Eastman-kodak Company

Roger A Fields

Joel S Lawther

Stephen G Malloy Desormeaux

William C Atkinson

Anthony Dirisio

Robert Fredric Mindler

James G Rydelek

Zhanjun Gao

Robert P Cloutier

Stephen J Smith

James D Boyd

Po-Jen Shih

Randy E Horning

Michael P Cramer

Stanley Ward Stephenson, Iii

William T Matthias

Maureen E Churan-King

Gregory J Lukins

Reinhold Bachmann

A thermal printer is adapted to prevent crease formation in successive dye transfer areas of a dye donor web that can cause line artifacts to be printed on a dye receiver during dye transfer from each dye transfer area to the dye receiver in a dye transfer printer.

Preventing crease formation in donor web in dye transfer printer that can cause line artifact on print

A camera and method are usable for capturing multicolor images of multicolor scenes. The camera has a color detector determining from the multicolor scene and/or a captured multicolor image of the scene, a predominant color in the captured image and/or multicolor scene. The camera also has a display showing a predominant color determined by the color detector, whereby one is alerted to color predominance.

Camera that displays predominant color multi-color scene and/or multi-color captured image of scene

An electronic flash unit has alternative (dual) capacitor switching to reduce flash ready time for flash firing.

Electronic flash unit with alternative capacitor switching

A camera comprising a power source battery, and an exteriorly accessible operating button that is manually moveable to initiate at least one operation in the camera, is characterized in that the battery and the operating button are a simultaneously movable unit; and a pair of electrical leads maintain individual conductive contact with the battery when the battery and the button are simultaneously moved. The battery and the operating button can be the same one-piece entity, or alternatively the battery can be a separate entity that is contained in a chamber in the operating button. Examples of an operating button are a flash on-off button, a shutter release button, and a power on-off button.

Camera with dual-function battery/manual operating button unit

A dual image capture camera for capturing successive film images and electronic images that correspond to the respective film images has an image-combining selector capable of being manually operated to select an identical print designation for at least two captured film images which indicates that these captured film images should be combined to make a single print, and a display that shows the captured electronic images to permit one to view them in order to decide which captured film images are to be combined to make a single print.

Dual film image and electronic image capture camera capable of selecting film images to be combined in a single print

A dual image capture camera captures successive film images on a filmstrip and captures successive electronic images that correspond to the respective film images. The camera has a memory that individually stores captured electronic images, a film drive motor that is actuated to rewind an exposed film length with the respective film images into a film cartridge, and a print quantity selector that is capable of being manually operated to provide various print quantity designations of how many prints are to be made for the respective film images. The print quantity selector can designate that no print is to be made for a particular film image. The memory is connected to the print quantity selector to store designations of numbers of prints in association with the respective electronic images individually stored in the memory and is connected to the film drive motor to store captured electronic images as a single multi-image which combines only those electronic images for which the designated number of prints is at least &ldquo;1&rdquo; when the exposed film length with the respective film images is rewound into the film cartridge.

Dual film image and electronic image capture camera capable of combining captured electronic images in a single multi-(index-) image

A camera for successively capturing images of subjects, in which respective print quantity designations indicate the number of prints to be made for each one of the captured images, includes print cost totaller that calculates a print cost total which is a total cost of prints to be made for every one of the captured images, and updates the print cost total to make it current each time a print quantity designation is used for a particular captured image.

Camera with print quantity designation for each exposure provides print cost total

A one-time use camera comprising a filmstrip having successive frames including first- and last-to-be-exposed frames and a pre-exposure frame immediately preceding the first-to-be-exposed frame, a backframe opening at which the respective frames of the filmstrip beginning with the first-to-be exposed frame and ending with the last-to-be-exposed frame are exposed during picture-taking, a film cartridge which contains a film take-up spool that is manually rotated decreasing angles of rotation to wind the respective frames of the filmstrip beginning with the pre-exposure frame from the backframe opening onto said spool, and an exposure-related component that must be enabled in order to operate, is characterized in that a rotation-sensing detector for sensing rotation of the spool is connected with the exposure-related component to enable the exposure-related component when the spool is rotated an angle of rotation no greater than an angle sufficient to wind the last-to-be exposed frame onto the spool, whereby the exposure-related component can be enabled each time the spool is rotated to wind one of the frames of the filmstrip onto the spool.

