JP2013182002A - Camera accessory device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a camera accessory device that reliably secures an electric connection to a camera with a simple structure, and that avoids an occurrence of a scratch or a resin powder on a camera-side accessory shoe with a plurality of attachments/detachments repeated.SOLUTION: A strobe device comprises a contact hold member 8 that holds a contact pin 5 movably in a shaft direction and moves in conjunction with a rotation operation of a lock lever 2. The contact pin 5 is held by the contact hold member 8 such that a tip of the contact pin is positioned closer to an insertion direction side of an accessory shoe 25 than to a bottom thereof with respect to a camera-side accessory shoe. In a state where the strobe device is mounted to the camera-side accessory shoe, when the lock lever 2 is rotationally operated to a locking position, the contact hold member 8 is moved toward an electric contact 31a to compress a contact spring 6, and the contact pin 5 is moved in a bottom direction.

Description

  The present invention relates to a camera accessory device mounted on a camera-side accessory shoe, and more particularly to a camera accessory device including a contact pin for electrical connection with an electronic circuit of a camera.

  As an accessory device for a camera equipped with a connection pin for electrical connection with the electronic circuit of the camera, a contact pin that is spring-biased while attached to the camera-side accessory shoe is brought into contact with the electrical contact of the camera-side accessory shoe There is.

  However, since the contact pins of camera accessory devices and the electrical contacts of camera accessory shoes are normally exposed, an electrical coating resistance is formed by the formation of an oxide film on the surface when left for a long period of time. Will increase and cause malfunctions.

  Therefore, when the camera accessory device is locked with the operation member with respect to the camera-side accessory shoe, the contact portion between the contact pin and the electrical contact is cleaned by moving the contact pin in the insertion direction to the camera-side accessory shoe. Technology has been proposed (Patent Document 1).

JP 2011-2681 A

  However, in Patent Document 1, the operation of the contact holding member that holds the contact pin that moves in the insertion direction of the camera-side accessory shoe is controlled by the cam mechanism and the spring interlocked with the fixing ring, so that the structure becomes complicated. At the same time, the cleaning operation may become unstable. For example, the contact holding member cannot be returned to a specified position by the biasing force of a spring due to friction between the electrical contact of the camera side accessory shoe and the contact pin, and a desired cleaning effect may not be obtained.

  Further, in Patent Document 1, the contact pin protruding during mounting on the camera-side accessory shoe slides on the electrical contact of the camera-side accessory shoe and the resin portion around the electrical contact. For this reason, the camera-side accessory shoe may become wrinkled due to repeated attachment and detachment of the camera accessory device a plurality of times, causing a problem in appearance, and may cause a contact failure due to resin powder or the like.

  Therefore, the present invention can ensure electrical connection with the camera with a simple structure, and can avoid generation of wrinkles and resin powder on the camera-side accessory shoe due to repeated attachment and detachment multiple times. An object of the present invention is to provide an accessory device for a camera.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a camera accessory device that is attached to a camera by inserting a connecting portion in a predetermined direction with respect to a camera-side accessory shoe having an electrical contact, the camera-side accessory. A contact pin that comes into contact with the electrical contact when attached to the shoe, an elastic member that urges the contact pin in contact with the electrical contact in the direction of the electrical contact, and attached to the camera-side accessory shoe An operation member that can be operated to a position locked with respect to the camera-side accessory shoe in a state and a position to release the lock, and the contact pin is held movably in the axial direction of the contact pin, and the operation member A contact holding member that moves in conjunction with the operation of the camera, and the contact pin has a tip end closer to the camera side accessory than the base. When the operation member is operated to the locking position while being held by the contact holding member so as to be on the insertion direction side with respect to the camera and mounted on the camera side accessory shoe, the contact holding member is It moves toward the electrical contact, compresses the elastic member, and moves the contact pin in the direction of the root.

