JP2009117972A - Image pickup apparatus and accessory devices - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a small-sized accessory shoe together with an accessory-side shoe mechanism. <P>SOLUTION: An accessory device includes a lock pin 804 energized in the first direction and a lock nut 802 movable in the first and second directions for the accessory-side shoe member 801. The accessory shoe 5 includes a base member 501 to be engaged with the accessory-side shoe member 801, an unlock pin 5031 inserted into a hole 5011 of the base member, a switch 5032 movable in the first and second directions, and an unlock member 503 energized in the second direction with a force larger than that in the first direction. The unlock pin moves in the first direction from the hole and the lock pin moves in the first direction so as to be inserted into the hole when the lock nut 802 movable in the first direction is brought into contact with the switch to move the unlock member in the first direction under the condition that the accessory shoe member is being engaged with the base member. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an imaging device having an accessory shoe and an accessory device attached to the accessory shoe.

  An imaging device such as a digital camera or a video camera is provided with an accessory shoe for mounting accessory equipment such as an illumination light and a microphone. Conventionally, various accessory shoes and shoe mechanisms on the accessory device side have been proposed.

  The basic accessory device side shoe mechanism consists of a shoe clip (accessory side shoe member) that engages with the accessory shoe by sliding, and a hole formed in the accessory shoe that is biased in a direction protruding from the shoe clip. And a lock pin to be inserted. Furthermore, it has a lock nut that is screw-coupled to the shoe clip and that moves downward to tighten the accessory shoe. Such a shoe mechanism can prevent the connection (lock) between the accessory device and the accessory shoe from being easily released.

  However, in order to remove the accessory device from the accessory shoe, it is necessary to remove the lock pin inserted into the hole portion of the accessory shoe from the hole portion, and a mechanism capable of easily removing the lock pin from the hole portion is required. It is done.

In the shoe mechanism disclosed in Patent Document 1, a lock pin that is urged in a direction protruding from a shoe clip and inserted into a hole portion of an accessory shoe in a recess formed inside the lock nut, The cam part which controls operation | movement is accommodated. By rotating the lock nut, the cam member operates, and the lock pin can be protruded from the shoe clip or pulled into the shoe clip. Therefore, the lock pin can be removed from the hole simply by loosening the lock nut that has been tightened with respect to the accessory shoe.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-242266

  However, in the shoe mechanism of the accessory device disclosed in Patent Document 1, not only the lock pin and the spring that urges the lock pin in the protruding direction, but also the cam member and the cam surface for operating the lock pin are arranged or formed inside the lock nut. Has been. For this reason, the lock nut tends to be large, and it is difficult to reduce the size of the shoe mechanism.

  The increase in the size of the shoe mechanism of the accessory device leads to an increase in the space for disposing the shoe mechanism before and after disengagement provided behind the accessory shoe in the imaging apparatus. As a result, there is a possibility that downsizing of the imaging device is hindered.

  The present invention provides an imaging device including an accessory shoe that can be downsized together with a shoe mechanism on the accessory device side, and an accessory device.

  An imaging apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention includes an accessory-side shoe member, a lock pin biased so as to protrude from the accessory-side shoe member in a first direction, and rotating relative to the accessory-side shoe member. An accessory shoe having an accessory device having a first direction and a lock nut that moves in a second direction opposite to the first direction is provided. The accessory shoe includes a base member that engages with the accessory-side shoe member, a lock release pin that is inserted into a hole formed in the base member, and a switch portion that moves in the first and second directions. And a lock release member biased in the second direction with a force larger than the biasing force in the first direction with respect to the pin. When the accessory-side shoe member is engaged with the base member, the lock nut that moves in the first direction abuts against the switch portion and moves the lock release member in the first direction, so that the lock release pin becomes the hole portion. And the lock pin moves in the first direction and is inserted into the hole.

