JP2009159019A - Imaging apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent image quality from being reduced by camera shake, in an imaging apparatus. <P>SOLUTION: An imaging apparatus includes: an image sensor 2; a ground plate 30 including an opening 30a; a shutter blade 31 disposed in front of the image sensor for opening/closing the opening 30a; shutter driving mechanisms 32, 33, 34 for driving the shutter blade to be open/closed and positioning the shutter blade at a predetermined position; a normal shooting mode and a camera shake prevention mode; and image combination means 11, 12 for combining a plurality of images taken by the image sensor during the camera shake prevention mode to obtain a combination image. Each shutter driving mechanism performs opening/closing driving upon the shutter blade 31 during the camera shake prevention mode to perform shutter operation a plurality of times and quickly performs closing operation, and the image combination means combines all the plurality of images taken by the plurality of times of shutter operation. Thus, even when a photographer incurs camera shake, a resultant combination image includes no noise, and image quality is prevented or prevented from being deteriorated by camera shake, thereby obtaining a sharp image. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an imaging apparatus including a camera shake correction function (camera shake prevention function) in an imaging apparatus including an imaging device such as a mobile camera mounted on a portable digital camera, a mobile phone, or the like.

  Conventional imaging devices include an imaging lens, an aperture, a shutter blade, an imaging unit composed of an imaging element such as a MOS or a CCD, a signal processing unit that processes an image signal captured by the imaging unit, an image storage unit, and a plurality of images. When a camera shake correction mode (anti-vibration system) is selected, a release operation is performed once when a camera shake correction mode (anti-vibration system) is selected, including a shift detection unit that detects mutual shift, and an image composition unit that combines a plurality of images based on information from the shift detection unit. Thus, there is known a method of performing a plurality of times of photographing, and finally obtaining one image by combining a plurality of photographed images obtained by the plurality of times of photographing (see, for example, Patent Document 1). .

Here, a plurality of times of imaging, the image pickup device repeats a sequence of charge accumulation start → charge accumulation end → charge transfer → image storage over a plurality of times in response to a command pulse issued at a predetermined timing. In this case, photographing is performed a plurality of times by an electronic shutter. However, in such a photographing method using an electronic shutter, noise is likely to occur during transfer of image data (charge), and each photographed image causes deterioration in image quality, and the synthesized image also accumulates noise, resulting in image quality. As a result, there is a problem that a clear image cannot be obtained unless a predetermined noise correction process is performed.
That is, in an image pickup device such as a CCD, an interlace method is usually employed. According to this interless method, information (charge) is sequentially transferred to adjacent pixels when transferring pixel information of the image pickup device. For this reason, when the pixel itself senses light, the light is not superimposed on the transferred information, leading to image degradation. Therefore, it is preferable that no light strikes an image pickup device such as a CCD during image transfer.
Therefore, when a shutter that mechanically opens and closes is applied to the above-described imaging apparatus, the shutter blades have the same opening waveform as the speed of the opening operation and the speed of the closing operation, as shown in FIG. Therefore, when the number of times of photographing (number of divisions) is 3, for example, the total exposure time Y is represented by Y = 3Xa by multiplying the effective exposure time Xa for each shutter blade opening / closing operation by 3 times, and each effective exposure. Since the time X also becomes longer, high-speed continuous shooting cannot be supported if the shutter blades are completely closed during data transfer. In addition, if data transfer is started before the shutter blades are completely closed, even if high-speed continuous shooting can be supported, light hits an image sensor such as a CCD during data transfer, and noise is generated. .

On the other hand, in order to shorten the exposure time when the shutter blades are fully opened, a pair of shutter blades that open and close the opening, and an opening / closing member that is rotationally driven to open and close the pair of shutter blades between the fully open position and the fully closed position , A motor that rotationally drives the opening and closing member, and a movable restriction that swings between an engagement position that engages the opening and closing member so as to restrict the rotation range of the opening and closing member and a release position that releases from the opening and closing member A plunger that rotates the member and the movable restricting member to be positioned at the engagement position or the release position, restricts the opening and closing member by the movable restricting member, and positions the shutter blade in the vicinity of the edge of the opening to be the fully open position A camera lens shutter is known (for example, see Patent Document 2).
However, in this camera lens shutter, in order to define the fully open position of the shutter blades, an opening / closing member and a movable restricting member are required, and an arrangement space for them is required, resulting in an increase in size, a complicated structure, There is a problem that the cost increases.

JP 2006-174069 A JP-A-8-262531

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and its object is to divide the exposure time into a plurality of parts while simplifying the structure, reducing costs, downsizing, etc. When opening and closing the shutter blades according to the number, the second and subsequent closing speeds are driven at higher speeds to prevent or reduce image quality degradation due to camera shake itself or camera shake prevention mode, and to achieve high image quality. An object of the present invention is to provide an imaging apparatus capable of obtaining an image.

An image pickup apparatus according to the present invention includes an image pickup element, a ground plane having an opening, a shutter blade disposed in front of the image pickup element to open and close the opening, a shutter driving mechanism for opening and closing the shutter blade, a normal shooting mode, and An image pickup apparatus comprising: a camera shake prevention mode; and an image composition unit that obtains a composite image by synthesizing a plurality of images photographed by the image sensor in the camera shake prevention mode, wherein the shutter drive mechanism The shutter is driven to open and close so that the shutter blades perform a plurality of shutter operations, and the image composition means performs composition processing on all of the plurality of images obtained by the plurality of shutter operations.
According to this configuration, in the camera shake prevention mode, the shutter blade is driven to open and close a plurality of times by the shutter driving mechanism, and a shutter operation is performed a plurality of times. Then, all of the plurality of images photographed by the imaging device based on a plurality of shutter operations are combined by the image combining means and output as a single combined image. Therefore, even if the photographer shakes, the obtained synthesized image does not include noise, and a clear image can be obtained by preventing or suppressing deterioration in image quality due to the shake.

In the above-described configuration, the shutter drive mechanism includes a plunger that advances and retreats a predetermined stroke and a part of which abuts against the shutter blade, and an actuator that drives the plunger to advance and retreat. The plunger is opened in the normal photographing mode other than the camera shake prevention mode. A first stopper position that positions the shutter blade at a fully open position that is a predetermined distance away from the edge of the part, and a fully open position that is closer to the edge of the opening than the fully open position that is positioned by the first stopper position in the camera shake prevention mode. A configuration that defines a second stopper position for positioning the shutter blades can be employed.
According to this configuration, in the normal photographing mode, the shutter blade is positioned at the fully open position separated by a predetermined distance from the edge of the opening (with a margin) provided by the plunger positioned at the first stopper position. Therefore, when the shutter blade performs the opening and closing operation, the opening is not closed even if the shutter blade returns to the close side due to a reaction that collides with (a part of) the plunger positioned at the first stopper position, and is positioned at the fully open position. . On the other hand, in the camera shake prevention mode, the shutter blades are stopped in a region near the edge of the opening by the plunger moved to the second stopper position by energizing the actuator, so that the shutter operation is continuously performed. When the shutter is moved, the shutter blade can be made to perform a high-speed closing operation by utilizing the reaction caused by the collision with the plunger (a part of the plunger) positioned at the second stopper position. It can be carried out.

