Abstract:
A camera mechanism comprises a shutter blade movable to uncover and cover an exposure aperture; a primary spring connected to the shutter blade to normally move the shutter blade to cover the exposure aperture, but susceptible of becoming disconnected from the shutter blade, and a substitute spring connected to the shutter blade to alternatively move the shutter blade to cover the exposure aperture when the primary spring becomes disconnected from the shutter blade.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates generally to cameras such as so-called disposable single-use or one-time-use cameras, and in particular to a camera mechanism that has a substitute or back-up actuator intended to fictionally replace a failed primary actuator. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     General 
     Film and cameras that are all in one, commonly referred to as disposable single-use or one-time-use cameras, have become well known. The one-time-use camera is a simple point-and-shoot type camera comprising a conventional film cartridge within a cartridge receiving chamber in a main body part, an unexposed film roll prewound from the film cartridge onto a film supply spool within a film supply chamber in the main body part, a film-exposing backframe opening between the cartridge receiving and film supply chambers in the main body part, a fixed-focus taking lens, a manually rotatable film winding thumbwheel coaxially engaged with a film winding spool inside the film cartridge, a single-blade shutter, a manually depressible shutter release button, an exposure counter wheel that has a numerical series of evenly spaced exposure count indicia and is incrementally rotated to successively view the exposure count indicia, an anti-backup pawl that engages the exposure counter wheel to prevent its reverse rotation, a direct see-through viewfinder having front and rear viewfinder lenses, and in some models an electronic flash. A pair of separate front and rear cover parts house the main body part between them to complete the camera. The rear cover part connects to the main body part and/or to the front cover part to make the main body part light-tight. A decorative cardboard outer box or label at least partially covers the front and rear cover parts and has respective openings for the taking lens, etc. 
     To take a picture, the shutter release button is manually depressed. This causes a spring-urged high-energy lever to be released to strike the shutter blade, which then pivots open to uncover an exposure aperture. A return spring connected to the shutter blade pivots the shutter blade closed to re-cover the exposure aperture. Also, a metering lever is pivoted out of spring-biased engagement with the thumbwheel in order to permit manual rotation of the thumbwheel in the film winding direction after the picture is taken. When the thumbwheel is rotated in a film winding direction, it similarly rotates the film winding spool inside the film cartridge to wind an exposed frame of the filmstrip from the backframe opening into the film cartridge and advance an unexposed frame of the filmstrip from the unexposed film roll to the backframe opening. The rewinding movement of the filmstrip the equivalent of slightly more than one frame width rotates a metering sprocket in engagement with successive perforations in the filmstrip to decrement the exposure counter wheel to its next lower-numbered indicia. Also, the high energy lever is re-cocked or re-set and the metering lever is pivoted into re-engagement with the thumbwheel. When the metering lever re-engages the thumbwheel, further manual rotation of the thumbwheel in the film winding direction is prevented and the camera is ready to take another picture. 
     When the maximum number of exposures available on the filmstrip have been made and the filmstrip is completely wound into the film cartridge, the one-time-use camera is given to a photofinisher who breaks away a cover door portion of the rear cover part from the main body part and removes the film cartridge with the exposed filmstrip from the cartridge receiving chamber. Then, he removes the exposed filmstrip from the film cartridge to develop the latent images and make prints for the customer. 
     Possible Prior Art Problem 
     If the return spring connected to the shutter blade to pivot the shutter blade closed becomes disconnected from the shutter blade or otherwise becomes disabled, further picture-taking is prevented. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Generally speaking, the invention is a camera mechanism comprising: 
     an operation-performing device actuatable to perform a camera operation; 
     a primary actuator actuating the operation-performing device to perform the camera operation, but susceptible of becoming mechanically disabled; and 
     a substitute actuator actuating the operation-performing device to perform the camera operation when the primary actuator is mechanically disabled. 
     A preferred embodiment of the camera mechanism comprises: 
     a shutter blade movable to uncover and cover an exposure aperture; 
     a primary spring connected to the shutter blade to normally move the shutter blade to cover the exposure aperture, but susceptible of becoming disconnected from the shutter blade; and 
     a substitute spring connected to the shutter blade to alternatively move the shutter blade to cover the exposure aperture when the primary spring becomes disconnected from the shutter blade. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a front, exploded, perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the camera mechanism; 
     FIG. 2 is a front perspective view of the camera mechanism similar to FIG. 1, but showing the camera mechanism partially assembled; and 
     FIGS. 3-18 are front views of the camera mechanism, depicting its operation. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention is disclosed as being embodied preferably in a disposable one-time-use camera. Because the features of a one-time-use camera unit are generally known, the description which follows is directed in particular only to those elements forming part of or cooperating directly with the disclosed embodiment. It is to be understood, however, that other elements may take various forms known to a person of ordinary skill in the art. 
