Did You Know...
...that the video game, Pong, was invented by a guy who graduated at the bottom of his engineering class? Nolan Bushnell spent more time running the games at a local amusement park than he did on his studies at the University of Utah. His dreams of working for Disney's amusement empire were dashed when the company wouldn't hire him. Taking a boring job, Nolan daydreamed about electronic versions of popular games. He invented Pong, the first video game, and went on to found Atari Co.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8009974 | Power transmission and camera A power transmission capable of regulating the disengagement of a nut part from a screw part, and the like are provided. The power transmission is constructed of a rotation shaft having a thread formed on a periphery thereof; a nut member capable of being opened and... | 08/30/2011 |
| 7454132 | Linkage mechanism between zoom lens barrel unit and zoom member, camera, and method of assembling illumination range-changing device and zoom finder device A linkage mechanism between a zoom strobe device and a zoom finder device, which contributes to reduced size of a camera, and can control the illumination range of the zoom strobe device and the magnification of a finder optical system of the zoom finder device. A c... | 11/18/2008 |
| 7430368 | Zoom lens assembly capable of macro photography A zoom lens assembly includes an optical system forming an optical axis and having at least one lens group, a base member (1), a macro ring member (2) rotatably engaged with the base member for accomplishing both zooming and focusing operations, a lens... | 09/30/2008 |
| 7356252 | Auto-focusing zoom lens mechanism An auto-focusing zoom lens mechanism includes a base unit forming a space; an auto-focusing (AF) lens unit located in the base unit and having a trajectory bar engaged therewith; a zoom lens unit located in the base unit and mounted on the AF lens unit and having a ... | 04/08/2008 |
| 7345836 | Zoom lens driving apparatus A zoom lens driving apparatus achieves the object of driving multiple lens groups by a single motor and low production cost. When a first lens group, which includes a first lens, moves along guide rods, a leading cam of a leading member drives a leading pin of a fol... | 03/18/2008 |
| 7289272 | Optical system including an anamorphic lens An optical system includes a primary lens group having a central beam path therethrough and including a front lens group and a rear lens group. An anamorphic lens group lies on the central beam path and is positioned between the front lens group and the rear lens gr... | 10/30/2007 |
| 7265789 | Camera with flange back adjusting mechanism A camera includes a flange back adjusting mechanism in which the operation of the flange back adjusting mechanism is not obstructed, and the flange back adjustment is easily performed. A flange back adjusting mechanism which moves and adjusts a CCD in the direction ... | 09/04/2007 |
| 7146097 | Focusing device There is provided a focusing device capable of rapidly moving a lens to a minute focusing region and of realizing minute movement of focusing the lens in the minute focusing region. A lens moving mechanism comprises a first guide portion for guiding a lens to move i... | 12/05/2006 |
| 7116901 | Zoom finder drive mechanisms A zoom finder drive mechanism, driven only when taking a picture. When a lens barrel is in a collapsed position, the cam-follower pin of a rotary barrel does not abut at an end of a protrusion of a finder cam barrel such that a first and second movable finder lenses... | 10/03/2006 |
| 7072122 | Lens apparatus, projection type optical apparatus and projection type image display apparatus An optical apparatus according to the present invention has a plurality of lens units which can move in the direction of an optical axis, each of the lens units has a cam follower, a guide member which guides the each lens unit in the direction of the optical axis, ... | 07/04/2006 |
| 7037007 | Lens hood, and imaging device A lens hood with lens covers that need not be attached to and detached from a lens unit and are easily openable and closable relative to each other. The lens hood includes a hood body attached to the front of a lens to prevent unnecessary light from being incident u... | 05/02/2006 |
| 7019916 | Lens apparatus, projection type optical apparatus and projection type image display apparatus An optical apparatus according to the present invention has a plurality of lens units which can move in the direction of an optical axis, each of the lens units has a cam follower, a guide member which guides the each lens unit in the direction of the optical axis, ... | 03/28/2006 |
