JP2006303677A - Image recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a compact image recording device having improved holding properties and satisfactory operability. <P>SOLUTION: In an image recording device using a disk-like recording medium, a space section is provided along the outside shape of the recording medium between an imaging section and a view finder section, and a recording medium drive, and the outside shape of the image recording device is recessed. An operation key is arranged at a recessed section. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an apparatus for recording and reproducing image information such as moving images and still images on a disk-shaped recording medium.

  In recent years, electronic devices such as camera-integrated VTRs have become widespread. However, in these electronic devices, downsizing of the apparatus has become a major issue. As recording media, products using disk-shaped optical recording media such as DVD-R and DVD-RW from conventional magnetic tapes have also appeared.

  In order to reduce the size of these electronic devices, a conventional LCD monitor for displaying captured images and a battery pack for supplying power are arranged vertically on one side, and a photographic recording medium is inserted / removed on the other side. There is a so-called vertical video camera in which a possible photographic recording medium driving unit is arranged and an imaging unit and an eyepiece viewfinder are arranged in a row at the top.

  7 and 8 show the appearance of a conventional vertical video camera apparatus. 7 is a perspective view seen from the front of the video camera 701, and FIG. 8 is a perspective view seen from the rear.

  701 is a camera body, 702 is a photographing lens, 705 is a zoom switch, 707 is a start / stop button arranged under the finger in the figure, 704 is an LCD monitor unit for displaying an image at the time of photographing or an image at the time of reproduction. , 709 denotes an eyepiece finder, and 706 denotes a grip belt for fixing a hand.

  In the above-described configuration, at the time of shooting, the camera body 701 is held such that the belt 706 passes through the right hand through the belt 706 and contacts the back of the hand as shown in FIG. Three fingers from the middle finger to the little finger are put on the substantially flat portion 703 on the front surface of the camera body, the thumb is around the start / stop button 707 on the back surface portion 708 of the camera body, and the index finger is the zoom switch 705 for tele and wide. Grip in the vicinity of the part. When the start / stop button 707 is operated, the thumb is operated. When zooming, the zoom switch 705 is slid with the index finger.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-333061 discloses a video photographing apparatus that can be at least partially reused. In the configuration, in order to prevent the lens from being inadvertently concealed with a finger, a recording button disposed in a recessed portion formed in the center of the cabinet and being lowered one step is disposed.
JP2000-333061

  However, in the above conventional example, the main body has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, so that it is difficult to hold it by hand, and there is a problem that holding property and operability are not good. Further, in the case of the patent document, a concave portion is provided so as not to inadvertently hide the lens with a finger, and it is not provided to facilitate gripping.

  Also, it is possible to provide a protrusion on the main body as a finger handle so that it can be easily grasped by hand, but in that case, the outer shape becomes large, which conflicts with downsizing, which is a vertical point. .

  The present invention is an image recording apparatus that uses a disk-shaped medium as a recording medium, wherein a space is provided along the outer shape of the recording medium between the imaging unit and the viewfinder unit and the recording medium driving device, and the image recording apparatus The outer shape of the is a concave shape. In addition, an operation key is arranged in the concave portion.

  According to the present invention, a small-sized image recording apparatus using a disk-shaped recording medium is formed in accordance with a space substantially concentric with the recording medium formed between the imaging unit or the viewfinder unit and the recording medium driving device. By making the outer shape of the video recording device concave, a finger hook portion is formed, the holdability is improved, and it is possible to provide a small image recording device that is easy to grip and has good operability.

  Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described using examples. 1 and 2 are external views of a video camera 101 to which the present invention is applied, and FIG. 3 is a layout diagram schematically showing the internal configuration of the video camera 101. FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view for explaining the configuration of the video camera 101.

  In FIG. 3, an imaging unit 302 including a lens unit and a viewfinder unit 303 are arranged in a substantially straight line in the imaging optical axis direction above the disk drive device 301. A microphone unit 508 is housed using a dead space on the upper surfaces of the imaging unit 302 and the viewfinder unit 303. A main control board 304 is arranged on the side of the disk drive device 301, and a small board 504 is arranged in front of the disk drive device 301. Each component is connected to the main control board 304 by a flexible board (not shown). On the outside of the main control board 304, a liquid crystal monitor unit 513 and a battery pack 514 are vertically arranged with an exterior cover therebetween.