One-time use camera with film winding detection to enable exposure-related component

A camera comprising a film winder manually rotatable in a film winding direction about an axis and having a continuous alternating series of teeth and spaces concentric about the axis, and an anti-backup device having a tooth that can be received in any one of the spaces to bottom out in the space in order to prevent reverse rotation of the film winder in a film unwinding direction, is characterized in that the film winder is constructed to be tilted from being perpendicular to the axis in order to only partially retract any one of the spaces that has received the tooth from the tooth, when one manually rotates the film winder in the film winding direction, whereby as long as the film winder is tilted the tooth cannot bottom out in any one of the spaces that has received the tooth. This results in a film winder and anti-backup device that are quietly operating.

Camera with quietly operating manual film winder and anti-backup device

A method of unloading a film cartridge with exposed film from a spent one-time-use camera that has a main body part with a chamber for the film cartridge and a pair of front and rear cover parts which house the main body part between them, comprises the steps:

Method of unloading film cartridge from one-time-use camera

A method of making more visible some characteristic to be included in a hard copy of a recorded image includes reading a variable visible characteristic within a predefined area of the recorded image to determine the visible composition of the variable characteristic. At least one stored variation of the variable characteristic is selected, based on the visible composition of the read variable characteristic, from a plurality of stored variations of the variable characteristic. The selected stored variation of the variable characteristic will have greater visibility within a predefined area of the hard copy, which corresponds to the predefined area of the recorded image, than the variable characteristic within the predefined area of the recorded image. The selected one or more characteristics are included in the predefined area of the hard copy.

Methods of changing the visibility of some characteristic or information

A one-time-use camera comprises a film cartridge and a lighttight enclosure which contains the film cartridge and can be opened to remove the film cartridge. Further, the one-time-use camera has a flash unit which is characterized in that a frangible support device for the flash unit is located to be destroyed when the lighttight enclosure is opened to remove the film cartridge.

One-time use camera provided with frangible flash support destroyed by

An apparatus for reproducing images recorded on a photographic filmstrip wound on a film spool contained in a cartridge, the photographic filmstrip having machine-readable frame numbers associated with the images recorded thereon and the photographic filmstrip being associated with a device for storing film related data including frame numbers identifying selected images to be reproduced. The apparatus characterized in that a control device includes determining whether a frame number of a first available frame on a photographic filmstrip removed from a film cartridge is equal to one or is greater than one; searching first for a highest of the respective frame numbers of the selected images on a photographic filmstrip removed from the cartridge and then in succession the next lowest frame number of the selected images until all of the frame numbers of the selected images have been found if the frame number of the first available frame of a photographic filmstrip is equal to one, or for searching first for a lowest of the respective frame numbers of the selected images on a photographic film strip removed from the cartridge and then in succession the next highest frame number of the selected images until all of the frame numbers of the selected images have been found if the frame number of the first available frame of a photographic filmstrip is greater than one, and printing each one of the selected images in response to its frame number being found.

Method and apparatus for reproducing an image recorded on a photographic

A film cassette is disclosed wherein a filmstrip in roll form is stored within the cassette shell and has a leader that projects from an exterior end of a film passage slit in the cassette shell to permit the filmstrip to be drawn out of the shell. According to the invention, the leader has a forward edge portion that is folded back onto a successive portion of the leader to prevent the leader from being moved completely through the exterior end of the film passage slit into the cassette shell. Preferably, the forward edge portion of the leader is secured to the successive portion of the leader to form a looped portion of the leader between the forward edge and successive portions which may be engaged in a camera, for example, to draw the filmstrip out of the cassette shell.

Film cassette and method of assembling the same

A method of operating a photographic camera to provide exposure information in association with a latent image picture frame includes the step of automatically providing a nominal exposure for the picture frame. An operator-selected exposure is provided for the picture frame which differs from the nominal exposure by a known under- or over-exposure. The picture frame is exposed in accordance with the operator-selected exposure, and data is recorded in association with the picture frame indicating the difference between the nominal and operator-selected exposures. A method of operating a photographic printing system is provided, responsive to the recorded data, for marking a photographic print to indicate to an observer the under- or over-exposure of the negative. A method of operating a transparency processing system is provided wherein, responsive to the recorded data, the slide mount is marked with the under- or over-exposure.

Growing community of inventors

Pittsford, NY, United States of America

Roger A Fields