JP2006064715A - Camera - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the portability and storability of a camera that has a dynamo. <P>SOLUTION: When the capacity of the battery of a digital camera runs out, a handle 10 is attached to the digital camera by screwing a screw member 57 into a tripod screw hole 30. In this case, while positioning is carried out so that a rotary output shaft 42 fits into the rotary input part 41 of a first gear 34, the screw member 57 is screwed into the hole 30, and then a handle 10 is rotated. The rotation of the handle 10 is increased in speed via the first gear 34 to a fourth gear 37, and transmitted to an AC power generating section 55 to generate power. The AC output current thus generated is caused to sequentially flow in a rectifying-smoothing section and a DC voltage conversion section to be converted to a DC voltage and charged into the battery. Thus, when the capacity of the battery runs out, power is generated by attaching the handle 10 to the tripod screw hole 30 and the storability and portability of the digital camera improve as a result. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a generator and a camera with a built-in charging device for charging a battery with electric power from the generator.

  Recently, a manual generator is installed in a battery or an electronic device itself loaded in an electronic device such as a portable radio or a video camera, and the battery is charged by manually rotating a handle attached to the manual generator. There are useful things you can do. Patent Document 1 describes a battery pack in which a battery cell and a manual generator are built in a case. This battery pack is integrally provided with a foldable and extendable handle, and is detachably attached to the video camera. When the charge amount of the battery cell is exhausted, the battery cell is charged by rotating the handle.

JP 2001-86380 A

  However, the handle provided integrally with the battery pack is not used except when power is generated, and is retracted outside the battery case and folded and stored when not in use. However, since the stored handle protrudes from the outside of the battery pack, there is a problem that the portability and the storage property of the video camera are impaired.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a camera in which a handle is rotatably mounted in a screw hole for attaching a tripod, and a battery is charged by rotating the handle. To do.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the camera of the present invention is a camera incorporating a generator and a charging device for charging a battery with electric power from the generator, and a rotation input unit for driving the generator is mounted on a tripod. The rotation output shaft of the handle is connected to the rotation input portion by attaching the handle to the screw hole so as to be rotatable.

  The handle is incorporated in a tripod so that the tip of the rotation output shaft protrudes from the center of a tripod screw that is screwed into the screw hole, and the tripod screw is screwed into the screw hole to attach the tripod. By attaching, the rotation output shaft may be coupled to the rotation input unit. Further, a cover is provided in the back of the screw hole for attaching the tripod so that the rotation input unit can be connected to the rotation output shaft by opening and closing the switch. The opening of the cover is detected to switch the charging device to an active state. You may do it.

  According to the camera of the present invention, the rotation input unit for driving the generator is provided in the back of the screw hole for attaching the tripod, and the rotation output shaft of the handle is rotated by attaching the handle to the screw hole so as to be rotatable. Since it is connected to the unit, when the battery is not charged, the handle can be removed from the camera, and the portability and storage property of the camera are not impaired.

  In addition, the handle is built into the tripod so that the tip of the rotation output shaft protrudes from the center of the tripod screw that is screwed into the screw hole, and the tripod screw is screwed into the screw hole to attach the tripod, thereby rotating output. Since the shaft is connected to the rotation input unit, even when the battery is not charged during shooting using the tripod, the battery can be charged without removing the tripod, and workability is improved.

  In addition, a cover is provided at the back of the screw hole for attaching the tripod so that the rotation input unit can be connected to the rotation output shaft by opening and closing it, and the charging device is switched to the active state by detecting the opening of this cover. Since no dust enters the part, the rotation output shaft can be reliably connected to the rotation input part.

  The first embodiment will be described below. FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a digital camera 2 equipped with the present invention. On the front surface of the digital camera 2, a photographing lens 5 is incorporated, and a lens barrel 6 that can be expanded and contracted, an objective finder window 7 that constitutes a finder, and a strobe light emitting unit 8 that emits strobe light toward the subject are provided. A shutter button 9 used for a shutter release operation is provided on the upper surface of the digital camera 2. As will be described in detail later, in the digital camera 2 shown in FIG. 1, a handle 10 for driving a generator built in the digital camera 2 has a tripod mounting screw hole (hereinafter referred to as a tripod screw hole). Attached).