In the above-described configuration, it is disposed in front of the image sensor and has a diaphragm opening that restricts the opening of the base plate to a predetermined diameter, and is movably disposed between a diaphragm position facing the opening and a non-diaphragm position retracted from the opening. The plunger further includes an aperture driving mechanism for driving the aperture blade, and when the plunger is in the aperture position where the aperture blade faces the opening in the camera shake prevention mode, the plunger is disposed at the fully open position near the edge of the aperture opening. The structure which prescribes | regulates the 3rd stopper position to position can be employ | adopted.
According to this configuration, when the diaphragm blade is in the diaphragm position facing the opening in the normal photographing mode or in the non-diaphragm position retracted from the opening, the shutter blade is moved by the plunger positioned at the first stopper position. Because the shutter blade is positioned at a fully open position that is a predetermined distance away from the edge (with a margin), when the shutter blade performs an opening / closing operation, it is caused by a reaction that collides with (a part of) the plunger positioned at the first stopper position. Even when returning slightly to the closed side, the opening (or the aperture opening) is not closed, and is positioned at the fully open position. On the other hand, when the diaphragm blade is in the diaphragm position facing the opening in the camera shake prevention mode, the shutter blade is energized to the actuator, and the plunger that has moved to the third stopper position causes the edge of the diaphragm opening (of the diaphragm blade). Therefore, when the shutter operation is continuously performed, the shutter blade is subjected to a high-speed closing operation by utilizing the reaction caused by the collision with the plunger (part of the plunger) located at the third stopper position. As a whole, a plurality of shutter operations can be performed at high speed.

In the above configuration, the diaphragm drive mechanism includes a regulating lever that is interlocked with the operation of the diaphragm blades and that can be engaged with the plunger to regulate the movement thereof, and the plunger defines the first stopper position in the retracted state. It is possible to adopt a configuration in which the second stopper position is defined in a state in which the movement is restricted by protruding to the restriction lever, and the third stopper position is defined in the state in which the restriction is released by the restriction lever and the protrusion is most protruded. it can.
According to this configuration, when the diaphragm blades are in the diaphragm position facing the opening or in the non-diaphragm position retracted from the opening in the normal shooting mode, the plunger is retracted to define the first stopper position, and the camera shake prevention mode When the diaphragm blade is in the non-diaphragm position retracted from the opening, the actuator is energized by restricting the protrusion by the restriction lever, and the plunger is advanced halfway to define the second stopper position. When the throttle position is at the opening, the restriction by the restriction lever is released, the actuator is energized, and the plunger protrudes the most to define the third stopper position.
In this way, since three stopper positions can be defined according to the advance / retreat position of one plunger, in the case of reducing the number of parts and the simplification of the structure while reducing the opening diameter, The normal shooting mode or the camera shake prevention mode can be selectively set easily.

In the above configuration, a configuration is adopted in which the number of shutter operations for obtaining a plurality of images is set based on photometric information so that the combined image obtained by the image combining unit has a predetermined appropriate exposure amount. Can do.
According to this configuration, since the number of shutter operations (that is, the number of times of photographing) is set as much as possible based on the photometric information, it is not necessary to perform processing such as exposure correction, and a plurality of images are combined. It is possible to obtain an image (composite image) having a predetermined exposure amount only.

In the above configuration, the exposure time of the shutter operation for obtaining a plurality of images is Y based on the photometric information so that the combined image obtained by the image combining means has a predetermined appropriate exposure amount. When the effective exposure time for the first time is X ′, the effective exposure time for the second and subsequent times is X, and the number of shutter operations is N,
Y = X ′ + (N−1) · X
It is possible to adopt a configuration that is set to be
According to this configuration, when the shutter blades are continuously opened and closed to perform N shutter operations, the speed of the second and subsequent closing operations becomes faster than the speed of the first closing operation. The effective exposure time after the first time can be shortened, that is, X ′> X, and the total time to reach the proper exposure time can be shortened compared to the conventional one, and the divided exposure time It is possible to prevent the occurrence of noise or the like in the camera shake prevention mode caused by the increase in length. That is, since the minimum time for continuous shooting is determined, appropriate exposure can be obtained by linearly changing the first time according to exposure and changing the number of continuous shooting.

In the above configuration, it is possible to employ a configuration in which the camera shake prevention mode and the normal shooting mode are automatically switched based on predetermined photometric information.
According to this configuration, since the camera shake prevention mode or the normal photographing mode is automatically selected based on the photometric information, the photographing operation can be simplified.

In the above configuration, the normal shooting mode and the camera shake prevention mode are automatically switched based on the focal length information obtained by the optical system disposed in front of the shutter blade and the predetermined photometric information to project an image on the image sensor. A configuration can be employed.
According to this configuration, since the focal length information obtained by the optical system is added as control information for automatically switching the shooting mode, it is possible to perform shooting with higher accuracy while simplifying the shooting operation.

  According to the imaging apparatus having the above-described configuration, in a mobile camera mounted on a portable digital camera, a mobile phone, etc., the exposure time can be made plural while achieving a simplified structure, a lower cost, a smaller size, and the like. When dividing and opening and closing the shutter blades according to the number of divisions, it is possible to prevent or reduce image quality deterioration due to camera shake itself or camera shake prevention mode by driving the second and subsequent closing speeds faster. And high-quality images can be obtained.

DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIGS. 2 to 8 show an embodiment of an imaging apparatus according to the present invention (when only shutter blades are used but no diaphragm blades). FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the entire system of the apparatus, and FIGS. FIG. 5 is a plan view showing the shutter unit (shutter blade and shutter driving mechanism) of the apparatus, and a sectional view of the apparatus. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing a plurality of image data causing camera shake, and FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the apparatus. FIG. 8 is a time chart showing a control sequence of the shutter operation of the apparatus.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the imaging apparatus includes a lens optical system 1, a CCD 2 as an imaging device, a shutter unit U, an A / D converter 3, a lens driving circuit 4, a shutter driving circuit 5, a plunger actuator driving circuit 6, CCD / A / D drive circuit 7, photometry control circuit 8, image signal processing circuit 9, image storage unit 10, image shift calculation circuit 11 and image synthesis circuit 12 as image synthesis means, composite image storage unit 13, image display circuit 14, a liquid crystal panel 15, a storage unit 16, a main switch 17, a camera shake prevention switch 18, a release button 19, a central control circuit 20 that performs various controls, and the like.

