JP2008306675A - Imaging device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an imaging device that not only reduces wear of a sliding portion for a power supply but also achieves stable supply of power. <P>SOLUTION: The imaging device includes a camera portion 2, a tilting portion 3, and mounting member 4. A camera battery 23 is mounted in the camera portion 2, a tilting battery 34 being disposed in the tilting portion 3. Power of each battery is supplied from a power supply portion 51 of the mounting member and then controlled by a control portion 50. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an imaging apparatus capable of controlling a shooting direction from a remote location, and more particularly to an imaging apparatus that can rotate endlessly by 360 degrees or more in azimuth.

  2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a pan / tilt head camera as an imaging apparatus that can freely control a shooting direction from a remote place has been widely used as a surveillance camera.

  The pan head camera is composed of a fixed part that serves as a base for installing the camera, and a rotating part that is rotatably held so as to be capable of pan driving with respect to the fixed part. It is attached so that it can be tilted.

  Conventionally, a method using a cable is generally used for supplying power between the fixed portion and the rotating portion, and for transmitting and receiving control signals and video signals.

  However, since the length of the cable is finite, endless turning is impossible, and there is a problem of the durability of the cable due to the bending action of the cable. Therefore, in order to enable endless turning, in Patent Document 1, power is supplied by a sliding contact method using a slip ring and a brush, and signals are transmitted and received through an optical transmission line by a photoelectric conversion method. Proposals have been made.

  FIG. 6 is a schematic view of a conventional pan head camera capable of endless turning.

  In FIG. 6, a rotating unit 102 on which a camera 103 is mounted is provided on the fixed unit 101. A video signal from the camera 103 is transmitted from the rotation unit 102 to the fixed unit 101, and control signals such as zoom, focus, and tilt operations of the camera 103 are transmitted from the fixed unit 101 to the rotation unit 102.

  In that case, between the fixed part 101 and the rotation part 102, the optical transmission / reception units 104 and 105 which consist of a light emitting diode, a photodiode, and its drive circuit are arrange | positioned. The transmission / reception units 104 and 105 can transmit the control signal of the camera 103 from the fixed unit 101 to the rotating unit 102, and the video signal from the camera 103 can be transmitted from the rotating unit 102 to the fixed unit 101.

The slip ring transmission unit includes a conductive ring 106 and a conductive contact piece 107. The conductive ring 106 is provided on the outer periphery of the pan rotator 109 protruding outside the bearing 108. The conductive ring 106 is rotated together with the pan rotator 109. The conductive contact piece 107 is fixed so as to slide with respect to the conductive ring 106. The slip ring transmission unit supplies power from the fixed unit 101 to the rotating unit 102.
JP-A-9-284612

  However, the conventional camera platform has the following problems.

  In the system using a slip ring, there is a problem of wear due to sliding contact, and the power supply of power by radio with light is inefficient, and the device has become large in order to supply sufficient power. .

  An object of the present invention is to provide an imaging apparatus that can reduce wear of a sliding portion for supplying power and stabilize power supply.

  In order to achieve the above object, an imaging apparatus according to claim 1 includes a fixing unit including an imaging unit and having a pan mechanism for horizontally rotating a shooting direction of the imaging unit, and a tilt for tilting the imaging unit vertically. In an imaging apparatus having at least one of a tilt unit having a mechanism, a battery provided in at least one of the imaging unit and the tilt unit, supplying power to the battery, and at least one of the pan mechanism and the tilt mechanism And a power supply means having a sliding portion attached movably.

  The imaging device according to claim 5 is an imaging device including a camera unit, a tilt unit, and a fixed unit, wherein the camera unit is provided with a camera battery, and the tilt unit is provided with a tilt battery, The fixing unit includes a power supply unit that supplies power to each battery and a control unit that controls supply of power.

  According to the imaging apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to reduce the wear of the sliding portion for supplying power and stabilize the power supply.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a front view of a pan / tilt head camera as an imaging apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 1, a pan / tilt head camera 1 has a camera unit (imaging unit) 2, a tilt unit 3 having a tilt mechanism that supports the camera unit 2 so as to be capable of tilt rotation, and a pan mechanism that supports the tilt unit 3 so that the pan unit can be rotated. It is comprised with the fixing | fixed part 4. FIG. The pan head camera 1 is not limited to this configuration. That is, only one of the tilt part 3 and the fixed part 4 may be provided.

  The tilt unit 3 mainly includes a tilt mechanism and a camera charging mechanism (camera power supply mechanism).

  2 and 3 are diagrams showing the internal structure of the tilt unit 3, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the tilt mechanism 32, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the camera power supply mechanism 33 that charges the battery of the camera unit 2. FIG. It is.

  A tilt mechanism 32 that tilts and rotates the camera unit 2 (vertical tilt) is formed on a U-shaped tilt chassis 30 and includes a tilt shaft 31 that rotatably supports the camera unit 2. The tilt shaft 31 is driven by a tilt motor 35, a motor gear 36 attached to the motor shaft, and a bevel gear 37.

