JP2547901Y2 - Externally controllable camera - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial application field) This invention relates to an externally controllable camera having a connection terminal for performing inspection.

(Prior art) In recent years, electronically controlled cameras equipped with a CPU are becoming mainstream, but with this type of electronically controlled camera, photometry, ranging,
The CPU controls the driving of the zoom lens, wind and rewind, display of a liquid crystal display panel (hereinafter, referred to as an LCD panel), and other controls necessary for the operation of the camera.

For example, when moving the zoom lens, when the TELE switch is operated, the zoom motor rotates forward and the zoom lens moves
When the WIDE switch is operated, the zoom motor is reversed and the zoom lens is retracted to the WIDE side.
Also, for example, when the camera is loaded with a film, the back cover is closed, and the main switch is operated, the film is automatically fed as an idle feed.

Further, when the shutter is released, the film is automatically wound up one frame at a time and pulled out of the patrone, and when a predetermined number of films are wound up, the wind motor is reversed and the film is automatically wound on the patrone. The display on the LCD panel is
The shutter speed, the number of films, the focal length of the lens, the battery capacity, etc. are displayed. In the viewfinder, the strobe emission mode is displayed by turning on the red lamp.
The flashing of the red lamp indicates that the strobe is charging, the lighting of the green lamp indicates the focus lock, and the flashing of the green lamp indicates a short-distance warning.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) In the production and inspection of this type of camera, it is necessary to inspect whether the camera can perform a desired operation. Terminals are used, and when checking the operation, try operating the camera by operating the actual operation members, or use it exclusively for the operation test so that the camera performs the operation that it should originally see The program must be provided in the CPU in advance, and the dedicated program must be started. This requires a lot of labor for inspection, which is not preferable in terms of inspection.

(Purpose of the Invention) The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the invention is to provide an externally controllable camera that can easily perform an inspection.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an operation control means for controlling an object to be controlled, and a plurality of machines provided in a camera body and outputting control signals to the operation control means. Input means, a connection terminal to which an external controller is connected to transmit an external control signal to the operation control means, storage means for storing various information necessary for controlling the control target, and the external controller Prohibiting means for prohibiting the input of the mechanical input means when the input of the external control signal is detected from the external control signal, and determining whether the type of the external control signal input from the external controller is an input mode or an output mode. The operation control means determines whether the input mode has been determined (S5 in FIG. 8).
5, S56-59), the information stored at the address of the storage means specified by the external control signal is updated to a value determined by the external control signal (external controller operation FIG. 12). S108, S110, S112, camera operation S82 in FIG. 8) On the other hand, when the determination means has determined the output mode (see S55, S60 in FIG. 8), the external control signal is sent to the external controller. The state of the mechanical input means designated by the above or the information in the storage means stored at the address of the storage means designated by the external control signal is returned and output (S6 in FIG. 8).
2, S61, see the output mode code table in Table 1).

(Operation) This invention is based on the idea that when an external control signal is input from an external controller as shown in FIG. 1, the prohibiting means prohibits the input of the mechanical input means, and the judging means makes the input of the external control signal. It is determined whether the type is the input mode or the output mode, and the operation control means controls the control target based on the external control signal input from the external controller according to the determination result of the determination means.

(Example) Hereinafter, this invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Fig. 2 ~
FIG. 10 shows an embodiment of a camera having an inspection function which can be controlled externally according to the present invention.

First, the appearance of the camera will be described with reference to FIGS.

This camera is a so-called companion type lens shutter camera in which a photographing lens (zoom lens) 11 and a finder system 21 are independently provided, and a strobe 22, a photometric CdS 23, a distance measuring device 24, etc. are provided on the front. Is provided. Note that the photographing lens 11 is supported in a movable lens barrel 27 which is provided so as to be able to protrude and retract in a fixed lens barrel 26 fixed to the camera body 25.

In the grip portion on the left side of the drawing, four terminals SPH, CLK, SIOA, and SIOS, which will be described later, are provided below the cover so as to be externally connectable.

The movable lens barrel 27 is displaced by a built-in zoom motor from a storage position indicated by a broken line in FIG. 3 to a macro position indicated by a solid line, and changes the focal length of the photographing lens 11.

Also, on the top is a shutter button that also serves as a zoom button
28 are provided. The shutter button 28 has a substantially triangular planar shape as a whole, a front portion 28a is a two-stage switch of a photometric switch and a release switch described later, a rear end 28b is a zoom tele switch, and the other end 28c is a zoom switch. Is a zoom wide switch. These three positions a, b, and c can be exclusively operated, and when one is operated, the other two positions cannot be operated.

On the back of the body, as shown in Fig. 4, a main switch 30 and a mode button
31, an LCD panel 32 and the like are provided. Main switch 3
Reference numeral 0 denotes a three-position slide switch, which functions as a lock switch and a macro switch described later.

On the side of the finder 21, there are provided a red lamp 33 for displaying a flash-related display and a green lamp 34 for displaying a distance-related display.

Further, when the back cover 29 is opened, a film switch (described later) for detecting the presence or absence of a film is turned on / off as shown in FIG.
An operation piece 35 to be flipped and a roller 36 rotating with the running of the film are provided above the aperture, and a cartridge chamber 37 for mounting a film cartridge has four sets of Ds each including two electrodes. _X contact D _X 1, D _X 2, D _X 3, D _X 4
Is provided. D _X 1 is the ground contact and the other 3
Using a 3-bit signal according to the book, ISO 25 to 3200 are divided into eight zones and detected.

Reference numeral 38 denotes a spool shaft for winding the film.

In this camera, a change in the focal length of the photographing lens 11, a change in the open F-number accompanying this change, that the lens is at the wide-angle (wide) end, that the lens is at the telephoto (tele) end, a macro for close-up photographing ( MACRO) position, storage (LOC
K) Information such as the position is automatically detected, and various controls are performed according to the information.

