JP2010102108A - Digital camera - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To arrange a lens barrel upper than in the conventional manner in a digital camera in which the lens barrel is arranged to extend nearly over the entire width in a right-and-left direction of a camera body. <P>SOLUTION: A release button mechanism includes: a release button member 30 comprising an upside horizontal arm part 30a arranged on the upside of the lens barrel 21, a downside horizontal arm part 30c arranged on the downside of the lens barrel 21, and a vertical arm part 30b coupling the horizontal arm parts 30a and 30c; and a switch 32 or the like detecting the pressing of the release button member 30. The switch 32 is arranged on the downside of the lens barrel 21, and is brought into contact with the downside horizontal arm part 30c of the release button member 30 on the downside of the lens barrel 21, so as to detect the pressing of the release button member 30. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a digital camera, and more particularly to a release button mechanism.

  In recent years, digital cameras equipped with a solid-state imaging device such as a CCD image sensor have become widespread. In addition, a digital camera in which a lens barrel that integrates a bending optical system that bends the optical axis of subject light at a substantially right angle and a solid-state imaging device is disposed so as to extend over substantially the entire width of the camera body in the left-right direction. Is known (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2). In such a digital camera, since the thickness of the camera body in the front-rear direction can be reduced, portability can be improved.

  When taking a picture, the user usually holds the side edge of the camera body by hand, but the lens barrel having the bending optical system as described above extends over almost the entire width of the camera body in the left-right direction. In the digital camera arranged in (1), since the photographing lens is often arranged at the side end of the camera body, there arises a problem that it is easy to touch the lens.

  In the case of a digital camera with improved portability using a bending optical system as described above, it is desired that not only the thickness but also the overall size be as small as possible. It is often smaller than the width of the palm, and in order to hold such a thin and small camera, it is natural to hold the camera body between the middle finger and the thumb and hold the index finger over the upper surface of the camera body.

In a thin and small camera, it is necessary to place the photographic lens on the side edge of the camera body, and when the camera body is held as described above, the photographic lens should be positioned between the index finger and the middle finger. Because it is natural to place it, the lens barrel should be placed as high as possible inside the camera body so that when the user holds the digital camera, the index finger and middle finger can be held easily without widening. Is preferred.
JP 2004-219516 A JP 2007-316528 A

  However, in a general digital camera, a release button mechanism is disposed on the upper surface of the camera body. Therefore, even if it is desired to position the lens barrel as high as possible inside the camera body, the release button mechanism is There is a limit to moving the lens barrel upward as it gets in the way.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and a lens barrel in which a bending optical system for bending an optical axis of subject light at a substantially right angle and a solid-state imaging element is integrated with a substantially full width in the left-right direction of a camera body. It is an object of the present invention to provide a digital camera in which a lens barrel can be disposed above a conventional digital camera arranged so as to extend over the distance.

  In the first digital camera of the present invention, a lens barrel that integrates a solid-state imaging device and a lens optical system that forms an image of subject light on a light-receiving surface of the solid-state imaging device includes a left and right inside a camera body having a release button mechanism. The lens cover is arranged so as to extend in the direction, and the camera body includes a lens cover configured to be movable between an exposure position for exposing the photographing lens of the lens optical system and a shielding position for shielding the photographing lens. In the digital camera, the release button mechanism includes an upper horizontal arm portion disposed on the upper side of the lens barrel, a lower arm portion disposed on the lower side of the lens barrel, an end portion of the upper horizontal arm portion and the lower arm portion. The release button member is composed of a vertical arm that connects the two, and is held by the camera body so as to be movable in the vertical direction, and the release button member is biased upward. And a switch that detects pressing of the release button member, and the lens cover is in contact with the lower arm portion at the shielding position to restrict the release button member from moving upward, and at the exposure position. Is formed with a movement restricting portion configured so as not to prevent the release button member from moving upward from the lower arm portion, and the switch shields the lens cover in conjunction with the movement of the lens cover. When the lens cover is in the position, it moves to a position where it does not come into contact with the lower arm portion. When the lens cover is in the exposed position, the release button member is pressed downward to come into contact with the lower arm portion. It is comprised so that it may move to the position which can detect the press of a button member.

  In the first digital camera of the present invention, the switch is attached to the distal end of a rotating arm that is rotatably held by the camera body, which includes a rotating portion formed in a gear shape and an arm portion extending from the rotating portion, The lens cover includes a switch moving part in which teeth meshing with the gear of the rotating part are formed in the left-right direction, and the rotating part of the rotating arm is moved according to the movement of the lens cover from the shielding position to the exposed position. By engaging with the teeth of the switch moving unit, the rotating arm may rotate, and the switch may be moved to a position where the pressing of the release button member can be detected.

  Further, the second digital camera of the present invention has a lens barrel integrated with a solid-state imaging device and a lens optical system that forms an image of subject light on the light-receiving surface of the solid-state imaging device, a release button, and a release button. In a digital camera comprising a biasing member for biasing and a release button mechanism comprising a switch for detecting the pressing of the release button, wherein the lens barrel extends in the left-right direction within the camera body. The lens barrel is provided with a recess on the upper surface side, and the lower part of the release button mechanism is disposed in the recess of the lens barrel.

  According to the first digital camera of the present invention, the release button mechanism includes the upper horizontal arm portion disposed above the lens barrel, the lower arm portion disposed below the lens barrel, and the upper horizontal arm portion. A release button member configured to connect the end portions of the lower arm portion to each other and held by the camera body so as to be movable in the vertical direction, and a biasing member for biasing the release button member upward, A switch that detects the pressing of the release button member, and in conjunction with the movement of the lens cover, when the lens cover is in the shielding position, the switch is moved to a position that does not come into contact with the lower arm portion, When the lens cover is in the exposed position, the release button member is pressed downward, contacts the lower arm, and moves to a position where the release button member can be detected. In the release button mechanism, the configuration around the switch, which requires a large amount of arrangement space, is arranged below the lens barrel, so that it is possible to arrange the lens barrel further upward. Become.

  According to the second digital camera of the present invention, the lower part of the release button mechanism is disposed in the recess on the upper surface side of the lens barrel, so that the lens barrel can be disposed further upward. It becomes.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1A is a front view showing a state in which the lens cover of the digital camera according to the first embodiment is in the shielding position, and FIG. 1B shows a state in which the lens cover of the digital camera is in the exposure position. FIG. 2A is a schematic configuration diagram in a state where the lens cover of the digital camera is in a shielding position, and FIG. 2B is a schematic configuration diagram in a state in which the lens cover of the digital camera is in an exposure position. FIG. 3 is a side view of the release button member viewed from the direction of the arrow A in FIG. 2A, and FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of the digital camera.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 (A) and 1 (B), the digital camera 1 has a left-right direction between a shielding position that shields the photographing lens 11b from an exposure position that exposes the photographing lens 11a of the lens optical system to the camera body 20. A lens cover 22 configured to be movable is attached to the front, and in addition to the lens 11a, various general devices necessary for photographing such as a strobe, an auxiliary lamp, and various sensors (not shown) are provided on the front. ing.

  A liquid crystal monitor (display unit 15) (not shown), buttons (operation unit 14) for performing various operation settings, a media slot (storage medium reading unit 16), and the like are disposed on the back and bottom surfaces. Displays an image recorded on a recording medium 17 (not shown) inserted in a media slot, a menu operation screen necessary for various settings, a through image of image information acquired by the imaging unit 11 at the time of shooting, and the like. The

  The media slot is an insertion slot into which the recording medium 17 is inserted. When the recording medium 17 is inserted into the media slot, data is read / written from / to the recording medium 17.

  The recording medium 17 uses an xD picture card (registered trademark), smart media (registered trademark), PC card, compact flash (registered trademark), magnetic disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, memory stick (registered trademark), or the like. It is possible to use various media that can be read and written in accordance with electronic, magnetic, optical, or a combination thereof, and signal processing means and interfaces corresponding to the media used are applied.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the functional blocks of the digital camera 1 according to the present embodiment include a CPU 10, an imaging unit 11, an image processing unit 12, a storage unit 13, an operation unit 14, a display unit 15, and a recording. A medium reading unit 16 is schematically configured.

  The CPU 10 comprehensively controls the digital camera 1 based on the input from the operation unit 14, and reads out the data stored in the storage unit 13 and the recording medium 17 in accordance with an instruction from the operation unit 14. In addition to functioning as a control unit, it also functions as an operation control unit that controls zooming operation, focus adjustment (AF) operation, automatic exposure adjustment (AE) operation, and the like of the lens drive unit, and a display control unit that controls display on the display unit 15. To do.

  The imaging unit 11 includes a lens group 11a, a lens driving unit (not shown), a CCD 11b as an imaging device, a CCD driving unit (not shown), an analog processing unit 11c, an A / D conversion unit 11d, and the like.

  The lens group 11a includes a bending optical system that bends the optical axis of the subject light at a substantially right angle, and the lens group 11a and the CCD 11b are housed in and integrated with the lens barrel 21.

  The subject image formed on the light receiving surface of the CCD 11b through the lens group 11a is converted into signal charges of an amount corresponding to the amount of incident light by each sensor on the CCD 11b. The CCD 11b has a so-called electronic shutter function that controls the charge accumulation time (shutter speed) of each sensor according to the timing of the shutter gate pulse.

  The signal charge accumulated in each sensor is sequentially read out from the CCD 11b as a voltage signal (analog imaging signal) corresponding to the signal charge based on a pulse applied from the CCD driving unit. The analog imaging signal output from the CCD 11b is sent to the analog processing unit 11c.

  The analog processing unit 11c includes signal processing circuits such as a sampling hold circuit, a color separation circuit, and a gain adjustment circuit. In the analog processing unit 11c, correlated double sampling (CDS) processing and R, G, B color signals are processed. Color separation processing is performed, and signal level adjustment (pre-white balance processing) of each color signal is performed.

  The signal output from the analog processing unit 11c is converted into a digital signal by the A / D conversion unit 11d and then sent to the image processing unit 12. The CCD driving unit, the analog processing unit 11c, and the A / D conversion unit 11d are driven in synchronization with a timing signal applied from a timing generator in accordance with a command from the CPU 10.

  The image processing unit 12 includes a digital signal processor (DSP) including an image quality adjustment circuit such as a luminance / color difference signal generation circuit, a gamma correction circuit, a sharpness adjustment circuit, a contrast correction circuit, and a white balance adjustment circuit. The image signal is processed based on the command.

  The storage unit 13 is configured by a semiconductor memory or the like that can store various data. The storage unit 13 stores a system program and the like for operating the digital camera.

  The operation unit 14 includes a release button, buttons for performing various operation settings, and the like.

  Here, the mechanism of the release button will be described in detail.

  As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the release button mechanism includes an upper horizontal arm portion 30a disposed on the upper side of the lens barrel 21, and a lower horizontal arm portion disposed on the lower side of the lens barrel. A release button member 30 comprising a vertical arm portion 30b that connects ends of the upper horizontal arm portion 30a and the lower horizontal arm portion 30c, and is held by the camera body 20 so as to be movable in the vertical direction; A spring 20b that urges the member 30 upward and a switch 32 that detects pressing of the release button member 30 are provided.

  Specifically, the configuration for biasing the release button member 30 upward is formed inside the camera body 20 in the opening formed in the vertical arm portion 30b of the release button member 30, as shown in FIG. The projecting portion 20a is inserted, and a spring 20b is disposed between the inner top surface of the opening of the vertical arm portion 30b and the upper surface of the projecting portion 20a. With this spring 20b, the release button member 30 is attached to the camera. The body 20 is always urged upward.

  A convex portion 30d protruding upward is formed on the lower horizontal arm portion 30c of the release button member 30, and the lens cover 22 is in contact with the convex portion 30d at the shielding position (FIG. 2A). In contact therewith, the release button member 30 is restricted from moving upward, and at the exposed position (FIG. 2 (B)), the release button member 30 is not detached from the convex portion 30d so as not to prevent the release button member 30 from moving upward. A configured movement restricting portion 22a and a switch moving portion 22b for moving a switch 32 described later are integrally formed.

  Thereby, the release button member 30 is interlocked with the movement of the lens cover 22 in the left-right direction, and when the lens cover 22 is in the shielding position, the height of the upper surface of the upper horizontal arm portion 30a and the height of the upper surface of the camera body 20 are When the lens cover 22 is in the exposed position, the upper horizontal arm portion 30a protrudes from the upper surface of the camera body 20, and the upper horizontal arm portion 30a can be pressed by the user as a release button.

  The switch 32 is attached to the tip of the arm portion of the rotating arm 31. The rotating arm 31 is rotatably held by the camera body 20, and the vicinity of the rotating portion is formed in a gear shape. Further, teeth that mesh with the gears of the rotating arm 31 are formed on the upper surface of the switch moving portion 22b formed on the lens cover 22.

  Thereby, the switch 32 moves to a position where it does not come into contact with the lower horizontal arm portion 30c when the lens cover 22 is in the shielding position in conjunction with the movement of the lens cover 22 in the left-right direction, and the lens cover 22 is exposed. When in the position, the release button member 30 is pressed downward, contacts the lower horizontal arm portion 30c, and moves to a position where the release button member 30 can be detected. .

  By adopting such a configuration, the configuration around the switch 32 that requires a large arrangement space in the release button mechanism can be arranged below the lens barrel 21, and therefore, compared to the conventional configuration. The minute lens barrel 21 having the configuration around the switch 32 can be disposed further upward.

  Next, the operation of the digital camera 1 configured as described above will be described.

  At the time of shooting, the image signal input from the CCD 11b is stored in real time in the storage unit 13 and displayed on a liquid crystal monitor (not shown). The user can confirm the subject image by the image (through image) displayed on the liquid crystal monitor.

  When the user obtains a desired subject image and presses the release button member 30, the image data stored in the storage unit 13 at that time is compressed into a predetermined format such as JPEG by a compression / expansion circuit (not shown). Then, it is recorded on the recording medium 17 via the recording medium reading unit 16. The means for storing the image is not limited to the recording medium 17 that can be attached to and detached from the digital camera 1 main body, but may be an internal memory built in the digital camera 1 main body.

