Claims
- 1. A lens control system for a camera, comprising:
- means for driving a lens to move towards a retracted position;
- means for monitoring a movement of the lens to determine if said movement of said lens has been inhibited during a predetermined amount of time in which the lens should move from a current position to said retracted position, said movement of said lens being determined to have been inhibited when said lens is being driven after an expiration of said predetermined amount of time; and
- means for stopping said driving means when it is determined that movement of said lens has been inhibited during said predetermined amount of time.
- 2. The system according to claim 1, wherein said retracted position is a position at which said lens is not operative.
- 3. The system according to claim 1, wherein said lens is a zoom lens.
- 4. The lens control system of claim 1, wherein said monitoring means determines erroneous stopping of the lens.
- 5. The system of claim 1, wherein said monitoring means monitors the moving of the lens to determine if the moving has been inhibited while said driving means is operative to move the lens.
- 6. The lens control system of claim 1, wherein said lens comprises a zoom lens.
- 7. A system for controlling a driving of a lens, comprising:
- a driver that operates to move the lens;
- a detector that detects a situation in which the lens is prevented from moving while said driver operates to move the lens during a predetermined amount of time in which the lens should move from a current position to a predetermined position, said movement of the lens being determined to have been inhibited when the lens is being driven after an expiration of said predetermined amount of time; and
- an inhibitor that disables said driver in response to said detector detecting that movement of the lens has been prevented during said predetermined amount of time.
- 8. The system of claim 7, wherein said predetermined position comprises a lens accommodation position.
- 9. The system of claim 7, wherein said driver comprises a motor.
- 10. The system of claim 7, wherein said lens comprises a zoom lens.
- 11. The system of claim 7, wherein said inhibitor disables said driver, whereby damage to said driver is prevented.
- 12. The system of claim 7, wherein said lens is associated with a camera.
- 13. The system of claim 7, further comprising a stopping device that stops the lens at said predetermined position.
- 14. The system of claim 7, wherein the lens comprises a zoom lens.
- 15. A system for controlling a lens, comprising:
- a driver that moves the lens towards a retracted position;
- a timer that is set to a predetermined time when the lens is moved towards said retracted position by said driver;
- a monitoring device that monitors the moving of the lens during a predetermined time in which the lens should move to said retracted position to determine if the moving has been inhibited prior to the lens reaching said retracted position, by determining whether the lens is being driven after said predetermined time has elapsed; and
- a disabler that stops said driver when it is determined that said predetermined time has elapsed.
- 16. The system of claim 15, wherein said lens comprises a zoom lens.
- 17. The system of claim 16, wherein said zoom lens comprises a power zoom lens.
- 18. The system of claim 17, wherein said driver comprises a motor that moves said power zoom lens.
- 19. The system of claim 18, wherein said power zoom lens is associated with a camera.
- 20. The system of claim 15, wherein said disabler is responsive to an obstruction that prevents said driver from moving the lens.
Priority Claims (6)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
63-237570 |
Sep 1988 |
JPX |
|
63-237571 |
Sep 1988 |
JPX |
|
63-237572 |
Sep 1988 |
JPX |
|
63-237573 |
Sep 1988 |
JPX |
|
63-237574 |
Sep 1988 |
JPX |
|
63-237575 |
Sep 1988 |
JPX |
|
Parent Case Info
This application is a division, of application Ser. No. 08/373,369, filed Jan. 17, 1995, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,541,702, which is a division of application Ser. No. 08/149,226, filed Nov. 2, 1993, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,428,419, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 07/881,785, filed May 11, 1992, which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 5,283,607 on Feb. 1, 1994, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 07/652,038, filed Feb. 4, 1991, which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 5,159,377 on Oct. 27, 1992, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 07/410,880, filed Sep. 22, 1989, which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 5,093,680 on Mar. 3, 1992.
US Referenced Citations (26)
Foreign Referenced Citations (32)
Number |
Date |
Country |
53-113527 |
Oct 1978 |
JPX |
54-25819 |
Feb 1979 |
JPX |
57-165806 |
Oct 1982 |
JPX |
58-103273 |
Jun 1983 |
JPX |
59-64816 |
Apr 1984 |
JPX |
60-1602 |
Jan 1985 |
JPX |
59-177510 |
Feb 1985 |
JPX |
61-38917 |
Feb 1986 |
JPX |
61-26015 |
Feb 1986 |
JPX |
61-230111 |
Oct 1986 |
JPX |
61-292608 |
Dec 1986 |
JPX |
62-118328 |
May 1987 |
JPX |
62-133431 |
Jun 1987 |
JPX |
62-133430 |
Jun 1987 |
JPX |
62-200340 |
Sep 1987 |
JPX |
63-5331 |
Jan 1988 |
JPX |
63-131112 |
Jun 1988 |
JPX |
63-189817 |
Aug 1988 |
JPX |
63-220118 |
Sep 1988 |
JPX |
64-44429 |
Feb 1989 |
JPX |
64-44428 |
Feb 1989 |
JPX |
64-62608 |
Mar 1989 |
JPX |
64-79713 |
Mar 1989 |
JPX |
64-56406 |
Mar 1989 |
JPX |
1-99012 |
Apr 1989 |
JPX |
1-99011 |
Apr 1989 |
JPX |
1-123026 |
May 1989 |
JPX |
11-31509 |
May 1989 |
JPX |
1-179113 |
Jul 1989 |
JPX |
1-232311 |
Sep 1989 |
JPX |
1-307711 |
Dec 1989 |
JPX |
2-12116 |
Jan 1990 |
JPX |
Non-Patent Literature Citations (30)
Entry |
English Language Abstract of JP 1-131509. |
English Language Abstract of JP 1-123026. |
English Language Abstract of JP 1-99012. |
English Language Abstract of JP 1-99011. |
English Language Abstract of JP 64-79713. |
English Language Abstract of JP 64-62608. |
English Language Abstract of JP 64-56406. |
English Language Abstract of JP 64-44429. |
English Language Abstract of JP 64-44428. |
English Language Abstract of JP 63-220118. |
English Language Abstract of JP 63-5331. |
English Language Abstract of JP 63-200340. |
English Language Abstract of JP 62-133431. |
English Language Abstract of JP 62-133430. |
English Language Abstract of JP 62-118328. |
English Language Abstract of JP 61-230111. |
English Language Abstract of JP 61-38917. |
English Language Abstract of JP 61-26015. |
English Language Abstract of JP 53-113527. |
Infinity Super Zoom 300 Camera Instruction Manual, p. 67, published Jul. 1988. |
European Search Report and Annex for EP 94 10 8436. |
Patent Abstracts of Japan, vol. 10, No. 195 (P-475), Jul. 9, 1986. |
European Search Report and Annex for EP 94 10 6154. |
Patent Abstracts of Japan, vol.9, No. 33 (P-334), Feb. 13, 1985. |
English Language Abstract of JP 57-165806. |
English Language translation of JP 63-131112. |
English Language translation of JP 1-307711. |
European Search Report for EP 89 117 598.6-2205. |
Patent Abstracts of Japan, vol.13, No.12 (p-812), Dec. 1, 1989. |
English Language Abstract of JP-A-60 001602. |
Divisions (2)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
373369 |
Jan 1995 |
|
Parent |
149226 |
Nov 1993 |
|
Continuations (3)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
881785 |
May 1992 |
|
Parent |
652038 |
Feb 1991 |
|
Parent |
410880 |
Sep 1989 |
|