JP2000137264A - Camera provided with slide cover - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To miniaturize and to improve the appearance of a camera by making its vertical thickness thinner. SOLUTION: This camera is constituted from a camera main body 10 and a member being nearly cylindrical to be fitted to cover the camera main body 10. It is provided with a slide cover 20 which can be slid horizontally between the closed position where a photographic lens installed in front of the camera is covered in the front and an opened position where it is evaded from the front of the photographic lens. A main body side guide member 40 is attached to the approximately vertical center part of the camera on the backside of the camera main body 10 and a cover side guide member 30 guiding the sliding of the slide cover 20 by being engaged with the main body side guide member 40 is formed inside the slide cover 20.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a camera having a slide cover slidable between a position covering a front surface of a photographing lens and a position retracting from the front surface of the photographing lens.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional camera having a slide cover, a guide groove having a length corresponding to the stroke of the slide cover is provided in the upper and lower portions of the camera body, and a pair of upper and lower guides on the cover side are provided in these grooves. Some guide the movement of the cover by engaging the projections.
However, when the guide mechanisms are provided at the upper and lower two places, the thickness of the upper and lower ends of the camera increases, and there is a problem that the camera becomes large.

An object of the present invention is to provide a camera having a slide cover in which the thickness of the upper and lower portions of the camera is reduced to reduce the size and improve the appearance.

[0004]

FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of the present invention.
7, the camera according to the present invention includes a camera body 10 and a substantially cylindrical member externally attached to the camera body 10, and is a closed position that covers a front surface of a photographing lens provided on the camera front surface. And a slide cover 20 slidable in the lateral direction of the camera between an open position retracted from the front surface of the photographing lens. And the camera body 10
A main body side guide member 40 is attached to the back of the camera at a substantially central portion in the vertical direction of the camera.
A cover-side guide member 30 that engages with the main-body-side guide member 40 and guides the slide of the slide cover 20 is formed on the inner surface of the “0”, thereby solving the above problem. In the invention of claim 2, the cover-side guide member 30 has a length corresponding to the stroke amount of the slide cover 20, and the main-body-side guide member 40 is shorter than the cover-side guide member 30. According to the invention of claim 3, the cover-side guide member 30 has a pair of upper and lower convex portions 31 extending in the moving direction of the slide cover 20, and the main body-side guide member 40 has the convex portion 31.
A pair of upper and lower recesses 41 respectively slidably engaged with
It has. According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the projection 31 of the cover-side guide member 30 and the connecting portion 32 of the slide cover 20 are formed by integral molding. Claim 5
The invention of the present invention is directed to the main body side and cover side guide members 30, 40.
However, the slide cover 20 has contact portions that contact each other in order to restrict the movement of the slide cover 20 in the direction in which the slide cover 20 is lifted from the front or rear surface of the camera body. In the invention of claim 6, both ends of the cover-side guide member 30 in the cover sliding direction are fixed to the slide cover 20 by welding.

[0005] In the section of the means for solving the above-mentioned problems, which explains the configuration of the present invention, the drawings of the embodiments are used to facilitate understanding of the present invention. However, the present invention is not limited to this.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a camera according to the present invention. A lens window 11A for exposing a photographing lens, a distance measuring window 11B, a finder objective window / AF auxiliary light window 11C are provided on a front surface of the camera body 10, a release button 12 is provided on an upper surface, and a figure is provided on a rear surface. As shown in FIG. 4, a display device 13 and various buttons 14 are provided. A cover member 5 is provided on one end side of the camera body 10.
0 and the grip member 60 are attached.

The slide cover 20 is composed of a metal cylindrical outer cover 21 and an inner cover 22 molded by a plastic mold, and is disposed between a closed position shown in FIG. 2 and an open position shown in FIG. With respect to the camera body 10, the camera can be slid in the lateral direction of the camera (A-B direction). A light emitting window 21a of a flash device is formed in a front plate portion 21A of the outer cover 21, and a slide guide member 30 is attached to an inner surface of the rear plate portion 21B. The guide member 30
As shown in FIG. 4, FIG. 5, and FIG. 7, a pair of upper and lower convex portions 31 having a length corresponding to the stroke amount of the slide cover 20 is provided. It is fixed to the inner surface of the plate portion 21B by welding. There are two welding portions at both ends of the guide member 30 (welding spots are indicated by reference numerals 204 in FIG. 4). By reducing the number of welding portions, deformation of the guide member 30 can be prevented, and flatness can be secured. If the flatness is poor, the operation will be poor when the guide member 40 moves in addition to the convex portion 31. However, in the present embodiment, since the flatness can be secured, the operation can be performed smoothly.

On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 4, 6, and 7, a guide member 40 that engages with the guide member 30 of the outer cover 21 is attached to the center of the rear surface of the camera body 10. The guide member 40 has a pair of upper and lower concave portions 41 formed by bending upper and lower portions of a metal plate, and the upper and lower convex portions 31 of the guide member 30 are slidably engaged with the concave portions 41. The length of the guide member 40 in the camera lateral direction is sufficiently shorter than the length of the guide member 30. Therefore, even if the guide member 30 is slightly deformed, the slide cover 20 can be slid smoothly.

The recess 2 provided at one end of the inner cover 22
A flash SB (FIG. 7) is attached to 2b, and the irradiation light is applied to the subject through the window 21a of the outer cover 21. The inner cover 22 has two upper and lower grooves 22a formed on the front and rear surfaces of the camera, and four guide pins BS and BS1 inserted into these grooves 22a are screwed into the camera body 10. You. When the end face of the groove 22a in the closing direction (A direction) abuts on the heads of the guide pins BS and BS1, the movement of the slide cover 20 in the opening direction (B direction) is restricted. At the end of the inner cover 22 in the closing direction,
A covering portion 22A that covers an end surface of the outer cover 21 in the closing direction is formed by integral molding. Further, as shown by C and D in FIG. 4, the upper and lower surfaces of the inner cover 22 are inclined from the end in the closing direction to the end in the opening direction so as to approach the vertical center axis of the camera body. The front and rear surfaces are inclined from the end in the closing direction to the end in the opening direction so as to approach the center axis in the thickness direction of the camera body. This enables the inner cover 22 to be molded.

The camera according to the present embodiment has a click mechanism for fixing the slide cover 20 at both the open position and the closed position. That is, as shown in FIG.
On the back of the camera body 10, a click ball 71 is disposed at the center in the vertical direction of the camera.
Is urged to the rear of the camera by a spring 51 through a hole in the guide member 40. On the other hand, the guide member 30 on the slide cover side has two rectangular holes 30 in the left-right direction.
A and 30B are formed, and the click ball 71 falls into these holes 30A. 3 and 1
As shown in FIG. 1, on the front side of the camera body 10, a guide pin BS <b> 1 constituting
A click ball 72 is disposed on the head of the vehicle through a spring 81. On the other hand, the front plate 21A of the outer cover 21 that constitutes the slide cover 20 has a plate member 91
Are fixed, and holes 91a, 9 provided at two places on the left and right thereof are fixed.
The click ball 72 falls into 1b. Further, a plate member 73 having a spring property is arranged at the lower part of the front surface of the camera body 10, and one end side (the right side in FIG. 3) is fixed thereto, and a projection 73a is formed at the other end side. A plate member 92 having two left and right holes 92a and 92b is fixed to the lower portion of the inner surface of the front plate 21A, and the projection 73a of the plate member 73 can be engaged with each of the holes 92a and 92b.

In FIG. 3, 101 is a power switch, 102 is a main capacitor for flash light emission, 103
Is a flexible printed circuit board for supplying power and light emission signals to the light emitting circuit of the flash device. Power switch 101
Turns off when the slide cover 20 is at the closed position, and turns on when the slide cover 20 is slid to the open position. In FIG. 4, reference numeral 201 denotes a diopter adjustment lever of a finder, 202 denotes a zoom lever, and 203 denotes a slide cover receiver formed by a ridge. The slide cover receiver 203 receives the inner surface of the slide cover 20 to be slid, thereby preventing the cover 20 from abutting and damaging other portions of the camera rear surface.

The procedure for assembling the slide cover 20 to the camera body 10 will be described below. First, with the inner cover 22 of the slide cover 20 alone,
Is extrapolated to the end in the B direction. At this time, the plastic inner cover 22 is appropriately elastically deformed so as to get over the convex portion (for example, the guide member 40) of the camera surface, and the heads of the four guide pins BS are connected to the four grooves of the inner cover 22. 22a. Guide member 4
0 is exposed from the window 22c (FIG. 1) of the inner cover 22. Next, the outer cover 21 is positioned so that the guide member 30 of the outer cover 21 and the guide member 40 of the camera body 10 are aligned, and the upper and lower convex portions 31 of the guide member 30 are inserted into the upper and lower concave portions 41 of the guide member 40. Outer cover 2
1 is put on the inner cover 22. At that time, the outer cover 21
The inner cover 22 is inserted through the opening in the closing direction of the camera from the opening direction, but since the outer surface of the inner cover 22 is inclined from the closing direction end to the opening direction end so as to approach the center of the camera body. In addition, the work of putting the outer cover 21 on the inner cover can be easily performed. After inserting the end face of the outer cover 21 in the closing direction into the covering portion 22A of the inner cover 22 as shown in FIG. Screw and fix both covers.

In the camera configured as described above,
When the slide cover 20 is at the closed position in FIG. 2, the end in the closing direction abuts on the abutting portion of the camera body 10 to restrict the movement in the closing direction. The guide member 30 is located at the end in the opening direction. At this time, the front surface 21A of the slide cover 20 covers the taking lens, the finder objective window 11B, and the distance measurement window 11C, and the rear surface 21B covers the liquid crystal display device 13 and various operation buttons 14. The click balls 71 and 72 are respectively dropped into the holes 30A and 91a, and the projection 73a of the plate member 73 is
2a. The slide cover 20 is fixed at the closed position by these three click mechanisms, and the play of the slide cover 20 in each direction is prevented. Mainly, the vertical play of the camera is prevented by two click mechanisms on the front side of the camera, and the front and rear play is prevented by the three click mechanisms.

When a force in the opening direction is applied to the slide cover 20, the click balls 71, 72 and the projection 73a of the plate member 73 are retracted against each spring force, and the guide member 30 slides in the guide member 40. Slide cover 2
0 is guided, and the slide cover 20 moves in the opening direction. As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG.
Reaches the open position, the ends of the four grooves 22a of the inner cover 22 are connected to the four guide pins BS, BS1 of the camera body 10.
And the slide cover 20 is prevented from moving in the opening direction. At this time, the click balls 71 and 72 are
B, 91b, respectively, and the projection 73 of the plate member 73
a is engaged with the hole 92b. Therefore, the slide cover 20 is fixed at the open position, and the play of the slide cover 20 in each direction is prevented as described above.

When the slide cover 20 is in the open position, the taking lens, the finder objective window 11C, and the distance measuring window 1 are set.
1B, the liquid crystal display device 13 and the various operation buttons 14 are exposed to the outside, and are ready for photographing. As shown in FIG. 4, the guide member 40 is located at the end of the guide member 30 in the closing direction, but is still covered by the slide cover 20.
It is not exposed to the outside. The guide member 30 has a length corresponding to the stroke amount of the slide cover 20, but is not exposed to the outside regardless of the position of the cover 20 because it is provided on the inner surface of the slide cover 20. Therefore, the appearance of the camera is not impaired by providing the guide members 30 and 40. Further, since the size of the guide member 40 on the main body side can be made sufficiently short, there is no restriction on the arrangement of the display devices and switches on the rear side.

In the present embodiment, the guide members 30,
Since the guide mechanism composed of 40 is provided at the center in the vertical direction of the camera, a single set of guide mechanisms can be used. This is a possible configuration by arranging the guide mechanism on the back side of the camera. By the way, if the guide mechanism is provided on the front side of the camera, the guide mechanism cannot be arranged at the center because the photographing lens is located at the center of the front surface, and it is necessary to provide the guide mechanism at two places above and below the photographing lens ( If it is only one of the upper and lower sides, play will occur). In a configuration in which the guide mechanism is provided only at one central portion, there is no need to provide the guide mechanism in the upper and lower portions, so that there is an effect that the thickness of the upper and lower portions of the camera can be reduced. Also in the camera of the present embodiment, as can be seen from FIG. 7, the slide cover 20 is thickest at the center where the guide mechanism is provided and becomes thinner up and down. In general, even if the thickness of the central portion of the camera is relatively large, the camera looks thin if the upper and lower portions are thin, thereby improving the aesthetic appearance.

