JP2010039292A - Camera and lens barrel - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To initialize a position of vibration control member. <P>SOLUTION: A controller 104 moves a CCD stage 2a from an evacuation position 3a directly to an optical center position 3c of a preset vibration control operation position, without moving the CCD stage 2a to a PI position serving as a positioning reference position of the CCD stage 2a, when an electric power source of a camera 100 is turned on to release an evacuation state of the CCD stage 2a. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a camera and a lens barrel.

  A camera having an image sensor shift type camera shake correction function is known (for example, Non-Patent Document 1).

Nikon Digital Camera COOLPIX S700 Instruction Manual 109, P.I. 131 (issued by Nikon Corporation)

  In general, when performing image sensor shift-type image stabilization, the image sensor is retracted to a specified retraction position while the camera is turned off, and is initialized at the timing when the camera is turned on. It is necessary to move the image sensor to an anti-vibration operation position such as an optical center position. In the conventional camera, in the initialization process of the image sensor, it is necessary to first move the image sensor from the retracted position to a reference position that serves as a reference for positioning the image sensor and then to the image stabilization position. For this reason, if the retreat position of the image sensor cannot be close to the reference position due to balance with other parts, it takes time to move the image sensor from the retraction position to the reference position. There was a problem that processing could not be performed at high speed.

The camera according to the present invention has a vibration isolation function, and when the vibration isolation member is retracted, movement of the vibration isolation member from the retracted position is restricted by another member, and the vibration isolation member is retracted. The releasing means for releasing the state, and when the retracted state is released by the releasing means, the vibration isolating member is set in advance from the retracted position without being moved to the reference position that serves as a reference for positioning the vibration isolating member. And a moving means for moving to a vibration isolating operation position.
In the present invention, the vibration-proof member is preferably an image sensor or a vibration-proof lens.
The camera of the present invention includes a retractable lens, and the member that restricts the movement of the antivibration member from the retracted position when the antivibration member is retracted is the periphery of the antivibration member when the retractable lens is retracted. You may make it be the member arrange | positioned.
The moving means may be moved from the retracted position to the anti-vibration operation position via the reference position when the anti-vibration member may be displaced from the retracted position when the anti-vibration member is retracted.
A lens barrel according to the present invention is a lens barrel having an anti-vibration function, wherein movement of the anti-vibration member from the retracted position is restricted by another member when the anti-vibration member is retracted. A releasing means for releasing the retracted state of the member, and when the retracted state is released by the releasing means, the vibration isolating member is moved from the retracted position without being moved to a reference position that is a reference for positioning the vibration isolating member. And a moving means for moving to a preset vibration-proof operation position.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to perform the initialization processing of the vibration isolating member position at high speed.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an embodiment of a camera according to the present embodiment. The camera 100 includes an operation member 101, a lens unit 102, an image sensor 103, a control device 104, a memory card slot 105, a monitor 106, and a drive device 107. The operation member 101 includes various operation buttons operated by the user. For example, the operation member 101 includes a power button, a release button, a zoom button, a cross button, an enter button, a play button, a delete button, and the like.

  The lens unit 102 includes a plurality of optical lenses. In FIG. 1, the lens unit 102 is schematically represented by one lens. The lens unit 102 in the present embodiment is a retractable lens barrel. That is, as shown in FIG. 2A, the lens barrel is retracted inside the main body of the camera 100 while the camera 100 is powered off. As shown in FIG. 2B, when the power source of the camera 100 is turned on, the lens barrel is extended in the optical axis direction.

  The image sensor 103 is an image sensor and captures a subject image formed by the lens unit 102. Then, an image signal obtained by imaging is output to the control device 104. Note that the camera 100 in this embodiment includes a camera shake correction function (anti-vibration function) that corrects camera shake by operating the image sensor 103 in synchronization with camera shake. Note that in this embodiment, an example in which a CCD is used as the imaging element 103 will be described. That is, camera 100 in the present embodiment performs camera shake correction by operating the CCD in synchronization with camera shake.

  The control device 104 generates image data in a predetermined image format, for example, JPEG format (hereinafter referred to as “main image data”) based on the image signal input from the image sensor 103. Further, the control device 104 generates display image data, for example, thumbnail image data, based on the generated image data. The control device 104 generates an image file that includes the generated main image data and thumbnail image data, and further includes header information, and outputs the image file to the memory card slot 105. In the present embodiment, image file generation processing by the control device and recording processing of the generated image file on a memory card are referred to as photographing processing.

  The memory card slot 105 is a slot for inserting a memory card as a storage medium, and the image file output from the control device 104 is written and recorded on the memory card. The memory card slot 105 reads an image file stored in the memory card based on an instruction from the control device 104.

  The monitor 106 is a liquid crystal monitor (rear monitor) mounted on the back surface of the camera 100, and the monitor 106 displays an image stored in a memory card, a setting menu for setting the camera 100, and the like. . Further, when the user sets the mode of the camera 100 to the shooting mode, the control device 104 outputs image data for display of images acquired from the image sensor 103 in time series to the monitor 106. As a result, a through image is displayed on the monitor 106.

  As will be described later, the driving device 107 is a member, for example, a motor, for moving a CCD stage on which a CCD is mounted for camera shake correction. The direction and amount of movement of the CCD stage by the driving device 107 are controlled by the control device 104.

  The control device 104 includes a CPU, a memory, and other peripheral circuits, and controls the camera 100. Note that the memory constituting the control device 104 includes SDRAM and flash memory. The SDRAM is a volatile memory, and is used as a work memory for the CPU to develop a program when the program is executed or as a buffer memory for temporarily recording data. The flash memory is a non-volatile memory in which data of a program executed by the control device 104, various parameters read during program execution, and the like are recorded.

  In the present embodiment, as described above, the camera 100 performs camera shake correction by driving the CCD. In this case, the control device 104 controls the drive device 107 at the timing when the power source of the camera 100 is turned on, so that the CCD stage on which the CCD is mounted is placed at the optical center position as the image stabilization operation position for camera shake correction. It is necessary to perform an initialization process for movement.

  As described above, since the lens unit 102 is retractable in the camera 100 of the present embodiment, the movable range of the CCD stage is limited by retracting the lens when the camera 100 is powered off. Specifically, when the power of the camera 100 is turned on, that is, when the lens is extended, the CCD stage 2a can move within the movable range 2b as shown in FIG. On the other hand, when the power of the camera 100 is turned off, that is, when the lens is retracted, as shown in FIG. 2A, the CCD stage 2a includes the retracted focus lens frame 2c and retractable lens. The movable range is limited by lens members such as the frame 2d and the retractable lens 2e.

  Therefore, when the camera 100 is turned off, the CCD stage 2a is stored between the lens members. Therefore, even if an impact is applied to the camera 100, the position of the CCD stage 2a is retracted when the camera 100 is turned off. There is no significant change from the position. Therefore, in this embodiment, the control device 104 performs initialization processing of the CCD stage position in consideration of this point when the camera 100 is turned on.

  If the lens unit 102 is not retractable, the movable range of the CCD stage is not limited even when the camera 100 is powered off. For this reason, the CCD stage 2a is retracted to a retracted position away from the optical center position. However, when an impact is applied to the camera 100, the position of the CCD stage 2a may be displaced from the retracted position. . Therefore, as an initialization process when the power of the camera 100 is turned on, as shown in FIG. 3A, after the CCD stage 2a is once moved from the retracted position 3a to the origin (PI position) 3b, the image stabilization operation is performed. It was necessary to move to the optical center position 3c as the position.

  For this purpose, first, it is necessary to return the CCD stage 2a from the retracted position 3a to the initialization reference position, that is, the PI position 3b serving as a positioning reference for the CCD stage 2a. A PI sensor is used to detect the origin. However, since a certain amount of space is required to install the PI sensor, the PI sensor is installed at a position deviating from the optical center of the lens. Since the installation position of this PI sensor is the origin, as shown in FIG. 3A, the PI position 3b is located away from the optical center position 3c. In general, by setting the retracted position 3a close to the PI position 3b, the moving distance from the retracted position 3a to the PI position 3b is shortened, and the time required for the initialization process is shortened.

  Thereafter, the CCD stage 2a is moved from the PI position 3b to the optical center position 3c. Movement amounts (number of steps) in the X and Y directions from the PI position 3b to the optical center position 3c are recorded in advance, and by moving the CCD stage 2a from the PI position 3b by the number of steps recorded in advance, The initialization process can be completed.

  On the other hand, when the lens unit 102 is of the retractable type as in the camera 100 of the present embodiment, as described above, the retracted position 3a of the CCD stage 2a is between the retracted lens members, so that the initial stage is initial. It is not possible to make the position close to the PI position 3b which is the origin at the time of conversion. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 3B, the moving distance from the retracted position 3a to the PI position 3b becomes longer, and the optical center position is moved after the CCD stage 2a is moved from the retracted position 3a to the PI position 3b during initialization. If moved to 3c, the initialization process takes time.

  In order to solve this problem, in the present embodiment, the control device 104 performs an initialization process by the method shown in FIG. That is, as shown in FIG. 3C, the control device 104 does not detect the origin (without moving the CCD stage 2a to the PI position 3b), and moves the CCD stage 2a from the retracted position 3a to the optical center position 3c. Move directly to. Specifically, movement amounts (number of steps) in the X and Y directions from the retracted position 3a to the optical center position 3c are recorded in advance in the flash memory, and the control device 104 moves the CCD stage 2a from the retracted position 3a. The initialization process is completed by moving the number of steps recorded in advance.

  In this case, when the position of the CCD stage 2a is moved from the retracted position 3a due to an impact applied to the camera 100 when the power is turned off, the CCD stage 2a can be moved to an accurate optical center position 3c by initialization processing. become unable. However, as described above, in the camera 100 according to the present embodiment, the position of the CCD stage 2a does not move greatly from the retracted position when the power is turned off. The CCD stage 2a can be moved to the optical center position 3c with a certain degree of accuracy without returning to (1).

  Thus, even when the retracting position 3a of the CCD stage 2a cannot be in the vicinity of the PI position 3b because the lens unit 102 is retractable, the initialization process of the CCD stage 2a position can be performed at high speed. The startup of the camera 100 can be speeded up when the power of the camera 100 is turned on.

  For example, when the retracted position 3a of the CCD stage 2a cannot be set near the PI position 3b because the lens unit 102 is retractable, the initialization process of the CCD stage 2a position is performed by the method shown in FIG. The processing time was 946 ms. On the other hand, when the initialization process of the CCD stage 2a position was performed by the method shown in FIG. 3C, the processing time could be shortened to 546 ms.

  When the initialization process of the CCD stage 2a position is performed by the method shown in FIG. 3C, the control device 104 detects the origin using the PI sensor when the camera 100 is turned off, that is, the PI position 3b. Is detected to correct the displacement of the CCD stage 2a position. In addition, the control device 104 causes the CCD stage 2a when the lens is extended when the power of the camera 100 is turned on, or when the lens is extended, the sleep mode is changed to the sleep mode, and then the sleep state is restored. The origin detection using the PI sensor is performed when there is a high possibility that is moving from the retreat position 2a.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of the initialization process of the CCD stage position in the present embodiment. The process shown in FIG. 4 is executed by the control device 104 as a program that is activated when the power of the camera 100 is turned on and the initialization process of the CCD stage position is started.

  In step S10, the control device 104 reads the number of movement steps of the CCD stage position 2a from the retreat position 3a to the optical center position 3c from the flash memory, and proceeds to step S20. In step S20, the control device 104 moves the CCD stage 2a from the retracted position by the number of movement steps read in step S10, thereby moving the CCD stage 2a to the optical center position and ends the process.

According to the present embodiment described above, the following operational effects can be obtained.
(1) When the power of the camera 100 is turned on and the retracted state of the CCD stage 2a is released, the control device 104 does not move the CCD stage 2a to the PI position 3b that is a reference for positioning the CCD stage 2a. Then, it is directly moved from the retreat position 3a to the optical center position 3c which is a preset vibration-proof operation position. Thereby, the initialization process of the position of the CCD stage 2a can be performed at high speed, and the startup of the camera 100 can be speeded up when the power of the camera 100 is turned on.

