JPH0326815B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a film cassette used, for example, in an endoscope camera.

A film cassette for an endoscope is comprised of a film supply section and a film winding section with a bridge in between. A spool for winding the film is rotatably housed in the film winding portion of the film cassette, and an engaging claw integral with the spool is exposed on the top surface of the film cassette. On the other hand, an endoscope camera has an opening/closing lid pivotally attached to the back side of the camera body, and the film cassette is loaded into a cassette storage chamber within the camera body by opening the opening/closing lid.

In this case, since the film cassette is loaded into the cassette storage chamber by sliding it from the back of the camera body in the direction of the optical axis, it is necessary to avoid interference between the film winding shaft on the camera side and the film cassette during loading. The film winding shaft is movable up and down, and when a film cassette is loaded, the film winding shaft is retracted upward, and after loading, it is lowered and engaged with an engaging claw of the film cassette.

However, making the film winding shaft movable up and down increases the height of the camera body by the stroke thereof, and it also becomes mechanically complex. Furthermore, when taking out the film cassette from the camera after photographing, it is necessary to remove the film cassette while retracting the film winding shaft upward, which makes it troublesome to attach and remove the film cassette.

This invention was made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and its purpose is to move the spool in the thrust direction between the protruding position where the shaft of the spool is projected outwardly from the case and the storage position where the shaft is stored inwardly. between the end of the film wound around the spool and the spool, the film and the spool are movably engaged in the thrust direction and integrally in the rotational direction, and It is an object of the present invention to provide a film cassette which allows the film cassette to be easily attached and detached, and which allows the camera and the film cassette to be made smaller.

The present invention will be described below based on an embodiment shown in the drawings. 1 and 2 show a film cassette for an endoscope, and 1 is a cassette body. The cassette main body 1 is comprised of a film supply section 3 and a film winding section 4 with a bridge 2 in between. An unexposed film 5 of, for example, 8 mm or 16 mm is housed in the film supply section 3 in a wound state, and one end of the film is connected to a spool 20 (described later) of the film winding section 4.

3 and 4 show an endoscope camera, and 6 is the camera body. This camera body 6
A cassette storage chamber 7 into which the cassette main body 1 is loaded is provided inside. An opening/closing lid 9 for opening and closing the opening 8 of the cassette storage chamber 7 is pivotally mounted on the back side of the camera body 6.

The opening/closing lid 9 is opened and the cassette body 1 is slid from the rear of the camera body 6 in the direction of its optical axis to be loaded into the cassette storage chamber 7.

Next, the cassette main body 1 will be explained in detail based on FIG. 2, FIG. 5, and FIG. 6. 10
11 is a lower case, and 11 is an upper case. A first cylindrical section 12 forming the film supply section 3 and a second cylindrical section 13 forming the film winding section 4 are integrally molded into the lower case 10 together with the bridge 2. Further, the case 11 is provided with lids 14 and 15 that close the upper openings of the first and second cylindrical portions 12 and 13. Further, an opening 1 is provided at the bottom of the second cylindrical portion 13.
6 is provided, and a jetty 17 that projects upward is provided on the opening edge of this opening 16. Further, the lid body 15 is also provided with an opening 18 which faces the opening 16 and has a smaller diameter than the opening 16, and a jetty 19 which projects downward is provided at the opening edge of the opening 18. A spool 20 is rotatably fitted between the openings 16 and 18. This spool 20 is constituted by a single cylinder 21. An annular groove 22 provided at the bottom of the single cylinder 21 fits with the jetty 17, and an annular groove 23 provided at the top fits into the jetty 19. It matches. Then, the single cylinder 21
A bottom portion 24 thereof is exposed from the opening 16, and an engaging claw portion 25 exposed from the opening 18 is provided at the top thereof. Therefore, the single cylinder 21
A film storage chamber 26 formed on the outer periphery of the film storage chamber 26 is shielded from light from the outside. Further, a cut groove 27 is provided in a part of the outer peripheral surface of the single cylinder 21 along the vertical direction, and a pin 28 is provided protruding inside the cut groove 27 to form an engaging portion 21a. are doing. On the other hand, the tip 29 of the film 5 is formed narrowly, and a long hole 30 is provided in the tip 29 to protrude in the width direction. The tip 29 of the film 5 is inserted into the cut groove 27, and the elongated hole 30 engages with the pin 28 so as to be movable in the vertical direction. Therefore, the single cylinder 21 is configured to be movable in the thrust direction. In this case, the stroke of the single cylinder 21 in the thrust direction is
The length is regulated by 9. Furthermore, a compression spring 31 is interposed between the bottom surface of the annular groove 23 of the single cylinder 21 and the lid body 15, so that the single cylinder 21 is always positioned downwardly with respect to the lid body 15, that is, the engaging claw portion 25 is connected to the opening 18. It is biased in the direction of immersion. Therefore, the upper surface of the single cylinder 21 is held flush with the lid 15.

Next, the camera body 6 will be described in detail based on FIG. 7. That is, 34 is a support member provided in the cassette storage chamber 7, which includes a plurality of support stands 36 protruding from the bottom 35 of the cassette storage chamber 7.
It is fixed by. Therefore, this support member 35 is spaced apart from the bottom 35 of the cassette storage chamber 7, and a pivot shaft 37 is pivotally supported on the front edge thereof. The opening/closing lid 9 is attached to this pivot shaft 37.
The lower end of the cassette storage chamber 7 is pivoted to open and close the opening 8 of the cassette storage chamber 7. Further, support walls 38, 38 are bent at both ends of the support member 34 and stand along both side surfaces of the cassette storage chamber 7, and one of the support walls 38, that is, the film of the cassette body 1 is bent. A slide plate 39 is provided on the side facing the winding section 4. This slide plate 39 is formed in an L-shape, and its vertical plate 40 is attached to the outer surface of the support wall 38, and its horizontal plate 41 is attached to the support member 38.
They are facing each other at the bottom of the . Furthermore, the vertical plate 40 of the slide plate 39 has elongated holes 42 and 4 in the vertical direction.
2 are bored, and these long holes 42, 42 are connected to the support wall 3.
8, protruding pins 43, 43 are inserted.
Therefore, the slide plate 39 is supported by the pins 43, 43 which engage with the elongated holes 42, 42 so as to be slidable in the vertical direction, and is constantly urged upward by the urging spring 44. Also, this slide plate 39
A push-up pin 45 is provided protrudingly on the horizontal plate 41 of the
A through hole 45a is bored in the support member 34 facing this. The push-up pin 45 faces the bottom 24 of the single cylinder 21 in the film winding section 4 of the cassette body 1 loaded onto the support member 34, and when the slide plate 39 is raised, the bottom 24
The single cylinder 21 can be pushed up against the restoring force of the compression spring 31 by coming into contact with it.
In other words, the cylinder 21 of the spool 20 can be pushed up against the claw part 47 of the film winding shaft 46 provided at the upper part of the cassette storage chamber 7, and the engaging claw part 25 can be engaged with it.

Further, a notch portion 48 is provided in the vertical plate 40 of the slide plate 39, and an engaging stepped portion 49 is formed at the lower end of this notch portion 48. Further, a lock lever 51 is pivotally supported on the support wall 38 facing the notch 48 and is rotatable about a pin 50, and is biased counterclockwise by a biasing spring 52. . The upper end of the lock lever 51 is provided with an operating part 54 that faces a pressing part 53 protruding from the back surface of the opening/closing lid 9, and the lower end is provided with an engaging part 55 that can be freely engaged with and detached from the engaging stepped part 49. is provided. This lock lever 51 is the opening/closing lid 9.
When opened, the engaging portion 55 rotates counterclockwise due to the restoring force of the biasing spring 52 and engages the engaging stepped portion 49, locking the slide plate 39 in the lowered position and closing. Sometimes the action part 54 is pressed by the pressing part 53.
is pressed and rotated clockwise to retract the engaging portion 55 from the engaging stepped portion 49 and release the lock.

Next, the camera body 6 configured as described above
The operation of attaching and detaching the cassette body 1 to and from the cassette body 1 will be explained. When the opening/closing lid 9 of the camera body 6 is open, the lock lever 51 is rotated counterclockwise by the restoring force of the biasing spring 52, as shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. Therefore, the engaging portion 5
5 engages with the engagement step portion 49 of the slide plate 39 to hold the slide plate 39 in a lowered state. In this state, when the cassette body 1 is inserted into the cassette storage chamber 7 of the camera body 6 from behind in the direction of the optical axis, the cassette body 1 is placed on the support member 34 of the cassette storage chamber 7. After loading the cassette body 1 into the predetermined position of the cassette storage chamber 7, open/close lid 9
When the lock lever 51 is closed, the operating portion 54 of the lock lever 51 is pressed by the pressing portion 53 of the opening/closing lid 9. Therefore, the lock lever 51 rotates clockwise against the restoring force of the biasing spring 52, and its engaging portion 55 is disengaged from the engaging stepped portion 49 and is held as shown by the solid line in FIG. Ru. When the slide plate 39 is unlocked, the slide plate 39 slides upward by the restoring force of the biasing spring 44. Therefore, the push-up pin 45 penetrates through the through hole 45a and projects upward,
It comes into contact with the single cylinder 21 in the film winding section 4 of the cassette main body 1. At this time, the single cylinder 21 is urged downward by the compression spring 31, but is pushed up by the restoring force of the urging spring 44, which is stronger than the spring force of the compression spring 31.
As a result, the single cylinder 21 rises, and the engaging claw portion 25 of the single cylinder 21 engages with the claw portion 47 of the film winding shaft 46. Therefore, the rotation of the film winding shaft 46 is controlled by the single cylinder 2 through the engaging claw portion 25 that engages with the claw portion 47.
1, the inner cylinder 21 rotates and the film 5 in the film supply section 3 can be wound around its outer peripheral surface. On the other hand, at this time, that is, when the single cylinder 21 is pushed up by the push-up pin 45, the single cylinder 21
The pin 28 provided on the film 5 rises integrally, but since the pin 28 only slides within the elongated hole 30 of the film 5, no external force in the thrust direction is applied to the film 5.

