JP2003309632A - Portable telephone with zoom lens - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a portable telephone with a camera which has a variable magnifying mechanism by an optical zoom and which can simply photograph without depending upon a photographing direction. <P>SOLUTION: The portable telephone with the camera comprises: a photographing lens 60 in an antenna 22 provided on the side face of an operating unit 14; the variable magnifying mechanism by the optical zoom having a plurality of zoom lenses; and an imaging element 58. A rotatable rotary plate 20 is provided between a liquid crystal monitor 16 and a hinge 18. The monitor 16 can be turned at an angle of 0° to 360° with respect to the hinge 18, and can be freely stopped at a desired angle by a frictional function. <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 camera-equipped mobile phone having a digital camera function.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various types of camera-equipped mobile phones have been invented. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-22392
In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4 (1994), in a mobile phone body provided with a digital camera, a first photographing window provided on a surface on which display means for displaying an image is arranged and a second photographing window provided on the back surface thereof. By providing a window and blocking either one of the input light from the first shooting window and the second shooting window,
A mobile phone with a camera is disclosed in which the input light from the other photographing window is focused on the display means. With this camera-equipped mobile phone, it is possible to switch the shooting direction without moving the trend means. For example, when shooting the user himself / herself, the shooting window located on the same surface as the display means is used for the LCD monitor. You can shoot while looking at the displayed through image. When photographing another person, the photographing window provided on the back surface of the display means may be used.

[0003]

However, in the conventional camera-equipped mobile phone as described above, since the taking lens is provided on the front surface or the back surface of the mobile phone main body, it is possible to reduce the size and thickness of the mobile phone main body. Along with this, the distance from the taking lens to the image pickup device is also short, and it is impossible to construct a camera-equipped mobile phone provided with a variable magnification mechanism by optical zoom. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a camera-equipped mobile phone equipped with a variable power mechanism by optical zoom.

Further, it is desirable that the user can perform zoom photographing while looking at the through image displayed on the display means regardless of the photographing direction, and can easily determine the photographing range.

[0005]

A portable telephone with a zoom lens according to the present invention is arranged between an operation section having operation buttons, an LCD monitor section having an LCD monitor, and the operation section and the LCD monitor section. The hinge section, a rotary plate rotatably provided between the liquid crystal monitor section and the hinge section, and an antenna section attached to the operation section. The operation unit and the liquid crystal monitor unit are a pair of flat casings, and are structured to be foldable via a hinge unit. Inside the antenna part which is the dead space of the mobile phone main body, there is a shooting lens,
An optical zooming mechanism having a plurality of zoom lenses and an image pickup device are arranged in parallel.

Further, the rotating plate provided between the liquid crystal monitor and the hinge allows the liquid crystal monitor to be rotated at an angle of 0 to 360 degrees with respect to the hinge, and a desired friction function is provided. You can stop at any angle. As a result, the user can view the through image zoomed in or out by rotating the liquid crystal monitor regardless of the shooting direction, and can easily determine the zoom magnification and the shooting range.

[0007]

1 is an external perspective view of a mobile phone 10 with a zoom lens adopting the present invention. The mobile phone body 12 includes an operation unit 14, a liquid crystal monitor unit 16, and an operation unit 1.
4 and the liquid crystal monitor unit 16, which includes a hinge unit 18 serving as a hinge, a rotary plate 20 provided between the liquid crystal monitor unit 16 and the hinge unit 18, and an antenna unit 22 connected to a side surface of the operation unit 14. To be done.

The operation unit 14 includes a large number of operation buttons 24 for operating the mobile phone body 12, a mode setting button 26 for changing the mode between a telephone use mode and a digital camera use mode, and a digital camera use mode. A shutter button 28 for taking a picture and a microphone 30 which serves as a telephone receiver and collects voice are provided. A liquid crystal monitor 32 that displays communication information and images is displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 16.
And a speaker 34 which is paired with the microphone 30 and plays a role of a telephone receiver.

The antenna section 22 functions as an antenna when the mobile phone main body 12 is set in the telephone use mode, and functions as a photographing mechanism when the digital camera use mode is set. The antenna unit 2 will be described in detail later.
2 is provided with a spirally wound coil antenna and an image pickup mechanism provided with a zooming mechanism using a plurality of zoom lenses.