  According to the camera accessory device of the present invention, electrical connection with the camera can be ensured with a simple structure, and wrinkles and resin powder are generated on the camera-side accessory shoe due to repeated attachment and detachment multiple times. Can be avoided.

(A) is a perspective view which shows the lock release state of the accessory shoe in the strobe device which is an example of embodiment of the accessory device for cameras of this invention, (b) is a perspective view which shows the lock state of the accessory shoe shown in (a). It is. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a camera-side accessory shoe to which an accessory shoe of the strobe device shown in FIG. 1 is detachably attached. FIG. 6 is a central cross-sectional view of the accessory shoe of the strobe device in the unlocked state. It is a center sectional view of the locked state in the accessory shoe of a strobe device. It is a disassembled perspective view of the accessory shoe of a strobe device.

  Hereinafter, an example of an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1A is a perspective view showing a lock release state of an accessory shoe in a strobe device as an example of an embodiment of a camera accessory device of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a view of the accessory shoe shown in FIG. It is a perspective view which shows a locked state.

  FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a camera-side accessory shoe to which the accessory shoe of the strobe device shown in FIG. 1 is detachably attached.

  First, for convenience of explanation, the camera side accessory shoe 30 will be described with reference to FIG. The camera-side accessory shoe 30 is well known and will be described briefly.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the camera-side accessory shoe 30 has a resin shoe pedestal 31 fixed to an upper surface portion of an outer cover of the camera together with a metal shoe plate 32 by screws (not shown).

  Electrical contacts 31a and 31b are integrally formed on the shoe pedestal 31, and a shoe fitting 4 of an accessory shoe 25 of a strobe device to be described later is inserted into the shoe plate 32 from the back side of the camera (direction A in FIG. 2). Engage.

  The shoe plate 32 is provided with a pair of left and right insertion guides as viewed from the direction in which the shoe fitting 4 is inserted. Further, the shoe plate 32 is formed with a lock hole portion 32a into which the lock pin 14 of the accessory shoe 25 is inserted and removed. A shoe spring 33 is attached to the upper surface of the shoe pedestal 31 to prevent the vertical movement of the shoe fitting 4 inserted into the shoe plate 32.

  Next, the accessory shoe 25 of the strobe device will be described with reference to FIG. The strobe device can be mounted on the camera by inserting the accessory shoe 25, which is a connection part with the camera, into the camera-side accessory shoe 30 in a predetermined direction.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the accessory shoe 25 is disposed on the lower surface of the bottom cover 1 of the strobe device, and is inserted into the shoe plate 32 of the camera-side accessory shoe 30 along the surfaces of the electrical contacts 31a and 31b. Have A plurality of contact pins 5 projecting from the electrical contacts 31 a and 31 b of the camera-side accessory shoe 30 are projected from the opening in the approximate center of the shoe fitting 4.

  The lock lever 2 is formed in a ring shape, and a lever portion 2a for rotating the lock lever 2 is provided in a part of the circumferential direction. The lock lever 2 has a lock position (FIG. 1 (b)) centered on an axis along the moving direction of an accessory shoe holding member 11 described later within the range of a notch 1a formed in the bottom cover 1 of the lock lever 2. A rotation operation can be performed between the lock release position (FIG. 1A).

  Further, a lock release button 3 is provided in the vicinity of the lever portion 2 a of the lock lever 2. By pushing the lock release button 3, the lock lever 2 can be turned from the lock position to the lock release position. Here, the lock lever 2 corresponds to an example of the operation member of the present invention.

  The accessory shoe holding member 11 moves in the vertical direction, that is, in a direction substantially orthogonal to the surfaces of the electrical contacts 31 a and 31 b in conjunction with the rotation operation of the lock lever 2. Then, the lock lever 2 is lowered by rotating the lock lever 2 to the lock position, and the shoe plate 32 of the camera-side accessory shoe 30 is clamped by the protruding portion 11a and the shoe fitting 4.

