JP2000232605A - Electronic camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent print paper from being left in a camera body even when printing is interrupted due to reduction in a residual battery capacity of a power supply in the configuration of an electronic camera provided with a print mechanism printing out a photographed picture. SOLUTION: The electronic camera equipped with a print mechanism is provided with a CCD image pickup section 10 that uses a CCD image pickup element 12 to apply photoelectric conversion to an object image and to generate image information, a print section 70 that prints out an image obtained from an image pickup section 10 on print paper and ejects the print paper, a recording medium 33 that records the image information by the image pickup section 10, a residual battery capacity detection section 63 that detects a residual battery capacity of a power supply, and a control section 20 that stops printing by the print section 70 when the detection section 63 decides that the residual battery capacity of the power supply is a prescribed value or below during the printing by the print section 70 so as to forcibly eject print paper.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic camera for capturing an object image and obtaining electrical image data, and more particularly to an electronic camera having a printing mechanism.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, an electronic camera (digital still camera) has been known in which a subject image is captured by a CCD image sensor or the like and the obtained image data is stored in a flash memory such as a compact flash (CF) or a smart media (SSFDC). Has been put to practical use. This electronic camera is small and lightweight, and is capable of rewriting image data.

[0003] In a silver halide camera, a photographed image is printed simultaneously with photographing (instant photograph by a diffusion transfer method).
A so-called instant camera has been put to practical use. Various electronic cameras have also been proposed in which a printout mechanism is provided in the camera itself to enable printout immediately after photographing.

[0004]

However, an electronic camera having a printing mechanism has the following problems. The printing operation requires a relatively large current and takes time. On the other hand, a small battery is generally used as the power supply, and the power supply capacity is small. For this reason,
During the printing process, the remaining power supply may be insufficient, the printing process may be interrupted, and the printing paper may remain in the camera body. In this case, unless a process such as battery replacement or DC plug connection is performed, there is a disadvantage that the sheet cannot be taken out. In particular, when the printing mechanism involves a chemical process such as a diffusion transfer method, leaving the paper for which the printing process has been interrupted as it is in the camera body causes a reduction in the reliability of the camera.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a configuration having a printing mechanism for printing out a photographed image, in which the interruption of printing due to a decrease in the remaining power supply. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic camera that can prevent printing paper from remaining in the camera body beforehand and can contribute to improvement in reliability.

[0006]

(Structure) In order to solve the above problem, the present invention employs the following structure.

That is, according to the present invention, in an electronic camera equipped with a printing mechanism, an electronic image pickup means for generating electrical image information by photoelectrically converting a subject image, and image information obtained by the electronic image pickup means. A printing unit that prints the image on the printing paper and discharges the printed printing paper; a power remaining amount detecting unit that detects a remaining power amount; and a power remaining amount that is detected by the detecting unit during printing by the printing unit. A control unit for causing the printing unit to perform an operation of stopping printing and discharging the printing paper when it is determined that the value is equal to or less than a predetermined value.

Here, the following are conceivable as desirable embodiments of the present invention. (1) The control means prohibits power supply to parts other than those necessary for discharging the printing paper by the printing means when the detection means determines that the remaining power is below a certain level during printing by the printing means. Control.

(2) The printing means has a light emitting means for exposing the photosensitive paper based on the image information obtained by the electronic imaging means, and a transport means for transporting the photosensitive paper. (3) The printing means shall be an instant camera system that directly obtains a positive image by the diffusion transfer method.

According to the present invention, according to the present invention, the remaining amount of power is detected during printing, and when it is determined that the remaining amount of power is less than a predetermined value, printing is interrupted and the printing paper is forcibly ejected.
It is possible to prevent the printing paper from stopping halfway due to a decrease in the remaining power. In particular, when the printing mechanism uses a chemical reaction such as a diffusion transfer method, it is possible to prevent photosensitive printing paper during processing from remaining on the camera body, thereby contributing to improvement in reliability. In addition, when power is not supplied to portions other than the paper discharge mechanism of the printing unit when the print paper is forcibly discharged, the paper can be reliably discharged even when the power supply is low.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The details of the present invention will be described below with reference to the illustrated embodiments.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an electronic camera with a printing function according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The electronic camera according to the present embodiment is roughly divided into an imaging section 10, an image data processing section 20, an image data recording and display section 30, a control section 40, and an operation section 50.
, A power supply unit 60 and a printing unit 70.

