JP2000253344A - Electronic album device and electronic camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain an electronic album device where even an unskillful user can simply store pictures and the operability is enhanced and to obtain an electronic camera. SOLUTION: A 1st storage medium insertion detection means detects insertion of a memory card 7 to the electronic album device 1. In the case of detecting insertion of the memory card 7 to the device 1, a file read means of the 1st storage medium reads a file (picture) from the memory card 7. Then a 2nd storage medium write means writes a file read from a file read means of the 1st storage medium to a large capacity recording medium 8 and a file attribute revision means of the 1st storage medium revises an attribute of the file in the memory card 7 into an erasable attribute.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic album apparatus for storing, for example, images taken by an electronic camera apparatus in a large-capacity recording medium, and to an electronic camera apparatus connected to the electronic album apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, with the widespread use of electronic camera devices, consumer electronic album devices for storing images captured by the electronic camera devices in a large-capacity recording medium have become widespread. Electronic album devices for consumers are mainly used in homes. Therefore, assuming that the user does not have sufficient knowledge about the operation of the device or is not familiar with the operation, it is desired to provide an easy-to-use device with improved operability. .

[0003] In a conventional electronic album apparatus and electronic camera apparatus, for example, a still image, a moving image, a sound, and other information photographed by the electronic camera apparatus (hereinafter, the information is referred to for simplification of description in this specification). The data is collectively referred to as “image” and the data is referred to as “image data”) as “file” according to a predetermined format defined in a specific file system.

[0004] If a so-called file manager is provided in an electronic album device and an electronic camera device like a generally known PC (personal computer), a user operates the file manager to record and store the file.
Various file operations such as deletion and attribute change can be performed.

However, the operation of such a file manager is complicated as much as a fine and sophisticated file operation can be performed. This causes a problem that a novice user who does not have sufficient knowledge about the operation of the device or is unfamiliar with the operation becomes difficult to use the device.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an electronic album apparatus which can easily store images even for a novice user and has improved operability. It is an object to provide an electronic camera device.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the object, an electronic album apparatus of the present invention is configured as follows.

An electronic album apparatus according to the present invention includes an insertion detecting means for detecting that a first recording medium has been inserted, and reading of a file in the first recording medium in response to the insertion detection by the insertion detecting means. A writing unit that writes a file read by the reading unit to a second recording medium; and a writing unit that writes the file to the second recording medium. Attribute changing means for changing an attribute of a file in the first recording medium to an attribute indicating that the file can be erased.

According to this configuration, it is possible to detect the insertion of the first recording medium and to automatically perform writing (accumulation processing) of a file in the first recording medium on the second recording medium. it can.

[0010] The electronic album apparatus of the present invention comprises a connection detecting means for detecting a connection with the electronic camera apparatus, a communication means for communicating with the electronic camera apparatus, and a communication by the communication means. Reading means for reading a file recorded in the medium, writing means for writing a file read by the reading means to a recording medium, and writing means for writing to the recording medium Attribute change instructing means for instructing the electronic camera device via the communication means to change an attribute of a file in the electronic camera device to an attribute indicating that the file is erasable. .

According to this structure, the connection with the electronic camera device can be detected, and the file recorded in the electronic camera device can be automatically written (accumulated) on the recording medium.

[0012]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an electronic album apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 shows an electronic album device according to the present invention and an electronic camera device connected to the electronic album device.

The electronic album device 1 is roughly divided into a CPU
4, switches SW1 and SW2, and photoreflector P
R1 and PR2, light emitting diodes D1 and D2, a drive control IC 5, and an LCD (liquid crystal display) 6 are provided so that a memory card 7 and a large-capacity recording medium 8 can be mounted.

The memory card 7 is, for example, an SSFDC (Sol
id State Floppy Disk Card), which is removably attached to a memory card slot (not shown). The user can pull out the memory card 7 from the memory card slot and replace it with another memory card as necessary.

One or more images already photographed by an electronic camera device or the like are recorded on a memory card 7, which is a first supply source of images to be stored, and these images are largely in the form of an electronic album. The data is read from the memory card 7 to be stored in the recording medium 8 having a capacity. The operation contents in this case are as follows, for example. That is, first, the memory card 7 is mounted on the electronic camera device 2, and an image obtained by photographing with the electronic camera device 2 is recorded on the memory card 7, and then the memory card 7 is stored in the electronic album device 1. Installing.