For this purpose, a code plate is attached to the peripheral surface of the lens barrel cam barrel, and a plurality of brushes are provided on the body side in sliding contact with the code plate. Information detected from the conduction relation of these terminals is output as a position code POS.

In this camera, the focal length of the taking lens and F
Number is 38mmF4.5 ~ 60mmF6.7, position code
The detection stage of the lens position detected from POS is set to 15 from OH to EH.
It is a step. Here, "H" is hexadecimal,
That is, it means a hexadecimal number, and is also used in displaying data described later.

POS = 0H is a locked state in which the movable lens barrel 27 is housed in the fixed lens barrel 26 and the front surface of the photographing lens 11 is covered with a barrier (not shown).
OS = EH is a so-called macro position used for close-up photography.
A stop prohibition range is between the lock position and the zoom range (POS = 1H) and between the zoom range and the macro position (POS = DH).

Next, a control system of the camera will be described with reference to FIG.

At the center of this control system is the main CPU 100, which is a sub-CP that performs shutter-related processing in a form dependent on it.
U200 is connected via four signal lines SPH, CLK, SIOA, and SIOS.

Each signal line is provided with a terminal capable of inputting and outputting a signal from outside the camera. When the main CPU 100 and the sub CPU 200 perform data transfer and the like, the meaning of the signal extracted from each terminal is as follows.

That is, SPH is a signal for the main CPU 100 to start the operation of the sub CPU 200, and the operation starts at "L".
CLK is a clock signal for serial data transfer output from the sub CPU 200. SIOA is from main CPU 100 to sub CPU 200
Data transfer signal to the main CPU 1 from the sub CPU 200
00 is a data transfer signal. Also, these terminals
It is used for input and output of data and commands between the external device and the camera at the time of external control processing described later.

The signal circuit of CLK and SIOS can have a so-called wired OR configuration, that is, the camera can be used only when the output in the camera is H and the signal is supplied from the outside and H is supplied or the signal is not connected to the signal terminal from the outside. Input H. Further, when L is output to at least one of the output inside the camera and the output from outside the camera, the input inside the camera is configured to input L.

These data and commands are all input and output as 8-bit serial signals synchronized with CLK.

The main CPU 100 always operates in synchronization with the clock of the clock transmission circuit 101 as long as the battery is stored in the camera, and controls other circuits based on the detected switch input or the state of the camera. .

The objects to be controlled are motor drive circuits 110 and PO for operating the wind motor 111 and the zoom motor 112.
A date module 120 connected to RT 5, a red lamp 33 and a green lamp 34 connected to PORT 4, an LCD panel 32, and a strobe 22.

The switches are: (1) Macro switch SWMacro that turns on when the slide lever of the main switch 30 is set to the macro position, (2) Battery switch that detects the presence or absence of a battery
SWB, (3) a film switch SWF which is turned on / off by an operation piece 35 pressed on the film, (4) a lock switch SWL which is turned on when a slide lever of the main switch 30 is set to a lock position, and (5) a film switch. A wind pulse switch SWWP that generates a pulse in accordance with the rotation of the roller 36 during traveling, (6) a release switch SWR that is turned on by double-pressing the front part 28a of the shutter button 28, (7) a front part 28a of the shutter button 28 (8) A zoom tele switch SWT that turns on when one end 28b of the shutter button 28 is pressed. (9) A zoom wide switch that turns on when the other end 28c of the shutter button 28 is pressed. SWW, (10) A mode switch SWMode, which is turned on when the mode button 31 is pressed to switch between forced flash and automatic flash of the strobe, is provided.

These switches are (1) PORT of main CPU100
0, (2)-(4) is PORT 1, (5)-(6) is PORT
6, (7) to (10) are connected to PORT 7, respectively.

Other, D _X contact to enter the D _X code of the main CPU100
The position code POS is input to PORT 7 from a brush that slides on the code plate 13 to PORT 7.

On the other hand, the sub CPU 200 is the SP output from the main CPU 100.
When the power is turned on by the H “L” signal, it operates in synchronization with the clock of the clock oscillation circuit 201, and performs light measurement, distance measurement, and shutter-related processing while transmitting signals to and from the main CPU 100. The sub CPU 200 controls the shutter block 210, the photometric CdS 23, and the distance measuring device 24, and generates a trigger pulse TRG of the strobe 22 in synchronization with the release.

As the shutter block, for example, JP-A-60-2251
As described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 22, a unit that performs focusing and shutter release by a built-in pulse motor is used.

In addition, the distance measuring device 24 has a known configuration including an infrared light emitting diode IRED that emits light toward the subject and a position sensor PSD that receives light reflected by the subject. Measure the distance.

Next, a program stored in the main CPU 100 will be described with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS.

<< MAIN >> First, the main flowchart of FIG. 7 will be described.
This main flow defines the basic operation of the camera, and other processing is performed by calling or branching from the main flow according to various conditions.

In step (hereinafter, referred to as S) 1, the state of each switch described above is input, and the main CPU 100 stores the detection results in a memory.

Subsequently, in S2, the state of the switch is input again. This is a process for detecting a dynamic change of the switch by comparing with the data stored in the memory in S1.

In S3, the state of the lock switch SWL is determined from the switch data input in S2. Lock switch SWL
Is turned on when the camera is stored without being used for shooting.In this case, the position code is set in S4.
It is determined whether POS is 0, that is, whether the photographing lens is at the lock position. If it is already at the lock position, the process proceeds to the lock flow. In the lock flow, when the lock switch is ON, operations such as zoom operation, photometry, distance measurement, and release are prohibited.

If the lens is not at the lock position, a lens storing process for storing the photographing lens to the lock position is performed in S5, and then the flow branches to a lock flow.

