Photographic Implement

My present invention relates to a photographic implement consisting essentially of a small camera with a flat, generally prismatic body, referred to in the trade as a pocket camera, and a protective case therefor.

Such cameras have the advantage of low weight and small volume, being therefore easily carried on the person of the user. In operation, however, they are somewhat unsteady because of the absence of any appendages which the user could firmly grip with one hand while taking a picture with the other hand. Providing such an appendage on the camera body would, of course, defeat the very idea of making the camera compact enough to fit into one's coat pocket or pocketbook.

The object of my present invention, therefore, is to design a photographic implement of this character in such a way as to provide at least a temporary handle which, without adding to the bulk of the camera body, can be used for holding the camera steady during its operation.

I realize this object, in accordance with the present invention, by the provision of a protective case which surrounds the camera body in a nonoperating position and which extends generally transversely to that body in an operating position to form a supporting handle.

The protective case may be pivoted to the camera body, or to a heel bracketing an end thereof, for relative movement with a simple swinging or composite translatory and rotational motion to place the camera body the handle member in the nonoperating position, thereby minimizing the overall volume of the implement. With the handle member between a pair of spaced-apart cheek plates in the nonoperating position, the aforedescribed composite motion may allow an endwise insertion of the camera body into the case to establish that nonoperating position.

Advantageously, pursuant to another feature of my invention, the case is provided at least on its surface with a nonmetallic anit-slippage material such as leather, plastic or textile fabric which allows the handle to be firmly gripped and is also pleasant to the touch. A layer of such anti-slippage material may form part of a flexible sheath on a relatively rigid core of sheet metal, cardboard, hard plastic or the like.

The above and other features of my invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a front view of a photographic implement with a detachable handle;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an implement representing an embodiment of my invention;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2, illustrating a modification;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of another photographic implement according to this invention;

FIG. 5 shows, again in perspective view, a further embodiment; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective representation of a modified case for the implement of FIG. 5.

In FIG. 1 I have shown a conventional pocket camera 13 whose flat prismatic body is girdled under tension by an elastic band 12 constituting a body-engaging portion of a protective case 10. A member 11 integral with band 12 extends generally transversely to the camera body 13 to serve as a handle during picture taking. The band 12 leaves free an objective 25 and a view-finder 26 on the front side as well as the usual shutter-release button and eyepiece (not shown) on the rear side of body 13.

FIG. 2 shows the camera body 13 engaged by a frame portion 110 of a protective case having top and bottom walls 110a, 110c, an end wall 110b and a hub 110b'. A yoke-shaped handle member 14 has a pair of parallel cheek plates 110d and a bight 110e remote from hub 110b'; the cheeks are articulated to the hub by a pair of studs 15 (only one shown) enabling the member 14 to be swung through an arc of 90.degree., as indicated by an arrow B, from its illustrated transverse position (allowing the camera to be operated) to an alternate position alongside the camera body 13 in which operation is prevented since the objective 25 is obstructed by one of the cheek plates 110d. In that nonoperating position the bight 110e abuts an extremity 16 of top wall 110a overhanging the end wall 110b of the body-engaging case portion. Top wall 110a has a hole 27 enabling observation of the film position in the camera; such a hole could also serve as an access opening to the shutter-release button if the latter were disposed at the top of the body 13 rather than at its rear as mentioned above.

In order to arrest the relatively swingable parts 110 and 14 in the illustrated operating position, at least one pivot stud 15 carries a ratchet 15a coacting with a pawl 15b which can be manually lifted off to let the member 14 embrace the camera body 13.

In FIG. 3 I have shown an arrangement similar to that of FIG. 2 wherein, however, the bottom wall 110c of the body-engaging case portion 110 has been omitted and replaced by a back wall 110c' of yoke member 114 which comes to rest against the underside of camera body 13 in the nonoperating position. Also, a pivot stud 15' has here been shown threaded and engaged by a wing nut 15c serving to hold the parts either in the illustrated operating position or in the alternate nonoperating position. Naturally, the wing nut 15c may also be substituted for the pawl-and-ratchet detent 15a, 15b of FIG. 2 or vice versa.

The implement of FIG. 4 has a case whose body-engaging portion 210 includes a heel 210b' and a bottom wall 210c complementing a handle member 214 to a substantially closed shell when that member is swung from its illustrated operating position through an arc of 270.degree. C (arrow C) into its alternate position enveloping the camera body 13. Handle member 214 is provided with finger-grip notches 18 which, of course, could also be present in other embodiments. This member has a back wall 210a forming the top of the closed shell, an end wall 210b, and two cheek plates 210d with recesses 210d' matingly receiving crenelations 210c' which rise from the edges of bottom wall 210c. Wall 210a terminates in a transverse edge 17, spanning the cheeks 210d, against which the camera body 13 comes to rest through the intermediary of bottom wall 210c in the illustrated operating position, thus obviating the need for special detent means as described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. Wall 210a thus has the triple function of reinforcing the yoke 214, forming an abutment for the bottom of camera body 13 in the illusttrated operating position and protecting the top of that body in the nonoperating or closure position.

In FIG. 5 I have shown a camera 113 whose body is split into two sections 113a and 113b which, in a manner known per se, must be slid apart to perform a film-transport stroke. Body section 113a is engaged by a bracket or heel 19 provided with pivot studs 20 which are slidably guided in a pair of longitudinal tracks 21 on cheek plates 310d of a handle member 314 which together with bracket 19 constitutes a protective case 310. Normally, that body is fully encased in member 314 as the studs are slid to the lower ends of their guide tracks 21; when the camera is to be operated, it is raised together with bracket 19 in the direction of arrow A and is then swung clockwise, as indicated by an arrow D, unitl the underside of the bracket comes to rest on a transverse edge 22 of a bracing plate 310e spanning the cheek plates 310d to form a back wall for the handle member. The opposite motion, with endwise insertion of the camera body into the handle 314, serves for the retraction of the camera into that handle whose basic yoke shape is complemented by walls 310a and 310c to a box. In the nonoperating position of camera 113, bracket 19 closes the top end of that box.

FIG. 5 also shows the front wall 310a and the cheeks 310d of handle 314 as clad with a fabric layer 29 representative of any of the aforementioned anti-slippage materials. Layer 29 is carried on a substantially rigid core constituting the several walls referred to; if desired, that layer can also extend over the back plate 310e. Naturally, similar sheaths or layers can also be provided on the handles shown in other Figures.

In FIG. 6, finally, I have illustrated a yoke-shaped handle 23 representing a modification of the handle 314 of FIG. 5 and comprising cheek plates 23a interconnected by a bight 23b, these cheeks having slots 21 forming the aforedescribed guide tracks for studs 20 on bracket or heel 19. Cheek plates 23a are spanned by a pair of front and rear braces 24, 24' between which the bracket 19 with its camera body (not shown in this Figure) can pass when the bracket is swung through 90.degree., as indicated by an arrow E, preparatorily to retraction of the camera into its nonoperating position. Yoke 23, which may consist of metal, may again be clad with a non-slip layer or sheath as described in connection with FIG. 5. Rear brace 24' serves as an abutment for the bracket 19, and therefore also for the camera body, in the illustrated operating position.