JP2002228917A - Camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a camera capable of realizing auto-focusing with strobe light emission, being constituted to be compact and inexpensive and surely performing control at the time of the auto-focusing. SOLUTION: This camera is provided with an AF flexible circuit board 29 on which an AF module 13 is mounted, a stroboscope 5 used as an auxiliary light source at the time of auto-focusing, an a trigger circuit 31 arranged in the direction opposite to the stroboscope 5 with the auto-focusing sensor control signal conductor of the flexible circuit board 29 between and generating trigger voltage applied to the stroboscope 5. Then, a lead wire TRG transmitting the trigger voltage to a light emitting part is disposed so as to pass through perpendicularly near the flexible circuit board 29.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image pickup apparatus such as a camera, and more particularly to a camera which realizes a reliable automatic focusing operation using a strobe auxiliary light.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various techniques related to a camera with a built-in strobe that emits a strobe light have been disclosed in order to supplement the brightness of a subject.

For example, in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. 5-84948, a charging circuit and a trigger voltage generating circuit are separated, arranged on the grip side and the opposite grip side (strobe side), and extended to both ends of the xenon tube. A technique related to a camera with a built-in strobe in which a drawing line is drawn in parallel with a substrate is disclosed.

[0004]

However, the above prior art has the following problems.

That is, first, when the trigger circuit is configured separately from the charging circuit, the ground line and the large current line from the battery become long, the wiring space is wide, and the area of the printed circuit board or the like to be mounted is large. Efficiency and mounting efficiency will also deteriorate.

Second, when the trigger circuit is formed separately from the charging circuit and is arranged on the strobe side, particularly in a movable strobe camera having a pop-up mechanism,
It is difficult to provide a space due to the configuration of the movable member.

In order to solve such a problem of the prior art, a single substrate on which a trigger circuit and a charging circuit are mounted is arranged on the grip side, and a light emitting portion including a xenon tube of a strobe is arranged on the opposite side of the grip. It is also conceivable to adopt a method of connecting the substrate and the xenon tube by wiring. However, the control signal line of the distance measuring sensor also tends to concentrate on the grip side, avoiding the strobe, and if the wiring is carelessly arranged, the strobe wiring and the control signal line of the distance measuring sensor may cause electrical interference. Therefore, there is a possibility that the distance measurement operation while the strobe light is emitted may not be correctly performed.

On the other hand, the strobe wiring and the control signal line of the distance measuring sensor may be separated from each other, but it is often difficult because a small camera has a limited space.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and has as its object to enable distance measurement with strobe light emission, to be compact and inexpensive, and to be used for distance measurement. It is an object of the present invention to provide a camera capable of reliably performing control.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a first substrate on which a distance measuring sensor module is mounted and a strobe device used as an auxiliary light source for distance measuring. A light emitting unit; and a trigger circuit disposed in a direction opposite to the light emitting unit with the distance measurement sensor control signal line of the first substrate interposed therebetween, and configured to generate a trigger voltage applied to the light emitting unit. A lead wire for transmitting the light to the light emitting portion is disposed so as to pass vertically through the vicinity of the first substrate.

In a second aspect of the present invention, a first substrate on which a distance measuring sensor module is mounted, a light emitting portion of a strobe device used as an auxiliary light source for distance measuring, and a trigger voltage applied to the light emitting portion And a lead circuit for transmitting the trigger voltage to the light emitting unit is provided so as to be positioned by the outer shape of the first substrate.

Further, according to a third aspect of the present invention, a distance measuring sensor module, control means for controlling the distance measuring sensor module by a predetermined control signal line, and a strobe operating as an auxiliary light source of the distance measuring sensor module. Means, and impedance lowering means for lowering the impedance of a control signal line whose operation becomes abnormal when the digital level fluctuates when the strobe means is operated during distance measurement than other control signal lines. It is characterized by.

According to the first to third aspects, the following operations are provided.

That is, in the first aspect of the present invention, the lead wire for transmitting the trigger voltage to the light emitting portion is disposed so as to pass vertically near the first substrate.

[0015] In the second aspect, the lead wire for transmitting the trigger voltage to the light emitting portion is provided so as to be positioned by the outer shape of the first substrate.

Further, in the third aspect, if the digital level fluctuates when the strobe means is operated during the distance measurement by the impedance lowering means, the control signal line which becomes abnormal in operation is more excellent than the other control signal lines. The impedance is reduced.

[0017]

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

FIG. 1 is an external view of a camera according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, a lens barrel 3 in which a photographic lens is housed is disposed in front of an exterior member (hereinafter, referred to as a camera body) 1 of the camera. . In the closed state, a lens barrier 2 that covers the lens barrel 3 is disposed on the front of the camera so as to be openable and closable. When the lens barrier 2 is operated to be in the open state, the lens barrel 3 is extended and becomes in a photographable state.

