JP2000258818A - Device for switching finder visual field range - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To switch the visual field range of a finder by efficiently moving a visual field frame plate on which plural visual field frames with different aspect ratios are provided. SOLUTION: A pinion gear 53 is rotatably attached to a switching member 43 for setting a print format. This pinion gear 53 is a two-step gear obtained by coaxially integrating a small diameter gear 53a with a large diameter gear 53b. The gear 53a is meshed with a first rack gear 54 fixed along the sliding path of the visual field frame plate 44, and the gear 53b is meshed with a second rack gear 56 formed on the plate 44. The gear 53 moves as the member 43 moves. The gear 53a is meshed with the gear 54, so that the gear 53 rotates; and the gear 53b is meshed with the gear 56, so that the plate 44 moves.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a viewfinder device for a camera, and more particularly to a view range switching device capable of switching the view range of a viewfinder according to the aspect ratio of a printed photograph.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A camera loaded with an IX240 cartridge has an exposure screen size of 16.7 mm × 30.2 mm.
It has become. When standard printing is performed, 89 mm x 160 with the same aspect ratio as the exposure screen size
mm-size H-size prints are obtained. When C print is performed for the same negative screen size, a C size print (approximately 8
9 mm × 126 mm), and when a panoramic print is performed, a panoramic size print (about 89 mm × 253 mm) obtained by partially trimming the top and bottom of the negative screen is obtained.

[0003] Which of the standard print, C print and panorama print is to be used for printing is specified when the photographer performs framing. For this reason,
A field of view corresponding to each print format is displayed in the viewfinder, and print data representing the field of view selected at the time of photographing is written to the magnetic recording layer on the film for each frame. Then, the print format can be determined by reading the print data during the print processing.

A camera having such a function is provided with a finder visual field range switching device, and the visual field range that can be confirmed through the finder is switched in accordance with the print format in accordance with a photographer's selection operation.
As the simplest field frame switching device, a field frame plate with a field frame corresponding to each format is slidably provided in the finder optical path, and the field frame plate is slid by a photographer's selection operation to a predetermined field of view. One that sets a frame in a finder optical path is known.

[0005]

By the way, recent cameras have been made more compact, and when the field frame plate is slid as described above to switch the field of view, the amount of movement of the operation member is increased. It is becoming impossible to take. For this reason, for example, a combination of a lever and a cam has been devised to increase the amount of movement of the operation member and transmit the movement to the field frame plate, but the structure tends to be complicated, and the operation of the operation member is difficult. There was a problem that it became difficult.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and allows a view frame plate to be sufficiently moved while reducing the amount of movement of an operation member. It is an object to provide a viewing range switching device.

[0007]

According to the present invention, there is provided a two-stage gear in which a small-diameter gear and a large-diameter gear are integrated with a switching member which moves in parallel with a field frame plate when a field of view is switched. Is rotatably mounted, the small-diameter gear meshes with the first rack gear fixed along the slide path of the field frame plate, and the large-diameter gear meshes with the second rack gear formed along the slide direction of the field frame plate. It was made. The two-stage gear rotates while moving along with the movement of the switching member, and the field frame plate slides by a movement amount larger than the movement amount of the switching member due to the speed increasing effect of the two-stage gear. Even if the moving amount of the field frame plate is increased to about three times the moving amount of the switching member, an extremely large load is not applied to the switching member, and the operability is good.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A zoom camera using the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. The camera includes a finder optical system 2, a finder zooming device 3, a finder visual field switching device 4, a zoom lens mechanism 5, and the like. The finder optical system 2 includes an objective lens 10, a first moving lens 12 and a second moving lens 13 movable along a finder optical axis 11 in order from the object side,
This is a real image type zoom finder including the erecting prism 14, the eyepiece lens 16, and the like.

First moving lens 12 and second moving lens 1
Numeral 3 moves along the finder optical axis 11 in conjunction with the zooming operation of the zoom lens mechanism 5 to change the finder magnification. A coil spring 17 is stretched between these movable lenses 12 and 13, and is urged in a direction in which a distance between the movable lenses 12 and 13 is reduced.

