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:
May. 21, 2002
Filed:
Jul. 01, 1999
Hidenori Miyamoto, Urayasu, JP;
Yuji Katano, Kawasaki, JP;
Nikon Corporation, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
An interchangeable lens camera including a lens barrel and a camera body. The lens barrel is attached to the camera body via a body side mount and a lens side mount. The lens barrel mounting mechanism, including the body side mount and the lens side mount, is capable of moving along the optical axis of the camera so as to move from a position where the lens barrel is completely collapsed within the camera body to a position where the lens barrel is fully extended for zoom photography. The shortest state of the camera is when the lens barrel is detached from the camera. The lens barrel includes a set tube that is movable along the optical axis, lens units for focusing light onto a film in the camera body, and lens protection elements that open or close depending upon the state of the lens barrel, i.e., detached or attached, collapsed or extended. The camera body includes a control circuit that controls the movement of the lens barrel based upon the state of several switches, some of which are located in the lens barrel.