According to the configuration shown in FIG. 1, the electronic camera device 2 and the electronic album device 1 are connected via the connection cable 3 and the image of the electronic camera device 2 is connected to the connection cable 3.
And can be taken (downloaded) into the electronic album device 1 by communication via the Internet. It should be noted that, instead of wired communication via the connection cable 3, for example, IrDA (Infr.
It may be configured to perform infrared data communication (wireless communication) based on the areed data association standard.

In the electronic album apparatus 1, connection with the electronic camera apparatus 2 is detected based on a switch SW1 which is turned on / off in accordance with insertion / removal of the connector 9, and connection with the memory card 7 is made in the same manner. Switch SW2 that turns ON / OFF according to insertion / extraction of card 7
Is detected based on

In the case where the electronic camera device 2 is connected to the electronic album device 1 as described above and the memory card 7 is also inserted, one of the supply sources is determined according to an appropriately determined priority. (Device) should be selected. Alternatively, the selection may be made according to an instruction based on an operation input from the user.

The large-capacity recording medium 8 is, for example, a magneto-optical (Mag).
It is composed of a neto-optical disk and is detachably mounted on a magneto-optical disk drive (not shown). This magneto-optical disk drive has a drive control I
It is controlled by the CPU 4 via C5.

The electronic album device 1 according to the present embodiment has a structure shown in FIG.
As shown in (1), there is provided a means for detecting the reflected light at the notch 80 due to the light emission from the light emitting diode D1 with the photo reflector PR1. As a result, the contents of the notch setting relating to the mode setting for prohibiting overwriting and erasing of the original medium can be detected. In addition, there is provided a means for detecting, with the photoreflector PR2, reflected light from the case portion due to light emission from the light emitting diode D2. This makes it possible to detect whether or not the recording medium 8 is mounted, that is, whether or not the large-capacity recording medium 8 is mounted in the drive.

The LCD 6 is a display means provided with a touch panel, and is used for inputting an operation from an operator and displaying. The operation input here is for giving an instruction to start the image storage process.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a part of the configuration of the electronic camera device.

The electronic camera device 2 as a second source of the image to be stored includes an optical lens, a CCD (solid-state image sensor),
/ D converter, compression / expansion circuit, LCD (Liquid Crystal Display),
And a photographing processing system 14 including a strobe and the like (not shown).
, A CPU 10 and a switch SW4, and the connection to the electronic album apparatus 1 is detected by the switch SW4 that is turned on / off in accordance with insertion / extraction of the connector 16.

The operation when the subject is photographed by the electronic camera device 2 is as follows. That is, the subject image formed through the optical lens is detected by the CCD, and thereby an analog electric signal representing the subject image is obtained.
This electric signal is converted into a digital signal by an A / D converter and supplied to a compression / expansion circuit. The compression / expansion circuit compresses the image data based on this signal according to a known image compression method. Thereby, final image data is obtained. This image data is written to the memory card 12 via the CPU 10.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the structure of the means for realizing the image storage processing according to the present invention. This realizing means is mounted on, for example, the CPU 4 as a first image storage processing function, and includes a first storage medium insertion detecting means 20, a first storage medium file reading means 22, a first storage medium file attribute changing means 24, and The second storage medium writing means 26 is provided.

The first storage medium insertion detecting means 20 detects the insertion of the memory card (first storage medium) 7 into the electronic album device 1 based on the switch SW2. When the insertion of the memory card 7 is detected, the file reading means 22 of the first storage medium reads a file (image) from the memory card 7. The second storage medium writing means 26 writes the file read from the file reading means 22 of the first storage medium to the large-capacity recording medium 8, and the file attribute changing means 24 of the first storage medium The attribute of the file in the card 7 is changed to a predetermined attribute (for example, an attribute indicating erasable).

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of another means for realizing the image storage processing according to the present invention. This realizing means is implemented in, for example, the CPU 4 as a second image storage processing function, and includes a connection detecting means 30 for connection with the first storage device, a file reading means 32 of the first storage device, a media writing means 34 of the second storage device, It comprises a file attribute change instructing means 36 of one storage device and a communication means 38 for communicating with the first storage device.

