JP2001013420A - Binoculars with compass - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To distinctly display a bearing within observation field by providing an on/off switch turning on/off the power source circuit of an illuminating light source illuminating a bearing panel, a photosensor detecting ambient brightness and an automatic lighting circuit automatically turning on or turning off the illuminating light source according to a signal from the photosensor. SOLUTION: The power source circuit 22 lighting the illuminating light source is turned on by the on/off switch 21, but the illuminating light source is not lit unless another condition is satisfied. In order to light the illuminating light source, the signal from the photosensor 23 must be in a specified range in a state where the circuit 22 is turned on. The specified range means that the output signal from the photosensor 23 is equal to or under a fixed value. The level of the output signal from the sensor 23 is changed in proportion to the ambient brightness. Therefore, when it is dim or darker on the periphery, the level of the output signal gets in the specified range, the automatic lighting switch of the automatic lighting circuit 24 is turned on and the illuminating light source is lit.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a binocular with a compass that allows the user to know the azimuth while observing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A binocular with a compass is a pair of binoculars that takes in ambient light as transmitted light from an opening provided in a part of a lens barrel into the lens barrel and displays an azimuth (direction) in an observation visual field. This is particularly useful for marine sports on the sea, because the object can be observed while checking the direction.

When the surroundings are bright, a large amount of light is taken in from the opening, and the direction can be read clearly by illuminating the compass compass (hereinafter also referred to as a glass scale) with the light. However, when the surroundings are dark, it is not possible to clearly read the azimuth even if the glass scale of the compass is illuminated with the light introduced through the aperture. Therefore, if the surroundings are dark and the transmitted light cannot provide sufficient brightness,
For example, a binocular is provided with a light source for illuminating the glass scale of the compass, and the light source is turned on when a lighting switch is pressed. Had taken the means to illuminate. In addition, there is also known a device in which a lighting switch is switched between ON and OFF each time the switch is pressed, so that a light source is turned on and off alternately.

[0004]

In the method in which the light source is turned on only when the illumination switch is pressed, the finger which presses the illumination switch is extremely tired especially when observation is performed for a long time. When the fingers get tired, camera shake occurs, and the observation field of view fluctuates, making it impossible to continue satisfactory observation. In addition, in the method of alternately turning on and off the light source, even when observation is performed for a long time, it is not necessary to keep pressing the illumination switch, so that finger fatigue is eliminated, but the illumination switch is turned off every time observation is completed. If this is neglected, there is a problem that the battery is wasted.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above, the first aspect of the present invention is to provide an open / close switch for opening and closing a power supply circuit of an illumination light source for illuminating a compass, an optical sensor for detecting ambient brightness, An automatic lighting circuit for automatically turning on or off the illumination light source in response to a signal from the optical sensor; and a binocular with a compass. The open / close switch may be a switch which is alternately opened and closed by a manual operation (claim 2), or closes a power supply circuit when a pressure sensor provided on an outer peripheral portion of the binoculars detects a pressure equal to or higher than a predetermined value,
Otherwise, the power supply circuit may be shut off (claim 3).

[0006]

According to the present invention, the power supply circuit for turning on the illumination light source can be closed by the open / close switch, but the illumination light source does not turn on unless another condition is satisfied. In order to turn on the illumination light source, the signal from the optical sensor must be within a predetermined range with the power supply circuit closed. This predetermined range indicates that the output signal of the optical sensor is equal to or less than a certain value. Since the magnitude of the output signal of the optical sensor changes in proportion to the brightness of the surroundings, the output signal level falls within a predetermined range when the surroundings are dim or even darker, and the automatic lighting switch of the automatic lighting circuit is turned on. The lighting source is turned on.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a top view showing the entire configuration of the binoculars with a compass according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 shows FIG.
3 is a sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG.
FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the arrow BB of FIG. 1 and a vertical sectional view of the right lens barrel. FIG. 4 is an external view of a compass built in the binoculars with a compass according to the present embodiment.

In FIG. 1, the left lens barrel 2L includes an optical system including an objective lens 11, an eyepiece lens 12, and a first Porro prism 13 and a second Porro prism 14 disposed therebetween, and a right lens barrel 2L. The lens barrel 2R includes an optical system including an objective lens 11, an eyepiece lens 12, and a first Porro prism 13 and a second Porro prism 14 disposed therebetween. The pair of left and right lens barrels 2 </ b> L and 2 </ b> R are connected by the machine shaft 3. Light from the observation object sequentially passes through the objective lens 11, the first Porro prism 13, the second Porro prism 14, and the eyepiece 12 along the optical axis 1a.

The left lens barrel 2L is further provided with a compass 15 and a lighting window 16. The compass 15 has a built-in glass scale 15a whose orientation is drawn as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the external light passes through the lighting window 16 to illuminate the compass 15, and the image of the glass scale 15 a in the compass 15 is formed by the relay lens 18 at the position of the focal length of the objective lens 11. . Relay lens 1
The optical axis of the eyepiece 12 is located on the optical axis 18a of the eyepiece 12.
A mirror glass 19 for bending in parallel to a is disposed. Therefore, the image of the glass scale 15 a illuminated by the external light can be observed through the eyepiece 12. That is, the operator can simultaneously view the images of both the observation target and the glass scale 15a in the observation visual field.

