JP2011008970A - Electronic device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide ab electronic device including an operation member capable of rotating operation without increasing its size, for actualizing easy setting of parameters to be desired values while giving a click feeling to the operation of the operation member.SOLUTION: The electronic device includes the operation member (2) capable of rotating operation, a rotary member (22) having a plurality of holes formed in the circumferential direction for rotating with the rotating operation of the operation member, a clicking mechanism (41) for making the member (23) abut on the rotary member and repeating the conditions that the member engages the holes (22x, 22y) and that the member does not engage the holes with the rotating operation of the operation member to give a click feeling to the rotating operation of the operation member, and a detecting mechanism (42) for repeating the conditions of detecting the holes and of not detecting the holes with the rotating operation of the operation member to detect the amount of the rotating operation of the operation member.

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic apparatus such as a digital still camera, and more particularly to an electronic apparatus having an operation member that can be rotated.

  Conventionally, in an electronic apparatus such as a digital still camera, it is common to operate an operation ring around a lens barrel in order to adjust zooming and focus of the lens barrel.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a mechanism for adjusting a focus by operating an operation ring of a video camera. An operation ring is slidably fitted in the concave groove of the lens barrel, and a comb-like pattern ring formed by a notch is fixed in a ring shape at one end thereof. A pair of photo-interrupters are attached to the rotation area of the pattern ring at half the notch. The pattern ring output patterns detected by the photo interrupter change by two steps, and are shifted from each other by one step. With this output pattern, the rotation direction and rotation angle of the operation ring are detected.

JP-A-5-11163

  However, in the prior art disclosed in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, the pattern teeth of the pattern ring and the photo interrupter are arranged in a cylindrical shape, so that the thickness in the direction of the optical axis of the camera increases and the device is downsized. Is hindering. In addition, there is a problem that it is difficult to set a parameter to a desired value because there is no click feeling when operating the operation ring.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an operation member that can be rotated without increasing the size of the device, and to provide a click feeling when operating the operation member to make it easier to set parameters to desired values. is there.

  In order to achieve the above object, an electronic device according to the present invention includes an operation member that can be rotated, and a rotating member that rotates when the operation member is rotated by forming a plurality of holes in the circumferential direction. The member is brought into contact with the rotating member, and the rotation of the operation member is repeated by rotating the operation member to repeat the state in which the member is engaged with the hole and the state in which the member is not engaged with the hole. Detection that detects the amount of rotation operation of the operation member by repeatedly performing a state in which the hole is detected and a state in which the hole is not detected by a click mechanism that generates a click feeling with respect to the operation and a rotation operation of the operation member And a mechanism.

  In addition, the electronic device of the present invention has an operation member that can be rotated, a plurality of first holes and a plurality of second holes formed in the circumferential direction, and rotates when the operation member is rotated. A rotating member and a member that is brought into contact with the rotating member, and a state in which the member engages with the first hole and a state in which the member does not engage with the hole are repeated by rotating the operating member. A click mechanism for generating a click feeling with respect to the rotation operation of the operation member; and a state in which the hole is detected and a state in which the second hole is not detected by the rotation operation of the operation member. A detection mechanism for detecting a rotation operation amount of the member, wherein a circumferential width of the first hole is formed narrower than a circumferential width of the second hole, and the first hole is At a position closer to the inner peripheral side of the rotating member than the second hole Characterized in that it is made.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an imaging device with a lens barrel operating ring that is compact and has a click feeling.

Disassembled perspective view of front cover unit Front view Rear view Rear view of front cover unit Enlarged view of annular member 22 Side view of annular member 22 and photo reflector Photo reflector output timing chart An annular member that doubles as a click generation and detection opening Cross section of front cover unit

  Hereinafter, with reference to FIG. 1 to FIG. 9, an imaging apparatus as an electronic apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described.

  FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a front cover unit of a digital camera that is an example of an imaging apparatus.

  FIG. 2 is a front external view of the digital camera, and FIG. 3 is a rear external view. The camera body 1 includes an operation ring 2, a lens barrel 3, a mode dial 5, a release button 6, an operation ring function switching button 7, a power button 8, an auxiliary light window 9, a pop-up flash 10, a liquid crystal display unit 11, and a cross key. 12 and a zoom dial 13 are provided.

