JP2000075398A - Remote control device and camera using it - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To precisely transmit not only the existence of data but also the content itself thereof even when the level of a received signal is deteriorated because a remote control device is distant from a camera. SOLUTION: The remote control part 1 is provided with a microcomputer 2 for remote control changing the transmitting order of the data including positional information transmitted to the camera part 9 every time the data is transmitted. The camera part 9 is provided with a microcomputer 10 for a camera executing a control action so that the data whose transmitting order is changed and whose content is identical is repeatedly received until all of the continuous plural pieces of data transmitted from the remote control part 1 are received by a receiving circuit 14.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a remote control (hereinafter abbreviated as "remote control") device applied to remote control of equipment and a camera using the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various techniques relating to a remote control device for transmitting a specific signal pattern in order to perform a predetermined remote operation on a device such as a camera have been disclosed. For example,
In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 9-138449 (hereinafter referred to as Prior Example 1), in addition to a signal for performing a release operation,
A technique related to an information input device for a camera capable of outputting information magnetically recorded on a film is disclosed.

In general, when the magnetic information is set by the remote control device, the reception level of the camera is high because the distance between the camera and the remote control device is short. However, when the release operation is performed by the remote control device, the camera and the remote control device are required. The reception level of the camera is low because the distance between the devices is long. Therefore, if the presence or absence of a release signal is determined at the same determination level as when magnetic information is received, it is difficult for the camera to shift to a release operation.

In view of this point, in the above-mentioned prior art 1, the release signal is set to a setting level which is more fragile than the magnetic information,
The receiving operation is performed. On the other hand, JP-A-5-23
In Japanese Patent No. 2577 (hereinafter referred to as Prior Example 2), the brightness of the subject itself can be measured by providing a photometric function on the remote control transmitter side, and more accurate by transmitting the measurement data to the camera side. A technique relating to a camera system that realizes a release operation under a proper exposure condition is disclosed.

[0005]

However, if it is determined only whether or not to execute the release operation, no problem arises even if the determination level at the time of signal reception is broadened as in the preceding example 1. On the other hand, when the release signal and the luminance data are also transmitted as in the above-described prior example 2, a problem occurs in the determination method in which only the presence or absence of the release signal is determined. This is because even if the release operation can be performed, a photograph cannot be taken under the intended exposure condition unless the luminance data is correctly received.

In consideration of the transmission output of the camera remote controller transmitter, in a plurality of data transmissions, the data output earlier has a higher output level and a higher reception probability. Further, when the user performs the transmission operation from the remote control transmitter, even if the transmission cannot be performed at one time, the user repeats the same operation several times to make an effort to succeed in the transmission. However, at this time, even if data having the same content is transmitted, if data is transmitted in the same order, specific data (data transmitted first) among a plurality of data can be received, but other data can be received. Cannot easily be received.

[0007] The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and has as its object the object of the present invention even when the reception signal level is deteriorated such as when the distance between the remote controller and the camera is large. The purpose of this is to make sure that the contents of the data itself are transmitted accurately, not just the presence or absence of the data.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, in a first aspect of the present invention, a plurality of continuous data are transmitted to a camera in order to cause the camera to perform a predetermined operation. A remote control device for a camera is provided, wherein the order of transmitting the plurality of data is changed each time the plurality of data is transmitted.

In a second aspect, there is provided the remote control device for a camera according to the first aspect, wherein the plurality of data include information indicating a position of the data.

In a third aspect, by receiving a plurality of continuous data from a remote control device,
In a camera that performs a predetermined operation, receiving means for receiving a plurality of data from the remote control device, and data of the same content whose transmission order has been changed until the receiving means receives all of the plurality of data. And a control means for performing control so as to repeatedly receive.

According to the above-described first to third aspects, the following operations are provided. That is, in the first aspect of the present invention, the transmission order of the plurality of data is changed every time the plurality of data is transmitted.

In a second aspect, in the first aspect, the plurality of data includes information indicating a position of the data. In a third aspect, the receiving means receives a plurality of data from the remote control device,
The control unit is controlled so as to repeatedly receive data of the same content whose transmission order has been changed until the receiving unit receives all of the plurality of data.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a remote control device and a camera according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Note that the remote controller 1 described in detail below corresponds to a remote controller, and the camera unit 9 corresponds to a camera.

As shown in FIG. 1, a remote controller 1
, A microcomputer for remote control corresponding to control means of a remote control device (hereinafter abbreviated as “microcomputer”)
2 measures the brightness of the subject based on the operation of the user,
It controls a series of operations such as transmitting luminance information to the camera section 9 together with the release signal.