| 6954587 | Switching/moving structure of a zoom lens A zoom lens barrel includes a linear guide ring; a moving frame having a male helicoid; a rotatable ring coupled to the linear guide ring; a female helicoid formed on the rotatable ring, and engaged with the male helicoid; a switching ring coupled to the rotatable r... | 10/11/2005 |
| 6940658 | Step-zoom lens A step-zoom lens includes two movable lens groups; a lens group support unit; and a cam ring having a cam groove. The cam groove includes a finite number of focal-length steps, so as to perform a focusing operation between infinite and closest photographing position... | 09/06/2005 |
| 6930719 | Lens unit structure for SLR digital camera A lens unit structure for an SLR digital camera is provided with a photographing lens block and a finder block. The photographing lens block includes a lens barrel having a pair of guide shafts extending in parallel with an optical axis. Ends of the guide shafts are... | 08/16/2005 |
| 6906871 | Cam mechanism for lens barrel A cam mechanism for a lens barrel includes an annular member which is linearly guided along an optical axis, and having a cam follower on an outer peripheral surface; a cam ring having a cam groove on an inner peripheral surface including a photographing section and... | 06/14/2005 |
| 6710936 | Image sensor module with zooming function An image sensor module with a zooming function is disclosed. The sensor module consists of first and second barrels for respectively holding condensing lenses used for image capture, and a housing having a guide channel at a sidewall thereof and movably and stably r... | 03/23/2004 |
| 6650832 | Variable power lens barrel and camera The present invention discloses a variable power lens barrel including a first lens unit that is positioned nearest to the subject side, and a cam barrel having the first cam, wherein the first cam alternately and continuously has a plurality of variable ... | 11/18/2003 |
| 6546200 | Lens interlock mechanism and lens interlock method, camera and portable terminal having lens interlock mechanism The lens interlock mechanism includes the first driving unit, the second driving unit, and the third driving unit. The first driving unit moves the zoom lens along the optical axis direction of the zoom lens while giving a first driving force correspondin... | 04/08/2003 |
| 6493512 | Step zoom lens camera A step zoom lens camera includes a rotatable cam ring, a cam groove formed on the cam ring, including step areas, a linear movement member which is connected to the cam ring, and a cam-guided lens group which is guided by the linear movement member to mov... | 12/10/2002 |
| 6490097 | Lens barrel A lens barrel includes first and second cylinders, a base, a single motor, a feed screw, a rotation mechanism, a helicoid mechanism, and a drive gear for transmitting a drive force of the motor to the feed screw and the rotation mechanism. The drive gear ... | 12/03/2002 |
| 6487370 | Lens drive control apparatus A lens drive control apparatus includes a movable lens which is movable along the optical axis; a lens driver; a code plate having two limit positions respectively serving as mechanical movement limit positions of the movable lens, the code plate includin... | 11/26/2002 |
| 6480677 | Zooming and focusing mechanism of camera A single mechanism of a camera which performs zooming and focusing operations. The mechanism has a first lens group which performs focusing operation, a second lens group which moves relative to the first lens group to perform zooming operation, and a zoo... | 11/12/2002 |
| 6469841 | Lens frame guiding mechanism of a zoom lens A lens frame guiding mechanism of a zoom lens includes lens frames having projections which extend radially outwards, wherein a cam follower is formed on each projection; a linear guide barrel; linear guide slots formed on the linear guide barrel parallel... | 10/22/2002 |
| 6389231 | Lens driving apparatus, lens guiding mechanism, and optical instrument A lens driving apparatus includes an intermediate barrel movable along an optical axis of an optical system; a movable barrel, containing a front group lens, movable along the optical axis to retract or protrude with respect to the intermediate barrel as ... | 05/14/2002 |
| 6370334 | Imaging apparatus, a drive mechanism and a method of driving the mechanism A drive mechanism for moving a lens and adjusting a diaphragm by a driving force supplied by a single drive source, comprising: a transmission mechanism capable of taking a first transmitting condition by which the driving force is transmitted for both ad... | 04/09/2002 |
