JP2003232978A - Lens barrel - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a high-strength lens barrel. <P>SOLUTION: The lens barrel 10 is equipped with a 1st cylinder 20 having a spiral groove on its inner peripheral surface, a 2nd cylinder 30 coupled with the inner periphery of the 1st cylinder 20 through a cam groove, and a supporting member 50 provided at a position corresponding to the end of the 1st cylinder 20 between the 1st and the 2nd cylinders 20 and 30 and supporting the 2nd cylinder 30 on a 1st inner surface. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a lens barrel. In particular, the present invention relates to a lens barrel having a cylinder that engages with a cam groove.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a collapsible structure has been devised which realizes high performance of a lens barrel. For example, JP 2001-8
No. 3390 discloses a lens barrel structure in which an inward projection provided on the first cylinder and an optical axis direction groove provided on the second cylinder are slidably engaged in the optical axis direction. .

[0003]

Further, a lens barrel for a lens having high strength is desired. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a lens barrel that can solve the above problems. This object is achieved by a combination of features described in independent claims of the invention. The dependent claims define further advantageous specific examples of the present invention.

[0004]

That is, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a lens barrel for a lens, comprising a first cylinder having a spiral groove on its inner peripheral surface, and a first cylinder. It is provided between the first cylinder and the second cylinder at a position corresponding to the end of the first cylinder, and the second cylinder that is cam groove-coupled to the inner circumference. 1 and a supporting member that supports the inner surface of the first member.

The first cylinder may have a recess on the inner peripheral surface of the end, and the support member may be spherical and may be rotatably fitted in the recess of the first cylinder. You may further provide the elastic part provided in a 1st cylinder and absorbing the movement of the support member in a radial direction of a 1st cylinder. In addition, the support member may be arranged in series with the projections that engage with the cam grooves in the axial direction of the first cylinder and the second cylinder.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image pickup device, comprising: a first cylinder having a spiral groove on its inner peripheral surface;
A second cylinder, which is cam groove-coupled to the inner circumference of the first cylinder, is provided between the first cylinder and the second cylinder at a position corresponding to the end of the first cylinder. And a support member that supports the two cylinders on the first inner surface.

The first cylinder may have a recess on the inner peripheral surface of the end, and the support member may be spherical and may be rotatably fitted in the recess of the first cylinder. You may further provide the elastic part provided in a 1st cylinder and absorbing the movement of the support member in a radial direction of a 1st cylinder. In addition, the support member may be arranged in series with the projections that engage with the cam grooves in the axial direction of the first cylinder and the second cylinder.

The above summary of the invention does not enumerate all the necessary features of the present invention, and sub-combinations of these feature groups can also be the invention.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, the present invention will be described through embodiments of the invention, but the following embodiments do not limit the claimed invention, and the features described in the embodiments Not all combinations are essential to the solution of the invention.

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a lens barrel 10 according to this embodiment. The lens barrel 10 includes a first cylinder 20, a second cylinder 30, a cosmetic ring 40, and a support member 50.

The first cylinder 20 has a protrusion 24 at one end on the outer circumference.
Have. The first cylinder 20 is attached to the imaging device by inserting the projection 24 into a support hole of the imaging device (not shown).
The first cylinder 20 has a cam groove 22 which is a spiral groove.
On the inner peripheral surface. Further, the first cylinder 20 has a support hole 26 in the inner peripheral surface of the end portion opposite to the one end described above. It is preferable that a plurality of the support holes 26 be provided on the inner circumference of the first cylinder 20 at regular intervals.

The second cylinder 30 is cam groove-connected to the inner circumference of the first cylinder 20. The second cylinder 30 has a plurality of tapered cam pins 32 on the outer circumference at regular intervals. The second camcorder pin 32 is slidably fitted in the cam groove 22 of the first cylinder 20, so that the second cylinder 30 is
A cam groove is coupled to the inner circumference of the first cylinder 20.

The support member 50 is installed in the support hole 26. Here, the support member 50 is a spherical rigid body, and is, for example, metal or hard plastic. The support member 50 and the support hole 26 are arranged in series with the tapered cam pin 32 in the optical axis direction.

The decorative ring 40 covers the end of the first cylinder 20 in which the support member 50 is installed, where the support hole 26 is provided.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the lens barrel 10. A protrusion 62 is provided on the inner peripheral surface of the second cylinder 30. The lens 60 is fitted between the protrusions 62. When the taper cam pin 32 slides in the cam groove 22, the second cylinder 30 rotates with respect to the first cylinder 20, and the position moves in the vertical direction.

