Rollei-werke Franke & Heidecke

Heinz Waaske

A photographic view finder camera having a retractable lens tube. A rocking control handle on the front of the camera housing operates as a lever and is rocked to project and retract the lens tube, wind the film and cock the shutter.

Photographic view finder camera with retractable lens tube

Combined miniature camera and holding device for the same

Photographic camera

A sub-miniature photographic camera with a housing elongated in a direction transverse to the optical axis, and having a lens window opening and a viewfinder window opening in the front edge of the housing, spaced from each other in the direction of elongation of the housing. A cover plate or blind plate is slidable within the housing from a position closing both openings to a position uncovering both openings. A manually operable member slidable on the housing in a direction transverse to the optical axis serves simultaneously to initiate movement of the cover plate to an open position, and to wind the film, and to tension or cock the shutter operating mechanism ready for making an exposure. After the film winding and shutter tensioning movement of the manually operable member, if the operator decides not to take a picture right away and therefore moves the manually operable member back to its initial position in order to move the cover plate to its closure position, the manually operable member becomes automatically disconnected from the film feeding parts, so that it will not cause further film feeding movement if the manually operable member is again moved in a film feeding direction in order to shift the cover plate to an open or picture-taking position, when the operator is ready to make an exposure.

Miniature camera

A photographic camera having a lens opening and a finder opening in the housing or casing of the camera, is provided with a cover plate or blind plate to close these openings when pictures are not being taken, to protect the picture taking lens and the finder lens from possible damage and to prevent entrance of dust or foreign matter into the housing. A manually operable slider controls the movement of the cover plate between its closed and open positions and also moves the film transport means or feeding mechanism, to advance the film through the space of one picture area or 'frame.' As the amount of film wound on the take-up spool increases so that the diameter of such film increases, a less amount of rotation of the take-up spool is needed in order to advance the film through the space of one picture, and therefore a less amount of movement of the operating slider is needed, and this lesser movement might not be sufficient to shift the cover plate all the way from its closed position to its open position, if the cover plate were directly coupled to the slider. Therefore, the cover plate is coupled to the slider by a lost motion connection, and after the slider has caused some initial movement of the cover plate, an auxiliary drive moves the cover plate the remainder of the distance to its fully open position even though movement of the slider may have stopped.

A spring-tightened bayonet-type connection for securing an accessory (for example, a flash unit) to a camera housing. A threaded pin or bolt on the accessory carries a cross bar or head of non-circular shape which can pass, in one position of orientation, through a similarly shaped opening in the camera housing. When the bolt is turned, the ends of the cross bar engage behind the edges of the cavity in which the cross bar is received, and the screw thread action of the bolt draws the cross bar against the engaging parts of the camera to draw the accessory firmly against the camera housing. A spring pressed rack meshing with a pinion on the bolt tends to turn the bolt in a tightening direction. A plunger operated latch holds the rack in a spring tensioned position where the bolt is loose and its head or cross bar is oriented to pass into or out of the cavity in the camera. When the accessory and the camera are brought together, the latch is automatically released, allowing the spring pressed rack to tighten the bolt.

Camera accessory securing means

A miniature mirror reflex camera having a camera body carrying an objective lens at the front, and having at the rear means for holding a conventional film cassette of a known type made for miniature cameras. Arranged between the lens and the cassette is a sliding carrier movable in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis of the lens and at right angles to the direction of the travel of the film in the cassette. A reflex mirror is mounted in fixed position on this carrier, and below the mirror is a shutter. When the carrier is slid downwardly to a lower position, the reflex mirror intersects the optical axis and deflects the light rays coming in through the lens, upwardly to a viewing screen which is seen through an eyepiece and a pentaprism. In this position, the carrier effectively blocks passage of light rays rearwardly toward the film in the cassette. When the slidable carrier is moved upwardly toward the viewing screen, the shutter mounted on the slidable carrier is brought into alignment with the optical axis, and the opening of the shutter allows light to pass rearwardly from the lens through the open shutter to the film in the cassette, to make an exposure.

Miniature mirror reflex camera

A small motion picture camera having a telescopic viewfinder enclosed in a separate housing which is mounted on the top of the camera body while the camera is being used for taking pictures. When not being used for taking pictures, the viewfinder housing is shifted to the front of the camera where it serves as a protective cover for the camera lens and a portion of the driving motor, thus reducing the height dimension of the camera to such extent that the camera can easily be slipped into the user's pocket of average conventional size. The length of the viewfinder housing is equal to the height of the camera body, and the thickness of the viewfinder housing from side to side is equal to the thickness of the camera body, so that when the viewfinder housing is mounted in the transporting position on the front of the camera body, it forms a smooth prolongation of the body. Batteries for powering the driving motor of the camera are also contained in the viewfinder housing, along with the viewfinder telescope.

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Braunschweig-Mascherode, Germany

Heinz Waaske