Above the position where the lens barrel 3 is disposed,
A transparent front panel 4 that serves to protect each optical member system is provided. Inside the front panel 4, an AF module 13, a finder window 14, and an infrared auxiliary light LED window 1 are provided.
5, a photometric window 16, a self-timer LED 17, and the like are provided. Further, a remote control sensor window 18 is provided below the lens barrel 3. The camera receives a signal from a remote control transmitter (not shown) via the remote control sensor window 18.

On the upper surface of the camera body 1, a strobe 5,
Viewfinder 6, LCD window 7, Strobe mode setting button 8, SELF mode setting button 9, Release button 1
0, zoom down button 11, zoom up button 12
Are arranged.

The strobe 5 is of a so-called pop-up type, and is set in a position where the subject can be illuminated by popping up from a stored state in conjunction with the lens barrel 3. The finder 6 is for observing a subject. The LCD window 7 allows the external display LCD to be viewed. The strobe mode setting button 8 is operated when the strobe mode is desired, and the SELF mode setting button 9 is operated when the SELF mode is desired.

The release button 10 has a structure in which photographing preparations such as distance measurement and photometry are performed when the release button 10 is half-pressed and a photographing operation is performed when the release button 10 is fully pressed. When the photographer operates (presses) the zoom-down button 11 and the zoom-up button 12, the desired zooming of the photographing lens can be freely performed.

Next, FIG. 2 shows and describes an internal configuration that is exposed when the camera body 1 of the camera according to the first embodiment of the present invention is removed. Here, the same components as those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description will be focused on the characteristic portions.

As shown in FIG. 2, each part is assembled to an internal body 20 to constitute a camera according to the present embodiment. In the finder body 21, an optical system and a drive system of the finder, and various sensors and displays are arranged.

That is, the finder body 21 includes a finder lens including a finder window 14, an AF module 13, a finder window 14, an infrared auxiliary LED window 15, a photometry window 16, a self-timer LED 17, and other sensors and displays. Is arranged. A battery 22 for supplying power to the entire camera is housed in a battery chamber on the grip side.

On the other hand, a main board (hereinafter, referred to as an M board) 23 is fixed to the body 20, and a main CPU 101 for performing sequence control of the camera and an interface IC 102 for performing analog processing are mounted on the back surface thereof.

A finder flexible printed circuit board (hereinafter, referred to as F-flexible) 24, a lens frame flexible printed circuit board (hereinafter, referred to as K-flexible) 27, which is connected to the M substrate 23 by an FPC connector, and a drive system Flexible printed circuit board (hereinafter referred to as W-flexible) 2
5 and the like are fixed to the finder main body 21, the lens barrel 3, and the body main body 20, respectively.

On the F-flexible 24, mounting and connection of components on the upper surface of the camera and formation of a switch pattern are performed. The sub CPU 105 is bare-chip mounted on the F-flex 24 in the form of flip chip mounting, and the fin 24a of the F-flex 24 covers the sub CPU 105.

Further, the LCD 7a for external display is connected to the F-flexible 24 via an anisotropic conductive thermosetting adhesive via the connecting FPC 7b. Also, on the F-flex 24, a zoom up button 11, a zoom down button 12
, And switch patterns 8a and 9a corresponding to the strobe mode setting button 8 and the SELF mode setting button 9, respectively.

On the other hand, a predetermined AF module is mounted on an AF flexible printed circuit board (hereinafter, referred to as AF flexible) 29. The F-flex 24 and the AF flex 29 include a strobe substrate (hereinafter, referred to as a T substrate),
It is connected by a radial pattern press connection connector above the grip. Strobe-related components are mounted on the T board 26. Further, a main capacitor 26c for charging a charge for strobe emission is connected to the rear of the T board 26 and is disposed on the grip side. Here, a switch pattern 10a of the release button 10 is formed.

Hereinafter, the wiring from the main capacitor 26c to the strobe 5 will be described in detail. As described above, the T board 26 and the main capacitor 26 are provided on the grip side.
and a strobe 5 on the opposite side of the grip.
Is provided, two lead wires Xe + and Xe- connecting both ends (+ and-sides) of the xenon tube in the strobe, both ends of the main capacitor 26c, and a lead wire for transmitting a trigger signal. It is necessary to extend a total of three lead wires, one for the TRG.

Here, in the camera according to the first embodiment, the lead wire is formed so as to pass above the finder main body 21 and the F-flex 24.

That is, one end of each of the three lead wires is soldered to the T board 26,
In particular, it passes above or behind the sub CPU 105. The two lead wires Xe + and Xe− are connected on the relay board 25, and the trigger line is connected to a relay land provided on the F-flex 24.

