JP2010177965A - Digital camera - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a digital camera for preventing a mirror cell in a camera body storage portion from moving with a force smaller than a predetermined impulse force, and further achieving smooth buffer movement during movement of the mirror cell in the camera body storage portion due to a shock and accurate returning after the buffer movement. <P>SOLUTION: The digital camera includes: the mirror cell 4 which is in a flat shape and includes a camera shake correcting mechanism; a front cover 2 as a camera body provided with a support portion for supporting slide movement of the mirror cell 4 stored in a storage portion 2s along the optical axis of an optical system; a buffer unit 21 which absorbs a shock with a shear force along the optical axis generated between the inside of the storage portion 2s of the front cover 2 and an external surface part of the mirror cell 4 when the mirror cell 4 is slid and displaced relatively along the optical axis in the storage portion 2s due to a shock; and an elastic spacer 25 which is interposed between an inner side surface of the storage portion 2s and the buffer unit 21 and elastically deforms. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a digital camera, and more particularly, to a digital camera with a blur correction function that absorbs an impact on the lens frame by moving the lens frame inside the camera body when an impact is applied to the camera body from the outside. It is about the camera.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various digital cameras including a lens barrel unit including a plurality of optical lenses and an imaging unit including an imaging element that photoelectrically converts an optical image of a subject formed by the optical lens have been put into practical use.

  These digital cameras are always required to be downsized as a whole so that the user can always carry and carry them and use them easily without choosing a place.

  On the other hand, when a user always carries a digital camera, there is a high possibility that the user will accidentally drop the digital camera while carrying it, or accidentally collide with a wall or the like. However, since such a digital camera is an extremely precise device, the impact of the external force may reach the internal components when it receives an impact force from the outside, thereby damaging the internal components. Or it could be damaged.

  Therefore, in a small device such as a conventional digital camera, in order to cope with an impact such as dropping, an internal component is configured to be movable on the inner surface of the device main body, and the movable internal component For example, Patent Documents 1, 2, 3, 4 and the like have been proposed that have a floating structure so that a buffer member is provided between the outer surface and the inner surface of the device body.

  In such a small device with a floating structure, when an impact force due to an external force is applied to the outside of the device body, the impact force is absorbed by compressing the buffer member.

  A small device disclosed in Patent Document 1 is a mobile phone or the like having a main body case that holds a camera unit and delimits an outline, in order to reduce an impact force applied to the camera unit through the main body case. Between the case and the main body case, a buffer member is provided on each of the surfaces along the moving direction of the lens (optical axis direction, Z direction) and the direction perpendicular thereto (Y direction).

  A small device disclosed in Patent Document 2 is an in-vehicle player device installed on a dash panel in a vehicle interior, and includes an outer case incorporated in the dash panel, and a device main body housed in the outer case. In this case, a buffer member is interposed.

  The small devices disclosed in Patent Literature 3 and Patent Literature 4 are buffered between the outer surface of the slot portion that detachably accommodates the disc-shaped recording medium cartridge accommodated in the device body and other internal components. A member is interposed.

  However, in the means disclosed in Patent Document 1, the buffer member is disposed on the surface along each of the lens movement direction (Z-axis direction) and the direction perpendicular to the lens movement direction (Z-axis direction). When an impact force is applied in the (Z-axis direction), the force applied to the buffer member is a pressing force and a shearing force. In this case, the repulsive force and the shearing force when the buffer member is compressed cancel each other out.

  In addition, in a digital camera or the like, a lens barrel body having an optical lens or the like is configured to be housed inside the camera body, and this lens barrel body has a direction other than the lens movement direction (Z-axis direction), That is, in the Y-axis direction and the X-axis direction, the strength against external impact force is ensured by the camera body and the like. On the other hand, the optical lens in the lens barrel body is configured to be freely movable in a predetermined direction (optical axis direction), for example, for a focusing operation or a zooming operation. This can be said to be a disadvantageous configuration particularly when an external force in a direction along the optical axis is applied to the lens barrel body. In addition, in the means for absorbing an impact by the compression force of the buffer member as described above, the repulsive force generated along with the compression of the buffer member may affect the lens barrel body.