Further, when photographing is completed and the cassette body 1 is to be taken out from the camera body 6, the opening/closing lid 9 of the camera body 6 is first unlocked. Next, the slide plate 39 is slid downward against the restoring force of the biasing spring 44 by appropriate means. As a result, the push-up pin 45 is also lowered, and the single cylinder 21 of the cassette body 1 is lowered by the restoring force of the biasing spring 31, so that the engaging claw portion 25 is disengaged from the claw portion 47 of the film winding shaft 46. At this time, after the film 5 has been wound, it loosens and the single cylinder 21 falls down without resistance, and the upper end of the single cylinder 21 becomes flush with the lid 15. Therefore, when the opening/closing lid 9 is opened using its pivot shaft 37 as a fulcrum, the lock lever 51 is rotated counterclockwise by the restoring force of the biasing spring 52, and the engaging portion 5
5 engages with the engagement step portion 49. Therefore, the slide plate 39 is locked in the lowered state, and the cassette main body 1 can be taken out from the cassette storage chamber 7 to the rear.

In this way, when attaching and detaching the cassette body 1 to and from the camera body 6, the cassette body 1 can be attached and detached from the rear of the camera body 6 without moving the film winding shaft 46 up and down as in the conventional case, and after loading, the opening/closing lid 9 can be closed. By sliding the slide plate 39 in conjunction with the opening/closing lid 9, the engaging claw portion 25 of the film winding section 4 can be automatically engaged with the claw portion 47 of the film winding shaft 46.

In the above embodiment, the film 5 and the single tube 21 are formed by the engaging portion 21a consisting of the pin 28 and the elongated hole 30.
As shown in the figure, an opening 56 is provided with a narrow kerf 57 in the single cylinder 21, while a tip 58 of the film 5 is provided with a narrow kerf 57.
A stopper 59 thicker than the opening 56 may be attached to the opening 56, and the stopper 59 may be inserted into the cut groove 57 to engage the film 5 with the single cylinder 21. Further, instead of the above-mentioned slip-off preventing tool 59, the tip portion 58 of the film 5 may be bent to prevent the film from slipping off.

As explained above, the present invention supports the spool so as to be movable in the thrust direction between the protruding position where the shaft protrudes outward from the case forming the film winding section and the storage position where the shaft is stored inward. death,
Since the film and the spool are movable in the thrust direction and integrally engaged in the rotational direction between the end of the film wound around the spool and the spool, the film can be easily removed when the film cassette is attached to or removed from the camera. It can be easily attached and detached without moving the winding shaft up and down. Therefore, compared to the case where the spool has a double structure, the film cassette can be made smaller and the structure on the camera side can also be simplified, making it possible to achieve smaller size.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 to 7 show one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a plan view of a film cassette;
Figure 2 is a front view, Figure 3 is a partially cutaway rear view of the endoscope camera, Figure 4 is a side view,
FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional front view of the film winding section, FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line of FIG.
The figure is a longitudinal sectional front view of a spool showing another embodiment of the invention, and FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along the line of FIG. 8. 2... Bridge, 3... Film supply section, 4... Film winding section, 5... Film, 20... Spool,
21... Single tube, 21a... Engaging portion, 46... Film winding shaft.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 having a film supply section and a film winding section containing a spool, the spool having a protruding position in which its shaft protrudes outward from a case forming the film winding section, and a storage position in which the spool is housed inward; In the film cassette supported movably in the thrust direction between the spool and the end of the film wound around the spool, the film cassette is supported movably in the thrust direction and in the rotation direction. A film cassette characterized in that it is provided with an engaging means for integrally engaging with the film cassette.