JP2001078068A - Video camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To miniaturize a video camera by recording and reproducing still picture data or the like in a photographed image photographed by a photographing part by detachably loading a card type recording medium into a battery pack which is replacably loaded in a battery loading part provided on the body of a camera. SOLUTION: A battery loading part 11 is arranged at the lower part of a liquid crystal monitor part 10. A battery pack 12 of a portable power source is replacably loaded in the battery loading part 11. Then, a card type recording and reproducing device 14 for recording and reproducing image data or the like on a card type recording medium 13 is built in the battery pack 12. The card type recording medium 13 is inserted from a slot, which is formed on the back of that battery pack 12, into the card type recording and reproducing device 14 and loaded and the still picture data or the like of moving images photographed by that video camera recorder 1 can be recorded and reproduced on the card type recording medium 13 by the card type recording and reproducing device 14.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a video camera which is optimally applied to, for example, a video camera recorder and the like, and particularly records and reproduces still image data and the like in a photographed image on a card type recording medium. It belongs to the technical field of a video camera.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a card-type recording medium, which is called a memory stick, a flash memory, an IC card, a PC card, a multimedia card, a smart media, or the like and has a built-in electronic circuit and has a card type, has been receiving attention. . This card-type recording medium can record (write) and reproduce (read) various digitized data such as image data, audio data, and character data. Very convenient.

Therefore, in recent years, a plurality of manufacturers have announced card-type recording devices, which are recording / reproducing devices for card-type recording media, incorporated in video camera recorders. According to this type of video camera recorder having a built-in card-type recording device, a moving image or the like (including image data, audio data, character data, etc.) which is a photographed image is recorded on a video tape, and is recorded from the moving image. Still image data and the like are recorded on a card-type recording medium, and the card-type recording medium is taken out from a video camera recorder and inserted into a notebook personal computer (abbreviation of a personal computer) as it is. It has excellent convenience, for example.

As shown in FIG. 7, a conventional video camera recorder 51 of this type has a camera body 55 on which a photographing section 52, a viewfinder section 53, and a monitor section, such as an openable liquid crystal monitor section 54, are mounted. And a card-type recording / reproducing device 57 in which a card-type recording medium 56 is detachably mounted is built in the camera body 55. Then, the video camera recorder 5 is operated by a battery pack 61 detachably attached to the camera body 55.
1 and the card-type recording / reproducing device 57. At this time, the battery pack 62 includes a battery cell 62 as a power supply, a microcomputer 64 to which power is supplied from the battery cell 62 via a regulator 63, and the like. 62 and a microcomputer 64 are connected to a regulator 58 and a microcomputer 59 in the camera body 55 by a + terminal 6 serving as a power supply terminal.
5, the negative terminal 66 and the C terminal 67 which is a communication terminal. A card type recording / reproducing device 57 built in the camera body 55 is configured as a dedicated circuit connected to a microcomputer 59 in the camera body 55 via an interface 60.

Accordingly, in the video camera recorder 51, the microcomputer 59 is operated by the power supply supplied from the battery cell 62 of the battery pack 61, and a video tape, which is a moving image which is a photographed image photographed by the photographing section 52, is not shown. While the moving image recorded on the video tape is played back on the liquid crystal monitor 54, the still image data and the like in the moving image are recorded on the card type recording medium 56 by the card type recording / reproducing device 57. be able to. The microcomputer 64 in the battery pack 61 transmits remaining capacity data and the like of the battery cell 62 to the microcomputer 64 in the camera body 55, and displays the remaining capacity display 68 and the like of the battery cell 62 on the viewfinder 53 and the liquid crystal display. The information is displayed on the liquid crystal screens 53a and 54a of the monitor unit 54.

[0006]

However, the conventional video camera recorder 51 has a structure in which the card-type recording medium 56 is mounted on the card-type recording / reproducing device 57 built in the camera body 55, so that the camera body 55 The overall volume of the video camera recorder 51 has been increased, for example, the size of the video camera recorder 51 has increased. In addition, a dedicated circuit for recording and reproducing still image data and the like on the card-type recording medium 56 by the card-type recording / reproducing device 57 built in the camera body 55 is required, which has led to an increase in cost.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problem, and it is possible to record and reproduce a photographed image and the like on a card-type recording medium while realizing a compact video camera. The purpose is to provide something like that.