  Furthermore, when a buffer member is provided on the inner surface of the device, the space inside the device is required by the thickness. In particular, when the buffer member is provided on the surface along the direction perpendicular to the optical axis direction, the size in the optical axis direction, which is the direction in which the optical lens moves, must be ensured. There is also the problem of being connected.

  On the other hand, in the means for absorbing the impact by compressing the buffer member, the thickness of the buffer member contributes to the shock absorption, and the effect tends to decrease as the buffer member becomes thinner.

  On the other hand, in digital cameras that are carried around, there is always a demand for downsizing and thinning of the device body, so a buffer with sufficient shock absorption performance between the device body and internal components. There is also a problem that it is difficult to secure a space for arranging the members.

  In addition, when a floating structure is applied to the digital camera having the above-described blur correction function as a buffer structure, depending on the size of the space (backlash) between the camera body storage unit and the lens frame, the camera body and the lens frame The positional relationship may be slightly shifted or the positional relationship may not be constant, which may have an effect on image pickup by blur amount correction.

  Furthermore, when the lens frame moves in the camera body housing part due to an external impact, smooth buffer movement and return after buffer movement may not be performed correctly depending on the size of the space (backlash).

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a digital camera in which a lens frame having a blurring correction function moves in a buffer manner within a camera body storage unit. The backlash (space) between the storage unit and the lens frame is eliminated, and the smooth buffer movement and the return after the buffer movement are accurately performed when the lens frame moves in the camera body storage unit due to external impact. It is to provide a digital camera that can be used.

  In order to solve the above problems, the digital camera of the present invention has a flat shape as a whole, and is connected to the image sensor, an optical system for imaging reflected light from the subject on the image sensor, and the image sensor. A lens frame having a blur correction mechanism that corrects blur of a subject image to be imaged, and a lens frame storage unit that slides the lens frame only in the optical axis direction, and the light of the optical system of the stored lens frame A camera body provided on each of the side surfaces on both sides of the shaft and provided with a support portion for supporting sliding movement of the lens frame housed in the lens frame housing portion in the optical axis direction; and the mirror The lens frame is provided between an inner side surface perpendicular to the both side surfaces of the frame housing part and an outer surface part of the flat mirror frame facing the inner side surface, and the lens frame is formed inside the camera body housing part by an impact. When the slide is displaced relative to the optical axis, An impact absorbing means for absorbing an impact by a shearing force in an optical axis direction generated between the inside of the camera body housing and the outer surface of the lens frame; and an inner surface of the lens frame housing and the impact absorbing means. There is an elastically deformable elastic spacer interposed between them in a compressed state.

  According to the present invention, in a digital camera in which a lens frame having a blur correction function is buffered in the camera main body storage unit, it is possible to eliminate a backlash (space) between the camera main unit storage unit and the lens frame during non-imaging. . In addition, when an impact is applied from the outside, it is possible to prevent the lens frame in the camera body storage unit from moving with a force smaller than the impact. Furthermore, it is possible to provide a digital camera capable of accurately performing a smooth buffer movement when the lens frame moves in the camera body housing portion due to an external impact and a return after the buffer movement.

It is the perspective view which looked at the external appearance of the digital camera as an imaging device which is one Embodiment of this invention from the front side. It is the perspective view which looked at the external appearance of the digital camera of FIG. 1 from the back side. It is the rear view which removed the rear cover of the digital camera of FIG. 1, and showed internal arrangement | positioning. It is the perspective view which showed the state which decomposed | disassembled the front cover, the lens-frame unit, and the buffer unit in the digital camera of FIG. It is the perspective view which looked at the lens-frame unit of FIG. 4 from the front side lower side. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line VI-VI in FIG. 5, showing a cross section along the optical axis of the lens barrel unit in FIG. 5. FIG. 4 is a schematic enlarged view showing a state in which a lens frame unit is inserted into a front cover in the digital camera of FIG. 3. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state in which the lens frame unit of FIG. 4 is assembled into a front cover with a buffer unit interposed therebetween.