| 6353710 | Lens barrel A lens barrel includes a cam tube having a female helicoid and a cam formed in an inner wall thereof. A first tube which holds a lens and has a male helicoid formed on an outer wall thereof engages the female helicoid. The first tube is arranged to be mov... | 03/05/2002 |
| 6349003 | Camera with manually operated zoom lens A camera having a manually operated zoom lens system, in which the magnification of the lens system is adjusted by manual rotation of a part of the lens systems. The camera includes a lens system having at least first and second optical elements, the firs... | 02/19/2002 |
| 6282377 | Dual lens camera A dual lens camera has a lens carrier with a shorter focal length lens and a longer focal length lens for alternatively positioning only one of the lenses at a picture-taking axis. A single aperture for each one of the lenses is movable forward and rearwa... | 08/28/2001 |
| 6101335 | Zoom lens barrel assembly for a camera A zoom lens barrel assembly includes an operating barrel formed with a zooming cam operative to perform zooming and focusing while turning, an inner movable barrel fixedly holding a front lens group and formed with a focusing cam which is movable axially ... | 08/08/2000 |
| 6061524 | Camera In a zooming-focusing type camera, a driving force of a motor is selectively transmitted to a zooming mechanism for controlling a focal length of an optical lens system, a film winding mechanism for winding a film by a length corresponding to one frame an... | 05/09/2000 |
| 6049432 | Zoom lens barrel A zoom lens barrel includes at least two lens groups, a linear movement guide tube for guiding a linear movement of the lens groups along the optical axis and a cam tube for reciprocating the lens groups along the optical axis. The guide tube has a guidin... | 04/11/2000 |
| 5983032 | Lens drive device for zoom optical system A lens drive device for a zoom optical system drives first and second lenses along an optical axis with a single drive source. A transmission mechanism connects the drive source and the first and second lenses. The transmission mechanism transmits drive t... | 11/09/1999 |
| 5983031 | Lens shutter camera equipped with zoom lens system The rotation of the motor 60 located outside the lens barrel is transmitted to the shutter blades 74 that move along the optical axis together with the lens barrel by means of the gear train 62, the drive shaft 64 that is engaged with the output gear 63 o... | 11/09/1999 |
| 5970260 | Camera equipped with zoom lens In a camera equipped with a zoom lens for forming an image of an object onto a film surface, the camera is equipped with a front lens group composed of a first lens group, adjustable aperture blades, a second lens group, and a second lens group-holding me... | 10/19/1999 |
| 5878288 | Power transmission apparatus The invention is directed to an engaging mechnism. The engaging mechanism comprises a cam element which moves upon modification of an engaging position, a cam follower abutted against a cam surface of the cam element, a detecting element for detecting a p... | 03/02/1999 |
| 5838374 | Autofocus video camera that can compensate for variation in the amount of load on a mobile unit of a linear motor in a focus operation A calculation circuit compares a current focus evaluation value provided from a focus evaluation value generation circuit, with a focus evaluation value, of one preceding field stored in a memory, to determine whether a CCD is in-focus or not. The calcula... | 11/17/1998 |
| 5832317 | Zooming device The zooming device comprises first and second lens groups movably supported by a guide shaft which is disposed in parallel to a cam shaft, an outer surface of which has first and second cam grooves. First and second pins provided on the first and second l... | 11/03/1998 |
| 5825559 | Optical assembly having a dual purpose focus An optical assembly includes a lens assembly having a lens barrel for supporting a lens along an optical axis, an optical base having an opening aligned with the optical axis, and a plurality of ramps and a corresponding plurality of reference locators ci... | 10/20/1998 |
| 5774282 | Apparatus for adjusting lens position in focal length variable lens A lens position adjusting apparatus for adjusting an axial position of a rearmost lens group of a plurality of lens groups provided in a focal length variable lens upon assembly of the focal length variable lens is provided. The lens position adjusting ap... | 06/30/1998 |
