JP2001218087A - Video camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problems that photographing is performed while a main body 2 is always vertical to the ground in photographing by a conventional device and that a subject displayed on an electronic viewfinder and an external display is displayed sideways when photographing is performed with the main body 2 is made horizontally even though photographing is sometimes desired to be performed with the camera main body made vertically and horizontally. SOLUTION: This video camera provided with a camera part picking up the image of a subject, a monitor part displaying an image and a device main body, is provided with a connecting means connecting the camera part and the monitor part and a turning means which works with the opening/closing operation of the monitor part and turns the camera part, and the connecting means is provided with a turning mechanism which is connected to the camera part and the monitor part and turns the monitor part.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a video camera, and more particularly to a video camera suitable for use in an apparatus capable of photographing in various postures.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional technique is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-125.
The description will be made based on the one disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 890.

In FIGS. 6 to 12, reference numeral 2 denotes a main body of the video camera 1. The main body 2 is formed of synthetic resin, and a lens 3 for photographing a subject is provided on a side facing forward.
And a built-in microphone (not shown), a start / stop switch 4 for photographing is provided on the side facing rearward, and a grip belt 6 for holding a video camera is provided on the right side 5. Is attached.

[0004] Steps 8 and 9 are formed on the left side surface 7 of the main body 2 at the front and upper sides, so that the left and right sides are formed.
A concave portion 10 that opens rearward and downward is formed.

At a substantially middle position in the vertical direction of the step 8, a recess 11 is formed, which extends further forward in a range of about one third of the vertical width of the recess 10, and a hinge 11 described later. It is a storage recess for storing the unit.

Reference numeral 12 denotes EVF (Electronic V).
An LCD panel 15 of about 3 to 4 inches from the rear side of the frame body 13 is fixed to a synthetic resin frame body 13 having a slightly horizontal opening 14 in the center. The LCD panel 15 is covered by the back cover 16 of the panel 15 from the front and back, and the display surface 15 a is exposed from the opening 14.

As shown in FIGS. 9 to 12, reference numeral 17 denotes a metal connecting unit which connects and supports the EVF 12 to the main body 2, and which rotates the EVF 12 in the horizontal direction and an axis perpendicular to the rotation axis. Can be rotated (rotated) around.

Reference numeral 18 denotes an opening / closing bracket, which is formed by bending a metal plate into a substantially U-shape in a vertical cross-section, and having upper and lower ends extending in the horizontal direction whose outer edges have rounded corners and rounded support pieces 18a. , 18a, and an intermediate portion sandwiched between the support pieces 18a, 18a is a fixed piece 18b.

Further, support holes 18c, 18c are formed in the support pieces 18a, 18a so as to fit a rotation shaft of an opening / closing connection unit to be described later and rotatably support the rotation shaft.

The opening / closing bracket 18 is provided in the housing recess 11 with a side surface 11b which is a bottom surface of the housing recess 11 which is recessed with respect to the surface of the main body 2, as shown in FIG. The fixing piece 18b is fixed by an appropriate method such as screwing, so that the supporting pieces 18a,
8a are arranged so as to face each other and extend in the horizontal direction.

Reference numeral 19 denotes an opening / closing hinge unit, which is formed by bending a metal plate into a substantially U-shape in a vertical sectional shape, similarly to the opening / closing bracket 18, and having upper and lower ends extending parallel to the horizontal direction. Supported pieces 19a, 19a,
A portion extending in the vertical direction between the supported pieces 19a, 19a is a rotation support portion 19b.

Further, the outer edges of the supported pieces 19a, 19a are rounded off at an angle, and pivotal shafts 20, 20 projecting upward or downward, respectively, are integrally formed at the center. .

Further, an insertion hole 21 is formed in the center of the rotation support portion 19b. The inner diameter of the insertion hole 21 is
It is set to be slightly larger than the outer diameter of the shaft member of the rotating unit described later.

The opening / closing hinge unit 19 is provided in the opening / closing bracket 18 with support holes 18c, 18
The opening and closing hinge unit 19 is supported by the rotation shafts 20 and 20 inserted vertically into the opening / closing hinge unit 19 by being inserted from above and below.
It becomes freely rotatable about 0 in the horizontal direction.

Reference numeral 22 denotes a rotation unit, which comprises a substantially cylindrical base 23 and a shaft member 24.

That is, a disc-shaped mounting flange 23a is integrally formed at one end of the base 23 of the rotating unit 22,
A support hole 23 axially penetrating the center from one end to the other end
b is open at both ends.

Further, the shaft member 24 is provided in the support hole 23 of the base 23.
It has an outer diameter slightly smaller than the inner diameter of b, that is, an outer diameter enough to be rotatable in the support hole 23b as described later, and has an L-shaped cross section at one end in a plate shape. The mounting bracket 25 is integrally attached so that one of the pieces 25a is orthogonal to the axial direction of the shaft member 24, that is, so as to form a flange, and the other piece 25b is attached to the one piece 25a.
To extend from one side edge in the axial direction of the shaft member 24 and in the direction opposite to the direction in which the shaft member 24 protrudes, and to fix the position of an e-ring described later to the other end of the shaft member 24. The locking groove 24a is formed in the circumferential direction.

Numeral 26 denotes a cover, which has a rectangular box shape with one opening as shown in FIG.
Notches 27, 27 are formed at the opening edges of 6a, 26b,
A vertically long rectangular opening 28 is formed at the center of the closed end 26c.

The rotating unit 2 having the above configuration
2 is a support hole 23 on the side of the base 23 opposite the mounting flange 23a.
The shaft member 24 is inserted from the side opposite to the side to which the mounting bracket 25 is attached from the opening b so that one piece 25a of the mounting bracket 25 and the end face of the base 23 are in contact with each other.

Next, the rotation unit 22 integrated as described above is connected to the rotation support portion 19 of the hinge unit 19.
Attach to b.

That is, the rotation support portion 19b is inserted into the insertion hole 21 formed in the rotation support portion 19b of the opening / closing hinge unit 19.
The shaft member 24 of the rotating unit 22 assembled as described above is inserted from the side where the supported pieces 19a, 19a protrude in the horizontal direction, and the mounting flange 2 is attached to the opening edge of the insertion hole 21.
3a, and the mounting flange 23a is
9b is fixed by an appropriate method such as screwing (not shown).

Then, the e-ring 29 is locked in the locking groove 24a of the shaft member 24 protruding from the insertion hole 21 of the rotation support portion 19b, thereby stopping the rotation.

Finally, as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, when the cover 26 is fitted over the hinge unit 19 from the side where the mounting bracket 25 protrudes so as to cover substantially the entire connecting unit 17, the notch 27 is formed. , 27 project upward and downward, and the mounting bracket 25 at the tip of the shaft member 24 of the rotating unit 22 projects from the opening 28.

In this manner, the opening / closing hinge unit 19
10 and 12, the mounting bracket 25 is rotatable in the horizontal direction with the pivots 20, 20 of the opening and closing hinge unit 19 as fulcrums. The shaft members 24 of the rotation unit 22 extending in a direction orthogonal to the shafts 20 are rotatable about a rotation axis.

The EVF 12 is attached to and supported by the mounting bracket 25. For example, although not shown in detail, screw holes are formed in one piece 25a and the other piece 25b of the mounting bracket 25. For example, one piece 25a is attached to the frame 13 and the other piece 25b is attached to the back cover 16
It is screwed to.

[0026]

According to the conventional apparatus,
By attaching the electronic viewfinder to the main body of the video camera so that it can be opened and closed and rotatable, a video camera with improved visibility of the electronic viewfinder can be realized.

By the way, the user sometimes wants to take a picture in a different posture.

For example, there are times when it is desired to take a picture with the camera body in the vertical direction or to take a picture with the camera body in the horizontal direction.

However, in photographing with the conventional apparatus, the main unit 2
However, there is a problem that the subject is always photographed in the vertical direction with respect to the ground, and when photographing in the horizontal direction, the subject displayed on the electronic viewfinder or the external display is displayed horizontally.

[0030]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a video camera including a camera unit for capturing an image of a subject, a monitor unit for displaying an image, and a device main unit, wherein the camera unit and the monitor unit are connected to each other. The camera includes a connecting means for connecting and a rotating means for rotating the camera unit in conjunction with the opening and closing operation of the monitor unit.

Further, the connecting means includes a rotating mechanism connected to the camera section and the monitor section for rotating the monitor section.

[0032] Further, the rotating means comprises:
One of the device main body and a member fixed to the device main body is provided with a rotating shaft, and the other is provided with a fitting hole fitted to the rotating shaft.

The camera section has a surface which is substantially parallel to one surface of the device main body when the monitor is closed, and a substantially cylindrical surface which is concentric with the rotation axis of the rotation means. .

[0034]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view when the main body 1 of the video camera of the present invention is used in a horizontal direction.
1A is a diagram in which the monitor unit 2 is open, FIG. 1B is a diagram in which the monitor unit 2 is closed, FIG. 2 is a perspective view when the main body unit 1 is set in a vertical direction, and FIG. FIG. 3A is a diagram showing a specific example of a shooting state with the video camera of the present invention, and FIG.
FIG. 4B is a diagram illustrating a case where the main body 1 is vertically oriented and face-to-face photographing is performed (the user photographs himself), FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the present invention. FIG.

The video camera of the present invention is a video camera that records signals captured by the camera unit 3 on a storage medium such as a disk or a semiconductor memory. In the present invention, the disk is stored in the storage medium. An example will be described.

First, the configuration of the video camera of the present invention will be described.

In FIGS. 1 (a), 1 (b) and 5,
The video camera according to the present invention includes a main body 1 which is a main body of a device provided with a recording / reproducing means, a disc insertion slot 1a provided in the main body 1, a lid 1b which is a lid of the disc insertion slot, a grip 1c, and a main body. 1d, a monitor unit 2 for displaying an image, a display surface 2a provided on the monitor unit 2 to display an image, a camera unit 3 for capturing an image of a subject, and a rotating shaft 4a provided on the camera unit 3 and described later. The fitting hole 3a to be fitted, the surfaces 3b, 3c, 3d of the camera unit 3, the viewfinder 4 fixed to the main body 1, the rotating shaft 4a fixed to the viewfinder 4, the microphone 5, and the zoom for performing a zoom operation A button 6 and a rotation mechanism 7 connected to the monitor 2 and the camera 3 are provided.

Next, in FIGS. 1 (a) and 1 (b),
A viewfinder 4 for confirming a subject at the time of imaging is fixed to the main body 1.

A rotating shaft 4a is fixed to the viewfinder 4, and a fitting hole 3a formed in the camera unit 3 is fitted to the rotating shaft 4a, so that the camera unit 3 can rotate. It is attached to the viewfinder 4 so as to be rotatable about the moving shaft 4a in the direction of arrow A.

Further, the rotation mechanism 7 is connected to the camera section 3 and the monitor section 2 is connected to the rotation mechanism 7 so that the monitor section 2 is rotatable about the rotation mechanism 7 in the direction of arrow B. , Is connected to the camera unit 3 via a rotation mechanism 7.

The rotating mechanism 7 already exists as the mechanism or product described in the conventional example, is realized by a known technique, and a detailed description is omitted.

Next, the operation will be described. FIG. 1 (a), FIG.
FIG. 2B is a perspective view of one specific example in the case where the main body 1 is taken in a horizontal direction to perform imaging or reproduction.

As shown in FIG. 1B, normally, the monitor unit 2 is stored in a closed state. Here, FIG.
In, the display surface 2a of the monitor unit 2 is housed on the front side, but the monitor unit 2 can be rotated by 180 ° by the rotation mechanism 7 connected to the monitor unit 2 and the camera unit 3; 2a can be stored on the middle side and the back side can be stored on the front side.

Next, from the state shown in FIG.
Is opened by about 90 ° in the direction of arrow C, the camera section 3 also rotates via the rotating mechanism 7 connected to the monitor section 2 and the camera section 3, and as shown in FIG. Is opened, and the camera unit 3 also rotates in conjunction with it.

However, FIG. 1A shows that the monitor unit 2 is
It is in a state of being rotated by 80 °. Although not shown, the monitor unit 2 and the camera unit 3 are provided with a so-called self-lock mechanism provided with a lock hole on one side and a spring member and a lock member on the other side to prevent backlash of the monitor unit 2. I have.

Next, the cover 1b is opened, a disk (not shown) is mounted from the disk insertion slot 1a, and a storage medium is mounted by closing the lid 1b, and a signal captured by the camera unit 3 is recorded. be able to.

As shown in FIG. 1B, the photographing is performed while the monitor section 2 is closed and the viewfinder 4 is used to confirm the subject.

Furthermore, without raising the video camera to the height of the upper part of the human body, it is possible to take a picture while grasping the grip part 1c and checking the monitor part 2 from above while keeping the human body at a low hand position.

In the case of shooting with the main body 1 in the horizontal direction, it is possible to shoot with the video camera placed on an object.

The reproduction is performed in the state shown in FIGS. 1 (a) and 1 (b).
FIG. 1A shows a state where the monitor unit 2 is rotated from the state shown in FIG.
From the state of (b), a state in which the main body 1 is vertically set,
It can be played in various states.

Next, referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, a description will be given of a case where the main body 1 is photographed with the main body 1 in the vertical direction.

When the monitor section 2 is opened by about 90 ° in the direction of arrow D from the state shown in FIG. 2, the camera section 3 also rotates via the rotation mechanism 7 connected to the monitor section 2 and the camera section 3, and the camera The part 3 is in the state of FIGS. 3A and 3B.

FIG. 3 (a) shows the monitor unit 2 further rotated by about 90 ° in the direction of arrow E, and FIG.
It is rotated about 90 degrees in the direction.

By setting the state shown in FIG.
Can be taken in the vertical direction and normal shooting is possible.
By setting the state of (b), the face-to-face photographing (the user photographing himself / herself) can be performed with the main body 1 in the vertical direction.

Note that the video camera can be firmly gripped by inserting a finger into the grip portion 1c.

In the above description, the rotating shaft 4a is fixed to the viewfinder 4, and the fitting hole 3a is
However, the same rotation is possible even if the rotation shaft 4a is fixed to the camera unit 3 and the fitting hole 3a is provided in the viewfinder 4.

Further, the main body 1 may be extended without using the view finder 4, and the rotating shaft 4a and the fitting hole 3a may be provided.

The gist of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the arrangement of CCDs attached to the camera unit 3 and the relationship between the rotation of the camera unit 3 and the CCD.

First, as shown in FIG.
The mounting position of the CCD in the state of the camera unit 3 in (b) is mounted at a horizontal position.

Next, as shown in FIG.
When the camera unit 3 rotates approximately 90 degrees as shown in FIG.
D is also at a position rotated by approximately 90 °. The state of FIG. 2 is the same as that of FIG.

Next, from the state of FIG. 2 as shown in FIG. 4 (b), FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b) as shown in FIG. 4 (a)
In this state, when the camera unit 3 is rotated by approximately 90 °, the CCD is also rotated by approximately 90 ° to a horizontal position, and the CCD shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3B, the main body 1 is in a horizontal state, and FIGS.
As shown in (b), it is possible to realize a video camera capable of displaying a captured image without any problem even when the main body 1 is in the vertical state.

A further gist of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. As can be seen from FIG. 5, the shape of the camera unit 3 of the present invention is substantially parallel to one surface 1d of the main unit 1 when the monitor unit 2 is closed, as shown in FIG. 3b and FIG.
As shown in (a), when the monitor unit 2 is opened, it has a surface 3c that is substantially parallel to one surface 1d of the main body 1, and a substantially cylindrical surface 3d that is concentric with the rotation shaft 4a.

Accordingly, the rotation of the monitor unit 2 is not hindered, and when the monitor unit 2 is closed and the monitor unit 2 is opened, the camera unit 3 and the main unit 1 And a video camera with good operability can be realized.

[0065]

According to the video camera of the first aspect of the present invention, by rotating the camera unit in conjunction with the rotation of the monitor unit, the video camera body can be photographed in the vertical direction,
Video can be taken in the horizontal direction, and a video camera with improved operability can be realized.

According to the video camera described in claim 2 of the present application, in addition to the effect of realizing a video camera capable of shooting in a vertical direction and shooting in a horizontal direction, normal shooting and face-to-face shooting It is possible to realize a video camera capable of performing the above.

According to the video camera described in claim 3 of the present application, it is possible to realize a video camera capable of rotating the camera unit in conjunction with the rotation of the monitor unit with a relatively simple configuration.

According to the video camera described in claim 4 of the present application, the rotation of the monitor unit 2 is not hindered, and
When the monitor unit 2 is closed and when the monitor unit 2 is opened, the camera unit 3 and the main unit 1 can be brought into close contact, and a video camera with good operability can be realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view when a main body 1 of a video camera according to the present invention is used in a horizontal direction, FIG. 1 (a) is a view in which a monitor 2 is opened, and FIG. 1 (b) is a monitor. FIG. 4 is a view showing a state where a unit 2 is closed.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view when the main body 1 of the video camera of the present invention is set in a vertical direction.

3A and 3B are diagrams showing one specific example of a shooting state with the video camera of the present invention, and FIG. 3A is a diagram showing a case where a main body 1 is vertically oriented and normal shooting is performed, and FIG. Is face-to-face shooting with the main unit 1 in the vertical direction (the user shoots himself)
FIG.

FIG. 4 shows the arrangement of the CCD attached to the camera unit 3, the rotation of the camera unit 3, and the CC in the video camera of the present invention.
It is a figure showing the positional relationship of D.

5 is a perspective view of the video camera of the present invention, and FIG.
FIG. 5A is a diagram showing a state where the monitor unit is opened, and FIG.
(B) is a figure which shows the state which closed the monitor part.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a use state of a conventional video camera.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a state in which the EVF is stored.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a state in which the EVF is stored in a direction opposite to that of FIG.

FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view of a main part.

FIG. 10 is an enlarged horizontal sectional view of a main part.

11 is a sectional view taken along the line VI-VI in FIG.

FIG. 12 is a sectional view taken along line VII-VII in FIG. 11;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Main body part 1a Disc insertion slot 1b Lid 1c Grip part 1d 1 surface 2 Monitor part 2a Display surface 3 Camera part 3a Fitting holes 3b, 3c, 3d surface 4 Viewfinder 4a Rotating axis 5 Microphone 6 Zoom button 7 Rotation mechanism

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A video camera comprising: a camera section for capturing an image of a subject; a monitor section for displaying an image; and a device main body section, wherein a connecting means for connecting the camera section and the monitor section; A rotating unit for rotating the camera unit in conjunction with opening and closing operations of the unit. 2. The video camera according to claim 1, wherein the connection unit includes a rotation mechanism connected to a camera unit and a monitor unit for rotating the monitor unit. 3. The rotating means has a rotating shaft on one of the camera unit and the device main body or a member fixed to the device main body, and the other has a fitting fitted on the rotating shaft. The video camera according to claim 1, further comprising a hole. 4. A surface which is substantially parallel to one surface of the device main body when the monitor is closed, and a surface which is substantially parallel to one surface of the device main body when the monitor is open. When,
The video camera according to claim 1, wherein the video camera has a substantially cylindrical surface concentric with a rotation axis of the rotation unit.