Polaroid Corporation

Zink Imaging, Inc.

Kenneth J Launie

George D Whiteside

Bruce K Johnson

Richard J Fraser

William T Vetterling

Frank S Silveira

Lawrence M Douglas

Michael N Burdenko

John H Betts

Jon E Van Tassell

Judy Bagdis

John P Kirby

Juan C Vandijk

Robert L Stephansky

Juan Carlos Van Dijk

Leo R Lechtenberg

Devices and methods for thermally printing on a thermal image member are disclosed using a thermal print head and a nonrotating platen. The nonrotating platen is adapted to bias the thermal imaging member against the print head. The nonrotating platen includes an elastic member and a mounting means for securing at least one end of the elastic member with respect to the print head. A portion of the thermal imaging member is placed in a printing nip formed between a thermal print head and the nonrotating platen. The print head exerts a torque on the elastic member when the elastic member biases the imaging member against the print head. The thermal imaging member is translated along a transport direction through the printing nip, such that at least one surface of the imaging member slides across the nonrotating platen. The print head forms an image upon the translated thermal imaging member.

Nonrotating platen for thermal printing

A lens cover assembly for a folding camera includes a main frame assembly and a lens assembly pivotally mounted on the main frame assembly and movable between a closed position in which the lens assembly is disposed at least in part within the main frame assembly and an open position in which the lens assembly upstands from the main frame assembly, the lens assembly having a lens therein. A lens cover member is pivotally mounted on the lens assembly and is movable between a first position in which the lens cover member completely covers the lens, and a second position in which the lens cover member is removed from the lens. A mechanical linkage interconnects the main frame assembly and the lens cover member and is operative, upon moving the lens assembly from the closed position to the open position, to move the lens cover member to the second position, and further operative, upon moving the lens assembly from the open position to the closed position, to move the lens cover member to the first position.

Lens cover assembly for a folding camera

A film advancement assembly for a self-developing and folding camera. The camera comprising a main frame assembly and a lens assembly. The lens assembly being pivotally mounted on the main frame assembly and movable between a closed position in which the lens assembly is disposed at least in part within the main frame assembly and an open position in which the lens assembly upstands from the main frame assembly. A gear train is mounted on the main frame member and is operative to drive a pair of spread rolls, and operative to drive a film pick to advance a film unit. A motor is mounted on the main frame assembly and is operative to power the gear train, the motor being disposed proximate a bottom surface of the main frame assembly.

Film advancement assembly for a self-developing camera

A photographic apparatus for use with self-developing film wherein the apparatus comprises a light-tight housing assembly having a film unit exit for allowing the film units to exit the housing assembly; an exposure control assembly including a shutter button; the exposure control assembly includes a biased carriage assembly movable between ambient, strobe and strobe charge positions in response to manual displacement thereof; a spread roller assembly including spread rollers for spreading the processing fluid in the film units; a manually operable drive mechanism is mounted in the housing assembly for bidirectional linear movement between extended and retracted positions and carries a pick for engaging and advancing a topmost film unit of the film stack into the nip, and for rotatably driving the spread roller member in response to pulling of the drive mechanism by an operator to process the film unit and eject the same from the exit; and, an interlocking assembly cooperates with the shutter button and the drive mechanism to prevent the drive mechanism from moving until the shutter button is actuated, and preventing the drive mechanism from being reinserted into the housing assembly until the drive mechanism has been pulled sufficiently so that a film unit has been processed by the spread roller member and exits the housing assembly.

Self-developing camera

Photographic apparatus

An instant type camera having first and second film engaging means for moving an exposed film unit from a film cassette to a film storage chamber. The second film engaging means is mounted for movement from a position on the entry side of a pair of spread rollers to a position on an exit side of the spread rollers. During such movement, the second film engaging means engages a trailing edge of an exposed film unit as it emerges from between the spread rollers and moves it into the storage chamber.

