JP2005292368A - Imaging apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an imaging apparatus with which two kinds of close-up photography can be performed using a simple mechanism without increasing the size of a macro-photography switching mechanism. <P>SOLUTION: In an adjusting ring which rotates around the optical axis of a lens, a bottom stage section having a maximum groove depth, a top stage section which is arranged adjacent to the bottom stage section and has a minimum groove depth and an intermediate section, which is arranged adjacent to the bottom stage section and is located in the middle and arranged opposite side to the top stage section, are formed. By rotating the adjusting ring, the projected section provided on the holding member of the lens from the bottom stage section to the top stage section or the middle section is slid so as to move the lens holding member in the direction of the optical axis. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an image pickup apparatus having a macro shooting switching mechanism used for a digital camera, a mobile phone, a PDA, and the like.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an imaging apparatus equipped with a macro imaging switching mechanism, a groove of an adjustment ring provided between a lens holding member and an imaging sensor holder is in contact with a protrusion provided on the imaging sensor holder. Rotating the adjustment ring moves the lens holding member in the optical axis direction of the lens, changes the distance between the lens and the image sensor, and performs macro photography focus adjustment (for example, Patent Document 1).
Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2001-033686 (FIG. 1)

  The macro shooting switching mechanism is a mechanism for performing close-up photography. Conventional close-up shots often photographed the distance between the tip of the eyes and the nose of plant parts, etc. Currently, OCR (optical character recognition), which is a function that recognizes characters printed on paper, etc. In order to execute the above, it is necessary to shoot at a distance closer to the subject (paper surface). However, the macro shooting switching mechanism of Patent Document 1 can only adjust the focal length of one type of macro shooting, which limits the shooting distance and makes it difficult to achieve close-up of the above two types of distances. It was.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and provides an image pickup apparatus capable of performing close-up photography at two types of distances with a simple mechanism without increasing the size of a macro shooting switching mechanism. The purpose is to do.

  An imaging apparatus according to an invention of claim 1 is a lens, an imaging sensor disposed in a direction of an optical axis of the lens, a holding member that holds the lens, and the imaging sensor and the holding member. A first cylindrical portion provided on the image sensor and enclosing the optical axis, a second cylindrical portion fixed to the holding member and mounted in the first cylindrical portion, the holding member and the first cylindrical portion And an adjustment ring that rotates around the optical axis and is fixed to the holding member, and is in the direction of the optical axis, on the outer surface of the second cylindrical part And the adjustment ring is adjacent to the lower step, the lower step having the maximum groove depth, the minimum upper step adjacent to the lower step, and the lower step. An intermediate middle part is formed on the side opposite to the upper stage part, and the adjustment ring is rotated. The Rukoto, slide the projecting portion to the upper portion or the middle portion from said lower portion, in which the retaining member adapted to move in the direction of the optical axis.

  In the imaging device according to the second aspect of the present invention, taper portions are formed between the lower step portion, the upper step portion, and the intermediate portion of the adjustment ring, respectively, and at the end portions of the upper step portion and the intermediate portion, respectively. The stopper according to claim 1, wherein a stopper is provided to stop the rotation of the adjustment ring.