When the lock switch SWL is OFF, preparation processing for photographing is performed below.

First, the state of the macro switch SWMscro is determined in S6. When the macro switch SWMacro is ON, it is necessary to set the photographing lens to the macro position for close-up photographing, so it is first determined in S7 whether the position code POS takes the value of EH. If POS = EH, the photographic lens is already at the macro position, and the process proceeds directly to S19 described below.

If POS 判断 EH is determined in S7, after lens macro processing for extending the lens is performed in S8,
Return to the start of the main flow.

If it is determined in step S6 that the macro switch SWMacro is OFF, the photographing lens is required to be in the range of POS = 2H to CH, that is, in the zoom range. Is determined. If the POS is 2H or less (POS = 0H, 1H), it means that the taking lens is located at the lock position or at the boundary between the lock position and the zoom area.
In S10, a lens advance process for extending the lens until POS = 2H is executed.

Subsequently, in S11, it is determined whether the position code POS is equal to or less than CH. If POS is greater than CH,
Since it means that the taking lens is located at the macro position or at the boundary between the macro position and the zoom area,
A lens retreating process is performed in which the lens is pulled back to the position where POS = CH.

When the lens is in the zoom range from the beginning and when the lens is set in the zoom region by the processing of S10 and S12,
In S13, the state of the zoom wide switch SWW is determined.

If the switch SWW is ON, it is determined in S14 whether the photographing lens is at the wide end. If the photographic lens is already at the wide end, the process proceeds to S19 because it cannot be moved further to the wide side. If it is not at the wide end, wide processing for moving the lens to the wide side is performed in S15. In the wide processing, when the wide switch is turned off or the lens reaches the wide end, the movement of the lens is stopped, and thereafter, the flow returns to the start of the main flow.

If it is determined in S13 that the wide switch SWW is OFF, then in S16 the zoom tele switch S
The state of the WT is determined.

If the tele switch SWT is ON, it is determined in S17 whether the position code POS is CH. P
If the OS is CH, the shooting lens is already at a focal length of 60 mm
Is located at the telephoto end of
Jump to S19.

If POS is not CH, a tele process for moving the lens to the tele side in S18 is executed. In the tele processing, the movement is stopped when the tele switch SWT is turned off or the lens reaches the tele end, and thereafter, the flow returns to the start of the main flow.

If both zoom switches are OFF, S19,
In S20, a change in the photometry switch SWS is determined, and when the switch changes from OFF to ON, the flow proceeds to an AEAF flow for performing photometry, distance measurement, and release processing.

If there is no change in the photometric switch SWS or from ON to O
If it has changed to FF, a 1 ms timer is set and started in S21.

In S22, the main CPU 100 detects the levels of CLK, SIOA, and SIOS, and determines that a signal for starting external control has been input when CLK = L, SIOA = L, SIOS = H. Then, the process proceeds to S23. This state is 1ms
If the time is continued until the time-up, the main CPU 100 proceeds to the external control flow described later.

SIOS, C when processing in the main flow is executed
LK is “H” and SIOA is “L”. Here CL from outside
When K is forcibly set to “L”, the camera is set to determine that it is in the external control mode. The 1 ms timer is a process for preventing a malfunction due to external noise.

If the judgment in S22 was negative from the beginning, or if the judgment was negative before the time-up, the switch data in the memory was rewritten to the data input in S2 in S24, and the 125 ms processing was stopped in S25. rear,
The process proceeds to S2 in a loop.

<< External Control >> Next, the operation of the camera when the CPU 100 enters the external control mode will be described with reference to FIG.

When entering external control, the main CPU 100
Data is input / output to / from an external control device described later via the S signal line. CLK and SIOS are a clock signal line and a data signal line for data transfer, respectively, and input / output signals of the signal lines are composed of two sets of 8-bit serial signals.

The first 8-bit serial signal is a signal input to the camera from the external control device, and the second
It is determined whether the 8-bit serial signal is defined as the output of the information held by the camera to the external control device or as a control command from the external control device to the camera.

Specifically, the first and second serial signals are
It is shown in Tables 1 and 2 on page 0,21.

Table 1 shows the state of the output mode in which the second serial signal is output from the camera side. The first serial signal is SIO IN 1 and the second serial signal is SIO OUT. Table 2 shows the state of the input mode in which the second serial signal is used as a control command for the camera, and the first serial signal is SIO IN 1 as in Table 1, and the second serial signal is SIO IN And 2.

The output mode is referred to as the input mode when the first serial signal SI
O IN 1 is distinguished by bit 7 and the main CPU of the camera is bit 7
Is 1, the output mode is set, and if 0, the process is set as the input mode.

In FIG. 8, after stopping the processing of 500 μs in S50, the CPU determines in S51 whether or not CLK is “L”,
In the case of, it is detected that external control is not performed, and the process proceeds to the start of the main flow.

If CLK is “L”, the main CPU 100 sets SIOS to “L” in S52 and sets it to “H” again after 500 μs.
Is "H". If CLK is “L”, it is detected that external control is not performed, and processing proceeds to the main flow. If it is “H”, the first serial signal
SIO IN 1 input is performed.

Since the SIOS is assumed to be “H” at the time of entering this processing, a pulse of 500 μs is generated on the “L” side of the SIOS by the processing of S52.

In other words, the external control device can perform camera control by detecting this pulse and switching the CLK which was initially at the L level to the H level. Only external controls will be accepted.

In S54, the first serial signal SIO IN 1 is transferred from the external control device to the camera.

In S55, bit 7 of the input first serial signal
Is determined to be 1 or not. As described above, the case where bit 7 is 0 corresponds to the input mode in which a control command is input from the external control device to the camera as the second serial signal. In this case, the main CPU 100 stores the first serial signal in the memory in S56 for use in subsequent determination, and inputs the second serial signal again in S57. After the input processing, the 1 ms processing is stopped in S58, and the process proceeds from S59 to instruction code processing described later.

