JP2010181584A - Lens barrel, camera, and camera system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a lens barrel and a camera system which can efficiently remove water drops, without imposing a load on the user, at raining. <P>SOLUTION: In a lens barrel 100 incorporating a photographic optical system 101 a Piezoelectric element 105 vibrating the lens 101aa at the front most of the photographic optical system 101, and a lens CPU 111 for communication between the camera body 200 capable of auto-focusing; the front most lens 101aa is vibrated, when the focusing state in the photographic optical system 101 changes from a non-focused state into a focused state. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a lens barrel, a camera, and a camera system, and more particularly to a lens barrel, a camera, and a camera system that can remove water droplets attached to a photographing lens.

  When taking a picture with a camera in the rain, if a water droplet adheres to the taking lens, the taken image is adversely affected. To avoid adverse effects on the photographed image, it is sufficient to wipe off water droplets adhering to the lens, but there is a risk that a definitive photographing opportunity may be missed. In addition, it is known to shoot a camera with a cover for rainy weather, but it is cumbersome because the cover must be put on purpose. Moreover, although it is possible to remove a water droplet with air or centrifugal force, an apparatus will enlarge.

  Therefore, it has been proposed to remove water droplets by vibration waves using an ultrasonic vibrator. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an optical device in which a vibrator is attached to one surface of a light-transmitting filter and is vibrated to remove water droplets and dust attached to the outer surface of the light-transmitting film. Yes. Patent Document 2 discloses an optical device in which a lens or the like is vibrated with ultrasonic waves in order to solve the problem that dust adheres to the lens or the like and the function of the optical device is lost or the detection accuracy is lowered. A dust-proof method is disclosed.

JP-A-3-244281 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-165127

  As described above, it is known to vibrate an optical lens or the like with ultrasonic waves in order to remove dust or water droplets. However, if the timing of vibrating the lens to remove water drops etc. in the rain is bad, there is a risk that the water drops will adhere again during actual shooting, and if the lens is constantly vibrated, the efficiency will deteriorate. End up. In other words, the user must think about which timing is good and cannot concentrate on shooting. Also, if a piezoelectric element is provided on the most advanced lens of the lens barrel and is vibrated with ultrasonic waves, the vibration is transmitted to the entire lens barrel and a sound is generated or the connection with the piezoelectric element is broken due to the vibration. There is a problem that.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and a first problem is a lens barrel, a camera, and a camera that can efficiently perform water droplet removal without imposing a burden on the user in rainy weather The purpose is to provide a system. It is another object of the present invention to provide a lens barrel that can absorb vibrations generated by a piezoelectric element.

  In order to achieve the above object, the lens barrel according to the first aspect of the present invention enables communication between a photographing lens, a vibration device capable of vibrating the forefront of the photographing lens, and a camera body capable of autofocusing. In the lens barrel including the communication means, the foremost lens is vibrated when the focus state of the photographing lens is changed from the out-of-focus state to the in-focus state by focus driving.

In the lens barrel according to the second invention, in the first invention, the foremost lens is vibrated by a piezoelectric element fixed to the lens.
The lens barrel according to a third aspect of the present invention is the lens barrel according to the first aspect, wherein when the second release is operated in the camera body during the vibration of the frontmost lens, the vibration of the frontmost lens is performed. Cancel.

In the lens barrel according to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the vibration of the foremost lens is stopped when it is executed for a predetermined time.
The lens barrel according to a fifth aspect of the present invention is the lens barrel according to the first aspect, wherein during the vibration of the front lens, the camera body vibrates the front lens immediately before an exposure operation is started. Cancel.

  A lens barrel according to a sixth invention is the lens barrel according to the first invention, wherein the vibration device includes a piezoelectric element fixed to the frontmost lens, a signal transmission means fixed to the piezoelectric element, and the piezoelectric element. And an elastic member in contact with the signal transmission means in the vicinity of the fixed portion.

  A camera system according to a seventh aspect of the present invention is a photographic lens, an optical system driving mechanism that changes a focusing distance of the photographic lens, an aperture driving mechanism that changes a transmitted light amount of the photographic lens, and a forefront of the photographic lens. A vibration device capable of vibrating the camera, a camera body on which the photographing lens can be mounted, power supply from the camera body to the photographing lens, and communication means for enabling communication between the camera body and the photographing lens The vibration device can be driven only when the optical drive system and the aperture drive mechanism are stopped.

  According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a camera having an imaging lens, an optical system driving mechanism that changes a focusing distance of the imaging lens, an aperture driving mechanism that changes a transmitted light amount of the imaging lens, and a forefront of the imaging lens. In the camera having the vibration device that can vibrate, the vibration device can be driven only when the optical drive system and the aperture drive mechanism are stopped.

  According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a camera according to a ninth aspect, wherein a focus detection means for detecting a focus state of a photographing lens for forming a subject image and a communication means for communicating with a water droplet removal control means disposed in the photographing lens. And a control means for causing the water drop removal control unit to start a water drop removal operation via the communication means when the focus detection means detects that the photographing lens is in a focused state. .

  A lens barrel according to a tenth invention includes a lens group that forms a subject image, a piezoelectric element that is fixed to the foremost lens in the lens group, and a signal transmission means that is fixed to the piezoelectric element. A first elastic member disposed in close contact with the foremost lens; and a second elastic member in contact with the signal transmission means in the vicinity of the fixing portion to the piezoelectric element.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a lens barrel, a camera, and a camera system that can efficiently remove water droplets without imposing a burden on the user in rainy weather. In addition, it is possible to provide a lens barrel that can absorb vibrations generated by the piezoelectric element.