Camera having chamber for storing exposed film units during their

A instant camera of the type which receives film assemblages having stacked film units of the self-developing type. The camera is provided with a pair of spread rollers which engage an exposed film unit to spread a processing liquid between layers of the film unit while simultaneously moving it into a storage chamber having a viewing window. An opaque shade for the window is located adjacent the exit side of the spread rollers. The shade is adapted to be moved into covering relationship to the window and/or the exposed film unit for a predetermined period of time after it exits from the bite of a pair of spread rollers and then returned to its noncovering position. This time is sufficient to allow a treated portion of the film unit to remain in the dark unit its length reaches a predetermined value. At this length there will no longer be any danger of actinic light being piped along the length of the film unit until it reaches an untreated portion of the film unit that is still at the entrace side of the spread rollers.

Extendable shade in instant camera for protecting film unit from ambient

A novel latching mechanism for the film loading door of photographic apparatus linked to switch means for connecting a battery to a control circuit when the door is fully closed and for disconnecting the battery at all other times, arresting means being provided for preventing the link from closing the switch and for aligning one latch member on the camera with another latch member on the door.

Latching mechanism for photographic apparatus

Photographic apparatus for locating a film cassette in position for the sequential exposure of a plurality of film units contained within the film cassette. The apparatus includes a film counter for indicating the number of unexposed film units remaining within a film cassette, and a film cassette counter which is indexed each time a film cassette is inserted into the apparatus or, alternatively, removed therefrom. When such a camera is returned to a repair facility, the reading of the film cassette counter may be used in connection with reliability studies, warranties, market research on film use, e.g., how much film is exposed in a certain camera model, etc.

Photographic apparatus having a film cassette counter

A camera having a film counter for indicating the number of unexposed film units remaining in the camera. The film counter includes a rotatably mounted drum having a single row of teeth by which the drum may be sequentially indexed in a first direction subsequent to the exposure of a film unit. A pawl having first and second working surfaces limits rotation of the drum in a second direction thereby maintaining the drum in its newly indexed position. By removing one of the teeth, the second working surface is able to move into the space created by the removed tooth and into the path of movement of one of the teeth during rotation of the drum in the second direction to thus stop the drum in its newly indexed position. Thus, the second working surface obviates the need for a second pawl and/or a second row of teeth while removal of the tooth from the row prevents the drum from being further indexed in the first direction when the supply of film has been exhausted, thus preventing overwinding of its return spring.

Film counter

A camera, including an automatic lens focusing system of the type wherein a disc holding a plurality of different lens elements is accelerated by an arm of a torsion spring to effect disc rotation for sequentially presenting the lens elements at a focusing system, is provided with an arrangement for easily adjusting the amount of energy stored in the spring prior to release to thereby change the resultant disc rotational velocity. The adjustment is made in connection with a method of calibrating disc rotational velocity.

Camera with structure for adjusting lens disc velocity and calibration

A camera including an automatic lens focusing system, wherein a disc holding a plurality of different lens elements is rotated to sequentially present the lens elements at a focusing system, is provided with a disc stopping arrangement comprising a plurality of notches in a peripheral section of the disc and a pawl having a tang therein configured to be received in a selected one of the notches to stop disc rotation and locate a corresponding one of the lens elements at the focusing position. The outer edge portion of the disc, the notches and the pawl tang are specially configured so as to stabilize the pawl prior to tang entry into a notch and to efficiently dissipate inertial energy of the disc.

Camera with lens disc stopping system

An automatic focusing control apparatus focuses subjects in any one of a plurality of different camera-to-subject distance ranges by transmitting a sonar ranging signal and at the same time displacing an objective lens to move through a plurality of different focal positions corresponding respectively to the different camera-to-subject distance ranges, and thereafter detecting an echo signal from a subject and utilizing the detected echo signal to provide a specially timed control signal to ultimately stop the displacement of the objective lens at the appropriate focal position corresponding to the distance range in which the subject is located.

Growing community of inventors

Cambridge, MA, United States of America

Kenneth J Launie