Background of the Invention

The present invention relates to a camera, especially to a camera having two lens systems which can be switched over therebetween by means of a simple switching mechanism.

Lens-fitted photographic film packages have been known as a kind of cheap throwaway camera. Such a lens-fitted photo­graphic film package is adapted to focus on any subject in a range from about 1 m to infinity without a need for adjusting the focus of a taking lens. But the lens-fitted photographic film package cannot focus on a subject nearer than 1 m, so that it can­not satisfy the requirement of close-up photography of flowers, characters on a document or the like.

Considering the above disadvantage, it has been stud­ied to provide a simple lens changeover mechanism wherein a single-element standard lens and a single-element macro lens are disposed side by side in a common lens holder which is rotatable in a plane perpendicular to the exposure light path, so that either one of these lenses can be used for photograph­ing. This type of lens changeover mechanism is easy in operation and is simple in construction compared with conventional close-­up system where a supplementary lens is attached to a standard taking lens or a taking lens system itself is mechanically moved. In addition to the above advantages, because being manu­factured at a low cost, this type of lens changeover mechanism is preferable to a lens-fitted photographic film package or other cheap cameras.

However, when manufacturing the above lens-chaning mechanism, there would be a possibility of misplacing the lenses in the common lens holder if the standard lens and the macro lens are not easily distinguishable because both of these lenses are a single-element lens of a small diameter whose curvature is not so different from each other.

Furthermore, though a single-element taking lens of the above described conventional cheap camera is fitted into a recess of a corresponding diameter formed in a lens holder and is fixed thereto with a frame having an opening corresponding to the effective aperture of the lens, such a simple construction for holding the lens is not applicable to the above described lens changeover mechanism because the lens holder should be rotatable in the camera housing.

As is known in the art, it is desirable to close-up pho­tography to enlarge the depth of field because the focusable range of a macro lens is strictly limited. In order to enlarge the depth of field, it is preferable to stop down the aperture, but the possibility of under-exposure is increased at that time.

Summary of the Invention

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a camera having a lens changeover mechanism which would minimize the occurrence of misplacing the lens and facilitates holding of the lenses surely in the lens holder with a simple con­struction.

It is another object of the invention to provide a camera in which close-up photography with a stopped down aper­ture would not be under-exposure though the camera is simple in construction and can be produced at a low cost.

To achieve the above and other objects and advantages, the present invention suggests to make the diameter of a macro lens smaller than that of a standard lens which are to be mounted in a lens holder. These lenses are mounted in a lens holder having two different sized apertures. It is preferable to form the lens holder as one body having a plurality of hooks for holding the lenses and corresponding holes formed integrally therewith by molding.

The lens holder is movable in a plane perpendicular to the photographic light path such that either of the taking lenses is placed in the photographic light path, and when the macro lens is placed in the photographic light path, a switch is turned on to effect the charge for a flash unit.

According to the invention, because the macro lens has a smaller diameter than the standard lens, these lenses are easy distinguishable from each other, so that the lenses will not be misplaced in the lens holder in manufacturing. Furthermore, it becomes possible to make the both lenses as compact as possible, which contribute to minimize the size of the camera body. It is still more preferable to make the size of frames formed in the lens holder correspondent to the respective size of the lenses so as surely prevent the misplacement of the lenses.

The hooks formed integrally with the lens holder fa­cilitate the fitting of the lenses to the frames. The holes mainly functions as ejection holes for removing the lens holder from the mold, but also lighten the lens holder and economize the material therefor. Therefore, the hooks and the holes con­tribute to improve the efficiency of the manufacturing and to re­duce the cost of the camera.

On the other hand, becasue the flash unit is always charged when the macro lens is placed in the photographic light path by moving the lens holder, flash light is always emitted upon releasing the shutter in macro-photography. Therefore, it is possible to stop down the aperture for macro-photography so as to extend the depth of field without resulting in an under-­exposed photograph.

Brief Description of the Drawings

The above and other features of the invention will be­come apparent from the following description of preferred em­bodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings in which like parts and elements are designated by the same reference numerals throughout the several views of the drawings and wherein:

• Figure 1 is a perspective view of a lens-fitted photo­graphic film package embodying the invention;
• Figure 2 is an exploded perspective view of the lens-­fitted photographic film package;
• Figures 3A and 3B illustrate a lens holder according to a first embodiment of the invention;
• Figure 4 is a sectional view of essential parts of the lens-fitted film package of Fig. 2;
• Figure 5 is a perspective view of a taking lens unit ac­ cording to another embodiment of the invention;
• Figure 6 is an exploded perspective view of a lens holder according to still another embodiment of the invention; and
• Figure 7 is a sectional view taken along line VII-VII in Fig. 6 with parts broken away for clarity.

Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiment of the Present Invention

Fig. 1 shows a lens-fitted photographic film package 10 (hereinafter referred to as a film package) encased in an outer casing 11 made of cardboard or the like formed with a number of cut-outs for exposing a taking lens section, opera­tional members and so forth. The outer casing is printed with symbol marks 8 and 9 for indicating respective switching posi­tions for macro- and standard-photography. In a front opening 12 of the film package 10, a macro lens 14 is positioned such that the optical axis thereof coincides with an exposure light path 13. In this condition, a switching knob 16 is at the right end of a slot 17, and a target mark 19 is projected into a viewfinder 18. The target mark 19 is moved in and out the viewfinder 18 though a hole 21 formed in the bottom wall of the viewfinder in accordance with the position of the switching knob 16. A flash window 22 is disposed in the upper right portion of the front sur­face of the film package. In the top wall of the film package, there is formed a shutter release button 25. Designated by 23 is a charge switch plate for charging a main condenser 44 of a flash unit which will be described in detail with reference to Fig. 2. Upon depressing the charge switch, a synchronizing signal be­comes effective which is generated upon depression of the shut­ter release button 25.

As shown in Fig. 2, the film package comprises substantially a main body section 27, a rear cover section 45 and a front cover section 69. In the main body section 27, there are provided a film take-up chamber 24, a shutter mechanism 26 and a film supply chamber 37. The film take-up chamber 24 con­tains therein a film magazine from which the entire length of film is prewound in a roll and is received in the film supply chamber 37, and thereafter the rear cover section 45 is fixed to the main body section 27. The shutter mechanism 26 includes a shutter blade 29 and a shutter base plate 28 which is formed with a recessed portion 31 for allowing the movement of the shutter blade and an exposure opening 32 in the recessed portion. The shutter base plate 28 further has a semicircular cut-out 33 formed in the top edge thereof, within which a bearing portion 34 is disposed. A look-in window 47 of the viewfinder 18 is formed behind the bearing portion 34 in the rear cover section 45.

The film supply chamber 37 may contain another film magazine receiving therein a roll of film prewound from the film magazine in the film take-up chamber 24, and the exposed film is rewound into the film magazine in the film take-up chamber 24. It is also possible to omit these film magazines and to take up the exposed film on a spool in the film take-up chamber 24.

The main condenser 44 of the flash unit is disposed on the right hand of the film supply chamber 37. The flash unit includes a printed circuit board 39 mounted thereon with a flash circuit 39a, the flash window 22 and a pair of contacts 48 and 49. The contacts 48 and 49 can be connected to each other by depressing the charge switch plate 23. On the other hand, the contacts 48 and 49 connect to resilient metal plates 71 and 72, respectively, which are fixedly mounted on the printed circuit board 30 spaced apart from each other and can be brought into con­tact with each other. Also by contacting the metal plates 71 and 72 each other, the current flows through the contacts 48 and 49. When the metal plates 71 and 72 contact each other, or when the charge switch plate 23 is depressed, a flash circuit 39a is acti­vated to boost up the voltage of the dry cell 46, thereby charging the main condenser 44. If the shutter blade 29 is actuated while the flash circuit 39a is active, a synchronizing switch 40 is turned on to generate the synchronizing signal, so that a flash discharge tube 22a in the flash window 22 emits light using the electric energy in the main condenser 44. The printed circuit board 39 is fitted to the main body section 27 while being at its engaging electrode 41 engaged with a projec­tion 36 formed on the outer surface of the film take-up chamber 24, and being hooked at its L-shaped hole 42 on a hook 38 formed on the outer surface of the film supply chamber 37. In this condi­tion, a dry cell 46 is settled between the engaging electrode 41 and another electrode 43.

In front of the shutter base plate 28, a shutter cover 51 is mounted, which is formed at its upper portion with a semicircular cut-out 52 and at its center portion with an expo­sure opening 54. Below the exposure opening, an arched guide rail 57 is formed for guiding the swing of a lens holder 56 as set forth below. On both ends of the guide rail 57, there are stoppers 53 and 58 for the lens holder 56.

The lens holder 56 is rotatable about an axle 61 which is inserted in the bearing portion 34, whereby a guide projec­tion 66 is slide along the inner surfaces of the cut-outs 33 and 52. As is shown in Fig. 4, in the rear surface of the lens holder 56, there are formed a stepped portion for making a space for a toggle spring 67 and a pin 68 on which one end of the toggle spring 67 is fixed. The other end thereof is fixed on a pin 59 formed on the shutter cover 51. In this way, the lens holder 56 is switched over between two positions defined by the stoppers 52 and 58 by manually pushing the switching knob 16 along the slot 17. The switching knob 16 is formed on a lower sector por­tion 65 of the lens holder 56. In the right end portion of the sector portion 65, there is formed a switching edge 73 which is adapted to bent the metal plate 72 to contact the metal plate 72 when the lens holder 56 is moved into the macro-photography posi­tion where the macro lens 14 is positioned in front of the exposure opening 54. In the macro-photography position, the target mark 19 formed on the upper right hand of the lens holder projects into the viewfinder 18.

