Olympus Optical Company, Ltd.

Olympus Corporation

Olympus Imaging Corporation

Tamotsu Koiwai

Mitsuru Toyama

Tatsuya Suzuki

Takeshi Ito

Shinya Takahashi

Akihiko Hashimoto

Mitsuhiro Sato

Ai Midorikawa

Toyohiko Kimura

Sumio Kawai

Yasuo Asakura

Kazuyuki Iwasa

Tatsuo Kitazawa

Shigeo Hayashi

Hisashi Goto

Yukio Nakajima

Yoji Watanabe

Tatsuo Takanashi

Yukihiko Sugita

Isao Kondo

Tatsuya Sato

Hiroshi Takase

Kunio Yokoyama

Kazutoshi Shiratori

Masaki Nagao

Naohiro Kageyama

Yoshito Kobayashi

Ai Akiyama

A changeable lens barrel includes a fixed barrel formed in an annular shape a straight-advancing barrel housed in the fixed barrel during non-photographing and extended to an outside of the fixed barrel during photographing, and a first annular member that turns according to manual operation. When the changeable lens barrel is in a photographable state, a part of an outer circumference of the first annular member is exposed to an outside and a front end face of the annular member forward in an optical axis direction is located further forward than a front end face of the fixed barrel, and, when the changeable lens barrel is in an un-photographable state, a rear end face backward in the optical axis direction is within the fixed barrel and the rear end face is present further backward in the optical axis direction than when the changeable lens barrel is in the photographable state.

Changeable lens barrel

A lens barrel includes a fixed portion with an optical system including a focusing lens. An operation member is placed so as to be movable to first and second positions along an optical axis of the fixed portion, and turnable around the optical axis at the first and second positions. A turning member turns along with the operation member when moved to the second position, and does not operate with the operation member when moved from the second position to the first position. Positioning means position the operation member at the first or second position through a plurality of balls. When the operation member is at the first position it is urged to the first position by the plurality of balls. When the operation member is at the second position, it is urged to the second position by the plurality of balls.

Lens barrel and camera system

A lens barrel includes an operation member adapted to be movable to a first position and a second position and turnable at each of the positions, a turning member adapted to turnably engage with the operation member at the second position, and disengage from the operation member at the first position, a first detection unit adapted to detect a turning position of the turning member configured to turn in engagement with the operation member, a second detection unit adapted to detect a turning amount and a rotational direction of the operation member when the operation member is disengaged from the turning member, and a moving unit adapted to move the focusing lens along the optical axis based on an output from the first detection unit or the second detection unit.

A lens barrel of the present invention includes: a first barrel; a second barrel capable of relative rotation around an optical axis with respect to the first barrel; a focusing lens; a drive portion that drives the focusing lens; a rotational operation member that can move in the optical axis direction to a first position, and a second position; and an engagement portion that, when the rotational operation member is at the second position, causes the second barrel and the rotational operation member to engage with each other and rotates the second barrel accompanying rotation of the rotational operation member, and when the rotational operation member is at the first position, disengages the second barrel and the rotational operation member from each other.

Camera system and lens barrel

A camera system of this invention includes: a fixed member; a focusing lens; a drive portion that drives the focusing lens; a rotational member to be engaged; an operation ring that can be positioned at a first position and a second position in the optical axis direction; an engagement portion that, when the operation ring is at the second position, causes the rotational member to be engaged and the operation ring to engage with each other; and a control portion that, when the operation ring is at the first position and the operation ring is rotated, drives the focusing lens in accordance with the rotation, and when the operation ring is at the second position, drives the focusing lens in accordance with a relative movement position between the rotational member to be engaged and the fixed member.

Camera system

In a lens barrel, a flare diaphragm is disposed on an optical path of lenses or in the vicinity thereof such that the flare diaphragm can advance into and retreat from the optical path for cutting deleterious light corresponding to the lenses moving in the direction of the optical axis. This lens barrel can reliably cut deleterious light flux in a simple structure.

Lens barrel having a flare diaphragm which can advance into and retreat from the optical path to eliminate deleterious light resulting from movement of the lens

For a camera lens barrel with helicoid threads, at the portion where the helicoid female thread of a fixed frame is threaded with the helicoid male thread of a rotary frame, six separation preventing pins are implanted in the portion of the helicoid male thread around the same circumference at the equal intervals. These separation presenting pins are implanted between convex thread portions of the helicoid male thread, respectively. Protruding portions of the separation preventing pins fit in and slidingly contact concave thread portions of the helicoid female thread that is threaded with the helicoid male thread in which the separation preventing pins are disposed. A contacting edge fits in and comes into sliding contact with the concave thread portion of the helicoid female thread by narrowing the circumferential surface thereof. An edge is formed around the shaft portion of each separation preventing pin, which is implanted in the rotary frame, at a position near to the end thereof by narrowing the circumferential surface of the shaft portion.

Lens barrel

A lens barrel having lens holding frames for holding a plurality of lenses is composed of a first lens, a second lens, one of the lens holding frames holding the first and second lenses, having a first opening disposed at one end in correspondence with the first lens, and having a second opening disposed at another end in correspondence with the second lens, first abutment portions prescribing the position of the first lens in an optical axis direction on the first opening side and disposed at a plurality of positions around the inner periphery of the lens holding frame, a second abutment portion prescribing the position of the second lens in the optical axis direction on the second opening side, first engagement portions disposed at a plurality of positions around the inner periphery of the lens holding frame on a side nearer to the first opening than the first and second abutment portions and engaged with the first lens, and a second engagement portion disposed around the inner periphery of the lens holding frame on a side nearer to the second opening than the first and the second abutment portion and engaged with the second lens, wherein the first engagement portions and the first abutment portions are disposed at different positions in the circumferential direction of the lens holding frame.

