JP2003084335A - Clickstop mechanism for lens barrier - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To extend the stroke quantity of a click member which click-stops a lens barrier. SOLUTION: The lens barrier 7 is fitted freely slidably to the front cover 5 of a camera. A clickstop mechanism 40 is built between the front cover 5 and lens barrier 7. The clickstop mechanism 40 comprises a click groove 41 formed on the back of the lens barrier 7, the click member 42, an opening part 43 formed on the front cover 5, and a coil spring 44. The click member 42 enters the click groove 41 by being energized by the coil spring 44 to stop the lens barrier 7. The click member 42 is formed almost in a columnar shape and then can obtain a sufficient stroke quantity.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a camera, and more particularly, to a click stop mechanism for a lens barrier that stops a lens barrier protecting an image pickup lens at a predetermined position of a camera body.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Some compact cameras, digital cameras, and other cameras that are often carried in a bag or pocket are equipped with a lens barrier that protects an imaging lens from scratches. . In a camera equipped with such a lens barrier, the lens barrier is slidably attached to the camera body, and the lens barrier is clicked at an open position where the imaging lens is exposed or a closed position where the imaging lens is covered. Many have a click-stop mechanism to stop.

Such a click stop mechanism includes a click member that enters the click groove formed on the back surface of the lens barrier to stop the lens barrier and a spring that urges the click member toward the lens barrier. It is generally equipped. A metal ball is used as the click member, and this ball is placed in the front of the camera body in the opening that matches the outer diameter of the ball. The ball is urged toward the lens barrier by a spring located behind the opening so as to be movable along the direction.

[0004]

However, in the click stop mechanism as described above, in order to make it easier to convey the feel of the click stop to the user's finger, the stroke amount of the ball moving in the front-back direction is lengthened to some extent. It is necessary to do it from the opening of the camera body,
If the ball protrudes beyond the length of the radius, the ball is caught between the lens barrier and the camera body, which hinders the sliding movement of the lens barrier.

Further, the ball and the spring for urging the ball are both made of metal, and when the ball moves in the opening, the spring and the ball rub against each other. For this reason, in order to prevent wear of the spring and the ball, it is necessary to plate the spring to make the surface smooth. However, the plating process causes an increase in cost and small parts such as a spring. In this case, the metal material forming the plating layer may be excessively attached or may be displaced from the predetermined position where plating should be applied, and the spring may be fixed so as to be entangled with the plating machine, complicating the assembly process. I will end up with.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and provides a click stop mechanism in which the stroke of the click member is lengthened so that the user feels when the lens barrier is clicked and stopped. The purpose is to provide at low cost.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the camera of the present invention is provided with a click member of a substantially cylindrical shape having a hemispherical tip and a front cover hidden by a lens barrier. An opening that is opened according to the outer diameter of the member, into which the click member is inserted / removed along a direction substantially orthogonal to the sliding direction of the lens barrier, and a biasing unit that biases the click member toward the lens barrier. Then, the tip of the click member projects from the opening by the biasing means and enters the click groove formed on the back surface of the lens barrier to stop the lens barrier from being clicked. Further, the biasing means is preferably a coil spring having a rear end supported by a support plate arranged behind the click member in the opening of the front cover and fixed to the back surface of the front cover.

[0008]

1 and 2 showing the appearance of an electronic still camera embodying the present invention, a camera body 3 of an electronic still camera (hereinafter simply referred to as a camera) 1.
The various image pickup mechanisms are incorporated inside the exterior body including the front cover 5 and the rear cover 6. A lens barrier 7 is attached to the front surface of the front cover 5 so as to be slidable along a direction (horizontal direction) H orthogonal to the imaging optical axis L. The lens barrier 7 is in the closed position as shown in FIG. 2 when it is carried, and the lens barrel 8 and the self-timer L
It covers the ED9. Then, at the time of use, it is slid from the right side to the left side in the drawing to the open position as shown in FIG. 1, and the lens barrel 8 and the self-timer LED 9 are exposed.