If it is determined in step S56 that bit 7 of the first serial signal is 1, this corresponds to an output mode in which data is output from the camera to the external control device as a second serial signal. In this case, it is determined in S60 whether the first serial signal is high nibble, that is, whether the upper 4 bits are 8H. Here, 8H corresponds to "1000" in binary.

As shown in Table 1, when the nibble of the first serial signal is 8, it corresponds to the PORT RETD (port read) mode in Table 1. In this case, in S61, the data of the port specified by the lower 4 bits of the first serial signal is set as the lower 4 bits of the second serial signal SIO OUT.

If the high serial of the first serial signal is not 8,
In S62, the data at the address specified by bits 6 to 1 of the first serial signal is transferred to the second serial signal SIO OUT
And the upper 4 bits of the data of the address higher than the specified address. Therefore, data in the RAM at addresses 00H to 7FH can be read.

In S63, the data set in S61 or S62 is output as a second serial signal. The external control device can detect the state of the camera by reading this data.

After the above processing, the main CPU 100 stops the processing for 1 ms in S64, waits for SIOS to become “H” in S65, and
Processing proceeds to.

Note that the external control end terminal "EXE
“CT END” branches after the completion of the instruction code processing described later.

<< Serial input / output >> FIG. 9 shows S54 and S5 in the external control processing described above.
7. This describes the data input / output processing with the external control device performed in S63 in more detail.

First, in the case of the serial signal input process “serial IN” performed in S54 and S57, the serial output data is set to FFH in S67, and the main CPU 100
Set the ms timer and enable (start) serial I / O operation.

In the case of the serial output process “serial OUT” in S63, the main CPU 100 sets a timer of 10 ms in S68 and permits the output of the serial output data set in S61.

In S69, it is determined whether the set timer expires, and if it is within the time, it is determined in S70 whether serial input / output has been completed. When the input / output is completed before the time is up, the main CPU 100 stops the process for 100 μs in S71, inhibits the serial input / output, and returns to the external control flow to advance the process.

If the time is up before the input / output is completed, serial input / output is prohibited in S72, and the nesting level of the subroutine is restored by clearing the stack pointer, and the data signal line SIOS and the clock signal line CLK is set to H level, and the process returns to the main flow to proceed.

<< Instruction Code Processing >> FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing what processing is actually performed by a signal input from an external control device. Hereinafter, this flow will be described with reference to Table 2.

S73 to S76 on the left side in this flow are all judgments for the upper 4 bits of the first serial signal SIO IN1, and are determined in order from the upper one. It can be determined whether the control device is requesting the camera.

First, the upper 4 bits are 1H when the shutter control process is commanded. In this case, the lower 4 bits of the first serial signal are stored in the STEST register in S77.

In S78, it is determined whether or not bit1 of the lower 4 bits is 1. As shown in the shutter control in Table 2, bit 1 becomes 0, which is an instruction to perform release without performing photometry and distance measurement. In this case, the process branches to the processing flow of AEAF2 in which only release is performed in S79. . bit1 is 1
If so, the execution proceeds to the AEAF processing flow. A detailed description of the AEAF process is omitted, but in this process the STEST
Bit0 and bit2 are determined. If bit 0 is 1, only photometry and distance measurement are performed, and the flow returns to the main flow without performing release. If bit 2 is 1, the flash release control is ignored irrespective of the state of the release switch SWR, ignoring processes related to strobe control, release lock, and the like in order to perform an exposure amount test described later.

If the determination in S73 is negative, it is determined in S74 whether the upper 4 bits of the first serial signal are 2H. If this judgment is affirmative, the RAM write (RAM WRIT
E) The process is executed.

The address of the ram to be written is represented by a three-digit hexadecimal notation, and is determined by the 8-bit data of the second serial signal.

The range of the second serial signal SIO IN 2 is 00H to FFH, but when the upper 4 bits are 0 to B, ie, 00H to BFH
In the case of, the target address is determined in the range of 000H to 0BFH, with the most significant digit being 0. Second serial signal SI
If the upper 4 bits of O IN 2 are CH to FH, the upper 2 digits are
Fixed at 1E, the lowest is the second serial signal SIO IN 2
The address is specified in the range of 16 from 1EOH to 1EFH. This range is based on LC
This is a range for storing data for driving the D panel.

The processing of S81 to S83 indicates the above address designation. First, in S81, it is determined whether the address specified from the upper 4 bits of the second serial signal is the data area for driving the LCD panel, and if not, the address is specified by 8 bits of the second serial signal. The data transmitted in the lower 4 bits of the first serial signal is written to the address. In S83, the data transmitted in the lower 4 bits of the first serial signal is written to the address specified in the range of 1EOH to 1EFH.

When the writing is completed, the process proceeds to S66 of the external control process described above in any case, and it is determined whether or not to perform the control again.

In S75, the upper 4 bits of the first serial signal SIO IN 1 are 3H
Is determined, and if the determination is affirmative, the output control shown in Table 2 is performed.

First, in S84, bit 3 of the first serial signal SIO IN 1
Is determined to be 1 or not, and when it is 1, 4 bits from bit 4 to bit 1 of the second serial signal SIO IN 2 in S85.
After the output to its own PORTs 4 and 5 is executed in the main CPU 100 based on the data of (1), the process proceeds to S66 of the external control process.

That is, bit 4 controls the date trigger output to the date module, bit 3 controls the turning on and off of the red lamp, bit 2 controls the turning on and off of the green lamp, and bit 1 controls the output of the SPH signal indicating the start of operation to the sub CPU 200.