Photometric circuit 8 for measuring the brightness of the subject
The photocurrent of a silicon photodiode (hereinafter, referred to as SPD) 7 connected to the microcomputer is input to the photometric circuit 8, where it is converted to a luminance signal, and the luminance signal is input to the remote control microcomputer 2. The remote control microcomputer 2 includes:
By controlling ON / OFF of the transistor Q1, the infrared light emitting diode D1 emits light and the lens 6
, And transmits the luminance information and the like to the camera unit 9.

The remote control unit 1 is turned on by a power SW5.
The permission / non-permission of the operation is controlled by / OFF. In addition, when the transmission SW4, which is a transmission operation member, is turned on, a release signal and a luminance signal are transmitted to the camera unit 9 side. In addition, the power of the battery 3 is supplied to each of the above units.

On the other hand, in the camera section 9, a camera microcomputer 10 corresponding to a camera control means performs various operations necessary for camera sequence control and camera operation. The photometry circuit 26 is a circuit for measuring the brightness of the subject, converts the photocurrent from the SPD 25 into a brightness signal, and outputs the brightness signal to the camera microcomputer 10. The display circuit 11 displays various information such as an exposure condition and an operation mode. The above microcomputer 1 for camera
In the case of 0, the shutter speed and the aperture value during the exposure operation are calculated based on the output of the photometric circuit 26, and the shutter / aperture control circuit 12 is controlled based on the calculation result.

Further, the clock circuit 13 includes a "year",
It generates date information consisting of "month", "day", "hour", and "minute". The receiving circuit 14 receives the infrared signal transmitted from the remote controller 1 by the photodiode D2 through the lens 16, converts the signal into an input signal to the camera microcomputer 10, and outputs the signal. Incidentally, the receiving circuit 14 and the photodiode D2 constitute a receiving means. The drive circuit 15 is a circuit that drives an actuator such as a motor that operates a film drive mechanism.

The film drive mechanism 20 is a mechanism that sends out the film 18 from the film cartridge 17 and performs operations such as winding and rewinding. Recording circuit 21
Drives a magnetic head 19 to magnetically record predetermined information on a magnetic recording layer on the film 18. R1SW
24 is a camera microcomputer 1 according to the ON / OFF state.
It controls the execution of the exposure operation of 0. RMSW2
Reference numeral 3 denotes a camera microcomputer 10 based on ON / OFF.
Is controlled to either enable or disable the reception of a signal from the remote controller. Note that the camera microcomputer 10
Is configured such that the operation is permitted when the power SW 22 is ON.

Hereinafter, referring to the flowchart of FIG.
The operation of the remote controller 1 will be described. Power SW5 is ON
Then, the remote controller microcomputer 2 starts the operation, first executes initialization of an I / O port (not shown), initialization of an internal memory, and the like (step S1), and clears a transmission counter (= 0). (Step S2).

Next, the remote controller microcomputer 2 detects a change in the state of the power SW5 and the transmission SW4 (steps S3 and S4). When the power switch 5 is OFF, the remote controller microcomputer 2 stops all operations. On the contrary,
When the transmission SW4 is turned on, the transmission counter is incremented (+1) (step S5). In this embodiment, every time the transmission SW4 is operated, the transmission counter is counted up to a maximum of three times, but it is a matter of course that the present invention is not limited to this.

Subsequently, the remote controller microcomputer 2 determines whether the transmission counter is "1", and if the transmission counter is "1", receives the luminance information from the photometric circuit 8 and Transmission data is created based on the information (steps S7 and S8), and data is transmitted in the order of a start signal, first data, second data, and third data (step S9). That is, in this transmission operation, the infrared light emitting diode D1 is ON / OFF controlled as shown in the time chart of FIG. The detailed data structure of the transmission data including the start signal will be described later.

When the operation of step S9 is completed, the above-described step S9 is performed in order to detect the state of the power SW5 again.
Return to 3. The camera unit 9 can be operated by operating the transmission SW 4 once.
If the side succeeds in receiving, the camera unit 9 shifts to an exposure operation based on the transmitted luminance information. However, when the camera unit 9 does not shift to the exposure operation, the user again transmits the transmission SW.
4 is assumed to be operated. Accordingly, the process proceeds from step S4 to step S5, and the transmission counter is incremented again.

If the transmission operation has already been performed once, the value of the transmission counter becomes "2".
0 to step S11, this time, a start signal,
Data is transmitted in the order of 2nd data, 3rd data, and 1st data. That is, in this transmission operation, FIG.
As shown in the time chart, the infrared light emitting diode D1 is ON / OFF controlled.