[0008]

According to the present invention, there is provided a video camera including a battery pack detachably mounted on at least a camera body on which a photographing unit is mounted, and detachably mounted on the battery pack. It is configured to record and reproduce still image data and the like in a photographed image on a card-type recording medium that is mounted as possible.

The video camera according to the present invention having the above-described structure is configured such that a card-type recording medium for recording and reproducing still image data and the like in a photographed image is mounted on a battery pack detachably mounted on the camera body. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the size of the camera body, such as the card-type recording / reproducing apparatus, from being increased in the camera body as in the related art.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a video camera recorder to which the present invention is applied will be described below with reference to FIGS.

First, as shown in FIGS. 2 to 6, a video camera recorder 1 which is an example of the video camera has a vertical and thin camera body 2, and an upper part in the camera body 2 is provided. A photographing unit 4 having a lens 3 and a solid-state imaging device (CCD) and a viewfinder unit 5 are arranged in front and rear, and are horizontally arranged on substantially the same optical axis P1. The photographing section 4 is for photographing a subject to be photographed by the lens 3 and the solid-state imaging device to generate an image signal, and the viewfinder section 5 is for photographing the image photographed by the photographing section 4 and the video camera recorder 1. Is configured on a liquid crystal display section that displays the operation mode and the like on the liquid crystal screen 5a.

In the camera body 2, a mechanical deck 6 is arranged below the photographing unit 4 and the viewfinder 5 in a direction parallel to the optical axis P1 and perpendicular to the optical axis P1. A recording / reproducing section for recording and reproducing image data and the like on a video tape in a video cassette 7 which is a tape-shaped recording medium is provided. Then, a cassette cover 8 for attaching and detaching the video cassette 7 is opened and closed in the right and left direction on the right side 2a of the camera body 2 (however, the right side when the video camera recorder 1 is viewed from behind). Installed. The cassette cover 8 has a substantially L-shaped planar shape, and the right side 8a and the rear side 8c of the cassette cover 8 are also used as a part of the right side 2a and the rear side 2c of the camera body 2. A liquid crystal monitor 10 as a monitor is provided outside the left side 2b of the camera body 2 (similarly, the left side when the video camera recorder 1 is viewed from behind). The liquid crystal monitor 10 is attached to the left and right sides so as to be freely opened and closed. The liquid crystal monitor unit 10 displays an image photographed by the photographing unit 4 and the operation mode of the video camera recorder 1 on the liquid crystal screen 10a in the same manner as the viewfinder unit 5, and displays a reproduced image of a video tape on the monitor screen. The liquid crystal display section is capable of displaying on the liquid crystal screen 10a.

A battery mounting portion 11 is disposed below the liquid crystal monitor portion 10 at a position deviated toward the rear surface 2c outside the left side surface 2b of the camera body 2.
A battery pack 12, which is a portable power supply, is exchangeably mounted on the battery mounting portion 11. And
A card-type recording / reproducing device 14 for recording and reproducing image data and the like on and from the card-type recording medium 13 is built in the battery pack 12, and the card-type recording medium 13 is transferred from a slot 15 formed on the rear surface 2 c of the battery pack 12. The card-type recording / reproducing apparatus 14 can be inserted into the card-type recording / reproducing apparatus 14 and mounted on the card-type recording / reproducing apparatus 14 to record and reproduce moving image still image data and the like on the card-type recording medium 13. It is like that. The card-type recording medium 13 has a built-in electronic circuit, and a connection terminal 13b, an erasure prevention switch 13c, and the like are provided on one side surface of the leading end 13a. The card-type recording medium 13 has a slot 15
Card type recording / reproducing device 1 in battery pack 12
The card type recording medium 13 is configured to be detachably attached to the slot 1 from the directions of arrows a and b.
5, the connection terminal 1 of the card type recording medium 13 when the card type recording medium
3b is configured to be connected to an interface 34 described later.