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

  1 and 2 are perspective views showing an external appearance of a digital camera as an imaging apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1 is a perspective view seen from the front side, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view seen from the rear side. FIG. FIG. 3 is a rear view of the digital camera with the rear cover removed. FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the front cover, the lens frame unit, and the buffer unit of the digital camera. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the lens barrel unit as seen from the lower front side. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line VI-VI in FIG. 5 and shows a cross section along the optical axis of the lens barrel unit.

  A digital camera 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention incorporates a lens barrel unit 20 having a bending optical system for capturing a subject image, and moves a camera shake that moves an image pickup device as an image pickup unit according to a camera shake. It is a compact digital camera having a correction function, and a buffer structure that protects the lens frame from an impact such as dropping is applied.

  In the bending optical system, a subject luminous flux incident along a first optical axis (hereinafter referred to as an optical axis O1) is in a second optical axis direction (hereinafter referred to as an optical axis O2) orthogonal to the optical axis O1. The imaging optical system is configured to form an optical image on a light receiving surface of an imaging element disposed on the optical axis O2.

  In the following description, the subject side in the direction of the optical axis O1 in the digital camera 1 is defined as the front side. A direction parallel to the optical axis O2 is defined as a Z direction. A direction along a plane orthogonal to the optical axis O2 and parallel to the direction of the optical axis O1 is defined as a Y direction, and a direction orthogonal to the Y direction is defined as an X direction. The left and right in the X direction are indicated by the left and right viewed from the back side unless otherwise specified.

  The digital camera 1 of the present embodiment includes a front cover 2 and a rear cover 3 as camera bodies coupled in a state of facing each other as a box-shaped exterior body as shown in FIGS. It comprises a lens barrel unit 20 accommodated in the cover 3 and a camera control board 18.

  The front cover 2 is provided with a photographing aperture window 2d on the front surface, a light emission window 2e of the flash light emitting device, and the like, and a power switch button 15 and a release button 14 on the upper surface.

  The rear cover 3 is provided with an operation switch button group 13 for setting the photographing mode and the LCD monitor 16 on the rear surface.

  The camera control board 18 is connected to a memory card, which is a CPU that controls the entire camera, a shooting mode control unit, a strobe light emission control unit, an image processing unit that processes captured image data by an image sensor, and an image recording medium inserted into the camera. A printed circuit board on which a recording control unit for writing photographed image data, a camera shake detection sensor, and the like are mounted is incorporated on the right side inside the front cover 2.

  The lens frame unit 20 includes a lens frame body 4 as a lens frame having a flat outer shape, a bending optical system for imaging incorporated in the lens frame body 4, and a lower part in the Z direction of the lens frame body 4. As a shake correction device, an image pickup unit 88 incorporating a CCD 96 as an image pickup element and a CCD drive mechanism 71 are provided.

  The bending optical system incorporated in the lens frame body 4 refracts the first group lens (front) 35a disposed on the optical axis O1 as the first group lens system and the subject light beam toward the optical axis O2. A prism 35b, a first group lens (rear) 35b disposed below the prism 35b, a second group lens 36 and a third group lens 38 disposed along the optical axis O2 and constituting a zoom lens; A shutter / aperture 37 disposed between the second group lens 36 and the third group lens 38 and a fourth group lens 39 constituting a focus lens (FIG. 6).