When the operation of step S11 is completed,
The process returns to step S3 again. If the camera does not start the exposure operation even after the second transmission, it is assumed that the user operates the transmission SW4 again. Accordingly, the process proceeds from step S4 to step S5, and the transmission counter is incremented again.

If the transmission operation has already been performed twice, the value of the transmission counter becomes "3", so that the flow shifts from step S12 to step S13, where the start signal, 3r
Data is transmitted in the order of d data, first data, and second data. That is, in this transmission operation, as shown in the time chart of FIG.
Are ON / OFF controlled.

In the following step S14, the transmission counter is cleared (= 0). Here, since the transmission according to the three transmission patterns shown in the time charts of FIGS. 5A to 5C has been completed, the transmission counter is cleared.
Since the information contained in these three transmission patterns must be fixed, the luminance measurement (step S7) and the creation of the transmission data (step S8) are executed only when the transmission counter is "1". Become. Thus, the transmission counter becomes “0”. New transmission data can be created.

Here, the structure of the transmission data will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. The transmission data is composed of 3 bytes of data, and the configuration of 1 byte of data is as shown in FIG. bit7 is a parity bit.

In the present embodiment, odd parity is adopted. That is, it is set so that the number of bit data "1" in one byte is an odd number. Position bi
t is information indicating the position of the data. Usually, when transmitting a plurality of data, the arrangement of the data is fixed. If the receiving side knows the order in which the data is transmitted, the contents of the data can be understood. But,
In the first embodiment, the order of data is not fixed in order to improve the reception probability. Therefore, when the data is received, information for determining the order of the data that should originally exist is required. The information for this is the position bit, bit6, bi
The information is assigned to t5. In addition, bit4 ~
bit0 is used to indicate the specific content of the information.

On the other hand, FIG.
It shows byte data. First, “01” is assigned to the first data as the position bit. This 1s
The t data is release instruction information, "10000"
And In the second data, “01” is set as the position bit.
Assign The 2nd data is an integer part of the luminance information, specifically, an integer part of the Bv value of the apex method. “11” is assigned to the 3rd data as the position bit. The 3rd data is a decimal part of the luminance information, specifically, a decimal part of the Bv value of the Apex method.

Next, a method of controlling the infrared light emitting diode D1 will be described with reference to FIG. In the first embodiment, the transmission data is represented by a combination of three characteristic light emitting patterns of the infrared light emitting diodes.
That is, FIG. 4A shows a start signal, which is located at the head of the data to be transmitted and serves as a timing signal when starting the receiving operation. Further, FIG.
Indicates a bit “1”, and FIG. 4C indicates a bit “0”. Arbitrary data can be expressed by appropriately combining these two light emission patterns.

Next, referring to the flowchart of FIG.
The operation of the camera microcomputer 10 in the camera section 9 will be described in detail. In the camera section 9, the power switch 22 is
If the answer is N, the camera microcomputer 10 starts operating, and initializes an I / O port (not shown), initializes an internal memory, and the like (step S21). Next, the camera microcomputer 1
0 detects the state of the power SW 22 (step S2).
2) If the power switch 22 is off, the camera microcomputer 10 stops operating; if it is on, the process proceeds to step S23.

Then, the state of the RMSW 23 is detected (step S23). When the RMSW 23 is ON, the exposure operation can be performed based on a signal from the remote controller 1.
Therefore, the process shifts to step S24 to receive a signal from the remote control unit 1, and a subroutine "reception" described later in detail is executed. When the operation of this subroutine ends, the state of the reception completion flag is determined (step S2).
5).

When the reception completion flag is set (1), it indicates that the signal from the remote controller 1 has been successfully received. At this time, the reception completion display is performed (step S26), and the exposure operation is further performed. Step S2 to execute
Move to 9. In step S26, for example, an LED (not shown) for a self-timer blinks. When the reception flag is cleared (0), it indicates that the reception of the signal from the remote controller has failed, and the process returns to step S22.

On the other hand, when the RMSW 23 is OFF, the flow shifts to step S27 to detect the state of the R1SW 24. If the R1SW 24 is ON, the process proceeds to step S28 to execute the exposure operation, and if the R1SW 24 is OFF, the process returns to step S22. In this step S28, the photometric circuit 2
The luminance of the subject is measured based on the output of No. 6.

Next, in step S29, the subject luminance information transmitted from the remote control unit 1 or in step S2
Based on the subject luminance information measured in step 8, the aperture setting value and the shutter speed are calculated. Subsequently, the film is exposed by controlling the shutter / aperture control circuit 12 (Step S).
30), data to be recorded on the magnetic recording layer of the film 18 is created (step S31), and the exposed frame is wound up by one frame, and the recording circuit 21 is controlled so that the above-mentioned step S31 is formed on the film 18. Is magnetically recorded (step S32).

Here, the operation of the subroutine "reception" executed in step S24 will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG. When you enter this routine,
First, the camera microcomputer 10 clears (= 0) the reception buffer (step S40). The reception buffer is a storage area set on a memory to temporarily store the first data, the second data, and the third data transmitted by the remote controller 1 (see FIG. 8). Prior to this receiving operation, it is necessary to initialize the area.

Subsequently, the reception counter is cleared (= 0) (step S41). A start signal (FIG. 4A) positioned at the head of the transmission data of the remote controller 1
Count) is detected each time (e) is detected. If the reception buffer does not reach the maximum value even if the reception counter reaches a predetermined value ("3" in this embodiment), the reception operation is stopped and the process returns to the main routine shown in FIG.

Next, the reception completion flag is cleared (= 0).
(Step S42). The reception completion flag is a flag that is set (1) when all the transmission data from the remote controller 1 has been successfully received. Therefore, it is necessary to initialize before receiving operation.

Subsequently, a start signal (see FIG. 4A) is detected (step S43). When this start signal is detected, the reception counter is incremented (+1) (step S44). Next, clear the data number counter (=
0) (step S45). The signal of the remote control unit 1 is
As described above, it is composed of 3 bytes of data. Each time one of the data is received, the data number counter is counted up. When this data number counter becomes "3", it indicates that all the data transmitted by the remote controller has been received by one receiving operation.

Next, when the reception of one byte of data is completed (steps S46 and S47), the data number counter is incremented (+1) (step S48). Next, a parity check is performed (step S49). If no error is detected by this parity check, (O
K), the position bit (bits 6, 5) of the received data is “0”.
It is determined whether it is "1" (step S50). If it is "01", the first data is stored in the first reception buffer (step S51). If not "01", it is determined whether the position bit is "10" (step S52), and "10" is determined.
If so, the second data is stored in the second reception buffer (step S53). If not "10", position bi
It is determined whether or not t is “11” (step S54), and “1” is determined.
If "1", the 3rd data is stored in the 3rd reception buffer (step S55).

As described above, after the reception data is stored in the predetermined reception buffer based on the position bit, it is determined whether the count value of the data number counter is "3" (step S56). . Here, if the count value is “3”, it indicates that the three data transmitted by the remote controller 1 has been successfully received.

In this case, after the reception completion flag is set (1), the process returns to the main routine of FIG. 6 (step S57). On the other hand, when the value of the data number counter is not “3”, the process shifts to step S46 to receive the next data. If the position condition of the remote control unit 1 and the camera unit 9 is bad and the level of the received signal is bad, an abnormality occurs in the received data. Then, the parity check in step S49 results in NG, and the process proceeds to step S58.

Thus, it is checked whether three data are stored in the reception buffer (steps S58 to S6).
0) If all data is not stored in the reception buffer, it is determined whether the count number of the reception counter is "3" (step S62). The process moves to S43.

When the count value has become "3", it is meaningless to perform the receiving operation any further, and the process returns to the main routine. In the first embodiment, since the receiving operation can be performed up to three times, it is not necessary to receive the 3-byte data transmitted by the remote controller 1 in one receiving operation. The remote controller 1 changes the data transmission order for each transmission operation. Therefore, the data that is successfully received is not always the same. If the user turns on the transmission SW 4 of the remote control unit 1 several times, the data is accumulated in the reception buffer for each reception operation and is eventually filled. Then, the process shifts to step S61 through steps S58 to S60, and the reception completion flag is set (1).
Will be done.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. Since the basic configuration is the same as that of FIG. 1 described above, the same components as those of FIG. 1 will be described below using the same reference numerals.

An example of the data structure transmitted from the remote control unit 1 has been described above with reference to FIG. 3. In the data structure, the position bit is included in each data, and the position bit is included. Thus, even if the order of data communication is changed, it is possible to determine the data on the receiving side. On the other hand, in the second embodiment, the position b
It is decided that the it is included only in specific data of data to be transmitted.

That is, FIG. 9 shows the second embodiment.
It is a figure showing data transmitted. From the figure, it can be seen that the position bit is included in the transmission sequence information. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the structure of the transmission sequence information.

In the figure, bit2, bit1, bi
t0 indicates the number of data to be transmitted. bit
5, bit4, and bit3 are information indicating from which order the first data is transmitted at the time of transmission. This is information corresponding to the position bit in the first embodiment. bit
Reference numeral 7 denotes a parity check bit. Parity is odd parity as in the first embodiment. bit6
Is empty.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example when transmitting 5-byte data. Transmission sequence information is transmitted following the start signal, and then 5 bytes of data are transmitted. Since the receiving side receives the data based on the transmission sequence information, this information is located at the top so that it can always be received.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the correspondence between the set values of the transmission sequence information and the time chart of FIG. As shown in the figure, since the number of data is 5 bytes, bit2, bi
Bin data “101” is set in t1 and bit0. Binary data (001 to 101) corresponding to 1 to 5 is set in the first data position information of bit5, bit4, and bit3. The receiving side first receives the transmission sequence information.

Then, a reception buffer is secured on the memory based on the information of bit2, bit1, and bit0. Further, it is determined on the basis of the information of bit5, bit4, and bit3 where to store the received data in the reception buffer. When all data is stored in the reception buffer, it means that all data transmitted by the remote controller 1 has been received.
The camera unit 9 may execute a predetermined operation based on the received data.

The first and second embodiments of the present invention have been described above. However, the present invention is not limited to these contents, and various other improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. Of course, it is possible.

The above embodiment of the present invention includes the following inventions. (1) In a camera remote control device for transmitting a plurality of continuous data to a camera, a transmission operation member for transmitting the plurality of data to the camera and an order of transmitting the plurality of data are controlled. Control means, and each time the transmission operation member is operated,
A remote control device for a camera, wherein the control means changes the order of transmission of the data. (2) The camera remote control device according to (1), wherein the plurality of data include at least a release signal for causing the camera to perform a release operation and luminance information of a subject. (3) By receiving a plurality of continuous data from the remote control device, a camera that executes a predetermined operation receives a plurality of data of the same content in a changed transmission order a plurality of times. A camera for detecting all of the plurality of data based on a result of a receiving operation. (4) Receiving means for receiving a plurality of data including a release signal for performing a release operation in a camera which performs a predetermined operation by receiving a plurality of continuous data from a remote control device; Until receiving all of the plurality of data, control means for controlling to repeatedly receive data of the same content changed in the order of transmission, and the receiving means receives all of the plurality of data A camera that permits a release operation. (5) The camera according to (4), wherein a predetermined display is performed when the receiving means receives all of the plurality of data.

[0055]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention,
Even when the received signal level is poor, such as when the distance between the remote control and the camera is large, not only the presence or absence of data but also a remote control device that can accurately transmit the data itself and a remote control device The camera used can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a remote control device and a camera according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the remote control unit 1;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the structure of transmission data in more detail;

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a control method of the infrared light emitting diode D1.

FIG. 5 is a time chart for explaining a method of controlling ON / OFF of the infrared light emitting diode D1.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining in detail the operation of the camera microcomputer 10 in the camera unit 9;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining in detail an operation of a subroutine “reception” executed in step S24 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing detailed contents of a storage area of a reception buffer.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing data transmitted from the remote controller 1 to the camera unit 9 in the second embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a structure of transmission sequence information according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of transmitting data of 5 bytes in the second embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a correspondence between a set value of transmission sequence information and a time chart of FIG. 11;

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 remote control unit 2 remote control microcomputer 3 battery 4 transmission SW 5 power SW 6 lens 7 SPD 8 photometry circuit 9 camera unit 10 camera microcomputer 11 display circuit 12 shutter / aperture control circuit 13 clock circuit 14 reception circuit 15 drive circuit 16 lens 17 Film cartridge 18 Film 19 Magnetic head 20 Film drive mechanism 21 Recording circuit 22 Power SW 23 RMSW 24 R1SW 25 SPD 26 Photometry circuit 27 Battery

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. To make a camera perform a predetermined operation,
A camera remote control device for transmitting a plurality of continuous data to the camera, wherein the order of transmitting the plurality of data is changed every time the plurality of data is transmitted. apparatus. 2. The remote control device for a camera according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of data include information indicating a position of the data. 3. A camera that executes a predetermined operation by receiving a plurality of continuous data from a remote control device, wherein: a receiving unit that receives a plurality of data from the remote control device; Until all of the above data is received,
Control means for controlling to repeatedly receive data of the same content whose transmission order has been changed.