JP2002086842A - Camera with printer and portable printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a camera with a printer capable of readily taking an attitude for a printing operation irrespective of a shape of a placing face. SOLUTION: A strap 300 is attached to a left end position (when seeing from a front side) of a camera body 200 which is separated by a horizontal distance l from the center of gravity of the camera body 200. The attached position is determined in such a manner that the front side of the camera body 200 is inclined to face the ground side when the camera body 200 is suspended by the strap 300. As a result, an ink tank 401 is inclined such that an ink supplying hole 402 faces downward in the vertical direction so that ink 403 can be supplied to the ink supplying hole 402. Consequently, the printing operation can be executed even in a condition that the camera body 200 is suspended by the strap 300 because the ink is supplied to a recording head.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to an ink tank,
The present invention relates to a printer-equipped camera and a portable printer in which a printer having a recording head that sucks ink from an ink tank and ejects ink onto print paper is incorporated in a camera body.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A camera for capturing image information captured by an electronic image capturing means of a solid-state imaging device such as a CCD into a memory and a printer configured to arbitrarily print out the image information stored in the memory are known. There has been proposed a camera with a printer that is combined with or integrated with a printer in the camera body.

[0003] Printers incorporated in such a camera with a printer include a fusion type thermal transfer printer, a sublimation type thermal transfer printer, an ink jet type printer and the like. Among them, the ink jet type printer is excellent and requires portability. This can be a very effective means for a camera with a printer.

However, in a camera ink jet type printer, a recording head sucks ink from an ink tank through an ink supply port and ejects the ink onto a print sheet to output an image on the print sheet. The attitude when doing is regulated. For example, if the printer is installed with a large inclination, ink does not flow into the ink supply port depending on the degree of the inclination, so that the recording head cannot absorb the ink and cannot print. Therefore, the installation direction is limited to one predetermined installation direction, and installation in an installation direction other than this installation direction is prohibited at the operation level.

Therefore, a recording apparatus as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-101578 has been proposed. In this recording apparatus, the recording operation control is changed in accordance with the installation direction, thereby increasing the recordable installation directions.

[0006]

However, the method described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-101578 is based on the premise that the device is installed in any of a plurality of preset installation directions. The direction does not always coincide with the preset installation direction, and when the actual installation direction is different from the preset installation direction, proper operation control may not be performed.

On the other hand, a camera with a printer is usually configured so that a photographer can hold the camera with his / her hand. For example, in a camera with a printer using an ink jet printer, when performing printing while holding the camera with a hand, It is difficult to hold the camera in such a position that the ink flows reliably into the ink supply port, and the printer may be in a position where printing cannot be performed halfway.

[0008] Further, in the outdoors or the like, there are few flat surfaces, many surfaces having irregularities, and when installing a camera with a printer on the irregular surfaces, the camera is often installed in an inclined state. However, in such a case, it is difficult for the photographer to visually determine whether the installation state is an installation state corresponding to print prohibition. That is, it is very difficult to install a camera with a printer on an uneven surface so that the camera can be printed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a camera with a printer and a portable printer which can easily take a posture in which printing can be performed regardless of the shape of an installation surface.

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, an ink supply port is provided, an ink tank containing ink, and the ink is sucked from the ink tank through the ink supply port to perform printing. A printer with a recording head that ejects on paper is a printer-equipped camera having a built-in camera body, wherein a hanging member is attached to the camera body, and a mounting position of the hanging member with respect to the camera body is: When the camera body is suspended by the suspending member, the camera body is set at a position where the inclination of the camera body falls within an inclination angle range in which the ink in the ink tank can flow into the ink supply port. It is characterized by being.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the camera with a printer according to the first aspect, the camera body has a maximum dimension portion that defines a maximum dimension of its outer shape, and the maximum dimension section is the camera body. Is characterized in that it is located away from the position of the center of gravity.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ink tank provided with an ink supply port and containing ink, and a recording head for sucking the ink from the ink tank through the ink supply port and ejecting the ink to print paper. Is a camera with a printer in which a printer having a camera body is incorporated in a camera body, wherein the camera body has a maximum dimension portion that defines a maximum dimension of its outer shape, and the maximum dimension portion is located at the center of gravity of the camera body. Characterized by being configured to be located away from the

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ink tank provided with an ink supply port and containing ink, and a recording head for sucking the ink from the ink tank through the ink supply port and ejecting the ink to print paper. Is a portable printer built in the main body, a hanging member is attached to the main body, the mounting position of the hanging member with respect to the main body, the main body is suspended by the hanging member. The tilt of the main body is set within a tilt angle range in which the ink in the ink tank can flow into the ink supply port.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the portable printer according to the fourth aspect, the camera body has a maximum dimension portion defining a maximum dimension of its outer shape, and the maximum dimension portion is the camera body. Is characterized in that it is located away from the position of the center of gravity.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ink tank provided with an ink supply port and containing ink, and a recording head for sucking the ink from the ink tank through the ink supply port and ejecting the ink to print paper. Is a portable printer built in the main body, wherein the main body has a maximum dimension portion that defines a maximum dimension of its outer shape, and the maximum dimension portion is located away from the center of gravity of the main body. It is characterized by comprising.

