Camera mechanism

Claim 2

A camera mechanism comprising: a camera body member having a lens system for focusing an image in a film framing window therein and an arcuate groove intersecting the lens system a biased shutter bar having one end pivoted on said body member and a curved shutter blade at the opposite end, said shutter blade received in said arcuate groove and operable to open and close said lens system with its bias urging said shutter bar to close said lens system; a spring biased shutter bellcrank pivoted on said body member adjacent to said shutter bar, said bellcrank having two angularly disposed pawls, one of said pawls operable to momentarily engage said shutter bar when said bellcrank is released from a cocked position and is driven by its spring bias to temporarily open said lens axis; and film transport means associated with said pawls and operable to rotate said bellcrank against its spring bias when said film is advanced by said transport means to simultaneously move said bellcrank to a cocked position as the film is advanced.

Claim 3

The camera mechanism defined in claim 1 wherein a releasable catch is provided in said body member which is operable to engage and disengage the bellcrank whereby said bellcrank can be respectively held in a cocked position and released through manual operation of said catch.

Claim 4

The camera mechanism defined in claim 2 wherein the lens system includes two separate lenses with an apertured diaphragm therebetween and wherein the actuated groove intersects the axis of said lens system between said diaphragm and one of said lenses.

Claim 5

The camera mechanism defined in claim 1 wherein The film transport means includes a film take-up drum with a rotatable control disc adjacent to the pawls of the bellcrank, said disc having raised ribs thereon which cooperate with stepped surfaces on the ends of said pawls to prevent reversal of said control disc and to control the film advance distance as well as to rotate said bellcrank against its spring bias to a cocked position.

Claim 6

The camera mechanism defined in claim 1 wherein a common spring having its ends respectively connected to the shutter bar and the bellcrank is operable to provide the bias for both.

Claim 7

The camera mechanism defined in claim 4 wherein the film drum included a winding knob connected thereto to turn it in a direction to advance the film a discrete interval corresponding to the film advance distance allowed by the pawls and control disc.

Claim 8

The camera mechanism defined in claim 6 wherein the winding knob includes a socket for an impulse operated flash cube and the film drum includes a plurality of impulse pins therein arranged so one of the pawls engages an end of one of said pins each time the bellcrank is released from a cocked position, whereby the engaged pin will be displaced sufficiently to fire a section of such a flash cube mounted in said socket.

Claim 9

The camera mechanism defined in claim 7 wherein the control disc includes four equally spaced raised ribs on its surface and the socket in the winding knob includes indexing means so the proper section of a four sided flash cube is always properly positioned to the front of the camera when the bellcrank is in a cocked position.

Claim 10

The camera mechanism defined in claim 1 wherein a separate passage is formed in the body member parallel to the lens system and apertured on an edge of the framing window and at the front of the camera and wherein the shutter blade includes an auxiliary shutter blade operable to intersect said passage, whereby said passage will be open and closed simultaneously with the lens system to expose an indexing mark on the edge of a portion of a film strip in said framing window.

Claim 11

The camera mechanism defined in claim 9 wherein the passage includes a lens at the front of the camera for concentrating the light on the edge of the portion of the film strip when it is opened by the auxiliary shutter.

Claim 12

A camera mechanism comprising: a camera body member having a lens system with an optical axis and film storage recesses on opposite sides of said optical axis and a film framing window in line with said optical axis, said body member having an arcuate slot therein passing through said optical axis; a shutter arm pivoted on said body member and having a shutter blade mounted normal to its end which shutter blade is received in said arcuate slot when said shutter arm is assembled on said body member and is operable to interrupt said optical axis in one position of its arcuate travel in said arcuate slot and open said optical axis when it moves out of said one position, said shutter arm biased to said one position; a shutter bellcrank pivoted on said body member adjacent to said shutter arm, said crank having a shutter pawl operable to temporarily engage said shutter arm during arcuate travel thereof to momentarily displace said shuteer blade from said one position; biasing means connected to said shutter bellcrank operable to drive its shutter pawl into engagement with said shutter bar; trip means arranged to engage said shutter bellcrank and operable to prevent said biasing means from driving its shutter pawl into engagement with said shutter arm until said trip means releases said shutter bellcrank; and cocking means associated with said shutter bellcrank and operable to move it against said biasing means whereby said trip means can re-engage said shutter bellcrank after releasing it as the cocking means rotates said bellcrank.

Claim 13

A camera mechanism comprising: a camera body member having a lens system with an optical axis and film storage recesses on opposite sides of said optical axis and a film framing window in line with said optical axis, said body member having an arcuate slot therein passing through said optical axis; a shutter arm pivoted on said body member and having a shutter blade mounted normal to its end which shutter blade is received in said arcuate slot when said shutter arm is assembled on said body member and is operable to interrupt said optical axis in one position of its arcuate travel in said arcuate slot and open said optical axis when it moves out of said one position, said shutter arm biased to said one position; a shutter bellcrank pivoted on said body member adjacent to said shutter arm, said crank having a shutter pawl operable to temporarily engage said shutter arm during arcuate travel thereof to momentarily displace said shuteer blade from said one position; biasing means connected to said shutter bellcrank operable to drive its shutter pawl into engagement with said shutter bar; trip means arranged to engage said shutter bellcrank and operable to prevent said biasing means from driving its shutter pawl into engagement with said shutter arm until said trip means releases said shutter bellcrank; and cocking means associated with said shutter bellcrank and operable to move it against said biasing means whereby said trip means can re-engage said shutter bellcrank after releasing it as the cocking means rotates said bellcrank.

Claim 14

The camera mechanism defined in claim 11 wherein the biasing means connected to the shutter crank is also connected to said shutter arm to biAs it to its one position closing the optical axis.

Claim 15

The camera mechanism defined in claim 11 wherein the cocking means includes a connected drive disc having raised spaced ribs on its surface, said drive disc being mounted contiguous to the shutter bellcrank so said ribs can alternately engage the shutter pawl and a drive pawl thereof whereby the direction of rotation of said disc is prevented in one direction of rotation by said ribs and their engagement with said pawls and so the rotation of said disc is limited to 90* of rotation in the opposite direction each time said shutter bellcrank is moved by said disc against its biasing means to be re-engaged to the trip means thereby preventing double exposures in the camera mechanism.

Claim 16

The camera mechanism defined in claim 13 wherein the ribs are 90* apart and one rib engages the end of the drive pawl to move the shutter bellcrank against its biasing means until a rib diametrically located to said one rib engages the shutter pawl to prevent further rotation.

Claim 17

The camera mechanisms defined in claim 13 wherein the drive disc is connected to a film advance spool and operable to advance said spool a measured amount each time said disc is manually rotated within its 90* increments of rotation.

Claim 18

A camera mechanism as defined in claim 13 wherein said drive disc is operably connected to a flash mounting means and includes flash impulse pins positioned in apertures in said disc operable to be momentarily engaged to the drive pawl when the shutter bellcrank is released whereby an impulse operated flash in said flash mounting means will be fired with the optical axis open for a flash picture by a movement of one of said pins.

Claim 19

The camera mechanism defined in claim 11 wherein an optical indexing aperture is located in the body member parallel to said optical axis alongside the lens system so said aperture centrally intersects an edge of the framing window and the arcuate slot and wherein the shutter blade includes a secondary blade that simultaneously opens and closes said optical indexing aperture with said optical axis.

Claim 20

The camera mechanism defined in claim 17 wherein the optical indexing aperture includes a separate lens to enhance the light passing through said optical indexing aperture when it is open.