Abstract:
A camera body consists of a main body, a front cover, and a rear cover. A cylindrical battery chamber with its back open is mounted on the main body. A battery for supplying electricity to each electric circuit is loaded into the battery chamber. Inside of the battery chamber has a negative contact member and a positive contact member. The negative contact member has an arm, which brings in contact with the inner wall of the front cover electrically. The front cover has conductivity and functions as a ground. As the negative pole of the battery is connected to the front cover of large volume, the electric circuit is not affected by electrostatic noise, to cause malfunction.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    The present invention relates to a camera, more particularly relates to a camera whose electric circuit is not affected by electrostatic noise.  
           [0003]    2. Explanation of the Prior Arts  
           [0004]    Most of the cameras that have been put on the market are provided with an automatic focusing device, an motor driven zoom device, an automatic wind device and so forth, which are controlled by respective electric circuits. Each electric circuit often generates electrostatic noise by electrostatic induction from outside of the camera. When the electrostatic noise occurs, the device malfunctions or, possibly, becomes incontrollable. To prevent the effect of the electrostatic noise, a negative pole of a battery or an earth line of an electric circuit for driving the electric circuit are connected to a conductive and large-volume member.  
           [0005]    According to the camera as mentioned in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No.11-174550, for instance, a cover covering a main body with a taking mechanism is made from conductive aluminum. A flexible board on which the electric circuit is mounted is screwed on the cover so as to contact with a conductive pattern of the flexible board. The conductive pattern is connected with the earth line of the electric circuit.  
           [0006]    The flexible board is disposed close to the aluminum cover in the camera. Therefore, by screwing them down, it is electrically possible to contact the earth line of the electric circuit with the cover.  
           [0007]    In case the electric circuit is formed on the hard circuit board such as an epoxy plastic, however, it is difficult to connect the circuit board with the cover electrically. Although it is possible to attach the flexible board for connecting with the circuit board, the flexible board is expensive, which causes a cost increase in camera.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0008]    An object of the present invention is to provide a camera that can connect a negative pole of a battery to a cover having a ground function.  
           [0009]    Another object of the present invention is to provide a camera that has simple structure and can prevent from generating an electrostatic noise in an electric circuit.  
           [0010]    To attain the above objects and the other object, a battery contact member which contacts with the negative pole of the battery forms an arm for touching with the inner wall of a cover. The cover has conductivity and covers at least a part of a main body incorporating a taking mechanism. The battery contact member is made of a metal sheet and the arm contacts with the cover by its elasticity.  
           [0011]    The top of the main body has a battery chamber, to which the battery contact member is secured. The arm of the battery contact member that extends towards the cover in slanting state. The tip part of the arm is bended to form a contact part. As the tip of the arm is lowered down so as to keep away from the cover, it is unlikely to strike the edge of the cover while attaching the cover. When the contact part is pushed by the cover member, the arm is elastically deformed. Consequently an appropriate contact pressure is applied to contact the contact part with the cover member. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0012]    The above and other objects, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments when read in association with the accompanying drawings, which are given by way of illustration only and thus are not limiting the present invention:  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 1 is an exterior perspective view illustrating a camera of the present invention;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a camera illustrated by FIG. 1;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 3 is an exploded view of structure of a battery chamber;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view of an essential part of camera of the present invention; and  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 5 is a transverse sectional view of an essential part of camera of the present invention.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0018]    In FIGS. 1 and 2, a camera  10  consists of a camera body  11 , and a zoom lens device  13  having a taking lens  12 . The camera body  11  is constituted of a main body  17 , and a front cover  18  and a rear cover  19  that are mounted on the main body  17 . The rear cover  19  is made from plastics in consideration of lightweight. And the front cover  18 , which uses lightweight and conductive material such as aluminum alloy, is shaped by pressing.  
         [0019]    The main body is attached to the taking mechanism, such as a finder unit  14 , a flash projector  15 , a shutter mechanism, a film advance mechanism and so forth. The finder unit  14  consists of a finder optical system and a distance measuring optical system. The zoom lens device  13  is supported by the main body  17 .  
         [0020]    There are an opening  20  for exposing a liquid crystal panel and other openings for exposing a finder eyepiece lens, a power switch, a zoom switch and so forth on the rear cover  19 . A battery chamber lid  22  is attached swingably to the top of the rear cover  19  and a loading lid  24  for a film cartridge chamber  23  is attached to the bottom of the rear cover  19 . A battery chamber  25  for storing a battery  21  is attached to the upper right part of the main body  17 .  
         [0021]    A bulge  26  for containing the finder unit  14  is formed at the top center part of the rear cover  19 . A window for exposing the finder eyepiece lens and an operation member  27  for switching a finder view frame are mounted on the rear of the rear cover  19 . A numeral  28  is a protective cover made from transparent plastics for protecting the liquid crystal panel and is attached to the rear cover  19  by an adhesive. Of the rear cover  19 , three points of the rear, the bottom, and the right are respectively fixed to the main body  17  by screw  30  and  31 , and a coupling screw  32 . The inside of the rear and the bottom is touched to fix with the outside of the main body  17 .  