Then, the lead wire once fixed by the relay board and the relay land is replaced by a highly flexible lead wire that can follow the pop-up of the strobe 5,
The strobe 5 will be reached.

FIG. 3 is a rear view of the camera body structure.

Here, only the characteristic portions will be described. FIG.
, The trigger voltage generating portion of the T substrate 24 is located on the right side of the F-flex 24 and the AF flex 29.

That is, the camera according to the first embodiment has a trigger circuit for generating a trigger voltage to be applied to the light emitting unit disposed in the direction opposite to the strobe 5 with the distance measuring sensor control signal line interposed therebetween. are doing.

FIG. 4 is an upper assembly view of the finder main body 6. As shown in FIG.

That is, as shown in FIG. 4, an AF module 13 is mounted on the finder
The flexible 29 is disposed on the finder body 6.

A metal plate and an upper plate are stacked on this, and the F-flex 24 is further stacked on this. The crimp connection part is T
The substrate 26, the F-flex 24, and the AF-flex 26 are superposed in this order, connected and screwed. That is, the F-flex 24 (having a double-sided wiring configuration) is sandwiched between the finder main body 6 and the stacking order, which is different from the stacking order.

The trigger wire TRG of the strobe is A
The horizontal direction is constrained by the cutout portion 29a of the F-flex 29, and the F-flex 29 crosses the surface of the AF flex 29 substantially vertically. FIG. 5 shows the connection portion when viewed from the lateral direction.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the camera circuit according to the first embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 6, the main CPU 101 and the interface IC 102 described above are provided on the M board 23 and communicate with each other. Further, a motor driver 103 controlled by the main CPU 102 is provided, and drives a large current such as motors.

The M board 23 has an EEPROM 104 which communicates with the CPU 101 and stores various data.
A clock transmission circuit 33 for transmitting a clock of the PU 101 is also provided.

On the F-flex 24, a sub CPU 105 is provided.

The sub CPU 105 drives the LCD 7a provided on the upper part of the body by the LCD driver U201a, and also performs a clock count used for imprinting a date based on the output of the clock transmission circuit 30.

The sub CPU 105 is a main CPU 1
01, and operates based on the command of the main CPU 101.

The main CPU 101 commands necessary operations to the sub CPU 105 as part of the overall control.

On the T-substrate 26, a charging circuit 32 for boosting and charging the main capacitor 26c and a trigger circuit 31 for generating a trigger voltage for starting the xenon tube to emit light are provided. That is, Xe +, Xe
And the three lead wires TRG are completed in the T board 26.

The K-flexible 27 has a drive system in a lens frame,
That is, a driving actuator 35 such as a shutter or a focus lens is connected, and a sensor 36 for detecting these movements is also mounted.

These are processed to be connected to the elements of the M substrate 23.

Further, the W-flex 25 is equipped with a hoisting / zoom motor 37 disposed on the lower surface of the body and on the side opposite to the grip, and a sensor 38 for detecting the movement of these motors. Is processed to be connected to the M substrate 23.

The AF flexible 29 is connected to the F flexible 24, and is connected to a dedicated connection line to the main CPU 101 and a shared communication line commonly connected to other ICs.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing signal connections between the main CPU 101 and the AF module 13.

As shown in FIG. 7, the main CPU
Between the 101 and the AF module 13, for example, a reset line for outputting a digital reset signal for resetting to a level based on an integrated signal of the sensor, a digital integration permission line for permitting sensor integration, and an analog output signal from the AF sensor. It consists of a sensor output line and a communication line for exchanging various information.

The operation during flash emission will be described below with reference to the time chart of FIG.

The main CPU 101 resets the integration level of the sensor on the reset line, and subsequently permits integration on the integration permission line. After that, the strobe light is emitted several times, and the reflected light is integrated by the sensor of the AF module 13.

Then, each time the strobe emits light, it is integrated. If, for example, noise is put on the reset line as shown by a broken line in the drawing, the integration level is reset at that point and the integration is not performed normally. When the signal line TRG is pulled out substantially in parallel with the AF flexible 29 in the same manner as the signal lines Xe + and Xe-, the signal may be coupled to the control signal of the AF flexible 29 and integration may not be performed normally.

However, in this regard, with the configuration of the present embodiment, the signal line TRG and the control signal line of the AF flexible 29 intersect substantially perpendicularly to reduce the coupling, and as shown by the solid line in the figure. Thus, a normal waveform can be obtained.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, since a battery, a main capacitor, a charging circuit, and a trigger circuit that require a large current are arranged in the vicinity, the connection path is reduced. It is short, has small wiring loss when a large current is generated, and has good power efficiency.

Further, since the strobe is arranged on the side opposite to the grip, there is no fear that a finger is touched at the time of grip and the strobe emission light is applied to the subject without loss.

