Watertight photographic single-use camera having elastic polymer seal

US5897225A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY · US

Inventors

• Albert Rieger · Geislingen an der Steige, DE
• David Barclay · Bergen, US
• Steven S. Chapman · Corfu, US
• Heinz-Andreas Kellner · Stuttgart, DE
• Michael Reibl · Eppelheim, DE
• James G. Rydelek · Henrietta, US
• Andreas Schweizer · Bad Boll, DE

Key dates

• Filing date: Feb 10, 1997
• Grant date: Apr 27, 1999
• Expiry date: Feb 10, 2017

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G03B17/08
• WIPO field: Optics
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

A watertight photographic single-use camera having a first and a second body shell that join together. The body shells comprise rigid polymer material and are adapted to receive a film transport device, a lens, a flash unit and a viewfinder. The first body shell forms the camera front section and the second body shell forms the camera rear section. A sealing means comprising an elastic polymer material is attached to an edge of at least one body shell that forms a joint and to at least one edge that forms a body opening. The elastic polymer material is attached by a multiple-component injection molding process and is connected to the body shell by chain looping (molecular entanglement) of the polymer material. As a result, the camera is dependably sealed against water and yet is inexpensive and simple to produce. For simple recyclability, the body shells can be crushed using known devices without separation of the polymer materials, with the resultant material mix being usable as a feedstock for the manufacture of new camera components.