Then, as shown in FIG.
In the front end portion 14a in the battery mounting portion 11, a + terminal 16, a-terminal 17, which is a power terminal composed of three terminal pins, and a C terminal 18, which is a communication terminal, face rearward and are parallel. It is projected. On the upper and lower sides of the bottom surface 11b of the battery mounting portion 11, a pair of a total of four substantially L-shaped battery pack locking claws 19 project rearwardly and parallel to each other. Part 11
A battery pack lock claw 20 protrudes from substantially the center of b, and a battery pack removal button 21 for unlocking the battery pack lock claw 20 is arranged on the rear surface 2c of the camera body 2. On the other hand, three terminal connection holes 22 are formed in parallel on the front surface 12a of the battery pack 12, and a pair of a total of four substantially L-shaped members are provided on both left and right sides of the bottom surface 12b of the battery pack 12. A stop groove 23 is formed, and a lock hole 24 is formed substantially at the center of the bottom surface 12b. A card-type recording medium 13 is provided on the rear surface 12c of the battery pack 12.
And an access lamp 26 are attached.

When the battery pack 12 is removably mounted in the battery mounting portion 11, the battery pack 12 is inserted into the battery mounting portion 11 at a position slightly deviated rearward from the direction of arrow c. By sliding the battery pack 12 in the direction of arrow d, which is the front side, along the bottom surface 11b, the three terminal connection holes 22 are connected to the + terminal 16, the-terminal 17, and the C terminal 18.
, And a total of four locking grooves 23 are engaged with a total of four battery pack locking claws 19, and a battery pack lock claw 20 is engaged with the lock hole 24 so that the battery pack 12 is configured to be able to be fixed in the battery mounting portion 11. Note that the battery pack 12 is connected to the battery mounting section 1.
When the battery pack 12 is to be removed from the battery pack 12, the battery pack release button 21 is pressed and the battery pack lock claw 20 is unlocked outside the lock hole 24.
Is slid in the direction of arrow e, which is the rear side, in the battery mounting portion 11 so that the three terminal connection holes 22 are connected to the + terminals 16 and −.
The terminal 17 and the C terminal 18 are pulled out, and a total of four locking grooves 23 are provided with a total of four battery pack locking claws 19.
After being detached from the battery pack 12, the battery pack 12 can be freely removed from the inside of the battery mounting portion 11 in the direction of arrow f which is one side.

By the way, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the battery pack 12 has a battery cell 3 as a power source.
1 and a microcomputer 33 to which power is supplied from the battery cell 31 via a regulator 32. The card type recording / reproducing apparatus 14 is connected to the microcomputer 33 by an interface 34 (a card type recording medium is connected to the interface 34). 13 connection terminals 13b are connected). The access lamp 26 is configured to be turned on by the microcomputer 33. Then, the battery cells 31 and the microcomputer 33 in the battery pack 12 are connected to the regulator 35 and the microcomputer 36 incorporated in the camera body 2 via the + terminal 16, the − terminal 17 and the C terminal 18. It is configured.

The microcomputer 33 in the battery pack 12 transmits the remaining capacity data and the like of the battery cell 31 to the microcomputer 36 in the video camera recorder 1 from the communication terminal C terminal 18 to the viewfinder 5 and The liquid crystal monitors 5a and 10a of the liquid crystal monitor 10 are configured to display a remaining battery capacity display 36 and the like. Then, the still image data and the like of the video camera recorder 1 are transferred to the video camera recorder 1.
The microcomputer 33 of the battery pack 12 uses the C terminal 18 from the microcomputer 36 of the
While the still image data and the like are written into the card type recording medium 13 by the microcomputer 33,
The microcomputer 3 on the battery pack 12 side
3 transmits the still image data and the like read from the card type recording medium 13 to the microcomputer 36 of the video camera recorder 1 using the C terminal 18 and reproduces the still image on the liquid crystal screen 10a of the liquid crystal monitor section 10. It is configured to be able to. Therefore, the C terminal 18 is also used as a communication terminal for the remaining capacity data and the like of the battery cell 31 and a communication terminal for the still image data and the like on the card type recording medium 13. It is also used as a microcomputer for communication of the remaining capacity data and the like and a microcomputer for communication of still image data and the like.