[0016]

(First Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a camera with a printer according to a first embodiment of the present invention as viewed from the front side, and FIG. 2 is a rear view of the camera with a printer of FIG. It is the perspective view seen from the bottom side in the state where the side was turned up.

A camera with a printer has a digital camera unit for storing an image picked up using an image pickup device such as a CCD in a memory, and prints an image stored in the memory by an ink jet recording method on a print sheet, and prints the print sheet. And a printer unit for outputting.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, a lens unit 201, an optical finder window 202, various optical sensor windows 203, and a strobe 204 are provided on the front side of a camera body 200 of a camera with a printer. Have been. A liquid crystal display panel (hereinafter, referred to as LCD) 205 for displaying a shooting mode of the camera unit, the number of shootable images, the number of recorded images of the printer unit, and the like, and a release button 206 are provided on the upper surface side. Further, a discharge port 207 for discharging the print paper 208 to the outside is provided on the right side (when viewed from the front). The lens unit 201 includes a grounding sensor 2 for detecting that the camera body 200 is placed on a table or the like.
10 are provided. This ground sensor 210 is constituted by a micro switch. On the left side of the camera body 200, a strap 300 is attached. The mounting position of the strap 300 will be described later.

As shown in FIG. 2, on the rear side of the camera body 200, a color LCD 230 for displaying a photographed image and various information, and an optical finder 23 are provided.
1. Switching the mode of the camera unit or the lens unit 201
Switch 232 for switching the zoom magnification of the camera, and a menu (LCD 23) for controlling the operation of the apparatus.
(Displayed as 0) is provided. In addition, the ground sensor 21
A ground sensor 211 having the same configuration as that of the camera body 0 is provided, and a screw hole 220 for fixing the camera body 200 to a tripod and a battery replacement port 221 are formed. In addition, on the right side, a memory card replacement port 240
And a cassette exchange port 241 is provided. This cassette contains ink and print paper.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, the cassette is mounted, the ink tank 401, the ink supply port 402 provided in the ink tank, and the ink tank 40.
1 and the camera body 20
In order to show the relative relationship with 0, each is schematically shown using a solid line. Actually, the ink tank 40
1. Neither the ink supply port 402 nor the ink 403 is visible from outside.

Next, the functional configuration of the camera with a printer will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the camera with a printer in FIG.

A camera with a printer, as shown in FIG.
A plurality of installation detectors 1, 2,... (“Ground sensors 210, 21”) for detecting whether or not a plurality of predetermined installation locations are in contact with a predetermined installation surface (grounded).
0)), an installation change detection unit 3 that detects a change in the installation state of the camera body 200 based on the detection results of the installation detection units 1, 2,. An installation direction detection unit 4 that detects an installation direction permitted by the camera body 200 based on the result, and a control process selection that selects a print control process according to the detection results detected by the installation change detection unit 3 and the installation direction detection unit 4. Unit 8 and control processing selecting unit 8
And a print processing control unit 5 for executing the print control processing selected by.

In the present embodiment, since a color printer of an ink jet recording system is employed in the printer section,
The printable installation direction is limited in terms of ink supply and the like. Then, as described above, a print control process corresponding to the installation direction is selected and executed.

Here, the orientation of the ink tank 401, the liquid level of the ink 403 in the tank, and the positional relationship between the ink supply port 402 and the installation direction of the camera body 200 will be described. FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically illustrating the relationship between the orientation of the ink tank 401, the liquid level of the ink 403 in the tank, and the ink supply port 402 with respect to each installation direction of the camera body 200.

When the ink supply port 402 is at a position facing the ground surface (FIG. 4A) or a lower position in the direction of gravity (FIG. 4B) with respect to the ink tank 401,
Even when the remaining amount of the ink 403 is small, the ink supply port 4
02 can be supplied with ink 403. The position where the ink supply port 402 is not opposed to the ground surface (FIG. 4)
(C)) or the upper position in the direction of gravity (FIG. 4)
In the case of (d)), since the air communication structure for adjusting the internal pressure is provided in the ink tank 401, air enters between the liquid surface of the ink 403 and the ink supply port 402, The ink 403 is not supplied to the ink supply port 402. That is, the recording head is connected to the ink supply port 4
02 cannot be sucked through the ink 403.