  As shown in FIG. 2, on the back of the digital camera 2, an eyepiece finder window 15, a power button 16, a menu button 17, a mode selection button 18, a decision button 19, a cancel button 20, a cross button 21, and a liquid crystal are formed on the back of the digital camera 2. A display (LCD) panel 22 and the like are provided. On one side surface of the digital camera 2, a memory card slot 23 in which a memory card is detachably accommodated is provided, and captured image data is recorded in the memory card accommodated in the memory card slot 23. The

  A tripod screw hole 30 for attaching a tripod is provided on the bottom surface of the digital camera 2, and a battery chamber 31 in which a battery for supplying power to the digital camera 2 is detachably loaded near the tripod screw hole 30. Is provided. The battery loaded in the battery chamber 31 can be charged with the power generated by the generator built in the digital camera 2.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a first gear 34 constituting a part of the speed increasing mechanism 33 is provided in the back of the tripod screw hole 30. Then, when looking into the tripod screw hole 30 with the bottom surface of the digital camera 2 facing up, the concave rotation input portion 41 provided in the boss portion 40 of the first gear 34 is exposed. The rotation input unit 41 is connected to a rotation output shaft 42 provided on the handle 10 when the handle 10 to be described later is attached to the tripod screw hole 30, and rotates generated by the rotation operation of the handle 10 in the first gear. Input to the speed increasing mechanism 33 constituted by the 34th to fourth gears 37.

  A clutch mechanism is provided on the side surface of the boss portion 40 of the first gear 34 to restrict the rotation of the first gear 34 in one clockwise direction when viewed from the bottom side of the digital camera 2 (hereinafter, clockwise direction). ing. The clutch mechanism includes an engaging member 46 and a torsion spring 47, and the engaging member 46 is urged by the torsion spring 47 in the side surface direction of the boss portion 40. When the handle 10 is rotated in the counterclockwise direction (hereinafter referred to as the counterclockwise direction) when viewed from the bottom surface side of the digital camera 2, the engagement member 46 is formed on the side surface of the boss portion 40. The rotation is regulated by engaging with 40a. In the present embodiment, the handle 10 can be rotated only in the clockwise direction. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Even if the handle 10 is rotated in the counterclockwise direction and restricted from rotating in the clockwise direction, the handle 10 is restricted. Good.

  The first gear 34 that rotates about the rotation shaft 50 meshes with the second gear 35. The second gear 35 is integrally provided with a third gear 36 having the same rotation shaft 51. . The third gear 36 meshes with a fourth gear 37 attached to the rotation shaft 52. The rotation input from the handle 10 to the first gear 34 is transmitted to the fourth gear 37 while being sequentially increased. The first gear 34 to the fourth gear 37 are rotatably held by a gear case (not shown).

  The rotation shaft 52 to which the fourth gear 37 is attached is an output rotation shaft of the AC power generation unit 55. The fourth gear 37 rotates the rotating shaft 52 at an increased speed, and the AC power generation unit 55 generates AC current. As will be described in detail later, the generated AC current is converted into a DC voltage via a rectifying / smoothing unit and a DC voltage conversion unit provided on a circuit board (not shown), and this DC voltage is charged in the battery.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the structure of the handle 10 screwed into the tripod screw hole 30 is shown. The handle 10 includes a base portion 56, a screw member 57, a rotation output shaft 42, and a grip portion 59. The base portion 56 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and a screw member 57 to be screwed into the tripod screw hole 30 is provided at one end portion thereof. The other end is provided with a grip 59 for rotating the handle 10. The screw member 57 is provided with an insertion hole 60 into which the rotation output shaft 42 is inserted from the upper surface to the lower surface in the length direction. One end of the rotation output shaft 42 is provided with a substantially rectangular parallelepiped connection portion 61 and a flange portion 62 to be connected to the rotation input portion 41 of the first gear 34, and the other end is provided with a rotation output shaft on the base 56. A screw hole 63 for fixing 42 is provided. The rotation output shaft 42 inserted into the insertion hole 60 from above the screw member 57 is fixed by screwing a screw 65 into the screw hole 63 from the back surface of the base portion 56. As a result, since the base portion 56 and the rotation output shaft 42 are integrated, the screw member 57 is rotatable relative to the base portion 56 and the rotation output shaft 42. Accordingly, when the screw member 57 is fixed to the tripod screw hole 30 and the rotation input portion 41 and the connecting portion 42 are connected, the handle 56 is turned to the first gear 34 by rotating the base portion 56 with the grip portion 59. Since rotation from is input, power generation can be performed. In the present embodiment, the handle 10 having the above-described configuration is used. However, the configuration is not limited to this, and the base portion 56, the grip portion 59, and the like are foldable and extendable, and are attached to the tripod screw hole 30 to generate power. A handle adapted to perform the above may be used.

  FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the digital camera 2. The digital camera 2 is provided with a system controller 68. The system controller 68 comprehensively controls each unit of the digital camera 2 based on various operation signals input from an operation unit such as a shutter button. The ROM 69 stores various control programs in advance. The system controller 68 loads various programs from the ROM 69 to the RAM 70 which is a working memory and executes various processes. The mode selection button 18 sets the digital camera 2 to either the shooting mode or the playback mode.

  When the shutter button is pressed in the shooting mode, the imaging unit 71 takes an image through the taking lens 5, and the taken image data is stored in the memory card 72. The imaging unit 71 includes a CCD image sensor, a lens moving mechanism for performing zooming and focus adjustment, an aperture switching mechanism, and the like.

  As is well known, a CCD image sensor photoelectrically converts subject light and converts it into an analog imaging signal. The analog imaging signal is converted into digital data by an A / D converter and then temporarily written in the RAM 70. The image processing unit 73 performs various image correction processes such as gamma correction, sharpness correction, and contrast correction on the image data written in the RAM 70, and then compresses the processed data in a compression format such as JPEG. The compressed image data is written to the memory card 72 by the media controller 74.

  Under the playback mode, an image is read from the memory card 72, and after being decompressed by the image processing unit 73, a resizing process is performed to generate display image data with a small number of pixels. This display image data is written into the RAM 70. The video encoder 75 converts the display image data into an analog composite signal and outputs it to the liquid crystal display (LCD) panel 22. As a result, the image is reproduced and displayed on the LCD panel 22.

  The digital camera 2 has a built-in generator 76 that generates power in accordance with the rotation operation of the handle, and a charging device that charges the battery 80 with electric power from the generator 76. The generator 76 includes a speed increasing mechanism 33 to which rotation from the handle 10 is input, and an AC power generation unit 55 that is driven to rotate at a higher speed by the speed increasing mechanism 33. The charging device 77 includes a rectifying / smoothing unit 78 that obtains a DC current from the AC output current generated by the AC power generating unit 55, and a DC current obtained by the rectifying / smoothing unit 78 is converted into a DC voltage and applied to the battery 80. The battery 80 includes a DC voltage conversion unit 79 that charges the battery 80.

  Further, the digital camera 2 is provided with a voltage detection unit 81 that detects the amount of charge of the battery 80 by detecting the voltage between the terminals of the battery 80. The voltage detection unit 81 sends the detection result of the voltage of the battery 80 to the system controller 68. In response to this detection result, the system controller 68 charges the battery 80 with the generated DC voltage when the amount of charge of the battery 80 is insufficient, and charges the battery 80 when the amount of charge is fully charged. Stop. Further, the system controller 68 displays the charging of the battery 80 or the completion of charging on the LCD panel 22 based on the detection result of the voltage detector 81.

  Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described. When the capacity of the battery 80 of the digital camera 2 is exhausted, the user attaches the handle 10 to the digital camera 2 by screwing the screw member 57 into the tripod screw hole 30. At this time, the screw member 57 is screwed while rotating the base portion 56 so that the connection portion 61 having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape is connected to the rotation input portion 41.

  When the screw member 57 is attached to the tripod screw hole 30, the user grips the grip portion 59 and rotates the handle 10 in the clockwise direction (the arrow direction in FIG. 1). Since the rotation output shaft 42 and the base portion 56 of the handle 10 are rotatably provided relative to the screw member 57, the handle 10 is firmly attached to the digital camera 2, and the handle 10 is rotated quickly. However, the rotation input unit 41 and the connection unit 61 are not disconnected.

  The rotation due to the rotation operation of the handle 10 is accelerated through the first gear 34 to the fourth gear 37 and transmitted to the AC power generation unit 55. The AC output current generated by the AC power generation unit 55 by the increased rotational drive is converted into a DC current by the rectifying and smoothing unit 78. This direct current is sent to the direct voltage converter 79, and the direct current is converted into a direct voltage. The direct current voltage is applied to the battery 80 so that the battery 80 is charged.