  When the power button 8 is pressed to activate the digital camera, the lens barrel 3 is extended to the wide position. The mode dial 5 is operated to adjust the shooting mode to, for example, the shutter speed priority AE mode. At this time, it is assumed that the shutter speed is set to 1/60. The operation ring 2 is arranged around the lens barrel 3 so as to be rotatable. When the operation ring 2 is rotated clockwise by one click when viewed from the back side of the digital camera, the shutter speed can be selected by the digital camera. The shutter speed is changed to 1/50, which is one lower shutter speed. On the other hand, when the operation ring 2 is rotated counterclockwise by one click when the shutter speed is set to 1/60 when viewed from the back side of the digital camera, one high-speed shutter that can be selected by the digital camera. The speed is changed to 1/80. The set value is changed in accordance with the amount of rotation of the operation ring 2, and when the operation ring 2 is rotated by 3 clicks clockwise as viewed from the back side of the digital camera, 1/50 each time the operation ring 2 is rotated by 1 click. , 1/40 and 1/30 are changed in stages and set to 1/30. The shutter speed setting value can be confirmed by the liquid crystal display unit 11 together with the through image at the time of shooting.

  Even when the shooting mode is the shutter speed priority AE mode, various parameters can be changed using the operation ring by the operation ring function switching button 7. For example, when the switching button 7 is pressed once, the setting parameter that can be set by the operation ring is changed from the shutter speed to the ISO sensitivity. At this time, when the operation ring 2 is rotated clockwise by 3 clicks when viewed from the back side of the digital camera, when the current setting value is 400, the ISO sensitivity is increased by 500, 640 every time it is rotated by 1 click. , 800, and the ISO sensitivity is set to 800. On the other hand, when the operation ring 2 is rotated counterclockwise by 3 clicks when the ISO sensitivity is set to 400 when viewed from the back side of the digital camera, the ISO sensitivity is gradually changed to 320, 250, and 200. . The settable parameters may be anything other than the shutter speed and ISO sensitivity, such as exposure value, aperture value, white balance, zoom position of the lens barrel 3, and focus position in the manual focus mode.

  As an example, the operation method in the shutter speed priority AE mode has been described. When the shooting mode is another shooting mode, almost the same operation can be performed with only a slight change in the parameters that can be set. It is also possible to set the shooting mode to the manual mode, change the shutter speed with the operation ring 2, and change the aperture value with the cross key 12. In the reproduction mode, the operation ring 2 may be used for image feeding, enlargement / reduction, and the like by rotation.

  Next, the configuration of the operation ring 2 that is a rotatable operation member will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 4. FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the operation ring 2. In FIG. 1, the resin base 21 is bonded and fixed to the inner side surface of the front cover 4 with a double-sided tape or an adhesive. The operation ring 2 is fitted into the resin base 21 from the exterior surface side of the front cover 4. After the operation ring 2 is fitted into the resin base 21, an annular member 22 that is a rotating member that rotates inside the digital camera is attached to the operation ring 2 from the inside of the front cover 4. Then, the claw portion 2 a formed on the inner periphery of the operation ring 2 and the hook portion 22 a of the annular member 22 are engaged. The claw portion 2a and the hook portion 22a are formed at three positions at intervals of 120 degrees. The engagement method is not limited to this, and the operation ring 2 may be screwed to the annular member 22 if the size of the camera body permits.

  As a result, the operation ring 2 cannot be removed from the front cover 4 and the resin base 21 in the optical axis direction. Further, the operation ring 2 and the annular member 22 are integrated with each other by sliding the outer peripheral surface of the operation ring 2 and the inner peripheral surface of the resin base 21, and the annular member 22 and the inner surface of the resin base 21. The resin base 21 is rotatably held.

  The auxiliary light window member 9 is fixed to the resin base 21 fixed to the front cover 4. Further, a click mechanism 41 that generates a click feeling when the operation ring 2 rotates and a detection mechanism 42 that detects the rotation of the operation ring 2 are fixed to the resin base 21 fixed to the front cover 4.

  As shown in FIG. 5, a plurality of convex holes are formed in the annular member 22 at intervals of 10 ° in the circumferential direction. The convex hole is formed with a narrow first hole 22x and a wide second hole 22y. The convex hole is formed such that the first hole 22 x is located on the inner peripheral side of the annular member 22 and the second hole 22 y is located on the outer peripheral side of the annular member 22. In the present embodiment, the total number of the convex holes is 36 at an interval of 10 °, but may be set to a suitable interval and number according to the size of the operation ring 2 and the annular member 22 and the desired operation feeling.