  A lens frame member that holds the lens groups is disposed on the optical axis O1, and is disposed on the optical axis O2 with the first group frame 31 that holds the first group lenses 35a and 35c and the prism 35b, and the second group. A second group frame 32 that holds the lens 36, a third group frame 33 that holds the third group lens 38, and a fourth group frame 34 that holds the fourth group lens 39 are arranged. The shutter / aperture 37 is supported in an openable / closable state at the aperture opening of the lens barrel body 4 (FIG. 6).

  An image pickup unit 88 constituting a shake correction device and a CCD frame drive unit 71 for driving the image pickup unit 88 to be displaced are arranged below the bending optical system below the lens barrel body 4 as shown in FIGS. The

  The image pickup unit 88 includes an X slider 89, and an optical low-pass filter (optical LPF) 95c connected to the X slider 89 and a CCD frame 91 on which a CCD 96 as an image pickup element is mounted.

  The X slider 89 is supported by the lens frame body 4 so as to be slidable in the X direction by the X guide shaft, and the CCD frame 91 is connected to the X slider 89 by the Y guide shaft. It moves with the slider 89 and is supported so as to be relatively slidable in the Y direction. Therefore, the CCD frame 91 can be displaced two-dimensionally on the XY plane with respect to the lens barrel body 4.

  The CCD 96 is fixedly held together with an optical low-pass filter (hereinafter referred to as an optical LPF) in the opening of the CCD frame 91 in a state of being mounted on a CCD connection flexible substrate (hereinafter referred to as a CCD connection FPC) 65.

  The CCD frame drive unit 71 is disposed on the lower right protruding portion (left side in FIG. 5) of the lens frame body 4 and includes an X drive motor 72, a Y drive motor 79, a gear unit, and a feed screw. Mechanism.

  When the camera is in the camera shake correction mode, when the CCD 96 is exposed, the X slider 89 and the CCD frame 91 of the imaging unit 88 perform the above-described camera shake according to the camera shake detection signal detected by the camera side camera shake detection sensor. The CCD frame driving unit 71 is driven to displace on the XY plane so as to cancel out. By this blur correction operation, an image pickup signal whose camera shake is corrected by the CCD 96 is obtained.

  The lens frame unit 20 is incorporated in the housing portion 2s of the front cover 2 in a state where the above-described bending optical system is incorporated in the lens frame body 4 and a shock-absorbing unit 21 which will be described later is mounted on the front surface portion. Figures 4 and 5). Hereinafter, a structure for incorporating the front cover 2 of the lens frame unit 20 into the storage portion 2s will be described.

  The lens frame body 4 as a lens frame is a predetermined part in the front cover 2 that is the camera body of the camera 1, for example, as shown in FIG. 3, which is close to one side surface inside the front cover (camera body). It is arranged. The arrangement of the lens frame body 4 inside the front cover 2 is not limited to the example of the present embodiment, and the lens frame body 4 may be arranged at a substantially central portion inside the camera body.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the storage portion 2s of the front cover 2 is formed on the inner surface of the front cover 2 so as to slidably store the lens frame body 4 only in the direction along the optical axis O2. The storage portion 2s is formed with a step on the inner surface of the front cover 2 of the camera 1 in accordance with the outer shape of the lens barrel body 4, and support portions on both sides of the optical axis O2 of the lens barrel body 4. 2f, 2g, 2h, 2i are provided. Note that the inside of the frame indicated by the oblique lines in FIG. 7 corresponds to the storage portion 2s.

  When the lens frame body 4 is stored in the storage part 2s, the vicinity of the four corners of the lens frame body 4 with respect to the support parts 2f, 2g, 2h, 2i, that is, the parts 4v1, 4v2, 4v3, 4v4 shown in FIG. Makes surface contact.

