JP2003244512A - Digital still camera - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To suppress the noise superimposed upon image data to the minimum, without spoiling the easy operation of a digital still camera. <P>SOLUTION: The digital still camera is provided with an image processing circuit board 22 mounted with an image processing circuit for processing image signals, a power source circuit board 21 mounted with a power source circuit, and an external power supply terminal 32 for receiving power from an external power source. The still camera is also provided with a digital signal output terminal 31 for outputting processed image signals to the outside as digital image signals and an analog signal output terminal 33 for outputting image signals to the outside as analog image data. The still camera is also provided with a third board 23 separately from the circuit boards 22 and 21, and at the same time, the external power supply terminal 32 is provided on the power source circuit board 21 or the third board 23. In addition, the analog signal output terminal 33 is provided on the third board 23, in the same direction as that of the power supply terminal 32, and the digital signal output terminal 31 is provided on the image processing circuit board 22 in the same direction as that of the power supply terminal 32. <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 digital still camera in which the arrangement of a plurality of substrates and a plurality of terminals is devised.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A digital still camera receives a subject light flux that has passed through a photographic lens by an image pickup device such as a CCD, subjects an analog image signal output from the image pickup device to predetermined image processing, and then outputs it as digital image data. Record on a memory card. The recorded image data can be transferred to a personal computer or the like from a digital signal output terminal such as a USB terminal after being subjected to predetermined image processing, and the image can be viewed or retouched on the personal computer. Further, many digital still cameras are equipped with a video terminal (analog signal output terminal), so that image data can be viewed on a television screen or the like. Further, an AC power source can be used in addition to the power source battery, and an external power source terminal therefor is also provided.

[0003]

As described above, a digital still camera is generally provided with at least three terminals of an external power source terminal, a digital signal output terminal and an analog signal output terminal. Depending on the position, there are problems that noise is superimposed on the output signal and usability becomes poor.

An object of the present invention is to provide a digital still camera in which the superposition of noise on image data is minimized without impairing usability.

[0005]

According to the present invention, an image processing circuit board having an image processing circuit for processing an image signal obtained by an image pickup device mounted thereon and a power supply circuit board having a power supply circuit mounted thereon are provided. An external power supply terminal for receiving power from an external power supply, a digital signal output terminal for outputting an image-processed image signal to the outside as digital image data, and an external output of the image signal as analog image data It is applied to a digital still camera having an analog signal output terminal. An image processing circuit board and a third board different from the power supply circuit board are provided, external power supply terminals are provided on the power supply circuit board or the third board, and analog signal output terminals are provided on the third board. In the same direction as the external power supply terminal, the digital signal output terminal is provided on the image processing circuit board in the same direction as the external power supply terminal, thereby solving the above problem. According to the second aspect of the invention, these three terminals are arranged so as to be substantially co-linear so that the analog signal output terminal is located between the external power supply terminal and the digital signal output terminal. According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a first cover forming an appearance of the camera body, and a first cover.
A second cover located below the cover of the
A hole for exposing any one or two of the external power supply terminal, the digital signal output terminal and the analog signal output terminal is provided in the cover of, and a hole for exposing the remaining terminals is provided in the second cover, It is configured such that these three holes are covered with a single lid member. The invention of claim 4 is
The power supply circuit board is arranged substantially horizontally in the space near the bottom surface of the camera body, and the image processing circuit board is arranged substantially horizontally on the bottom side of the power supply circuit board. According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the third substrate is disposed above the power supply circuit substrate in a substantially vertical direction, and the external power supply terminal and the analog signal output terminal are provided on the third substrate. According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the tripod mount is attached to the bottom surface of the camera body, and either the power circuit board or the image processing circuit board is arranged substantially horizontally along the bottom surface, and the tripod seat is mounted on the horizontally arranged board. The hole or notch is formed to avoid

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention applied to a single-lens reflex type digital still camera will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the internal configuration of the camera of this embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the same appearance. The camera body 10 is provided with a mirror box 1 for accommodating the main mirror 1a at substantially the center thereof, and a part of the subject light flux that has passed through the taking lens 2 is reflected by the main mirror 1a and observed by a finder. At the time of shooting, the mirror 1a is flipped up and retracts from the shooting optical path, and the subject light flux passes through a shutter and an unillustrated image sensor (for example, CC
The light is received by D). The left end portion of the camera body 10 in the figure is a grip portion 11 that bulges to the front.
A power supply battery 12 is housed inside.

A power supply circuit board 21 is horizontally arranged immediately below the mirror box 1, and a power supply circuit including a DC / DC converter and the like is mounted on the power supply circuit board 21.
In the present embodiment, the power supply battery 12 and the AC power supply can be used as the power supply. An image processing circuit board 22 is horizontally arranged below the power supply circuit board 21, and an image signal picked up by an image sensor is A /
An image processing circuit for D conversion or compression in a predetermined format, a circuit for recording digitally converted image data in a memory card (not shown), and a circuit for outputting the recorded digital image data to the outside are mounted. Has been done. A digital signal output terminal 31 is fixed to the right end of the image processing circuit board 22 in the figure so as to face the right side.

