JP2007013784A - Camera having radio communication function - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To avoid deterioration in communication performance even by structure for storing an antenna in a metal appearance cover. <P>SOLUTION: Antennas 31, 32 for radio communication are arranged so as to be covered with lock out members 21, 23 near an opening 1a on the objective side for guiding light to a finder 10 and an opening 1b on the eyepiece side (both are formed in the metal appearance cover 1) for making a finder image visually recognizable from the outside, respectively. Since the lock out members 21, 23 are non-metal (for example, made of plastic) and radio waves are propagated through a non-metal part, successful communication performance is obtained. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a camera capable of wireless communication and is devised to arrange antennas.

  An example of a camera capable of wireless communication is described in Patent Document 1. In this camera, an antenna for wireless communication is provided so as to be exposed on the surface of the external cover of the camera.

JP 2003-264737 A

  Since the configuration in which the antenna is exposed to the outside as in Patent Document 1 is not preferable in terms of design, it is conceivable to accommodate the antenna inside the external cover. However, when the exterior cover is made of metal, there is a problem that radio waves are blocked and the communication state deteriorates.

The present invention relates to a radio communication unit including a metal exterior cover provided with an opening or a recess necessary for performing a predetermined camera function, a non-metal blocking member for closing the opening or the recess, and an antenna. And applied to cameras having The antenna is arranged so as to be covered with a closing member in the vicinity of the opening or in the recess.
The invention according to claim 2 uses an objective side opening for guiding light to the finder or an eyepiece side opening for making the finder image visible from the outside as the opening.
In the invention of claim 3, the antenna is disposed in the vicinity of the eyepiece side opening so as to be covered with an eyepiece as a closing member.
The invention of claim 4 uses a window for irradiating light on the subject side as the opening.
According to the invention of claim 5, the wireless communication unit can be inserted into and removed from the camera, and when inserted into the camera, the antenna reaches the vicinity of the opening.
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, a camera includes a metal outer cover, a grip portion attached to the outer cover, and a wireless communication unit including an antenna, and the antenna is provided in the grip portion.

  According to the present invention, the wireless communication antenna is disposed so as to be covered with the non-metallic closing member in the vicinity of the opening or the concave portion of the metallic outer cover, so that the metallic outer cover is employed. A good communication state can be obtained. Moreover, since the antenna is not exposed to the outside, the design is not impaired.

-First embodiment-
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
1 and 2 are perspective views of the digital camera according to the present embodiment as viewed from the front / rear, and FIG. 3 is a side sectional view. The front cover 1A and the back cover 1B (hereinafter collectively referred to as the appearance cover 1) of the camera are made of metal (for example, made of stainless steel) in order to give a high-class feeling and to reduce the thickness. Openings 1a, 1b, and 1c are formed on the front surface and the back surface of the exterior cover 1, and the openings 1a and 1b form a finder objective / eyepiece opening, and the opening 1c forms a light emission window of the flash device. A light transmissive cover 7 is fitted into the light emitting window 1c.

  A release button 2 is provided on the top surface of the exterior cover 1, a lens barrel 3 and a grip portion 4 are provided on the front surface, and an operation member 5 and a liquid crystal monitor 6 are provided on the back surface.

  An optical finder block 10 shown in FIG. 3 is formed by holding optical members such as objective / eyepiece lenses 11a and 11b and a prism 12 on a holding member 13, and is disposed between the openings 1a and 1b described above. A plastic opaque frame 21 is fitted into the opening 1a, and a transparent protective cover 22 is fitted into a window (finder objective window) 21a formed in the frame 21. A plastic opaque frame 23 bulging rearward is fitted into the opening 1b, and a window (finder eyepiece window) 23a formed in the frame 23 is closed by the eyepiece 11b. The subject luminous flux incident from the objective window 21a passes through the lens 11a, undergoes direction change twice by the prism 12, and is viewed through the eyepiece lens 11b and the eyepiece window 23a.

  FIG. 4 shows a control system of the camera, and the CPU 41 is connected with an imaging / recording unit 42, a monitor control unit 43, an operation unit 44, a wireless communication unit 30, and the like. The imaging / recording unit 42 includes an imaging element, an imaging circuit, an image processing circuit, an image recording circuit, and the like for achieving a function as a digital camera. The monitor control unit 43 performs display control of the liquid crystal monitor 6. The operation unit 44 includes a plurality of switches that are turned on and off in conjunction with the operation of the release button 22 and the operation member 5. The wireless communication unit 30 includes a wireless communication circuit 33 and antennas 31 and 32, and can transmit captured image data and other information to an external device wirelessly and receive transmission information from the outside.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, two antennas 31 and 32 are arranged on the front / rear side of the camera, respectively, thereby improving transmission / reception performance. The antennas 31 and 32 are arranged on the mounting boards 51 and 52 at the upper part of the finder block 10, respectively, and the wireless communication circuit 33 is also mounted on any of the boards. One antenna 31 is arranged to be covered by the frame 21 in the vicinity of the opening 1a, and the other antenna 32 is arranged to be covered by the frame 23 in the vicinity of the opening 1b.

The frames 21 and 23 covering the antennas 31 and 32 are both made of plastic, and radio waves propagate through the plastic part. Therefore, better communication performance can be obtained than when the antennas 31 and 32 are covered with the metal cover 1. Therefore, while adopting a metal cover, radio waves are not blocked by the metal cover, and the wireless communication performance is not impaired. Moreover, since the antennas 31 and 32 are not exposed to the outside, the appearance does not deteriorate.
The portions covering the antennas 31 and 32 may be non-metallic, and the same effect can be expected when a rubber frame is used instead of the plastic frames 21 and 23. Further, any one antenna may be used.

  Here, the frames 21 and 23 are usually made of plastic or rubber regardless of the presence or absence of the antennas 31 and 32. In particular, the eyepiece-side frame 23 is made of metal or plastic because it may damage the glasses when made of metal. In the present embodiment, attention is paid to the portion made of nonmetal in this way, and the antennas 31 and 32 are arranged in the portion covered with the nonmetal portion. Therefore, it is necessary to dare to provide the nonmetal portion for antenna arrangement. It is advantageous in terms of cost and design.

-Second Embodiment-
A second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the member which performs the function similar to previous embodiment.
An opening 61a is formed in a corner portion from the front surface to the upper surface of the metal external cover 61 of the camera, and a plastic opaque cover (hereinafter referred to as a resin cover) 62 is fitted to cover the opening 61a. The resin cover 62 is provided with a finder objective window 62a and a light emission window 62b of the flash device.

  A mounting board 71 on which the wireless communication circuit 33 is mounted is disposed on the finder block 10, and antennas 31 and 32 are mounted on the upper and lower surfaces, respectively. One antenna 31 is disposed in the vicinity of the opening 61a so as to be covered by the corner between the front surface and the upper surface of the resin cover 62. The other antenna 32 is disposed in the vicinity of the opening 61 b of the outer cover 61 so as to be exposed in the finder from the hole 13 a formed in the holding member 13 of the finder block 10.

  In this configuration, since the portion covering the antenna 31 is the resin cover 62, better communication performance can be obtained as compared with the case where the antenna cover 31 is covered with the metal cover 61 as described above. On the other hand, the antenna 32 is exposed in the viewfinder and is substantially covered with the eyepiece lens 11b. Since the eyepiece 11b made of glass or plastic transmits radio waves better than metal, good communication performance can be obtained.

-Third embodiment-
A third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the member which fulfill | performs the function similar to previous embodiment.
In the present embodiment, the wireless communication unit can be inserted into and removed from the camera. The camera body is provided with a loading chamber 81 of a wireless communication unit adjacent to the finder unit 10 at one end, and the loading chamber 81 can be opened and closed by a lid 82. A card-like wireless communication unit (hereinafter referred to as a wireless communication card) 90 includes a wireless communication circuit, an antenna, and 91, and the antenna 91 is provided on the protruding portion 90 </ b> A of the card 90. When the card 90 is loaded in the loading chamber 81 and the lid 82 is closed, the camera control unit and the wireless communication circuit are electrically connected to perform wireless communication as described above.

  A plastic opaque frame 83 bulging rearward is fitted into the finder eyepiece opening 101a formed in the outer cover 101, and the frame 83 is provided with a finder eyepiece window 83a. The internal space of the frame 83 communicates with the loading chamber 81 of the wireless communication card 90. When the card 90 is loaded in the loading chamber 81, the protruding portion 90A, that is, the antenna 91 is inserted into the frame 83. . Therefore, the antenna 91 is covered with the plastic frame 83 in the vicinity of the opening 101a, and the same effect as the previous embodiment can be obtained.

  The position where the antenna is provided is not limited to the opening for the finder, but inside the light emitting window of the flash device, the AF auxiliary light window, the light exit window for self-timer notification (all are formed on the exterior cover), etc. It may be provided. Since these windows are provided with plastic protective covers, the same effects as described above can be obtained.

  In addition, there is a camera in which a recess is provided on the surface of the outer cover, and a power terminal, a digital / analog terminal, or the like is disposed on the bottom of the recess and the recess can be opened and closed with a rubber lid. In such a camera, by arranging the antenna in the recess, the antenna is usually covered with a rubber lid, and the same effect as described above can be obtained.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 9, the grip portion 4 provided on the metal outer cover 1 may be made of plastic or rubber, and the antenna 31 may be disposed in the grip portion 4. In particular, by disposing the antenna 31 near the upper surface or the lower surface of the grip portion 4, it is possible to minimize the deterioration in communication performance due to covering the grip portion 4 with a finger.

The perspective view which looked at the camera in the 1st Embodiment of this invention from the front side. The perspective view which looked at the said camera from the back side. Side surface sectional drawing of the said camera. The control block diagram of a camera. The perspective view which looked at the camera in 2nd Embodiment from the front side. FIG. 6 is a side sectional view of the camera of FIG. 5. The perspective view which looked at the camera in a 3rd embodiment from the front. FIG. 8 is a plan sectional view of the camera of FIG. 7. The perspective view which shows the grip part of the camera in other embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1,61,101 External cover 1a, 1b, 1c Opening 4 Grip part 10 Finder unit 11b Eyepiece 21, 21, 23, 83 Frame 30 Wireless communication unit 31, 32 Antenna 62 Resin cover 90 Wireless communication card

Claims (6)

A metal exterior cover provided with an opening or a recess necessary for performing a predetermined camera function, a non-metal blocking member that closes the opening or the recess, and a wireless communication unit including an antenna In the camera that has
The camera having a wireless communication function, wherein the antenna is disposed in the vicinity of the opening or in the recess so as to be covered with the blocking member.   The camera having a wireless communication function according to claim 1, wherein the opening is an objective side opening for guiding light to a finder or an eyepiece side opening for making a finder image visible from the outside.   The camera having a wireless communication function according to claim 2, wherein the antenna is disposed in the vicinity of the eyepiece side opening so as to be covered with an eyepiece as the closing member.   The camera having a wireless communication function according to claim 1, wherein the opening is a window for irradiating light on a subject side.   The wireless communication unit according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the wireless communication unit can be inserted into and removed from a camera, and the antenna reaches the vicinity of the opening when the wireless communication unit is inserted into the camera. Camera with communication function. A metal exterior cover, a grip portion attached to the exterior cover, and a wireless communication unit including an antenna;
The camera having a wireless communication function, wherein the antenna is provided in the grip portion.

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