  That is, each of the four corner portions 4v1, 4v2, 4v3, and 4v4 of the lens frame body 4 comes into surface contact with the support portions 2f, 2g, 2h, and 2i of the storage portion 2s, so that the lens frame body 4 is attached to the front cover. 4 is slidably supported only in the Z direction along the optical axis O2, and moves in the X axis direction shown in FIG. 4 in a direction orthogonal to the optical axis O2. It is regulated.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 8, the shock absorbing unit 21 mounted on the front surface of the lens frame body 4 is made of an elastic butyl rubber member or the like and formed into a thin flat plate shape. The absorbing member 24 is sandwiched between a first thin plate 22 and a second thin plate 23 which are two thin plate members made of metal or resin, and further, the second thin plate member 23 on the storage portion 2s side is elastic to the second thin plate member 23. Two strip-shaped elastic sheets 25 made of a deformable sponge or the like along the Z direction are disposed apart from each other in the X direction and bonded together.

  When the lens barrel body 4 is disposed in the storage portion 2s of the front cover 2 of the camera 1, the buffer unit 21 is provided between the front surface of the lens barrel body 4 and the inner surface of the front cover 2 facing the front surface. The elastic sheet 25 is interposed between the storage portion 2s and the storage portion 2s.

  In the above arrangement state, one first thin plate 22 of the two thin plate-like members is screwed between the lens frame body 4 and the front cover 2 by screws (see FIG. 4) on the front surface of the lens frame body 4. It has been stopped.

  The other second thin plate 23 is fixed to a predetermined part of the storage portion 2s of the front cover 2 with the elastic sheet 25 interposed therebetween. In the second thin plate 23, notches 23m and 23n are formed on both side edges facing each other with the optical axis O2 in between in the state of being assembled to the lens barrel body 4. On the other hand, on the inner surface side of the storage portion 2s of the front cover 2, the lens frame body 4 is held in the portion facing the notches 23m and 23n in a state of being stored in the storage portion 2s of the front cover 2. Portions 2m and 2n are formed.

  In a state in which the lens barrel body 4 to which the buffer unit 21 is mounted is stored in the storage portion 2s of the front cover member 2, the notches 23m and 23n of the second thin plate 23 are the locking protrusions 2m and 2n of the storage portion 2s. The second thin plate 23 is positioned on the front cover 2 with the elastic sheet 25 sandwiched in a state where movement in the Z direction along the optical axis O2 is restricted.

  An impact absorbing member 24 is sandwiched between the first thin plate 22 and the second thin plate 23 at a substantially central portion. The impact absorbing member 24 is composed of two thin plate-like members 22 and 23, respectively. It is bonded and fixed with an adhesive or the like.

  A plurality of holes 23a are formed in the vicinity of the substantially central portion of the second thin plate 23 as shown in FIG. These holes are provided to allow excess adhesive or the like to escape when the impact absorbing member 24 and the second thin plate 23 are bonded and fixed.

  The shock absorbing member 24 applied to the shock absorbing unit 21 will be described in detail. The shock absorbing unit 21 receives the shock, and the lens frame body 4 is relatively optically moved inside the front cover 2 and the rear cover 3 of the camera 1. When slid in the direction along O2, the impact is caused by the shearing force in the direction of the optical axis O2 generated between the inner surface of the second thin plate 23 locked to the housing portion 2s of the front cover 2 and the front surface of the lens barrel body 4. The absorbing member 24 is sheared and elastically deformed to absorb an impact.

  In other words, since the impact absorbing member 24 is made of a rubber-based member having elasticity as described above, the shearing direction, that is, the direction along the optical axis O2 of the lens barrel body 4, that is, the Z direction in which the photographing lens moves. When an external force (including a component force in the Z direction) is applied, the shock absorbing member 24 shears and deforms so that the lens frame body 4 is relatively aligned with the front cover 2 along the optical axis O2 in the same direction. It can be moved slightly in the Z direction.

