JP2001142107A - Camera system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a camera system having a mount shape for connecting a camera body and a lens barrel whose space efficiency is excellent by making no bones about existing mount shapes, and an information communication means between the camera body and the lens barrel. SOLUTION: Optical communication is used as the means of communicating information between a camera body 1 and a lens barrel 2. A transmitter-receiver means of the optical communication is arranged on the camera body and the lens barrel so that light as a communication signal is transmitted through the photographing optical path of a photographing lens.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a camera system having information communication means between a camera body and a lens barrel.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an interchangeable lens type camera,
The mount shape for connecting the camera body and the lens barrel is circular irrespective of the shape of the photographing frame, and the camera body and the lens barrel are connected by an engagement method using a bayonet structure or the like.

One of the reasons for this is that it is manufactured by lathe processing in order to require a mounting for connection with high mechanical fitting precision and optical optical axis precision.

Further, on the camera body side, a space formed by the arc of the mount shape and the chord of the photographing frame,
A finder mechanism, a mirror raising / lowering mechanism for a quick return mirror, and a film drive mechanism for winding / rewinding a photographic film were arranged.

Further, signal transmission means such as electrical contacts for performing information communication between the camera body and the lens barrel, and electrical supply for supplying power for driving an actuator for driving a lens in the lens barrel. Power supply means such as contacts were arranged.

[0006]

However, in recent years, it has become possible to manufacture a mount on either the camera body side or the lens barrel side by resin molding instead of mechanical processing, and the processing method and shape are not limited to this. There is almost no need to determine optical accuracy for itself.

In the case of a camera system which does not require a mechanical structure as in the prior art, for example, in a digital camera system, since there is no roll film, a winding and rewinding mechanism is not required and an image from the CCD is directly transferred. Since a finder mechanism and a mirror elevating mechanism are not required for monitoring, the space given by the arc of the circular mount and the string by the rectangular shooting frame is:
The mount apron section of the camera body was unnecessarily increased in size, and this was an obstacle to promoting the miniaturization of the camera body itself.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a space-efficient mount shape for connection between a camera body and a lens barrel without sticking to the existing mount shape, and information communication between the camera body and the lens barrel. It is an object of the present invention to provide a camera system having means.

[0009]

According to the present invention, there is provided a camera system having information communication means for communicating information between a camera body and a lens barrel. It is characterized in that information is communicated by a wireless communication system that does not block the photographing optical path even when passing through the optical path.

The information communication means is based on an optical communication system.

The information communication means is provided outside the photographing optical path of the photographing lens.

The camera body and the lens barrel are of a detachable interchangeable lens type.

Each of the mounts on the camera body side and the interchangeable lens barrel side has a substantially rectangular shape corresponding to the shape of the photographing frame.

According to the above construction, a signal for information communication between the camera body and the interchangeable lens barrel passes through the wireless communication system without blocking the photographing optical path of the photographing lens, so that photographing is not hindered. There is an effect that information communication between the camera and the interchangeable lens barrel can be performed, and a smaller camera mount and lens mount that do not require a space for communication in the mount section can be realized.

[0015] Further, even in a small camera in which the camera-side mount and the lens-side mount of an interchangeable lens barrel type camera in which the camera body and the interchangeable lens barrel are detachable are substantially rectangular in shape corresponding to the shape of the photographing frame. In addition, information communication between the interchangeable lens barrel and the optical communication means is performed outside the shooting optical path of the shooting lens, and the signal can pass through the shooting optical path of the shooting lens to realize further miniaturization. There is an effect that can be.

[0016]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. (First Embodiment) FIGS. 1 to 10 are views showing features of a mounting structure according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the camera and the interchangeable lens barrel.
FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a main part of a camera-side mount and a lens-side mount.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a camera body having a rectangular camera mount 101 on the front surface, and a rectangular lens mount 201 of the interchangeable lens barrel 2 can be mounted on the camera mount 101. .

A release switch 10 for releasing the interchangeable lens barrel 2 and a release button 5 are provided on the front surface of the camera body 1.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of the camera-side mount.

The camera mount 101 has a pair of lens locking claws 102 and 103.

One of the locking claws 102 has an elongated hole 102a.
The locking claw 103 has a pair of elongated holes 103a and 103a.
There is b.

A pair of guide pins 104 and 105 implanted in the fixed portion of the camera body 1 engage with the elongated hole 102a,
The guide pin 106 is engaged with the elongated hole 103a,
A guide pin 107 is engaged with 3b, and the locking claw 102 and the locking claw 103 are held so as to be slidable in a plane perpendicular to the optical axis.

The locking claw 102 and the locking claw 103 have other elongated holes 102b and 103c, respectively.

A pair of guide pins 114 and 115 implanted in a rack 108 are engaged with one elongated hole 102b, and the rack 108 is slidably supported by the locking claw 102 and is implanted in the locking claw 102. A tension coil spring 118 is hung between the provided pin 120 and the guide pin 115 so as to be biased.

A pair of guide pins 116 and 117 implanted in the rack 109 are engaged with the other elongated hole 103c, and the rack 109 is slidably supported by the locking claw 103. A tension coil spring 119 is hung between the provided pin 121 and the guide pin 116 to be biased.

The racks 108 and 109 are engaged with a gear 110, respectively. The gear 110 is connected to a motor 111 by a reduction gear 112 and a reduction gear 113.

The gear 110 is rotated by the rotation of the motor 111, and the locking claw 10 is
2. Each of the locking claws 103 slides in opposite directions.

Even when the motor 111 is stopped, if an external force greater than the urging force of the tension coil springs 118, 119 is applied to the locking claws 102, 103, the locking claws are opposed to the springs. 102, the locking claw 103 slides left and right.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of main parts of the camera-side mount and the lens-side mount of FIG.

In FIG. 1, a camera-side mount 101 has engaging portions 101a and 101b, and a lens-side mount 2 is provided.
Positioning is performed when 01 is mounted.

The above-mentioned one locking claw 102 has a chamfered portion 102a for facilitating mounting of the lens and a chamfered portion 102b for preventing backlash after mounting.

The lens-side mount 201 has an engaging portion 201
c, 201d, and is used for positioning when mounted on the camera-side mount 101.

The lens-side mount 201 has a chamfered portion 201a for facilitating mounting on the camera body 1, and an inclined portion 201b for preventing backlash after mounting.

The other locking claw 103 is the same as the locking claw 102, and a description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 5 is a front view showing the appearance of the camera viewed from the front.

The release switch 10 has a lock release button 11 to prevent accidental operation.

When the lock is released by pressing the button 11, the switch 10 can slide downward along the guide groove 1a of the camera body.

FIGS. 6 to 9 are cross-sectional views of a main part showing the structure of the release switch 10. FIG.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show the locked state of the release switch 10. In FIG.
The lock release button 11 is fitted and supported, and the lock release button 11 is always urged and held at the protruding position by the leaf spring 12 fixed to the protruding portion 10b.

The release switch 10 is urged to the locked position by a compression coil spring 13 disposed between the protrusion 10b and the protrusion 1d of the camera body 1.

Since the flange 11a of the button 11 is engaged with the hole 1b of the camera body, the release switch 10 is locked.

The camera body 1 has a release switch 10
Switch 14 using a pair of contact spring structures for position detection
Are fixed, and are in the OFF state when the release switch 10 is locked.

Next, FIGS. 8 and 9 show the unlocked state of the release switch 10. In FIG.
The position detection switch 14 is pressed by the button 11 and turned on.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a camera and lens system.

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

First, the case where the interchangeable lens barrel 2 is mounted on the camera body 1 will be described.

As shown in FIG.
Position of the lens-side mount 201 and the camera-side mount 101a.
Insert a.

Then, the locking claw 102 of the camera-side mount
The chamfered portion 102a at the front end (similar to 103) and the chamfered portion 201a of the lens-side mount 201 abut.