  The lock pin 14 is also lowered in conjunction with the lowering operation of the accessory shoe holding member 11 and is fitted into the lock hole portion 32a of the camera side accessory shoe 30 to prevent the strobe device from falling off the camera.

  3 is a central sectional view of the accessory shoe 25 of the strobe device in the unlocked state, FIG. 4 is a central sectional view of the accessory shoe 25 of the strobe device in the locked state, and FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the accessory shoe 25 of the strobe device. .

  3 to 5, in the accessory shoe 25, the ground plate 17, the bottom cover 1, the shoe block 10, and the shoe fitting 4 are integrally fixed by screws 16, and the screws 16 are formed on the shoe fitting 4. The screw holes 4a are fastened. A ground line of the strobe device is connected to a soldering portion (not shown) of the ground plate 17.

  Since the shoe metal fitting 4 is electrically connected to the ground plate 17 via the screw 16, the shoe metal fitting 4 is engaged with the shoe plate 32 in the mounted state on the camera side accessory shoe 30, so that the camera and the flash unit are connected. The equipment ground wire is connected.

  A contact cover 9 is fixed to the contact holding member 8 via a screw 22, and a contact unit 24 and a lock pin 14 are accommodated between the contact holding member 8 and the contact cover 9. The contact holding member 8 has a ring portion 8a and a cross-shaped box portion 8c arranged on the inner peripheral side of the ring portion 8a. A lock pin spring 18 is attached to the lock pin 14.

  The contact unit 24 is a so-called probe pin, and the contact spring 6 and the contact pin 5 are accommodated in the cylindrical case 7 from which the terminal 7a protrudes. The contact pin 5 is supported by the contact spring 6 so as to be movable in the axial direction inside the case 7 while being urged in the direction of the electrical contacts 31 a and 31 b of the camera-side accessory shoe 30.

  The accessory shoe holding member 11 is movable in the vertical direction integrally with the contact holding member 8 in a state where the cylindrical portion 10 a of the shoe block 10 is held between the accessory shoe holding member 11 and the contact holding member 8. The accessory shoe holding member 11 is fitted into the inner peripheral portion of the ring portion 8a of the contact holding member 8, and is fixed to the contact holding member 8 by a plurality of hook portions 11b.

  The contact holding member 8 and the accessory shoe holding member 11 are always urged upward by an urging spring 20 inserted on the shaft 10 b of the shoe block 10. Further, the plurality of shafts 10 b protruding from the cylindrical portion 10 a of the shoe block 10 are fitted into the plurality of fitting holes 8 d formed in the contact holding member 8, thereby preventing horizontal play.

  A lock lever 2 is rotatably supported between the lower surface 1 c of the bottom cover 1 and the cylindrical portion 10 a of the shoe block 10, and a biasing spring 19 is interposed between the lever portion 2 a of the lock lever 2 and the lever portion 2 a. An unlocking button 3 is attached. A lift cam 2 b is formed on the inner peripheral portion of the lock lever 2.

  The elevating cam 2b engages with a plurality of engaging portions 8b formed on the outer peripheral portion of the ring portion 8a of the contact holding member 8, and the accessory shoe holding member 11 is caused by the cam action of the elevating cam 2b and the engaging portion 8b. And the contact holding member 8 move together in the vertical direction.

  Specifically, when the lock lever 2 is turned to the lock position, the accessory shoe holding member 11 and the contact holding member 8 are lowered integrally. Further, when the lock lever 2 is rotated to the unlock position, the accessory shoe holding member 11 and the contact holding member 8 are raised together.

  On the lower surface 1c of the bottom cover 1, an arc-shaped rail groove 1e having a locking groove 1b is formed. A protrusion (not shown) formed on the lock release button 3 is slidably engaged with the rail groove 1e. Then, when the projection enters the locking groove 1b and is locked at the lock position of the lock lever 2, the rotation of the lock lever 2 in the unlocking direction is restricted.