  In order to allow the lens frame body 4 to move in the Z direction along the optical axis O2 as described above and to prevent the lens frame body 4 from interfering with the front cover 2, the moving direction (Z The shape of the lens barrel main body 4 with respect to the inner surface of the front cover 2 so that the slight gap spaces A1 and A2 shown in FIG. 7 are formed at a predetermined portion between both end portions in the direction) and the inner surface of the front cover 2. Is stipulated.

  The gap spaces A1 and A2 are elastic forces determined by the material of the shock absorbing member 24, the shock absorbing force in the shear direction, the weight of the lens frame unit 20, the weight of the camera 1 itself, and the amount of external force applied by the shock or the like. It is set by various factors.

  And although the clearance spaces A1 and A2 should secure a sufficient dimension in consideration of the amount of movement of the lens barrel body 4, it is necessary to ensure a clearance dimension wider than necessary when assuming a larger impact force amount. The demand for downsizing the camera 1 cannot be met. Therefore, in designing, considering the downsizing of the apparatus as well, in the small camera as exemplified in the present embodiment, for example, the dimension of the gap spaces A1 and A2 should be about 1 mm. Is reasonable. For this purpose, the size, thickness, hardness and the like of the shock absorbing member 24 are adjusted.

  The shock absorbing member 24 in the buffer unit 21 may be disposed between the back side of the lens frame body 4 and the plate-like pushing member 21 or the like, or on both the front and back surfaces of the lens frame body 4. It may be arranged. The same effect can be obtained by providing a concave portion on the front surface of the lens frame body 4 instead of the first thin plate 22 and bonding and fixing the shock absorbing member 24 to the concave portion without a gap in the XZ plane direction. Furthermore, a structure in which the impact absorbing member 24 is directly bonded and fixed to the front surface of the lens frame body 4 without providing the first thin plate 22 and the concave portion may be employed.

  When the lens barrel body 4 of the lens barrel unit 20 to which the buffer unit 21 having the above-described configuration is mounted is stored in the storage section 2s, the storage section 2s with the buffer unit 21 mounted on the front side thereof. 4 are engaged with the notch portions 23m and 23n of the second thin plate 23 and inserted on the back side of the lens barrel body 4 to the plate-like pressing members 26, 27 and 28 shown in FIG. And a plurality of screws (FIG. 4) are fixed to the fixing members 2k, 2p, 2q, and 2r provided on the inner surface side of the front cover 2 with screws.

  In the storage state described above, the back surface of the lens frame body 4 is pressed by the plate-like pressing members 26, 27, and 28, the lens frame body 4 is pressed in the Y direction, and the elastic sheet 25 of the buffer unit 21 is pressed by the storage part 2s. It is in a compressed state. The lens frame body 4 is held in a state in which it can be displaced in the Z direction relative to the front cover 2 by shear elastic deformation of the shock absorbing member 24.

  When the plate-like pressing members 26, 27, 28 are fixed to the front cover 2, the lens frame pressing forces F 1, F 2 (FIG. 8) generated by the compression of the elastic sheet 25 are shock absorbing effects by the buffer unit 21. The upper limit is the pressing force that can be obtained, and the lens frame body 4 is pressed without rattling, and in particular, the pressing force that can hold the lens frame body 4 with an appropriate force even when the camera 1 is shaken. The lower limit.

  Specifically, the upper limit of the lens frame pressing forces F1 and F2 is the shearing of the shock absorbing member 24 for absorbing the shock when an impact force such as a drop that adversely affects the lens holding frame or the like acts on the camera 1. The pressing force allows the relative displacement in the Z direction of the lens frame body 4 by elastic deformation. In other words, the lens frame pressing force F1, F2 is excessively large and the shock absorbing member 24 is crushed so that it does not easily undergo shear elastic deformation, or the lens frame body 4 is moved to the plate-like pressing members 26, 27, 28. Thus, the pressing force is such that the lens frame body 4 is pressed by an excessive force and a relative displacement in the Z direction of the lens barrel body 4 cannot be obtained.

  Further, the lower limit of the lens frame pressing force F1, F2 is the maximum camera shake state in which the camera 1 is allowed to be free from rattling between the lens frame body 4 and the front cover 2 as described above. Even when the lens frame body 4 is a camera exterior body, it is a pressing force that can be displaced integrally with the rear covers 2 and 3.

  In the structure in which the elastic sheet 25 is not applied to the buffer unit 21 and the second thin plate 23 is directly brought into contact with the storage portion 2s, the above-described proper clamping pressure depending on the dimensional accuracy of the lens barrel body 4 and the front cover 2 is used. F1 and F2 cannot be obtained, and the lens frame body 4 is wobbled in the Y direction, or the clamping pressures F1 and F2 become too large in the Z direction for absorbing the impact of the lens frame body 4. The relative displacement of the shock absorbing member 24 may be prevented, and the shock absorbing member 24 may not absorb the buffer.

  By setting the lens frame pressing forces F1 and F2 to be equal to or lower than the above-described upper limit values, when an impact force such as dropping is applied, the buffer unit 21 functions sufficiently, and each lens holding frame accommodated in the lens frame body 4 Etc. are more reliably protected from impact force.

  In addition, the camera 1 of the present embodiment incorporates a shake correction device that displaces the CCD frame 91 of the imaging unit 88 in the XY plane in response to camera shake, but the lens frame pressing forces F1 and F2 are described above. By setting the lower limit value or more, a state in which the front cover 2 of the camera exterior body in which the camera shake detection sensor is incorporated and the lens barrel body 4 are integrally displaced when a camera shake occurs is ensured. . The above-described camera shake correction is correctly performed by securing this displacement state.

  The setting of the lens frame pressing forces F1 and F2 is set by selecting the material of the elastic sheet 25 and the compression amount. For example, the appropriate holding force can be easily set by setting the rigidity in the thickness direction of the elastic sheet 25 to be smaller than the rigidity in the thickness direction of the shock absorbing member 24.

  As described above, according to the digital camera 1 of the present embodiment, the lens frame body 4 of the lens frame unit 20 is aligned with the optical axis O2 that is the moving direction of the photographing lens with respect to the front cover 2 as a camera exterior body. When an external force due to impact or the like is applied so as to be movable only in the Z direction, the lens barrel body 4 is relatively slightly displaced in a certain direction inside the storage portion 2s of the front cover 2, and the impact force is increased. Absorbed. Then, the lens frame body 4 is arranged with a predetermined gap in the moving direction of the lens frame body 4 so that the lens frame body 4 and the front cover 2 do not interfere with each other.

  Further, since the impact absorbing member 24 absorbs the impact force by a slight displacement in the shearing direction, it can be formed in a thinner plate shape and contributes to downsizing of the apparatus while having sufficient impact absorbability. be able to.

  Furthermore, the shock absorbing member 24 is arranged along the plane orthogonal to the advancing / retreating direction of the photographic lens, not the advancing / retreating direction of the photographic lens, which requires a space for movement. Can contribute.

  Further, a thin plate-shaped impact absorbing member 24 having elasticity between one surface of the lens frame body 4 and the inner surface of the front cover, and an elastic sheet 25 are interposed so as to be sandwiched between the thin plates.

  Therefore, the impact absorbing member 24 is located between one surface of the lens frame body 4 and one surface of the camera exterior body when the camera 1 receives an impact force and the lens frame body 4 is relatively displaced inside the camera exterior body. By absorbing the impact force in the shearing direction, the lens frame main body 4 inside the camera main body and each lens group frame accommodated in the lens frame main body 4 can be protected.