         [0022]    The rear cover  19  has an opening portion  34  for storing the main body  17 . A periphery of the opening portion  34  have engaging projections  35  having a hole. Since pins (not shown) fixing on the front cover  18  insert through holes of the engaging projection  35 , the front cover  18  is connected with the rear cover  19 . The front of the front cover  18  has an opening portion  38  through which the zoom lens device  13  moves forth and backward, and a cutout portion  39  for placing a diffusion plate  15   a  of the flash projector  15 . Also a finder cover  40  and a grip projection  41  are fixed on the front cover  18 . The grip projection  41  is arranged so that fingertips would be securely put on holding the left part of the camera body  11  with right hand. In addition to that, though the grip projection  41  is made by plastic-forming, it is preferred to be plated with metal in order to have a unified feeling with the front cover  18 .  
         [0023]    The cutout portion  39  is cut out in succession from the front to the top in accordance with the shape of the flash projector  15 . A flash cover  42  is attached to the top of the flash projector  15 . When the flash projector  15  is in a storage position, the top of the flash projector  15  is covered by the flash cover  42 . The flash cover  42  is, like the front cover  19 , formed by press-forming of aluminum alloy.  
         [0024]    The finder cover  40  is made from transparent plastics and covers the finder unit  14 . The light-shielding film is partly put on the finder cover  40  from backward. As a result, the parts which are not relative to the finder object lens and an optical system for measuring distance are light-shielded, making the inside of the camera body  11  invisible.  
         [0025]    The top of the front cover  18  has a shutter button  43 . The left side of the front cover  18  includes a loading lid lever  44  for operation upon opening and closing the loading lid  24 , and a strap holder  45  for attaching a strap. And the other side of the right side has a connecting portion  46  that connects with the rear cover  19  and the main body  17 . When the loading lid lever  44  is slid down, the loading lid  25  is opened. In case a photographic film is pulled from the film cartridge in the cartridge chamber  23 , the loading lid lever  44  is locked to prevent the loading lid  24  from opening.  
         [0026]    The connecting portion  46  has an insertion hole  46   a,  through which the connecting portion  46  is connected with the rear cover  19  and the right side of the main body  17  by the coupling screw  32 . Further, other insertion holes for inserting screws are formed in the left side and the bottom of the front cover  18 , which are directly touched with the main body  17 , to be screwed down by respective screws  47  and  48 .  
         [0027]    On the main body  17  attaches the cartridge chamber  23 , a film winding chamber  50  for winding the photographic film from the film cartridge, and a fixed barrel  51  for holding the movable lens barrel of the zoom lens device  13 . The cartridge chamber  23  and the film winding chamber  50  are disposed so as to sandwich the fixed barrel  51 . Behind the fixed barrel  51  is positioned an aperture that prescribes the range of exposure to the photographic film.  
         [0028]    A drive axis for rotating a spool of the film cartridge and a mechanism for opening and closing the cartridge shutter and so forth are attached to the upper part of the cartridge chamber  23 . A main flexible board  52  on which a CPU (not shown) for controlling each part of the camera body  11  and so forth are mounted on the cartridge chamber.  
         [0029]    A flash circuit board  53  is attached to the front of the film winding chamber  50 . And the flash projector  15  and the battery chamber  25  are attached to the upper part of the film winding chamber  50 . Several kinds of electric elements such as transformer coil are attached to the flash circuit board  53  having a circuit pattern. The flash circuit board  53  is connected to the flash projector  15 , the main flexible board  52 , and battery contact members  57  and  58  through the flexible circuit board  55 . The flash circuit formed on the flash circuit board  53  is controlled by the CPU on the main flexible board  52 , to flash the flash projector  15 .  
         [0030]    The flash projector  15  has a flash discharge tube and a reflector inside of the diffusion plate  15   a  combining a protector. The flash projector  15  is attached to a bracket  59  through an axle  15   b  and rotates between an exposed position for exposing the diffusion plate  15   a  outside and a storing position for storing the diffusion plate  15   a  into the camera body  11 . The battery chamber  25  is mounted at the rear of the flash projector  15 .  
         [0031]    As shown in FIG. 3 in detail, the battery chamber  25  consists of a storage portion  61  for storing the battery  21 , mounting parts  62  and  63 , and a plate portion  64  to cover the top of the film winding chamber  50  light-tightly. The storage portion  61  is roughly in the form of a cylinder with backward open. The battery  21  is loaded from a loading opening  61   a.  And the front side of the storage portion  61  has the brackets  59  for attaching the flash projector  15 .  
         [0032]    Both sides of the storage portion  61  have the mounting parts  62  and  63  to which the negative contact member  57  and the positive contact member  58  are attached, which are respectively connected with the negative pole  21   a  and the positive pole  21   b  of the battery  21 .  