If it is determined in S84 that bit 3 of SIO IN 2 is 0, bit 4 of the second serial signal is set to 1 in S86, and information of bit 7 to bit 5 and bit 3 to bit 1 are set as motor data shown in Table 2. I do. In S87, a normal / reverse rotation process of the zoom motor and the wind motor is executed based on the set data.

This process is executed until SIOS is set to "H" in S88 and the motor is stopped and braked in S89. When the motor control process ends, the process proceeds to S66 of the external control process as in the above case.

If the determinations in S73 to S75 are all negative, it is determined in S76 whether the upper 4 bits of the first serial signal are 4H.

When it is 4H, the operation control shown in Table 2 is started. Here, the processing to be executed is determined by the value of the lower 4 bits of the first serial signal SIO IN1.

In S90, the lower 4 bits of the first serial signal SIO IN 1 are 0
If it is determined to be H, the POS movement processing “MOV
E POS ”is executed. This processing is performed by the second serial signal S
This is the process of moving the taking lens to the POS position specified by the lower 4 bits of IO IN 2.

If it is determined in S92 that the lower 4 bits are 1H, a POS initialization process “IN IT POS” is executed in S93. If the POS of 15 levels from 0H to EH is detected by a combination of 3 bit codes, for example, the same code must be shared by multiple POSs. Must always be maintained to count POS in response to code changes. However, if the main CPU cannot determine the current POS for some reason, it is necessary to move the photographing lens to the position where the code and the post correspond one-to-one or to the end point and recount the POS. POS initialization is a process executed for that.

In S94, it is determined whether or not the lower 4 bits of the first serial signal are 3H. If it is 3H, a rewind process “REW” is executed in S95.

Further, in S96, whether the lower 4 bits are 4H or not, in S98, 5H
Is determined, and if it corresponds to the former, S97
In step S99, a loading process "LD" is executed, and in the latter case, a winding process "WD" is executed in S99.

If all of the determinations from S90 to S98 are negative, S7
If all of the determinations in 3 to S76 are negative, the process proceeds to S66 of the external control process.

<< Inspection of Image Exposure Amount of Camera >> Next, an inspection apparatus for inspecting an externally controllable camera having such an external control program will be described.

Here, the inspection of the image plane exposure amount of the camera and the operation inspection will be described.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram in which this inspection apparatus is applied to the inspection of an image plane exposure amount. In FIG. 11, 300 is a camera, 301 is a controller, 302 is an interface (I / F) circuit, and 303 is A prober device, 304 is a diffusion surface light source of the image plane exposure meter, 305 is a measurement unit of the image plane exposure meter, 306 is a light receiving unit of the image plane exposure meter, and 307 is an operation input key. When measuring the image plane exposure, the camera 300 is
The light receiving unit 306 is set directly opposite to 04, and is positioned on the film surface of the camera 300. The diffuser light source 304 is controlled in light intensity from low to high by a controller 301, the prober device 303 is controlled by the controller 301, connects the camera 300 to the I / F circuit 302, and connects the camera 300 and the controller 301 to an interface 302. The information is transmitted and received through the camera 300, and the camera 300 performs control according to the content of the external control. The light receiving unit 306 outputs the light receiving output to the measuring unit 305, and the measuring unit 305 outputs the measurement result to the controller.

The controller 301 starts, changes, and terminates control based on the operation input keys 307, and the operation input keys 307 include a STAR key, a NEXT key, and an END key. The controller 301 executes an image plane exposure amount inspection flow shown in FIG. 12 based on the operation input keys 307.

When the START key is operated, the controller 301 determines “yes” in S100, turns on the solenoid valve of the prober device 303 (S101), and then turns on the camera 300 and the controller device 301.
It is determined whether or not is connected (S102). Then, a process of connecting a power supply to the camera 300 is performed, and after waiting about one second until the camera 300 starts normal operation (S103), a flag F NG for determining whether or not the camera 300 is non-defective with respect to the image plane exposure amount. Is set to F NG = 0 (S104). F NG = 0 means that the camera 300 is non-defective, F NG = 1 means that the camera 300 is defective, and F NG = 0 in S104.
The reason is to set the camera 300 as a non-defective product for the time being.

Next, the controller 301 proceeds to S105, and F CONT =
1. Set S OUT1 = 40H and S OUT2 = 02H. here,
F CONT is a flag for determining whether or not to output data toward the camera 300, F CONT = 1 means transferring data toward the camera 300, and F CONT = 0 means a controller from the camera 300 to the controller. It means that data is input to 301. S OUT1 is camera 300 in SIO IN 1 processing
And S OUT2 is data output to the camera 300 in the SIO IN 2 processing. "40
Since "H" is "01000000", as is apparent from Table 2, it means the position move command MOVE POS, and since "02H" is "00000010", data for moving the zoom lens toward POS = 2. That is, "40H",
The data of “02H” is a command to move the zoom lens toward the wide end.

After executing the process of S105, the controller 301 proceeds to S106 to perform a camera control process. This camera control process is performed based on the flow shown in FIG.

In this camera control process, first, in S1061, the flag F ERR = 0, SIOS = H, CLK = L are set, and the timer is started for one second (S1062). Here, the flag F ERR is a flag for determining whether or not an error has occurred during the transfer of information between the camera 300 and the controller 301. F ERR = 1 means that an error has occurred, and F ERR = 0.
Means that no error occurred. In this camera control process, if CLK = L is set, the main CPU of the camera 300 will be shown in FIG. 7 after a while.
The process proceeds from S23 to the external control process shown in FIG.
After performing the process of waiting for 500 μs of 50, the process proceeds to S51 and CLK =
It is determined whether it is L or not. Since CLK is set to L in the processing of S1061, it is determined to be YES in S51, and the process shifts to S52. In S52, processing of SIOS = L is performed. At the same time, in S52, a process of waiting for 500 μs is performed, and a process of setting SIOS = H is performed. On the other hand, the controller 301
In the processing for determining whether or not the time is up, S1
In step 064, a process is performed to determine whether SIOS = L.
While IOS = H, repeat the loop of S1063, S1064, SIOS
Is waiting for L to become L. SIOS is usually 125 in S52
Since it is set to L within about ms, the controller 301
Is determined to be YES in S1064, and proceeds to S1065, where CLK is
= H is set. Therefore, as shown in FIG.
K goes high a little after SIOS goes low. If SIOS does not become L even after one second elapses, it is determined that an error has occurred, and the flow shifts to S1065 ', where FERR = 1 is set. On the other hand, when no error has occurred, the camera determines YES in S53 of the external control process, and the process shifts to S54 where the SIO IN 1 process can be executed.