Next, the case where the compass 15 is illuminated by the illumination light source provided in the binoculars with a compass will be described. In this embodiment, the LED 17 is used as an illumination light source. As shown in FIG. 2, the LED 17 is provided at a position obliquely below the compass 15, and light from the LED 17 irradiates the rear surface of the lighting window 16 and its periphery. The reflected light is compass 1
The glass scale 15a in 5 is illuminated, and the image of the glass scale 15a can be observed through the eyepiece 12 through the relay lens 18 and the mirror glass 19. Lighting window 16
If the back surface or the periphery thereof is coated with silver or aluminum, a high reflectance can be obtained, so that the light from the LED 17 can be used effectively. Further, if the light from the LED 17 is totally reflected on the rear surface of the lighting window 16 or on the periphery thereof, and the reflected light is guided to the glass scale 15a, the use efficiency of the light from the LED 17 is increased. On the other hand, the position of the LED 17 is not limited to diagonally below the compass 15;
5 may be provided above. In this case, there is an advantage that the direct light from the LED 17 can be used as the illumination light instead of the light reflected by the back surface of the lighting window 16.

When the illumination light source LED is used, a power supply and an electric circuit for controlling turning on and off are required. As shown in FIG. 1, on the upper surface of the right lens barrel 2R, there is a battery box 20 for accommodating a battery serving as a power supply of the LED 17. As shown in FIG. 3, an open / close switch 21, a power supply circuit 22, an optical sensor 23, and an automatic lighting circuit 24 are provided near the battery box 20, and are mounted on a circuit board 25.

Hereinafter, these operations will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration related to a switching operation of the binoculars with a compass according to the present embodiment.
Power supply circuit 22 for binoculars with compass by operator
With the open / close switch 21 of ON, the optical sensor 2
When a signal in a predetermined range from 3 is input to the automatic lighting circuit 24, the automatic lighting circuit 24 closes and the LED 1 as an illumination light source is closed.
7 lights up automatically.

As shown in FIG. 5, when an operator picks up the binoculars with a compass, a voltage is generated at a pressure sensor 21a provided at an arbitrary part of the left and right lens barrels. When input, the open / close switch 21
Turns ON. When the operator removes his hand from the binoculars with a compass, the voltage of the pressure sensor 21a becomes zero, and the open / close switch 21 is turned off. The pressure sensor 21a is a PZT
It is configured by adding electrodes to piezoelectric ceramics, piezoelectric plastics, and the like.

As shown in FIG. 3, the optical sensor 23 is provided on the circuit board 25 of the right lens barrel, monitors the amount of external light as needed, and generates a current proportional to the amount of light by photoelectric conversion. This current is output to the automatic lighting circuit 24 as an output signal. If the amount of light is equal to or more than a predetermined value, the output signal increases and the automatic lighting circuit 24 is shut off. If the amount of light is equal to or less than the predetermined value, the output signal decreases and the automatic lighting circuit 24 closes. A typical example of the optical sensor 23 is a photodiode.

Therefore, when binoculars with a compass are used when the surroundings are bright, the amount of external light that passes through the lighting window 16 and illuminates the glass scale 15a in the compass 15 is also the amount of external light that enters the optical sensor 23. Therefore, the automatic lighting circuit 24 is shut off and the LED 17 is not turned on. When the operator looks into the eyepiece on the left side, an azimuth is displayed in the observation field on the left side, that is, numbers and scales appear to appear in a bright background.

On the other hand, when using binoculars with a compass when the surroundings are dim, the compass 1
The amount of external light that illuminates the glass scale 15a in 5,
Since the amount of external light incident on the optical sensor 23 is also small, the automatic lighting circuit 24 is closed and the LED 17 is turned on. When the operator looks into the left eyepiece, an azimuth is displayed in the observation field on the left side, that is, numbers and scales appear to appear in a dim background. In this way, even when the surroundings are dim or there is no external light, the azimuth numbers and the scale can be clearly seen.

The output signal level of the optical sensor 23 for turning on / off the LED 17 may be freely changed by an operator. Furthermore, a lighting switch may be provided in the automatic lighting circuit 24, and a function of turning on the LED 17 by manually operating the lighting switch by an operator independently of the output signal of the optical sensor 23 may be added.

[0018]

As described above, according to the present invention, the azimuth can be clearly displayed in the observation field of view by automatically turning on the built-in light source when the surroundings are dim, so that observation can be performed for a long time. Even in such a case, hand shake due to fatigue does not occur, and observation can be continuously performed while confirming the azimuth.

Further, a pressure sensor is provided, and when the operator takes the binoculars with a compass, the power supply circuit is closed,
If the power supply circuit is cut off when the operator releases the hand, there is no need to worry about power consumption due to forgetting to turn off the power supply.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a top view showing an overall configuration of binoculars with a compass according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the arrow BB in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an external view of a compass built in the binoculars with a compass according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration related to a switching operation of the binoculars with a compass according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1a Optical axis 2L Left lens barrel 2R Right lens barrel 3 Body part 11 Objective lens 12 Eyepiece 13 First porro prism 14 Second porro prism 15 Compass 15a Glass scale 16 Lighting window 17 LED light source 18 Relay lens 18a Relay lens light Axis 19 Mirror glass 20 Battery box 1 Open / close switch 22 Power supply circuit 23 Optical sensor 1 Automatic lighting circuit 25 Circuit board

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A binocular with a compass that includes a compass in one of the left and right lens barrels and illuminates an azimuth board of the compass to display an image in an observation field of view. An open / close switch for opening and closing a power supply circuit, an optical sensor for detecting ambient brightness, and an automatic lighting circuit for automatically turning on or off the illumination light source based on a signal from the optical sensor. Binoculars with a compass. 2. The binoculars with a compass according to claim 1, wherein the open / close switch is a switch that is alternately opened and closed by manual operation. 3. The on / off switch receives a signal from a pressure sensor provided on an outer peripheral portion of the binoculars, closes the power supply circuit when the pressure sensor detects a pressure equal to or higher than a predetermined value, and sets a pressure lower than a predetermined value. The binoculars with a compass according to claim 1, characterized in that the binoculars are switches for shutting off the power supply circuit when detecting is detected.