The camera body 20 corresponding to FIG.
The installation direction of 0 is the direction when the camera main body 200 shown in FIG. 1 is installed on a horizontal plane such that the bottom surface faces the horizontal plane. When the camera body 200 is installed in this installation direction, only the ground sensor 211 is turned on, so that it is determined that the camera body 200 is in an appropriate installation state, and the printing operation is permitted. Further, the camera body 200 corresponding to FIG.
The installation direction shown in FIG. 2 is a direction when the camera body 200 is installed on a horizontal plane such that the front surface of the camera body 200 faces the horizontal plane. When installed in this installation direction, only the ground sensor 210 is turned on, so that the camera body 200 is determined to be in an appropriate installation state, and the printing operation is permitted.

The installation direction of the camera body 200 corresponding to FIGS. 4C and 4D is such that none of the ground sensors 210 and 211 are turned on.
It is determined that 0 is not in the proper installation state, and the printing operation is prohibited.

On the way, FIG. 4A to FIG.
If there is a change in the installation direction of the camera body 200 such that the state changes to the state of (c) or (d), the ground sensor 21
Since the output of 0,211 changes, the change of the installation direction can be detected, and the printing operation can be permitted or prohibited according to the changed installation direction.

It is possible to detect the installation direction using the ground sensors 210 and 211 and cancel the control so as not to permit or prohibit the printing operation according to the detected installation direction.

Next, the mounting position of the strap 300 will be described. FIG. 5A is a diagram schematically showing the positional relationship between the mounting position of the strap 300 of the camera with the printer of FIG. 1 and the position of the center of gravity of the camera body 200, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically illustrating a relationship between an orientation of an ink tank 401 in a lowered state, a liquid level position of ink 403 in the tank, and an ink supply port 402.

As shown in FIG. 5A, the strap 300 is positioned at a horizontal distance l with respect to the center of gravity of the camera body 200.
The camera body 200 is attached at the left end (as viewed from the front side) of the separated camera body 200. More specifically, as shown in FIG.
Thus, when the camera body 200 is suspended, the front side of the camera body 200 is determined to be inclined toward the ground surface. Thereby, the ink tank 401 is tilted so that the ink supply port 402 faces downward in the vertical direction,
The ink 403 is supplied to the ink supply port 402. Therefore, the camera body 2 is
Even when 00 is suspended, ink is supplied to the recording head, so that a printing operation can be performed. That is, by suspending the camera body 200 with the strap 300 without installing the camera body 200 in a predetermined installation direction, the camera body 200 can be easily held in a posture in which a printing operation can be performed. However, it is necessary to release the permission / prohibition control of the printing operation using the ground sensors 210 and 211 in advance.

In the present embodiment, an example is shown in which the present invention is applied to a camera with a printer capable of permitting / prohibiting print operation using the ground sensors 210 and 211. It goes without saying that the principle of the present invention can be applied to a camera with a printer that does not perform the above.

In a system in which a camera unit and a printer unit are separately configured, a portable printer can be configured by applying the principle of the present invention to the printer unit.

(Second Embodiment) Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG.
(A) is a plan view of the appearance of a camera with a printer according to a second embodiment of the present invention as viewed from above, and (b) is a diagram schematically showing a state in which the camera with a printer is installed on a horizontal plane. FIG. 1C is a view schematically showing a state in which the camera with the printer is installed at an angle.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6A, the camera body 500 is formed in an outer shape having a trapezoidal cross section. Here, in this drawing, it is assumed that a plane parallel to the paper surface is the upper surface of the camera body 500, and a surface perpendicular to the upper surface defining the maximum dimension L of the camera body 500 is a back surface. The camera body 500 is configured so that the center of gravity G is located at a position separated from the rear surface by a vertical distance l1. Further, as shown in FIG. 6B, an ink supply port 402 is provided in the camera body 500, and an ink tank 401 for storing the ink 403 is built in. The ink tank 401 is connected to the camera body 20.
When the camera body 0 is placed on a horizontal installation surface such that the rear surface of the camera body faces upward, the relationship between the ink supply port 402 of the ink tank 401 and the ink 403 becomes the relationship shown in FIG. 500.

When the camera body 500 is placed on, for example, an uneven surface with its side face downward, as shown in FIG. 6 (c), the camera body 500 can easily take a posture in which the front surface is inclined downward. When held in such a posture state,
As in the case of the first embodiment described above (when the camera body 200 is suspended by the strap 300),
The ink tank 401 is tilted such that the ink supply port 402 is directed downward in the vertical direction, and the ink 403 is supplied to the ink supply port 402. That is, the camera body 500 is easily held in a posture in which a printing operation is possible.

In this embodiment, the mounting position of the strap can be determined in the same manner as in the above-described first embodiment, and the strap can be mounted at the intended mounting position. When the camera body is hung by the strap, the camera body 500 is similarly easily held in a posture in which a printing operation is possible.

