JP3724767B2 - Film unit with lens - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a lens-fitted photo film unit that has been devised to prevent unauthorized reuse of a unit body.
[0002]
[Prior art]
The lens-equipped film unit has a simple photographing mechanism and is composed of a unit main body loaded with a cartridge film in advance and an exterior body covering the unit, and is widely used because it is inexpensive and easy to use. Yes.
[0003]
The unit main body is provided on the front surface of the main body base, which is integrally formed with a cartridge chamber for storing the cartridge and a film roll chamber for storing the film roll in which the film drawn out from the cartridge is rolled, An exposure unit having a photographic lens and a shutter mechanism, a rear cover for light-tightly closing the cartridge chamber and the film roll chamber from the back of the main body base, and a front cover provided integrally with a release button so as to cover the exposure unit It consists of and. The unexposed film is pulled out from the film roll chamber by the winding operation, and shutter charging is performed in conjunction with the winding operation, and shooting is performed when the release button is pressed. Then, the exposed film is wound and stored in the cartridge by a winding operation.
[0004]
The lens-fitted photo film unit is submitted as it is to the developer after use. At the lab, the exposed film is taken out from the unit body and processed for development and printing. However, the used unit body itself is not returned to the user, but is collected by the manufacturer and the unit body is disassembled into individual parts. Is done. Since most of the parts are resin molded products, if they are severely damaged and cannot be reused as they are, they are crushed and melted and used again as raw materials as resin pellets. Further, the exposure unit can be reused as it is if there is no abnormality after performing a function inspection.
[0005]
Of these parts, the main body base and the rear cover are parts that are in direct contact with the film. Therefore, it is desirable to avoid reuse as they are after disassembly. This is because, if these parts are slightly damaged, there is a risk that the film emulsion surface or the base surface may have a leak or scratch, which may have an irreparable effect on the quality of the photographic image. For this reason, the rear cover is only reused as a raw material after crushing and melting.
[0006]
However, a unit after a film is taken out from a film unit with a lens that has been requested by a photographer to develop and print by a third party, mainly a developer, other than the manufacturer that has recently produced the film unit with a lens. There are circumstances in which a large number of products that have been sold with a new film cartridge loaded without using the main body are on the market.
[0007]
Without proper quality inspection of each part of the unit to be reused, reuse of the unit without any function guarantee may cause deterioration of the photo quality such as damage to the newly loaded film. There is a possibility that proper photographing cannot be performed due to malfunction due to deterioration of the mechanism. In this way, by reloading and selling the film cartridge without performing necessary quality inspections, adverse effects such as reducing the reliability of the lens-fitted photo film unit have been caused to general users. .
[0008]
For these measures, the front cover and rear cover are integrally provided with characters and marks representing the manufacturer and sales company names by injection molding, or part of the unit body (for example, the base of the main unit and the rear cover) is ultrasonically applied. Measures are taken to make disassembly difficult by welding.
[0009]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, the letters and marks provided integrally by injection molding can be deleted by scraping or filling, and since ultrasonic welding can only be performed partially, refilling cannot be completely prevented.
[0010]
The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and deletion of characters and marks representing the names of manufacturers and sales companies causes troubles in photographing, and can prevent unauthorized reuse of the unit body. An object is to provide a film unit with a lens.
[0011]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a character or mark representing a manufacturer or sales company name on either the eyepiece side or the objective lens surface of the eyepiece lens. The lens surface letters and marks are made visible when the eyes are removed from the eyepiece. In the invention described in claim 2, the line width of characters and marks provided on the lens surface is 0.7 mm or less. In the invention described in claim 3, the characters and marks provided on the lens surface are formed of a material that absorbs light.
[0012]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
In FIG. 2, a film unit 2 with a lens is preloaded with a film cartridge, a simple photographing mechanism and a finder are incorporated, and a unit main body 3 mainly composed of a plastic molded product, and a belt-like wrap around the central portion. It is comprised from the label 4 to cover. A release button 6 and a counter window 7 are provided on the upper surface of the unit body 3, a strobe light emitting unit 8, a photographing lens 9, an objective window 10 and a strobe charge switch 11 are provided on the front surface, and an eyepiece window 12 and the like on the back surface. Is provided.
