Walking beam latch and lens disc actuator arrangement

Claim 1

A camera having means for defining a focal plane, said camera comprising: a plurality of discrete lens elements each having a different focal length; means for holding said plurality of lens elements in circumferentially spaced apart relation with respect to each other for rotation about a center axis, rotation of said lens holding means from an initial position operating to sequentially move each of said lens elements into position to focus an image onto the camera focal plane of a photographic subject located at a different camera-to-subject distance; a blade mechanism; means for mounting said blade mechanism for movement between one arrangement in which said blade mechanism blocks scene light from being transmitted to the film plane and another arrangement in which said blade mechanism unblocks the passage of scene light to the film plane; actuable drive means for displacing said blade mechanism between its said one and other positions to define a photographic exposure interval; and means for latching said blade mechanism in its said scene light blocking arrangement and for rotatably driving said lens holding means to sequentially move each of said lens elements into its said focus position, said blade latching and lens driving means being movable from one blade mechanism latching position to another blade mechanism unlatching position to enable said drive means to displace said blade mechanism from its said scene light blocking arrangement to its said scene light unblocking arrangement to define said exposure interval, said movement of said blade latching and lens driving means from its said blade mechanism latching position to its said blade mechanism unlatching position simultaneously operating to actuate said lens holding means so as to rotatably drive said lens holding means to sequentially move each of said lens elements into its said focus position.