1 is a block diagram illustrating an internal configuration along an optical axis direction of a photographing optical system in a camera system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. 1A and 1B are front end portions of a lens barrel according to a first embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1A is a cross-sectional view of main parts of a lens barrel along an optical axis direction, and FIG. It is. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a lens and a piezoelectric element in a lens barrel according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a disassembled perspective view of a lens and a piezoelectric element in the lens barrel concerning the modification of 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the electric circuit of the camera system concerning 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a circuit diagram which shows the circuit structure of the piezoelectric element drive circuit and its peripheral circuit in the camera system concerning 1st Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 7 is a timing chart showing signal waveforms at various parts in FIG. 6 for explaining operations of the piezoelectric element driving circuit and its peripheral circuits of the camera system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the camera system concerning 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a timing chart which shows operation | movement of the camera system concerning 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the camera system concerning 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a timing chart which shows operation | movement of the camera system concerning 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a timing chart which shows operation | movement of the camera system concerning 3rd Embodiment of this invention.

  Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment will be described using a camera system including a camera and a lens barrel to which the present invention is applied, according to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the internal structure of the camera system according to the first embodiment of the present invention along the optical axis direction of the photographing optical system. The camera system according to this embodiment includes a lens barrel 100 and a camera body 200, and the lens barrel 100 is configured to be detachable from the camera body 200.

  In the lens barrel 100, as shown in FIG. 1, a photographing optical system 101 composed of a first group lens 101a and a second group lens 101b is disposed. The piezoelectric element 105 is fixed to a lens in the first group lens 101a that does not interfere with the image formation of the subject light beam. The arrangement of the piezoelectric element 105 will be described later with reference to FIGS. Further, as will be described with reference to FIG. 5, various electric circuits are arranged in the lens barrel 100, and a lens substrate 110 that houses these electric circuits is arranged.

  A movable reflecting mirror 201 is disposed in the mirror box of the camera body 200 on the optical axis of the photographing optical system 101 disposed inside the lens barrel 100. The movable reflecting mirror 201 reflects the subject light beam to the finder optical system such as the pentaprism 204, and reflects the subject image at an angle of 45 degrees with respect to the optical axis of the photographing optical system 101. 5) to be able to turn to the retracted position retracted from the photographing optical path.

  The rotation axis of the movable reflecting mirror 201 is along the direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. The movable reflecting mirror 201 reflects the subject luminous flux upward. In this embodiment, the light is reflected upward. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the reflection direction of the subject luminous flux is the most appropriate in terms of the arrangement of the mechanism member and the optical member regardless of the right or left side of the camera body. You may choose

  A focusing screen 203 is disposed on the reflection optical axis of the movable reflection mirror 201. This is an imaging surface for imaging a subject light beam by the photographic optical system 101, and the distance from the movable reflection mirror 201 is disposed at a position equivalent to the image sensor 211. Above the focusing screen 203, a pentaprism 204 for reversing the subject image is disposed. An eyepiece optical system 205 is disposed behind the pentaprism 204, and the photographer can check the subject image by looking into the eyepiece optical system 205 from the eyepiece side.

  Near the center of the movable reflecting mirror 201 is a half mirror, and on the back surface of the movable reflecting mirror 201, a sub-mirror 202 for distance measurement is provided for reflecting the subject light beam that has passed through the half mirror section. . The sub mirror 202 is rotatable with respect to the movable reflecting mirror 201. When the movable reflecting mirror 201 is retracted from the photographing optical path and the subject light flux is incident on the image sensor 211, the sub mirror 202 is rotated to a position covering the half mirror portion. When the movable reflecting mirror 201 is in the subject image observation position (inserted state) as shown in the figure, the position rises with respect to the movable reflecting mirror 201 and is open so that a part of the subject luminous flux can be reflected by the distance measuring unit 217. It is in.

  A TTL phase difference type distance measuring unit 217 including a distance measuring sensor is disposed on the reflected light path of the sub mirror 202, and the distance measurement unit 217 determines the focus shift direction of the subject image formed by the photographing optical system 101. The amount of focus deviation is detected.

  A focal plane type shutter 213 is disposed behind the movable reflecting mirror 201. A dustproof filter 207, an optical low-pass filter 209, an infrared cut filter 210, and an image sensor 211 are sequentially arranged behind the shutter 213 and on the optical axis of the photographing optical system 101. A piezoelectric element 208 is fixed in the vicinity of the periphery of the dust filter 207, and dust attached to the dust filter 207 is removed by ultrasonic vibration. The optical low-pass filter 209 removes a high-frequency component harmful to imaging from the subject light flux, and the infrared cut filter 210 removes an infrared light component from the subject light flux. The image sensor 211 photoelectrically converts the subject image formed by the photographing optical system 101 into an electric signal.

  On the back side of the image pickup device 211, a main board 27 on which an electric circuit and the like described with reference to FIG. In addition, the liquid crystal monitor 26 is disposed on the back surface of the camera body 200 at a position where the user can easily observe. The liquid crystal monitor 26 performs various displays such as live view display, reproduction display of recorded image data, and various menu modes. Note that the liquid crystal monitor 26 is disposed on the back surface of the camera body 200. However, the liquid crystal monitor 26 is not limited to the back surface and may be other display devices such as an organic EL display as long as the photographer can observe. Furthermore, it is not limited to a fixed type, and may be a movable type monitor.

  A built-in flash 60 for auxiliary illumination of the subject is disposed at the upper front of the camera body 200. The built-in flash 60 is switched between a housed state in which the light emitting unit is housed in the camera body 200 (see FIG. 1) and a pop-up state in which the light emitting unit is raised toward the subject side.

  Next, the vibration unit disposed in the first group lens 101a of the photographing optical system 101 of the lens barrel 100 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2A is a cross-sectional view of the main part of the tip of the lens barrel 100, and FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view of the main part showing the coating state of the most advanced lens 101aa of the photographing optical system 101. FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing an arrangement state of the piezoelectric element 105.

  A first lens group 101 a is fitted in a cylindrical lens frame 121 for holding the photographing optical system 101 in the lens barrel 100. In the present embodiment, the first group lens 101a is arranged in order of the lenses 101aa, 101ab, and 101ac from the lens front end side. The lens 101aa and the lens 101ab are integrally bonded, the diameter of the lens 101aa is slightly larger than that of the lens 101ab, and the plane of the piezoelectric element bonding surface 101aa (see FIG. 3) is annular in the peripheral end side of the back surface of the lens 101aa. Is formed.

  The lens 101aa is pressed into the lens frame 121 by an elastic member 124, and the entire outer periphery of the elastic member 124 is covered with a cover ring 123 with a waterproof effect. The inner end portion of the lens 101ab that is integrally bonded to the lens 101aa is applied to the receiving portion of the lens receiving frame 125. Therefore, the lens 101aa and the lens 101ab are pressed against the lens receiving frame 125 by the elastic member 124 and fixed. The lens 101ac is held by another receiving portion of the lens receiving frame 125.

  As shown in FIG. 2B, a multi-coating 102a for preventing reflection of the subject light flux is applied to the outer surface of the lens 101aa disposed at the forefront of the photographing optical system 101. In addition, a water-repellent coating such as a fluorine coat is applied to the outside of the multi-coating. When water droplets such as rain adhere to the lens 101aa, the water droplets can be reduced by the water-repellent coating and easily shaken off by the vibration wave.

  As described above, the piezoelectric element 105 is fixed to the piezoelectric element bonding surface 101aaa of the lens 101aa. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, signal electrodes 105a and 105b are formed in the piezoelectric element 105, and an elastic wave is generated by alternately applying a drive signal having a positive voltage and a negative voltage to both electrodes. Ultrasonic vibration is generated on the surface of 101aa. One end of a flexible substrate 126 for supplying a driving signal is connected to both electrodes of the piezoelectric element 105. The other end of the flexible substrate 126 is connected to the lens substrate 110 (see FIG. 1) through a hole 125 a provided in the lens receiving frame 125.

  Further, in the vicinity of the connection with the piezoelectric element 105 on one end side of the flexible substrate 126, the flexible substrate 126 is in contact with the vibration absorbing member 122 provided inside the lens frame 121. The vibration absorbing member 122 absorbs the vibration generated by the piezoelectric element 105 so that the vibration is not transmitted to the outside.

  In the present embodiment, the piezoelectric element 105 is formed in an annular shape. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and as shown in FIG. 4, the piezoelectric element 105 is divided into two arc-shaped piezoelectric elements 105A and 105B. Also good. The piezoelectric element 105A is provided with two signal electrodes 105Aa, and the piezoelectric element 105B is provided with two signal electrodes 105Ba, and a drive signal is supplied to each of the signal electrodes 105Aa and 105Ba. The number of divisions of the piezoelectric element 105 may be changed as appropriate, such as three divisions and four divisions, in addition to two divisions. Further, the shape of each piezoelectric element is not limited to the arc shape as shown in FIG. 4, and may be a rectangle such as a rectangle.

  Next, the electric circuit of the camera system in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. Inside the lens barrel 100, as described above, the first and second group lenses 101a and 101b constituting the photographing optical system 101 for focus adjustment and focal length adjustment, and a diaphragm 103 for adjusting the aperture amount. Is arranged, and the piezoelectric element 105 is fixed to the foremost lens 101aa of the first group lens 101a. In FIG. 5, the lens 101aa is simplified, and the diaphragm 103 is disposed between the first group lens 101a and the second group lens, but the position of the diaphragm 103 may be changed as appropriate. .

  The focus lens and the zoom lens in the first and second group lenses 101 a and 101 b are driven by the optical system driving mechanism 107, and the diaphragm 103 is driven by the diaphragm driving mechanism 109. The piezoelectric element 105 is connected to the piezoelectric element driving circuit 106, and a driving signal is supplied by the piezoelectric element driving circuit 106, so that the piezoelectric element 105 vibrates. Details of the piezoelectric element driving circuit 106 will be described later with reference to FIG.

  The piezoelectric element drive circuit 106, the optical system drive mechanism 107, and the aperture drive mechanism 109 are each connected to a lens CPU 111, and the lens CPU 111 is connected to the camera body 200 via a communication contact 300. The lens CPU 111 controls the lens barrel 100. The lens CPU 111 controls the optical system driving mechanism 107 to perform focusing and zoom driving, and controls the diaphragm driving mechanism 109 to control the aperture value. Further, the piezoelectric element driving circuit 106 is controlled to vibrate the lens 101aa and remove water droplets or the like by ultrasonic vibration waves. Note that the electric circuit portions of the optical system driving mechanism 107 and the aperture driving mechanism 109, the piezoelectric element driving circuit 106, the lens CPU 111, and the like are disposed in the lens substrate 110 (see FIG. 1).

  In the camera body 200, as described above, in order to reflect the subject image to the observation optical system, a position inclined by 45 degrees with respect to the optical axis of the photographing optical system 101, and to guide the subject image to the image sensor 211. A movable reflecting mirror 201 is provided that can be rotated between the jumped-up position. Above the movable reflecting mirror 201, a focusing screen 203 for forming a subject image is disposed. Above the focusing screen 203, a pentaprism 204 for reversing the subject image to the left and right is disposed. .

  An eyepiece optical system 205 for observing the subject image is disposed on the emission side (right side in FIG. 5) of the pentaprism 204, and a photometric sensor 206 is disposed on the side of the pentaprism 204 so as not to interfere with the observation of the subject image. . The photometric sensor 206 is composed of a multi-division photometric element that divides a subject image for photometry. The output of the photometric sensor 206 is connected to the photometric processing circuit 212, and the photometric processing circuit 212 outputs a subject luminance signal corresponding to the subject luminance based on the output of the photometric sensor 206.

  Near the center of the movable reflecting mirror 201 described above is formed of a half mirror, and on the back surface of the movable reflecting mirror 201, as described above, the rotatable sub mirror 202 is provided. The movable reflecting mirror 201 is driven by a movable mirror driving mechanism 222.

  A distance measuring unit 217 is disposed below the sub mirror 202. The distance measuring unit 217 includes a distance measuring sensor 218 and a distance measuring circuit 219 to which the output is connected. With the distance measuring sensor 218 and the distance measuring circuit 219, the focus shift direction and the focus shift amount of the subject image formed by the photographing optical system lens 101 can be measured by a so-called phase difference method.

