Patent ID: 7866901

Claim:
A lens barrel comprising: a cylinder movable along an optical axis direction between a collapsed position and an extended position, at which an image is taken; a barrier member mounted to said cylinder and that opens/closes a front face of an image-taking lens; a barrier drive mechanism mounted to said cylinder and that moves said barrier member between an open position where the front face of the image taking lens is exposed and a closed position where the front face of the image taking lens is closed; a guide member mounted to said cylinder and that extends along the optical axis direction, wherein said guide member is fixedly positioned relative to said cylinder; a lens holding member having a holding portion that holds the image-taking lens and a guide portion that engages the guide member to guide the image-taking lens along the optical axis direction; and a lens drive mechanism that causes said lens holding member to move forward or backward in the optical axis direction, while said holding portion is engaged with said guide member, wherein said barrier member lies substantially along a plane that is perpendicular to the optical axis direction, wherein said barrier member is in the open position when the cylinder is in the extended position, and wherein said guide portion of said lens holding member is movable along the optical axis direction and intersects the plane of said barrier member when the cylinder is in the extended position.