The imaging unit 10 includes an imaging lens 11, a CCD imaging device 12, an imaging circuit 13, an A / D conversion circuit 14, a correction circuit 15 for performing white balance and gamma correction, a frame memory 16, and the like. The subject image captured via the optical system including
2, the data of the formed image is converted into a digital signal by an A / D conversion circuit 14, white balance and gamma correction are performed by a correction circuit 15, and then the image is stored in a frame memory 16. Store each sheet.

The image data processing unit 20 includes an image compression function unit 21, an image decompression function unit 22, a frame memory control function unit 23, a recording medium access function unit 24,
It comprises a CPU 2 having a print data creation function unit 25, and compresses a plurality of image data stored in the frame memory 16 one by one and stores them in a recording buffer (not shown). The stored image data is expanded and sent to the FIFO memory 34 of the image data recording / display unit 30 or the recording medium 33 of the image data recording / display unit 30 is accessed.

The image data recording / display unit 30 includes a backlight 31, a recording medium I / F 32, a recording medium 33 such as a flash memory card, a display FIFO memory 34, a video encoding circuit 35, and a TFT driving circuit. 36 and T
It comprises an FT liquid crystal panel 37, a video output circuit 38, and a video output terminal 39, reads out image data recorded in a recording buffer and records it on a recording medium 33,
This portion reads out image data recorded on the recording medium 33, sends it to the display system, and performs image display.

The image data sent to the display system is temporarily stored in the display FIFO memory 34. Display FI
The image data read from the FO memory 34 is converted into a video signal by a video encoding circuit 35 and characters and the like are added. On the other hand, the video signal to which the characters and the like are added is transmitted through the TFT drive circuit 36 to the TFT.
The image is supplied to the liquid crystal panel 37 and displayed as a subject image. On the other hand, the video signal is output to the outside from a video output terminal 39 via a video output circuit 38.

The control unit 40 includes a system control function unit 41, a printing mechanism control function unit 42, a power control function unit 43, and various other function units (for example, a compression ratio change function unit, a pixel number change function unit, and the like). CP with
It is mainly configured by U1, and is a part that comprehensively controls the entire system such as the imaging unit 10, the image data processing unit 20, the image data recording and display unit 30, and the like.

The control unit 40 includes an actuator drive circuit 45 for driving an actuator 44 including a zooming motor or an AF motor, a non-volatile memory 46 for holding various setting data, a personal computer and the like. An external data I / F 47 for exchanging data, an LCD display circuit 49 for displaying various information on an LCD panel 48, and the like are additionally provided.

The operation section 50 is connected to the control section 40 and has a keyboard matrix for inputting a switch for camera operation as a main operation section. By providing an external operation signal to the control section 40, This is a part for performing necessary control operations.

The power supply unit 60 includes a battery 61 (for example, 1.5 V
× 4) are used as main power supplies, and power of a predetermined voltage is supplied to each circuit via a power supply circuit 62. A battery remaining amount detection circuit 63 for detecting the remaining amount of the battery 61 in real time is provided.

The printing unit 70 includes a FIFO memory 71 for temporarily storing print data and a printing mechanism 72. As shown in FIG. 2, the print mechanism 72 includes a print cartridge 73 containing paper, a cartridge detection sensor 74, a linear optical head 75, and a head drive circuit for electrically driving the optical head 75 to emit light. 7
6, a drive unit 77 for moving the sheet, and a drive control circuit 78 for controlling the drive unit. Here, the driving unit 77 serves as a paper discharging mechanism, and the power supply control unit 43 prohibits power supply to other parts when the paper is forcibly discharged.