  Further, since the elastic frame 25 is arranged in front of the shock absorbing member 24 with a thin plate interposed therebetween, the lens frame main body 4 has the thickness dimension of the front cover 2, the lens frame main body 4, and the shock absorbing member 24. Even if there is scattering, the lens frame pressing force by the plate-like pressing members 26, 27, and 28 is kept at a stable value, and the lens frame body 4 and the camera exterior body are integrated without interfering with the impact absorbing effect. It can be displaced with. Therefore, in a camera having a blur correction function, a correct blur correction operation can be performed by the detected blur detection signal.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention at the stage of implementation. Further, the above embodiments include inventions at various stages, and various inventions can be extracted by appropriately combining a plurality of disclosed constituent elements.

  As described above, in the digital camera according to the present invention, in the digital camera in which the lens frame having the blur correction function is buffered and moved in the camera body housing unit, the backlash (space) between the camera body housing unit and the lens frame during non-imaging In addition, when an impact is applied from the outside, it is possible to prevent the mirror frame inside the camera body storage unit from moving with a force smaller than the impact. It can be used as a digital camera that can accurately perform smooth buffer movement when the frame moves and return after the buffer movement.

2 Front cover (camera body)
2f, 2g, 2h, 2i
... Support section (camera body support section)
2m, 2n ... locking projection 2s ... storage part (camera body storage part)
4 ... Mirror frame body (mirror frame)
21 ... Buffer unit (impact absorbing means)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 22 ... 1st thin plate 23 ... 2nd thin plate 23m, 23n ... Notch part 24 ... Shock absorption member 25 ... Elastic sheet A1, A2 ... Space dimension to which a lens frame moves O1 ... 1st optical axis O2 ... 2nd Optical axis

JP 2003-258971 A JP 2005-306078 A JP 2006-80987 A JP 2006-40503 A

Claims (7)

A flat shape as a whole, an image sensor, an optical system for forming an image of reflected light from the subject on the image sensor, and a shake correction mechanism for correcting blur of the subject image formed on the image sensor, A lens frame having
The lens frame has a lens frame storage section that slides the lens frame only in the optical axis direction, and is provided on each of the side surfaces on both sides of the optical axis of the optical system of the stored lens frame. A camera body provided with a support portion for supporting sliding movement of the stored lens barrel in the optical axis direction;
It is provided between the inner side surface perpendicular to the both side surfaces of the lens frame storage part and the outer surface part of the flat lens frame facing the inner side surface, and the inside of the camera body storage part by impact An impact absorbing means for absorbing an impact by a shearing force in the optical axis direction generated between the inside of the housing portion of the camera body and the outer surface portion of the mirror frame when the lens frame is relatively slid in the optical axis direction. When,
An elastically deformable elastic spacer interposed in a compressed state between the inner surface of the lens barrel housing and the impact absorbing means;
A digital camera comprising: The elastic spacer is positioned equidistantly across the optical axis, and extends in the optical axis direction and is fixed to a surface of the camera body on the side of the lens frame storage portion. 1. The digital camera according to 1. The shock absorbing means includes a first thin plate fixed to at least one outer surface portion of the lens frame, a second thin plate fixed to the inner surface of the storage portion of the camera body, and the first and second thin plates. The digital camera according to claim 1, further comprising an impact absorbing member sandwiched between the two. The support portion provided in the storage portion supports the lens frame slidably in the second optical axis direction by making surface contact in the vicinity of the four corners of the lens frame. The digital camera described. The lens frame and the lens frame so that there is a space between the both ends of the second optical axis direction of the lens frame and the camera body so that the lens frame moves when the camera body receives an impact. The digital camera according to claim 1, further comprising a camera body. The first thin plate is screwed and fixed to the front surface of the lens frame, and the second thin plate is formed to have a notch at the periphery, and the notch is the camera body storage portion. The second thin plate is fixed to the camera body housing portion by engaging with the locking projection, and the shock absorbing member is bonded between the first thin plate and the second thin plate. The digital camera according to claim 3, wherein the digital camera is fixed. The digital camera according to claim 3, wherein the elastic spacer is fixed to a surface of the second thin plate on the side of the storage portion of the camera body.

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