Then, the controller 301 proceeds to S1066, starts a 1 ms timer, and proceeds to S1067, S1068 to determine whether or not the time is up, and determine whether or not SIOS = H. When SIOS = H is NO, S1067 and S1068 are repeated. During this time, S
After waiting 52, 500 μs, the SIOS = H set processing is performed.
Therefore, as shown in FIG. 14C, SIOS goes high 500 μs after it goes low. S for camera control processing
During execution of steps 1067 and 1068, if the time is up in S1067 and the result is determined to be YES, the flow shifts to S1065 ', where F ERR = 1
Is set, and the flow shifts to S107. Normally S52 500μ
Since SIOS is set to H in s, it is determined as yes.
The flow shifts to S1069, where a process of waiting for 500 μs is performed, and the flow shifts to S1070.

The controller 301 sets F OUT = 1 and SDATA = in S1070.
The process of SOUT1 is performed, and the flow shifts to S1071. In S1071, the serial IO process (SIO) shown in FIG. 15 is called.

In SIO processing, n = 8 is set in S2000, and S2001
Then, the setting process of SIOS = H is performed, and the process shifts to S2002. In S2002, CLK = L is set, and the flow shifts to S2003. Here, the first CLK of S2002 =
Due to the processing of L, CLK changes from H to L as shown in FIG. In S2003, it is determined whether or not the flag FOUT = 1. If FOUT = 1 in S2003, the process proceeds to S2004, and it is determined whether or not SDATA bit (n-1) = 1. Here, since 2 = 8, it is first determined what the data of bit 7 looks like. When the data of bit7 is "0", the process proceeds to S2006, and when the data of bit7 is "1", the process proceeds to S2005. This allows bit7
Data “1” or “0” is transmitted. controller
At 301, the process waits for 50 μs at S2007 and then proceeds to S2008. S
In 2008, the process proceeds to S2009 after performing the setting process of CLK = H. In S2009, it is determined whether or not F OUT = 1. S200
If yes in 9, move to S2010, if no,
Move to S2011. In S2010, after performing the process of waiting for 50 μs, the process proceeds to S2014 and performs the process of n = n−1 to perform S2015.
Then, it is determined whether or not n = 0. When the first process is completed, n = 7, so the flow shifts to S2002, and again C
LK = L is set. Thereby, the output of the data of bit 6 is executed.

When this process is repeated eight times, the determination is YES in S2015, so that 8-bit data is transferred from the controller 301 to the camera 300, and the controller 301 ends the SIO process and shifts to S1072. S
In 1072, a process of waiting for 500 μs is performed, and then the flow shifts to S1073.

When F OUT = 0, it is determined as No in S2003, and the process jumps to S2007 by jumping over S2004, S2005, and S2006.
After waiting for 50 μs and performing the setting process of CLK = H in S2008, the process proceeds to S2009 and the determination of F OUT = 1 is performed.
Move to In S2010, processing of SDATA bit (n-1) = 0 is performed, and in S2011, determination processing of whether SIOS = H is performed. If YES in S2011, the process proceeds to S2013 after the processing in S2012, and if NO, the process directly proceeds to S2013. In S2012, the SDATA bit (n
-1) = 1 is performed. Therefore, this S201
When the processing from 0 to S2012 is performed, 1 bit is sent to the controller 301.
Will be captured. This processing is n = 8
Repeating the operation twice causes the controller 301 to acquire 8-bit data.

In S1073, it is determined whether or not F CONT = 1. Here, since data is output to the camera 300, F CON
Since T = 1, YES in S1073, and S1074
Then, set processing of F OUT = 1 and SDATA = S OUT2 is performed. Then, the controller 301 proceeds to the process of S1075, and performs the serial IO process again. This allows
15 The SIO process shown in FIG.
It is taken in. After outputting the instruction code and the data to the camera 300, the flow shifts to S1076 to set SIOS = L, and shifts to S107. If NO is determined in S1073, the flow shifts to S1077, where FOUT = 0 is set, and the flow shifts to S1078. In S1078, SIO processing is performed, and the flow shifts to S1079. In S1079, a setting process of SIN = SDATA is performed. By the processes in S1077 to S1078, data is captured from the camera 300 to the controller 301.

In S107, the light amount of the light source 304 is adjusted. Here, the light source 304 is set to light value LV = 9, and S10
Move to 8. In S108, F CONT = 1, S OUT1 = 2OH, S
Set OUT2 to 45H. Here, as is apparent from Table 2, 20H is RAM WRITE, 45H designates an address, which specifies Add = 045H, and Add = 04H.
Data dddd is written to 5H, here data dd
dd = 0000, which corresponds to the fact that the exposure mode of the camera 300 is the automatic flash emission. Thereafter, the controller 301 shifts to the camera control shown in FIG. 13 (S109). By this camera control processing,
Data “0000” is written to Add = 045H of the RAM of the camera.

The controller 301 then proceeds to S110, where F CONT = 1, S
Set processing of OUT1 = 24H, SOUT2 = 4AH is performed, and then camera control processing is performed in S111. This is the Ad
This is a set process for writing 4H as data in d = 04AH. As a result, data corresponding to lower bits 3 to 0 of the ISO sensitivity information (SV) is written to the camera. In S112, set processing of F CONT = 1, S OUT1 = 21H, S OUT2 = 4BH is performed. This is "1" as data in Add = 04BH.
This is a set process for writing "H". by this,
Data corresponding to upper bits 7 to 3 of the ISO sensitivity information (SV) is written to the camera.

In S114, a setting process of F CONT = 1, S OUT1 = 1EH, S OUT2 = 00H is performed. “1EH” is “00011110”, which corresponds to the exposure test command. Controller 301 then S
Move to 115. In S115, a camera control process is performed. As a result, a release command is input to the camera 300. In S116, an exposure amount is input from the measurement unit 305 of the image plane exposure meter. The controller 301 compares the exposure amount input data with the inspection standard, and when the data conforms to the standard,
The same processing is performed by changing the set values such as the light value and the ISO sensitivity (S118). If NO is determined in S117, the setting process of FNG = 1 is performed in S118 ', and an exposure amount inspection is performed under the conditions defined in other standards (S118).

When the exposure inspection under all the conditions specified in the standard is completed, the controller 301 proceeds to S119 and turns off the power of the camera 300. Then, the process proceeds to S120, the electromagnetic valve is turned off, the I / F circuit 302 is separated from the camera 300 by the prober device 303, and the process proceeds to S121 to determine whether the set release is completed. Move to F NG
= 1 is determined. If F NG = 0, proceed to S123 to execute display of inspection judgment OK, and if F NG = 1, execute S1
The process proceeds to 24 to display an inspection judgment NG.

Thus, the exposure inspection for one camera 300 is completed.

Next, the operation inspection will be described with reference to FIG.

<< Operation Check >> First, in S200, it is determined whether or not the START key has been pressed. When the START key is pressed in S200, a process for connecting the power to the camera 300 is performed (S201).
After waiting for a second, the process proceeds to S202. In S202, F ON = 1, F CONT
= 1. Here, F ON = 1 is LC
D ON means that the D panel 32 is turned on, and F ON = 0 means that the LCD panel 32 is turned off. After performing the processing of S202, the controller 301 performs the processing of Add = FOH in S203, and then proceeds to S204. In S204, it is determined whether or not F ON = 1. S2
If the answer is 04, the process proceeds to S205, and if the result is No, the process proceeds to S206. In S205, processing of SOUT1 = 2FH is performed, and in S206, processing of SOUT1 = 20H is performed.

The controller 301 then proceeds to S207, where SOUT2
= Add processing and camera control processing (S20
Go to 8). The address specified by this process is "1
EOH ", and the transfer data is determined by the lower 4 bits specified in S205 and S206, and these data are output to the camera 300 by the camera control processing. Then, the flow shifts to S209, for determining whether or not F ERR = 1. If an error has occurred in S209, the process proceeds to the end process (S210), and if no error has occurred, the process proceeds to S211 to perform the process of Add = Add + 1.

In S212, it is determined whether or not a carry CY has occurred in the calculation in S211. When Add = FFH in S212, CY
= 1 and Add = FOH to FEH, CY = 0.

When CY = 0, the process proceeds to S207 and S207, 208, 209, 21
Steps 1 and 212 are repeated. This is repeated 16 times, and when processing is performed until the designated address reaches 1 EFH, CY = 1 and S212 to S21
Move to 3. This causes all segments of the LCD to light up. In S213, a process of inverting F ON is performed after waiting for 500 ms. Therefore, when F ON = 1, F ON = 0 is set, and when F ON = 0, F ON = 1. Then, the controller 301 proceeds to S214 and determines whether or not the END key has been operated. S2 if yes in S214
The process proceeds to S10, and if no, the process proceeds to S215.

In S215, it is determined whether the NEXT key has been operated. S2
If the answer is no in step 15, the process proceeds to step S203 and the lighting or extinguishing process of all segments of the LCD is repeated.
If no key is operated, all segments of the LCD will turn on and off at 0.5 second intervals. When the NCX key is operated, the flow shifts from S215 to S216. In S216, F ON = 1, F CO
The set processing of NT = 1 is performed. And controller 30
The process proceeds to S217 to determine whether or not F ON = 1. FO
When N = 1, the process shifts to S218, and shifts to S219. In S218, the process of SOUT1 = F3H, which means the lighting of the red lamp and the green lamp, is performed, and the process proceeds to S220.
The process of S OUT1 = FFH, which means that the green lamp is turned off, is performed, and the process proceeds to S220. In S220, the processing of S OUT = 38H is performed. Then, the controller 301 proceeds to the camera control processing of S221. By "38H" of S OUT1,
PORT5 and 4OUT processing of output control is determined, and SOUT2 of S218
= F3H determines "00" of bit3 and bit2, and S219
Bit3, bit2 “11” is determined by SOUT2 = FFH. Then, these data are transferred to the camera 300 by the camera control process.

In S222, it is determined whether or not F ERR = 1. If the answer is YES in S222, the process proceeds to S210, and if the result is NO, the process proceeds to S223. In S223, a process of inverting F ON is performed after waiting for 250 ms, and the flow shifts to S224. In S224, it is determined whether the END key has been operated. In the case of Yes in S224, the process proceeds to S225, and in the case of No, the process proceeds to S210. In S225, it is determined whether the NEXT key has been operated. If no, the process proceeds to S217, and the processes of S217 to S225 are repeated.
The red lamp and the green lamp blink at the same time every 2 Hz.

If the NEXT key has been operated, it is determined that the answer is yes, and the process proceeds to S226. In S226, set processing of F ON = 1 and F CONT = 1 is performed. Next, the controller 301 proceeds to S227 and determines whether or not F ON = 1. If YES in S227, the process of S228 is performed, and if NO in S227,
Perform the process of S229. In S228, the setting process of SOUT2 = 0BH is performed, and in S229, the setting process of SOUT2 = 0H is performed.