  Further, the voltage detection unit 81 detects the amount of charge of the battery 80. The detection result of the voltage detector 81 is sent to the system controller 68. The system controller 68 displays on the liquid crystal display panel 22 that the battery 80 is being charged or has been charged based on the detection result. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the camera 80 from being shot in the middle due to a shortage of the charge amount of the battery 80, or to keep rotating the handle 10 unnecessarily even though the charging is completed. Further, since the handle 10 is detachably attached to the digital camera 2, the digital camera 2 can be easily accommodated and ported.

  In the present embodiment, the handle 10 is provided with the screw member 57 that is screwed into the tripod screw hole 30, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and the handle 10 is not provided with the screw member 57, and the rotation output shaft 42 is used for the tripod. The battery 80 may be charged by inserting it into the screw hole 30 and connecting the rotation input portion 41 and the connecting portion 61 to rotate the handle 10.

  Next, a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the same structural member as the said embodiment, and the overlapping description is abbreviate | omitted. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a tripod 85 used in the digital camera 2. The tripod 85 is mainly composed of a base 86, legs 87a to 87c, and a pan head 88, and a light and durable material such as duralumin or carbon fiber is used. The base portion 86 includes a base 89, a crank handle 90, an elevator 91, and a joint portion 92. The elevator 91 can finely adjust the shooting position of the digital camera 2 up and down by rotating the crank handle 90. The joint portion 92 is attached to one end of each of the legs 87a to 87c. Thereby, the legs 87a to 87c can be opened / closed to the open position where the tripod 85 is inverted, and the closed position where the legs 87a to 87c are closed and the tripod 85 is carried.

  The pan head portion 88 includes a tripod screw 95, a pan head plate 96, a pan head 97, a pan rod 98, a case 99, and a handle 100. A tripod screw 95 that is screwed into the tripod screw hole 30 of the digital camera 2 is provided on the pan head plate 96 provided on the pan head 97. As shown in FIG. 7, the tripod screw 95 is provided with an insertion hole 101 penetrating from the upper surface to the lower surface, and the rotation output shaft 102 is inserted therein. A rectangular parallelepiped connecting portion 61 and a flange portion 61 are provided at one end of the rotation output shaft 102, and the flange portion 61 is in contact with the upper surface of the tripod screw 95. A bevel gear 105 is provided at the other end, and this bevel gear 105 is connected to a bevel gear 106 provided on the handle 100 in a case 99 below the tripod screw 95. Thereby, the rotation output shaft 102 and the tripod screw 95 are relatively rotatable. Note that the case 99 prevents dust from entering the connecting portions of the bevel gears 105 and 106 and preventing a human hand from being caught.

  The handle 100 has one end portion provided with the bevel gear 106 disposed in the case 99, and a grip portion 100 a that is gripped when a rotation operation is performed is disposed on the upper portion of the bread bar 98. The shaft 100 b in the vicinity of the bevel gear 106 is rotatably held by a boss 99 a provided on the case 99. Thereby, even if the handle 100 is rotated, the shaft 100b does not shake and the bevel gears 105 and 106 do not come off. The pan bar 98 swings the pan head 97 in the vertical and horizontal directions and directs the digital camera 2 in the shooting direction.

  When attaching the tripod 85 to the digital camera, positioning is performed while rotating the handle 100 so that the substantially rectangular parallelepiped connecting portion 42 is connected to the concave rotation input portion 41, and the tripod screw 95 is attached to the tripod screw. Screw into the hole 30. Thereby, the digital camera 2 can perform portrait photography, night scene photography, etc. using a normal tripod 85.

  When the battery 78 of the digital camera 2 is depleted, the handle 100 provided on the tripod 85 is rotated in the direction of the arrow shown in FIGS. Thereby, since the connection part 42 of the connection member 102 and the rotation input part 41 of the first gear 34 are connected, the rotation by the rotation operation of the handle 100 is performed by the speed increasing mechanism 33 of the first gear 34 to the fourth gear 37. Increased speed. The AC power generation unit 55 driven to rotate at a higher speed generates an AC output current, and this AC output current is converted into a DC current by the rectifying and smoothing unit 78. This direct current is converted into a direct current voltage by the direct current voltage converter 79 and the battery 80 is charged. Therefore, the battery 80 can be charged without removing the digital camera 2 from the tripod 85, and workability is improved.

