Fuji Photo Film Company, Limited

Naoki Takatori

Hidemi Sasaki

Satoru Goto

Masaaki Orimoto

Shino Kanamori

Shigenori Oosaka

Shigeru Kondo

Masaaki Morizumi

Katuo Asami

Tomoyuki Takahashi

Kiyotaka Kaneko

Hideaki Kataoka

Akimasa Kaya

Masanori Yoshida

Hiroshi Komatsuzaki

Takeshi Fujishiro

Mineo Kubota

Kazukiyo Tamada

Satoshi Mikajiri

Keizo Uchioke

Tsuneo Yokoyama

Ryuji Kawaguchi

Hiroshi Saito

A color thermal printer a conveyor for conveying a color thermosensitive recording sheet along a conveying path. A thermal head thermally records a full-color image to the recording sheet being conveyed. A fixer lamp applies ultraviolet rays of a predetermined range of wavelength to the recording sheet being conveyed, for optically fixing the recording sheet. In the thermal printer, a printer casing has a small height, and includes a front panel oriented vertically. An insertion opening in the front panel is adapted to insertion of the recording sheet before the recording, and ejection of the recording sheet after the recording. An air inlet and an air outlet are formed in the front panel. The insertion opening is disposed between the air inlet and the air outlet. An air passageway is disposed in the printer casing, and communicates from the air inlet to the air outlet via at least a portion of the conveying path. A fan unit is disposed in the air passageway, and causes air from the air inlet to flow along the air passageway, to cause heat generated in the printer casing to exit from the air outlet.

Thermal printer, thermal printing method and conveyor for recording material

A thermal printer is used with thermosensitive recording sheet. The recording sheet includes a support, and at least one thermosensitive coloring layer, formed on the support, colorable with heat, and fixable with violet or ultraviolet rays. The recording sheet has a recording region, and first and second lateral sides between which the recording region is disposed. The thermal printer includes a feeder roller set for conveying the recording sheet along a conveying path. The first and second lateral sides are set to extend in a direction of the conveying path. A thermal head applies the heat to the coloring layer during conveyance of the recording sheet along the conveying path, to record an image. A fixer applies the violet or ultraviolet rays to the recording sheet being colored during conveyance of the recording sheet along the conveying path, to fix the coloring layer. At least two guide tooth portions, being first and second, are disposed between the fixer and the recording sheet, and guide respectively the first and second lateral sides along the conveying path. There are first and second gaps respectively defined adjacent to the first and second guide tooth portions. The first and second gaps allow the violet or ultraviolet rays to pass between the fixer and the recording sheet, to fix the first and second lateral sides.

Color thermal printer and color thermal printing method

Two intermediate gears are respectively disposed between a driving gear and a driven gear so as to mesh with both thereof. The driving gear is driven by a pulse motor. The driven gear is integrally rotated with a capstan roller. Rotational velocities of the intermediate gears are different each other due to eccentricity of the driving gear. The driven gear is always rotated by the faster one of the intermediate gears so that influence by unevenness of rotational velocity of the driving gear is reduced. Accordingly, unevenness of conveying velocity for a recording paper may be reduced. Instead of disposing of the intermediate gears, two drive transmission systems may be arranged. One of the systems comprises a first driving gear and a first driven gear. Other of the systems comprises a second driving gear, a second driven gear and two intermediate gears. The capstan roller is always rotated by the faster one of the systems.

Conveying device for a recording paper

An optical filter comprising a birefringent material which is interposed between a taking lens and an image pickup device for removing a component corresponding to a frequency multiplexing in a spacial frequency manner from a high frequency component contained in an image of an object. In the optical filter, the angle formed between its optical axis and an incident plane is smaller than an angle of 45.degree., preferably, approximately 35.degree..

Optical filter

A camera in which a T lens and a wide lens are respectively mounted on their respective lens holders which can be freely rotated and the T and W lenses are rotated to thereby switch over the T and w lenses to each other. The T and W lenses are supported such that they are freely rotatable. A CCD reference plate, on which a CCD can be mounted, is inserted over a lens support shaft and the mutual positional accuracy between the lenses and CCD can be enhanced through the lens support shaft. Also, the switching of the T and W lenses is executed in link with the movement of a plate cam, which is movable in a direction perpendicular to the lens support shaft for the T and W lenses, and a cam portion provided in the plate cam is used to move the T and W lenses in the axial direction of the lens support shaft to thereby adjust the focusing of the lenses. Further, an iris plate having a small diaphragm diameter is inserted into the optical axis of the T lens only in a macro photography to thereby increase the depth of field so as to allow the focusing in the macro photography.

Camera with turret lens and solid state image sensor

Photographic film cassette

An image pickup device which, in placing a phase type optical low pass filter in front of a taking lens, is able to cope with the varying focal distances of the taking lens only by a single piece of phase type optical low pass filter and which is also able to obtain a large quantity of information to be used for focusing detection in the auto focusing (AF) operation. The image pickup device is composed of a taking lens having a variable focal distance, a solid state image pickup element on which an object light image is formed through the taking lens, a phase type optical low pass filter which is disposed in front of the taking lens in a freely rotatable manner, and a device for rotating the phase type optical low pass filter according to the focal distances of the taking lens so as to be able to remove a given spatial frequency component corresponding to the pixel pitch of the solid state image pickup element. The image pickup device further includes a device which, when an AF detect circuit executes a focusing detection operation, rotates the optical low pass filter 90.degree. from a state in which the spatial frequency component in the horizontal direction can be removed, or retreats the optical low pass filter from a photograph optical system, and also which returns the optical low pass filter to its original state when photographing.

Image pickup device

A solid state image pickup mounting structure which is used to mount a low pass filter onto the upper surface of a solid state image pickup element and fix them to a reference plate. The mounting structure includes a low pass filter holder formed of an elastic material and having first and second frame portions, and fastening means for fastening and fixing the low pass filter holder through the solid state image pickup element onto the reference plate. According to the mounting structure, the low pass filter is press fitted into the first frame portion of the low pass filter holder and the solid state image pickup element is mounted to the second frame portion in a manner similar to press fitting to thereby form them into a unit with the low pass filter on board the front surface of the solid state image pickup element, and the integrally formed members are then fastened and fixed onto the reference plate by the fastening means.

Solid state image pickup device mounting structure

An image pickup device for use in a general image pickup input apparatus such as a video camera, an electronic camera and the like to prevent generation of a false signal or moires. The image pickup device includes an optical filter interposed between a taking lens and an image pickup element. Due to this, the image of an object light is formed by the taking lens at a given image forming position, and a spot image at the image forming position enters the optical filter as a divergent light in a given circle and is then guided through the optical filter to the image pickup element. This can remove space frequency components corresponding to the pixel pitch of the image pickup element and prevent the optical aberrations from being unstabilized.

Image pickup device for stabilizing optical aberrations

A parallax correcting mechanism for a camera having a zoom lens. An objective lens is placed in the optical path of a viewfinder and is movable perpendicular to the optical axis of the viewfinder in cooperation with the focusing mechanism of the associated camera. A movable lens is also placed in the optical path of the viewfinder and is movable along the optical axis of the viewfinder in cooperation with the zoom adjustment of a zoom lens associated with the camera. The movement of the objective lens corrects for any parallax error between the viewfinder and an image seen by the zoom lens of the camera. The movement of the movable lens insures that the field angle of the viewfinder will correspond to that of the zoom lens.

Zoom lens drive mechanism

A zoom lens drive mechanism which is capable of zooming by moving first and second lens groups with a constant relation being maintained between them and of focusing by moving only the first lens group. A zoom shaft is disposed in parallel with the optical axis of the zoom lens and on the zoom shaft there is rotatably disposed a zoom cam ring which includes two cam grooves in the outer periphery thereof. In the zoom shaft there is disposed a first lens group drive means which is free to move in the axial direction of the zoom shaft and in the first lens group drive means there is provided a focus cam ring such that it is free to rotate. Two cam followers respectively provided in the first lens group drive means and in the second lens group are in engagement with the two cam grooves in the zoom cam ring, respectively, and a cam follower provided in the first lens group is in engagement with a cam groove formed in the focus cam ring.

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Saitama, Japan

Naoki Takatori