  FIG. 5 shows a plan view of the disk drive device 301. The disk drive device 301 includes a turntable 402 for mounting and holding the disk 401, a spindle motor 403 that generates a driving force in the rotation direction to rotate the disk 401, and a disk 401 that is rotated by the spindle motor 403. An optical pickup unit 408 that records an information signal by irradiating the signal recording surface with a light beam, or detects return light reflected from the disc 401 and reads the information signal recorded on the optical disc 401. And a lead screw 409 for conveying the optical pickup unit 408 to an arbitrary position on the disk 401 and a motor 412 for conveying the pickup unit 408. The disc 401 placed on the turntable 402 is centered by fitting the center hole 405 to the centering portion 404 provided at the center of the turntable 402 so that it rotates together with the turntable 402. To be clamped.

  In order to read the entire recording area of the optical disc 401, the optical pickup unit 408 may be moved from the vicinity of the central hole 405 of the optical disc to the vicinity of the outer diameter. That is, it is sufficient that the optical disk can be moved by almost the radius of the optical disk. The total length of the disk drive device 301 is almost determined by the size of the spindle motor 403 and the radius of the disk 401, and a part of the disk device 301 protrudes from the outer shape of the disk 401. . Further, the width of the disk drive device 301 is substantially determined by the optical pickup unit 408, the lead screw 409, and the motor 412, and can be sufficiently accommodated within the width of the radius of the optical disk 401.

  As described above, the size and width of the disk drive device 301 can be easily made smaller than the diameter of the optical disk 401, and the projected area of the disk apparatus 301 is the projected area of the disk 401 as shown in FIG. Can be considerably smaller. For this reason, the size of the video camera is limited not by the outer shape of the disk device 301 but by the outer diameter of the disk 401.

  Next, the structure of each unit of the video camera and the relationship between the units will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 4, the disk drive device 301 is attached to a holding metal plate 501, and a main control board 304 is attached to the metal plate 501.

  The disk drive device 301 is connected to the main control board 304 via a flexible board (not shown) to perform communication. A small board 504 on which a remote control light receiving element 503 is mounted is arranged in front of the device, and the remote control light receiving element 503 has a light receiving directivity in front of the device. The appearance in front of the remote control light receiving element 503 is due to the window-like member 505 made of an infrared light transmissive resin.

  The imaging unit 302 includes a solid-state imaging device (CCD) and a CCD in an approximately cylindrical lens unit that houses an imaging optical system composed of several lenses and a servo mechanism that performs zoom ratio driving and focus adjustment. A printed circuit board 506 on which circuit components for driving are mounted is fixed. The imaging unit 302 is fixed to the recorder holding sheet metal 501.

  The viewfinder 303 contains a small liquid crystal panel and a backlight that illuminates the liquid crystal panel from the back, and includes an optical system that guides the image displayed on the liquid crystal panel to the eyepiece (none of them are shown) ). In some cases, the viewfinder 303 may be reduced in size when not in use by being telescopic. The viewfinder 303 is fixed to an exterior cover 507 (described later) with screws.

  A microphone unit 508 is accommodated above the imaging unit 302. The microphone unit 508 is a unit that stores a pair of left and right microphone elements, and is sandwiched and attached to left and right exterior covers 507 and 509 described later. The upper surface of the microphone unit 508 is covered with a metal cover 510 provided with a large number of holes, and the sound that has reached through the holes is converted into an electric signal by a microphone element and sent to the main control board 304 by a cable (not shown).

  The exterior cover is configured as left and right units 507 and 509. The front portions of the exterior covers 507 and 509 have a shape in which 507 a and 509 a corresponding to the lower part of the imaging unit 302 are constricted by a curved surface that is substantially concentric with the disc 401. Also, 507b and 509b (509b not shown), which are the lower part of the viewfinder 303, are constricted by a curved surface that is substantially concentric with the outer shape of the disc 401, and the finger is caught when the photographer holds it by hand. The shape is easy to grip.

  A disk cover 511 that covers the disk drive device 301 and is supported so as to be openable and closable around the rotation shaft 511a is attached to the outer cover 507 on the right side as viewed from the photographer.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2, a switch unit 203 in which a zoom switch 201 for operating a zoom ratio and a still image recording button 202 are integrated is attached, and an image recording start button 204, a menu switch 205, and a disk eject are attached on the rear side of the apparatus. A switch 206 or the like is attached. In particular, the image recording start button 204 frequently used at the time of shooting is disposed in the curved concave portions 507b and 509b of the disc cover, and the pressing direction is the rotation center direction of the disc 401 and can be pushed with the thumb without difficulty. The camera is arranged so that it can be easily operated by the thumb during shooting.