Further, when the lead wire of the strobe traverses the upper surface of the camera, the strobe is fixed to the relay land once when the traversal is substantially completed, and is changed to another lead to reach the strobe 105. Therefore, the use length of the expensive lead wire having a small mechanical load can be reduced.

Further, before the relay, a material having low electric resistance but low electric resistance but inexpensive can be used, and both cost and function can be achieved.

Since the location where the trigger is relayed and fixed among the strobe lead wires is different from the lead wire connected to both ends of the Xe tube, the Xe from the trigger at the relay point is
The charge does not leak to +, Xe-, and the connection workability is good.

Further, since the AF flexible 29 and the trigger line of the strobe light are configured to be substantially vertical when passing through the vicinity, even a camera that performs sensor integration for distance measurement while emitting a strobe light malfunctions. There is no. According to such a configuration, since the trigger line does not need to bypass the AF flexible 29 largely, the camera can be made compact.

The AF flex 29 and the signal line TRG are connected to A
Since the F-flexible 29 is constrained by the cut-out portion, the signal line TRG is in a state different from the normal state at the time of assembly, and there is no possibility that unexpected influence due to noise may occur.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.

The camera according to the second embodiment has the same basic configuration as that of the first embodiment, except for the configuration of the communication line between the main CPU 101 and the AF module 13. . As described above in the first embodiment, it is necessary to further increase the degree of safety from the influence of the trigger line on a line directly related to sensor integration, for example, a reset line.

In this regard, in the second embodiment, a small-capacity capacitor is inserted between GND.
That is, according to the configuration shown in FIG. 9, even when the verticality between the AF flex 29 and the signal line TRG is not sufficient as in the first embodiment, malfunction can be suppressed.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. For example, in the present invention, the configuration of the camera itself may be of a different type such as a single-lens reflex camera or an electronic camera.

The above embodiment of the present invention includes the following inventions.

(1) Distance measuring sensor module, control means for controlling the distance measuring sensor module by a predetermined control signal line, strobe means operating as an auxiliary light source of the distance measuring sensor module, and measuring the strobe means If the digital level fluctuates when operating during distance, with respect to a control signal line that becomes abnormal in operation, impedance lowering means whose impedance is lower than other control signal lines,
A camera comprising:

(2) The camera according to (1), wherein the impedance lowering means is set to function only at the time of distance measurement.

(3) The camera according to (1), wherein the impedance control means is set to function only when the strobe means is operated during distance measurement.

[0076]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention,
It is possible to provide a camera which can perform distance measurement with strobe light emission, can be configured to be small and inexpensive, and can reliably perform control during distance measurement.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view of a camera according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an internal configuration exposed when a camera body 1 of the camera according to the first embodiment of the present invention is removed.

FIG. 3 is a view of the main body structure of the camera as viewed from the rear.

FIG. 4 is an assembly view of the finder main body 6 as viewed from above.

FIG. 5 is a structural view of a part of the structure of FIG. 4 as viewed from a lateral direction.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a circuit of the camera according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing signal connections between a main CPU 101 and an AF module 13 in the camera according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a time chart for explaining an operation at the time of flash light emission.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a signal connection between a main CPU 101 and an AF module 13 in the camera according to the second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 5 Strobe 13 AF Module 29 AF Flex 31 Trigger Circuit 101 Main CPU 105 Sub CPU Xe + Lead Xe- Lead TRG Lead

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2H011 AA01 DA08 2H051 EB19 GB10 2H053 CA45 2H100 BB06 BB07 BB11 EE03

Claims (3)

[Claims] A first substrate on which a distance measuring sensor module is mounted; a light emitting unit of a strobe device used as an auxiliary light source for distance measuring; and a light emitting unit sandwiching a distance measuring sensor control signal line of the first substrate. And a trigger circuit for generating a trigger voltage to be applied to the light emitting unit, and a lead wire for transmitting the trigger voltage to the light emitting unit passes vertically through the vicinity of the first substrate. A camera characterized by being arranged so as to perform 2. A light-emitting device comprising: a first substrate on which a distance-measuring sensor module is mounted; a light-emitting portion of a strobe device used as an auxiliary light source for distance-measuring; and a trigger circuit for generating a trigger voltage applied to the light-emitting portion. A lead wire for transmitting the trigger voltage to the light emitting portion is disposed so as to be positioned by the outer shape of the first substrate. 3. A distance measuring sensor module, control means for controlling the distance measuring sensor module by a predetermined control signal line, strobe means operating as an auxiliary light source of the distance measuring sensor module, and distance measuring the strobe means. A camera characterized by comprising: impedance lowering means for lowering the impedance of a control signal line whose operation becomes abnormal when the digital level fluctuates during operation during operation.