The connection detecting means 30 for connection with the first storage device switches the connection with the electronic camera device (first storage device) 2 by a switch S.
Detect based on W1. When the connection with the electronic camera device 2 is detected, the file reading unit 32 of the first storage device instructs the communication unit 38 with the first storage device to perform communication with the electronic camera device 2 and performs the communication. The means 38 communicates with the electronic camera device 2 to receive a file.
Then, the medium writing means 34 of the second storage device
The received file is written to the large-capacity recording medium (media of the second storage device) 8, and the file attribute change instructing means 36 of the first storage device sets the attribute of the file in the electronic camera device 2 to a predetermined attribute (for example, erases) To the electronic camera device 2 via the first storage device communication means 38 to change the attribute to an attribute indicating the possibility.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the first and second image storage processing functions detect the insertion of the memory card 7 or the connection with the electronic camera device 2 and automatically execute the image storage processing. This is the configuration performed. Hereinafter, a more specific operation of the present embodiment will be described.

The electronic album apparatus 1 of the present embodiment executes the main processing after completing the initial processing started when the power is turned on. In the main processing, the electronic camera device 2
The image storage process is automatically started in response to the detection of connection with the device or the detection of insertion of the memory card 7.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the electronic album apparatus in the image storage processing according to the present embodiment.

[Step S1] The free capacity (remaining capacity) of the large-capacity recording medium 8 is checked.

[Step S2] The file size of the image to be stored is compared with the free space of the large-capacity recording medium 8 inspected in step S1, and whether or not the capacity is insufficient, that is, the file size is equal to the free space Is determined. If the capacity is insufficient, proceed to step S3,
If not, the process proceeds to step S6.

[Step S3] A predetermined message is displayed on the LCD 6 and a warning sound is issued to warn the user to replace the large-capacity recording medium 8 with another medium.

[Step S4] It is determined whether or not the large-capacity recording medium 8 has been newly replaced with another medium. This determination is based on the photo reflector PR2. That is, when a series of operations of removing the currently mounted large-capacity recording medium 8 and mounting another large-capacity recording medium is performed, the output value of the photoreflector PR2 is turned on.
-OFF-ON (or OFF-ON-OFF), so that when the output value change is detected, it is determined that the large-capacity recording medium 8 has been replaced.

Even after a lapse of a predetermined time, the large-capacity recording medium 8
If is not exchanged, the process proceeds to step S5. on the other hand,
If it has been exchanged, the process proceeds to step S6.

[Step S5] The electronic album apparatus 1
It is determined whether the electronic camera device 2 or the memory card 7 is being connected. If a connection is being made, continue with step S
The processes from 3 to S5 are repeated. If the connection is not being established, it is determined that the user has forcibly canceled the connection and the image storage process has been canceled, and the process returns to the main process.

[Step S6] It is determined whether or not the supply source of the image to be stored is the memory card 7. If the supply source of the storage target image is the memory card 7, the process proceeds to step S8; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S7.

[Step S7] It is determined whether or not the supply source of the storage target image is the electronic camera device 2. If the supply source of the storage target image is the electronic camera device 2, the process proceeds to step S9; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S10.

[Step S8] A file (image data) of an image to be stored is read from the memory card 7 for one file.

[Step S9] The electronic camera device 2 communicates with the electronic camera device 2 and sends a response signal to the electronic camera device 2.

[Step S10] If the supply source of the image to be stored is not the memory card 7 and the electronic camera device 2, it is determined that a malfunction due to noise or the like has occurred, and the image storage process is interrupted to proceed to the main process. Return.

[Step S11] Only one file of the image to be stored is received.

[Step S12] The file of the image to be stored is written to the large-capacity recording medium 8.

[Step S13] An erasable flag is added to the original file of the image to be stored.

In step S8, the memory card 7
When the file is read from the memory card 7, an erasable flag is added to the original file stored in the memory card 7. That is, the file attribute of the original file is changed to the erasable attribute. Alternatively, the file may be deleted.

When a file is received by communication with the electronic camera device 2 in steps S9 and S11, the camera device 2 is instructed to add an erasable flag to the original file stored in the electronic camera device 2. Send instructions. Alternatively, an instruction is sent to change the file attribute of the original file to the erasable attribute. In this case, the electronic camera device 2 treats the original file as having a copy. Depending on the configuration of the electronic camera device 2, the original file is quickly deleted after the storage in the electronic album device 1.