  According to the present invention, the lock pin can be inserted into or removed from the hole formed in the base member (locked or unlocked) simply by tightening or loosening the lock nut. . In addition, while the locking and unlocking is easy in this way, the shoe mechanism on the accessory device side and the accessory shoe on the imaging device side can be made a simple structure composed of few parts, and the size can be reduced. it can. Therefore, by using such an accessory shoe, it is possible to reduce the size of the imaging apparatus.

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

  FIG. 1 shows an appearance of a video camera as an image pickup apparatus that is an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a video camera body. Reference numeral 2 denotes a photographing lens provided at the front portion of the video camera body 1.

  Reference numeral 3 denotes an electronic viewfinder provided at the rear of the video camera main body 1, and reference numeral 4 denotes a display provided on the side of the video camera main body 1 so as to be opened and closed. A photographed image is displayed on the electronic finder 3 and the display 4. The photographer can check the subject (photographed image) through the electronic viewfinder 3 and the display 4.

  Reference numeral 5 denotes an accessory shoe provided on the upper surface of the video camera body 1, and an accessory device to be described later is attached thereto.

  FIG. 2 shows the appearance of the accessory shoe 5. FIG. 3 shows the accessory shoe 5 in an exploded manner.

  2 and 3, the accessory shoe 5 includes a shoe base (base member) 501, a holding member 502, an unlocking member 503, and an unlocking spring 504.

  In the shoe base 501, a shoe clip provided in a light side shoe mechanism, which will be described later, slides in a direction indicated by an arrow A in FIG. 2 (a direction orthogonal to the first and second directions). A pair of engaging portions 501a are integrally formed. The direction A corresponds to the front of the video camera, and the direction opposite to the direction A corresponds to the rear of the video camera.

  Each engaging portion 501a extends upward from the flat surface portion 501b of the shoe base 501, and is further bent so that a portion ahead thereof extends in parallel with the flat surface portion 501b. The pair of engaging portions 501a are formed such that the tip portions face each other. These engaging portions 501a engage with the shoe clip so as to hold down the upper surface of the slid clip as described above, thereby preventing the shoe clip from moving in the vertical direction.

  Further, the flat portion 501b of the shoe base 501 is formed with a hole portion 5011 into which a shoe lock pin 804 provided in a light side shoe mechanism described later is inserted.

  An unlocking pin (protrusion) 5031 and a switch portion 5032 are integrally formed on the unlocking member 503. The unlocking member 503 is biased upward (second direction) by the unlocking spring 504. The lock release pin 5031 is inserted into the hole 5011 of the shoe base 501 under the urging force from the lock release spring 504 (second urging member). Further, the lock release pin 5031 moves downward together with the switch portion 5032 when the switch portion 5032 is pushed downward (in the first direction) against the urging force of the lock release spring 504, and moves toward the hole portion 5011. Retract.

  Here, the spring constant of the unlocking spring 504 is set larger than the spring constant of the lock spring provided in the light side shoe mechanism described later.

  The holding member 502 is disposed below the shoe base 501 and holds the shoe base 501 and the unlocking member 503. The holding member 502 is fixed to the camera body 1. The holding member 502 is formed with a hole 5021 that overlaps the hole 5011 of the shoe base 501.

  FIG. 4 shows a video light for subject illumination as an accessory device. Reference numeral 6 denotes a video light main body, and reference numeral 7 denotes a light emitting unit that emits illumination light. A light side shoe mechanism (accessory side shoe mechanism) 8 is detachably attached to the accessory shoe 5.

  FIG. 5 shows an appearance of the light side shoe mechanism 8, and FIG. 6 shows a cross section of the shoe mechanism 8.

  In these drawings, the shoe mechanism 8 includes a shoe clip (accessory side shoe member) 801, a shoe lock nut 802, a shoe clip base 803, a shoe lock pin 804, and a lock spring 805 (first biasing member). It is comprised by.