(2) In the present embodiment, the CCD stage is taken into consideration that the lens members are retracted so that lens members such as the focus lens frame 2c, the retractable lens frame 2d, and the retractable lens 2e limit the movable range of the CCD stage 2a. The position initialization process was performed. Accordingly, there is no need to separately provide a member for limiting the movable range of the CCD stage 2a, which is advantageous in terms of cost.

(3) The control device 104 switches the PI sensor when the lens is extended when the power of the camera 100 is turned on, or when the lens is extended, the mode is shifted to the sleep mode, and then returns from the sleep state. Used origin detection. As a result, when there is a high possibility that the CCD stage 2a has moved from the retracted position 2a, the origin detection can be performed to increase the positioning accuracy of the CCD stage 2a.

-Modification-
The camera according to the above-described embodiment can be modified as follows.
(1) In the embodiment described above, since the lens unit 102 is retractable, when the lens is retracted, as shown in FIG. 2A, the retracted focus lens frame 2c, retractable lens frame Since the movable range of the CCD stage 2a is limited by lens members such as 2d and the retractable lens 2e, the example in which the movement to the PI position 3b is omitted in the initialization process of the CCD stage position has been described. However, even if the lens unit 102 is a camera that is not retractable, the camera is provided with a member that prevents the CCD stage 2a from moving from the retracted position 3a when the CCD stage 2a is retracted. Is applicable.

(2) In the embodiment described above, an example in which camera shake correction is performed by operating the CCD in synchronization with camera shake has been described. However, the present invention can also be applied to a case where a vibration proof lens is used instead of a CCD as a member for correcting camera shake, that is, a vibration proof member. In other words, if a vibration-proof lens for correcting camera shake is mounted on the lens unit 102 and the movement of the vibration-proof lens is restricted by surrounding members when the vibration-proof lens is retracted, the position of the vibration-proof lens is initialized. In the processing, the vibration-proof lens may be moved directly from the retracted position to the optical center position. Alternatively, the present invention may be applied by separately providing a holding member for preventing the vibration-proof lens from moving from the retracted position.

  Note that the present invention is not limited to the configurations in the above-described embodiments as long as the characteristic functions of the present invention are not impaired. Moreover, it is good also as a structure which combined the above-mentioned embodiment and a some modification.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an embodiment of a camera 100. FIG. It is the figure which showed typically the structure of the retractable lens unit. It is a figure which shows the example of a movement of the CCD stage 2a at the time of initialization. It is a flowchart figure which shows the flow of the initialization process of a CCD stage position.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Camera, 101 Operation member, 102 Lens unit, 103 Image sensor, 104 Control apparatus, 105 Memory card slot, 106 Monitor, 107 Drive apparatus

Claims (5)

A camera having an anti-vibration function, and when the anti-vibration member is retracted, movement of the anti-vibration member from the retracted position is restricted by another member,
Releasing means for releasing the retracted state of the vibration isolating member;
When the retracting state is released by the releasing means, the vibration isolating member set in advance from the retracted position without moving the vibration isolating member to a reference position serving as a reference for positioning the vibration isolating member. A camera characterized by comprising moving means for moving to a work position. The camera of claim 1,
The camera according to claim 1, wherein the anti-vibration member is an image sensor or an anti-vibration lens. The camera according to claim 1 or 2,
The camera comprises a retractable lens;
The member that restricts the movement of the anti-vibration member from the retracted position when the anti-vibration member is retracted is a member that is disposed around the anti-vibration member when the retractable lens is retracted. Camera characterized by. The camera according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The moving means moves the anti-vibration member from the retracted position to the anti-vibration operation position via the reference position when the anti-vibration member may be displaced from the retracted position when the anti-vibration member is retracted. A camera characterized by that. A lens barrel having an anti-vibration function, wherein movement of the anti-vibration member from the retracted position is restricted by another member when the anti-vibration member is retracted;
Releasing means for releasing the retracted state of the vibration isolating member;
When the retracting state is released by the releasing means, the vibration isolating member set in advance from the retracted position without moving the vibration isolating member to a reference position serving as a reference for positioning the vibration isolating member. A lens barrel comprising a moving means for moving to a working position.

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