     Referring now to the drawings, FIGS. 1 and 2 show a disposable one-time-use camera  10  including an opaque main body part  12 , an opaque front cover part  14 , and an opaque exterior rear cover part  16 . The front cover part  14  and the rear cover part  16  house the main body part  12  between them and are connected releasably to one another and to the main body part  12  via known-type hook-in-hole and other connections. 
     As is typical, the main body part  12  has a rearwardly open cartridge receiving chamber  18  for a conventional 35 mm film cartridge  20  and a rearwardly open film supply chamber  22  for an unexposed film roll  24  on a rotatable film supply spool  26 . During assembly of the camera  10 , an unexposed filmstrip  28  is substantially prewound from a rotatable film winding spool  30  in the film cartridge  20  and into the unexposed film roll  24  on the film supply spool  26 . A rearwardly open backframe opening (not shown) is located between the cartridge receiving chamber  18  and the film supply chamber  22  for exposing successive frames of the filmstrip  28  when ambient light is received through a front fixed-focus taking lens  32  mounted on the main body part  12  and through an exposure aperture  34  in the main body part. 
     As shown in FIGS.  1  and  3 - 6 , a shutter blade  36  is pivotally mounted on a fixed post  38  on the main body part  12 , between the front taking lens  32  and the exposure aperture  34 . An opening  40  in one end portion of the shutter blade  36  has spaced first and second alternative fulcrum-recesses  42  and  44  for the post  38 . The shutter blade  36  is pivotable open, i.e. clockwise in FIGS. 3-6, about the post  38  when the post is in the first fulcum-recess  42 , to uncover the exposure aperture  34 . A primary return spring  46  has one end  48  connected to a hook  50  on the shutter blade  36  and another end  52  connected to a hook  54  on the main body part  12 , to urge the shutter blade to pivot closed, i.e. counter-clockwise in FIGS. 3-6, about the post  38 , to re-cover the exposure aperture  34 . The shutter blade  36  comes to rest against an abutment stop  56  on the main body part  12 . 
     A high-energy lever  58  is pivotably mounted on the main body part  12  via a fixed post  60  on the main body part that extends into a hole  62  in the high-energy lever. The high-energy lever  58  is pivoted counter-clockwise in FIGS.  1  and  3 - 6  about the post  60  by a torsion spring (not shown) to swing a striker  64  of the high-energy lever against a tang or tab  66  of the shutter blade  36 , to pivot the shutter blade open to uncover the exposure aperture  34 . A latch (not shown) on the underside of a known-type manually depressible shutter release button  68  normally engages the high-energy lever  58  to prevent the high-energy lever from being pivoted for the striker  64  to impact the tang  66  of the shutter blade  36 . When the shutter release button  68  is manually depressed to take a picture, the latch releases the high-energy lever  58  (which then is pivoted by the torsion spring). 
     A known-type film winding thumbwheel  70  coaxially engages the film winding spool  30  in the film cartridge  20  and peripherally protrudes from an elongate narrow opening (not shown) in the rear cover part  16 . When the thumbwheel  70  is manually rotated in a film winding direction, i.e. counter-clockwise in FIG. 1, it similarly rotates the film winding spool  30 . This is done in order to wind an exposed frame of the filmstrip  28  into the film cartridge  20  after a picture is taken, and to move a fresh frame of the filmstrip from the unexposed film roll  24  to behind the exposure aperture  34 . 
     A known-type metering lever  72  is pivotably mounted on the main body part  12  via a fixed post  74  on the main body part  12  that extends into a hole  76  in the metering lever. The metering lever  72  is spring-biased clockwise in FIG.  1  and has a tooth  77  that normally engages the thumbwheel  70  to prevent winding rotation of the thumbwheel. When the high-energy lever  58  is pivoted counter-clockwise in FIGS.  1  and  3 - 6  to pivot the shutter blade  36  open to uncover the exposure aperture  34 , the high-energy lever pivots the metering lever  72  counter-clockwise in FIG. 1 to disengage the tooth  77  from the thumbwheel  70 . 
     After the primary return spring  46  pivots the shutter blade  36  closed to re-cover the exposure aperture  34  and the shutter blade comes to rest against the abutment stop  56 , the thumbwheel  70  is manually rotated to wind the filmstrip  28  the equivalent of slightly more than one frame width. As the filmstrip  28  is moved it rotates a known-type metering sprocket (not shown) in engagement with successive perforations  78  in the filmstrip, to decrement a known-type rotatable exposure counter wheel  80  to its next lower-numbered indicia. Also, a known-type cam  82  connected to the metering sprocket and shown in FIG. 1 pivots the high-energy lever  58  counter-clockwise about the post  60  in FIG. 1 to be re-cocked or reset, and the metering lever  72  is pivoted counter-clockwise about the post  74  in FIG. 1 to re-engage the thumbwheel  70 . As the high-energy lever  58  is pivoted counter-clockwise, its striker  64  momentarily bears against a curved edge  84  of the shutter blade  36  to slightly shift the shutter blade relative to the post  38  in order for the striker to move past the shutter blade; however, the primary return spring  46  restores the shutter blade to its former position once the striker is moved beyond the shutter blade. Then, when the metering lever  72  re-engages the thumbwheel  70 , further winding rotation of the thumbwheel is prevented and the camera  10  is ready to take another picture. 