  Furthermore, the voltage detection unit 81 detects the amount of charge of the battery 80, displays charging or completion of charging on the liquid crystal display panel 22 of the digital camera 2, and notifies the user of the state of the battery 80. Thereby, when the charge amount of the battery 80 is insufficient or when the battery 80 is fully charged, the handle 100 is not rotated unnecessarily.

  Next, a third embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the same structural member as the said embodiment, and the overlapping description is abbreviate | omitted. As shown in FIG. 8, a cover mechanism for opening and closing the rotation input unit 41 is provided between the tripod screw hole 30 of the digital camera 120 and the rotation input unit 41. The cover mechanism includes covers 107 and 108, a torsion spring 109, and a micro switch 112.

  The covers 107 and 108 have a thin plate shape and are arranged so that the longitudinal direction thereof is substantially parallel to the bottom surface 120 a of the digital camera 120. One end surfaces of the covers 107 and 108 are in contact with each other in the vicinity of the center of the boss portion 40 in the width direction, and are closed by the covers 107 and 108 so that the rotation input portion 41 is not exposed from the tripod screw hole 30. The covers 107 and 108 are provided with a tapered surface 110 in the vicinity of one end surface and on the surface on the tripod screw hole 30 side, and a torsion spring 109 is provided at the other end of the covers 107 and 108. It has been. The torsion spring 109 urges the covers 107 and 108 in a direction in which one end faces come into contact with each other. Further, a protrusion 111 protruding in the direction of the bottom surface of the digital camera 120 is provided at the other end of the cover 107. On the cover 107 side, a micro switch 112 is provided for detecting that the covers 107 and 108 are opened by the protrusion 111 coming into contact with the contact piece 113.

  When the screw member 57 of the handle is screwed into the tripod screw hole 30, the end portion of the connecting portion 61 provided at the tip of the rotation output shaft 41 comes into contact with the tapered surface 110 of the covers 107 and 108. Further, when the screw member 57 is screwed, the connecting portion 61 is in contact with the taper surface 110, so that the covers 107 and 108 slide to the left and right so as to be pushed and spread to the open position shown in FIG. Moving. When the covers 107 and 108 are slid to the open position, alignment is performed while rotating the handle so that the connecting portion 61 fits into the rotation input portion 41, and the screw member 57 is screwed into the tripod screw hole 30 to the end. At this time, since the covers 107 and 108 are disposed in the open position, the protrusion 111 of the cover 107 contacts the contact piece 113 of the microswitch 112. Thereby, the microswitch 112 transmits a detection signal to the system controller. When the screw member 57 is removed from the tripod screw hole 30, the covers 107 and 108 are placed at the closed position shown in FIG. 8A by the biasing force of the torsion spring 109. Since 113 is separated, transmission of the detection signal is stopped.

  FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the digital camera. In addition to the configuration of the digital camera 2 of the first embodiment described above, the digital camera 120 includes a power connector 122 for connecting an AC adapter 121 to supply power from a commercial power source to the battery 80, A changeover switch unit 123 that switches the power feeding path and a micro switch 112 that detects opening of the covers 107 and 108 that open and close the rotation input unit 41 are provided.

  The changeover switch unit 123 includes a movable piece 124 and first terminals 125 to third terminals 127. The first terminal 125 is connected to the DC voltage conversion unit 79 of the charging device 77. The second terminal 126 is connected to the power connector 122. The third terminal 127 is connected to the battery 80. One end of the movable piece 124 is fixed to the third terminal 127 and the other end is in contact with the second terminal 126. Further, the other end of the movable piece 124 is movable between the first terminal 125 and the second terminal 126 by a command from the system controller 68 and switches the power feeding path. In other words, the digital camera 120 has two types of power supply paths: a power supply path for charging the battery 80 with the power generated by the generator 76 and a power supply path for charging the battery 80 with the power supplied from the commercial power source. Yes.

  When the covers 107 and 108 are disposed in the open position, the micro switch 112 transmits a detection signal to the system controller 68 because the protrusion 111 provided on the cover 107 brings the contact pieces 113 into contact with each other. Based on this detection signal, the system controller 68 sends a signal to the changeover switch portion 123 to move the other end of the movable piece 124 to contact the first terminal 125. Thus, when the covers 107 and 108 are in the open position, a power supply path for charging the battery 80 with the power from the generator 76 is automatically selected.