As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the shutter unit U includes a base plate 30 that defines a circular opening 30 a, a shutter blade 31 that is swingably supported with respect to the base plate 30, and opens and closes the opening 30 a, and a shutter blade A drive motor 32 that opens and closes 31; a plunger 33 that defines two fully open positions where the shutter blades 31 fully open the opening 30a; an actuator 34 that drives the plunger 33 forward and backward.
Here, the shutter motor 31 that opens and closes the shutter blade 31 and positions the shutter blade 31 at a predetermined position is configured by the drive motor 32, the plunger 33, the actuator 34, and the like.

The base plate 30 has a predetermined aperture of a circular opening 30a, a stopper 30b that protrudes in the vicinity of the opening 30a and positions the shutter blade 31 in a fully closed position, and a support shaft 30c that supports the shutter blade 31 in a swingable manner. The cutout 30g is provided.
The shutter blade 31 is swingably supported by a support shaft 30c, and a drive pin 32a is connected to the circular hole 31a. The shutter blade 31 retracts from the opening 30a and comes into contact with the tip of the plunger 33 to be positioned. Between two fully open positions (two fully open positions corresponding to the first stopper position and the second stopper position respectively defined by the plunger 33), and a fully closed position facing the stopper 30b facing the opening 30a. Are designed to reciprocate.
The drive motor 32 is formed by a rotor having a drive pin 32a, an excitation coil wound around a support frame that rotatably supports the rotor, a cylindrical yoke disposed outside the coil, and the like. Yes.
The plunger 33 is driven so as to be able to advance and retreat by an actuator 34. A tip part (a part) of the plunger 33 abuts against an edge of the shutter blade 31 to fully open the first stopper position and the second stopper position. The shutter blades 31 are positioned at the respective positions.
The actuator 34 is formed by a mover connected to the plunger 33, a solenoid that generates an electromagnetic force to reciprocate the mover, and the like.

When the actuator 34 is driven in one direction, the plunger 33 moves backward to a predetermined position as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. A first stopper position for positioning at a fully open position that is a predetermined distance away from the edge of 30a is defined.
That is, the shutter blade 31 is positioned at the fully open position that is separated from the edge of the opening 30a by a predetermined distance (provided with allowance) by the plunger 33 positioned at the first stopper position. When opening, the opening 30a is not closed even if it returns slightly to the closing side due to the reaction that collides with the plunger 33 (the tip thereof) located at the first stopper position, so that the opening 30a is positioned with high accuracy. It has become.

On the other hand, in the state where the actuator 34 is driven in the other direction, as shown by the solid line in FIG. 3, when the actuator is energized, the plunger 33 advances to a predetermined position, and the tip portion of the plunger 34 moves the shutter blade 31 to the first stopper. A second stopper is defined that is positioned at a fully open position closer to the edge of the opening 30a than a fully open position positioned by the position (the tip of the retracted plunger 33).
That is, the shutter blade 31 is stopped in a region close to the edge of the opening 30a by the plunger 33 (the tip thereof) positioned at the second stopper position. The shutter blade 31 can be made to perform a high-speed closing operation by utilizing the reaction caused by the collision with the plunger 33 (the tip portion) located at the 2 stopper position, and a plurality of shutter operations can be performed at a high speed as a whole. It can be done.

Therefore, in the above shutter unit U, when the drive motor 32 is closed and energized to apply a rotational driving force in the normal photographing mode, the shutter blade 31 moves backward as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. From the fully open position positioned in contact with the tip of the plunger 33 located at the first stopper position, as shown in FIG. 5, the closing operation is performed to move to the fully closed position where the opening 30a is fully closed, When the drive motor 32 is opened and energized to exert a reverse rotational driving force, the shutter blades 31 return from the fully closed position to the fully open position, and a single shutter operation is performed.
In the camera shake prevention mode in which the camera shake prevention switch 18 is turned on, first, the actuator 34 is energized to advance the plunger 33 as indicated by the solid line and move it so as to define the second stopper position.
When the drive motor 32 is closed and energized to exert a rotational driving force, the shutter blade 31 advances and abuts against the tip of the plunger 33 located at the second stopper position as shown by the solid line in FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, the position is moved from the fully opened position to the fully closed position where the opening 30a is fully closed, and the drive motor 32 is opened and energized to exert a reverse rotational driving force. Then, the shutter blade 31 returns from the fully closed position to the fully open position, and a single shutter operation is performed. In the camera shake prevention mode, the shutter operation is continuously performed a plurality of times.

  In this way, in the normal photographing mode, the plunger 33 is moved backward to define the first stopper position, and in the camera shake prevention mode, the plunger 33 is advanced to define the second stopper position, thereby reducing the number of parts. Thus, the normal photographing mode or the camera shake prevention mode can be selectively set easily while achieving the simplification of the structure.

The lens optical system 1 includes a lens barrel including a plurality of lenses. When the main switch 17 is turned on, the lens driving circuit 4 performs a drawing operation for moving the lens barrel from the retracted position to a standby position where the lens barrel is drawn out by a predetermined amount. Based on a predetermined control signal as appropriate, drive control is performed for a zooming operation for changing the photographing magnification and a focusing operation for focusing.
The CCD 2 and the A / D converter 3 start to accumulate charges when a predetermined trigger pulse is issued by the CCD / A / D drive circuit 7 and convert the charges accumulated over a predetermined time into a digital signal. However, the processed image data is transferred to the image storage unit 10 via the image signal processing circuit 9. The CCD 2 measures the amount of light of the subject based on a predetermined control signal.

The shutter drive circuit 5 drives and controls a drive mechanism (drive motor 32) that drives the shutter blades 31, and determines a shutter time and the like that becomes a desired exposure time based on photometric information and the like. ing.
The plunger actuator drive circuit 6 drives and controls the actuator 34 to position the plunger 33 in the retracted position in the normal photographing mode to define the first stopper position, and in the camera shake prevention mode, to the position where the plunger 33 has advanced. Drive control is performed so as to define the second stopper position.

The photometry control circuit 8 controls the drive so as to measure the amount of light of the subject via the CCD 2 based on the release operation in which the release button 19 is half-pressed.
The image signal processing circuit 9 performs signal processing for forming a monochrome image signal on the output obtained by the CCD 2 and the A / D converter 3 to form a monochrome image signal, or outputs a luminance signal and a color signal. A color image signal is formed by performing signal processing to be formed.
The image storage unit 10 stores (stores rewritable and erasable) image data shot in a normal shooting mode such as a single shooting mode or a continuous shooting mode, and a plurality of image data shot in a camera shake prevention mode. is there.