[Step S14] It is determined whether the image file to be stored is the last file. In other words, if the file is the last file, the image storage process ends and the process returns to the main process.
Get the next image file.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing the operation of the image transmission processing on the electronic camera device side in the image storage processing.

[Step S31] When the IN3 terminal of the CPU 10 is turned on by the switch SW4 which is turned on / off in accordance with insertion / removal of the connector 16 shown in FIG. 2, the connection with the electronic album apparatus 1 is detected. The communication process related to the image storage process in the electronic album device 1 is started.

First, a notification signal to start (image) file transmission is sent to the electronic album apparatus 1.

[Step S32] Waits for a response signal from the electronic album apparatus 1 to the notification signal. If a response signal is not obtained from the electronic album device 1 even after waiting for a predetermined period, the image transmission process ends.

[Step S33] One file is selected from a plurality of files stored in the memory card 12, and its file attribute is read.

[Step S34] It is determined whether or not the erasable flag associated with the read file is ON, that is, whether or not the file has the erasable attribute. If the file is erasable, there is no need to transfer the file to the electronic album device 1 here, so the process proceeds to step S36.

[Step S35] The file is read from the memory card 12.

[Step S36] It is determined whether or not the file having the erasable attribute in step S34 is the last file in the memory card 12. That is, if the file is the last file, the image transmission process is terminated and the process returns to the main process. Otherwise, the process shifts to step S33 to process the next file in the memory card 12.

[Step S37] The file read in step S35 is transmitted to the electronic album device 1.

[Step S38] An erasable flag is set in the file transmitted to the electronic album device 1 in step S37. The processing in this step may be omitted when the electronic album apparatus 1 performs the same processing (step S13).

[Step S39] It is determined whether the file transmitted in step S37 is the last file in the memory card 12. That is, if the file is the last file, the image transmission process is terminated and the process returns to the main process. Otherwise, the process shifts to step S33 to process the next file in the memory card 12.

According to the above-described embodiment, the first and second image storage processing functions detect the insertion of the memory card 7 or detect the connection with the electronic camera device 2 to store the image. Processing can be performed automatically. Therefore, even a novice user who does not have sufficient knowledge about the operation of the device or is not proficient in the operation does not bother with the complicated operation, and the operability of the device can be improved.

(Features of the Embodiment) [1] The electronic album apparatus described in the embodiment has an insertion detecting means for detecting that the first recording medium (7) is inserted.
(20), reading means (22) for reading a file in the first recording medium (7) in response to insertion detection by the insertion detecting means (20), and reading by the reading means (22). A writing unit (26) for writing the written file to the second recording medium (8);
6) changing the attribute of the file in the first recording medium (7) that has written to the second recording medium (8) to an attribute indicating that the file is erasable; Means (24).

[2] In the electronic album apparatus shown in the embodiment, the insertion detecting means (20) for detecting that the first recording medium (7) has been inserted, and the insertion by the insertion detecting means (20). Reading means (22) for reading a file in the first recording medium (7) in response to the detection, and reading means (2
Writing means (26) for writing the file read by 2) to the second recording medium (8), and writing the file to the second recording medium (8) by the writing means (26) Erasing means for erasing a file in the first recording medium (7) on which the above-mentioned has been performed.

[3] The electronic album device shown in the embodiment is provided with a connection detecting means (30) for detecting connection with the electronic camera device (2) and a communication device for communicating with the electronic camera device (2). Communication means (38), reading means (32) for reading a file recorded in the electronic camera device (2) by communication by the communication means (38), and reading by the reading means (32) The writing device (34) that writes the file on which the file has been written to the recording medium (8), and the electronic camera device (2) that writes the writing device (34) to the recording medium (8). The electronic camera device (2) via the communication means (38) so as to change the attribute of the file in the file to an attribute indicating that the file can be deleted.
And an attribute change instruction means (36) for instructing the electronic album.

[4] The electronic album apparatus shown in the embodiment is connected to a connection detecting means (30) for detecting connection with the electronic camera apparatus (2), and communicates with the electronic camera apparatus (2).
Reading means (32) for reading a file recorded in the electronic camera device (2); and the reading means
Recording medium of the file read by (32)
Writing means (34) for writing to (8), and erasing means for erasing a file in the electronic camera device (2) in which the writing means (34) has written to the recording medium (8). , Are provided.

