The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 13, 2000
Filed:
Aug. 06, 1997
Akira Funahashi, Sakai, JP;
Junichi Tanii, Izumi, JP;
Minolta Co., Ltd., Osaka, JP;
Abstract
A lens barrel has a focusing operation and a zooming operation which are carried out with only one driving source which is installed outside the lens barrel so as to realize a most suitable resolution for each of the operations. A rotary cylinder which supports a zooming frame which is axially movably therein, is connected to a linear-moving cylinder with a bayonet, which is axially movably supported inside a fixed cylinder. A focus rotation transmission key of a driving cylinder drives a lens frame which engages the zooming frame by a connecting helicoid. A zooming rotation transmission key of the driving cylinder engages an edge surface, forming a rotation transmission groove, of the rotary cylinder, with a play range. Upon rotation of the driving cylinder, only the lens frame is rotated to operate a focusing operation within the play range; however, the rotary cylinder is rotated to operate a zooming operation when the key contacts the edge surface of the rotary cylinder.