The lens holder 56 has a smaller aperture 62 and a larger aperture 63 around which frames for lenses to be fitted therein are formed. The macro lens 14 is fitted before the aperture 62, and a standard lens 64 is fitted before the aper­ture 63, and these lenses are made of plastic materials. In this condition, the both lenses 14 and 64 are arranged in a same plane perpendicular to the optical axis. In this embodiment, the lens diameter d1 and the flange diameter D1 of the macro lens 14 are 7mm and 10mm, respectively, while the lens diameter d2 and the flange diameter D2 of the standard lens 64 are 10mm and 12mm, re­spectively. As the lens diameter d2 is larger than d1, it is apparent which of the lenses is the macro lens 14. In addition, as the frame diameters D1 and D2 are different, it is prevented to fit the lens into the wrong flange. Furthermore, because the distance from the lenses to the film surface is equal, it be­comes possible to minimize the lens diameters d1 and d2 by defin­ing d2 d1, so that the lens holder 56 can be compact.

The macro lens 14 has, for example, a focal length of 33 mm, a f-number of f27, and a focusable subject distance range from 0.4 to 1.2 m including the depth of field. The standard lens 64 has, for example, a focal length of 35 mm, a f-number of f11, and a focusable subject distance range from 1.2 m to infinity in­cluding the depth of field. The aperture 62 is made smaller so as to deepen the depth of field of the macro lens 14.

The film package 10 is assembled by fitting the front cover section 69 formed with the opening 12, the viewfinder 18 and so forth to the main body section 27.

Now will be described the operation of the above embodi­ment with reference to Fig. 3A and 3B.

In the standard-photography position as shown in Fig. 3A, the lens holder 56 is urged by the toggle spring 67 to rotate clockwise but is stopped by the stopper 53. Therefore, the sec­tor portion 65 is pressed against the stopper 53 to secure the lens holder 56 in a position where the standard lens 64 is properly positioned in the exposure light path 13. In this condi­tion, the film package focuses on any subject disposed in a range from 1.2 m to infinity.

In order to make a macro-photography, the switching knob 16 is moved toward the symbol mark 8, thereby to rotate the lens holder 56 counterclockwise against the force of the toggle spring 67 as is shown by an arrow in Fig. 3A. On the way of the counterclockwise rotation of the lens holder 56, the force of the toggle spring 67 changes to aid the counterclockwise rota­tion, so that the lens holder 56 is pressed against the stopper 58 to stop fixedly in the position as shown in Fig. 3B. Simultane­ously, the switching edge 73 pushes the metal plate 72 to bend toward the metal plate 71 to bring them into contact with each other. In this position, the macro lens 14 is properly posi­tioned in the exposure light path 13, and the target mark 19 is inserted in the viewfinder 18 through the hole 21 so as to indicate the center of the angle of view for the macro-­photography, wherein the target mark 19 is out of the center of the viewfinder 18. Parallax is compensated by framing with refer­ence to the target mark 19.

Because, at that time, the contacts 48 and 49 becomes conductive through the contact between the metal plates 71 and 72 even though the flash charge switching plate 23 is not de­pressed, the main condenser 44 is charged, so that the flash unit emits light in synchronism with the shutter release by only depressing the shutter release button 25. In this way, it be­comes possible effectively to prevent the under-exposure in the macro-photography that may be caused by the small aperture 62.

Referring now to Fig. 5, the macro lens 14 and the stan­dard lens 64 may be formed integrally as a taking lens unit 81 made of plastic materials, in which these lenses are coupled to each other through a coupling member 80. The taking lens unit 81 can be mounted in a lens holder similar to that shown in Fig. 2. In this embodiment, because the standard and macro lenses are combined on manufacturing, there is no danger of misplacing the lenses, that is, mounting two macro lenses to the lens holder, for instance. It is preferable to use the coupling member 80 for injection of the plastic material on molding.

Fig. 6 shows another embodiment of a lens holder 84 for the macro lens 14 and the standard lens 64. In each of two frames for these lenses, there are provided three holes 85, 86 and 87; 88, 89 and 90 and three hooks 92, 93 and 94; 95, 96 and 97 which are integrally formed with the lens holder 84 by molding. The totally six holes are provided for economizing the molding materials and lightening the lens holder, and also function as ejection holes for removing the counterparts of the mold cavities for forming the hooks 92 to 97. The lenses 14 and 64 are snapped in the respective frames and held by these hooks 92 to 97.

An aperture 98 in the frame for the macro lens 14 is smaller in diameter than an aperture 99 in the frame for the stan­dard lens 64, and the aperture 98 is formed by a corn-shaped hole 101 as is shown in Fig. 7. This construction makes it possible to form the aperture 98 accurately and also facilitates the re­moval of the metal mold at the end of molding.

The invention has been described in detail with par­ ticular reference to preferred embodiments thereof, but it will be understood that variations and modifications can be effected with the sprit and scope of the invention. For example, in case where the need for compactness of the camera is not so large, it is possible to make the macro lens 14 larger than the standard lens 64 instead of making it smaller than the standard lens 64 so as to distinguish them from each other. It may also be possible to shape the flange of these lenses different; for exam­ple, one is square and the other circular.

Furthermore, the invention may be applicable to other combinations of lenses such as a combination of a standard and a telephotographic lens, rather than the above described combi­nation of a macro and a standard lens. In this cases it is prefer­able to activate the flash unit in standard photography.