The lens barrel 8 is arranged near the center of the camera body 3, and an object side finder 11, a strobe light emitting window 12 and the like are provided above the lens barrel 8. The lens barrel 8 includes an imaging lens 13 that constitutes a zoom optical system,
It is a zoom lens barrel in which an electronic shutter is incorporated, and extends and retracts along the imaging optical axis L. The lens barrel 8 projects forward of the camera body 3 as shown in FIG. 1 when used, and is housed inside the camera body 3 as shown in FIG. 2 when carried, and its front surface is covered by a lens barrier 7. Be done. A shutter button 14 and a power switch 15 are provided on the upper surface of the camera body 3, and an eyepiece finder 16 and an LC are provided on the rear surface.
A D panel (not shown) is provided.

As shown in FIG. 3, the lens barrier 7 covers the lens barrel 8 when the lens barrier 7 is in the closed position.
0, protruding pieces 21 and 22 protruding from the elliptical contour of the lens protection portion 20, a positioning piece 23, and a boss 24 arranged on the back side of the lens protection portion 20. The front surface of the lens protection unit 20 has a recess 20a for a user to put his / her finger on when the lens barrier 7 is slid.
Are formed.

The lens barrier 7 moves within the range of the concave portion 25, which is concave on the front surface of the front cover 5 more than the surrounding area. The recess 25 has a flat surface so as not to hinder the sliding movement of the lens barrier 7. The right end of the recess 25 in the drawing is formed in an elliptic arc shape that matches the contour of the lens barrier 7 on the right side of the drawing. A guide rail groove 26 is formed near the center of the recess 25, and an opening 27 through which the lens barrel 8 comes in and out is formed at one side portion. In the upper and lower parts of the contact portion 16,
Notches 28 and 29 are formed at positions corresponding to the protruding pieces 21 and 22 of the lens barrier 7. When the lens barrier 7 is in the closed position, the protruding pieces 21 and 22 have the cutouts 28 and 29.
And the protruding pieces 21 and 22 are locked. As a result, the lens barrier 7 is held in close contact with the front cover 5.

When the lens barrier 7 is attached to the front cover 5, the connecting member 30 is screwed from the rear side of the front cover 5 through the rail groove 26, and the front cover 5 is held so as to be sandwiched. A positioning piece 23 is formed on the upper surface of the protruding piece 21 on the upper side of the lens barrier 7. At the upper end of the recess 25 facing the protruding piece 21, the positioning groove 31 is provided.
Is formed, and is slidably fitted to the positioning piece 23.

A support plate 32 is attached to the inner surface of the front cover 5. A decoration ring 33, a delivery switch 34, a decoration plate 35, and the like are attached to the support plate 32, and the support plate 32 is fixed to the front cover 5 with screws 36. The feeding switch 34 is rotatably attached to the support plate 32 via a rotation shaft 37 at the tip of the support plate 32 on the open position side in the direction H, and is biased clockwise by a spring (not shown) in the figure. Has been done. The tip portion 34a of the feeding switch 34 is located on the track along which the connecting member 30 slides, and is pressed by the connecting member 30 when the lens barrier 7 moves from the closed position to the open position. The feeding switch 34 pressed by the connecting member 30 turns counterclockwise in the figure to the ON state against the bias of the spring. This feeding switch 34
When is turned on, the motor that drives the lens barrel 8 rotates in the positive direction in conjunction with this, and the lens barrel 8 is extended forward. Then, when the lens barrier 7 is returned from the open position to the closed position, the push-out switch 34 is released from the pressing force from the connecting member 30, and is rotated clockwise by the spring bias to return to the original position to return to the off state. Becomes When the delivery switch 34 is turned off, the motor that drives the lens barrel 8 rotates in reverse in conjunction with this, and the lens barrel 8 retracts.

As shown in FIG. 4, the click stop mechanism 40 of the present invention is provided between the front cover 5 and the lens barrier 7.
Is built in. The click stop mechanism 40 has a click groove 41 formed on the back surface of the lens protection portion 20 of the lens barrier 7, a click member 42 that enters the click groove 41, and a position that is hidden by the lens cover 7 on the front surface of the front cover 5. The opening 43 is formed and has the click member 42 inserted and removed along the imaging optical axis L, and the coil spring 44 arranged behind the click member 42 in the opening 43, and slides on the lens barrier 7. When this is done, click stop is performed at each of the open position, the closed position, and the temporary rest position. The open position and the closed position are as described above, but the temporary rest position is
It is a position (the position shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. 5) in which the lens barrier 7 in the open position is slightly moved to the closed position side.
This is a position where the lens barrel 8 is exposed as in the open position.
As a result, the lens barrier 7 is moved from the open position to the temporary rest position, and the feeding switch 34 is turned off while the click stop is performed at the temporary rest position.
The lens barrel 8 is in the storage position (the position shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. 5)
Move to. After the lens barrel 8 is housed, the lens barrier 7 is further slid from the rest position to bring the lens barrier 7 to the closed position, so that the lens barrier 7 and the lens barrel 8 collide during the movement from the open position to the closed position. Can be prevented.

When the lens barrier 7 is located in the click groove 41 at the open position, the closed position, and the temporary rest position, the click member 42 enters and the lens barrier 7 is inserted.
Recesses 45, 46, and 47 for locking the are formed. The concave portion 45 corresponding to the open position is located at one end portion near the lens barrel 8 side, and the concave portion 46 corresponding to the closed position is
It is located at the other end on the opposite side. The recess 47 corresponding to the temporary rest position is located near the recess 45. A convex portion 48 is formed at a position sandwiched by the concave portion 47 and the concave portion 45. A guide groove 49 having a long hole shape is formed between the recess 47 and the recess 46. At the position sandwiched between the guide groove portion 49 and the concave portion 47, the convex portion 5 is formed.
0 is formed, and a convex portion 51 is formed at a position sandwiched by the guide groove portion 49 and the concave portion 46. The recess 46,
The concave portion 47 is formed in a hemispherical concave portion matching the tip of the click member 42. In addition, the recess 45 is
It is a substantially rectangular recess.

As shown in the enlarged view of FIG. 3, the click member 42 is integrally formed with a front engaging portion 52 and a rear attaching portion 53. The locking portion 52 is formed in a substantially columnar shape, and is formed so as to smoothly continue from the outer peripheral surface 52a to the hemispherical tip portion 52b. The mounting portion 53 is formed in a columnar shape having a diameter smaller by one turn than the outer peripheral surface 52a of the locking portion 52, and the coil spring 44 is inserted therein. As described above, the support plate 32 is attached to the inner surface side of the front cover 5, and the click member 4 is attached.
The rear end of the coil spring 44 disposed behind the second member 2 is supported by the support plate 32.

When the click member 42 and the coil spring 44 are attached, first, the lens barrier 7 is attached to the front cover 5, and the front surface of the opening 43 is closed by the back surface of the lens protection portion 20. Down and place it on the workbench. Next, the click member 42 and the coil spring 44 are inserted into the opening 43 in this order from the back side of the front cover 5. Then, from the back side of the front cover 5 to the support plate 3
When 2 is screwed, the back surface of the opening 43 is closed, and the click member 42 and the coil spring 44 are attached to the front cover 5. In this way, with simple work,
Since the click stop mechanism 40 is incorporated, the assembly process can be facilitated.

The operation of the above configuration will be described below.
When the lens barrier 7 is stationary at the closed position, the open position, and the temporary rest position, the click member 42 enters the positions of the recesses 45, 46, 47 corresponding to these positions to lock the lens barrier 7. The recesses 45, 46,
The click member 42 that has entered the inside 47 is at the most protruding position from the front cover 5, as shown in FIG.

When moving from the stationary state at the closed position, the open position, and the temporary stationary position to another position, the locking of the lens barrier 7 is released by overcoming the convex portions 48, 50, 51. The click member 42 is shown in FIG.
As shown in (B), it is stored in the front cover 5 and is at the deepest position. The stroke amount X of the movement of the click member 42 in the front-rear direction between the positions of FIGS. 5A and 5B is larger than the radius R of the outer peripheral surface 42a of the click member 42. There is. As a result, the click member 42 moves with a sufficient stroke amount X and click stop is performed, so that the lens barrier 7 is in the closed position,
When the clicks are stopped at the open position and the temporarily stopped position, the feeling is easily transmitted to the user's finger. Further, since the coil spring is used as the urging means constituting the click stop mechanism 40, it is possible to cope with it by using the coil spring of the off-the-shelf product, so that the cost can be reduced.

In the above embodiment, an example in which the present invention is applied to an electronic still camera has been shown. However, the present invention is not limited to an electronic still camera, and a camera equipped with an IX240 type or 135 type photo film cartridge, or It can be applied to any camera such as an instant camera.

[0021]

As described above, in the click stop mechanism of the lens barrier of the present invention, the click member having a substantially columnar shape with a hemispherical tip and the click member on the front surface of the front cover hidden by the lens barrier. The opening is formed according to the outer diameter of the lens barrier, and the click member is moved in and out along a direction substantially orthogonal to the sliding direction of the lens barrier, and a biasing unit that biases the click member toward the lens barrier. By the biasing means, the tip of the click member protrudes from the opening and enters the click groove formed on the back surface of the lens barrier to stop the lens barrier from being clicked. The amount can be lengthened and the assembly process can be facilitated.

Further, in the lens barrier click-stop mechanism according to the second aspect of the invention, as a biasing means, the support plate is arranged behind the click member in the opening of the front cover and fixed to the back surface of the front cover. Since the coil spring whose rear end is supported by is used, the cost can be reduced by using an off-the-shelf product.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing a state when a camera of the present invention is used.

FIG. 2 is an external perspective view showing a state when the camera of the present invention is not used.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing a configuration around a click stop mechanism.

FIG. 4 is a transverse cross-sectional view of a main part, which is cut around the click stop mechanism.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing an operating state of the click stop mechanism, showing a state (A) in which the click member is in the most protruding position and a state (B) in which the click member is in the deepest position.

[Explanation of symbols] 2 camera 3 camera body 5 front cover 7 lens barrier 8 lens barrel 40 click stop mechanism 41 click groove 42 Click member 43 opening 44 coil spring 45,46,47 recess 48, 50, 51 convex

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F-term (reference) 2H083 CC12 CC21 CC22 CC23 CC31                       CC32 CC36                 2H100 AA11 AA20 AA33 AA61 BB00                       BB05 BB06 EE06                 2H101 BB04 BB05                 4E360 BA04 BA08 BB04 BB16 BB23                       BC06 EC13 GA08 GA46 GA53                       GB01

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A click-stop mechanism for a lens barrier, in which a lens barrier slidably attached to a front cover of a camera body is click-stopped at a predetermined position of the front cover. A cylindrical click member and the front surface of the front cover hidden by the lens barrier are opened in accordance with the outer diameter of the click member, and the click member is taken in and out along a direction substantially orthogonal to the sliding direction of the lens barrier. And an urging means for urging the click member toward the lens barrier. The urging means causes the tip end portion of the click member to project from the opening and is formed on the back surface of the lens barrier. The lens barrier is characterized by entering the click groove and stopping the lens barrier click Helix top mechanism. 2. The biasing means is a coil spring that is disposed behind the click member in the opening and has a rear end supported by a support plate fixed to the back surface of the front cover. Click stop mechanism for lens barrier.