Patent ID: 7093944

Claim:
A light shielding structure of a lens barrel including an inner ring and an outer ring positioned outside said inner ring so that at least one of said inner ring and said outer ring rotates relative to the other, said inner ring and said outer ring being configured to move along an optical axis of the lens barrel without relative axial movement therebetween, wherein said inner ring includes at least one cutout portion which radially extends through said inner ring, said light shielding structure comprising: an inner flange wall provided with said inner ring and positioned at a front end surface of said inner ring; a first annular groove provided on a rear facing surface of said inner flange wall, said first annular groove being centered about the optical axis; a second annular groove provided on an inner peripheral surface of said outer ring; and a light shield ring which includes a cylindrical portion centered about said optical axis, and an outer flange portion which extends radially outwards from a rear end of said cylindrical portion so that said cylindrical portion extends into said first annular groove to be slidably movable relative thereto, and so that said outer flange portion extends into said second annular groove to be slidably movable relative thereto.