     A substitute or back-up return spring  86  longitudinally extends integrally from the shutter blade  36  and has a free end  88  that swings clockwise with the shutter blade when the shutter blade is pivoted open to uncover the exposure aperture  34  as shown in FIGS. 3-6. The free end  88  swings spaced from a ramp  90  and a trap or catch  92  on the main body part  12 . 
     The substitute return spring  86  is intended to functionally replace the primary return spring  46  when the shutter blade  36  is pivoted open to uncover the exposure aperture  34  and the primary return spring becomes disabled or fails, such as because its end  48  disconnects from the hook  50  on the shutter blade as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. In this instance, the shutter blade  36  shifts to remove the first fulcrum recess  42  from the post  38  and move the second fulcrum-recess  44  to the post. Consequently, the free end  88  of the substitute spring  86  is swung from being spaced from the ramp  90  to onto the ramp. 
     Then, when the thumbwheel  70  is manually rotated to wind the filmstrip  28  the equivalent of slightly more than one frame width, the cam  82  pivots the high-energy lever  58  counter-clockwise about the post  60  in FIGS. 7-10 to be re-cocked or reset. As the high-energy lever  58  is initially pivoted, a return finger  94  on the high-energy lever pushes against the tang  66  of the shutter blade  36  to pivot the shutter blade (with the post  38  in the second fulcum-recess  44 ) to re-cover the exposure aperture  34  and swing the free end  88  of the substitute spring  86  up the ramp  90  and into the trap  92 . See FIGS. 9 and 10. Then, as the high-energy lever  58  is further pivoted, the return finger  94  continues to push against the tang  66  and further pivot the shutter blade  36  as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12. The shutter blade  36  shifts to remove the second fulcrum recess  44  from the post  38  and return the first fulcrum-recess  42  to the post, and comes to rest against the abutment stop  56 . 
     The metering lever  72  is pivoted counter-clockwise about the post  74  in FIG. 1 and, when it re-engages the thumbwheel  70 , further winding rotation of the thumbwheel is prevented and the camera  10  is ready to take another picture. 
     FIGS. 13-18 show a picture-taking sequence when the substitute return spring  86  is used functionally in place of the primary return spring  46 . In FIGS. 13 and 14, the high-energy lever  58  is pivoted counter-clockwise about the post  60  to swing the striker  64  of the high-energy lever against the tang  66  of the shutter blade  36 , to pivot the shutter blade (with the post  38  in the first fulcum-recess  42 ) open to uncover the exposure aperture. In FIGS. 15 and 16, the substitute return spring  86  pivots the shutter blade  36  to re-cover the exposure aperture  34  and to shift the shutter blade  36  to remove the first fulcrum recess  42  from the post  38  and move the second fulcrum-recess  44  to the post. In FIGS. 17 and 18, the high-energy lever  58  is pivoted clockwise to be re-cocked or re-set and its return finger  94  pushes against the tang  66  to pivot the shutter blade  36  against the abutment stop  36  and to shift the shutter blade to remove the second fulcrum recess  44  from the post  38  and return the first fulcrum-recess  42  to the post. 
     The invention has been described in detail with particular reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, but it will be understood that variations and modifications can be effected within the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, instead of the primary return spring  46  and the substitute return spring  86 , there could included primary and substitute actuators such as primary and substitute solenoids. 
     PARTS LIST 
       10 . one-time-use camera 
       12 . main body part 
       14 . front cover part 
       16 . rear cover part 
       18 . cartridge receiving chamber 
       20 . film cartridge 
       22 . film supply chamber 
       24 . unexposed film roll 
       26 . film supply spool 
       28 . unexposed filmstrip 
       30 . film winding spool 
       32 . taking lens 
       34 . exposure aperture 
       36 . shutter blade 
       38 . post 
       40 . blade opening 
       42 . first fulcrum-recess 
       44 . second fulcrum-recess 
       46 . primary return spring 
       48 . spring end 
       50 . hook 
       52 . spring end 
       54 . hook 
       56 . abutment stop 
       58 . high-energy lever 
       60 . post 
       62 . lever hole 
       64 . striker 
       66 . tang 
       68 . shutter release button 
       70 . thumbwheel 
       72 . metering lever 
       74 . post 
       76 . lever hole 
       77 . tooth 
       78 . film perforations 
       80 . exposure counter wheel 
       82 . cam 
       84 . curved edge 
       86 . substitute or back-up return spring 
       88 . free end 
       90 . ramp 
       92 . trap 
       94 . return finger