[0013]
In FIG. 1, the viewfinder includes an eyepiece 14 and an objective lens 15. The eyepiece 14 and the objective lens 15 are exposed to the outside of the unit body 3 from each of the eyepiece window 12 and the objective window 10. At the time of shooting, the position of the subject can be determined by bringing the eye 16 close to the eyepiece 14 and looking through the viewfinder.
[0014]
On the objective lens surface 14a of the eyepiece 14, a mark (in this case, “F”) 15 indicating the manufacturer or sales company name is provided by printing a black thin line. This character 15 is focused on the lens surface 14a when the eye 16 is separated from the eyepiece 14 (for example, the distance between the eyepiece 14 and the eye 16 is about 200 mm). It can be seen from the outside. Further, when the eye is brought close to the eyepiece 14 (for example, the distance between the eyepiece 14 and the eye 16 is about 15 mm), the focus 15 is deviated and the mark 15 becomes invisible.
[0015]
Further, since the mark 15 has a property of absorbing light in black printing, flare does not occur even when looking through the viewfinder in a place where the sunlight is strong. On the other hand, if the line width of the mark 15 exceeds 0.7 mm, the mark 15 cannot be seen when looking through the finder, but the light blocked by the line increases, which becomes a black shadow and is difficult to see. Therefore, the line width of the mark 15 is set to 0.7 mm or less.
[0016]
When the lens-fitted photo film unit 2 is used, first, the winding knob 18 is rotated to wind up one frame of film, and then the eye 16 is brought close to the eyepiece 14 and the desired subject is caught in the center. Then, pressing the release button 6 completes one shooting.
[0017]
The film unit 2 with the lens, which has been repeatedly photographed in this way and has been photographed after all the films have been stored in the cartridge, is submitted to the developing station as it is. At the developing station, the label 4 is broken, the bottom cover 19 is opened, and the cartridge containing the film is taken out.
[0018]
In the unit main body 3, a mark 15 representing the name of the manufacturer or sales company is provided on the objective lens surface 14 a of the eyepiece 14 so that the mark 15 can be seen with the eye 16 away from the eyepiece 14. Therefore, it could not be reused as it was.
[0019]
If the unit body 3 is used as it is, and the mark 15 is scraped off from the eyepiece 14 in order to load and sell a new film cartridge, the lens surface 14a is scratched and cannot be seen, resulting in a finder malfunction. Product value is lost.
[0020]
As described above, when the eyepiece 14 is processed and the unit main body 3 is to be reused, not only a great effort and time are required, but also the function of the finder is impaired. Therefore, there is no possibility that the unit main body 3 is used as it is and a new photo film cartridge loaded is sold.
[0021]
By the way, the eyepiece 14 is used as a raw material again as a resin pellet after the above-described unit main body 3 is collected by a manufacturer and disassembled and then crushed and melted.
[0022]
The above-described mark may be provided on the lens surface on the eyepiece side of the eyepiece lens 14 to obtain the same effect. Moreover, you may provide the mark by which the manufacturer or sales company name can be recognized at a glance with the above-mentioned line width instead of the mark.
[0023]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the lens-fitted photo film unit of the present invention, characters or marks representing the manufacturer or sales company name are provided on the lens surface of the eyepiece lens, and the characters on the lens surface when the eye is removed from the eyepiece lens. Since the mark and the mark can be seen, it cannot be reused as it is, and if the eyepiece is processed in order to erase the letter or mark, the function is impaired, so that the unit body can be prevented from being reused illegally.
[0024]
By making the line width of the characters and marks provided on the lens surface 0.7 mm or less, it is possible to prevent the viewability of the viewfinder from being impaired, and by forming the characters and marks with a material that absorbs light, sunlight can be prevented. Flares can be prevented even in strong places.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a viewfinder.
FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of a lens-fitted photo film unit.
[Explanation of symbols]
2 Film unit with lens 3 Unit body 14 Eyepiece 14a Lens surface

Claims (3)

In a film unit with a lens that has a photographing mechanism and is photographed while looking through a finder built into the unit body that is pre-loaded with a film cartridge,
A letter or mark representing the name of the manufacturer or sales company is provided on either the eyepiece side or the objective side of the eyepiece of the finder, and the letter or mark on the lens surface when the eye is removed from the eyepiece A film unit with a lens that is made visible. 2. The lens-fitted photo film unit according to claim 1, wherein the line width of characters and marks provided on the lens surface is 0.7 mm or less. 3. The lens-fitted photo film unit according to claim 1, wherein a character or mark provided on the lens surface is formed of a material that absorbs light.

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