The image shift calculation circuit 11 reads a plurality of image data stored in the image storage unit 10 and calculates the relative movement amount of the image in the camera shake prevention mode.
The image composition circuit 12 corrects the coordinates of a plurality of image data other than the reference image data based on the information about the shift amount calculated by the image shift calculation circuit 11, and uses the corrected image data as the reference image data. Are combined to output a single composite image.
For example, as shown in FIG. 6, it is assumed that the image storage unit 10 stores image data A and B photographed in a state where camera shake has occurred. At this time, the horizontal addresses x1, x2, x3,..., Xm, xn and the vertical addresses y1, y2, y3, ..., ym, yn of the image storage unit 10 correspond to one pixel of the CCD 2. .
Therefore, the image shift calculation circuit 11 searches the second image data B for pixel data having the same information as the pixel at the address (xm, ym) of the first image data A taken, and the pixel position (xn) at that time , Yn), and the shift amount (movement amount) in the x direction and the y direction is obtained by the following equation.
X direction deviation amount Δx = xn−xm
Y-direction deviation amount Δy = yn−ym
Then, the image composition circuit 12 moves the second image data B as a whole based on the obtained shift amounts (Δx, Δy), and composes the first image data A to obtain a composite image. It is. Note that the same processing is applied to the third and subsequent images.
That is, the image shift calculation circuit 11 that forms a part of the image composition means uses a plurality of image data stored in the image storage unit 10 as a reference data, and the plurality of image data that are subsequently captured. The image composition circuit 12 forming a part of the image composition means calculates the amount of deviation of the image data from the reference data, and the image composition circuit 12 forms the coordinates of the plurality of image data based on the information on the computed displacement amount. Is corrected and combined with reference image data to output a single composite image.

  The composite image storage unit 13 stores the composite image synthesized by the image composition circuit 12 (stores it so as to be rewritable and erasable). Here, although the composite image storage unit 13 that stores only the composite image is provided, the present invention is not limited to this, and the composite image storage unit 13 may store the composite image.

The image display circuit 14 displays on the liquid crystal panel 15 the image data shot in the normal mode stored in the image storage unit 10 or the image data shot in the camera shake prevention mode stored in the composite image storage unit 13. The control for making it happen is performed.
The storage unit 16 stores in advance various information necessary for driving and controlling the apparatus. The storage unit 16 may be formed so as to serve as the image storage unit 10 and the composite image storage unit 13 described above.

The main switch 17 operates to turn on / off the power source and serves as a trigger for starting up the entire apparatus.
The camera shake prevention switch 18 shifts the apparatus to the camera shake prevention mode when the operator (photographer) is turned on, and shifts the apparatus to the normal shooting mode when the operator turns off. Note that the present invention is not limited to manual operation of the camera shake prevention switch 18, and the apparatus may automatically detect a situation in which camera shake is likely to occur and automatically switch to the camera shake prevention mode.

  The release button 19 emits a trigger signal such as photometry, distance measurement, focal length, or shutter time setting when half-pressed. When the release button 19 is fully pressed, the shutter via the shutter drive circuit 5 releases the shutter. A trigger signal is issued to cause the blade 31 to perform a shutter operation (close operation → open operation).

Next, an imaging operation when the camera shake prevention mode is selected in the imaging apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8.
First, when the main switch 17 is turned on (step S1), the lens barrel of the lens optical system 1 is extended from the retracted position by a predetermined amount by the drive control of the lens driving circuit 4 and stops at the standby position (step S2). .
Then, the camera shake prevention switch 18 is turned on (step S3), the camera shake prevention mode is selected, and then the release button 19 is half-pressed (step S4). Then, photometry (measures the amount of light of the subject), distance measurement (measures the distance to the subject, measures a predetermined distance), and reads the focal length via the A / D converter 3 (step S5).
Here, when the amount of light is below a predetermined level with respect to a predetermined focal length (when the exposure time is long), the actuator 34 is driven by the drive control of the plunger actuator drive circuit 6 so that the plunger 33 moves to the second stopper position. A predetermined amount is advanced to stop as defined, and the shutter speed is determined and the shutter high-speed mode is set (step S6).
When the amount of light exceeds a predetermined level (when the exposure time is short), since the shutter speed is inevitably set at a high speed, the photographed image does not shake and the exposure becomes an appropriate value. The image compositing process in the camera shake prevention mode described in (1) becomes unnecessary.

Subsequently, the number of times that the shutter operation by the opening / closing operation of the shutter blade 31 should be continuously performed based on the above-described photometric information or the like so that the composite image obtained by the image composition circuit 12 has an appropriate exposure amount. (N) is obtained by calculation, and the obtained number (N) is set as the number of times (N) of driving the shutter blades 31 (step S7).
Further, the lens optical system 1 is appropriately driven by the driving control of the lens driving circuit 4 to perform focusing (step S8).
As described above, since the number of shutter operations (that is, the number of times of photographing) is set as much as possible based on the photometric information, it is not necessary to perform processing such as exposure correction, and only by combining a plurality of images. It is possible to obtain an image (composite image) with an exposure amount of.
Further, based on the above-mentioned photometric information and the like, the required exposure time Y is set to the first effective exposure time as shown in FIG. 8 so that the composite image obtained by the image composition circuit 12 has an appropriate exposure amount. X ′, where X is the effective exposure time for the second and subsequent times, and N is the number of shutter operations.
Y = X ′ + (N−1) · X
Is set to be
Thus, when the shutter blade 31 is continuously opened and closed to perform N shutter operations, the speed of the second and subsequent closing operations is the same as that of the first closing operation as shown by the opening waveform in FIG. Since it becomes faster compared to the speed, the effective exposure time after the second time can be shortened, that is, X ′> X, and the appropriate overall exposure time can be shortened compared to the conventional case, and the exposure time can be shortened. It is possible to prevent the occurrence of noise or the like in the camera shake prevention mode caused by the increase in length.

  When the release button 19 is fully pressed (step S9), as shown in FIG. 8, charge accumulation of the CCD 2 (imaging device) is turned on, and charge accumulation relating to the photographed image is started (step S10). After the elapse of time, the drive motor 32 is closed and energized by the drive control of the shutter drive circuit 5, and the shutter blade 31 performs the closing operation (step S11). Subsequently, the image data stored in the CCD 2 is transferred (memory writing) to the image storage unit 10 via the A / D converter 3 and the image signal processing circuit 9 (step S12), and then the shutter drive circuit 5 is driven. Under the control, the drive motor 32 is opened and energized, and the shutter blade 31 opens (step S13).

The shutter operation including the start of charge accumulation by the CCD 2 (on) → the closing operation of the shutter blade 31 → the transfer of the image data stored in the CCD 2 → the opening operation of the shutter blade 31 is performed a plurality of preset times (N times). The process is continuously performed (three times in this case) (step S14).
In the above-described continuous shutter operation, the shutter blade 31 is stopped in the region near the edge of the opening 30a by the plunger 33 (the front end portion) located at the advanced second stopper position, and therefore the second stopper position. It is possible to perform a closing operation at a high speed by utilizing a reaction caused by a collision with the plunger 33 (the tip portion thereof) positioned at a high speed, and a plurality of shutter operations can be performed at a high speed as a whole.

When a plurality of (N) shutter operations are completed, the image shift calculation circuit 11 uses the first image data of the plurality of image data stored in the image storage unit 10 as reference data, and thereafter The amount of deviation is calculated as to how much the plurality of image data photographed at the time is deviated from the reference data (step S15).
Subsequently, the image composition circuit 12 corrects the coordinates of the plurality of image data based on the information on the calculated deviation amount, and the plurality of other image data corrected with respect to the reference image data are combined. (Step S16), and one composite image is output (Step S17).
This composite image is stored in the composite image storage unit 13 (memory) (step S18), and is displayed on the liquid crystal panel 15 via the image display circuit 14 as required.
By the series of operations described above, a camera shake correction (camera shake prevention) process in which a plurality of images obtained by a plurality of shutter operations by the shutter blades 31 are combined and output as a single image in the camera shake prevention mode. Is done.

  As described above, according to this image pickup apparatus, the electronic shutter that only controls the drive of the image pickup device is not employed, but the shutter blade 31 is driven to open and close at a high speed to perform a plurality of shutter operations and the exposure. When the time is divided into a plurality of times and the shutter blades 31 are opened and closed according to the number of divisions, the second and subsequent closing speeds are driven at higher speeds to prevent image quality deterioration due to camera shake itself or camera shake prevention mode. Alternatively, it can be reduced, and a high-quality image can be obtained.

9 to 18 show another embodiment of the imaging device according to the present invention (including shutter blades and diaphragm blades). FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the entire system of the device, and FIGS. 11 is a plan view and cross-sectional view showing the structure of the apparatus, FIGS. 12 to 16 are plan views for explaining the operation of the apparatus, FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing the operation of the apparatus, and FIG. 18 is a time showing the control sequence of the apparatus. It is a chart.
In this embodiment, the shape of the plunger is changed with respect to the previous embodiment, and a diaphragm driving mechanism including a diaphragm blade 35 and a regulating lever 36 is added, and other configurations are the same. About the same structure, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected and description is abbreviate | omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the imaging apparatus includes a lens optical system 1, a CCD 2 as an imaging device, a shutter unit U ′, an A / D converter 3, a lens driving circuit 4, a shutter driving circuit 5, and an aperture driving circuit 5 ′. , Plunger actuator drive circuit 6, CCD / A / D drive circuit 7, photometry control circuit 8, image signal processing circuit 9, image storage unit 10, image shift calculation circuit 11 and image composition circuit 12 as image composition means, composite image A storage unit 13, an image display circuit 14, a liquid crystal panel 15, a storage unit 16, a main switch 17, a camera shake prevention switch 18, a release button 19, a central control circuit 20 that performs various controls, and the like are provided.

As shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the shutter unit U ′ includes a base plate 30 ′ that defines an opening 30 a, a shutter blade 31, a drive motor 32, a plunger 33 ′, an actuator 34 that drives the plunger 33 ′ back and forth, and a diaphragm blade 35, a regulating lever 36 that is linked to the diaphragm blade 35 and can regulate the movement of the plunger 33 ', a drive motor 37 that drives the diaphragm blade 35, and the like.
Here, a shutter drive mechanism that opens and closes the shutter blade 31 and positions the shutter blade 31 at a predetermined position is configured by the drive motor 32, the plunger 33 ', the actuator 34, and the like, and the diaphragm blade is configured by the drive motor 37, the regulating lever 36, and the like. An aperture driving mechanism for driving 35 is configured.

As shown in FIGS. 10 and 11 (a) and 11 (b), the main plate 30 'is in the non-throttle position where the diaphragm blade 35 is retracted from the opening 30a in addition to the opening 30a, the stopper 30b, and the support shaft 30c. A stopper 30d for positioning, a stopper 30e for positioning the aperture blade 35 at the aperture position facing the opening 30a, a support shaft 30f for swingably supporting the aperture blade 35, a shutter blade 31 and a cover plate 38 covering the aperture blade 35, etc. I have. In FIG. 10, the cover plate 38 is omitted.
The shutter blade 31 is swingably supported by a support shaft 30c, and a drive pin 32a is connected to the circular hole 31a, and is positioned in contact with the protrusion 33a of the plunger 33 ′ in three fully open positions ( A fully open position corresponding to each of the first stopper position, the second stopper position, and the third stopper position) defined by the plunger 33 ′, and a fully closed position that contacts the stopper 30 b and faces the opening 30 a. Are designed to reciprocate.
The plunger 33 ′ is driven so as to be able to advance and retreat by energizing the actuator 34. The plunger 33 ′ has a protrusion 33 a that protrudes vertically from the tip end region thereof, and the protrusion 33 a comes into contact with the edge of the shutter blade 31. The shutter blade 31 is positioned at the fully open position at the first stopper position, the fully open position at the second stopper position, and the fully open position at the third stopper position (fully open position in the aperture state where the aperture opening 35b is fully opened). Yes.

  As shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the diaphragm blade 35 includes a circular hole 35a and a diaphragm opening 35b having a predetermined diameter, and is supported by the support shaft 30f so as to be swingable. A drive pin 37a is provided in the circular hole 35a. A non-throttle position that is connected and retracted from the opening 30a and positioned by contacting the stopper 30d, and a throttling position that contacts and positions the stopper 30e facing the opening 30a and narrows the opening 30a to a predetermined aperture It is designed to reciprocate between the two.

As shown in FIG. 10, the restriction lever 36 is formed in a substantially L shape, and engages with a long hole 36b to which the drive pin 37a is connected on one end side, and a projection 33a of the plunger 33 'on the other end side. In addition, a restricting portion 36c for restricting the protruding amount of the plunger 33 'is supported, is swingably supported around the support shaft 36a, and swings in conjunction with the operation of the aperture blade 35.
As shown in FIG. 10, the drive motor 37 includes a rotor having a drive pin 37a, an excitation coil wound around a support frame that rotatably supports the rotor, and a cylindrical shape disposed outside the coil. The yoke is formed.

Then, in the normal photographing mode, when the diaphragm blade 35 is located at the non-aperture position, in the state where the actuator 34 is driven in one direction, as shown in FIG. The protrusion 33a defines a first stopper position that positions the shutter blade 31 at a fully open position that is a predetermined distance away from the edge of the opening 30a.
That is, in the non-aperture state, the shutter blade 31 is positioned at the fully open position separated by a predetermined distance from the edge of the opening 30a (with a margin) by the plunger 33 'located at the first stopper position. When the shutter blade 31 performs an opening / closing operation, the opening 30a is not closed even if the shutter blade 31 returns slightly to the closing side due to a reaction that collides with the plunger 33 '(projection portion 33a) located at the first stopper position. It is positioned with high accuracy.

In the camera shake prevention mode, when the diaphragm blades 35 are positioned at the non-throttle position, the plunger 33 ′ is advanced to a predetermined position as shown in FIG. Further movement is restricted by coming into contact with the restricting portion 36c, and the plunger 33 '(projection portion 33a) in the restricted state moves the shutter blade 31 to the first stopper position (projection portion 33a of the retracted plunger 33'). A second stopper is defined that is positioned at a fully open position closer to the edge of the opening 30a than the fully open position to be positioned.
That is, the shutter blade 31 is stopped in a region near the edge of the opening 30a by the plunger 33 '(projection 33a thereof) moved to the second stopper position, so that the shutter operation is performed continuously. As described above, the shutter blade 31 can be caused to perform a high-speed closing operation by utilizing the reaction caused by the collision with the plunger 33 ′ (projection portion 33 a thereof) moved to the second stopper position. The shutter operation can be performed at high speed.

In the normal photographing mode, when the diaphragm blade 35 is driven to the diaphragm position by being driven by the diaphragm driving mechanism, the plunger 33 ′ is in a predetermined position as shown in FIG. 14 in a state where the actuator 34 is driven in one direction. Retracted, the projection 33a defines a first stopper position that positions the shutter blade 31 at a fully open position that is a predetermined distance away from the edge of the opening 30a.
That is, when the shutter blade 31 performs an opening / closing operation in the aperture state, the opening 30a is closed even if the shutter 33 is returned to the close side due to a reaction that collides with the plunger 33 '(projection 33a thereof) located at the first stopper position. There is no such thing, and it is positioned with high accuracy in the fully open position.

  In the camera shake prevention mode, when the diaphragm blade 35 is driven to the diaphragm position by being driven by the diaphragm driving mechanism, the restricting lever 36 is operated in the state where the actuator 34 is driven in the other direction, as shown in FIG. In conjunction with this, the restricting portion 36c rotates to a position completely away from the plunger 33 '(projection portion 33a thereof), so that the plunger 33' is farthest from the fully open position positioned by the second stopper position. A third stopper position for positioning the shutter blade 31 is defined at a fully open position near the edge of the aperture opening 35b.

  That is, when the shutter blade 31 is in the aperture state in the camera shake prevention mode, the shutter blade 31 is driven to reciprocate between the fully open position shown in FIG. 15 and the fully closed position shown in FIG. The plunger 33 ′ (projecting portion 33 a) moved to the position is stopped in a region close to the edge of the aperture opening 35 b (fully opened position). Therefore, when the shutter operation is continuously performed, It is possible to cause the shutter blade 31 to perform a high-speed closing operation using a reaction caused by a collision with the plunger 33 ′ (projection portion 33 a) located at the stopper position, and to perform a plurality of shutter operations at a high speed as a whole. Can be done.

  Therefore, in the above shutter unit U ′, when the aperture diameter is not reduced in the normal photographing mode, when the drive motor 32 is closed and energized to exert a rotational driving force, the shutter blade 31 is, as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 10, from the fully open position positioned by contacting the plunger 33 '(projection portion 33a thereof) which is retracted and positioned at the first stopper position, the opening 30a is fully closed by performing a closing operation. When moving to the closed position and the drive motor 32 is opened and energized to apply a reverse rotational driving force, the shutter blade 31 returns from the fully closed position to the fully open position, and a single shutter operation is performed.

Further, when the opening diameter is not reduced in the camera shake prevention mode in which the camera shake prevention switch 18 is turned on, first, the actuator 33 projects the plunger 33 ′ (projection portion 33a thereof) to contact the regulating lever 36. A second stopper position is defined.
Then, when the drive motor 32 is closed and energized to exert a rotational driving force, the shutter blade 31 protrudes halfway to the plunger 33 ′ (projecting portion 33 a) located at the second stopper position as shown in FIG. 13. When the closing movement is performed from the fully open position positioned by contact to move to the fully closed position where the opening 30a is fully closed and the drive motor 32 is opened and energized to exert a reverse rotational driving force, the shutter blade 31 However, the shutter returns from the fully closed position to the fully open position, and a single shutter operation is performed. In the camera shake prevention mode, the shutter operation is continuously performed a plurality of times.

Further, when the aperture diameter is reduced in the camera shake prevention mode in which the camera shake prevention switch 18 is turned on, first, the diaphragm blade 35 is moved to the diaphragm position by the diaphragm drive mechanism. Then, in conjunction with the operation of the aperture blade 35, the regulating lever 36 rotates by a predetermined angle, and the regulating portion 36c reaches a position away from the plunger 33 '(projecting portion 33a) by a predetermined amount. Then, as shown in FIG. 15, the plunger 33 ′ (projecting portion 33 a) is released from the restriction by the restriction lever 36 and moves to the most protruding position, thereby defining the third stopper position.
Then, when the drive motor 32 is closed and energized to exert a rotational driving force, the shutter blade 31 abuts against the plunger 33 ′ (protrusion 33 a) located at the third stopper position as shown in FIG. From the fully opened position, as shown in FIG. 16, when the closing operation is performed to move to the fully closed position where the opening 30a is fully closed, the drive motor 32 is opened and energized to exert a reverse rotational driving force. The shutter blade 31 returns from the fully closed position to the fully open position, and a single shutter operation is performed. In the camera shake prevention mode, the shutter operation is continuously performed a plurality of times.

  As described above, in the normal photographing mode, the plunger 33 ′ (projection portion 33a) is moved backward to define the first stopper position, and when the camera shake prevention mode and the aperture diameter is not reduced, the plunger 33 ′ (of the When the protrusion 33a is protruded halfway to define the second stopper position and the aperture diameter is narrowed in the camera shake prevention mode, the plunger 33 '(protrusion 33a) is protruded most to define the third stopper position. Therefore, the normal photographing mode or the camera shake prevention mode can be selectively set easily according to the presence or absence of the aperture while achieving the reduction in the number of parts and the simplification of the structure.

Next, a shooting operation when the camera shake prevention mode is selected in the imaging apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. 17 and 18.
First, when the main switch 17 is turned on (step S1), the lens barrel of the lens optical system 1 is extended from the retracted position by a predetermined amount by the drive control of the lens driving circuit 4 and stops at the standby position (step S2). .
Then, the camera shake prevention switch 18 is turned on (step S3), the camera shake prevention mode is selected, and then the release button 19 is half-pressed (step S4). Then, photometry (measures the amount of light of the subject), distance measurement (measures the distance to the subject, measures a predetermined distance), and reads the focal length via the A / D converter 3 (step S5).
Subsequently, based on the photometric information or the like, it is determined whether or not the aperture diameter is to be reduced (step 6). If it is determined that it is not necessary to squeeze, the squeezing blade 35 is moved to the next step while being positioned at the non-squeezing position retracted from the opening 30a. On the other hand, when it is determined that it is necessary to stop, the stop driving mechanism moves the stop blade 35 to the stop position facing the opening 30a, and the stop state is set.
Since the restriction of the plunger 33 ′ by the restriction lever 36 is released in conjunction with the operation of the diaphragm blade 35, the actuator 34 is driven by the drive control of the plunger actuator drive circuit 6, and the plunger 33 ′ is moved to the third stopper. Advancing to the most protruding position so as to define the position and stopping, the shutter speed is determined, and the shutter high speed mode is set (step S7).

Subsequently, the number of times that the shutter operation by the opening / closing operation of the shutter blade 31 should be continuously performed based on the above-described photometric information or the like so that the composite image obtained by the image composition circuit 12 has an appropriate exposure amount. (N) is obtained by calculation, and the obtained number (N) is set as the number of times (N) of driving the shutter blades 31 (step S8).
Further, the lens optical system 1 is appropriately driven by the drive control of the lens driving circuit 4 to perform focusing (step S9).
As described above, since the number of shutter operations (that is, the number of times of photographing) is set as much as possible based on the photometric information, it is not necessary to perform processing such as exposure correction, and only by combining a plurality of images. It is possible to obtain an image (composite image) with an exposure amount of.
Further, the required exposure time Y based on the above-mentioned photometric information and the like so that the composite image obtained by the image composition circuit 12 has an appropriate exposure amount is the first effective exposure time as shown in FIG. X ′, where X is the effective exposure time for the second and subsequent times, and N is the number of shutter operations.
Y = X ′ + (N−1) · X
Is set to be
Thus, when the shutter blade 31 is continuously opened and closed to perform N shutter operations, as shown in FIG. 18, the speed of the second and subsequent closing operations is compared with the speed of the first closing operation. Therefore, the effective exposure time after the second time can be shortened, that is, X ′> X, and the appropriate exposure time as a whole can be shortened compared to the conventional case, and the exposure time becomes longer. It is possible to prevent the occurrence of noise in the camera shake prevention mode caused by the above.

  When the release button 19 is fully pressed (step S10), as shown in FIG. 18, charge accumulation of the CCD 2 (imaging device) is turned on, and charge accumulation relating to the photographed image is started (step S11). After the elapse of time, the drive motor 32 is closed and energized by the drive control of the shutter drive circuit 5, and the shutter blade 31 performs the closing operation (step S12). Subsequently, the image data stored in the CCD 2 is transferred (memory writing) to the image storage unit 10 via the A / D converter 3 and the image signal processing circuit 9 (step S13), and then the shutter drive circuit 5 is driven. Under the control, the drive motor 32 is opened and energized, and the shutter blade 31 is opened (step S14).

The shutter operation including the start of charge accumulation by the CCD 2 (on) → the closing operation of the shutter blade 31 → the transfer of the image data stored in the CCD 2 → the opening operation of the shutter blade 31 is performed a plurality of preset times (N times). It is carried out continuously (three times here) (step S15).
In the above-described continuous shutter operation, when the aperture is not narrowed down, the shutter blade 31 protrudes partway and moves to the second stopper position in the region near the edge of the opening 30a by the plunger 33 '(projection 33a thereof). Since it is stopped, it is possible to perform a closing operation at a high speed using a reaction caused by a collision with the plunger 33 ′ (projection portion 33 a) located at the second stopper position, and as a whole, a plurality of shutter operations can be performed at a high speed. It can be carried out. On the other hand, when the aperture diameter is reduced, the shutter blade 31 is stopped in a region near the edge of the aperture opening 35b by the plunger 33 '(projection portion 33a) moved to the most protruding third stopper position. 3 The closing operation can be performed at high speed by utilizing the reaction caused by the collision with the plunger 33 ′ (projection portion 33 a) moved to the stopper position, and a plurality of shutter operations can be performed at a high speed as a whole.

When a plurality of (N) shutter operations are completed, the image shift calculation circuit 11 uses the first image data of the plurality of image data stored in the image storage unit 10 as reference data, and thereafter The amount of deviation is calculated as to how much the plurality of image data photographed at the time is deviated from the reference data (step S16).
Subsequently, the image composition circuit 12 corrects the coordinates of the plurality of image data based on the information on the calculated deviation amount, and the plurality of other image data corrected with respect to the reference image data are combined. (Step S17), and one composite image is output (Step S18).
This composite image is stored in the composite image storage unit 13 (memory) (step S18), and is displayed on the liquid crystal panel 15 via the image display circuit 14 as required.
By the series of operations described above, a plurality of image capturing operations obtained in the camera shake prevention mode without reducing the aperture diameter or in the camera shake prevention mode with the aperture diameter reduced, that is, a plurality of shutter operations performed by the shutter blade 31 multiple times. A camera shake correction (camera shake prevention) process is performed in which all images are combined and output as a single image.

  As described above, according to this image pickup apparatus, the electronic shutter that only controls the drive of the image pickup device is not employed, but the shutter blade 31 is driven to open and close at a high speed to perform a plurality of shutter operations and the exposure. When the time is divided into a plurality of times and the shutter blades 31 are opened and closed according to the number of divisions, the second and subsequent closing speeds are driven at higher speeds to prevent image quality deterioration due to camera shake itself or camera shake prevention mode. Alternatively, it can be reduced, and a high-quality image can be obtained.

In the above embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 18, the plungers 33 and 33 ′ are shown in the case where they are held in a predetermined position while being energized. However, the present invention is not limited to this. A holding type (holding in a predetermined position even when power is turned off) type plunger may be employed.
In the above embodiment, a single blade is shown as the shutter blade 31, but the present invention is not limited to this, and a shutter blade composed of a plurality of blades may be applied.
In the above embodiment, one plunger 33, 33 'and actuator 34 are shown as defining the first stopper position and the second stopper position, or the first stopper position, the second stopper position, and the third stopper position. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the ones serving as the first stopper position, the second stopper position, and the third stopper position may be provided separately.