  The click mechanism 41 includes a steel ball 23 that contacts the first hole 22x of the annular member 22, a spring 24 that biases the steel ball 23 toward the annular member 22, a holding member 25 that holds the steel ball 23 and the spring 24, and a spring. The conductive member 26 is electrically connected to one end of 24. Then, a conductive member 26 is attached so as to cover the holding member 25 holding the steel ball 23 and the spring 24, and is fixed to the resin base 21 with a screw 29a. In this embodiment, since the operation ring 2 is made of metal, such a configuration is used. However, if the operation ring 2 is a non-conductive member such as a resin, the conductive member 26 can be eliminated.

  The click mechanism 41 rotates the annular member 22 to repeat the time when the steel ball 23 falls into the first hole 22x by the urging force of the spring 24 and the time when the steel ball 23 rides on the annular member 22, and the steel ball 23 is the first. A click feeling is generated when falling into the hole 22x. By adjusting the width X of the first hole 22x according to the diameter of the steel ball 23 or adjusting the biasing force of the spring 24, a desired click feeling can be obtained.

  The detection mechanism 42 includes a detection flex 28 in which two photo reflectors facing the second hole 22 y of the annular member 22 are mounted, and a fixing member 27 for fixing the detection flex 28 to the resin base 21. The Two holes for positioning the two photo reflectors mounted on the detection flex 28 are formed in the fixing member 27. The photo reflectors are respectively fitted in the two positioning holes, and the detection flex 28 is attached by screws 29b. Fix to the resin base 21. Thus, the two photo reflectors are positioned so as to face the second holes 22y, respectively.

  When the steel ball 23 falls into the first hole 22x and is a click position by the click mechanism 41, the light reflection positions 31a 'and 32b' of the two photo reflectors are positioned so as to be the positions shown in FIG. . That is, it is on the diametrical center line of the annular member 22 in the second hole 22y shown by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. 5, and is 1/4 of the hole width from one end of the hole of the second hole 22y-1. The position is set as a light beam reflection position 31a ′ of the photo reflector 31a. A position 3/4 of the hole width from one end of the hole of the second hole 22y-2 adjacent to the second hole 22y-1 is set as a light beam reflection position 31b 'of the photo reflector 31b.

  Here, the light reflection position of the photo reflector is a position where the light emitted from the photo reflector strikes the annular member 22 as shown in FIG. When in the click position, the light reflecting position of the photo reflector is the position shown in FIG. 5, so that both of the light beams of the photo reflector do not hit the annular member 22 and are not reflected. Accordingly, the output signals of the two photo reflectors are both low. On the other hand, if the light beam emitted from the photoreflector is reflected by the annular member 22 and returns to the light receiving part of the photoreflector, the output signal of the photoreflector becomes High.

  FIG. 7 shows an output timing chart of the photo reflectors 31a and 31b when the annular member 22 is rotated clockwise from the state shown in FIG. In the figure, L indicates that the output signal is Low, and H indicates that the output signal is High. As described above, the output signals of the photo reflectors 31a and 31b when in the click position are both low. When it is in the click position, it is at the center of the section where the output signals of the photo reflectors 31a and 31b are both low. This is to stabilize the output signal when in the click position. In order to detect the direction of rotation, the photo reflectors 31a and 31b are arranged so that the output signal of the photo reflector 31b is shifted by a quarter of the output signal of the photo reflector 31a. In the present embodiment, in order to reduce the size of the detection flex, the two photo reflectors are arranged so as to detect the two second holes 22y adjacent to each other. However, it is not always necessary to dispose the two photo reflectors so as to detect the second holes adjacent to each other as long as the condition that the outputs of the two photo reflectors are shifted by a quarter period is satisfied.

  In this embodiment, the click feeling is generated using the first hole 22x, and the rotation detection is performed using the second hole 22y that is wider than the first hole. However, as shown in FIG. It is also possible to use a common hole. In this case, since the hole can be made small, the radial direction of the annular member can be made small. However, when the hole is made common, the sliding trace of the steel ball that generates the click feeling is formed between the holes of the annular member, so that the reflectance of the annular member changes. Therefore, when a photo reflector is used for detection, the detection reliability is lowered. Further, grease may be applied to reduce wear of the annular member or the steel ball, but also in this case, the reflectance of the annular member changes due to the grease adhering to the annular member. Therefore, if the hole is made common, the reliability of detection is lowered by the grease adhering to the annular member. If a photo interrupter is used, the reliability is improved, but the thickness direction of the imaging device is increased. Further, as shown in FIG. 7, the detection signal has higher detection accuracy when High and Low are equally spaced. For these reasons, the first hole 22x for generating a click feeling and the second hole 22y for rotation detection are separated without being shared, and the second hole 22y for rotation detection is used for generating a click feeling. The width is preferably larger in the circumferential direction than the first hole 22x. Further, the circumferential width of the second hole for rotation detection and the circumferential distance between the second holes are set to 5 ° when one click is 10 ° as shown in FIG. Thus, it is preferable that they are equally spaced.

  When the circumferential width of the second hole 22y used for rotation detection is narrowed, the detection accuracy is affected. However, the circumferential width of the first hole 22x that generates a click feeling is the diameter of the steel ball 23. On the other hand, unless it is made extremely narrow, even if it is made somewhat narrow, the click feeling is not greatly affected. On the other hand, if the circumferential width of the first hole 22x is made larger than the diameter of the steel ball 23, the steel ball 23 will play in the first hole 22x, and the click position will not be stable. .

  Therefore, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, the first hole 22x for generating a click feeling is the inner peripheral side, and the second hole 22y used for rotation detection is the outer peripheral side. The peripheral part is used efficiently.

  FIG. 9 shows a cross-sectional view of the front cover unit. As shown in FIG. 9, the operation ring 2 is disposed below the first hole 22x, and the resin base 21 is disposed below the second hole 22y. In consideration of detection by the photo reflector, it is preferable that the lower side of the second hole 22y has a space so that the reflected light becomes weak, and the material color is black. The material and material color of the operation ring 2 are often limited by design. From this point, it is preferable that the second hole 22y for rotation detection is on the outer peripheral side. In consideration of the reflection efficiency, it is better to reflect the light beam by the annular member 22 closest to the photo reflector. For these reasons, it is preferable to use a material having a high reflectance for the annular member 22 and a material having a low reflectance for the resin base 21.

  On the other hand, for example, the material color of the annular member 22 is set to black so that the light beam is not reflected, the space of the resin base 21 is eliminated, a reflection sheet is attached to a portion where the light beam hits, or the resin base material is easily reflected. May be.

  In the present embodiment, the first hole and the second hole have been described as through holes, but these are not necessarily through holes. When a hole that does not penetrate the second hole is used, the same effect can be obtained by performing coating or surface treatment so that the second hole portion is black.

  As mentioned above, although preferable embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to these embodiment, A various deformation | transformation and change are possible within the range of the summary.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Camera body 2 Operation ring 3 Lens barrel 4 Front cover 21 Resin base 22 Annular member 23 Steel ball 24 Spring 25 Holding member 26 Conductive member 27 Fixing member 28 Detection flexible 29 Screw 31 Photo reflector 41 Click mechanism 42 Detection mechanism

Claims (6)

An operation member that can be rotated;
A plurality of holes are formed in the circumferential direction, and the operation member is rotated to rotate the rotation member;
The rotation operation of the operation member is performed by causing the member to contact the rotation member and repeating the state in which the member is engaged with the hole and the state in which the member is not engaged with the hole by rotating the operation member. A click mechanism that generates a click feeling against
An electronic apparatus comprising: a detection mechanism that detects a rotation operation amount of the operation member by repeating a state in which the hole is detected and a state in which the hole is not detected by a rotation operation of the operation member.   The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the holes are formed so that a circumferential width of the holes is equal to a circumferential distance between the holes. An operation member that can be rotated;
A plurality of first holes and a plurality of second holes are formed in the circumferential direction, and the operation member is rotated to rotate the rotation member;
The operation member is brought into contact with the rotation member, and the operation member is repeatedly engaged with the first hole and the member is not engaged with the hole by rotating the operation member. A click mechanism that generates a click feeling with respect to the rotation operation of
A detection mechanism for detecting a rotation operation amount of the operation member by repeating a state of detecting the hole and a state of not detecting the second hole by a rotation operation of the operation member;
The circumferential width of the first hole is formed to be narrower than the circumferential width of the second hole, and the first hole is on the inner circumferential side of the rotating member with respect to the second hole. An electronic device characterized by being formed at a position.   The first hole and the second hole are formed in the rotating member so that the first hole and the second hole are connected in a diameter direction of the rotating member. 3. The electronic device according to 3.   The second hole is formed in the rotating member so that a circumferential width of the second hole is equal to a circumferential distance between the second holes. Item 4. The electronic device according to Item 3.   The electronic device is an imaging device having a lens barrel, the operating member is an operating ring disposed around the lens barrel, and the rotating member is integrated with the operating ring inside the imaging device. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the electronic device is an annular member that rotates.

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