    Next, a digital camera according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram of the digital camera according to the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 5, in the digital camera 2 of the present embodiment, the lens barrel 150 is arranged so as to extend over substantially the entire width of the camera body 120 in the left-right direction.

  The lens barrel 150 includes an objective lens 151, a zoom lens housing unit 152, a zoom lens driving unit 153, a shutter / iris unit 154, a focus lens housing unit 155, a focus lens driving unit 156, and a CCD unit 157.

  The zoom lens housing portion 152 and the focus lens housing portion 155 are configured to be as low as possible within a range that does not interfere with the luminous flux of the photographing light, so that the objective lens 151 is formed on the upper surface of the lens barrel 150. A recess having a height lower than the surrounding height is formed between the vicinity and between the shutter / iris unit 154 and between the shutter / iris unit 154 and the CCD unit 157.

  In the present embodiment, the lower part of the release button mechanism 130 is disposed in a recess between the shutter / iris unit 154 and the CCD unit 157 on the upper surface side of the lens barrel 150, whereby the lens barrel 150 is further reinforced. It becomes possible to arrange | position upwards.

  The flash mechanism 140 is also disposed in the recess between the objective lens 151 and the shutter / iris unit 154 on the upper surface side of the lens barrel 150.

The front view which showed the state which has the lens cover of the digital camera of 1st Embodiment in a shielding position The front view which showed the state which has the lens cover of the said digital camera in an exposure position Schematic configuration diagram in the state where the lens cover of the digital camera is in the shielding position Schematic configuration diagram of the digital camera lens cover in the exposed position Side view of the release button member viewed from the direction of the arrow A in FIG. Functional block diagram of the above digital camera Schematic configuration diagram of a digital camera according to the second embodiment

Explanation of symbols

1, 2 Digital camera 10 CPU
11 Imaging unit 11a Lens group 11b CCD
11c Analog processing section 11d A / D conversion section 12 Image processing section 13 Storage section 14 Operation section 15 Display section 16 Recording medium reading section 17 Recording medium 20 Camera body 20a Convex section 20b Spring 21 Lens barrel 22 Lens cover 22a Movement restriction section 22b Switch moving part 30 Release button member 30a Upper horizontal arm part 30b Vertical arm part 30c Lower horizontal arm part 30d Convex part 31 Rotating arm 32 Switch 120 Camera body 130 Release button mechanism 140 Flash mechanism 150 Lens barrel

Claims (3)

A lens barrel that integrates a solid-state imaging device and a lens optical system that forms an image of subject light on the light-receiving surface of the solid-state imaging device so as to extend in the left-right direction in the camera body having a release button mechanism. Arranged,
In the digital camera comprising the lens cover configured to be movable between an exposure position for exposing the photographing lens of the lens optical system to a shielding position for shielding the photographing lens on the camera body,
The release button mechanism includes an upper horizontal arm portion disposed above the lens barrel, a lower arm portion disposed below the lens barrel, ends of the upper horizontal arm portion and the lower arm portion. A release button member that is configured by a vertical arm portion that connects the portions, and is held by the camera body so as to be movable in the vertical direction; a biasing member that biases the release button member upward; and a release button member A switch for detecting pressure,
The lens cover is in contact with the lower arm portion at the shielding position and restricts the release button member from moving upward, and at the exposed position, the lens cover is separated from the lower arm portion. , A movement restricting portion configured not to hinder upward movement of the release button member is formed,
The switch moves in conjunction with the movement of the lens cover and moves to a position where it does not contact the lower arm when the lens cover is in the shielding position, and when the lens cover is in the exposed position. The release button member is pressed downward, contacts the lower arm portion, and moves to a position where the release button member can be detected. camera. The switch is attached to a distal end of a rotating arm that is rotatably held by the camera body, and includes a rotating part formed in a gear shape and an arm part extending from the rotating part.
The lens cover includes a switch moving part in which teeth meshing with the gear of the rotating part are formed in the left-right direction,
As the lens cover moves from the shielding position to the exposed position, the rotating part of the rotating arm meshes with the teeth of the switch moving part, whereby the rotating arm rotates, 2. The digital camera according to claim 1, wherein the switch is moved to a position where the pressing of the release button member can be detected. A lens barrel integrated with a solid-state imaging device and a lens optical system that forms an image of subject light on a light-receiving surface of the solid-state imaging device;
A release button, an urging member that urges the release button upward, and a release button mechanism that includes a switch that detects pressing of the release button,
In the digital camera in which the lens barrel is arranged so as to extend in the left-right direction in the camera body,
The lens barrel includes a recess on the upper surface side,
A lower part of the release button mechanism is disposed in the recess of the lens barrel.

Images