  As described above, the focal plane type shutter 213 for controlling the exposure time is disposed behind the movable reflecting mirror 201, and this shutter 213 is driven and controlled by the shutter driving mechanism 221. An image sensor 211 is disposed behind the shutter 213 and photoelectrically converts a subject image formed by the photographing optical system 101 into an electrical signal. Note that a two-dimensional solid-state imaging device such as a charge coupled device (CCD) or a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) can be used as the imaging device 211.

  Between the above-described shutter 213 and the image sensor 211, a dust filter 207 constituting a dust removing mechanism and a piezoelectric element 208 bonded or pressed to the peripheral edge of the dust filter 207 are disposed. The piezoelectric element 208 is connected to the piezoelectric element driving circuit 220, receives a driving signal from the piezoelectric element driving circuit 220, vibrates with ultrasonic waves, and removes dust and the like attached to the dustproof filter 207. The piezoelectric element driving circuit 220 is configured by a circuit similar to the piezoelectric element driving circuit 106, and details will be described later with reference to FIG.

  Between the dust-proof filter 207 and the image sensor 211, an optical low-pass filter 209 for cutting a high-frequency component of a subject image and allowing only a low frequency to pass therethrough, and an infrared cut filter 210 for cutting an infrared light component, Is arranged. The dustproof filter 207, the piezoelectric element 208, the low-pass filter 209, the infrared cut filter 210, and the image sensor 211 constitute an image sensor unit 224. The image sensor unit 224 is designed to prevent dust and the like from entering. The gap is reduced. Note that the dustproof filter 207 may also be used as another optical element such as the low-pass filter 209 or the infrared cut filter 210.

  The image sensor 211 is connected to the image sensor drive circuit 223 and is driven and controlled by a control signal from the input / output circuit 239. The photoelectric sensor drive circuit 223 amplifies the photoelectric analog signal output from the image sensor 211 and performs analog-digital conversion (AD conversion). The image sensor driving circuit 223 is connected to an image processing circuit 227 in an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) 262, and the image processing circuit 227 performs digital amplification (digital gain adjustment processing) and color of digital image data. Various types of image processing such as correction, gamma (γ) correction, contrast correction, black and white / color mode processing, and through image processing are performed.

  The image processing circuit 227 is connected to the data bus 261. In addition to the image processing circuit 227, the data bus 261 includes a sequence controller (hereinafter referred to as "body CPU") 229, a compression / decompression circuit 231, a video signal output circuit 233, an SDRAM control circuit 237, and an input / output circuit 239. The communication circuit 241, the recording medium control circuit 243, the flash memory control circuit 247, and the switch detection circuit 253 are connected.

  The body CPU 229 connected to the data bus 261 controls the operation of the digital camera, and performs control according to a program stored in the flash memory 249. A compression / decompression circuit 231 connected to the data bus 261 is a circuit for compressing the image data stored in the SDRAM 238 in a still image compression format such as JPEG and decompressing the image data during reproduction. Note that image compression is not limited to JPEG, and other compression methods can be applied.

  The video signal output circuit 233 connected to the data bus 261 is connected to the rear liquid crystal monitor 26 via the liquid crystal monitor drive circuit 235. The video signal output circuit 233 is a circuit for converting the image data stored in the SDRAM 238 or the recording medium 245 into a video signal to be displayed on the rear liquid crystal monitor 26.

  The rear liquid crystal monitor 26 is disposed on the rear surface of the camera body 200. However, the rear liquid crystal monitor 26 is not limited to the rear surface and may be other display devices as long as the photographer can observe. The SDRAM 238 is connected to the data bus 261 via the SDRAM control circuit 237, and the SDRAM 238 temporarily stores the image data processed by the image processing circuit 227 or the image data compressed by the compression / expansion circuit 231. This is a buffer memory.

  The input / output circuit 239 connected to the above-described photometric processing circuit 212, distance measuring circuit 219, piezoelectric element driving circuit 220, shutter driving mechanism 221, movable mirror driving mechanism 222, and image sensor driving circuit 223 is connected via the data bus 261. Controls data input / output with each circuit such as the body CPU 229. The communication circuit 241 connected to the lens CPU 111 via the communication contact 300 is connected to the data bus 261, and exchanges data with the body CPU 229 and the like and communicates control commands.

  A recording medium control circuit 243 connected to the data bus 261 is connected to the recording medium 245 and controls recording of image data and the like on the recording medium 245. The recording medium 245 can be loaded with any rewritable recording medium such as an xD picture card (registered trademark), a compact flash (registered trademark), an SD memory card (registered trademark), or a memory stick (registered trademark). And is detachable from the camera body 200. In addition, a hard disk unit such as a microdrive (registered trademark) or a wireless communication unit may be connectable.

  A flash memory control circuit 247 connected to the data bus 261 is connected to a flash memory 249, and the flash memory 249 stores a program for controlling the flow of the camera. The body CPU 229 controls the digital camera according to the program stored in the flash memory 249. Note that the flash memory 249 is an electrically rewritable nonvolatile memory.

  A power switch 257 that is turned on / off in conjunction with a power switch lever for controlling power supply of the camera body 200 and the lens barrel 100, a switch that is linked to a shutter release button, and a playback button that designates a playback mode. A switch linked to a cross button for instructing the movement of the cursor on the screen of the rear LCD monitor 26, a switch linked to a display switching button for switching a through image display, a switch linked to a mode dial for instructing a shooting mode, An OK switch that is linked to an OK button that determines each selected mode, a water drop removal switch 256 that is linked to a water drop removal button that instructs a water drop removal operation, and an attachment / detachment detection that detects whether the lens barrel 100 is attached to or detached from the camera body. Various switches 255 such as the switch 259 are connected to the data bar via the switch detection circuit 253. It is connected to the 261.

  The release button has a first release switch that is turned on when the photographer is half-pressed and a second release switch that is turned on when the photographer is fully pressed. When the first release switch (hereinafter referred to as 1R) is turned on, the camera performs photographing preparation operations such as focus detection, focusing of the photographing lens, and photometry of the subject brightness, and the second release switch (hereinafter referred to as 2R). When it is turned on, a photographing operation for capturing image data of the subject image is executed based on the output of the image sensor. The water droplet removal 256 is a switch that is linked to a water droplet removal button that is operated when the photographer instructs a water droplet removal operation. The attachment / detachment detection switch 259 is a switch that detects whether or not the lens barrel 100 is attached to the camera body 200.

  Next, the piezoelectric element driving circuit 106 that performs the water droplet removing operation, the piezoelectric element driving circuit 220 that performs the dust removing operation, and its peripheral circuits will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7. The inside of the piezoelectric element driving circuit 220 is the same as that of the piezoelectric element driving circuit 106, and is the same as that except that the lens CPU 111 in FIG. 6 is replaced with the input / output circuit 239 and the piezoelectric element 105 is replaced with the piezoelectric element 208. Here, the piezoelectric element driving circuit 106 will be described.

  The N-ary counter 41 disposed in the piezoelectric element driving circuit 106 inputs the clock pulse (Sig1) output from the clock generator 55 in the lens CPU 111 and is output from the D_NCnt terminal which is the output IO port of the lens CPU 111. The counter setting value N is input. The N-ary counter 41 counts clock pulses, and outputs a pulse (Sig2) when the count value reaches the counter setting value N. The ½ divider circuit 42 composed of D flip-flops to which this pulse Sig2 is input is a divider circuit whose output (Sig3) is inverted every time a rising signal of the pulse Sig2 is input.

  The output terminal of the 1/2 divider circuit 42 is connected to the input terminal of the inverter 43, and the output terminal of the inverter 43 is connected to the gate of the MOS transistor (Q02) 44c. The source of the MOS transistor (Q02) 44c is connected to one end on the primary side of the transformer 45, and the drain is grounded via a resistor (R00) 46. The output terminal of the 1/2 divider circuit 42 is also connected to the gate of the MOS transistor (Q01) 44b, the source of the MOS transistor (Q01) 44b is connected to the other end on the primary side of the transformer 45, and the drain is connected to the MOS transistor. The drain of the transistor (Q02) 44c is connected.

  The primary intermediate tap of the transformer 45 is connected to the drain of the power on / off MOS transistor (Q00) 44a. The gate of the MOS transistor (Q00) 44a is connected to the P_PwCont terminal which is the IO port of the lens CPU 111. The source of the transistor 44 a is connected to the power supply circuit 53. One end of the secondary side of the transformer 45 is connected to one end of the piezoelectric element 105, and the other end of the secondary side of the transformer 45 is connected to the drains of the MOS transistors (Q01) 44b and (Q02) 44c. , And grounded through a resistor (R00) 46. The other end of the piezoelectric element 105 is grounded, receives a boosted AC voltage (Sig4) from the transformer 45 from one end side of the piezoelectric element 105, and performs ultrasonic vibration.

  As described above, the piezoelectric element driving circuit 106 and its peripheral circuits are configured. First, when an L level signal is applied to the gate of the MOS transistor (Q00) 44a from the P_PwCont terminal of the lens CPU 111, the MOS transistor 44a is an n-channel type, and thus becomes conductive, and the power supply voltage is transferred from the power supply circuit 53. 45 applied to the intermediate tap on the primary side.

  In this state, when the clock pulse Sig1 is output from the clock generator 55 of the lens CPU 111 to the N-ary counter 41, the N-ary counter 41 starts counting and counts up to the set value N set via D_NCnt of the lens CPU 111. Then, the pulse signal Sig2 is output from the output terminal. The ½ frequency divider 42 that receives the pulse signal Sig2 from the N-ary counter 41 converts the pulse signal into a pulse signal with a duty ratio of 50% (Sig3 in FIG. 7). This pulse signal is applied to the MOS transistor (Q01) 44b. The voltage is applied to the MOS transistor (Q02) 44c through the gate and the inverter 43.

  The MOS transistor (Q01) 44b and the MOS transistor (Q02) 44c are alternately turned on, and a power supply voltage is applied from the power supply circuit 53 to the primary side of the transformer 45 through an intermediate tap. The boosted voltage (Sig 4 in FIG. 7) is output from the secondary side and applied to the piezoelectric element 105. Since the frequency of the high voltage applied to the piezoelectric element 105 can be changed by the set value N set from the D_NCnt terminal of the lens CPU 111, it is efficient if the set value N is determined to be the resonance frequency of the piezoelectric element 105. Water droplets (dust) can be removed. The resonant frequency exceeds the audible frequency and consists of, for example, an ultrasonic frequency.

  In this embodiment, the piezoelectric element driving circuit 106 and the piezoelectric element driving circuit 220 are the same circuit, but the piezoelectric element driving circuit 106 performs vibration for removing water droplets, and the piezoelectric element driving circuit 220 is for dust removal. Since vibration is performed, a part may be changed so as to obtain an optimum circuit. Further, the counter set value N output from the D_NCnt terminal is appropriately changed so as to have a resonance frequency when performing ultrasonic vibration.

  Next, the operation in this embodiment will be described using the flowchart shown in FIG. 8 and the timing chart shown in FIG. When the operation is started, it is first determined whether or not the release button has been half-pressed, that is, whether or not the 1st release switch is on (# 1). This determination is made by detecting the state of the 1st release switch by the switch detection circuit 253. If the result of this determination is that the first release switch is not on, a standby state for repeatedly detecting the state of the first release switch is entered.

  If the result of determination in step # 1 is that the first release switch is on (timing t01 in FIG. 9), distance measurement is performed (# 3). In this step, the distance measurement sensor 218, the distance measurement circuit 219, and the like obtain the focus shift direction and the focus shift amount by the phase difference AF. Once the distance measurement is performed, the focus lens is next driven (# 5, timing t02). In this step, the photographing optical system 101 is focused by the lens CPU 111 and the optical system driving mechanism 107 using the focus shift direction and the focus shift amount obtained in step # 3.

  If the focus lens is driven in step # 5, then the focus display is turned on (# 7, timing t03). In this step, in-focus display is performed on the focus display member in the optical viewfinder or on the liquid crystal monitor 26 during live view display. Further, in-focus display is performed and lens water droplet removal is performed (# 9). The lens water droplet removal is performed by generating a vibration wave on the surface of the lens 101aa by driving the piezoelectric element driving circuit 106 from the lens CPU 111 and ultrasonically vibrating the piezoelectric element 105. The water droplet removal operation stops when a predetermined time has elapsed (timing at t04). In FIG. 9, the fact that distance measurement is performed with a broken line at timing t03 indicates a case where distance measurement is performed again and confirmation distance measurement is performed to determine whether or not the focal point has been reached. ing. If the result of the confirmation distance measurement is out of focus, the focus lens is driven again.

  Subsequently, it is determined whether or not the release button has been fully pressed, that is, whether or not the 2nd release switch is on (# 13). This determination is made by detecting the state of the 2nd release switch by the switch detection circuit 253. If the result of this determination is that the 2nd release switch is not on, it is determined whether or not the 1st release switch is on as in step # 1 (# 15). If the result of this determination is that the 1st release switch is on, the process returns to step # 13 and enters a standby state in which the state of the 2nd release switch and the state of the 1st release switch are detected alternately. On the other hand, if the result of determination in step # 15 is that the first release switch is off, processing returns to step # 1. In this case, since the photographer's finger is away from the release button, the process returns to the beginning.

  As a result of the determination in step # 13, when the 2nd release switch is turned on (timing t05), in step # 19 and subsequent steps, the shooting operation is started. First, the in-focus display performed in step # 7 is turned off (# 19). Subsequently, the mirror is raised and narrowed down (# 21). In this step, a stop instruction is issued to the lens CPU 111, and the stop 103 is stopped by the stop drive mechanism 109. Further, the movable mirror 201 is raised by the movable mirror drive mechanism 222 and retracted from the optical axis of the photographing optical system 101.

  Now that the shooting operation is ready, the next exposure is performed (# 23, timing t07). In the exposure operation, the shutter driving mechanism 221 starts the travel of the shutter front curtain. Then, when the shutter time (exposure time) or the manually set shutter time at which proper exposure is obtained in advance is elapsed, the shutter rear curtain is caused to travel. When the subject is dark or the like, auxiliary illumination by the built-in flash 60 is performed when the shutter front curtain travel is completed.

  When the exposure operation ends (timing t08), the mirror is lowered and the aperture is opened (# 21). In this step, the movable mirror 201 is lowered by the movable mirror drive mechanism 222 (timing t09), and the subject light flux from the photographing optical system 101 is again guided to the finder optical system. Further, the lens CPU 111 is instructed to drive the diaphragm 103 to the open state by the diaphragm driving mechanism 109. When the mirror is lowered and the aperture is opened, the process returns to the main routine and the state of the first release is detected.

  As described above, in the first embodiment of the present invention, when the focus state of the photographing optical system 101 is changed from the out-of-focus state to the in-focus state by the focus drive (timing t03), the foremost lens 101aa is vibrated. I am letting. For this reason, water droplet removal can be performed efficiently without imposing a burden on the user in rainy weather. In other words, in the present embodiment, water droplet removal is automatically performed at the time of focusing, and usually, after focusing, the release button is fully pressed shortly to perform shooting, so the influence of water droplets is affected. It is possible to obtain a good image that is not received.

  In the present embodiment, the vibration for removing water droplets by the piezoelectric element 105 can be driven only when the optical drive mechanism 107 and the aperture drive mechanism 109 are stopped. That is, the diaphragm 103 is driven in step # 21 and step # 25, and the optical drive mechanism 107 is driven in step # 5. These mechanisms are stopped during the lens water droplet removal operation in step # 9. . For this reason, the power consumption is severe, the power supply voltage does not drop, and the operation does not become unstable or stop.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the vibration absorbing member 122 is disposed so as to contact the flexible substrate 126 as a signal transmission member fixed to the piezoelectric element 105. For this reason, vibration generated in the piezoelectric element 105 can be absorbed. Further, it is possible to prevent the vibration from being transmitted to the lens barrel 100 to generate noise and reduce the problem that the connection between the piezoelectric element 105 and the flexible substrate 126 is disconnected due to the vibration.

  Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 10 and 11. In the first embodiment, the lens water droplet removal operation may not be completed when the 2nd release is turned on. However, in the second embodiment, the lens water droplet removal operation is forced when the 2nd release is turned on. To end automatically.

  The configuration of the second embodiment is almost the same as that of the first embodiment. The flowchart shown in FIG. 8 is replaced with the flowchart shown in FIG. 10, and the timing chart shown in FIG. 9 is replaced with the timing chart shown in FIG. Only. For this reason, it demonstrates centering around difference. In the flowchart shown in FIG. 10, steps that perform the same processing as in the flowchart shown in FIG. 8 are given the same step numbers, and detailed descriptions thereof are omitted.

  The flow shown in FIG. 10 starts, and it is determined whether or not the first release is on (# 1). When the first release is on, distance measurement is performed (# 3, timing t11). The focus lens is driven based on the distance measurement result (# 5, timing t12), and when the in-focus point is reached, the in-focus display is turned on (# 7, timing t13). At the same time, the lens water droplet removal operation is started and a timer is started (# 8, timing t13). The lens water droplet removing operation is performed by generating a vibration wave on the surface of the lens 101aa by driving the piezoelectric element driving circuit 106 from the lens CPU 111 and ultrasonically vibrating the piezoelectric element 105 in the same manner as in Step # 9 described above. . The timer measures the elapsed time of the water droplet removal operation.

  Next, it is determined whether or not the water droplet removal time has expired (# 10). It is determined whether the time measured by the timer started in step # 8 has passed a predetermined time. Here, the predetermined time is a time for performing a predetermined water droplet removing operation. If the result of determination in step # 10 is that the time is not over, it is next determined whether or not the 2nd release is on (# 13). If the 2nd release is not on as a result of this determination, it is next determined whether or not the 1st release is on (# 15).

  If the result of determination in step # 15 is that the first release is not on, processing returns to step # 1. On the other hand, if the first release is on, the process returns to step # 10 to execute the above-described processing. While the steps # 10 → # 13 → # 15 → # 10 are repeatedly executed, the lens water droplet removal operation is continued. During this time, water droplets adhering to the outside of the lens 101aa are removed by the ultrasonic vibration wave.

  If the result of determination in step # 10 is that the water drop removal time has expired, the lens water drop removal operation is stopped (# 11). Here, the lens CPU 111 is instructed to stop the water droplet removal operation, and the operation in the piezoelectric element driving circuit 106 is stopped. When the lens water droplet removal operation is stopped, the process proceeds to step # 13.

  As a result of the determination in step # 13, when the 2nd release is turned on (timing t15), in step # 17 and subsequent steps, the shooting operation is started. First, the lens water droplet removal operation is stopped (# 17). If the water droplet removal time has expired in step # 10 before the 2nd release is turned on, the lens water droplet removal operation is stopped in step # 11. In this case, step # 17 is skipped. . On the other hand, if the water droplet removal time has not expired before the 2nd release is turned on, the lens water droplet removal operation is stopped in step # 17. As a result, it is possible to inhibit the operation requiring a large amount of power, such as the ascending operation of the movable reflecting mirror 201, and the water droplet removal operation in parallel, and to prevent a power supply voltage drop.

  When the lens water droplet removal operation is performed, the following operations are the same as those in the first embodiment. First, the focus display is turned off (# 19), and the mirror is raised and narrowed down (# 21). Subsequently, exposure is executed (# 23, timing t17). In this step, the front curtain of the shutter 213 is caused to travel, the subject image formed on the image sensor 211 is photoelectrically converted, and after the predetermined time has elapsed, the rear curtain of the shutter 213 is caused to travel to end the exposure operation. When the exposure operation ends (timing t18), mirror down and aperture opening are started (# 25, timing t19). When the mirror is lowered and the aperture is opened, the process returns to the main routine and the state of the first release is detected.

  As described above, in the second embodiment of the present invention, when the 2nd release is turned on and the lens water droplet removal operation is not completed when the photographing operation is started, this operation is stopped. For this reason, the lens water droplet removal operation, the mirror up operation, and the narrowing operation are not performed in parallel at the same time, and it is possible to prevent the power supply voltage from decreasing and the operation from becoming unstable or stopping. .

  Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the second embodiment of the present invention, the lens water droplet removal operation is stopped after the 2nd release is turned on, but in this embodiment, the operation can be continued until the exposure operation is started. The configuration of this embodiment is almost the same as that of the first embodiment, and the timing chart shown in FIG. 9 is replaced with the timing chart shown in FIG. 12, and only the flowchart is changed according to this timing chart. For this reason, it demonstrates centering around difference. However, the power source in the present embodiment has a sufficient capacity compared to the first and second embodiments, and the lens water droplets are driven along with the drive of the movable reflecting mirror 201, the diaphragm 103, and the suction magnet of the shutter 213 during photographing. Even if the removal operation is executed, the power supply voltage does not drop and the operation does not become unstable or stop.

  In the present embodiment, when the 1st release switch is turned on (timing t21), distance measurement is performed as in the first and second embodiments. When this distance measurement is completed, focus lens drive is started based on the distance measurement result (timing t23), and when the in-focus state is achieved, in-focus display is performed (timing t23 to t25). Further, the lens water droplet removing operation is started at the timing t23 when the in-focus state is reached. This lens water droplet removal operation is the same as the water droplet removal operation in step # 9 in the first embodiment.

  Subsequently, when the 2nd release switch is turned on (timing t25), the focus display is stopped, but the lens removal operation is continued. Further, when the 2nd release switch is turned on, the photographing operation is started, and the movable reflecting mirror 201 is rotated from the down position to the up position, and the diaphragm 103 is narrowed down. When these operations are finished, the exposure operation is started (timing t27), similarly to step # 23 in the first embodiment.

  Immediately before entering this exposure operation, the lens water droplet removal operation is stopped. That is, the lens water droplet removal operation started when the in-focus state is reached is stopped. When the exposure operation is completed, operations such as mirror down and aperture opening are performed as in the first and second embodiments. When these operations are completed, the original flow is restored.

  In the third embodiment of the present invention, since the power supply capacity is sufficient, the lens water droplet removal operation is performed in parallel with the driving of the movable reflecting mirror 201 and the like. Since water droplet removal can be performed immediately before exposure, water droplets can be reliably removed.

  As a modification of the third embodiment of the present invention, the lens water droplet removal operation may be started when the 2nd release switch is turned on, not when the operation is changed from the out-of-focus state to the in-focus state. . In this case, water droplets can be reliably removed at the timing before exposure. Further, even if the focus lens driving operation and the lens water droplet removing operation are driven simultaneously, the lens water droplet removing operation may be started when the first release switch is turned on as long as the power source has a margin.

  As described above, in each embodiment of the present invention, when the focus state of the photographic optical system 101 is changed from the out-of-focus state to the in-focus state by focus driving, the frontmost lens 101aa of the photographic optical system. Is vibrating. For this reason, water droplet removal can be performed efficiently without imposing a burden on the user in rainy weather.

  In each embodiment of the present invention, the vibration device in the lens barrel 100 including the piezoelectric element 105 and the like can be driven only when the optical drive mechanism 107 and the aperture drive mechanism 109 are stopped. It has become. For this reason, the water droplet removal operation, the focus operation, and the aperture drive operation are executed at the same time, so that the power supply voltage does not decrease and the operation does not become unstable or stop.

  Furthermore, in each embodiment of the present invention, the vibration absorbing member 122 that abuts on the flexible substrate 126 as a signal transmission member is provided in the vicinity of the fixed portion to the piezoelectric element 105. For this reason, vibration generated in the piezoelectric element 105 can be absorbed.

  In the present embodiment, the lens barrel 100 is an interchangeable lens and can be attached to and detached from the camera body 200. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Needless to say, the lens barrel 100 and the camera body 200 may be integrally formed.

  In the present embodiment, the lens 101aa is disposed on the forefront of the photographic optical system 101, and the piezoelectric element 105 is fixed to the lens 101aa to remove water droplets. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a member such as a glass flat plate may be disposed on the forefront of the photographic optical system 101, and the piezoelectric element 105 may be fixed thereto to remove water droplets.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the digital camera is used as the photographing device. However, the camera may be a digital single-lens reflex camera or a compact digital camera, and may be used for moving images such as video cameras and movie cameras. It may be a camera, or may be a camera built in a mobile phone or a personal digital assistant (PDA). In any case, the present invention can be applied to any apparatus for photographing that employs a water droplet removal operation.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments as they are, and can be embodied by modifying the constituent elements without departing from the scope of the invention in the implementation stage. In addition, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of components disclosed in the embodiment. For example, you may delete some components of all the components shown by embodiment. Furthermore, constituent elements over different embodiments may be appropriately combined.

26 ... Liquid crystal monitor, 27 ... Main board, 41 ... N-ary counter, 42 ... 1/2 frequency divider, 43 ... Inverter, 44 ... MOS transistor, 45 ... Transformer 46 ... resistor 53 ... power supply circuit 55 ... clock generator 60 ... built-in flash 100 ... lens barrel 101 ... photographing optical system 101a ... first 1st group lens, 101aa ... lens, 101aa ... piezoelectric element adhesive surface, 101ab ... lens, 101ac ... lens, 101b ... 2nd group lens, 102a ... multi coating, 102b ...・ Water repellent coating, 103... Aperture, 105... Piezoelectric element, 105 a... Signal electrode, 105 b... Signal electrode, 105 A. Pole, 105B ... piezoelectric element, 105Ba ... signal electrode, 106 ... piezoelectric element drive circuit, 107 ... optical system drive mechanism, 109 ... stop drive mechanism, 110 ... lens substrate, 111 ... Lens CPU, 121 ... Lens frame, 122 ... Vibration absorbing member, 123 ... Cover ring, 124 ... Elastic member, 125 ... Lens receiving frame, 125a ... Hole, 126 ... Flexible substrate, 200 ... Camera body, 201 ... Movable reflecting mirror, 202 ... Sub mirror, 203 ... Focusing screen, 204 ... Pentaprism, 205 ... Eyepiece optical system, 206 ... Photometric sensor, 207 ... Dustproof filter, 208 ... Piezoelectric element, 209 ... Optical low-pass filter, 210 ... Infrared cut filter, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Imaging device, 212 ... Photometry processing circuit, 217 ... Distance measuring unit, 218 ... Distance measuring sensor, 219 ... Distance measuring circuit, 220 ... Piezoelectric element drive circuit, 221 ..Shutter drive mechanism, 222... Movable mirror drive mechanism, 223... Image sensor drive circuit, 224... Image sensor unit, 227. Compression / decompression circuit, 233 ... Video signal output circuit, 235 ... LCD monitor drive circuit, 237 ... SDRAM control circuit, 238 ... SDRAM, 239 ... Input / output circuit, 241 ... Communication Circuit, 243 ... Recording medium control circuit, 245 ... Recording medium, 247 ... Flash memory control circuit, 249 ... Flash memory, 253 ... Switch detection circuit, 2 55 ... Various switches, 256 ... Water drop removal switch, 257 ... Power switch, 259 ... Attachment / detachment detection switch, 261 ... Data bus, 262 ... ASIC, 300 ... Communication contact

Claims (10)

A taking lens,
A vibration device that can vibrate the forefront of the taking lens;
A communication means for enabling communication with a camera body capable of auto-focusing;
In a lens barrel comprising:
A lens barrel that vibrates the foremost lens when the focus state of the photographing lens changes from a non-focus state to a focus state by focus drive.   The lens barrel according to claim 1, wherein the foremost lens is vibrated by a piezoelectric element fixed to the lens.   2. The lens barrel according to claim 1, wherein when the second release is operated in the camera body during the vibration of the frontmost lens, the vibration of the frontmost lens is stopped.   2. The lens barrel according to claim 1, wherein the vibration of the foremost lens stops when it is executed for a predetermined time.   2. The lens barrel according to claim 1, wherein during the vibration of the front lens, the vibration of the front lens is stopped in the camera body immediately before an exposure operation is started. The vibration device is
A piezoelectric element fixed to the frontmost lens;
A signal transmission means fixed to the piezoelectric element;
An elastic member in contact with the signal transmission means in the vicinity of the fixed portion to the piezoelectric element;
The lens barrel according to claim 1, comprising: A taking lens,
An optical system drive mechanism for changing a focusing distance of the photographing lens;
An aperture drive mechanism for changing the amount of light transmitted through the photographing lens;
A vibration device capable of vibrating the forefront of the photographic lens;
A camera body to which the above-mentioned taking lens can be attached;
Power supply from the camera body to the taking lens, and communication means for enabling communication between the camera body and the taking lens;
In a camera system having
The camera system characterized in that the vibration device can be driven only when the optical drive system and the aperture drive mechanism are stopped. A taking lens,
An optical system drive mechanism for changing a focusing distance of the photographing lens;
An aperture drive mechanism for changing the amount of light transmitted through the photographing lens;
A vibration device capable of vibrating the forefront of the photographic lens;
In a camera having
The camera according to claim 1, wherein the vibration device can be driven only when the optical drive system and the aperture drive mechanism are stopped. Focus detection means for detecting the focus state of the photographic lens for forming a subject image;
A communication means for communicating with the water droplet removal control means arranged in the photographing lens;
Control means for causing the water drop removal control unit to start a water drop removal operation via the communication means when the focus detection means detects that the photographing lens is in focus; and
A camera characterized by comprising: A lens group that forms a subject image;
A piezoelectric element fixed to the frontmost lens in the lens group;
A signal transmission means fixed to the piezoelectric element;
A first elastic member disposed in close contact with the foremost lens;
A second elastic member in contact with the signal transmission means in the vicinity of the fixed portion to the piezoelectric element;
A lens barrel comprising: