic recording area while the photographic film is transported between the photographic film take-up reel and the photographic film cassette. Such data include photographic film data, e.g. type of photographic film, photographic sensitivity, numbers of frames and the like, as stored in a manufacturing process for use in taking photographs, and photo-taking data as written in photo-taking for use in making photoprints. There is known a photographic film cassette of which a photographic film leader does not protrude previously but contained in the cassette shell, and which is thus easily loaded in a camera, as disclosed in USP 4,832,275, 4,834,306 and 4,846,418. Rotation of a spool core by means of the fork of the camera in the direction of unwinding the photographic film causes the photographic film leader to advance to the outside of the cassette shell through the photographic film passage mouth. The cassette shell is provided with such means as annular ridges for preventing the roll of photographic film from loosening when rotating the spool core, which means transmits the rotary force of the spool core to the photographic film leader. Because the photographic film is kept wound in the roll in the conventional photographic film cassette, a strong tendency to curl remains in the photographic film even when unwound. The photographic film of the above-described type of photographic film cassette has such a curling tendency further in the photographic film leader in addition. Such curl in photographic film causes problems in the camera when the photographic film is advanced and transported. When the take-up reel is rotated to transport the photographic film, the fork is left free, whereas the former is left free when the latter is rotated to transport the photographic film. In the camera with this photographic film transporting system, the photographic film is flexed on lateral sides of the magnetic head due to the intermittent photographic film feeding. Difficulties might arise in reading/writing data adequately. As illustrated in Fig. 8, when advancing the photographic film leader of photographic film 3 toward a take-up reel 30 in the initial stage of photographic film transportation, the photographic film leader having a strong tendency to curl downward in Fig. 8 moves in a photographic film take-up chamber 73 along its inner wall upstream from the take-up reel 30. The leading end of the photographic film leader might fail to be captured on the take-up reel 30, making it impossible to load the camera with the photographic film of the leader-propelling photographic film cassette. From US-PS 4,855,773, a photographic camera is known, wherein rotation of a cassette film spool in an unwinding direction thrusts a film leader from the cassette interior to a take-up drum of the camera and rotation of the spool in a rewinding direction draws the leader back into the cassette interior. The film transport apparatus of the camera includes a bi-directional drive member having respective positions for effecting alternate one-way driving connections with the cassette spool to rotate the spool in the unwinding and rewinding directions in accordance with the rotational direction of a single bi-directional drive motor. The object of the present invention is to provide a photographic camera with an improved film transport system which is simple in structure and safe against failure during operation. This object is solved by a camera having the features of claim 1. In the camera according to the present invention, the photographic film can be kept flat in spite of a curling tendency, and is prevented from flexing even when being intermittently fed. The capability of storing data is improved by closer contact of the magnetic head with the photographic film. In accordance with a preferred embodiment, a guide member is provided in the camera to project from an inner wall of the photographic film take-up chamber for guiding the photographic film leader downstream from the take-up reel when the photographic film leader is advanced up to the photographic film take-up chamber. The photographic film leader can be reliably captured on a photographic film take-up reel automatically without interference of a curling tendency of the photographic film leader. The above object and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a camera and a photographic film cassette to be loaded therein; Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a photographic film transporting system and a data read/write system incorporated in the inventive camera; Fig. 3 is a side elevation, partially cut away, illustrating the photographic film cassette; Fig. 4 is a vertical section illustrating the photographic film cassette; Fig. 5 is an explanatory view illustrating photographic film of the photographic film cassette; Fig. 6 is a horizontal section illustrating a photographic film take-up chamber of an inventive camera according to another preferred embodiment; Fig. 7 is a horizontal section illustrating a photographic film take-up chamber according to still another preferred embodiment; and Fig. 8 is a horizontal section illustrating a photographic film take-up chamber of a conventional camera. In Fig. 1 illustrating a camera of the present invention and a photographic film cassette for use therewith, a camera body 21 is provided with an exposure aperture on the center, when a back door 20 is left open. A taking lens 23 is disposed in front of a frame 24 of the exposure aperture on the center. A pair of photographic film guide rails 25 and 26 are formed in upper and lower positions on the aperture frame 24. There is provided a photosensor 27 of a reflection type on the aperture frame 24, and counts perforations 12 (see Fig. 2) to detect an amount of feeding photographic film 3 (see Fig. 2). Beside the aperture frame 24 are formed a cassette receiving chamber 28 and a photographic film take-up chamber 29 in the camera body 21. The cassette receiving chamber 28 is loaded with a photographic film cassette 2, whereas the photographic film 3 is wound up in the photographic film take-up chamber 29. A photographic film take-up reel 30 is rotatably provided in the photographic film take-up chamber 29. A plurality of capture members 30a are formed on the cylindrical surface of the take-up reel 30 for arresting perforations of a photographic film leader fed from the cassette receiving chamber 28 out of the cassette shell 5. The photographic film cassette 2 consists of the photographic film 3, a spool core 4 with the photographic film 3 wound in a roll and a cassette shell 5 for containing the photographic film 3 in light-tight fashion. The cassette shell 5 is comprised of a pair of plastic shell halves 5a and 5b. The photographic film leader is fully wound up in the cassette shell 5 even in the unused state. The photographic film leader is propelled to the outside of the cassette shell 5 when the spool 4 is rotated to unwind it. A lower opening 31 of the cassette receiving chamber 28 is formed on the bottom of the camera body 21, through which opening 31 the photographic film cassette 2 is loaded in the cassette receiving chamber 28. It is noted that the back door 20 is open just largely enough to expose the lower opening 31, though shown to be open widely in Fig. 1 for the purpose of ease in understanding the structure of the camera body 21 visually. A fork 32, to be rotated by a motor later to be described, is disposed in the innermost surface of the cassette receiving chamber 28 for being engaged with the spool core 4 to rotate it. A cassette detecting switch 33 is provided near the fork 32 for detecting the photographic film cassette 2 as inserted in the cassette receiving chamber 28. A ridge 34 is formed on the cassette receiving chamber 28 for positioning the cassette shell 5. The back door 20 is provided with a pressure plate 35 well-known in the art. A magnetic head 37 is disposed on the back door 20 for recording and reproducing data on a magnetic recording area 14 on the photographic film 3 (see Fig. 2). The magnetic head 37 penetrates the pressure plate 35 through a hole therein and is to be in contact with the photographic film 3. A bottom portion 38 is formed integrally with the back door 20 for preventing outer light from entering the bottom of the camera body 21. The open/closed state of the back door 20 is detected by a back door switch 39 provided beside the cassette receiving chamber 28. A reference numeral 40 represents a shutter release button. Referring to Fig. 2 illustrating relevant circuits for photographic film transportation and magnetic recording. The fork 32 is driven by a motor 48 via a gear 46 and a clutch 47. A first brake pad 49 is in contact with the shaft of the fork 32. One end of the first brake pad 49 is engaged with a first solenoid 50, whereas its other end is biased by a spring 51. When the first solenoid 50 is driven, the first brake pad 49 is caused to apply load in friction to the fork 32 from 50 to 200 gf·cm, preferably 50 to 100 gf·cm. The take-up reel 30 is driven by the motor 48 via a gear 53 and a clutch 54. A second brake pad 57 is mounted on the take-up reel 30, of which brake pad one end is engaged with a second solenoid 55, and the other end is biased by a spring 56. The second brake pad 57 presses the take-up reel 30 to apply load of 50 to 200 gf·cm similar to the first brake pad 49. A controller 58 is provided to control the motor 48 and the solenoids 50 and 55, and is connected to a microcomputer 59 for controlling the relevant circuits of the camera. The cassette detecting switch 33, the back door switch 39 and the release button 40 are connected to the microcomputer 59 respectively via signal generators 60, 61 and 62. To the microcomputer 59 are connected a ROM 63 for storing a program of controlling the camera, a RAM 64 for provisionally storing data at the time of executing the control program, and a reading/writing circuit 65 for driving the magnetic head 37 to read/write data. The operation of the reading/writing circuit 65 is controlled by the microcomputer 59 both when winding up and when rewinding the photographic film 3. Figs. 3 and 4 illustrate the photographic film cassette for use with the above-described camera. Inside the cassette shell 5 are formed a pair of arcuate ridges 6a and 6b on the lateral surfaces along a portion of a circle and a pair of annular ridges 7a and 7b on the cylindrical surface. The annular ridges 7a and 7b are in contact with the outermost surface of the roll of photographic film 3 in order to prevent it from loosening. The arcuate ridges 6a and 6b press inwardly spool flanges 8a and 8b formed on the spool 4. The spool flanges 8a and 8b is caused to nip the lateral ends of the outermost turn so as to tighten the turns of photographic film 3 partially in the upstream position from a port portion 10 of the photographic film cassette 2. Separating claws 9 are formed integrally with the annular ridges 7a and 7b as illustrated in Fig. 3. The separating claws 9 are in contact with the leading end of the photographic film 3 during the first rotation in the unwinding direction, separates it from the roll of photographic film 3, and allows it to pass through a photographic film passage mouth 11 formed on the port portion 10 toward the outside. The port portion 10 is positioned on the ridge 34 of the cassette receiving chamber 28. In this photographic film cassette, the leading end of the photographic film 3 is propelled to the outside when the spool core 4 is rotated in the unwinding direction. In Fig. 5 illustrating the photographic film 3 to be exposed in the inventive camera, the perforations 12 well-known in the art is formed therein on the portions along lateral edges in the lengthwise arrangement. Along one of the lateral edges is formed a magnetic recording area 14 interior to the perforations 12 as indicated by the two-dot-dash lines. The magnetic recording area 14 is disposed to be outside image frames 15 to be recorded. Although disposed along one lateral edge of the photographic film 3, magnetic recording areas may also be formed along both lateral edges, or on the whole of one surface of the photographic film 3. If the magnetic recording area 14 is formed on the whole surface, it is necessary to form a magnetic recording layer from transparent material. The operation of the camera as constructed above is now described. When the back door 20 is closed with the photographic film cassette 2 loaded in the cassette receiving chamber 28, the signal generators 60 and 61 supply signals to the microcomputer 59, which outputs a drive signal to the controller 58 in accordance with the program in the ROM 63. The controller 58 controls the motor 48 to rotate in the normal direction and drives the clutches 47 and 54. In the wind-up direction or frame-by-frame-feeding direction, the motor 48 rotates the fork 32 via the clutch 47 and the gear 46 as well as the take-up reel 30 via the clutch 54 and the gear 53. When the fork 32 rotates the spool core 4, the photographic film leader is propelled out of the cassette shell 5, and slid on the guide rails 25 and 26 to reach the photographic film take-up chamber 29. As soon as the photographic film leader is captured on the take-up reel 30, the controller 58 stops driving the clutch 47 and set the fork 32 free. The controller 58 drives the first solenoid 50 to press the first brake pad 49 against the fork 32. Load is applied to the fork 32 to keep the photographic film 3 tense as the take-up reel 30 still rotates. Thus the photographic film 3 is kept flat. The magnetic recording area 14 is in good contact with the magnetic head 37. The data stored in the magnetic recording area 14 are read by the magnetic head 37 while the photographic film 3 is fed. A first frame to be exposed is set on the aperture frame 24 to stop the photographic film 3 from being fed frame by frame with the motor 48 stopped. The shutter release button 40 is depressed to take a photograph, before the microcomputer 59 supplies the controller 58 with a photo-taking end signal. The controller 58 drives the first solenoid 50 to press the first brake pad 49 against the fork 32, drives the motor 48 again in the normal direction, and drives the clutch 54. The take-up reel 30 is rotated in the feeding direction to feed the photographic film 3 frame by frame. The first brake pad 49 keeps the photographic film 3 so tense as to be in good contact with the magnetic head 37. The read/write circuit 65 writes photo-taking data on to the magnetic recording area 14 via the magnetic head 37 during the period of feeding one frame. Taking a photograph and writing photo-taking data is successively repeated. When last photo-taking data are written, the microcomputer 59 supplies the controller 58 with a photographic film rewinding signal. With the photographic film rewinding signal supplied, the controller 58 drives the second solenoid 55 to press the second brake pad 57 against the take-up reel 30. The controller 58 drives the motor 48 to rotate in the reverse direction and drives the clutch 47. The fork 32 is rotated in the rewinding direction. The photographic film 3 as rewound is kept tense so that the magnetic head 37 is in good contact with the magnetic recording area 14. The read/write circuit 65 can read the data written while feeding the photographic film 3 out of the magnetic recording area 14 via the magnetic head 37. The photographic film 3 can be checked according to the data as stored, whereas end faces of the rewound roll of photographic film 3 are neatly flattened. When the photographic film 3 is rewound up to the photographic film leader, the motor 48 is stopped. It is noted that it may be after passing one frame on the magnetic head 37 to drive the read/write circuit 65 to provide the magnetic recording area 14 with data of the passed one frame with an image recorded. The inventive construction of the present camera is also applicable to a camera for use with a photographic film cassette of which the photographic film leader is beforehand protruded from the cassette shell. Referring to Fig. 6 illustrating a photographic film take-up chamber such that the photographic film leader is reliably captured on the take-up reel, the rear gap of a photographic film take-up chamber 70 is formed to be narrow by forming a guide member 71 on the side portion of the aperture frame 24. Let a line L be parallel to the optical axis of the taking lens 23 (see Fig. 2) and vertically intersect the axis of the take-up reel 30. Let a line R be parallel to the line L and pass through the end of the guide member 71. The desirable interval D between the lines L and R is 5 mm at most. The guide member 71 may also project rightward over the line L. The photographic film leader as slid on the guide rails 25 and 26 is prevented from being involved in the spacing upstream from the take-up reel 30. Although the guide member 71 is formed on the side portion of aperture frame 24 integrally, instead a filmy tongue 72 may be fixed thereon to guide the photographic film leader in Fig. 7. For the filmy tongue 72, the rightward ends of the guide rails 25 and 26 are retracted so that the filmy tongue 72 is fixed on the area adjacent to the retracted ends, on which area the upper surface of the filmy tongue 72 is no higher than the top of the guide rails 25 and 26. Instead of the guide member 71 formed on the side portion of the aperture frame 24 and the filmy tongue 72 fixed thereon, such a member may also be formed or fixed on the inner wall of the photographic film take-up chamber 70 upstream from the take-up reel 30. When the spool core 4 is rotated to unwind the roll of photographic film 3 in the camera, the photographic film leader is propelled and advanced through the photographic film passage mouth 11 toward the take-up reel 30. The photographic film leader slides on the aperture frame 24 until the photographic film take-up chamber 70. In passing on the aperture frame 24, photographic film curl of the photographic film leader is flattened by the pressure plate 35 disposed face to face with the guide rails 25 and 26, so as to slide the photographic film straight. When the photographic film leader is transported to the photographic film take-up chamber 70, it curls toward the front side of the camera, when the leading end reaches the portion on the rotating take-up reel 30 of capturing it, or the downstream portion on the surface of the take-up reel 30. The capture members 30a then capture the perforations 12. Reading/writing the data is performed both when feeding and when rewinding the photographic film 3 in the above embodiment. However, it may be performed only when feeding the photographic film frame by frame, i.e. when transporting it in one of the two directions. In a general camera, to be precise, data may be read/written while the take-up reel winds the photographic film 3 frame by frame in the forward transporting direction, which camera is provided with one brake pad on the fork. In a camera of a prewind type in which the whole photographic film is prewound on the take-up reel and drawn in the cassette shell frame by frame for exposure, data may be read/written while the fork winds the photographic film frame by frame in the rewinding direction in the camera, which camera is provided with one brake pad on the take-up reel. Although the solenoids are engaged with the brake pads for bringing them in contact with the fork and the take-up reel in the above embodiment, no solenoid may be used so that the brake pads are in constant contact with the fork and the take-up reel, which brake pads are regulated to apply load of 50 to 200 gf·cm (preferably 50 to 100 gf·cm) when the fork and the take-up reel rotate. Further, when the take-up reel is rotated to feed the photographic film 3, the take-up reel is provided with load by subjecting the fork to a rotary drive of a low speed. Although the magnetic recording is used to read/write data, optical recording may be used instead. Although the back door of the present camera is constructed to be openable to expose the cassette receiving chamber and the photographic film take-up chamber, yet the present invention is applicable to a camera as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2-195335 in which a side door instead of the back door is formed to be openable to expose only the cassette receiving chamber. Although the present invention has been fully described by way of the preferred embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, various changes and modifications will be apparent to those having skill in this field. Therefore, unless otherwise these changes and modifications depart from the scope of the present invention, they should be construed as included therein.

