JP2004229049A - Mobile terminal with image pickup function - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a mobile terminal with an image pickup function which allows a photographing mode to be easily switched with a simple constitution. <P>SOLUTION: The mobile terminal with an image pickup function is provided with mutually slidable upper and lower enclosures 1 and 2 and can take either of the close state of having the upper enclosure 1 and the lower enclosure 2 put one over the other overall and the open state of having the upper enclosure 1 slid off the lower enclosure 2, and the upper enclosure 1 has a camera part 6 for photographing a subject, and the lower enclosure 2 has an additional optical unit 7 whose optical axis is aligned with the optical axis of the camera part 6 in the close state, and an optical system constituted of the camera part 6 and the additional optical unit 7 is utilized in the close state, and an optical system constituted of only the camera part 6 is utilized in the open state. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a mobile terminal with an imaging function that can easily switch a shooting mode with a simple configuration.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, cameras using solid-state imaging devices (CMOS type, CCD type, etc.) have been mounted on mobile terminals such as mobile phones and PDAs. A camera mounted on a small device such as a mobile phone often employs a single-focus (fixed-focus) optical system, and a pan-focus method in which focusing is performed from a certain shooting distance to infinity is common. Had been adopted. However, even a camera mounted on a device such as a mobile phone is required to have a function of telephoto shooting and close-up shooting as realized by a digital still camera. However, since the size and power consumption of devices such as mobile phones are limited, it is difficult to realize telephoto shooting and close-up photography by a method in which a lens is driven by an electric actuator such as a motor as in a digital still camera. .
[0003]
Therefore, a mobile phone with a camera described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-333171 (Patent Document 1) is provided with an additional lens (movable lens) that can slide up and down or left and right in front of an objective lens of the camera. The position of the focal point is changed between the case where an additional lens is arranged before and the case where only the objective lens is used, so that close-up shooting and standard shooting can be switched.
[0004]
In addition, in a camera-equipped mobile phone described in Japanese Utility Model Registration No. 3085476 (Patent Document 2), an additional lens 100 is attached to a camera 12 incorporated in a housing of the mobile phone 10 as shown in FIG. By making it possible, switching between standard shooting and close-up shooting is realized.
[0005]
[Patent Document 1]
JP 2001-333171 A [Patent Document 2]
Japanese Utility Model Registration No. 3085476
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, the camera-equipped mobile phone described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-333171 (Patent Document 1) has a new structure for sliding a movable lens in addition to the basic structure of the mobile phone housing. Was needed. For this reason, there has been a problem that the structure may cause a decrease in durability and an increase in cost. In addition, in the mobile phone with a camera described in Japanese Utility Model Registration No. 3085476 (Patent Document 2), it is necessary to carry an additional lens together with a mobile terminal, and it is troublesome to attach and detach the additional lens. Was.
[0007]
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional problems, and has as its object to provide a mobile terminal with an imaging function that can easily switch a shooting mode with a simple configuration.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, a portable terminal with an imaging function according to the present invention includes a first housing and a second housing slidable with respect to each other, wherein the first housing and the second housing are provided. A portable terminal with an imaging function that can be in one of a closed state in which the body entirely overlaps and an open state in which the first housing slides with respect to the second housing from the closed state; The first casing has a photographing means for photographing a subject, and the second casing has an optical axis when the portable terminal with the imaging function is in a closed state. When the portable terminal with the imaging function is in the closed state, the optical system constituted by the photographing means and the optical means is used, and when the portable terminal with the imaging function is in the open state. Is an optical system using only the photographing means. Therefore, it is possible to easily switch the photographing mode with a simple configuration.
[0009]
In the portable terminal with an imaging function according to the present invention, it is preferable that the optical means of the second housing is insertable into and removable from the second housing.
[0010]
Further, in the mobile terminal with an imaging function according to the present invention, the imaging unit may perform imaging in a first imaging mode in one of the closed state and the open state, and may perform imaging in a second imaging mode in the other state. It is desirable to shoot with.
[0011]
In the portable terminal with an imaging function according to the present invention, it is preferable that the first imaging mode and the second imaging mode have different focal lengths.
[0012]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of a portable terminal with an imaging function according to the present invention will be described in detail in the order of [First Embodiment] and [Second Embodiment] with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the mobile terminal with an imaging function according to the first embodiment and the second embodiment will be described as a communication terminal such as a mobile phone, a PHS, and a PDA capable of voice communication and data communication.