The zoom lens mechanism 5 includes a zoom operation unit 18,
The control unit 19 includes a driver 21, a motor 22, a lens barrel unit 23, and the like. It should be noted that the zoom operation section 18
Is provided outside the camera, and the control unit 19 drives the motor 22 via the driver 21 in response to the operation of the zoom operation unit 18. This motor 22
Is driven, for example, via a gear train or the like.
Is transmitted to

The lens barrel unit 23 comprises a fixed barrel 24 and a movable barrel 2
The moving cylinder 26 is moved in the direction of the photographing optical axis 27 by the driving of the motor 22. By the movement of the movable barrel 26, the focal length of the photographing lens 28 is continuously changed.
A drive pin 29 protrudes from the fixed cylinder 24. The drive pin 29 moves in the same direction as the moving barrel 26 moves in the optical axis direction, and the movement causes the finder magnification changing mechanism 3 to operate to continuously change the finder magnification.

The finder zooming mechanism 3 includes the drive pin 2
9, a cam plate 31, and cam pins 32, 33 provided on the moving lenses 12, 13, respectively. The cam plate 31 is provided so as to be rotatable around an axis vertically provided on the upper surface of the fixed cylinder 24 along the vertical direction. The connecting portion 30 to which the drive pin 29 is connected is provided at an end remote from the center of rotation of the cam plate 31, and rotates in conjunction with the movement of the drive pin 29. The cam plate 31 has a first cam surface 34 formed in an outer contour and a second cam surface 34 formed in an elongated hole shape.
A cam surface 36 is formed.

The first movable lens 12 and the second movable lens 13 have cam pins 37 projecting downward.
38 are provided respectively. The cam pin 37 is inserted into an elongated hole opening 41 formed in the finder base plate 39,
The first cam surface 34 is engaged. The cam pin 38 is inserted through an elongated hole opening 42 formed in the finder base plate 39 and is engaged with the second cam surface 36. Thus, the cam surfaces 34 and 36 move the first movable lens 12 and the second movable lens 13 along the finder optical axis 11 in accordance with the amount of rotation of the cam plate 31, respectively. The cam pins 37 and 38 are always in contact with the cam surfaces 34 and 35 by the bias of the coil spring 17, respectively.

The finder field switching mechanism 4 includes a print format switching member 43, a field frame plate 44, and an interlocking mechanism 46 for moving the field frame plate 44 in conjunction with the movement of the switching member 43. The switching member 43 is integrated with an operation knob 47 exposed to the outside of the camera, and the photographer can select a print format by moving the operation knob 47 in the horizontal direction. The print formats include a standard H print format in which the aspect ratio of a printed photograph is 9:16, a C print in which the aspect ratio is 2: 3, and a panoramic print format in which the aspect ratio is approximately 1: 3. There is.

The set position of the switching member 43 is read by the position detecting means 48 for each shutter release, and the detection signal is sent to the control unit 19. The control unit 19 operates the magnetic head 49 during the film feeding period after photographing according to the input detection signal, and magnetically records print data for each frame on the magnetic recording layer on the film.

The field frame plate 44 is in the shape of a horizontally long thin plate, with its long side oriented in the horizontal direction and its short side oriented in the vertical direction, and a viewfinder between the second movable lens 13 and the Porro prism 14. It is slidably supported along the finder base plate 39 so as to cross the imaging plane. In the field frame plate 44, three field frames 50 to 52 having different aspect ratios corresponding to print formats are formed along the sliding direction.