When a force in the front-rear direction of the camera is applied to the slide cover 20, the projection 31 of the cover-side guide member 30 comes into contact with the wall surface of the concave portion 41 of the body-side guide member 40. The movement in the direction in which the cover 20 is lifted up from the rear surface is restricted, so that the play of the cover 20 in the front-back direction can be prevented. As shown in FIG. 7, the projections 91c and 92c of the slide cover plate members 91 and 92 (having a click groove) can contact the upper and lower ends of the plate member 75 constituting the camera body 10. It is also possible to prevent the slide cover 20 from floating forward by these abutments.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 8, since the closing end face of the outer cover 21 made of metal is covered and covered by the covering portion 22A of the inner cover 22, the view is not deteriorated. In particular, since the end of the outer cover is inserted into the recess formed in the cover 22A, the cover 22A is peeled off even if a force is applied in the direction of the arrow, unlike the structure in which the plastic member is simply applied to the end surface of the outer cover. No part is exposed.
In addition, since the covering portion 22A is formed on the inner cover 22 that restricts the opening direction of the slide cover 20, the number of components can be reduced and the efficiency of assembly work can be improved.

In the above description, the guide member 30 on the cover side is used.
Has a length corresponding to the stroke amount of the slide cover,
Although the guide member 40 on the main body side is shorter than that, it may be reversed. Alternatively, a concave portion may be formed in the cover-side guide member 30 and a convex portion may be formed in the main-body-side guide member 40 to engage the two. Further, although the outer cover 21 is made of metal, it may be made of a material other than metal (for example, plastic).

[0020]

According to the present invention, the slide cover guide mechanism (consisting of the main body side guide member and the cover side guide member) is provided substantially at the center of the camera rear side in the vertical direction.
The thickness of the upper and lower portions of the camera can be reduced, and the appearance of the camera can be improved by making the camera look small. If the length of the cover side guide member (provided on the inner surface of the cover) is set to a length corresponding to the stroke amount of the slide cover, the length of the main body side guide member can be shortened to a minimum, regardless of the open / closed state of the cover. The main body-side guide member is not exposed to the outside, so that the appearance can be further improved. If the abutting portions for regulating the movement of the slide cover in the direction of lifting from the front or back surface of the camera body are provided on the main body and the cover side guide members, the play of the slide cover in the front-rear direction of the camera can be suppressed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a camera according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the camera, showing a state where a slide cover is at a closed position.

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2, showing a state where a slide cover is in an open position.

FIG. 4 is a rear view of the camera, showing a state where a slide cover is in an open position.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a closing direction end of the slide cover.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing one end of a camera body.

FIG. 7 is a side sectional view of the camera.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing a closing direction end of the slide cover.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view illustrating a method of attaching the slide cover to the camera body.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view showing details of a click mechanism.

FIG. 11 is a sectional view showing details of another click mechanism.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Camera main body 20 Slide cover 21 Outer cover 21A Front plate 21B Rear plate 22 Inner cover 22A Covering part 22a Groove 30 Cover side guide member 30A, 30B Hole 31 Convex part 40 Main body side guide member 41 Concave part 71, 72 Click ball 73 Plate member 81 Spring 91, 92 Plate member 91a, 91b, 92a, 92b Hole BS, BS1 Guide pin

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A camera body, a closed position comprising a substantially cylindrical member externally inserted into the camera body and covering a front surface of a photographing lens provided on the camera front surface;
A slide cover slidable in a lateral direction of the camera between an open position retracted from a front surface of the photographing lens, and a main body side guide member attached to a substantially central portion in a vertical direction of the camera on a rear surface of the camera main body. A camera having a slide cover, wherein a cover-side guide member that engages with the body-side guide member and guides the slide of the slide cover is formed on an inner surface of the slide cover. 2. The cover-side guide member has a length corresponding to a stroke amount of the slide cover, and the body-side guide member is shorter than the cover-side guide member. A camera having the slide cover according to claim 1. 3. The cover-side guide member has a pair of upper and lower convex portions extending in a moving direction of the slide cover,
The camera having a slide cover according to claim 1, wherein the main body side guide member has a pair of upper and lower concave portions respectively slidably engaged with the convex portions. 4. The camera having a slide cover according to claim 3, wherein the cover-side guide member is formed by integrally molding the projection and a connecting portion with the slide cover. 5. The main body-side and cover-side guide members have contact portions that abut against each other to restrict movement of the slide cover in a direction in which the slide cover rises from the front or rear surface of the camera body. Item 5. A camera having the slide cover according to any one of Items 1 to 4. 6. The camera having a slide cover according to claim 1, wherein both ends of the cover-side guide member in the cover slide direction are fixed to the slide cover by welding.