[0013]
[First Embodiment]
First, a mobile terminal with an imaging function according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a mobile terminal with an imaging function according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a side view of the mobile terminal with an imaging function of the first embodiment according to the present invention. FIG. 1A is a perspective view of the mobile terminal with an imaging function according to the first embodiment as viewed from the front, and FIG. 1B is a perspective view as viewed from the back. As shown in FIG. 1, the mobile terminal with an imaging function according to the present embodiment includes an upper housing 1 corresponding to a first housing and a lower housing 2 corresponding to a second housing. It is configured with. The upper housing 1 has a liquid crystal display unit 3 and a keypad 5 for inputting directions on its front surface, and has a camera unit 6 on its back surface. The lower housing 2 has a character input keypad 4 on the front surface thereof, and further has an additional optical unit 7. The camera unit 6 corresponds to a photographing unit in the claims, and the additional optical unit 7 corresponds to an optical unit.
[0014]
The upper housing 1 and the lower housing 2 are slidably connected to each other by a slide structure (not shown) provided in the longitudinal direction of the side surface. State. The two states are, as shown in FIG. 2A, a state in which the upper housing 1 and the lower housing 2 substantially entirely overlap (hereinafter, this state is referred to as a “closed state”). The upper housing 1 is slid upward with respect to the lower housing 2 from the closed state shown in FIG. 2B (hereinafter, this state is referred to as an “open state”).
[0015]
In the mobile terminal with an imaging function according to the present embodiment, in the closed state, the optical axes of the camera unit 6 provided in the upper housing 1 and the additional optical unit 7 provided in the lower housing 2 coincide with each other. An optical system is configured by the two components of the unit 6 and the additional optical unit 7. On the other hand, in the open state, since the optical axes of the camera unit 6 and the additional optical unit 7 do not coincide, an optical system of the camera unit 6 alone is configured.
[0016]
Hereinafter, each component of the upper housing 1 will be described.
First, the camera unit 6 embeds a subject on a surface of the upper housing 1 facing the lower housing 2 so that a lens is exposed, and moves the subject with respect to the direction input keypad 5 or the character input keypad 4. The subject is photographed according to the operation performed. The optical specification of the camera unit 6 is a pan-focus method capable of focusing from a fixed distance to infinity, and is suitable for photographing a person or a landscape (standard photographing). However, the camera unit 6 is not suitable for shooting at a close distance (close-up shot), for example, at a distance of 30 cm from the subject, and is therefore suitable for shooting at a distance from the subject by a predetermined distance or more.
[0017]
The liquid crystal display unit 3 is installed so as to be exposed on the front surface of the upper housing 1 and displays an image or the like taken by the camera unit 6. The direction input keypad 5 is used to operate the mobile terminal with an imaging function according to the present embodiment, and in particular, can perform operations such as releasing the shutter of the camera unit 6.
[0018]
Next, each component of the lower housing 2 will be described.
First, the additional optical unit 7 penetrates the lower housing 2 from the front to the back at a position where the optical axis of the camera unit 6 and the optical axis of the additional optical unit 7 coincide with each other when the lower housing 2 is in the closed state. The lens is a part of an optical system that can be close-up by the camera unit 6 provided in the upper housing 1 when the mobile terminal with an imaging function is in a closed state. The character input keypad 4 is used to operate the mobile terminal with an imaging function according to the present embodiment, and in particular, can perform operations such as releasing the shutter of the camera unit 6.
[0019]
When the mobile terminal with the imaging function having the components described above is in the closed state, as described above, the optical axis of the camera unit 6 and the optical axis of the additional optical unit 7 coincide with each other. One optical system is configured by the additional optical unit 7. Therefore, the subject can be photographed in close-up by pointing the back side of the mobile terminal with the imaging function to the subject and operating the direction input keypad 5 while checking the display screen of the liquid crystal display unit 3.
[0020]
On the other hand, when the upper housing 1 is slid upward with respect to the lower housing 2, the optical axis of the camera unit 6 does not coincide with the optical axis of the additional optical unit 7 as described above. The camera unit 6 alone forms an optical system. Therefore, the back side of the mobile terminal with an imaging function is directed to the subject, and the directional input keypad 5 or the character input keypad 4 is operated while checking the display screen of the liquid crystal display unit 3 to perform standard shooting of the subject. be able to.
[0021]
As described above, according to the mobile terminal with an imaging function of the present embodiment, two types of optical systems can be realized with a simple configuration in which the upper housing 1 is slid with respect to the lower housing 2. One optical system can perform standard photography, and the other optical system can perform close-up photography. Therefore, since it is not necessary to carry and attach or detach an additional lens as in the related art, it is possible to easily switch between shooting modes such as standard shooting to close-up shooting and close-up to standard shooting.