The digital signal output terminal 31 is, for example, US
B terminal and IEEE terminal correspond to this, and this terminal 31
The recorded digital image data can be output to the external device by connecting the same type terminal on the external device (for example, a personal computer) side with a cable. When outputting data, first, image data is read from the memory card, the image data is subjected to predetermined image processing, and then output from the digital signal output terminal 31. The image processing at this time is also performed by the circuit on the image processing circuit board 22.

In this embodiment, since the image processing circuit and the digital signal output terminal 31 are provided on the same substrate 22, the noise superimposed on the output signal can be minimized. Incidentally, when the digital signal output terminal 31 and the image processing circuit are provided on different boards, noise may be generated in the signal in the process of transferring the image-processed image data to the digital signal output terminal 31 on another board. Easy to ride.
Further, in the present embodiment, since the digital signal output terminal 31 is not on the power supply circuit board 21, superposition of noise from the power supply circuit can be suppressed to the minimum.

A terminal mounting substrate (third substrate) 23 is arranged vertically above the power supply circuit substrate 21. This substrate 23 is located on the right side of the mirror box 1,
An external power supply terminal 32 is fixed to the upper part and an analog signal output terminal 33 is fixed to the lower part of the back surface of the substrate 23 (the surface on the rear surface side of the camera). The external power supply terminal 32 is a terminal for using an AC power supply, and is connected to an AC adapter (not shown). The analog signal output terminal 33 is, for example, a video signal output terminal, and image data can be viewed on a television screen or the like by connecting a video cable.

The external power supply terminal 32 and the analog signal output terminal 33 are oriented in the same direction as the digital signal output terminal 31 on the image processing circuit board 22 (on the right side in the drawing), and the three terminals 31 to 33 are in the vertical direction of the camera. Arrangement positions of the terminals and the substrate 23 are determined so that they are arranged in a straight line at substantially equal intervals. Since the analog signal output terminal 33 is provided not on the power supply circuit board 21 but on the other board 23, it is possible to minimize the superimposition of noise from the power supply circuit on the output analog image signal. .

The above-mentioned mirror box 1 and substrates 21 and 2
As shown in FIG. 2, the camera constituent members such as 3 are the upper cover 5
1, side cover (first cover) 52, bottom cover (second)
Cover) 53 and the like. Rectangular recesses 52A and 53A are formed on the right side surfaces of the side cover 52 and the bottom cover 53, and holes 52a and 52b for exposing the external power supply terminal 32 and the analog signal output terminal 33 are formed on the bottom surface of the recess 52A. Are formed. Further, a hole 53a for exposing the digital signal output terminal 31 is formed on the bottom surface of the recess 53A.

When the covers 51 to 53 are attached, the recesses 52A and 53A communicate with each other to form one recess, and the cover member 54 is provided in the recess so as to be openable and closable to expose / conceal the terminals 31 to 33. Is possible. As described above, since the three terminals 31 to 33 are arranged in the same direction, the three terminals can be exposed from the same surface of the camera body 10, and a single lid member 54 is sufficient. The lid member 54 is made of rubber, for example, and is illustrated as being separated from the camera body 10 in the drawing, but is actually connected to the camera body 10.

Here, the digital signal output terminal 31 is used when image data is sent to an external device as described above. At that time, in order to suppress the consumption of the power supply battery 12, A
C power source is often used. In this case, connectors are connected to both the digital signal output terminal 31 and the external power supply terminal 32, but since the analog signal output terminal 33 is interposed between both terminals 31 and 32 in the present embodiment, both ends are connected. The children 31 and 32 can be separated from each other in a distance, which is convenient when the connectors are simultaneously connected to both terminals. Although the analog signal output terminal 33 and the external power supply terminal 32 which are adjacent to each other may be used at the same time, the frequency of use of the analog signal output terminal 33 is usually extremely lower than that of the digital signal output terminal 31.

A tripod seat 41 is arranged on the bottom surface of the camera body 10, and FIG. 3 shows a cross section of that portion. Tripod seat 4
1 has a screw hole 41a, and is fixed by being fitted into a hole 53b of the bottom cover 53. The top of the tripod seat 41 is located in the hole 22a formed in the image processing circuit board 22. That is, the hole 22a is formed on the substrate 22 and the tripod seat 41.
This is for avoiding interference with the height of the camera. Incidentally, the hole 22a
Is not provided, the tripod seat 41 and the image processing circuit board 22 need to be arranged vertically apart from each other so as not to interfere with each other, which increases the height of the camera. The hole 22a may be a notch.