  The units of the disk drive device 301 and the imaging unit 302 described above are fixed inside the exterior cover 507, and the switches described above are connected to the main control board 304 by a flexible board (not shown). Similarly, the viewfinder 303 is also attached to the exterior cover 507 and then connected to the main control board 304 by a flexible board. A liquid crystal monitor unit 513 is attached to one left outer cover 509 via a hinge 512. The liquid crystal monitor unit 513 includes a large liquid crystal panel, a backlight that irradiates the liquid crystal panel from the back, and a printed circuit board on which a drive circuit of the liquid crystal panel and an inverter circuit that lights the backlight are stacked and stored in a cover. It is a thing.

  The hinge 512 is composed of two orthogonal axes, and the posture can be freely changed such as so-called high angle, low angle, or face-to-face photography. The details of the hinge 512 are well known and will not be described.

  Below the liquid crystal monitor unit 513 is an attachment portion for the battery pack 514. The attachment portion of the battery pack 514 has a hook mechanism for detachably fixing the battery pack 514, and further, battery terminals that contact the battery pack 514 and guide power to the main body are installed (both not shown). As shown in FIG. 2, the screw part 515 for attaching to a tripod is installed in the bottom face.

  Here, usability of the video camera 101 will be described. When the disc 401 is loaded, the disc eject switch 206 is pushed. Then, the lock mechanism (not shown) of the disc cover 511 is released, and the disc cover 511 can be opened and closed. The user manually opens the disc cover 511, fits and attaches the center hole 405 of the disc 401 to the centering portion 404 provided at the center of the turntable 402, and then closes the disc cover 511 again until it is locked.

When shooting, cover the disc cover 511 with your palm, attach your index finger near the zoom switch 201, and your thumb near the video recording start button 204. The remaining middle finger, ring finger, and little finger are the front of the device. The machine 101 is used as if it is held. (Fig. 6)
As described above, since the moving image recording button 204 is disposed on a curved concavity that is substantially concentric with the disc 401, the thumb can ride in a natural posture and the moving image recording button 204 can be operated without difficulty. Further, in the state where the video camera 101 is held, the middle finger and the ring finger are applied to the curved concave portions 507a and 509a in front of the device, so that the force is easily applied to the hand, and the holding property is remarkably improved.

  In this embodiment, it is possible to stably hold the video camera body by hooking the fingers in the recesses provided at the front and rear of the video camera body, but in order to further improve the holdability, As explained in the example, it is naturally possible to adopt a configuration in which the belt is passed from the front to the rear of the device and the right hand passes through the belt.

  Then, the camera 101 can be held with the image pickup unit 302 facing the subject and the image can be taken while checking the image using the viewfinder 303 or the liquid crystal monitor 513. In addition, ambient sound can be recorded by the microphone unit 508 installed above the imaging unit 302.

It is a front perspective view of the video camera of the present invention. It is a rear perspective view of the video camera of the present invention. It is the schematic which shows the structure of the video camera of this invention. It is a disassembled perspective view of the video camera of this invention. 1 is a schematic view of a disk drive device of the present invention. It is a perspective view which shows the usage condition of the video camera of this invention. It is a front perspective view of the conventional video camera. It is a rear perspective view of the conventional video camera.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 Video camera body 201 Zoom switch 202 Still image recording button 203 Switch unit 204 Video recording start button 301 Disk drive device 302 Imaging unit 303 Viewfinder unit 304 Main control board 402 Turntable 403 Spindle motor 408 Optical pickup unit 409 Lead screw 501 Holding Sheet metal 503 Remote control light receiving element 505 Window member 506 Printed circuit board 507 Exterior cover 508 Microphone unit 509 Exterior cover 511 Disc cover 512 Hinge 513 LCD monitor unit 514 Battery pack

Claims (4)

  An image recording apparatus including a driving unit for driving a disk-shaped recording medium, an imaging unit for photographing a subject, and a viewfinder, wherein at least one of the imaging unit and the viewfinder is disposed above the driving unit. An image recording apparatus comprising: a recording medium; and a concave portion formed between the recording medium and an imaging unit or a viewfinder.   The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the concave portion is a grip portion.   The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a part of the recess is substantially concentric with the recording medium.   The image recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein an operation member is disposed in the recess.

Images