The printing method in the printing unit 70 may be any of a diffusion transfer method, an ink jet type, and a sublimation type. In the present embodiment, an instant camera method for directly obtaining a positive image using the diffusion transfer method is used. In this case, a two-dimensional image can be printed out by reading the image data every one or a plurality of lines, driving the optical head, and moving the paper.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

When a print start is instructed by the user, first, a print image is read (S31), and then print data is generated (S32). Then, the printing operation of one block (one line or a plurality of lines) is performed (S
33) Then, it is determined that the printing is completed (S34).

If it is determined that all the blocks have been printed and the printing has been completed, the process exits the printing process. If printing is not completed, the remaining power (battery remaining) is checked (S3).
5) It is determined whether the remaining power is sufficient (S3).
6). If it is determined that the remaining power is sufficient, the process returns to S33 and the printing operation of the next block is performed.

On the other hand, if it is determined that the remaining power is not sufficient, a warning indicating that there is no remaining power is displayed (S37), the power is turned off except for the paper discharge mechanism, and the paper is discharged during printing. (S39). Then, a power-off process is performed (S40), and the process exits the printing process.

As described above, in this embodiment, the remaining power supply is detected during printing, and it is determined whether or not the power supply is provided until the printing is completed. If the power supply is not provided, the printing is interrupted and the print paper is discharged. Like that. For this reason, it is possible to avoid inconveniences such as the power being lost during printing, the printing being interrupted, and the printing paper being unable to be taken out of the camera body. That is, it is possible to prevent the printing paper whose print processing has been interrupted from remaining in the camera body, and to eliminate the cause of a decrease in the camera reliability even when the printing mechanism involves a chemical treatment such as a diffusion transfer method. it can.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. The configuration of the printing mechanism is not limited to a so-called instant camera system in which a positive image is directly obtained by using a diffusion transfer method, and a thermal transfer type, ink jet type, or sublimation type printer may be used.

The configuration of the camera body is not limited to that shown in FIG. 1. An image of a subject is picked up by an image pickup device such as a CCD to generate electrical image information, and this image information is stored in a flash memory or the like. What is necessary is just to make it. In a system in which images are displayed at the same time as photographing and printed on photographic paper, storage means such as a flash memory can be omitted.

In addition, various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0032]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, in a configuration having a printing mechanism for printing out an image after photographing, the remaining power supply is detected at the time of printing and the remaining power supply is determined to be insufficient for printing. Then, since the printing is stopped and the printing paper is ejected, it is possible to prevent the printing paper from remaining in the camera body due to the interruption of the printing due to a decrease in the remaining power, thereby improving the reliability. It is possible to contribute to.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration of an electronic camera provided with a printing mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a specific configuration of a printing mechanism in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an exemplary flowchart illustrating a processing procedure in a print mode according to the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Image pick-up part 20 ... Image data processing part 30 ... Image data recording / display part 40 ... Control part 50 ... Operation part 60 ... Power supply part 70 ... Printing part

Claims (3)

[Claims] An electronic image pickup means for photoelectrically converting a subject image to generate electrical image information, and an image obtained from the image information by the electronic image pickup means is printed on a printing paper and printed. A printing unit for discharging the printing paper, a power remaining amount detecting unit for detecting a remaining amount of power, and the printing unit when the detecting unit determines that the remaining power amount is equal to or less than a predetermined value during printing by the printing unit. An electronic camera, comprising: a control unit that causes the unit to perform an operation of stopping printing and discharging a print sheet. 2. The control device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit determines that the remaining amount of power is less than a predetermined value during printing by the printing unit. 2. The electronic camera according to claim 1, wherein control is performed to prohibit power supply. 3. The printing device according to claim 2, wherein the printing unit includes a light emitting unit for exposing the photosensitive paper based on image information obtained by the electronic imaging unit, and a conveying unit for conveying the photosensitive paper. The electronic camera according to claim 1, wherein: