JP2002082384A - Waterproof case for electronic apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a waterproof case for electronic apparatus which enables easy engagement of an engaging body of an operation member to be disposed at a case body and the lever of a rotary switch for switching functions, disposed at the circumferential surface of the electronic apparatus, using a simple structure. SOLUTION: The engaging body 132 to be engaged with the lever 101a of the rotary switch comprises a base part 132a, a planar part 132b, a pair of claws 132c and tapered parts 132d. When the lever 101a of the rotary switch 101 and the engaging body 132 are not in an engaging relation, the engaging body 132 is set in the engaging position, where the lever 101a is positioned between a pair of the claws 132c while the engaging body is rotated around the shaft 131 and the planar part 132b is bent. At this time, the tapered parts 132d are formed on the exterior wall surfaces of the claws 132c to facilitate riding over of the lever 101a by the claws 132c.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a waterproof case for an electronic device which accommodates therein an electronic device such as a still camera or a video camera and enables photographing in water, and more particularly, to a waterproof case for the electronic device. The present invention relates to a waterproof case for an electronic device that includes an operation member for operating a rotary switch from outside the case and facilitates an engagement operation between the rotary switch and the operation member when the electronic device is housed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various types of completely sealed waterproof cases have been developed so that digital still cameras can be used in water.

In recent years, a digital still camera has various functions such as a function of reproducing a photographed image and a function of photographing a moving image for a short time. Switching of these functions is often performed by, for example, switching operation of a rotary switch provided on the upper surface of the camera body. The rotary switch has a lever portion protruding from a side peripheral portion thereof, and generally, the rotary switch is operated by operating the lever portion.

Therefore, a known waterproof case is provided with an operation member capable of operating the rotary switch from outside the case. The operating member includes a shaft portion penetrating through the case body, an engaging body provided at one end of the shaft portion and engaging with the lever portion, and an engaging body provided at the other end of the shaft portion, and And an operation unit that performs a rotation operation through the operation unit.

[0005]

However, in such a waterproof case, the engagement member of the operation member and
The problem is how to engage the lever part of the rotation switch of the camera.

That is, the camera is housed in the case body while aligning the lever portion and the engaging member so that the direction of projection of the lever portion of the rotary switch and the direction of the engaging member of the operating member match each other. Must be done and the work is very troublesome.

On the other hand, the operating member can be moved up and down with respect to the case main body. When the camera is housed, the operating member is moved to an upper position. After the camera is housed, the operating member is moved to the position of the lever of the rotary switch of the camera. In some cases, the lever is moved to the lower position and engaged with the lever. However, in this configuration, since the shaft portion of the operation member can be moved up and down, the structure of the waterproof portion between the shaft portion and the case body is complicated, and there is a problem that the reliability of waterproofing is reduced.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has a simple structure in which an engagement member of an operation member provided on a case main body and a lever portion of a function switching rotary switch provided on a peripheral surface of a camera are engaged. It is an object of the present invention to provide a waterproof camera for electronic equipment which can be easily performed.

[0009]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a waterproof case for an electronic device according to the present invention has a flexible plate portion in which an engaging member of an operation member faces a rotary switch, It is characterized in that it comprises a pair of claws protruding from the bottom surface of the part toward the lever part of the rotary switch and holding the lever part, and a tapered part formed on the outer wall surface of each of these claws.

That is, according to the present invention, when the lever portion and the claw portion of the engaging member are not engaged with each other, the operating portion of the operating member is rotated to flex the plate portion of the engaging member (elastic deformation). The claw portion is moved relative to the lever portion to adjust it to a regular engagement position. That is, the pair of claw portions are moved to an engagement position where the pair of claw portions sandwich the lever portion. Move. At this time, since the tapered portion is formed on each of the outer wall surfaces of the pair of claw portions, it is easy for the claw portions to move over the lever portion.

[0011] Thus, the engagement between the lever portion of the rotary switch and the engagement member of the operation member can be easily and reliably performed after the electronic device is housed in the case body.
The work of housing the electronic device in the case body can be performed more easily than in the past.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 1A to 1C and FIG. 2 show the entirety of a waterproof case for electronic equipment (hereinafter, also simply referred to as a waterproof case) according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the waterproof case 1 includes, as an electronic device, a front case body 2 covering a front part of a digital still camera (hereinafter, also simply referred to as a camera) 10 and a rear case body 3 covering a back part of the camera 10. These are composed entirely of a transparent synthetic resin material, for example polycarbonate. The case body according to the present invention is constituted by the front case body 2 and the rear case body 3.