When the operation knob 47 is set at the C print position, the view frame 50 provides a view range having the same aspect ratio as that of the C size print. Also, the field frame 51 is
When the operation knob 47 is set at the standard print position, a field of view having the same aspect ratio as that of the H-size print is given. The field frame 52 has the same aspect ratio as the panorama size print when the operation knob 47 is set at the panorama print position. Gives a viewing range with

A rotary shaft 43a (see FIG. 1) is formed integrally with the switching member 43.
A pinion gear 53 is rotatably supported. The pinion gear 53 is a two-stage gear in which a small-diameter gear 53a and a large-diameter gear 53b are coaxially integrated. Small diameter gear 5
3a is a first rack gear 54 formed on the finder base plate 39 along the slide path of the field frame plate 44.
The large-diameter gear 53b meshes with a second rack gear 56 formed on a part of the lower surface of the field frame plate 44. The number of teeth of the large-diameter gear 53b is smaller than the number of teeth of the small-diameter gear 53a. Approximately doubled. The switching member 43 is movably supported by the finder base plate 39 in the same direction as the sliding direction of the field frame plate 44.

As shown in FIG. 1, a recess 57 is formed on the lower surface of the switching member 43 along the longitudinal direction thereof.
The finder base plate 39 is integrally provided with a convex rail 58 that fits into the concave portion 57 and an elastic stopper claw 59 that supports the photographing mode switching member 43 so as not to come off from the convex rail 58. ing. The retaining claw 59 is elastically deformed in the moving direction of the photographing mode switching member 43. The lower surface of the field frame plate 44 is inserted into a concave rail 66 provided on the finder base plate 39, and the concave rail 66 is formed by a retaining member (not shown).
It is movably supported so as not to fall out.

The viewfinder switching mechanism 4 includes a switching member 4
There is provided a means for allowing the photographer to recognize that 3 has been set at each print format position. This means comprises three notches 60 to 62 provided on the switching member 43 and a click claw 63 (see FIG. 3) provided on the retaining claw 59.
The photographer can confirm that the switching member 43 has stopped at each set position.

When the operation knob 47 is set at the C print position, the click claw 63 engages with the first notch 60, and when the operation knob 47 is set at the standard print position, the click claw 63 engages with the second notch 61. Engage.
Furthermore, when set at the panorama print position,
The third notch 62 is engaged with the click claw 63. The retaining claw 59 has a notch 60 with a click claw 63.
The claw length is such that the switching member 43 can be kept from coming off even if it is elastically deformed when it comes out from the portion 62.

A pair of stopper plates 67 and 68 are provided integrally with the finder base plate 39. When the field frame 50 or the field frame 52 is set in the finder optical path, these stopper plates 67 and 68 are used for the field frame plate 44.
Positioning is performed by abutting the left and right end surfaces 64 and 65 of the above.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described. Prior to photographing, a photographing magnification and a print format are selected. The photographing magnification is performed by the zoom operation unit 18. When an operation is performed on the zoom operation unit 18, the finder magnification changes in conjunction with the zoom operation of the zoom lens mechanism 5. The print format is selected by moving the operation knob 47.

FIG. 4 shows an image forming plane of the finder optical system 2.
This shows a state where the field frame 50 corresponding to the C print format is set. In this state, the click claw 63 is engaged with the first cutout portion 60, and the right end surface 64 of the field frame plate 44 contacts the stopper plate 67 to position the field frame plate 44. Thereby, the pinion gear 5
The center of the field frame 50 can be accurately aligned with the finder optical axis 11 even if there is some play in the meshing portion between the third and the first and second rack gears 54 and 56.

When photographing is performed in this state, the magnetic head 49 is driven during film feeding after photographing is completed, and print data indicating that the C print format has been designated is written to the magnetic recording layer of the film. The print data is read out at the time of the printing process, the printing process is performed under the C print format, and the C size print is created.

In order to change the print format designation prior to photographing, the operation knob 47 is moved in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 4 to slide the switching member 43 in the same direction. Thus, the small-diameter gear 53a rotates counterclockwise while meshing with the first rack gear 54, and moves in the same direction as the switching member 43. Since the small diameter gear 53a and the large diameter gear 53b are formed integrally, the large diameter gear 53
b rotates integrally with the small-diameter gear 53a.
b together with the second rack gear 56 to rotate the field frame plate 4
4 slides in the direction of arrow A.