  Next, the operation of the digital camera 120 configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG. Normally, when carrying the digital camera 120 or taking a picture, the covers 107 and 108 are arranged at the closed position so that dust or the like does not enter the rotation input unit 41. When the battery 10 is charged using the handle 10, the screw member 57 is screwed into the tripod screw hole 30. Thereby, since the connection part 61 of the rotation output shaft 42 is in contact with the tapered surfaces 110 of the covers 107 and 108, the covers 107 and 108 slide left and right. Therefore, the cover is disposed in the open position (see FIG. 8B). The screw member 57 is screwed into the tripod screw hole 30 while adjusting the position by rotating the handle 10 so that the connecting portion 61 fits into the rotation input portion 41. As a result, the rotation output shaft 42 is connected to the rotation input unit 41. Further, when the covers 107 and 108 are in the open position, the contact piece 113 of the microswitch 112 is brought into contact with the protrusion 110, so that a detection signal notifying the opening of the covers 107 and 108 is transmitted to the system controller 68.

  Upon receiving the detection signal from the micro switch 112, the system controller 68 moves the other end of the movable piece 124 that is in contact with the second terminal 126 by the changeover switch unit 123 to contact the first terminal 125. Thereby, since the battery 80 and the DC voltage conversion unit 79 are connected, it is allowed to charge the battery 80 with the electric power from the generator 76. Thereby, by rotating the handle, the electric power generated by the generator 76 is applied to the battery 80 via the charging device 77, and the battery 80 is charged. At this time, the voltage detection unit 81 detects the voltage of the battery 80 and transmits the detection result to the system controller 68. The system controller 68 causes the LCD 22 to display charging or completion of charging based on the detection result.

  When charging the battery 80 with a commercial power supply, the terminal of the AC adapter 121 connected to an outlet or the like is connected to the power connector 122. At this time, since the movable piece 124 of the changeover switch portion 123 is in contact with the second terminal 126, the DC voltage from the power connector 122 is applied to the battery 80 and charging is performed. Also in this case, the voltage of the battery 80 is detected by the voltage detection unit 81 as in the case of charging the battery 80 with the handle, and based on the detection result, the system controller 68 causes the LCD 22 to display charging or full charge.

  Accordingly, since the digital camera 120 includes the cover 107 that opens and closes the rotation input unit 41 at the back of the tripod screw hole 30, dust and the like can be prevented from entering the rotation input unit 41, and the rotation output shaft 42 rotates. The input unit 41 can be securely connected. Furthermore, since the power connector 122 for connecting the AC adapter 121 is provided, the battery 80 can be charged by an optimum method according to the situation where the battery 80 is no longer charged.

  In this embodiment, a digital camera is used as a camera with a built-in generator. However, the present invention may be used for a camera having a tripod mounting hole such as a video camera or a silver salt camera.

1 is an external perspective view of a digital camera using the present invention. It is a perspective view explaining the structure of the back surface and bottom face of a digital camera. It is explanatory drawing which shows the structure of a speed increasing mechanism. It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of a handle and a tripod screw hole. It is a block diagram which shows the electric constitution of a digital camera. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of a tripod. It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the attachment screw provided in the tripod. It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the cover which opens and closes a rotation input part. It is a block diagram which shows the electric constitution of the digital camera provided with the cover which opens and closes a rotation input part. It is a flowchart which shows the flow at the time of charging a battery.

Explanation of symbols

2 Digital camera 10 Handle 30 Tripod screw hole 33 Speed increasing mechanism 42 Rotation output shaft 57 Mounting screw 68 System controller 75 Generator 77 Battery charger 80 Battery 81 Voltage detector 85 Tripod 107, 108 Cover 109 Torsion spring 110 Tapered surface 112 Micro switch 123 Changeover switch

Claims (3)

In a camera with a built-in generator and a charging device that charges a battery with electric power from the generator,
A rotation input unit for driving the generator is provided at the back of a screw hole for attaching a tripod, and a rotation output shaft of the handle is connected to the rotation input unit by attaching a handle to the screw hole so as to be rotatable. A camera characterized by that.   The handle is incorporated in a tripod so that the tip of the rotary output shaft protrudes from the center of a tripod screw screwed into the screw hole, and the tripod screw is screwed into the screw hole to attach the tripod. The camera according to claim 1, wherein the rotation output shaft is coupled to the rotation input unit. A cover is provided at the back of the screw hole for attaching the tripod so that the rotation input unit can be connected to the rotation output shaft by opening and closing the switch, and detecting the opening of the cover to switch the charging device to an active state. The camera according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that:

Images