When further pressed, the locking claws 102 (103) are opposed to the tension coil springs 118 (119) shown in FIG.
Slides, and the chamfered portion 201a climbs over the chamfered portion 102a.

The positioning portion 101b of the camera-side mount 101 and the positioning portion 2 of the lens-side mount 201
01d abuts and engages with the locking claw 10 of the camera-side mount.
2 (103) is the chamfered portion 102b of the locking claw 102 (103) by the urging force of the tension coil spring 118 (119).
And the chamfered portion 201b of the lens-side mount abuts, and the mount is locked without rattling, and the mounting of the interchangeable lens barrel is completed.

Next, a case where the interchangeable lens barrel 2 mounted on the camera body 1 is removed will be described.

The unlock button 11 of the release switch 10 shown in FIGS. 6 to 10 is pressed against the leaf spring 12 to release the flange portion 11a from the engagement hole 1b, and the release switch 10 is pressed against the compression coil spring 13. And slide it down.

Then, the position detecting switch 14 is pressed to switch from OFF to ON, and when the ON state is maintained, the camera microcomputer 172 operates the motor drive circuit 16.

Then, the motor 111 shown in FIG. 3 rotates a predetermined amount in the unmounting direction, rotates the gear 110 via the reduction gears 112 and 113, and slides the racks 108 and 109 in opposite directions. 102, 103
Slides in the left and right opposite directions integrally with the racks 108 and 109 and stops at the retracted position.

Therefore, the interchangeable lens barrel 2 is attached to the camera body 1
Can be easily removed from

When the release switch 10 shown in FIGS. 6 to 10 is released, the release switch 10 slides due to the urging force of the compression coil spring 13, and the position detection switch 14 is released from being pressed, and switches from ON to OFF.

Then, the flange portion 11a of the lock release button 11 is engaged with the engagement hole 1b by the leaf spring 12, and the release switch 10 is locked.

When the position detecting switch 14 is switched from ON to OFF, the motor 111 shown in FIG.
The gear 110 is rotated via the
8, 109 are slid left and right so that the locking claws 102, 1
03 slides in the left and right opposite directions integrally with the racks 108 and 109 and returns to the mount lock position.

Next, the power supply and information communication of the camera body and the lens barrel will be described.

11 to 14, FIG. 11 is a configuration diagram showing a state in which the interchangeable lens barrel 2 is mounted on the camera body 1 and connected to the charger 3 in FIG.

FIG. 12 is a rear view of the camera of FIG. 11 as viewed from the rear.

In both figures, power storage cores 151 and 2 are provided below the camera body 1 and the interchangeable lens barrel 2, respectively.
51, coils 152 and 252, and a storage circuit 153
253 and rechargeable batteries 154 and 254 are arranged respectively.
51, coils 352 and 362 having cores 351 and 361 forming closed magnetic paths and a power supply circuit 353, respectively.

FIG. 13 shows a camera body 1 with an interchangeable lens barrel 2
FIG. 3 is an external view as viewed from above with the device mounted.

FIG. 14 is an enlarged view of a main part of a monitor of a camera.

In both figures, on the upper surface of the camera body 1 and the interchangeable lens barrel 2, an indicator 1 indicating the state of the camera and the lens is shown.
81 and 281 are provided.

The camera body 1 and the interchangeable lens barrel 2 communicate various data such as the current state of the camera and the interchangeable lens barrel 2 with various conditions such as the photographing conditions of the camera and the lens and the state of charge of the secondary battery. Can be displayed mutually.

Further, even when looking through the viewfinder of the camera body 1, the monitor 191 displays either the camera body 1 side or the interchangeable lens barrel 2 side, whichever has a poor charge state. Further, a warning is displayed when the state of charge falls below a predetermined level.

Below the camera body 1, there is a light emitting / receiving unit 171 for optical communication between the camera body 1 and the interchangeable lens barrel 2 connected to the camera microcomputer 172, and the lens microcomputer 272 of the interchangeable lens barrel 2 is provided. The light emitting / receiving unit 271 for optical communication connected to the camera is disposed so as to face the photographing optical path.

As described above, even with a rectangular mount adapted to the imaging screen, the smallest mount is possible by crossing the imaging optical path.

When the release button 5 of the camera body 1 shown in FIG.
1 performs optical communication.

At this time, when the interchangeable lens barrel 2 is mounted on the camera mount, the normal operation is performed by the light emitting / receiving unit 271 of the optical communication lens connected to the lens microcomputer 272, and AE (automatic exposure control) , AF (automatic focus adjustment), IS (camera shake correction), etc., can be exchanged at high speed.

If the interchangeable lens barrel 2 is not mounted, proper communication cannot be performed, and it is assumed that no lens is mounted on the camera mount or a special lens that cannot perform communication is mounted. Various functions such as AF and IS are set to a predetermined manual mode.

[0073]

As described above, according to the present invention, a signal for information communication between the camera body and the interchangeable lens barrel passes through the wireless communication system without interrupting the image taking optical path of the image taking lens. Communication between the camera body and the interchangeable lens barrel without disturbing
Moreover, there is an effect that a smaller camera mount and lens mount that do not require a space for communication in the mount section can be realized.

Also, a camera body of an interchangeable lens barrel type camera in which the camera body and the interchangeable lens barrel are detachable, and the camera side mount and the lens side mount having a substantially rectangular shape corresponding to the shape of the photographing frame. In addition, information communication between the interchangeable lens barrel and the optical communication means is performed outside the shooting optical path of the shooting lens, and the signal can pass through the shooting optical path of the shooting lens to realize further miniaturization. There is an effect that can be.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a camera body and an interchangeable lens barrel according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a main part of a camera-side mount and a lens-side mount according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a camera-side mount according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of a main part of a camera-side mount and a lens-side mount of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is an external view of the camera according to the first embodiment of the present invention as viewed from the front.

FIG. 6 is an essential part cross-sectional view showing a locked state of the release switch according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is an essential part cross-sectional view showing a locked state of the release switch according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is an essential part cross-sectional view showing the unlocked state of the release switch according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an essential part cross-sectional view showing the unlocked state of the release switch according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a camera and lens system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a configuration diagram of a camera, a lens, and a charger according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a rear view in FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is an external view of the camera body according to the first embodiment of the present invention as viewed from above with an interchangeable lens barrel attached.

FIG. 14 is an enlarged view of a main part of a camera monitor according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Camera main body 2 ... Interchangeable lens barrel 10 ... Release switch 14 ... Switch 101 ... Camera side mount 111 ... Motor 152 ... Coil 153 ... Power storage circuit 154 ... Secondary battery 171 ... Projection / light receiving unit 172 ... Camera microcomputer 181 ... Display 191, monitor 201, lens side mount 252, coil 253, power storage circuit 254, secondary battery 271, light emitting and receiving unit 272, lens microcomputer 281, display

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2H002 BC00 BC01 BC11 FB36 GA72 GA74 HA14 2H101 EE08 EE11 EE13 EE32 EE42 EE51 EE54 EE55 EE76

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A camera system having information communication means for communicating information between a camera body and a lens barrel, wherein said information communication means interrupts the photographing optical path even when passing through the photographing optical path of the photographing lens. A camera characterized by communicating information using a wireless communication method. 2. The camera according to claim 1, wherein said information communication means is based on an optical communication system. 3. The information communication means according to claim 1, wherein said information communication means is provided outside a photographing optical path of a photographing lens.
The described camera. 4. An interchangeable lens system in which a camera body and a lens barrel are detachable.
4. The camera according to any one of claims 1 to 3. 5. The camera according to claim 4, wherein each mount on the camera body side and the interchangeable lens barrel side has a substantially rectangular shape corresponding to a photographing frame shape.