Then, the controller 301 proceeds to S230 and SOUT1 = 40H
After performing the setting process, the process proceeds to the camera control process. MOVE POS of operation control is specified by S OUT1 = 40H, POS = B is specified by S OUT2 = 0BH, S
POS = 2 is specified by OUT2 = 02H. Then, these data are transferred to the camera 300 by the camera control processing (S231). Controller 301 is S231
After executing the camera control processing of (1), the process proceeds to S232. In S232, it is determined whether or not F ERR = 1. If the answer is YES in S232, the flow shifts to S210 to perform END processing. If NO in S232, the process shifts to S233, waits for one second, performs a process of inverting F ON, and shifts to S234 to enable EN
It is determined whether the D key has been operated. When the answer is YES in S234, the process proceeds to S210. When the answer is NO in S234, the process proceeds to S235. In S235, it is determined whether the NEXT key has been operated. When the answer is NO in S235, the process shifts to S227, and the processes from S227 to S235 are repeated. As a result, the normal and reverse rotations of the zoom motor are repeated, and the zoom lens is moved between POS = B tele and POS.
= 2 wide.

When the answer is YES in S235, the process proceeds to S236. In S236, F
Set processing of ON = 1 and F CONT = 1 is performed. After that, the controller 301 proceeds to S237. In S237, it is determined whether or not F ON = 1. If F ON = 1 in S237, the process proceeds to S238, and if F ON = 0, the process proceeds to S239. S OUT2 in S238
After performing the setting process of = 73H, the process proceeds to S240. In S239, the process of SOUT2 = D9H is performed, and then proceeds to the process of S240. In S240, a process of setting SOUT1 = 30H is performed.
Output control is specified by S OUT1 = 30H, and S OUT2
= 73H specifies the forward rotation of the wind motor and S OUT
Reverse rotation of the wind motor is specified by 2 = 9DH. The controller 301 shifts to the camera control processing of S241, thereby transferring these data toward the camera 300, and shifts to S242 to determine whether or not FERR = 1. In the case of YES in S242, the process proceeds to S210, and in the case of NO, the process proceeds to S243. In S243, a process of inverting F ON is performed after waiting for 2 seconds, and the process proceeds to S244. END in S244
It is determined whether a key has been operated. If NO in S244, the process shifts to S237, and the processes of S237 to S244 are repeated. When the END key is not operated, the execution command to the camera 300 outputs data corresponding to forward / reverse rotation about every 2 seconds, so the main CPU of the camera 300 executes forward / reverse control of the wind motor every 2 seconds. I do. If the result of the determination in S244 is that the END key has been operated, the process proceeds to S245, in which the power of the camera 300 is turned off, and the operation test ends.

(Effects of the Invention) The externally controllable camera according to the present invention can be externally controlled as described above.

Then, the determination means of the camera determines the type of the execution command from the external controller, and the operation control means determines the type of the control target based on the external control signal input from the external controller according to the determination result of the determination means. Is performed.

Therefore, when the camera is inspected, the external controller determines the contents of the camera, so a dedicated program for a large-scale operation test does not need to be installed in the camera in advance. In addition, the inspection of the camera can be facilitated.

In addition, the contents of the inspection are determined by the external controller as described above. Therefore, when the inspection contents such as the operation contents of the camera are changed, the program or the like is changed by the external controller without changing the determination means of each camera. The inspection can be changed, and the inspection content can be easily changed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram corresponding to the claims of the present invention. 2 to 5 show the appearance of a camera according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a front view, FIG. 3 is a plan view, FIG. 4 is a rear view, and FIG. Is a rear view in a state where the back cover is opened. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a control system of the camera. 7 to 10 are flowcharts showing the operation of the main CPU of the camera. FIG. 7 is a main flow, FIG. 8 is a flow of external control, FIG. 9 is a flow of serial signal input / output, FIG. Is a flow of instruction code processing. Fig. 11 is a block diagram of an image plane exposure amount inspection apparatus, Fig. 12 is a flow of an image plane exposure amount inspection, Fig. 13 is a flow of a camera control process, and Fig. 14 is a flow chart between a camera CPU and a controller. FIG. 15 is a timing chart for explaining the data transfer, FIG. 15 is a flow for explaining the data transfer in FIG. 14, and FIG. 16 is a flow for explaining the operation check of the camera. 100: Main CPU (operation control means, judgment means) 300: Camera 301: Controller SIOS, CLK ... Connection terminal SWS, SWR, etc .... Mechanical input means 210 ... Shutter (control target) 32 ... LCD panel (control target) 112 ... Zoom motor (control target)

Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Norio Numako 2-36-9 Maenocho, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo Asahi Optical Industry Co., Ltd. (72) Katsutoshi Nagai 2-36-9 Maenocho, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo Asahi Optical Industry Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-63-212923 (JP, A)

Claims (1)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] 1. An operation control means for controlling an object to be controlled, a plurality of mechanical input means provided on a camera body for outputting a control signal to the operation control means, and an external controller connected to the operation control means A connection terminal for transmitting an external control signal, storage means for storing various information necessary for controlling the control target, and when the input of the external control signal from the external controller is detected, the mechanical Prohibiting means for prohibiting input of the input means, and determining means for determining whether the type of the external control signal input from the external controller is an input mode or an output mode, the operation control means, When the determination means has determined the input mode, the information stored at the address of the storage means specified by the external control signal is transmitted to the external control signal. While updating to the value determined by the signal, when the determination means has determined the output mode, to the external controller, the state of the mechanical input means specified by the external control signal, or, An externally controllable camera, wherein information in the storage means stored at an address of the storage means designated by an external control signal is returned and output.