[0022]
Further, according to the mobile terminal with an imaging function of the present embodiment, it is possible to easily switch the shooting mode using only the structure necessary for realizing the basic operation of the mobile terminal such as a telephone call. That is, there is an effect that the slide mechanism of the mobile terminal with the imaging function can be newly provided with a function of switching the shooting mode.
[0023]
In the present embodiment, close-up photography can be performed when the mobile terminal with the imaging function is in the closed state, but telephoto photography may be performed by changing the type of the additional optical unit 7. Further, the additional optical unit 7 may be an optical component such as a polarizing filter, a mechanical shutter device, and an aperture device, or a combination of a plurality of optical components. Further, the lens included in the camera unit 6 may be replaced with another lens such as a telephoto lens or a close-up lens so that standard photographing can be performed in the closed state.
[0024]
[Second embodiment]
Next, a mobile terminal with an imaging function according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a mobile terminal with an imaging function according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a side view of the mobile terminal with an imaging function according to the second embodiment of the present invention. 3 and 4, the same reference numerals are given to the same parts as those in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2 (first embodiment), and the description will be omitted.
[0025]
As shown in FIG. 3, the mobile terminal with an imaging function according to the present embodiment includes an upper housing 1 and a lower housing 8 corresponding to a second housing in the claims. The lower housing 8 has a lens protection cover 82 and an additional optical unit slot 81 instead of the additional optical unit 7 of the first embodiment.
[0026]
Next, each component of the lower housing 8 will be described.
First, the additional optical unit slot 81 is for inserting an additional optical unit 83 to be described later, and is provided on a side surface of the lower housing 8. The lower housing 8 is provided with a space that penetrates the lower housing 8 in the optical axis direction of the camera unit 6 when the mobile terminal with an imaging function according to the present embodiment is closed. An additional optical unit 83 is inserted into the slot 81 so as to block the space. The lens protective cover 82 is a transparent cover provided to cover the rear side of the lower housing 8 in the space, and the additional optical unit 83 inserted into the additional optical unit slot 81 is dust-free. Is to prevent the adhesion.
[0027]
The additional optical unit 83 that can be inserted into the additional optical unit slot 81 is an optical component having an optical axis that matches the optical axis of the camera unit 6 when the mobile terminal with an imaging function according to the present embodiment is in the closed state. . In the present embodiment, when the additional optical unit 83 is inserted when the mobile terminal with the imaging function is in the closed state, the close-up function is realized by the camera unit 6 and the additional optical unit 83. By replacing the additional optical unit 83 with another unit, various photographing modes such as telephoto photographing and photographing using a polarizing filter can be realized.
[0028]
As described above, according to the mobile terminal with an imaging function of the present embodiment, the additional optical unit 83 can be inserted into and removed from the additional optical unit slot 81 provided in the lower housing 8. For this reason, even with a single portable terminal with an imaging function, by replacing the additional optical unit 83, it is possible to perform shooting in a desired shooting mode from close-up shooting, telephoto shooting, shooting using a polarizing filter, and the like. Further, such an effect can be exerted even under the condition that the housing dimensions of the mobile terminal with the imaging function are limited.
[0029]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the mobile terminal with an imaging function according to the present invention, the switching of the imaging mode can be easily performed with a simple configuration.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a mobile terminal with an imaging function according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a side view of the mobile terminal with an imaging function according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a mobile terminal with an imaging function according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a side view of a portable terminal with an imaging function according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a conventional mobile terminal with an imaging function.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Upper case 2, 8 Lower case 3 Liquid crystal display part 4 Character input keypad 5 Direction input keypad 6 Camera part 7, 83 Additional optical unit 81 Additional optical unit slot 82 Lens protective cover

Claims (4)

A first housing and a second housing slidable with respect to each other, wherein the first housing and the second housing are entirely overlapped with each other in a closed state and the closed state, A portable terminal with an imaging function that can be in an open state in which the housing is slid with respect to the second housing,
The first housing has a photographing unit for photographing a subject,
The second housing includes an optical unit whose optical axis coincides with the optical axis of the imaging unit when the mobile terminal with an imaging function is in a closed state,
When the mobile terminal with the imaging function is in the closed state, an optical system configured by the imaging unit and the optical unit is used.When the mobile terminal with the imaging function is in the open state, the optical system including only the imaging unit is used. A mobile terminal with an imaging function, which is used. The portable terminal with an imaging function according to claim 1, wherein the optical unit of the second housing is insertable into and removable from the second housing. 3. The photographing unit photographs in a first photographing mode in one of the closed state and the open state, and photographs in a second photographing mode in the other state. 4. A portable terminal with an imaging function according to the above. The portable terminal with an imaging function according to claim 3, wherein the first imaging mode and the second imaging mode have different focal lengths.

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