  A flexible substrate 21 is attached to the terminal 7 a of the case 7 of the contact unit 24 protruding upward from the contact holding member 8. The flexible substrate 21 is connected to the control substrate of the strobe device through the opening 1 d of the bottom cover 1.

  Next, the operation of the accessory shoe 25 of the strobe device will be further described with reference to FIGS.

  3 and 4, the accessory shoe 25 of the strobe device is attached to the camera-side accessory shoe 30, and the contact pins 5 of the accessory shoe 25 are in contact with the surfaces of the electrical contacts 31 a and 31 b of the camera-side accessory shoe 30. .

  In the unlocked state of the accessory shoe 25 shown in FIG. 3, the length of about 2/3 of the contact pin 5 protrudes from the case 7 toward the electrical contacts 31a and 31b, and the contact spring 6 is hardly compressed. It is.

  In this state, when the shoe fitting 4 of the accessory shoe 25 is inserted into the shoe plate 32 of the camera-side accessory shoe 30, the tip of the contact pin 5 slides on the camera-side accessory shoe 30 with a small biasing force. The contacts 31a and 31b are cleaned.

  On the other hand, in the locked state of the accessory shoe 25 shown in FIG. 4, the contact holding member 8 is lowered by the cam action of the engaging portion 8 b and the lift cam 2 b of the lock lever, and thus is stored in the contact holding member 8. The contact unit 24 and the lock pin 14 are similarly lowered.

  Accordingly, the contact pin 5 that contacts the electrical contacts 31 a and 31 b of the camera-side accessory shoe 30 retreats into the case 7 against the urging force of the contact spring 6 and the contact spring 6 is compressed. For this reason, the contact pin 5 comes into contact with the electrical contacts 31a and 31b in a state where a large biasing force is applied.

  Here, in the present embodiment, the contact unit 24 is positioned between the contact holding member 8 and the contact cover 9 in a state where the contact unit 24 is inclined by an angle α with respect to the moving direction of the contact holding member 8 (the direction of arrow B in FIG. 3). It is stored in. That is, the contact pin 5 is held by the contact holding member 8 so that the tip is closer to the insertion direction of the accessory shoe 25 with respect to the camera-side accessory shoe 30 than the root. 4 indicates the protruding position of the contact pin 5 in the unlocked state of the accessory shoe 25, and the reference numeral 35 corresponds to the relative surface height of the electrical contact 31a in the unlocked state.

  When the contact unit 24 is disposed at an angle α with respect to the moving direction of the contact holding member 8, the contact pin 5 is located at the upper right in the figure when the accessory shoe 25 is changed from the unlocked state to the locked state. Will move towards. Accordingly, the contact point of the contact pin 5 with respect to the surface of the electrical contact 31a moves to the right in the drawing by a distance S corresponding to sin α with respect to the movement amount of the contact pin 5 in the axial direction. In other words, the contact pin 5 moves in the direction of the base, thereby coming into contact with the position on the opposite side of the insertion direction of the accessory shoe 25 than before moving in the direction of the base with respect to the electrical contact 31a.

  That is, when the accessory shoe 25 changes from the unlocked state (FIG. 3) to the locked state (FIG. 4), the contact pin 5 moves so that the contact position with respect to the electrical contact 31a is returned to the predetermined contact position that has been cleaned. In addition, a large biasing force is applied to the electrical contact 31a.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the contact unit 24 is inclined with respect to the contact holding member 8 that moves up and down integrally with the accessory shoe holding member 11 that holds the shoe plate 32 of the camera side accessory shoe 30.

  When the shoe fitting 4 of the accessory shoe 25 is inserted into the shoe plate 32 of the camera-side accessory shoe 30, the contact pin 5 is slid on the camera-side accessory shoe 30 with a small urging force so that the electrical contacts 31a, 31b Perform cleaning. Thereafter, when the accessory shoe 25 changes from the unlocked state to the locked state, the contact pin 5 moves so as to return to the predetermined contact position after cleaning, and a large biasing force is applied to the electrical contact 31a.

