Electronic imaging camera
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A hand held camera of a size and weight suitable to be held in the hand of an operator, said camera comprising:
- a camera housing having a first and a second section;
a substantially planar electrically energizable electro-optical display device forming in part one wall of said first section;
means within one of said sections for receiving a battery;
means located within said first section in communicating relation with said second section for replaceably receiving at least one sheet of an image receiving material;
optical means, carried by said first section, for viewing, by an operator, a scene to be recorded and for focusing an image of the scene at a given plane, said optical means including an objective lens facing outwardly from a forward wall of said first section;
an electrically energizable photosensitive transducer, positioned within said first section at said given plane so as to have the optical image of the scene focused thereon by said objective lens, for converting the optical image into electronic image signals that represent the optical image in electronic data form;
electrically energizable means within said first section for receiving the electronic image signals representative of the optical image of the scene from said transducer and for storing the same;
an electrically energizable printer, within said second section, with which the sheet of image receiving material is adapted to be operatively associated and being responsive to the electronic image signals representative of the optical image of the scene applied thereto from said signal receiving and storing means for printing an image of the scene on the sheet of image receiving material; and
control means within said first section and including at least one manually actuatable actuator accessible from the exterior of said first section for coupling components of said camera to the battery to electrically energize said photosensitive transducer, said signal receiving and storing means and said electro-optical display device such that electronic image signals representative of the optical image of the scene are provided by said transducer to said signal receiving and storing means and are applied from said signal receiving and storing means to said electro-optical display device to provide thereon a visual display of the image viewable by the operator, said control means thereafter being selectively operable by the operator for electrically energizing the printer and applying the electronic image signals from said signal receiving and storing means to said printer to effect the printing of an image of the scene on the sheet of image receiving material by said printer.
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Abstract
A hand held, self-processing, electronic imaging camera for electronically recording an image of a scene, for providing a visual display of the recorded image on an electro-optical display device forming part of the camera such that the operator may audit or preview the recorded image and for printing out a hard copy print of the recorded image on a non-photosensitive image receiving sheet.
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Citations
13 Claims
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1. A hand held camera of a size and weight suitable to be held in the hand of an operator, said camera comprising:
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a camera housing having a first and a second section; a substantially planar electrically energizable electro-optical display device forming in part one wall of said first section; means within one of said sections for receiving a battery; means located within said first section in communicating relation with said second section for replaceably receiving at least one sheet of an image receiving material; optical means, carried by said first section, for viewing, by an operator, a scene to be recorded and for focusing an image of the scene at a given plane, said optical means including an objective lens facing outwardly from a forward wall of said first section; an electrically energizable photosensitive transducer, positioned within said first section at said given plane so as to have the optical image of the scene focused thereon by said objective lens, for converting the optical image into electronic image signals that represent the optical image in electronic data form; electrically energizable means within said first section for receiving the electronic image signals representative of the optical image of the scene from said transducer and for storing the same; an electrically energizable printer, within said second section, with which the sheet of image receiving material is adapted to be operatively associated and being responsive to the electronic image signals representative of the optical image of the scene applied thereto from said signal receiving and storing means for printing an image of the scene on the sheet of image receiving material; and control means within said first section and including at least one manually actuatable actuator accessible from the exterior of said first section for coupling components of said camera to the battery to electrically energize said photosensitive transducer, said signal receiving and storing means and said electro-optical display device such that electronic image signals representative of the optical image of the scene are provided by said transducer to said signal receiving and storing means and are applied from said signal receiving and storing means to said electro-optical display device to provide thereon a visual display of the image viewable by the operator, said control means thereafter being selectively operable by the operator for electrically energizing the printer and applying the electronic image signals from said signal receiving and storing means to said printer to effect the printing of an image of the scene on the sheet of image receiving material by said printer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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3. A hand held camera comprising:
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a camera housing having an upper section and a lower section, said upper section including oppositely spaced generally planar forward and rear walls, said rear wall being formed in part by a thin substantially planar electrically energizable electro-optical display device; means within said upper section for receiving a source of electrical power; means located within said upper section in communicating relation with said lower section for replaceably receiving at least one sheet of an image receiving material; optical means, mounted on said upper section, for viewing, by an operator, a scene to be recorded and for focusing an image of the scene, said optical means including an objective lens facing outwardly from said forward wall; an electrically energizable photosensitive transducer, positioned within said upper section to have an optical image of the scene focused thereon by said objective lens, for converting the optical image into electronic image signals that represent the optical image in electronic data form; electrically energizable means within said upper section for receiving the electronic image signals representative of the optical image of the scene from said transducer and for storing the same; an electrically energizable printer, within said lower section, with which the sheet of image receiving material is adapted to be operatively associated and being responsive to the electronic image signals representative of the optical image of the scene applied thereto from said signal receiving and storing means for printing an image of the scene on the sheet of image receiving material; control means within said upper section and including at least one manually actuable actuator accessible from the exterior of said upper section for coupling components of said camera to the source of electrical power to electrically energize said photosensitive transducer, said signal receiving and storing means and said electro-optical display device such that electronic image signals representative of the optical image of the scene are provided by said transducer to said signal receiving and storing means and are applied from said signal receiving and storing means to said electro-optical display device to provide thereon a visual display of the image viewable by the operator, said control means thereafter being selectively operable by the operator for electrically energizing the printer and applying the electronic image signals from said signal receiving and storing means to said printer to effect the printing of an image of the scene on the sheet of image receiving material by said printer; and said signal receiving and storing means, said image receiving material receiving means and said power source receiving means being arranged in said upper housing section between said forward wall and said display device in substantially parallel relation. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5, 6, 7)
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Specification