  Further, the tilt shaft 31 has a hollow structure, and photoelectric conversion means 38 and 39 are provided in order to communicate light inside the shaft. Then, non-contact transmission of a camera control signal to the camera unit 2, reception of a video signal from the camera unit 2 and a signal indicating a charging state of the camera battery 23 that supplies power to each unit of the camera unit 2 are performed. .

  A camera power supply mechanism 33 as a power supply means is a switch mechanism for charging the camera battery 23. The camera power supply mechanism 33 includes a conductive material 33a as a sliding portion, a shaft terminal 33b attached so as to be movable in the arrow A direction, and a tilt actuator 33c that drives the shaft terminal 33b in the arrow A direction.

  Charging of the camera battery 23 is controlled by a battery charging system to be described later. When it is determined that charging of the camera battery 23 is necessary, the tilt actuator 33c is driven and the shaft terminal 33b contacts the conductive material 33a. . Thereby, the power supply of the camera battery 23 becomes possible.

  The camera battery 23 is charged via the conductive material 33 a, and the power source is the power supply unit of the fixed unit 4. The power supply unit has the same mechanism as the camera power supply mechanism 33. Power is supplied to the tilt unit 3 via a tilt power supply mechanism described later, and the camera battery 23 is charged (power supply) via the camera power supply mechanism 33.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an internal structure of the fixing portion in FIG.

  In FIG. 4, the fixing unit 4 is a part that becomes a base when the pan / tilt head camera 1 is installed on a tabletop, a ceiling, or the like, and has a pan axis 41 and a pan mechanism 42 that horizontally rotates the photographing direction of the camera unit 2. A tilt power supply mechanism 43 as a power supply means, which is a switch mechanism for charging the tilt battery 34, is provided. Further, although not shown, a control unit that controls the pan head camera 1, a power supply unit that supplies power to the tilt unit 3 and the camera unit 2, and a communication unit that communicates with the outside are also provided.

  The pan mechanism 42 has the same structure as the tilt mechanism 32 described above. The pan shaft 41 that rotatably supports the tilt unit 3 includes a pan motor 45, a motor gear 46 attached to the motor shaft, and a bevel gear 47. Driven by.

  Similarly, the pan shaft 41 has a hollow structure, and photoelectric conversion means 48 and 49 are provided inside the shaft. Then, the camera control signal is transmitted to the tilt unit 3 in a non-contact manner, and the video signal from the tilt unit 3 and the signal indicating the charge state of the camera battery 23 and the tilt battery 34 are received.

The tilt power supply mechanism 43 has the same structure as the camera power supply mechanism 33. That is, a conductive material 43a, a shaft terminal 43b, and a pan actuator 43c are provided as sliding portions. The pan actuator 43c that drives the tilt power supply mechanism 43 and the tilt actuator 33c are assumed to be solenoids in the present embodiment, but may be different actuators as long as they drive the shaft terminals 43b and 33b.
As the camera battery 23 and the tilt battery 34, for example, a Ni-Cd battery, a Pb battery, a Li ion battery, or the like can be considered.

  FIG. 5 is a circuit configuration diagram of the pan / tilt head camera of FIG.

  First, a circuit configuration related to tilt power supply will be described.

  The tilt charging unit 60 is built in the tilt unit 3 and supplies power to each circuit of the tilt unit 3. The tilt power reception unit 60 includes a tilt battery 34 and a detection unit 61 as detection means for detecting the power supply capability of the battery. The detection unit 61 detects the voltage of the tilt battery 34 at regular time intervals.

  The voltage detected by the detection unit 61 is converted into an optical signal, transmitted to the reception unit 53 of the fixed unit 4 by the transmission unit 62, and transmitted from the reception unit 53 to the control unit 50. When the transmitted data signal is equal to or less than a preset value, the control unit 50 serving as a power supply control unit transmits a charge command signal to the power supply unit 51 and further drives the pan actuator drive unit 55. Send a signal.

  In addition, when the voltage of the tilt battery 34 reaches a predetermined charging voltage, the control unit 50 transmits a charge end signal to the power supply unit 51 and transmits a drive stop signal to the pan actuator driving unit 55. When the power supply unit 51 receives the charge command signal, the power supply unit 51 supplies power to the tilt charging unit 60.

  Although not shown, the power supply unit 51 is connected to an external AC power source and converted to a constant voltage by a built-in constant voltage generation circuit. If the power supply unit 51 is also provided with a battery, it can be disconnected from an external AC power source.

  The camera unit 2 includes a lens driving unit 74 for driving an unspecified zoom / focus optical system, a camera signal processing unit 75 including an image sensor such as a CCD or a CMOS, a camera control unit 70 for controlling them, A camera charging unit 71 that supplies power is provided.

  The camera unit 2 receives the image signal transmitted from the camera signal processing unit 75 and the remote control signal from the transmission unit 72 that transmits the voltage signal transmitted from the camera charging unit 71 and the communication unit 56 of the fixed unit 4. A receiving unit 73 that receives and transmits to the camera control unit 70 is provided.