Claims: A photographic camera in which a photographic film take-up chamber (29) and a cassette receiving chamber (28) are disposed on the lateral sides of a frame (24) of an exposure aperture, a fork (32) is disposed in said cassette receiving chamber (28) for being coupled to a spool core (4) of a photographic film cassette (2) inserted therein, and a take-up reel (30) is disposed in said photographic film take-up chamber (29) for winding thereon photographic film (3) drawn out of said photgraphic film cassette (2), said photographic camera further comprising: a recording head (37) disposed between said photographic film take-up chamber and said cassette receiving chamber for reading or writing data on said photographic film; a first drive system (48,53,54) for rotating said take-up reel (30) in order to wind up said photographic film (3) drawn out of said photographic film cassette (2) around said take-up reel (30); a second drive system (46,47,48) for rotating said spool core (4) via said fork (32) in order to rotate said spool core (4) in a winding direction so as to wind up said photographic film (3) from said take-up reel (30) into said photographic film cassette (2); characterized by a first brake member (49) selectively actuatable by an actuator (50) for applying a brake load to said fork (32) when the photographic film is wound on said take-up reel (30) in order to keep said photographic film in such a predetermined tension as to ensure flatness of said film during one-frame feeding. The photographic camera as claimed in claim 1, wherein said recording head is a magnetic head (37), which reads or writes said data on a magnetic recording area provided on said photographic film (3). The photographic camera as claimed in claim 2, wherein said magnetic head (37) is mounted on a back door (20), which can be opened or closed when said photographic film cassette (2) is loaded. The photographic camera as claimed in claim 3, wherein said data written on said photographic film (3) include data for use in making photoprints. The photographic camera as claimed in at least one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a photographic film leader of said photographic film cassette (2) to be loaded is propelled out of said photographic film cassette (2) when said spool core (4) is rotated in an unwinding direction. The photographic film camera as claimed in claim 5, wherein said second drive system rotates said spool core (4) in said unwinding direction during a photographic film initial advance before said photographic film leader is captured on said take-up reel (30) while said first drive means causes wind up of said photographic film (3) around said take-up reel (30). The photograpic camera as claimed in at least one of claims 1 to 6, wherein said first drive system winds up said photographic film (3) before exposure around said take-up reel (30), and said second drive system executes one-frame feeding by being operated upon exposing one respective frame. The photographic camera as claimed in claim 7, wherein said first drive system executes said one-frame feeding by being operated upon exposing one respective frame, and said second drive system is operated upon completing exposure of all frames to wind up said photographic film (3) after exposure into said photographic film cassette (2). The photographic camera as claimed in at least one of claims 1 to 8, further comprising control means (58) for controlling said recording head (37), said first and second drive systems (46,47,48,53,54) and said actuator (50). The photographic camera comprising at least the features of claim 2, wherein said magnetic recording area is formed on said photographic film between said image frames and perforations of said photographic film (3). The photographic camera comprising at least the features of claim 3, wherein said back door (20) covers a rear side and a bottom side of said camera, and said cassette receiving chamber (28) is uncovered to said bottom side so as to receive said photographic film cassette (2) when said back door (20) is open. The photographic camera as claimed in at least one of claims 1 to 11, further comprising a second brake member (57) selectively actuatable by another actuator (55) for applying a brake load to said take-up reel (30) when said photographic film is wound from the take-up reel (30) into said film cassette (2). The photographic camera comprising at least the features of claim 2, wherein said magnetic head writes data onto said magnetic recording area during feeding when the film is wound on the take-up reel (30) and reads data therefrom during photographic film rewinding. A photographic camera according to at least one of claims 1 to 13 characterized by further comprising: a guide member (71) for guiding said photographic film (3) leader toward a side downstream from said take-up reel (30) against a curling tendency of said photographic film leader when said photographic film leader is advanced up to said photographic film take-up chamber, said guide member (71) being integrally formed with the inner wall of said photographic film take-up chamber (29) such that an aperture being formed therein for inserting the film is narrowed, thereby preventing the film from being inserted in the chamber on the upstream side of the take-up reel. The photographic camera as claimed in claim 14, wherein said aperture in the take-up chamber (29) is substantially U-shaped in cross-section, and has two side walls each opposing one of the upstream and downstream sides of the take-up reel respectively, said guide member projecting from the upper end of the side wall opposing the downstream side of the take-up reel and extending perferably 5 mm in a plane perpendicular to the plane in which the side wall extends.

Inventors: KATAOKA HIDEAKI, KITAGAWA KIICHIRO, KATAOKA, HIDEAKI, KITAGAWA, KIICHIRO, KATAOKA, HIDEAKI, C/O FUJI PHOTO FILM CO., LTD., Kitagawa, Kiichiro, c/o Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd.
Applicants: FUJI PHOTO FILM CO LTD, FUJI PHOTO FILM CO., LTD.
Application year: 1992
Main classification: G03B17
IPC codes: G03B17