         [0033]    As shown in FIG. 4, the plate portion  64  is a roughly rectangular-shape that matches with the top of the film winding chamber  50 . A column-shaped concave portion  64   a  fits the outside of the cylinder-shaped convex portion  50   a  formed on the film winding chamber  50 , to cover the film winding chamber  50  light-tightly. There forms an engaging portion  64   b  that supports a motor  67  for a film winding at the center of the concave portion  64   a.  The front of the plate portion  64  includes an arresting hole  64   c,  which is locked by a hook  50   b  of the film winding chamber  50 .  
         [0034]    By stamping out and bending a metal sheet, the negative contact member  57  and the positive contact member  58  are formed shown by FIGS.  3  or  5 . Each contact member  57  and  58  has clamp portions  68  and  69 , which are bent so as to clamp the mounting parts  62  and  63 . Of one end of the clamp portions  68  and  69 , the part that is bent into the inner wall side of the battery chamber  25  becomes a negative contact  70  and a positive contact  71 , which respectively come in contact with the negative pole  21   a  and the positive pole  21   b  of the battery  21  loaded into the storage portion  61 .  
         [0035]    The mounting part  62  has a slit  62   a  that is made in accordance with a thickness of the negative contact member  57 . Fitting quadrilateral inserting portions  72  at an upper and a lower of the negative contact member  57  to the slit  62   a  positions the negative contact member  57  and strengthens a connection between the mounting part  62  and the negative contact member  57 . The mounting part  62  has a cutout  62   b  into which a connection screw  73  is inserted. The battery chamber  25  is connected to the main body  17  by locking the hook  50   b  into the arresting hole  64   c  and screwing down with the connection screw  73 .  
         [0036]    The upper end of the negative contact member  57  has a ground arm portion  74  for connecting the negative pole  21   a  of the battery  21  with the front cover electrically. The ground arm portion  74  is positioned outside of the battery chamber  25 , protruding towards the inner wall of the front cover  18  situated in the upper part of the battery chamber  25 .  
         [0037]    The ground arm portion  74  is bent obliquely at a first bending part  74   a  and further bent at a second bending part  74   b.  The first bending part  74   a  is for touching the ground arm portion  74  in oblique state with the inner wall of the front cover  18 . The tip of the ground arm portion  74  is lowered down unless the second bending part  74   b  conflict with the edge of the front cover  18  upon assembling. The angle of the first bending part  74   a  is determined so that the ground arm portion  74  comes under an appropriate pressure to contact with the inner wall of the front cover  18 .  
         [0038]    The effect of the above embodiment will be explained. In the assembly process of the camera  10 , there attaches the taking mechanism such as the zoom lens device  13  and the finder unit  14  to the main body  17 . Further, there attaches the battery chamber  25  having the battery contact members  57  and  58  attached thereon, the flash projector  15 , the flexible board and so forth to the main body  17 . The front cover  18  includes the finder cover  40 , the grip projection  41 , the loading lid switch  44  and so forth. And the rear cover  19  attaches the protective cover  28  and several kinds of switches thereto.  
         [0039]    While letting the zoom lens device  13  in the opening portion  38 , the main body  17  is covered by the front cover  18  from forward and is covered by the rear cover  19  from rearward. Then the front cover  18  and the rear cover  19  are fastened to the main body by screws.  
         [0040]    As mentioned above, the first bending part  74   a  extends the ground arm portion  74  of the negative contact member  57  towards the oblique front, therefore it is parallel to the attachment direction of the front cover  18 . On attaching the front cover  18 , the oblique part, which is ahead of the second bending part  74   b  of the ground arm portion  74 , contacts with the joint side  18   a  of the front cover  18 . Further covering the front cover  18  towards the rearward of the main body  17 , the second bending part  74   b  enters downward of the joint side  18   a.  The ground arm portion  74  makes a smooth approach to the inside of the front cover  18  along the attachment direction of the front cover  18  while the second bending part  74   b  contacts with the inner wall of the front cover  18 .  
         [0041]    After the front cover  18  is entirely set in the main body  17 , the ground arm portion  74 , due to the angle of the first bending part  74   a,  contacts with the inner wall of the front cover  18  at an appropriate pressure. Electrically the negative pole  21   a  of the battery  21  is connected to the front cover  18  of aluminum alloy through the ground arm portion  74 . The front cover  18  functions as a ground, absorbing the electrostatic noise.  
         [0042]    According to the above embodiment, the front cover is made from aluminum alloy. However, other metal is also suitable as long as it has conductivity. Moreover, it is also suitable to ground the rear cover or the main body in place of the front cover. Furthermore, it is also suitable to provide a top cover and a bottom cover for covering the top and bottom of the camera body and to make either of which out of conductivity materials at least. Connecting the negative pole of the battery with the front cover is electrically equivalent to connecting the negative line of the electric circuit with the front cover.  
         [0043]    Although the present invention has been fully described by the 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.