Camera body mount

Claim 1

Attachment apparatus for coupling a lens or similar device to a camera body, said attachment apparatus comprising a one-piece, annular-shaped camera body mount of resilient material adapted to be attached to said camera body, said annular body mount having a first annular surface for facing outwardly with respect to said camera body and a plurality of radially-inward projecting and annularly spaced apart engagement claws whose lengths extend in the annular direction of said body mount, each said body mount engagement claw having tapered configuration narrowing in the axial direction of said annular mount along its length from a wide end of the claw to a narrow end thereof and providing opposite surfaces of the claw for facing inwardly and outwardly with respect to said camera body, said opposite surfaces being displaced radially inward with respect to said first annular surface, and said tapered configurations of all of said claws being tapered in the same annular direction, and means defining an elongated, annularly extending recess associated with each of said engagement claws to enhance its resilience in the axial direction in the vicinity of the recess, and a comating annular mount adapted to be attached to said lens or similar device, said comating mount having a first annular surface for engaging said first annular surface of the body mount, and a plurality of radially outward projecting and annularly spaced apart engagement claws corresponding in number to said plurality of body mount engagement claws and whose respective lengths extend in the annular direction of the mount and correspond with the respectively associated annular spacing distances between said body mount claws to pass between the latter, each said claw of the comating mount providing a second but oppositely facing surface which is displaced radially inward and axially spaced from, and annularly parallel to said first annular surface of the comating mount for engaging one of said resilient body mount claws, the axial spacing distance between each of said second annular surfaces and said first annular surface of said comating mount being less than the axial distance between said first annular surface and said inwardly facing surfaces at said wide ends of the camera body mount claws, whereby said camera body mount and said comating mount are attached by wedging together accompanied by flexing of said resilient body mount claws in the axial direction of the mounts when said comating mount claws are passed between said camera body mount claws and engaged behind the latter by annular rotation of said comating mount with respect to said camera body mount with said first annular surfaces of said body mount and said comating mount in engagement with each other.