  The charging system of the camera charging unit 71 that is built in the camera unit 2 and supplies power to each circuit of the camera unit 2 has the same mechanism as that of the tilt charging unit 60, and thus the description thereof is omitted. The signals between the fixed portion 4 and the fixed portion 4 are transmitted and received through the tilt portion 3, and the tilt portion 3 must be relayed to charge the camera battery 23.

  Therefore, when the voltage of the camera battery 23 is equal to or lower than the predetermined voltage value, the control unit 50 transmits a charge command signal and a drive signal to the tilt actuator drive unit 65 and the pan actuator drive unit 55. Then, both actuators are driven so that not only the camera unit 2 and the tilt unit 3 are energized but also the tilt unit 3 and the fixed unit 4 are energized.

  The fixing unit 4 includes a pan motor driving unit 54 that drives the pan motor 45 described above, a pan actuator driving unit 55 that drives a power supply switch, and a communication unit 56 that connects to an external device that performs remote control.

  In addition, the fixing unit 4 supplies battery power to the tilt unit 3 and the camera unit 2, and in order to drive each unit of the fixing unit 4, a power supply unit 51 connected to an external power source (not shown), The control part 50 to control is provided.

  The control unit 50 transmits a drive signal to the tilt motor drive unit 64 via the pan drive unit 54, the transmission unit 52, and the reception unit 53 based on a control signal input from the outside via the communication unit 56. The control unit 50 transmits a camera control signal to the camera control unit 70 via the transmission unit 52, the reception unit 63, the transmission unit 66, and the reception unit 73.

  The communication unit 56 receives a wireless or wired signal output from the external device and transmits it to the control unit 50. In addition, the video signal from the camera unit 2 is transmitted to an external device wirelessly or by wire.

  In this embodiment, light is used for communication between the transmission units 52, 62, 66, and 72 and the reception units 53, 63, 67, and 73 that connect the camera unit 2, the tilt unit 3, and the fixed unit 4, but contactless. However, the present invention is not limited to this as long as signals are transmitted and received. In addition, a radio signal conforming to a standard such as IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers) 802.11a may be considered.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the cable that restricts the rotation of the tilt unit 3 can be eliminated, and pan-tilt driving can be performed endlessly by 360 degrees or more. In addition, since it has a built-in battery and power can be supplied only when needed, the contact time of the power supply contacts can be minimized, and the sliding part is more Wear can be reduced. Further, the power supply from the battery is more stable than the power supply from the sliding member such as a slip ring.

It is a front view of a pan head camera as an image pick-up device concerning an embodiment of the invention. It is a figure which shows the tilt mechanism of the pan head camera of FIG. It is a figure which shows the camera power supply mechanism which charges the battery of the camera part in FIG. It is a figure which shows the internal structure of the fixing | fixed part in FIG. It is a circuit block diagram of the pan head camera of FIG. It is the schematic of the conventional pan head camera in which endless rotation is possible.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Head camera 2 Camera part 3 Tilt part 4 Fixing part 23 Camera battery 31 Tilt shaft 32 Tilt mechanism 33 Camera power supply mechanism 33a Conductive material 33b Shaft terminal 33c Tilt actuator 34 Tilt battery 35 Tilt motor 36 Motor gear 37 Bevel gear 41 Pan axis 42 pan mechanism 43 tilt power supply mechanism 45 pan motor 46 motor gear 47 bevel gear 50 control unit 51 power supply unit 52 transmission unit 53 reception unit 54 pan motor drive unit 55 pan actuator drive unit 56 communication unit 60 tilt charging unit 61 detection unit 62 transmission unit 63 receiver 64 tilt motor driver 65 tilt actuator driver 66 transmitter 67 receiver 70 camera controller 71 camera charger 72 transmitter 73 receiver 74 lens driver 75 camera signal processor

Claims (5)

In an imaging apparatus including an imaging unit and having at least one of a fixing unit having a pan mechanism for horizontally rotating a shooting direction of the imaging unit and a tilt unit having a tilt mechanism for vertically tilting the imaging unit,
A battery provided in at least one of the imaging unit and the tilt unit;
Power supply means for supplying power to the battery, and having a sliding portion movably attached to at least one of the pan mechanism and the tilt mechanism;
An imaging apparatus comprising: Detecting means for detecting the power supply capability of the battery;
Power supply control means for controlling the power supply means;
With
The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the power supply control unit supplies power before the power supply capability of the battery detected by the detection unit is lost.   The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the fixing unit includes the battery.   A communication unit that controls a shooting direction of the imaging unit from a remote place, and a control signal transmitted from the communication unit to the imaging unit, the tilt unit, and the fixing unit is a radio signal. Item 4. The imaging device according to any one of Items 1 to 3. In an imaging device composed of a camera unit, a tilt unit, and a fixed unit,
The camera unit is provided with a camera battery,
The tilt unit is provided with a tilt battery,
The imaging device according to claim 1, wherein the fixing unit includes a power supply unit that supplies power to each battery and a control unit that controls supply of power.

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