  As a result, the cleaning mechanism using the contact pins 5 and the variable contact pressure mechanism for the electrical contacts 31a and 31b can be realized with a simple structure, and oxide films and dirt adhered to the electrical contacts 31a and 31b by a stable cleaning operation. Etc. can be removed satisfactorily.

  In the present embodiment, when the accessory shoe 25 is locked, the contact pin 5 is pressed against the electrical contacts 31a and 31b with a larger urging force than when the accessory shoe 25 is unlocked. For this reason, it becomes possible to break the oxide film or the like firmly adhered to the electrical contacts 31a and 31b by the contact pin 5, and it is possible to secure the electrical connection between the strobe device and the camera in combination with the above-described cleaning effect. .

  Further, in the present embodiment, when the strobe device is attached / detached, the accessory shoe 25 is unlocked, so that the contact pin 5 contacts the electrical contacts 31a, 31b with a small urging force. For this reason, it is possible to prevent the camera side accessory shoe 30 from being wrinkled by the sliding of the contact pin 5 and to prevent contact failure due to resin powder or the like generated by wear.

  The configuration of the present invention is not limited to that exemplified in the above embodiment, and the material, shape, dimensions, form, number, arrangement location, and the like can be changed as appropriate without departing from the scope of the present invention. It is.

  For example, in the above embodiment, the contact unit 24 in which the contact spring 6 and the contact pin 5 are accommodated in the case 7 is used, but the contact holding member 8 directly holds the contact spring 6 and the contact pin 5 can be moved. It may be a structure held in

  Further, other elastic members such as rubber may be used in place of the contact spring 6 as an elastic member that urges the contact pin 5 in the direction of the electrical contacts 31a and 31b.

  In the above embodiment, the accessory shoe in the strobe device, which is an example of the camera accessory device, has been described. However, the present invention can also be applied to an accessory shoe in a camera accessory device such as a communication device or a GPS unit.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Bottom cover 2 Lock lever 4 Shoe metal fitting 5 Contact pin 6 Contact spring 8 Contact holding member 10 Shoe block 11 Shoe holding member 24 Contact unit 31a, 31b Electrical contact

Claims (4)

A camera accessory device that is attached to a camera by inserting a connecting portion in a predetermined direction with respect to a camera-side accessory shoe having an electrical contact,
A contact pin that contacts the electrical contact in a state of being mounted on the camera-side accessory shoe;
An elastic member that urges the contact pin in a state of contact with the electrical contact in the direction of the electrical contact;
An operation member that can be operated to a position to be locked with respect to the camera-side accessory shoe and a position to be unlocked while being attached to the camera-side accessory shoe;
A contact holding member that holds the contact pin movably in the axial direction of the contact pin and moves in conjunction with the operation of the operation member;
The contact pin is held by the contact holding member so that the tip is on the insertion direction side of the connection portion with respect to the camera-side accessory shoe from the base,
When the operation member is operated to the locked position while being attached to the camera side accessory shoe, the contact holding member moves toward the electrical contact, compresses the elastic member, and An accessory device for a camera, wherein a contact pin is moved in the direction of the root.   The said contact pin is hold | maintained at the said contact holding member so that it may contact with the said electrical contact, when inserting the said connection part with respect to the said camera side accessory shoe. Camera accessory equipment.   The contact pin moves in the direction of the base while being attached to the camera-side accessory shoe, so that the contact pin is on the opposite side of the insertion direction than before moving in the direction of the base with respect to the electrical contact. The camera accessory device according to claim 1, wherein the camera accessory device is in contact with a position.   The said operation member is formed in a ring shape, and rotation operation is possible centering | focusing on the axis line in alignment with the moving direction of the said contact holding member. Camera accessory equipment.

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