The pinion gear 53 moves with the movement of the switching member 43, and the gear ratio between the small-diameter gear 53a and the large-diameter gear 53b is about 1: 2.
Is slid in the same direction by a movement amount approximately three times as large as the movement amount of the switching member 43 (the operation knob 47). Therefore, the movement amount of the operation knob 47 can be reduced to about 1/3 of the movement amount of the field frame plate 44, and the movement space of the operation knob 47 can be saved. In addition, since the visual field frame plate 44 is moved by utilizing the meshing between the pinion gear 53 and the rack gears 54 and 56, the operation force of the operation knob 47 can be reduced to a level at which there is no practical problem. Property is obtained.

When the operation of moving the operation knob 47 is continued and the click claw 63 is engaged with the second notch portion 61, the standard format field of view is formed on the image forming surface of the finder optical system 2 as shown in FIG. The frame 51 is set. Therefore, when the standard print format is selected, the photographing may be performed in that state. During the film feeding after photographing, the magnetic head 49 is similarly driven, and print data indicating that the standard print format has been designated is written in the magnetic recording layer of the film.

When the operation knob 47 is further moved,
When the click claw 63 engages with the third notch 62,
A field frame 52 for panorama format is set on the image forming plane of the finder optical system 2. At this time, the field frame plate 44
Of the field frame plate 4
4 is performed. Then, by taking a picture as it is, the panorama print format can be designated.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the illustrated embodiment, the gear ratio between the small diameter gear 53a and the large diameter gear 53b does not necessarily have to be 1: 2. Further, instead of integrating the operation knob 47 with the switching member 43, for example, the operation knob 47 is constituted by a dial, and its rotation operation is transmitted to the switching member 43 by meshing with a pinion-rack. Field frame plate 44
It is also possible to adopt a configuration of sliding in the same direction.

[0031]

As described above, the finder view range switching mechanism of the present invention uses a two-stage gear in which a small-diameter gear and a large-diameter gear are integrated, and rotates the two-stage gear by moving the switching member. Since the configuration is such that the field frame plate is moved and slid in accordance with the image, the moving amount of the switching member can be made smaller than the moving amount of the field frame plate. Therefore, even when the switching member and the operating member are integrated, the space for moving the operating member can be saved, and this is suitable for a camera that requires compactness. Further, operability can be remarkably improved as compared with a view range switching device using a lever, a link mechanism, or the like.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a viewfinder switching mechanism of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a main part inside a camera using a finder visual field switching mechanism.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing main parts of a click claw and a notch.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which a standard size required field frame is set on a finder optical axis;

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which a high-definition size field frame is set on a finder optical axis;

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which a panorama size field frame is set on a finder optical axis.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Finder Optical System 3 Finder Magnification Mechanism 4 Finder Field-of-View Switching Mechanism 5 Zoom Lens Mechanism 39 Finder Base Plate 43 Shooting Mode Selection Operating Member 44 Field Frame Member 50 Standard Size Field Frame 51 Hi-Vision Size Field Frame 52 Panorama Size Field Frame 53 Pinion gear 53a Large diameter gear 53b Small diameter gear 54 First rack gear 56 Second rack gear

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A field frame plate having a plurality of field frames having different aspect ratios is slid in a finder optical path in conjunction with an operation of an operation member, and the finder is moved by one of the field frames set in the finder optical path. In a finder view range switching device that defines a view range, a two-stage gear in which a small-diameter gear and a large-diameter gear are integrated with a switching member that is rotatably attached to a switching member that moves in parallel with the viewing frame plate by operating the operation member. A first rack gear fixed along the sliding path of the field frame plate and meshing with the small diameter gear; and a second rack gear formed on the field frame plate along the sliding direction and meshing with the large diameter gear. Finder visual field range switching device. 2. The operation member is connected integrally with a switching member, and the sliding amount of the field frame plate is approximately 3 with respect to the moving amount.
2. The finder visual field range switching device according to claim 1, wherein the magnification is doubled.