Asahi Kogaku Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha

Asahi Kogaku Kogyo K.k.

Toshiyuki Kitazawa

Satoshi Nakano

Takayuki Sensui

Isamu Hirai

Osamu Sato

Masato Yamamoto

Akio Takahashi

Toshimasa Yamanaka

Tomoaki Itabashi

Takenao Shishikura

Yutaka Ohsawa

Nobuhiko Matsudo

Masahiko Kurosaki

Tahei Morisawa

Isao Soshi

Norimichi Takahashi

Kazuo Goto

A motor-driven single-lens reflex camera which controls and executes, through forward and reverse rotation of a single motor, a mirror up/down operation and a shutter charge operation by a mirror/shutter driving system, and also a film winding/rewinding operation by a film feeding system. The mirror up and the shutter charge release operations are executed through forward rotation of the motor, and the mirror down, the shutter charge and the film winding/rewinding operations are executed through reverse rotation of the motor. Thus the speedy film feeding after exposure can be made without stopping or reversing drive of the motor.

Motor-driven single-lens reflex camera and motor-driven single-lens reflex camera for self-feeding film cartridge

A camera having a cocking mechanism for a shutter and/or mirror, and a lithium battery supplying power to the cocking mechanism. The cocking operating of the mechanism is controlled to be executed intermittently if the cocking operation is not completed within a first predetermined time interval due to low power of the lithium battery.

Camera having motor driven mechanism

A camera with a built-in strobe includes a camera body and a camera grip provided in the camera body. In the grip, a battery, a spool and a main strobe capacitor are provided. An elongated space, with extends in the camera grip along the longitudinal direction thereof, is defined so as to be surrounded by the battery, the spool and the main strobe capacitor. A strobe circuit board is roughly formed into an L-shape so as to have a cutout portion, and a motor is arranged in the cut-out portion of the strobe circuit board. As a result, the motor and the circuit board can be housed effectively within the smallest possible space within the camera grip. Further, by this arrangement, it becomes possible to realize a small-sized camera provided with a built-in strobe.

Camera with built-in strobe

A camera uses a film cartridge having a casing with a spool therein, and a slot formed in the casing. A film is drawn from, and returned into, the casing through the slot. A light-intercepting door is provided along the slot for opening and closing the slot, and a pivotal shaft rotatably mounts the light-intercepting door on the casing. The camera includes first and second motors. The first motor rotates the pivotal shaft to open and close the door, rotates the spool in one direction to advance the film wound on the spool from the film cartridge, and rotates the spool in another direction to rewind the film into the film cartridge. The second motor rotates a film take-up spool provided in the camera to wind the film around the film take-up spool.

Motor-driven camera

A camera including a main switch which turns on/off a power supply, and a first memory unit for storing a mode/function which is selected from changeable modes/functions to be used in photography. The camera further includes a second memory unit for storing the changeable modes/functions separately from the first memory unit, and a mode call switch for calling the modes/functions stored in the second memory unit, the mode call switch being interlocked with the main switch.

Camera having a mode memory device

An SLR camera which uses a film cartridge having a spool includes first and second motors. The first motor performs a film advancing operation, in which the first motor rotates the spool to advance a film wound on the spool from the film cartridge, and a film rewinding operation, in which the first motor rotates the spool so as to rewind the film into the film cartridge. The second motor performs a film winding operation, in which the second motor rotates a film take-up spool provided in the camera to wind the film around the film take-up spool, a shutter charging operation, in which a shutter charge is performed, a mirror up operation, in which a quick-return mirror provided in the camera is moved up after a shutter release, and a mirror down operation, in which the quick-return mirror is moved down after the mirror up operation is completed.

A camera having a manually actuable switch for temporarily shifting the camera to an optimum exposure value so that exposure factors, based upon a manually set shutter speed and a manually set aperture value, are replaced by optimum exposure factors based upon a metered brightness of the object to be photographed when the camera is set to a non-program exposure mode. A clear button associated with the camera functions as a manually actuable switch for temporarily shifting an exposure mode of the camera to another exposure mode when the camera is set to a hyper-manual exposure mode. In the hyper-manual exposure mode, a photographer sets exposure factors by actuating a Tv electronic dial and an Av electronic dial. Actuation of the clear button when the camera is set to the hyper-manual exposure mode causes the set exposure factors to be replaced with optimum exposure factors that are automatically calculated in accordance with an object brightness Bv. Thus, operating the clear button (manually actuable switch for temporarily shifting to another exposure mode) results in the mode of the camera being changed from a mode in which exposure factors are manually set by a photographer (via the setting of a shutter speed and an aperture value) to a mode in which optimum exposure factors are set based upon a calculation performed by a processor of the camera.