The front case body 2 and the rear case body 3 are respectively formed with internal recesses 21 and 31 of the minimum size required for accommodating the front part and the back part of the camera 10. The front case body 2 and the rear case body 3 are connected to each other via a hinge portion 5 at one side, and an annular sealing member 4 is provided on a combination surface of an outer peripheral edge of the rear case body 3.
Is installed. Then, these case bodies 2 and 3 are combined on the surfaces where the internal recesses 21 and 31 face each other,
Further, by fixing the two case bodies 2 and 3 with the buckle 6, an internal space for accommodating the camera 10 is hermetically formed.

A plurality of ribs 25 are formed in the inner recess 21 of the front case body 2 for reinforcement and for supporting the periphery of the camera 10 to be accommodated. And a tubular portion 22 for accommodating the same. The end face of the cylindrical portion 22 is formed of a transparent body 23 such as glass. A side peripheral portion of the cylindrical portion 22 and a peripheral portion of the transparent body 23 are covered with a cover 8 made of an elastic material such as rubber.

On the upper surface of the front case 2, various switches of the camera 10 to be accommodated, that is, a power switch,
An external power switch 11, an external shutter button 12, and an operation member 13 according to the present invention are provided as an external rotary switch so that a shutter button and a function switching rotary switch to be described later can be respectively operated from outside the case. . Further, on each side of the front case body 2, the above-mentioned buckle 6 for fixing the rear case body 3 to the front case body 2 and the grip part 7 for holding the waterproof case 1 are provided. ing.

A rib 32 for reinforcement and for supporting the periphery of the camera 10 to be housed is formed in the internal recess 31 of the rear case body 3. Also, on the rear case body 3, various switches arranged on the back of the camera 10 housed therein, that is, a close-up button, a flash button, zoom-in / out buttons 103 and 104, and settings displayed on the liquid crystal screen 102. An external close-up button 14, an external flash button 15, external zoom-in / out buttons 16, 17 and an external control button group 18 are provided so that the control button 105 of the item can be operated from outside the case.

Next, the details of the operating member 13 according to the present invention will be described.

As shown in FIG. 3, the operation member 13 is a rotary switch 101 for switching functions of the camera 10 to be accommodated.
Is provided on the upper wall of the front case body 2 facing the front case. The operating member 13 includes a shaft 131 that penetrates the upper wall of the front case body 2, an engaging body 132 provided at an inner side end of the shaft 131, and a case outer side of the shaft 131. And an operation unit 133 provided at the end. The shaft 131 is made of, for example, stainless steel such as SUS304, and the rotation switch 10 of the camera 10.
An annular sealing member 24 such as an O-ring is interposed between the center of rotation 1 and the front case body 2 as shown in FIG.

In the present embodiment, the engaging body 132 is made of, for example, a polyacetal resin (trade name: Duracon).
A base 132a to which the shaft 131 is attached, a substantially semicircular plate 132b integrated with the base 132a, and a projection formed from the bottom surface of the plate 132b toward the lever 101a of the rotary switch 101 of the camera 10. A pair of claw portions 132c, 132c, and these claw portions 132c, 132c
132d, 132 formed on each outer wall surface of
d.

The plate portion 132b is formed to have a thickness (1 mm or less in the present embodiment) at which flexibility is generated by itself, and further, a shaft is provided to facilitate elastic deformation of the plate portion 132b. Arc-shaped slit 132 centered on part 131
e is formed.

The engagement position of the engagement member 132 with the lever portion 101a of the rotary switch 101 is a position where the pair of claw portions 132c, 132c sandwich the lever portion 101a as shown in FIG. In the state shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, since the pair of claw portions 132c, 132c are at positions where the lever portion 101a is not sandwiched, the engaging body 1
32 is in the disengaged position.

Next, the operation unit 133 is operated by the operation unit main body 133.
a and a projection 133b protruding from a side peripheral portion of the operation unit main body 133a.
It is composed of resin. The operation unit 133 is for rotating the engagement body 132 via the shaft 131.

Camera 1 on which rotary switch 100 is arranged
6A, the functions of the camera 10 are displayed on the upper surface of the camera 10 as shown in FIG. 6A. In the present embodiment, “MOVIE” for capturing a moving image and “STIL” for capturing a still image
L "and" P "to play back the captured image on the LCD screen
“LAY”. Switching between these functions
This is performed by rotating the rotary switch 101, and is selected by aligning the mark 101b displayed on the rotary switch 101 with each display.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG.
The function display corresponding to the function display is also provided on the upper surface wall of the front case body 2 where
Is selected in the direction of the projection 133b. In addition, a pair of stoppers 26, 26 that regulate the amount of rotation of the operation part 133 is formed on the upper surface of the front case body 2 to prevent the rotation switch 101 and the engagement body 132 from being damaged due to excessive rotation.

Next, the operation of the waterproof case 1 of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described.

As shown in FIG. 1C, the buckle 6 is released and the front case body 2 and the rear case body 3 are opened. Then, as shown in FIG. 2, the camera 10 is inserted into the internal recess 21 of the opened front case body 2 from the front side. At this time, the lever unit 101 of the rotary switch 101 of the camera 10
It is not necessary to position b with the engaging body 132 of the operation member 13 of the waterproof case 1. A part of the peripheral surface of the camera 10 is supported and positioned by a rib 25 in the internal recess 21. Subsequently, the rear case body 3 is combined with the front case body 2 and fixed with the buckle 6.

The camera 10 is housed in the waterproof case 1 as described above. In this state, the rotary switch 101 of the camera 10 and the operation member 13 for operating the switch from outside the case are engaged. Since there is no such operation, the engagement state between the two can be obtained by performing the following operation.

The rotary switch 10 of the camera 10 immediately after being stored
Assume that the relationship between 1 and the engagement body 132 of the operation member 13 is in a state shown in FIG. 5A, for example. In this state, the lever portion 101a of the rotary switch 101 is located outside the pair of claw portions 132c, 132c of the engagement body 132. Then, when the engaging body 132 is rotated around the shaft 131 by rotating the operating portion 133 of the operating member 13, the claw portion 132c causes the plate portion 132b to bend upward along the tapered portion 132d while the lever 132 is bent. The claw 132c climbs over the lever 101a by the further rotation of the engagement body 132 (FIG. 5C). As a result, the engaging body 132 is
Take the engagement position with 1a.

Once this engaging position is taken, the claw 1
The lever portion 101a is sandwiched between substantially right-angled inner walls 32c, and the rotation of the engagement body 132 is
01, and thus the rotation switch 101 can be operated by operating the operation member 13.

Also, the arc-shaped slit 132e allows
Appropriate deformation of the plate portion 132b in the rotation direction is ensured, and the engagement position is prevented from being released due to inappropriate deformation of the plate portion 132b.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the lever portion 101a of the rotary switch 101 and the engaging member 132 of the operation member 13 can be easily engaged.
The workability of housing the camera 10 in the waterproof case 1 can be significantly improved as compared with the related art.

Further, since the configuration of the operation member 13 itself is simple, the manufacture and assembly of the waterproof case 1 are easy, and the cost can be reduced. Furthermore,
Since the operation member 13 does not move up and down, the waterproof reliability of the shaft portion 131 is prevented from deteriorating, and the waterproof case 1 is prevented.
Can be reduced in size.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is, of course, not limited thereto, and various modifications can be made based on the technical concept of the present invention.

For example, in the above embodiment, the digital still camera 10 has been described as an example of the electronic apparatus, but the present invention can be applied to a film camera or a video camera instead. The present invention is also applicable to a waterproof case of an electronic device provided with a rotary switch for adjusting a range of a water quality survey device or an analyzer for seabed exploration, for example.

The waterproof case according to the present invention is suitable not only for use in water, but also for use in rainy weather, for use in ski resorts and beaches, and as a dustproof case. The present invention can be applied to a waterproof case of another electronic device including a rotary switch for switching functions, such as a radio and a transceiver.

In the above embodiment, the engagement member 13
Since the second plate portion 132b has a substantially semicircular shape, the mark 10 of the rotary switch 101 of the camera 10 accommodated therein is
1b and the function display on the upper surface of the camera 10 can be visually recognized from outside the case.

Further, in the above embodiment, the camera 10 provided with the rotary switch 101 on the upper surface has been described as an example. However, the above-described embodiment is applicable to a camera provided with the rotary switch on another peripheral surface. The same effect as in the embodiment can be obtained.

[0039]

As described above, according to the waterproof case for electronic equipment of the present invention, the lever of the rotary switch provided in the electronic equipment and the engaging member of the operating member provided on the case side can be easily engaged. Therefore, the operability of housing the electronic device in the waterproof case is remarkably improved as compared with the related art. In addition, since the operation member can be simply configured, the cost and size of the waterproof case can be reduced, and a reduction in waterproof reliability can be prevented.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, inappropriate deformation of the plate portion of the engagement body can be suppressed, and proper and reliable engagement with the lever portion of the rotary switch can be ensured.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view showing an entire waterproof case according to an embodiment of the present invention, wherein A is a perspective view seen from the front side, B is a perspective view seen from the back side, and C is an interior seen from the back side. It is a perspective view of.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a state in which the inside of the waterproof case according to the embodiment of the present invention is opened to accommodate the camera.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a relationship between an operation member according to the present invention and a rotation switch on a camera side.

FIG. 4 is a partially broken side view of a main part showing a state in which an engaging body of an operation member according to the present invention is engaged with a lever of a rotary switch of a camera.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are side views of a main part for explaining the operation of the engaging body of the operation member according to the present invention, wherein A shows a state immediately after the camera is housed, and B shows the claw bending the plate by the rotation of the engaging body. 7C shows a state when the lever body gets over the lever part, and C shows a state when the engagement body is located at the engagement position where the lever part is clamped by the pair of claws.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a main part showing a waterproof camera and a function display part of the camera housed therein according to the embodiment of the present invention, wherein A shows the camera side and B shows the waterproof case side, respectively. .

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Waterproof case, 2 ... Front case body, 3 ... Rear case body, 10 ... Camera (electronic device), 13 ... Operation member, 10
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Rotary switch, 101a ... Lever part, 131 ... Shaft part, 132 ... Engagement body, 132b ... Plate part, 132c ... Claw part, 132d ... Tapered part, 132e ... Slit, 133
... operation unit.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H01H 19/06 H01H 19/06 5G019 H05K 5/02 H05K 5/02 L 5G025 A 5G052 5/06 5/06 ED 7/12 7/12 U (72) Inventor Kentaro Takimoto 6-7-35 Kita Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo Inside Sony Corporation (72) Inventor Yukio Yamada 6-7-1 Kita Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo No. 35 Sony Corporation F term (reference) 2H054 AA01 2H101 CC02 2H105 DD07 4E353 AA03 AA17 AA18 AA19 BB02 BB03 CC13 CC32 CC33 DD11 DD14 DD15 DR03 DR09 DR14 DR19 DR22 DR34 DR44 DR55 DR56 DR57 GG20 GG24 AB20A AB34 AB42 AB59 BA04 BA12 BA15 BB12 BB16 BB23 BC03 BC04 BC06 BC07 BD03 BD05 CA03 EA13 EA18 EC11 ED03 ED15 ED16 ED17 ED23 ED27 GA29 GA46 GA52 GB01 GB06 GC08 5G 019 CY51 KK16 KK22 SY15 5G025 AA16 CA09 5G052 AA05 BB02 HA06 HA14

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A waterproof case for an electronic device, wherein the electronic device can be operated in a state in which the electronic device is housed inside a case body, wherein the electronic device selectively switches functions of the electronic device. A rotation switch having a lever portion, wherein the case main body is provided with an operation member capable of rotating the rotation switch by engaging with the lever portion, and the operation member penetrates the case main body. A shaft portion, an engaging body provided at one end of the shaft portion and engaging with the lever portion, and an operating portion provided at the other end of the shaft portion and rotating the engaging body via the shaft portion. In the electronic device waterproof case, the engagement body is provided with a flexible plate portion facing the rotary switch, and a pair of protrusions formed from a bottom surface of the plate portion toward the lever portion to clamp the lever portion. Of the claw and Waterproof case for an electronic device, characterized in that a tapered portion formed on the outer wall surface of the pawl portions. 2. The waterproof case for an electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the plate portion has a substantially semicircular shape, and an arc-shaped slit centered on the shaft portion is formed in a plane of the plate portion. .