According to the video camera recorder 1 configured as described above, the card type recording medium 13 is detachably mounted on the battery pack 12 which is exchangeably mounted on the battery mounting section 11 of the camera body 2. Since the microcomputer 33 in the battery pack 12 can transmit and receive still image data and the like between the video camera recorder 1 and the card-type recording medium 13, the card-type recording medium 13 A card-type recording / reproducing apparatus 14 for recording and reproducing still image data and the like is built in the camera body 2 as in the prior art, so that the size such as the width of the camera body 2 does not increase. 1. The overall volume can be reduced. In addition, the microcomputer 33 in the battery pack 12 for transmitting the remaining capacity data and the like of the battery cells 31 in the battery pack 12 to the video camera recorder 1 side is used as a microcomputer for communication of still image data and the like on the card type recording medium 13. Since the computer is also used, there is no need to provide a circuit dedicated to communication of the still image data or the like, and the total cost can be reduced.

As shown in FIGS. 3 to 6, the cassette cover 8 is moved rightward and leftward by a hinge mechanism 41 disposed on the front end side of the right side surface 8a of the camera body 2 by a hinge mechanism 41. Are mounted on the right side of the mechanical deck unit 6 in the camera body 2 for recording and reproducing moving images and the like on a video tape of a video cassette 7. A recording / reproducing section (including a drive system for driving a video tape and a magnetic head drum for recording and reproducing data on the video tape by a helical scan method) 42 is mounted. Inside the cassette cover 8, a cassette attaching / detaching mechanism 4 for attaching / detaching the video cassette 7 to / from the recording / reproducing section 42 in the directions of arrows i and j.
3 are incorporated. When the video cassette 7 is mounted on the recording / reproducing section 42, the cassette take-out knob 44 attached to the rear surface 8c of the cassette cover 8 is set.
Is operated to unlock the cassette cover 8, and the cassette cover 8 is moved by the hinge mechanism 21 by the arrow g.
And the cassette detaching mechanism 43 is pulled out in the direction of arrow i. Then, the video cassette 7 is inserted into the cassette attaching / detaching mechanism 43 from the direction of arrow m, and the video cassette 7 is recorded / reproduced by the cassette attaching / detaching mechanism 43.
Then, the cassette cover 8 is closed in the direction of arrow h, and the cassette cover 8 is again locked to the camera body 2 by the cassette take-out knob 44. When the video cassette 7 is taken out from the recording / reproducing section 42, the cassette cover 8 is opened in the direction of the arrow g.
After the video cassette 7 is pulled out of the recording / reproducing section 42 in the direction of arrow i by 3, the video cassette 7 is pulled out of the cassette attaching / detaching mechanism 43 in the direction of arrow n.

As shown in FIGS. 3 to 6, the liquid crystal monitor 10 has a biaxial hinge mechanism (a hinge mechanism rotatable in two directions around two orthogonal axes) 45 arranged at the front end side thereof. The left and right sides of the left side surface 2b of the camera body 2 can be freely opened and closed by approximately 90 ° in the directions of arrows o and p in the left lateral direction, and approximately 1 in the directions of the arrows q and r in the vertical direction.
It is mounted so that it can rotate 80 °. Then, by pressing the open button 46 attached to the rear end of the liquid crystal monitor unit 10 to release the lock,
The liquid crystal monitor 10 is configured to be opened in the direction of arrow o and to be rotatable in directions of arrows q and r.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made based on the technical idea of the present invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the card-type recording / reproducing device 14 is built in the battery pack 12, and the card-type recording medium 13 is detachably inserted from the slot 15 formed on the rear surface 12 c of the battery pack 12. The card type recording / reproducing apparatus 1
4 may be externally attached to the battery pack 12.
In the above-described embodiment, the video camera recorder 1 is shown as an example of the video camera. However, the card-type recording medium may be detachably attached to a detachable battery pack in a video camera such as a digital still video camera. It may be the one that was made.