[0038]

As described above, according to the camera with the printer of the present invention, the hanging member is attached to the camera body, and the mounting position of the hanging member with respect to the camera body is such that the camera body is used for hanging. When the camera body is suspended by a member, it is set at a position where the inclination of the camera body falls within the inclination angle range where the ink in the ink tank can flow into the ink supply port. Possible postures can be easily taken.

Further, according to the camera with the printer of the present invention, the camera body has the maximum dimension portion defining the maximum dimension of its outer shape, and the maximum dimension portion is located away from the center of gravity of the camera body. , It is possible to easily take a posture capable of performing a printing operation regardless of the shape of the installation surface.

According to the portable printer of the present invention, the suspending member is attached to the main body, and the mounting position of the suspending member with respect to the main body is such that the ink tank is held when the main body is suspended by the suspending member. Is set at a position where the inclination of the main body falls within the range of the inclination angle at which the ink can flow into the ink supply port, so that the printing operation can be easily performed regardless of the shape of the installation surface.

According to the portable printer of the present invention,
The main body has a maximum dimension portion that defines the maximum dimension of its outer shape, and the maximum dimension portion is configured to be located away from the center of gravity of the main body, so regardless of the shape of the installation surface,
It is possible to easily take a posture in which printing can be performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a camera with a printer according to a first embodiment of the present invention as viewed from the front side.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the camera with a printer of FIG. 1 when viewed from the bottom side with the back side facing upward.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the camera with a printer in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically illustrating the relationship between the orientation of an ink tank 401, the level of ink 403 in the tank, and the ink supply port 402 with respect to each installation direction of the camera body 200.

5A is a diagram schematically showing a positional relationship between an attachment position of a strap 300 of the camera with a printer in FIG. 1 and a position of a center of gravity of the camera body 200, and FIG. 5B is a diagram in which the camera body 200 is suspended by the strap 300; Ink tank 4 in lowered state
FIG. 7 is a diagram schematically illustrating a positional relationship among a direction 01, a liquid level position of ink 403 in a tank, and an ink supply port 402.

6A is a plan view of the appearance of a camera with a printer according to a second embodiment of the present invention as viewed from above, and FIG. 6B is a schematic view showing a state in which the camera with a printer is installed on a horizontal plane. (C) is a view schematically showing a state in which the camera with the printer is installed at an angle.

[Explanation of symbols]

 200,500 Camera body 300 Strap 401 Ink tank 402 Ink supply port 403 Ink

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H04N 5/225 B41J 3/04 101Z // H04N 101: 00 102Z F term (Reference) 2C055 CC00 EE00 2C056 EA26 EB29 EC67 KD10 2C061 AP10 AQ05 BB10 CD24 5C022 AA13 AC03 AC32 AC42 AC54 AC77 AC78

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A camera body comprising: an ink tank provided with an ink supply port and containing ink; and a recording head that sucks the ink from the ink tank via the ink supply port and ejects the ink onto print paper. A hanging member is attached to the camera body, and a mounting position of the hanging member with respect to the camera body is such that the camera body is suspended by the hanging member. A camera provided with a printer, wherein the camera is set at a position where the inclination of the camera body falls within a range of an inclination angle at which the ink in the ink tank can flow into the ink supply port. 2. The camera body according to claim 1, wherein the camera body has a maximum dimension portion that defines a maximum dimension of an outer shape of the camera body, and the maximum dimension section is configured to be located away from a center of gravity of the camera body. The camera with a printer according to claim 1, wherein: 3. A camera body comprising: an ink tank provided with an ink supply port and containing ink; and a recording head that sucks the ink from the ink tank via the ink supply port and ejects the ink onto print paper. Wherein the camera body has a maximum dimension portion that defines a maximum dimension of its outer shape, and the maximum dimension section is located away from the center of gravity of the camera body. A camera with a printer, characterized in that: 4. An ink supply port is provided, an ink tank containing ink, and a recording head that sucks the ink from the ink tank through the ink supply port and ejects the ink onto print paper are built in the main body. Wherein a suspending member is attached to the main body, and an attaching position of the suspending member to the main body is such that the ink is attached when the main body is suspended by the suspending member. The portable printer according to claim 1, wherein the inclination of the main body is set within an inclination angle range in which the ink in the tank can flow into the ink supply port. 5. The camera body according to claim 1, wherein the camera body has a maximum dimension defining a maximum dimension of its outer shape, and the maximum dimension is configured to be located away from a center of gravity of the camera body. The portable printer according to claim 4, wherein: 6. An ink supply device, comprising: an ink supply port provided therein; an ink tank containing ink; and a recording head that sucks the ink from the ink tank through the ink supply port and ejects the ink onto print paper. Wherein the main body has a maximum dimension portion that defines a maximum dimension of its external shape, and the maximum dimension portion is configured to be located away from the center of gravity of the main body. A portable printer characterized by the following.