  The shoe clip 801 is engaged and held by the pair of engaging portions 501 a of the shoe base 501 by sliding with respect to the above-described shoe base 501. A hole 8011 is formed at the center of the shoe clip 801, and a shoe lock pin 804 is disposed in the hole 8011. A male screw is formed on the outer periphery of the shoe clip 801.

  The shoe lock pin 804 is biased downward (first direction) by the lock spring 805 and protrudes from the lower end opening of the hole 8011. The shoe lock pin 804 is retracted into the hole 8011 by being pushed upward (in the second direction) against the urging force of the lock spring 805.

  Here, as described above, the spring constant of the lock spring 805 is set smaller than the spring constant of the lock release spring 504.

  The shoe locknut 802 has a female screw that meshes with a male screw formed on the outer periphery of the shoe clip 801 on the inner periphery thereof. Therefore, when the shoe lock nut 802 is rotated in one direction, the shoe lock nut 802 moves downward with respect to the shoe clip 801, and when the shoe lock nut 802 is rotated in the other direction, the shoe lock nut 802 is moved to the shoe clip 801. On the other hand, it moves upward.

  The video light main body 6 is coupled to the shoe clip base 803 fixed to the shoe clip 801.

  FIG. 7 shows a state in which the shoe clip 801 is placed behind the engaging portion 501a in the flat portion 501b of the shoe base 501 immediately before the video light is attached to the accessory shoe 5 of the camera.

  The shoe lock pin 804 is pushed upward by contact with the flat surface portion 501 b and is retracted into the hole portion 8011. Further, the shoe locknut 802 is located on the upper portion of the shoe clip 801.

  Further, the unlocking member 503 is positioned above by the urging force of the unlocking spring 504, and the unlocking pin 5031 is inserted into the hole 5011 of the shoe base 501. In this state, the upper end of the lock release pin 5031 is located at the same or substantially the same position as the upper end opening surface of the hole 5011 of the shoe base 501.

  FIG. 8 shows a state in which the video light is slid in the direction A from the state of FIG. In the state of FIG. 8, the shoe clip 801 is engaged with the engaging portion 501a of the shoe base 501 as described above. At this time, the position of the shoe lock pin 804 coincides with the position of the hole 5011 of the shoe base 501, and the lower end of the shoe lock pin 804 comes into contact with the upper end of the lock release pin 5031. As described above, since the spring constant of the unlocking spring 504 is larger than the spring constant of the lock spring 805, the shoe lock pin 804 remains retracted in the hole 8011 of the shoe clip 801, and its lower end. Does not protrude from the opening.

  At this time, a part of the shoe locknut 802 is positioned above the switch portion 5032 of the lock release member 503.

  When the shoe lock nut 802 is rotated to the one side from the state of FIG. 8, the shoe lock nut 802 is moved downward with respect to the shoe clip 801 as shown in FIG. 9, and is moved to the upper end of the switch portion 5032 of the lock release member 503. Abut. When the shoe locknut 802 continues to rotate, the shoe locknut 802 moves downward relative to the shoe clip 801 while pushing down the lock release member 503 via the switch portion 5032. As a result, the lock release pin 5031 also moves downward and retracts into the hole 5011.

  The shoe lock pin 804 receiving the urging force of the lock spring 805 is inserted into the hole 5011 into which the lock release pin 5031 is retracted. As a result, the movement (slide) of the light side shoe mechanism 8, that is, the video light in the direction A and the opposite direction is locked. Therefore, the video light is prevented from falling off from the accessory shoe 5.

  Then, by tightening the shoe locknut 802 so that the lower surface thereof is in pressure contact with the upper surface of the engaging portion 501a of the shoe base 501, the vertical shaking of the video light with respect to the shoe base 501 is prevented. Thus, the video light is firmly connected to the accessory shoe 5.