The hinge portion 18 is a hollow cylinder, and plays a role of a hinge between the operation portion 14 and the liquid crystal monitor portion 16. The liquid crystal monitor unit 16 has a structure rotatable around a hinge unit 18, and can be opened and closed with respect to the operation unit 14. The hinge portion 18 is provided with a click structure so that the liquid crystal monitor portion 16 can maintain its posture in the closed state, the 90 degree opened state, and the 180 degree opened state. Free stop can be performed at a desired angle in the range of 180 degrees to 180 degrees. Further, a zoom magnification adjusting dial 36 is provided at one end of the hinge portion 18, and a rotary shaft 38 provided vertically from the zoom magnification adjusting dial 36 penetrates the inside of the hinge portion 18, and the other end of the hinge portion 18 is provided. Antenna part 2
2 is connected to a shaft gear 40 provided inside. Although described in detail later, for this reason, the user can operate the magnification changing mechanism provided in the antenna unit 22 by rotating the zoom magnification adjusting dial 36.

The rotary plate 20 disposed between the liquid crystal monitor unit 16 and the hinge unit 18 has a structure in which the liquid crystal monitor unit 16 can be rotated about an axis of rotation 42 at an angle of 0 to 360 degrees. There is. The rotary plate 20 has a click structure capable of holding its posture in a state of being rotated by 0 degrees and a state of being rotated by 180 degrees around the rotary shaft 42. Also, at other angles, the friction function allows free stop at a desired angle, and the angle can be adjusted to a user-friendly angle.

The structure of the photographing mechanism provided in the antenna section 22 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the antenna unit 22. The antenna section body 44 is composed of a conical outer case 46 fixed to the side surface of the operation section 14 and an antenna housing section 48 provided at the tip thereof. The inside of the outer case 46 is hollow, and the inside is 2
An image pickup device 58 is provided with a zooming mechanism including the zoom lenses 50 and 52, the cam 54, and the expansion tube 56. On the other hand, the antenna housing portion 48 is formed by winding a spiral coil antenna 62 around the outer circumference of a cylinder into which the taking lens 60 is fitted, and for the purpose of protecting the coil antenna 62, the antenna housing portion 48 is covered with a cover 64. There is.

Next, with reference to FIG. 3, the structure of the zooming mechanism provided by the optical zoom in the outer case 46 will be described.
FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the antenna unit 22. Cam groove 5
A cam 54 provided with a large gear 66 protruding from the cam gear 4a is rotatably provided, and the large gear 66 is arranged so as to vertically mesh with the shaft gear 40 provided in the outer case 46. A slider 68 is fixedly mounted on the expansion tube 56, and the slider 68 is connected to the cam groove 54.
Straight guide groove 7 carved on the back surface of the outer case 46 through a.
It is fitted into 0 and can slide in the straight guide groove 70. The first zoom lens 50 is arranged in the expansion tube 56, and the second zoom lens 52 is arranged in the cam 54. The antenna housing portion 48 is adhered to one end of the expansion tube 56.

The rotating shaft 38 of the shaft gear 40 has a hinge portion 18
Since it is connected to a zoom magnification adjusting dial 36 provided at the other end of the hinge portion 18 by penetrating the inside thereof, when the zoom magnification adjusting dial 36 is rotated, the cam 54 is moved through the shaft gear 40 and the large gear 66. As the cam groove 54a is rotated, the slider 68 is pushed and moved, and the expansion tube 56 and the antenna housing section 48 adhered to the expansion tube 56 are moved to the central axis 7 of the antenna section.
Move in two directions. The first zoom lens 50 is a telescopic tube 5.
Since it is fixed inside 6, the distance between the first zoom lens 50 and the second zoom lens 52 fixed inside the cam 54 changes, and the zoom magnification changes.

The operation of the mobile phone 10 with a zoom lens configured as described above will be described. The user can perform a predetermined operation with the mode setting button 26 provided on the operation unit 14 to change the mode between the telephone use mode and the digital camera use mode. FIG. 4 shows a mobile phone 10 with a zoom lens in the digital camera use mode.
The block diagram of is shown. When the mode is set to the digital camera use mode, the photographing lens 60 and the zoom lens 50,
The subject light transmitted through 52 is converted into an electric signal by the image pickup device 58, subjected to signal processing by the signal processing circuit 74, temporarily stored in the display memory 76, and displayed as a through image on the liquid crystal monitor 32.

