JP2003287796A - Click type dial mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a click type dial mechanism wherein individual spring force is stable to make click feeling uniform and assembling is easy even in the case of its mass-production. <P>SOLUTION: This click type dial mechanism comprises a mode knob 9 having a boss spindle 10 with a female screw formed at the center of the spindle, a click plate 12 supported at the rear face of the mode knob 9 and having a plurality of click groove holes 13 in a circumferential direction, a base member 15 attached to the mode knob 9 through the boss spindle 10 and having at least one pair of penetrating cylindrical spindles 17 at the position corresponding to the click groove wholes 13 of the click plate 12, balls 29 engaged with the click groove holes 13 of the click plate 12 while housed in the spindles 17 of the base member 15, a coil spring 30 housed in the spindles 17 and for pressing the balls 29 toward the click plate 12, and a base metal plate 31 for compressing the coil spring 30. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a click dial mechanism suitable for use in a mode switching dial of an image pickup device such as a camera, and more specifically, by using a ball and a coil spring, click can be performed in mass production. This is to make the feel even.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a rotary click dial is generally used for switching modes of a camera. The click feel of this click dial has a great influence on the texture of the set, and it is required that the feel is good.

FIG. 10 shows an example of a conventional click dial using a leaf spring. Reference numeral 50 is a rotary dial having knurls 50a on its peripheral surface. A click plate 52 having a large number of click groove holes 51 in a circle is attached to the back surface of the dial 50, and the click plate 52 is cut and raised. One locking piece 53 is locked in a locking groove (not shown) of the dial 50 so as not to rotate. Further, reference numeral 54 is a leaf spring made of a metal annular member, and the leaf spring 54 is bent and bent so that the left and right sides have spring properties with respect to the fixing portions 55, 55, and the bent portion has a spherical surface portion. 56,56 have been launched.

The leaf spring 54 is screwed to a base member (not shown), and when the click plate is rotated together with the dial 50, the bending of the leaf spring 54 with respect to the click groove 51 of the click plate 52 is utilized to make a spherical surface portion 56. Is engaged and disengaged, and a click feeling is given.

[0005]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional click dial, the leaf spring 54 provides the click feeling, so that the spring force of each leaf spring is not stable in mass production, and the so-called click feeling varies. There was a problem that occurred.

As a click dial of this type, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-156129, there is a ball and a coil spring that give a click feeling, but it takes time to assemble the ball and the coil spring. There was a problem in assembly workability.

Furthermore, the click feeling may change even if the dimensions of the parts differ by 1/100 unit. If different parts are used even in one of the sets, the click feeling may change, and therefore, the click feeling may be partially changed. It was difficult to divert the parts to other models or change the knob to change the rotation angle.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and even in mass production, individual spring forces can be stabilized and the click feeling can be made uniform, and the workability of assembling can be facilitated. The purpose is to obtain such a click dial mechanism.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a click type dial mechanism according to the present invention has a dial body having a boss shaft having a female screw formed at the center and a back surface of the dial body, which is circumferentially supported. A click plate having a plurality of click groove holes, a base member having at least a pair of penetrating cylindrical shafts inserted into the dial main body through the boss shafts thereof and assembled at a position corresponding to the click groove holes of the click plate; The ball is accommodated in the tubular shaft of the member and is engaged with the click groove hole of the click plate, the coil spring is accommodated in the tubular shaft and urges the ball toward the click plate, and the coil spring is compressed. It is composed of a base metal plate to hold down.

According to the above-mentioned click type dial mechanism, since the click feeling is provided by using the ball and the coil spring, there is no variation in the click feeling and the individual spring force is stable and the click feeling is provided even in mass production. Can be uniform.

After assembling the click plate to the dial main body and the base member to the dial main body, the ball and the coil spring are dropped in this order from the cylindrical shaft of the base member, and the base metal plate is screwed from the back of the base member. As a result, the ball and the coil spring can be easily assembled with good workability.

[0012]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of a click dial mechanism according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings by taking a click dial of a mode switching dial of a camera as an example.

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a camera using a disk as a recording medium, FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of a mode switching dial, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the mode switching dial in a separated state as seen obliquely from above. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the separated state of the mode switching dial as seen obliquely from below.
2 is a plan view taken along the line AA of FIG. 2, and FIG. 6 is a plan view cut along the line BB of FIG.