  In order to remove the video light from the accessory shoe 5, when the shoe lock nut 802 is rotated in the direction of loosening (the other side), the shoe lock nut 802 moves upward relative to the shoe clip 801. Since the spring constant of the unlocking spring 504 is larger than the spring constant of the locking spring 805, the unlocking member 503 is also moved up by the biasing force of the unlocking spring 504 as the shoe locknut 802 moves upward. As a result, the lock release pin 5031 pushes the shoe lock pin 804 against the hole 5011 of the shoe base 501 and finally pushes the shoe lock pin 804 out of the hole 5011 as shown in FIG.

  Accordingly, the movement of the video light in the direction A and in the opposite direction is unlocked, and the video light can be easily detached from the accessory shoe 5 by simply sliding the video light in the direction opposite to the direction A.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the shoe lock pin 804 can be inserted into or removed from the hole 5011 formed in the shoe base 501 (locking) simply by tightening or loosening the shoe lock nut 802. Or unlock it). The accessory side shoe mechanism 8 and the accessory shoe 5 have a simple structure constituted by few parts while being easily locked and unlocked. Therefore, both the accessory side shoe mechanism 8 and the accessory shoe 5 can be reduced in size.

  Furthermore, by using such an accessory shoe 5, the video camera can be reduced in size.

  Each embodiment described above is only a representative example, and various modifications and changes can be made to each embodiment in carrying out the present invention.

  In the above-described embodiment, the video camera as the imaging device and the video light as the accessory device have been described. However, the present invention can also be applied to the case where other accessory devices such as a flash (flash illumination) unit and a microphone are mounted on a digital still camera (single-lens reflex type and compact type) as another imaging device.

The perspective view of the video camera which is an Example of this invention. The perspective view of the accessory shoe with which the video camera of the Example was equipped. The disassembled perspective view of the accessory shoe of an Example. The perspective view of the video light which is the accessory apparatus of an Example. The perspective view of the video light side shoe mechanism of an Example. Sectional drawing of the video light side shoe mechanism of an Example. Sectional drawing which shows the state before mounting | wearing the accessory shoe with the video light side shoe mechanism in an Example. Sectional drawing which shows the state in the middle of mounting | wearing the accessory shoe with the video light side shoe mechanism in an Example. Sectional drawing which shows the state which mounting | wearing with respect to the accessory shoe of the video light side shoe mechanism in an Example was completed.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Video camera main body 5 Accessory shoe 501 Shoe base 5011 Hole part 502 Holding member 503 Lock release member 5031 Lock release pin 5032 Switch part 504 Lock release spring 6 Video light main body 8 Light side shoe mechanism 801 Shoe clip 802 Shoe lock nut 803 Shoe clip Base 804 Shoe lock pin 805 Lock spring

Claims (3)

An accessory-side shoe member, a lock pin biased so as to protrude from the accessory-side shoe member in a first direction, and the first side and the first direction relative to the accessory-side shoe member by rotating. An imaging device having an accessory shoe to which an accessory device having a lock nut moving in a second direction opposite to the direction is attached,
The accessory shoe is
A base member engaged with the accessory side shoe member;
A lock release pin that is inserted into a hole formed in the base member and a switch portion that moves in the first and second directions are formed, and the force is greater than the biasing force in the first direction against the lock pin. And an unlocking member biased in the second direction.
When the accessory side shoe member is engaged with the base member, the lock nut that moves in the first direction abuts on the switch portion and moves the lock release member in the first direction. The image pickup apparatus, wherein the lock release pin moves from the hole in the first direction and the lock pin moves in the first direction and is inserted into the hole. A first urging member that urges the lock pin in the first direction and a second urging member that urges the unlocking member in the second direction;
The imaging device according to claim 1, wherein a spring constant of the second urging member is larger than a spring constant of the first urging member. The accessory-side shoe member, the lock pin biased to protrude in the first direction from the accessory-side shoe member, and the first direction and the first direction with respect to the accessory-side shoe member by rotating A lock nut that moves in a second direction opposite to
An accessory device attached to the accessory shoe of the imaging apparatus according to claim 1.