When the user wants to take a zoom image of a subject, the user may turn the zoom magnification adjusting dial 36. With the rotation of the zoom magnification adjusting dial 36, the shaft gear 40, the large gear 66, and the cam 54 rotate, and the telescopic tube 56 expands and contracts.
This changes the positions of the zoom lenses 50 and 52,
Zoom magnification changes. The user can perform a desired operation while adjusting the zoom magnification by performing this operation while looking at the through image displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 32.

Photographing is performed with the shutter button 28 on the operation unit 14. When the shutter button 28 is pressed, C
The PU 78 stores the image data processed by the signal processing circuit 74 in the memory 80. In the memory 80, JPEG
A compression / decompression circuit 82 by a method typified by MPEG or the like is connected, and the image data is compressed here and recorded on a recording medium 84 such as a memory card. Further, the image data recorded on the recording medium 84 is compressed and decompressed by the compression / decompression circuit 82.
It is also possible to decompress it, read it into the memory 80, and display it again on the liquid crystal monitor 32.

Further, the user rotates the rotary plate 20 around the rotary shaft 42 at the time of photographing, so that the liquid crystal monitor unit 1
6 can be oriented at the desired angle. FIG. 5 shows an external view of the mobile phone 10 with a zoom lens when the liquid crystal monitor unit 16 is rotated 180 degrees. The state shown in FIG. 5 is convenient, for example, when the user wants to take a picture of his / her face, and the user can see the through image of his / her face captured from the photographing lens and displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 32 while viewing the zoom magnification adjusting dial 36. Can be operated to determine the zoom magnification, and the shutter button 28 can be pressed to take an image. On the other hand, when it is desired to take a picture of another person, it is easy to take a picture by rotating the liquid crystal monitor unit 16 in a state as shown in FIG.

In this embodiment, it is assumed that the zooming mechanism by optical zoom is composed of two zoom lenses 50 and 52, the cam 54 built in the antenna unit main body 44, and the expansion tube 56. The operation is performed from the zoom magnification adjusting dial 36 provided on the hinge portion 18, but the configuration and the operating method of the magnification changing mechanism incorporated in the antenna portion may be changed.

[0020]

As described above, according to the present invention, the antenna portion of the mobile phone body is provided with a taking lens, a zooming mechanism by optical zoom consisting of two zoom lenses, a cam and a telescopic tube, and an image pickup device. Install in parallel. The operation of the zoom magnification by the magnification changing mechanism can be performed by rotating a zoom magnification adjusting dial provided at one end of the hinge portion. Therefore, the zoom magnification desired by the user can be easily realized.

Further, a rotary plate is provided between the hinge part and the liquid crystal monitor part so that the monitor part can be freely stopped by rotating the monitor part in the range of 0 to 360 degrees. This allows the user to rotate the liquid crystal monitor unit to a convenient position and see the through image displayed on the liquid crystal monitor while rotating the zoom magnification adjusting dial to determine the shooting range. Capturing can be performed easily.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a mobile phone with a zoom lens adopting the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of an antenna unit of a mobile phone with a zoom lens.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of an antenna unit of a mobile phone with a zoom lens.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram when a mobile phone with a zoom lens is set to a digital camera use mode.

FIG. 5 is an external perspective view of a mobile phone with a zoom lens in which a liquid crystal monitor unit is rotated 180 degrees.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Mobile phone with zoom lens 12 Mobile phone body 14 Operation part 16 LCD monitor 22 Antenna 24 Operation buttons 32 LCD monitor 50 First zoom lens 52 Second zoom lens 60 shooting lens 72 Central axis of antenna

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Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A mobile phone body equipped with a camera function having a variable magnification mechanism by optical zoom, an operation unit having various operation buttons, a liquid crystal monitor unit having a liquid crystal monitor, and the operation unit. A mobile phone with a zoom lens comprising an attached antenna unit, wherein a taking lens and a variable magnification mechanism by optical zoom having a plurality of zoom lenses are arranged side by side on the central axis of the antenna unit. A mobile phone with a zoom lens that is characterized by being. 2. The liquid crystal monitor unit can be rotated at an angle of 0 to 360 degrees with respect to the hinge unit, and can be freely stopped at a desired angle by a friction function provided on the rotary plate. The mobile phone with a zoom lens according to claim 1, wherein the mobile phone is equipped with a zoom lens.