First, the main part of the camera will be described with reference to FIG. Reference numeral 1 denotes a camera body, a photographing lens 2 is provided on the front side of the camera body 1, a disc such as a CD as a recording medium is accommodated in the camera body 1, and a back cover is provided by sliding a knob 3. 4 is opened so that the disc can be taken in and out.

Reference numeral 5 is a mode switching dial having a click function, and the mode switching dial 5 will be described in detail below. Reference numeral 6 is a shutter button, 7 is a sound collecting microphone, and 8 is a pop-up strobe.

The mode switching dial 5 is a mode knob 9 having a knurl 9a formed on the outer peripheral surface whose uppermost portion is the dial body. A boss shaft 10 formed with a female screw 10a is projectingly provided at the center of the back surface of the mode knob 9, and three concave surfaces 11 are formed on the back surface peripheral surface of the mode knob 9. On the back of the mode knob 9, its boss shaft 10
The click plate 12 having the hole 12a inserted therein is inserted. A large number (8 in the embodiment) of click groove holes 13 are opened in a circle around the click plate 12, and three locking pieces 14 are cut and raised on the outer peripheral portion of the click plate 12. The three locking pieces 14 are locked to the concave surface 11 of the mode knob 9 so as not to rotate. Figure 6
Is a state in which the mode knob 9 and the click plate 12 are assembled.

On the other hand, reference numeral 15 is a mode base, and a central cylindrical shaft 16 is provided so as to project upward at the center of the mode base 15, and two cylindrical shafts 17, 17 are provided outside the central cylindrical shaft 16. It is protruding. Further, two rib-shaped walls 18, 18 are erected on the mode base 15, and further, three hook-shaped holes 19 are opened in the mode base 15.

A power ring 21 having a power knob 20 is mounted on the mode base 15 described above.
The power ring 21 has a hole 22 at the center thereof, which is inserted into the central cylindrical shaft 16 of the mode base 15, and the cylindrical shafts 17 and 17 of the mode base 15 and the rib-shaped wall 1 are provided around the hole 22.
Window holes 23, 23 through which 8 and 18 penetrate are opened.
Also, on the back surface of the power ring 21, three rib-shaped projections 2 are provided.
4, the rib-shaped projections 24 are inserted into the three hook-shaped holes 19 of the mode base 15, and the power ring 21 is assembled so as to be rotatable within a predetermined rotation range. Then, the power spring 25 is inserted into the central cylindrical shaft 16 of the mode base 15 which is made to project from the hole 22 of the power ring 21, and one end 25a of the power spring 25 is supported by the support hole 21a of the power ring 21. Since the other end 25b of the spring 25 is supported by the rib-shaped wall 18 of the mode base 15, the urging force of the power knob 20 is rotated after the power knob 20 is rotated counterclockwise as shown in FIG. When opened, it returns to the return position. In addition, power knob 2
When 0 is operated, one rib-shaped protrusion 24 turns on a power switch (not shown), and the camera is put in a shooting standby state.

The mode base 1 assembled as described above
5 and the power ring 21, the central cylinder shaft 16 of the mode base 15 is inserted into the boss shaft 10 of the mode knob 9, the mode knob presser 26 is inserted into the central cylinder shaft 16 from the back surface of the mode base 15, and the screw 27 Is fixed to the female screw 10 a of the boss shaft 10. The mode knob presser 26 is provided with a bifurcated operation portion 28. Further, in the assembled state to the mode knob 9, the cylindrical shaft 17 protruding from the mode base 15,
The tip portion of 17 corresponds to the click slot 13 of the click plate 12.

Next, the cylindrical shafts 17 and 1 of the mode base 15
The balls 29, 29 are dropped from 7, and the coil springs 30, 30 are inserted from behind. Then, the rear ends of the coil springs 30, 30 are pressed by the base sheet metal 31. The base sheet metal 31 has holes 32, 32 formed in it.
Is engaged with the protrusions 33, 33 protruding from the mode base 15 and positioned, and screws 35, 35 are tightened into the screw holes 36, 36 of the mode base 15 from the holes 34, 34 formed in the base sheet metal 31. Fixing completes the assembly of the click dial mechanism according to the present invention.

The click type dial mechanism according to the present invention having the above-described structure has a coil spring 30 as shown in FIG.
The balls 29, 29 are engaged with the click groove holes 13 of the click plate 12 by the spring biasing force of 30. That is, it is possible to obtain a click feeling by the position where the balls 29, 29 ride up from the click groove hole 13 and the position where the ball 29 is engaged with the click groove hole 13 by the rotation operation of the mode knob 9. The click feeling is obtained by the coil spring 30. A uniform click feeling can be obtained by the constant spring urging force of 30, 30.

In particular, the click dial mechanism according to the present invention makes it very easy to assemble the ball 29 and the coil spring 30 into the set. That is, as shown in FIG. 7, when the mode knob 9, the click plate 12, the mode base 15, and the power ring 21 are assembled and turned upside down, the cylindrical shafts 17, 1 of the mode base 15 are assembled.
7, the balls 29, 29 are first dropped, and then the coil springs 30, 30 are inserted into the cylindrical shafts 17, 17, and the base sheet metal 31 holds the coil springs 30, 30. In this respect, in the case of the conventional click mechanism using the ball and the coil spring, the work of picking and placing the ball on the coil spring with, for example, tweezers is not necessary at all, and the present invention greatly improves the workability of assembly. Can be improved.

In this embodiment, the mode knob 9 has 36
The click operation is performed over the rotation angle of 0 degree. As an example, the modes of the mode knob 9 are, as shown in FIG. 8, an auto shooting mode 37, a reproduction mode 38, a movie mode 39,
Setup various setting modes 40, night view shooting mode 4
1, manual shooting mode 42, aperture priority mode 43,
The shutter priority mode 44 is displayed. In each of these modes, the marker 45 is clicked over 360 degrees.

The mode knob 9 may be clicked over a rotation range of 180 degrees. The modes of the mode knob 9 in this case are, as shown in FIG. 9, an auto shooting mode 37, a reproduction mode 38, and a movie mode 3.
9. A setup various setting mode 40 and a night view photographing mode 41 are displayed. By the way, the mode knob 9 is 18
To set the rotation range of 0 degree, a setting rib 46 is provided from the rear surface of the mode knob 9 as shown in FIG.
The rotation of the mode knob 9 is regulated by hitting the side surfaces of the rib-shaped walls 18, 18 as shown in FIG. 5 as the mode knob 9 rotates.

It should be noted that, regardless of whether the mode knob 9 is rotated over 360 degrees or in a rotation range of 180 degrees, the bifurcated mode knob retainer is integrally rotated with the click operation of the mode knob 9. The operation unit 28 of 26 allows switching of the mode by sliding a pin on the mode circuit side (not shown).

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and shown in the drawings, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

The click type dial mechanism of the present invention has been described in the case of the mode switching dial in this example, but the present invention is not limited to this and can be widely applied to various dial type click mechanisms.

[0028]

As described above, since the click dial mechanism according to the present invention uses the ball and the coil spring to give the click feeling, there is no variation in the click feeling and the individual spring force is exerted even in mass production. Is stable and the click feeling can be made uniform.

Further, the ball and the coil spring are dropped in this order from the cylindrical shaft of the base member, and the base metal plate is screwed from the back of the base member to assemble the base member.
The assembly of the ball and the coil spring can be greatly improved with good workability.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a camera equipped with a click dial.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a mode switching dial of this example.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the mode switching dial as seen from diagonally above and in a separated state.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the separated state of the mode switching dial as seen obliquely from below.

5 is a plan view taken along the line AA of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the same taken along the line BB in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing how a ball and a coil spring are dropped into a set.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of a 360-degree rotating mode knob.

FIG. 9 is a plan view of a 180-degree rotating mode knob.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a conventional click dial using a leaf spring in a separated state.

[Explanation of symbols]

5 ... Mode switching dial, 9 ... Mode knob, 10
... boss shafts 10, 12 ... click plate, 13 ... click slot, 15 ... mode base, 17 ... cylindrical shaft, 21 ... power ring, 29 ... ball, 30 ... coil spring, 31 ... base sheet metal

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A dial main body having a boss shaft having a female screw formed at the center, a click plate supported on the back surface of the dial main body and having a plurality of click groove holes in the circumferential direction, and the boss shaft of the dial main body. It is inserted and assembled,
A base member having at least a pair of penetrating cylindrical shafts at positions corresponding to the click groove holes of the click plate, and engaged with the click groove holes of the click plate in a state of being housed in the cylindrical shaft of the base member. Click dial mechanism comprising: a ball, a coil spring housed in the tubular shaft and urging the ball toward the click plate, and a base metal plate that holds the coil spring in a compressed state. . 2. The click type dial mechanism according to claim 1, wherein a click plate is attached to the dial body, the base member is attached to the dial body, and then the ball from the tubular shaft of the base member A click dial mechanism characterized in that the coil springs are dropped in order, and the base metal plate is screwed from behind the base member to assemble.