[5] In the electronic camera device shown in the embodiment, the first storage means (12) for storing a file and the connection detection means (10, SW) for detecting the connection with the electronic album apparatus (1).
4), communication means (10, 16, 3) for communicating with the electronic album device (1), and the first storage means (10, SW4) in response to connection detection by the connection detection means (10, SW4). (12) a transmitting unit for transmitting the file stored in the electronic album device (1) via the communication unit (10, 16, 3) to the electronic album device (1), and the transmitting unit performs transmission to the electronic album device. Attribute changing means for changing the attribute of the file to an attribute indicating that the file can be deleted.

[6] In the electronic camera apparatus shown in the embodiment, the first storage means (12) for storing a file and the connection detection means (10, SW4) for detecting the connection with the electronic album apparatus (1).
Communication means for communicating with the electronic album device (1)
(10,16,3) and the file stored in the first storage means (12) in accordance with the connection detection by the connection detection means (10, SW4). ) Via the electronic album apparatus (1), and erasing means for erasing a file that the transmitting means has output to the electronic album apparatus (1), I have.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but can be implemented with various modifications.

[0068]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Even a novice user can easily perform image storage and provide an electronic album device and an electronic camera device with improved operability.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an electronic album device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary block diagram showing a part of the configuration of the electronic camera device according to the embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a means for realizing image storage processing according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of another means for realizing image storage processing according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an exemplary flowchart showing the operation of the electronic album device side in the image storage process according to the embodiment;

FIG. 6 is an exemplary flowchart showing the operation of an image transmission process on the electronic camera device side in the image accumulation process according to the embodiment;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Electronic album apparatus 2 ... Electronic camera apparatus 3 ... Connection cable 4 ... CPU SW1, SW2 ... Switch PR1, PR2 ... Photoreflector D1, D2 ... Light emitting diode 5 ... Drive control IC 6 ... LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) 7 ... Memory Card 8: Large-capacity recording medium

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An insertion detecting means for detecting that a first recording medium has been inserted, a reading means for reading a file in the first recording medium in response to an insertion detected by the insertion detecting means, Writing means for writing a file read by the reading means on a second recording medium, and writing means for writing on the second recording medium by the writing means in the first recording medium An attribute changing unit for changing an attribute of the file to an attribute indicating that the file is erasable. 2. Insertion detecting means for detecting that a first recording medium has been inserted, reading means for reading out a file in the first recording medium in response to insertion detection by the insertion detecting means, Writing means for writing a file read by the reading means on a second recording medium, and writing means for writing on the second recording medium by the writing means in the first recording medium An electronic album apparatus, comprising: erasing means for erasing a file. 3. A connection detecting means for detecting a connection with the electronic camera device, a communication means for communicating with the electronic camera device, and a communication recorded by the communication means in the electronic camera device. Reading means for reading a file; writing means for writing a file read by the reading means on a recording medium; and the electronic camera device wherein the writing means has written on the recording medium. An attribute change instruction unit that instructs the electronic camera device via the communication unit to change the attribute of the file to an attribute indicating that the file can be deleted. Album device. 4. A connection detecting means for detecting a connection with the electronic camera device; a reading means for reading a file recorded in the electronic camera device through communication with the electronic camera device; Writing means for writing a file read by the above to a recording medium, and erasing means for erasing a file in the electronic camera device which the writing means has written to the recording medium. An electronic album device characterized by the above-mentioned. 5. A first storage unit for storing a file, a connection detection unit for detecting a connection with the electronic album device, a communication unit for communicating with the electronic album device, and a connection detection by the connection detection unit. Transmitting means for transmitting the file stored in the first storage means to the electronic album device via the communication means, and transmitting the file transmitted by the transmitting means to the electronic album device. An electronic camera device comprising: an attribute changing unit that changes an attribute to an attribute indicating that the file can be deleted. 6. A first storage unit for storing a file, a connection detection unit for detecting a connection with the electronic album device, a communication unit for communicating with the electronic album device, and a connection detection by the connection detection unit. Transmitting means for transmitting the file stored in the first storage means to the electronic album apparatus via the communication means, and transmitting the file transmitted by the transmitting means to the electronic album apparatus. An electronic camera device, comprising: erasing means for erasing.