There is disclosed an optical apparatus in which a lens holding frame is assembled on a frame member so that the lens holding frame can move along a plane substantially vertical to the optical axis of first and second lenses, a pair of gaps is formed between the outer periphery of the lens holding frame and the inner periphery of the frame member via the optical axis in the X- and Y-axis directions, adjustment members are selectively inserted in the gaps, and the position of the lens holding frame to the frame member in the plane substantially vertical to the optical axis is set.

Optical apparatus including lens

A lens barrel includes a zoom frame for holding a first-group frame and a second-group frame. Three follower pins are implanted in the second-group frame, and each of the follower pins includes a flange portion and a thrust abutment portion. The flange portions are interposed between the outer periphery of the second-group frame and the inner periphery of the zoom frame, so that decentering of the optical axis of the second-group frame is adjusted by the difference of the thicknesses of the flange portions. The thrust abutment portions abut on the rear end surface of insertion grooves of the zoom frame, so that inclination of the optical axis of the second-group frame is adjusted by the difference of the outside diameters of the thrust abutment portions. The position and the inclination of the optical axis of lenses can be easily adjusted by selecting and mounting the follower pins.

Lens barrel and method of assembling the same

In a lens barrel, a cam groove has a pair of wall surfaces. One of the wall surfaces, which is located on the side thereof where a rotary frame is extended by a cam follower coming into sliding contact with the wall surface, is formed at a small inclining angle. The other of the wall surfaces is formed at a large inclining angle. The cam follower has a shaft mounting portion implanted in a fixed frame and has an edge formed around the circumference surface of the shaft mounting portion at the end thereof. The surface of the cam follower, which is engaged and comes into sliding contact with the cam groove, is composed of a base end side taper surface and an extreme end side taper surface. The base end side taper surface is formed on the shaft mounting portion side, has a small inclining angle, and comes into sliding contact with one of the wall surfaces. The extreme end side taper surface has a large inclining angle and comes into sliding contact with the other of the wall surfaces. With this arrangement, in the lens barrel in which lens frames are coupled with each other by a cam mechanism arranged as described above, the cam mechanism can firmly couples the lens frames even if unintentional external force is applied to the lens barrel. This arrangement has wide versatility and does not make it difficult to mold the cam groove.

In a lens barrel, a group- lens frame, which is movable forwardly and backwardly, is fit into an inner peripheral portion of an M-cam frame which is rotatably supported. A cam groove, into which a cam follower fits, is provided at the M-cam frame. A shaft hole, into which a shaft portion of the cam follower is press-fit and fixed, is provided at the group- lens frame. Two edge portions are formed at the shaft portion. Two conical slide faces are provided at a portion which slides at the cam groove of the cam follower. The two edge portions are provided at end portions of the slide faces. When the cam follower attempts to tilt, the edge portions of the shaft portion bite-into a cam face, and prevent a fit-together state of the shaft portion from coming out of place. Further, when an external force acts on the cam follower, the edge portions of the conical slide faces bite into the cam groove such that a fit-together state of the cam follower is prevented from coming out of place.

Lens barrel having a plurality of lens frames which are relatively movable in forward and backward directions

A lens holding frame holding a lens having a circular outer diameter includes a first holding member forming an inscribed circle corresponding to the outer circumference of the lens and a second holding member forming a larger inscribed circle than the inscribed circle formed by the first holding member. The first holding member comprises three projections and they are located at an equal distance in the circumferential direction of the lens holding frame. Similarly, the second holding member also comprises three projections and they are located at an equal distance in the circumferential direction of the lens holding frame. In this case, the projections forming the first holding member and the projections forming the second holding member are located alternately on the inner diameter of the lens holding frame in the circumferential direction respectively. Further, the projections composing the second holding member are composed so that they will form a larger inscribed circle than the inscribed circle formed by the projections composing the first holding member.

Lens holder provided with a lens holding frame which holds a lens having a circular outer diameter

A support structure is provided wherein a fitting backlash is provided between a lens and a retaining frame to enable positioning of the lens while restraining degradation of optical performance even if the lens shifts. The lens has two opposed optical characteristic surfaces. A first one of the optical characteristic surfaces is formed of a spherical surface, while the other has a spherical portion that is annularly formed in a periphery thereof and that has the same center as the spherical surface of the first one of the optical characteristic surfaces. When abutted on an inner circumferential end of the retaining frame, the spherical portion is correctly aligned and supported on an optical axis of an optical system (see FIG. ).

Support structure for positioning lens on retention frame

A lens barrel (lens frame structure) using a cam mechanism with a cam follower is provided in which deviation of engagement of a frame member at an engaging part of the cam-follower is less likely to happen. A cam ring and a lens holding frame of the lens barrel are connected through the cam-follower, with a first cam groove running obliquely to an optical axis and a second cam groove running along the periphery direction of the optical axis. The second cam groove comprises an oblique cam plane and a parallel wall plane, and the cam-follower has a conical surface in sliding contact with the cam plane and a circular ring part in sliding contact with the parallel wall plane. The circular ring part digs into the parallel wall plane and deviation of the cam ring is prevented, if the cam ring comes to be distorted by applying careless stress to the cam follower.

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Akiruno, Japan

Tamotsu Koiwai