At this time, since the support member 50 is spherical, the tapered cam pin 32 slides in the cam groove 22 and rotates. The decorative ring 40 covers the support member 50 on the outer peripheral surface of the second cylinder 30 and the end portion of the first cylinder 20. The decorative ring 40 is the first cylinder 2
0 is attached to the end of the outer peripheral surface.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the lens barrel 10. The support member 50 has a support hole 2 for supporting the support member 50.
6, the inner peripheral surface of the decorative ring 40, and the outer peripheral surface of the second cylinder 30 are laterally surrounded. A plurality of support members 50 are arranged on the outer peripheral surface of the second cylinder 30 at regular intervals.

In this way, the support member 50 has the second cylinder 30.
By arranging a plurality of them on the outer peripheral surface, the supporting member 50 can absorb more load when a load from the direction perpendicular to the optical axis direction is applied from the outside.
Further, since the support members 50 are arranged on the outer peripheral surface of the second cylinder 30 at regular intervals, when the load from the direction perpendicular to the optical axis direction is applied from the outside, the support members 50 are
Since it can absorb loads from all directions,
It is possible to prevent the taper cam pin 32 from coming into contact with the cam groove 22.

Since the support member 50 is spherical, the second cylinder 30 can smoothly rotate the inner peripheral surface of the first cylinder 20 and relatively move in the optical axis direction.

Therefore, the support member 50 can move without damaging the outer peripheral surface of the second cylinder 30.

As shown in FIG. 2, a play is provided between the tapered cam pin 32 and the cam groove 22.
On the other hand, between the outer peripheral surface of the second cylinder 30 and the inner peripheral surface of the first cylinder 20 that sandwich the support member 50, the play provided between the tapered cam-shaped pin 32 and the cam groove 22 is smaller than There is play.

If the material of the support member 50 is made to have a certain degree of elasticity, the inner peripheral surface of the first cylinder 20 will have the following characteristics when an external load is applied in the direction perpendicular to the optical axis direction. The cam groove 22 does not come into contact with the tapered cam-shaped pin 32 because it comes into contact with the support member 50 and the elastic support member 50 absorbs the load.

Therefore, it is possible to prevent the taper cam pin 32 and the cam groove 22 from being damaged when a load is applied from the outside in the direction perpendicular to the optical axis direction.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the area 42 shown in FIG. The decorative ring 40 has an elastic portion 44 on the outer peripheral surface.
The elastic portion 44 is formed by cutting the outer peripheral surface of the decorative ring 40 into a substantially U-shape. The support member 50 is arranged on the inner peripheral surface side of the elastic portion 44. Here, the elastic portion 44
May have a substantially V shape or any other shape, as long as a part of the decorative ring 40 is curved away from the other part.

As a result, the support member 50 has a wider range of play between the inner peripheral surface of the decorative ring 40 and the outer peripheral surface of the second cylinder 30 in the direction perpendicular to the optical axis. Further, the support member 50 can absorb the load by pushing the elastic portion 44 to the outside when the load is applied from the outer peripheral surface of the second cylinder 30 in the outer direction perpendicular to the optical axis.

Therefore, the second cylinder 30 smoothly moves to the first cylinder.
The inner peripheral surface of the cylinder 20 can be rotated and relatively moved. Further, the support member 50 can move without damaging the outer peripheral surface of the second cylinder 30.

Next, a modification of this embodiment will be described. FIG. 5 is a modification of the vertical cross-sectional view of the lens barrel 10. In the lens barrel 10 according to the present embodiment, the first cylinder 20 and the decorative ring 40 are provided as separate bodies, but instead of this, in the present example, the first cylinder 20 and the decorative ring 40 are provided. Are provided integrally. As a result, the number of parts can be reduced.

Although the present invention has been described using the embodiments, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope described in the above embodiments. Various changes or improvements can be added to the above-described embodiment. A mode in which such changes or improvements are added may be included in the technical scope of the present invention.
It is clear from the description of the claims.

[0029]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a lens barrel having high strength.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a lens barrel 10 according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of a lens barrel 10.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a lens barrel 10.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a region 42 shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a modification of the vertical cross-sectional view of the lens barrel 10.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Lens barrel 20 First cylinder 22 Cam groove 24 protrusions 26 Support holes 30 Second cylinder 32 Taper cam pin 40 Makeup Ring 50 Support member

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A first cylinder having a spiral groove on its inner peripheral surface, and a second cylinder connected to the inner circumference of the first cylinder by a cam groove.
And a support that is provided between the first cylinder and the second cylinder at a position corresponding to an end of the first cylinder, and supports the second cylinder on the first inner surface. A lens barrel comprising a member. 2. The first cylinder has a recess on the inner peripheral surface of the end portion, the support member is spherical, and is rotatably fitted in the recess of the first cylinder. Claim 1 characterized by the above-mentioned.
The lens barrel described in. 3. The lens mirror according to claim 1, further comprising an elastic portion provided on the first cylinder and absorbing a movement of the support member in a radial direction of the first cylinder. Cylinder.