Photographic lens barrel assembly

Claim 1

An interchangeable photographic lens assembly adapted to be attached to and detached from a camera, comprising; adapter means adapted to be fixed to a predetermined position on said camera; a lens body arranged to be rotatable around an optical axis of the lens assembly relative to said adapter means, said lens body being provided with a photographic lens and means to be driven by an electrical signal from said camera; means for receiving and producing electrical signals, said means being carried by said adapter means and arranged to be connected to signal receiving-and-producing means disposed on the side of said camera; and electrical signal transmission means comprising a flexible printed circuit board for electrical signal transmission between said adapter means and said lens body, said signal transmission means having one end thereof connected to said signal receiving-and-producing means of the lens assembly and the other end thereof carried by said lens body to permit electrical signal transmission between said signal receiving-and-producing means and said means to be driven, said electrical signal transmission means being disposed between said lens body and said adapter means and being folded back into an approximate U-shape, said two ends of said signal transmission means being fixedly carried by said lens body and said adapter means, with the folded portion and portions in the neighborhood thereof being left unfixed to permit the folded portion to be displaced according to the rotation of the lens body, said flexible printed circuit board being formed into an open ring shape with a plurality of conductive patterns being arranged thereon from one end to the other with conductive patterns at one end of said circuit board being connected to electrical signal contacts forming said signal receiving-and-producing means, the conductive patterns at the other end thereof being connected to a circuit board secured to said lens body.