Further, in this embodiment, the image processing circuit board 2
2 is provided on the bottom side of the power supply circuit board 21, the power supply circuit board 21 is first installed from the bottom side of the camera, and then the image processing circuit board 22 is installed when the boards 21 and 22 are installed. . With the configuration in which the power supply circuit board 21 is assembled first, power can be supplied to each part of the camera even when the image processing board 22 is not installed, and each part can be easily inspected.

Although the terminals 31 to 33 are oriented to the right side in the above description, they may be oriented to the left side. Alternatively, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the terminals 31 to 33 may be directed forward. Further, the terminals 31 to 33 are oriented from the top to the external power supply terminal 32,
Analog signal output terminal 33, digital signal output terminal 32
However, the order does not matter, for example, the external power supply terminal 32
The position of the digital signal output terminal 32 may be reversed.

Although the external power supply terminal 32 is provided on the board 23, it may be provided on the power supply circuit board 21. Figure 1
In this example, if the external power supply terminal 32 is provided on the power supply circuit board 21, the external power supply terminal 32 and the digital signal output terminal 31 are close to each other in distance, but in this case, the external power supply terminal 32 is placed on the upper surface of the board 21, The signal output terminal 32 is connected to the substrate 22.
They can be separated from each other by fixing them to the lower surface of the so that the usability is not impaired. Further, the positions of the power supply circuit board 21 and the image processing circuit board 22 may be opposite to each other. Further, although the description has been given for the single-lens reflex type digital still camera, the present invention can be applied to other types of digital still cameras.

[0019]

As described above, according to the present invention, the third substrate different from the image processing circuit board and the power supply circuit board is provided, and the external power supply terminal is provided on the power supply circuit board or the third board. The analog signal output terminal was provided on the third substrate in the same direction as the external power supply terminal, and the digital signal output terminal was provided on the image processing circuit board in the same direction as the external power supply terminal. Since the digital signal output terminal is thus provided on the image processing circuit board, the image signal processed by the image processing circuit can be output from the output terminal on the same board as the image processing circuit. It is possible to reduce the noise superimposed on the. Further, since neither the digital signal output terminal nor the analog signal output terminal is provided on the power supply circuit board, there is an advantage that noise generated from the power supply circuit is hard to be transmitted to each output signal. Further, since the three terminals are all oriented in the same direction, the three terminals can be centrally arranged on a single surface of the camera body, are easy to use and do not spoil the appearance.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an internal configuration of a digital still camera according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the camera.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a mounting structure for a tripod seat.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an internal configuration of a digital still camera according to another embodiment.

5 is a perspective view showing the external appearance of the camera shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 mirror box 10 camera body 12 power battery 21 power circuit board 22 Image processing circuit board 23 Terminal mounting board (third board) 22a hole 31 Digital signal output terminal 32 External power supply terminal 33 Analog signal output terminal 41 Tripod 41a Tripod screw hole 51 Top cover 52 Side cover 52A, 53A recess 52a, 52b, 53a Hole for exposing terminals 53 Bottom cover 53b Hole for tripod seat 54 Lid member

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An image processing circuit board on which an image processing circuit for processing an image signal obtained by an image pickup device is mounted, a power supply circuit board on which a power supply circuit is mounted, and power supply from an external power supply. External power supply terminal, a digital signal output terminal for outputting the image-processed image signal to the outside as digital image data, and an analog signal output terminal for outputting the image signal to the outside as analog image data. In the digital still camera, a third substrate different from the image processing circuit board and the power supply circuit board is provided, and the external power supply terminal is provided on the power supply circuit board or the third board, and the analog signal is provided. Output terminals are provided on the third board in the same direction as the external power supply terminals, and the digital signal output terminals are provided on the image processing circuit board. Digital still cameras, characterized in that it is provided with an external power supply terminal and the same direction. 2. The three terminals are arranged on substantially the same straight line so that an analog signal output terminal is located between the external power supply terminal and the digital signal output terminal. Digital still camera. 3. A first cover forming an external appearance of the camera body, and a second cover located below the first cover, wherein the first cover has the external power supply terminal and a digital signal output. A hole for exposing any one or two of the terminal and the analog signal output terminal is provided, a hole for exposing the remaining terminal is provided in the second cover, and these three holes are provided as a single lid member. The digital still camera according to claim 1, wherein the digital still camera is configured to be covered with. 4. The power supply circuit board is arranged substantially horizontally in the space near the bottom surface of the camera body, and the image processing circuit board is arranged substantially horizontally further on the bottom surface side than the power supply circuit board. The digital still camera according to claim 1. 5. The third board is arranged above the power supply circuit board in a substantially vertical direction, and the external power supply terminal and the analog signal output terminal are provided on the third board. Item 4. The digital still camera according to item 4. 6. A tripod mount is attached to a bottom surface of a camera body, and one of the power supply circuit board and the image processing circuit board is disposed substantially horizontally along the bottom surface, and the board disposed horizontally is provided with the tripod mount. The digital still camera according to claim 1, wherein a hole or a notch is formed to avoid the tripod mount.