Exposure control apparatus of camera

An exposure control apparatus of a camera having a photometer for detecting a brightness of an object to be taken, an exposure value calculator for calculating an optimum exposure value in accordance with the object brightness, and an exposure factor setting device for setting a pair of exposure factors having a shutter speed and a diaphragm value, including an exposure factor manual setting device, a specific program exposure mode in which the exposure factors corresponding to the optimum exposure values are automatically set, and an exposure factor modifying device for enabling the exposure factor manual setting device to manually set one of the exposure factors when the exposure factor manual setting device is actuated in the specific program exposure mode.

A camera having a powered zoom lens, including a memory for storing object distances of more than one object to be photographed simultaneously, detected by an object distance measuring device, and a powered zoom lens controller for varying the focal length of the powered zoom lens so that the objects are within the depth of field of the powered zoom lens.

Camera having powered zoom lens

An exposure control apparatus of a camera, wherein a pair of exposure factors that include a shutter speed and a diaphragm value can be manually and independently set. Furthermore, in the exposure control apparatus, an exposure value determined in accordance with the exposure factors can be locked, and one of the exposure factors can be varied, based on the locked exposure value, when the other exposure factor is varied by the associated manual setting means.

A mechanical control apparatus of a single lens reflex (SLR) camera is provided that includes a rotatable cam having a shutter cam for charging a shutter and a mirror cam, integral and coaxial with the shutter cam, for charging a mirror. The mechanical control apparatus further includes a diaphragm resetting lever, coaxial to the rotatable cam, for resetting a diaphragm of the camera in association with the rotation of the cam.

Mechanical control apparatus of a single lens reflex camera

An exposure control apparatus of a camera, in which at least one of a pair of exposure factors that include a shutter speed and a diaphragm value is variable. An exposure factor setting device sets at least one variable exposure factor, while a limit value setting device varies and sets at least one upper and lower limit value of the exposure factor.

Exposure control apparatus of camera including exposure factor limit

A mirror driving apparatus of a single-lens reflex camera has a mirror box, a mother plate which is provided on the side face of the mirror box to support a gear train and a mirror box mechanism which is driven by the gear train, and a motor having a drive shaft with a pinion integral therewith for driving the gear train. The motor is located on a side of the mirror box, so that the drive shaft extends perpendicularly to the plane of the mother plate. The pinion of the drive shaft of the motor and the gear train are all composed of spur gears.

Electrically driving apparatus of mirror in single-lens reflex camera

A camera has a zoom lens. The zoom lens has a variable focal length over a predetermined focal length range, the ends or limits of which correspond to the longest and the shortest focal lengths of the zoom lens, respectively. The camera includes a detector which detects when the focal length of the zoom lens is at one end of the focal length range, and a display which provides an indication for the user of the camera that the focal length of the zoom lens is at that one end. With a plurality of different zoom modes, the camera has a zoom mode selector which selects one of the zoom modes that is to be used, and the selected zoom mode is displayed. The camera further includes another detector which detects the direction of zooming operation of the zoom lens, and the detected direction is also displayed. Useful information relating to various zoom lens operations is provided by the display for the user of the camera.

Camera with zoom lens operation display device

A strobe incorporated in a camera having two drive motors, a main strobe condenser and a battery. The first drive motor is located in a rotatable film winding spool of the camera, and the second drive motor, the main strobe condenser and the battery are located to surround the film winding spool. Thus, the longitudinal axes thereof extend in the direction of the rotational axis of the film winding spool. The centers of the two drive motors, the main strobe condenser and the battery, in the plan view, substantially form an imaginary quadrilateral or an imaginary triangle.

Growing community of inventors

Tokyo, Japan

Toshiyuki Kitazawa