  As described above, the image pickup apparatus of the present invention does not employ an electronic shutter that only controls the driving of the image pickup element (CCD2), but divides the exposure time into a plurality of shutter blades according to the number of divisions. When the shutter is opened and closed, the second and subsequent closing speeds are driven at higher speeds to prevent or reduce image quality deterioration due to camera shake itself or the camera shake prevention mode, and a high-quality image can be obtained. Therefore, as long as it can be applied to a mobile digital camera or a mobile camera mounted on a mobile phone or the like, as long as there is a possibility that the image quality may be deteriorated due to the hand shake or hand shake mode of the operator, It is also useful in other imaging devices.

It is a time chart which shows the control sequence of the shutter operation | movement in the conventional imaging device. 1 is a block diagram of a system showing an embodiment of an imaging apparatus according to the present invention. It is a top view which shows the shutter unit contained in the imaging device shown in FIG. It is a fragmentary sectional view which shows the shutter unit contained in the imaging device shown in FIG. It is a top view which shows the shutter unit contained in the imaging device shown in FIG. It is a schematic diagram which shows the several image data which produced hand shake. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the imaging apparatus shown in FIG. 3 is a time chart showing a control sequence of a shutter operation of the imaging apparatus shown in FIG. It is a block diagram of a system showing other embodiments of an imaging device concerning the present invention. It is a top view which shows the structure of the imaging device shown in FIG. FIG. 10 illustrates a structure of the imaging device illustrated in FIG. 9, in which (a) is a plan view and (b) is a cross-sectional view taken along line E1-E1 in (a). It is a top view which shows operation | movement of the imaging device shown in FIG. It is a top view which shows operation | movement of the imaging device shown in FIG. It is a top view which shows operation | movement of the imaging device shown in FIG. It is a top view which shows operation | movement of the imaging device shown in FIG. It is a top view which shows operation | movement of the imaging device shown in FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the imaging apparatus shown in FIG. 9. 10 is a time chart illustrating a control sequence of a shutter operation of the imaging apparatus illustrated in FIG. 9.

Explanation of symbols

1 Lens optical system 2 CCD (imaging device)
3 A / D converter 4 Lens drive circuit 5 Shutter drive circuit 5 ′ Aperture drive circuit 6 Plunger actuator drive circuit 7 CCD / A / D drive circuit 8 Photometric control circuit 9 Image signal processing circuit 10 Image storage unit 11 Image displacement calculation circuit (Image composition means)
12 Image composition circuit (image composition means)
13 Composite image storage unit 14 Image display circuit 15 Liquid crystal panel 16 Storage unit 17 Main switch 18 Camera shake prevention switch 19 Release button 20 Central control circuit U, U 'Shutter unit 30, 30' Base plate 30a Openings 30b, 30d, 30e Stopper 30c 30f Support shaft 30g Notch 31 Shutter blade 31a Circular hole 32 Drive motor (shutter drive mechanism)
32a Drive pin (shutter drive mechanism)
33, 33 'Plunger (shutter drive mechanism)
33a Protrusion (part)
34 Actuator (Shutter drive mechanism)
35 Aperture blade 35a Circular hole 35b Aperture opening 36 Restriction lever 36a Support shaft 36b Long hole 36c Restriction portion 37 Drive motor (aperture drive mechanism)
37a Drive pin (aperture drive mechanism)
38 Cover plate

Claims (8)

An image pickup device, a ground plate having an opening, a shutter blade disposed in front of the image pickup device to open and close the opening, a shutter drive mechanism for opening and closing the shutter blade and positioning the shutter blade at a predetermined position, and a normal photographing mode An image pickup apparatus comprising: a camera shake prevention mode; and an image composition unit that obtains a composite image by synthesizing a plurality of images captured by the image sensor in the camera shake prevention mode.
The shutter drive mechanism is driven to open and close to cause the shutter blade to perform a plurality of shutter operations in the camera shake prevention mode,
The image synthesizing means synthesizes all of the plurality of images obtained by the plurality of shutter operations;
An imaging apparatus characterized by that. The shutter drive mechanism includes a plunger that advances and retreats a predetermined stroke and a part thereof abuts on the shutter blade, and an actuator that drives the plunger to advance and retreat,
In the normal photographing mode other than the camera shake prevention mode, the plunger has a first stopper position for positioning the shutter blade at a fully open position separated from the edge of the opening by a predetermined amount, and in the camera shake prevention mode, the first stopper position is set. Defining a second stopper position for positioning the shutter blade at a fully open position closer to the edge of the opening than a fully open position positioned by the stopper position;
The imaging apparatus according to claim 1. A diaphragm disposed in front of the image sensor and having a diaphragm opening that restricts the opening to a predetermined diameter, and is movable between a diaphragm position facing the opening and a non-aperture position retracted from the opening. Further comprising a blade and a diaphragm drive mechanism for driving the diaphragm blade;
The plunger defines a third stopper position for positioning the shutter blade at a fully open position near an edge of the aperture opening when the aperture blade is in the aperture position in the camera shake prevention mode;
The imaging apparatus according to claim 2. The diaphragm drive mechanism includes a regulating lever that is interlocked with the operation of the diaphragm blades and that engages with the plunger to regulate its movement,
The plunger defines the first stopper position in the retracted state, protrudes halfway and abuts against the restriction lever, defines the second stopper position in a state where movement is restricted, and the restriction by the restriction lever is released. And defining the third stopper position in the most protruding state.
The imaging apparatus according to claim 3. The number of shutter operations for obtaining the plurality of images is set based on photometric information so that the combined image obtained by the image combining unit has a predetermined appropriate exposure amount.
The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image pickup apparatus is an image pickup apparatus. The exposure time of the shutter operation for obtaining the plurality of images is Y, 1 based on photometric information so that the combined image obtained by the image combining means has a predetermined appropriate exposure amount. When the effective exposure time for the second time is X ′, the effective exposure time for the second and subsequent times is X, and the number of shutter operations is N,
Y = X ′ + (N−1) · X
Set to be
The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the imaging apparatus is an imaging apparatus. Based on predetermined photometric information, the camera shake prevention mode and the normal shooting mode are automatically switched.
The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image pickup apparatus is an image pickup apparatus. Based on focal length information obtained by an optical system disposed in front of the shutter blades and predetermined photometric information to project an image on the image sensor, the normal photographing mode and the camera shake prevention mode are automatically switched.
The imaging apparatus according to claim 7.

Images