Film cassette and a photographing device using the same

• US 4,500,183 A
• Filed: 01/06/1983
• Issued: 02/19/1985
• Est. Priority Date: 05/02/1980
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Olympus Optical Corporation Limited (Olympus Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Olympus Optical Corporation Limited (Olympus Corporation)
• Inventors: Tanikawa, Kowji
• Primary Examiner(s): Perkey, William B.
• Application Number:
  US06/456,103
• Time in Patent Office: 775 Days
• Field of Search: 354/21, 354/275, 354/217, 354/218, 354/289.1, 352/78 C, 352/32, 352/172, 242/71.2, 242/197-200, 206/316, 353/15
• US Class Current: 396/208
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/04 combined with photographic or television appliances
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 17/18 Signals indicating condition of a camera member or suitability of light indicating depth of field G03B13/30
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 17/24 with means for separately producing marks on the film, e.g. title, time of exposure
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 17/30 Locating spools or other rotatable holders of coiled film
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 2206/008 using holders for the photographic material
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 2217/244 Magnetic devices
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 7/093 for control of exposure time
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 7/24 automatically in accordance with markings or other means indicating film speed or kind of film on the magazine to be inserted in the camera

Abstract

A film cassette provided with a RAM semiconductor memory for storing data relative to a film contained in the film cassette. The data stored in the RAM is updated at every photographing shot, and the updated data is displayed on a display device.

Claims

1. A film cassette comprising:

a film case including an unexposed film chamber section, and a film take-up chamber section having a film take-up spool therein;

a film initially contained in said unexposed film chamber section and which is moved to said film take-up chamber section by being wound up on said film take-up spool; and

a semiconductor memory means provided on said film case and storing and reading out data relative to the film contained in said film case.

2. The film cassette of claim 1, wherein said semiconductor memory is a nonvolatile memory.

3. The film cassette of claim 1, wherein said semiconductor memory comprises a memory backed up by a battery coupled thereto.

4. A photographing device for use in photographing by means of a film cassette that is able to wind a film contained in said film cassette, comprising:

a semiconductor memory provided on said film cassette and storing data relative to the film contained in said film cassette;

shutter driving means for driving a shutter in response to a shutter release action of the photographing device;

film take-up means for winding up the film in said film cassette;

recording-reproducing means for renewing the data recorded in said semiconductor memory on said film cassette with every shutter release action, and for reproducing the renewed data; and

display means coupled to said recording-reproducing means for displaying the recorded data reproduced by said recording-reproducing means.

5. The photographing device of claim 4, wherein said semiconductor memory comprises a nonvolatile RAM and said recording-reproducing means comprises a CPU coupled to said RAM for controlling data write and read operations for said RAM.

6. The photographing device of claim 4, wherein said semiconductor memory stores flag data, frame number data, ASA data, film type data, overdevelopment data, film available period data, light source filter data, and exposure correction data.

7. A photographing method comprising:

providing a film cassette in a photographing device, said film cassette containing a film and being capable of winding said film;

providing a semiconductor memory on said film cassette;

storing data relative to said film in said semiconductor memory on said film cassette;

initiating a shutter release action of the photographing device to drive a shutter to make a photograph;

winding up the film in said film cassette responsive to said shutter release action;

renewing the data recorded in said semiconductor memory on said film cassette with every shutter release action so as to update the data relative to the film after each shutter release action;

reproducing the renewed data; and

displaying the renewed reproduced recorded data.

8. The photographing method of claim 7, wherein said semiconductor memory comprises a non-volatile RAM.

9. The photographing method of claim 7, wherein said step of storing data comprises storing flag data, frame numbered data, ASA data, film type data, overdevelopment data, film available period data, light source filter data and exposure correction data in said semiconductor memory.