  As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the protrusion that is in contact with the lower step portion of the groove of the adjustment ring is slid to the upper step portion by rotating the adjustment ring to one side from the normal photographing state. , By rotating the adjustment ring to the other side and sliding the protrusion that is in contact with the lower step of the groove of the adjustment ring to the middle part, two types of close-ups with different focal lengths are possible in addition to normal shooting, Rotate the adjustment ring in the same direction from normal shooting, directly through the direction of rotating the adjustment ring from normal shooting without stepping from one macro shooting to the other macro shooting directly It is possible to obtain an imaging apparatus capable of switching to macro shooting.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the tapered portions are respectively provided between the lower step portion, the upper step portion, and the intermediate portion of the adjustment ring, the protruding portions can slide smoothly, and the upper step portion and the intermediate portion are By providing a stopper at each end, the rotation of the adjustment ring can be stopped when the protrusion slides from the lower step portion of the adjustment ring to the middle portion or the upper step portion. Further, it is possible to obtain an imaging device that can adjust the amount of rotation of the adjustment ring by adjusting the position of the stopper.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an imaging apparatus according to Embodiment 1, in which 1 is a lens, 2 is an imaging sensor arranged in the direction of the optical axis of the lens 1, and 3 is a holding member that holds the lens 1. Reference numeral 4 denotes a first cylindrical portion provided on the imaging sensor and including the optical axis of the lens, 5 denotes a holder provided between the imaging sensor 2 and the first cylindrical portion 4, and 6 denotes a first member fixed to the holding member 3. An adjustment ring that fits the second cylindrical portion 6 between the holding member 3 and the first cylindrical portion 4 and rotates around the optical axis of the lens; 8 is the direction of the optical axis of the lens, and is a protrusion extending on the outer surface of the second cylindrical portion 6, 9 is a tapered portion provided on the lower and upper steps of the adjustment ring 7, and 10 is the adjustment ring 7. The taper part provided in the lower step part and the intermediate part, a is the depth of the groove in the intermediate part, and b is the depth of the groove in the lower part. FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of normal imaging of the imaging apparatus according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of macro imaging (between distances L1 and L2) of the imaging apparatus according to the first embodiment. FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of macro imaging (distance L2 or less) of the imaging apparatus according to the first embodiment. FIG. 5 is a graph showing the resolving power and shooting distance characteristics during normal shooting of the imaging apparatus according to the first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a graph showing the resolving power and shooting distance characteristics of the imaging apparatus according to Embodiment 1 during normal and macro shooting. In the drawings, the same reference numerals denote the same or corresponding parts, and detailed descriptions thereof are omitted.

  Next, the operation will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the protrusion 8 is in contact with the lower part of the adjustment ring 7, and the lens 1 and the image sensor 2 are positioned at the focus of normal shooting of the image pickup apparatus. A sufficient resolution is obtained at a distance farther than the distance L1 shown in FIG. 5 (the limit distance at which focus is achieved in normal shooting), and normal shooting can be performed. However, it can be seen that the resolving power nearer than the distance L1 is reduced, and the close-up at a shorter distance than the distance L1 does not focus. Next, when the adjustment ring 7 is rotated clockwise, the protruding portion 8 slides from the lower step portion of the adjusting ring 7 and moves to the intermediate portion, and the protruding portion 8 contacts the intermediate portion of the adjusting ring 7 (FIG. 3). . Since the holding member 3 moves in the direction of the optical axis of the lens 1, the distance between the lens 1 and the image sensor 2 is larger than that during normal photographing, and the focus is between the distances L1 and L2 shown in FIG. A sufficient resolving power can be obtained between the distances L1 and L2, and macro photography can be performed between the distances L1 and L2. To return to the normal shooting state from the macro shooting (between the distances L1 and L2), the adjustment ring 7 may be rotated counterclockwise. That is, since the protrusion 8 slides from the middle part of the adjustment ring 7 to the lower part, the protrusion 8 comes into contact with the lower part of the adjustment ring 7 and normal photographing is possible. Further, by forming the tapered portion 10 between the lower step portion and the intermediate portion of the adjustment ring 7, the movement from the lower step portion to the intermediate portion of the protrusion 8 or the movement from the intermediate portion to the lower step portion can be executed smoothly. .

  When performing close-up photography closer to the imaging device than the distance L2, when the adjustment ring 7 is rotated counterclockwise from the normal photographing state, the protrusion 8 slides from the lower step of the adjustment ring 7 and moves to the upper step. Then, the protrusion 8 comes into contact with the upper step of the adjustment ring 7 (FIG. 4). The holding member 3 moves in the direction of the optical axis of the lens 1 so that the distance between the lens 1 and the image sensor 2 is larger than that during macro photography between the distances L1 and L2, and the focal point is less than the distance L2 shown in FIG. Therefore, a sufficient resolving power is obtained at a distance L2 or less, and macro photography at a distance L2 or less is possible. To return to the normal shooting state from the macro shooting (distance L2 or less), the adjustment ring 7 may be rotated clockwise. That is, since the protrusion 8 slides from the upper part of the adjustment ring 7 to the lower part, the protrusion 8 comes into contact with the lower part of the adjustment ring 7 and normal photographing is possible. Further, by forming the taper portion 9 between the lower step portion and the upper step portion of the adjustment ring 7, the protrusion 8 can be smoothly moved from the lower step portion to the upper step portion or from the upper step portion to the lower step portion. .

  When an urging member is provided in the imaging device and urged so that the protrusion 8 and the adjustment ring 7 come into contact with each other, the protrusion 8 is slid from the upper or middle part of the adjustment ring 7 to the lower part, that is, macro. Even when the photographing is changed to the normal photographing state, the projecting portion 8 and the adjustment ring 7 are surely brought into contact with each other by the urging member. In addition, the upper, lower and intermediate grooves of the adjustment ring 7 are positioned at a plurality of locations so as to be point-symmetric with respect to the center point of the adjustment ring 7 (the point where the optical axis of the lens 1 intersects the cross section of the adjustment ring 7). The projection ring 8 may be provided at a plurality of positions in accordance with the position of the adjustment ring 7 so that the operation of the adjustment ring 7 can be further stabilized.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
A second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In the drawings, the same reference numerals denote the same or corresponding parts, and detailed descriptions thereof are omitted. The operation is the same as in the first embodiment. When switching from normal photography to macro photography (between distances L1 and L2) by providing stoppers (not shown in the figure) at the upper and middle ends of the groove of the adjustment ring 7, the adjustment ring When the ring 7 is rotated clockwise, the protrusion 8 slides from the lower part of the adjustment ring 7 and moves to the intermediate part, and the protrusion 8 contacts the intermediate part of the adjustment ring 7 and is provided at the end of the intermediate part. The stopper does not rotate any further. Further, when switching from normal shooting to macro shooting (distance L2 or less), when the adjustment ring 7 is rotated counterclockwise, the protrusion 8 slides from the lower step of the adjustment ring 7 and moves to the upper step. Does not rotate any more due to the stopper provided at the end of the upper step in contact with the upper step of the adjustment ring 7. Finally, in order to return from the macro photography (between the distances L1 and L2) or the macro photography (distance L2 or less) to the normal photography state, the adjustment ring 7 may be rotated counterclockwise or clockwise. That is, since the protrusion 8 slides from the middle part or the upper part of the adjustment ring 7 to the lower part, the protrusion 8 comes into contact with the lower part of the adjustment ring 7 and normal photographing is possible.

Configuration diagram of imaging apparatus according to first and second embodiments of the present invention FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a normal photographing configuration of an imaging apparatus according to first and second embodiments of the present invention. Configuration diagram of macro imaging (between distances L1 and L2) of an imaging apparatus according to Embodiments 1 and 2 of the present invention Configuration of Macro Shooting (Distance L2) of Imaging Device According to Embodiments 1 and 2 of the Invention Resolving power and shooting distance characteristic diagram of the imaging apparatus according to Embodiments 1 and 2 of the present invention during normal shooting Resolving power and photographing distance characteristic diagram of normal and macro photographing of the image pickup apparatus according to Embodiments 1 and 2 of the present invention

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Lens 2 ... Imaging sensor 3 ... Holding member 4 ... 1st cylindrical part 5 ... Holder 6 ... 2nd cylindrical part 7 ... Adjustment ring 8 ... Projection part 9 ... Tapered part 10 ... Tapered part a ... Depth of groove of intermediate part B: Depth of the groove in the middle

Claims (2)

A lens, an imaging sensor disposed in the direction of the optical axis of the lens, a holding member that holds the lens, and the imaging sensor between the imaging sensor and the holding member; A first cylindrical part to be included, a second cylindrical part fixed to the holding member and mounted in the first cylindrical part, and a second cylindrical part between the holding member and the first cylindrical part are inserted and inserted. An adjustment ring that rotates around the optical axis, and a protrusion that is fixed to the holding member and extends in the direction of the optical axis and extends on the outer surface of the second cylindrical portion. Opposite the protrusion, the adjustment ring has a maximum groove depth in the lower step, a minimum upper step adjacent to the lower step, and an intermediate intermediate adjacent to the lower step and opposite the upper step. Forming the part and rotating the adjustment ring from the lower step part to the front Upper part or by sliding the protrusion in the middle part, the image pickup apparatus of the retaining member adapted to move in the direction of the optical axis. Tapered portions are formed between the lower step portion of the adjustment ring, the upper step portion, and the intermediate portion, respectively, and stoppers are provided at the end portions of the upper step portion and the intermediate portion, respectively, to rotate the adjustment ring. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the imaging apparatus is stopped.

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