[0022]

The video camera of the present invention configured as described above has the following effects.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a card-type recording medium for recording and reproducing still image data and the like in a photographed image is mounted on a battery pack detachable from a camera body. As in the case where the playback device is built into the camera body, it is possible to prevent the size of the camera body such as the width from increasing, so that still image data and the like in the captured image can be stored on a card-type recording medium. Although it is a video camera capable of recording and reproducing, the size of the video camera can be reduced.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the card-type recording medium is mounted on a battery pack detachable from the camera body, and still image data and the like in the photographed image are recorded on the card-type recording medium, and recorded on the card-type recording medium. The playback image can be played back on the monitor, so that the size of the camera body, such as the width of the camera body, becomes larger as in the case where the card-type recording / playback device is built in the camera body as in the past. Although it is a video camera capable of preventing and preventing still image data and the like in a captured image from being recorded and reproduced on a card-type recording medium, the video camera can be downsized.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the card-type recording medium insertion slot is formed in the battery pack, the card-type recording medium can be inserted into the battery pack, and the appearance of the battery pack can be improved. .

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the microcomputer in the battery pack is used both for communication of the remaining capacity data of the battery cell and for communication of the image data of the card type recording medium. A dedicated circuit is not required, and the total cost can be reduced.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the communication terminal of the battery pack is provided with a communication terminal for the remaining capacity data of the battery cell and the like.
Since the terminal is also used as a communication terminal for image data of a card type recording medium, the number of the communication terminals can be reduced, and the total cost can be reduced.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the battery cells in the battery pack cover all the power sources in the battery pack. Therefore, it is not necessary to employ a plurality of power source structures, and the total cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an outline of a circuit of a camera body and a battery pack in an embodiment of a video camera recorder to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a detachable structure of a battery pack of the video camera recorder.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the video camera recorder of the above, with the liquid crystal monitor section open, as viewed obliquely from the rear left.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the same video camera recorder as viewed obliquely from the right rear.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the same video camera recorder as viewed obliquely from the front left.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating a detachable mechanism of a video cassette of the video camera recorder.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating an outline of a circuit of a camera body and a battery pack of a conventional video camera recorder.

[Description of Signs] 1 is a video camera recorder as a video camera, 2 is a camera body, 4 is a photographing unit, 10 is a liquid crystal monitor unit as a monitor unit, 11 is a battery mounting unit, 12 is a battery pack, and 13 is a card type. A recording medium, 14 is a card type recording / reproducing device, 15 is a slot, 18 is a communication terminal,
A terminal, 31 is a battery cell as a power supply, and 33 is a microcomputer.

Claims (6)

[Claims] A camera body on which at least a photographing unit is mounted; a battery pack removably mounted on a battery mounting unit provided on the camera body; Record still image data etc. in the image taken by
A video camera comprising a card-type recording medium for reproduction. 2. A camera body on which at least a photographing unit and a monitor unit are mounted, a battery pack removably mounted on a battery mounting unit provided on the camera body, and a battery pack detachably mounted on the battery pack. A card-type recording medium that records still image data and the like in a photographed image photographed by the photographing unit and that can reproduce a reproduced image of the recorded data on the monitor unit. Video camera. 3. The video camera according to claim 1, wherein a slot for inserting the card-type recording medium is formed in the battery pack. 4. A microcomputer in the battery pack is used for communication of remaining capacity data and the like of a battery cell.
3. The video camera according to claim 1, wherein the video camera is also used for communication of still image data or the like recorded and reproduced on the card type recording medium. 5. The communication terminal of the battery pack is used also as a communication terminal for remaining capacity data of a battery cell and a communication terminal for still image data to be recorded and reproduced on the card type recording medium. The video camera according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: 6. The video camera according to claim 1, wherein the battery cells in the battery pack are configured to supply power to all circuits in the battery pack.