JP2016062774A - Operation mechanism and electronic apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an operation mechanism capable of being reduced in size and cost while preventing tottering and damage to a lower-stage dial during operation of an upper-stage dial, and also to provide an electronic apparatus.SOLUTION: An operation mechanism includes: first operation means which is rotatable centering around a first rotation shaft; second operation means which is rotatable centering around a second rotation shaft and which is arranged on the lower side of the first operation means so that the first rotation shaft is located in a projection plane in the direction parallel to the first and second rotation shafts; a transmission member which is located out of the projection plane of the second operation means in the direction parallel to each rotation shaft and which is rotated in response to rotation of the first operation means; a first armature plate equipped with a first conductive member to which the rotation of the first operation means is transmitted via the transmission member and which transmits the rotation of the first operation means as an electrical signal; a second armature plate equipped with a second conductive member which transmits the rotation of the second operation means as an electrical signal; and a substrate in which an electrode pattern grounded by first and second conductive members are formed on the same plane.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to an operation mechanism for selecting an operation mode in an electronic apparatus such as a digital camera, and an electronic apparatus including the operation mechanism.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an electronic device such as a digital camera, an operation mode such as a camera photographing operation or a photographed image reproduction operation is selected by rotating a dial.

  In recent years, digital cameras have become multifunctional, and for example, operations such as exposure adjustment and ISO setting that are set by a user at the time of shooting are increasing. In order to facilitate these operations, there is known a digital camera including an operation unit in which dials overlap in a two-stage upper and lower coaxial manner (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  Furthermore, in order to improve the visibility of the index indicating each selection mode on the dial and improve the operability of the dial rotation operation, digital cameras in which the rotation axes of the two stages of the dials are shifted are also widespread. (For example, see Patent Document 2).

Japanese Patent No. 3697186 JP 2006-86048 A

  In the configuration in which the rotation shafts of the two dials are shifted, the rotation center of the upper dial is positioned outside the outer shape of the lower dial, and the bearing portion of the upper dial is formed to ensure sufficient holding strength of the rotation shaft. There is a need. Otherwise, the bottom surface of the upper dial interferes with the upper surface of the lower dial during the turning operation of the upper dial, causing damage.

  In Patent Document 2, a ring-shaped sliding rib is provided on the upper surface of the lower dial to minimize scratches. However, if the upper dial is wobbled, there is a risk of catching due to scraping of the sliding rib. Is not enough. Further, the visibility of the index on the upper surface of the lower dial is unfavorable in appearance.

  Further, on the extension of the rotation axis of the upper dial, a contact piece base is attached to which a conductive contact piece that contacts the electrode pattern on the flexible printed board is fastened. When the upper dial rotates, the contact piece moves on the electrode pattern and transmits an electrical signal to the control board so as to change each operation mode. If the rotation axis of the upper dial is divided by the lower dial, the rotation of the upper dial cannot be transmitted to the contact table that is a part of the rotation detection means.

  From such a point, it is difficult to reduce the size by arranging the center of rotation of the upper dial inside the outer diameter of the lower dial.

  Also, when the electrode pattern on the upper dial side (circular) and the electrode pattern on the lower dial side (circular) overlap when the distance between the axes of the two dials overlaps, if the flexible printed circuit board is a single-sided pattern, It is necessary to fold and arrange the electrode pattern.

  This will be described with reference to FIG. 5A and 5B are views of a conventional two-stage dial unit, where FIG. 5A is a perspective view, FIG. 5B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line CC of FIG. 5A, and FIG. d) is a diagram of the back side of the flexible printed circuit board.

  The two-stage dial unit includes an upper dial 51 and a lower dial 52, an upper dial side contact piece 53, a lower dial side contact piece 54, and a flexible printed board 55. The front side flexible board 55a and the back side flexible board 55b of the flexible printed board 55 are connected by a bent portion 55c. An electrode pattern 55a1 with which the lower dial side contact piece 54 contacts is formed on the front side flexible substrate 55a. An electrode pattern 55b1 with which the upper dial-side contact piece 53 comes into contact is formed on the back side flexible substrate 55b.

  If the flexible printed circuit board is folded back and placed in this way, the area of the expensive flexible printed circuit board is increased, resulting in an increase in cost and an increase in the number of assembling steps. If the flexible printed circuit board has a double-sided pattern, the cost further increases. In addition, a reinforcing member such as a sheet metal cannot be disposed on the back side of the contact portion of the flexible printed circuit board, and an appropriate contact pressure of the contact portion cannot be ensured, resulting in a malfunction.

  In view of such a problem, the present invention provides an operating mechanism that can be downsized and reduced in cost while preventing wobbling and damage to the lower dial when operating the upper dial, and an electronic apparatus including the same The purpose is to provide.

  An operation mechanism according to one aspect of the present invention includes a first operation means that can rotate around a first rotation axis, and a second rotation axis that is parallel to the first rotation axis and is different. Arranged below the first operating means so as to be pivotable about the center, and so that the first pivot shaft is located in a projection plane in a direction parallel to the first and second pivot shafts. The second operating means and the second operating means in a direction parallel to the first and second rotating shafts are located outside the projection plane, and are arranged on the first and second rotating shafts. A transmission member that includes a parallel shaft portion and rotates as the first operation means rotates, and the rotation of the first operation means is transmitted via the transmission member. A first contact piece provided with a first conductive member for transmitting the rotation of the operation means as an electrical signal, and the rotation of the second operation means as an electrical signal. A substrate having a second contact piece provided with a second conductive member for transmission, an electrode pattern grounded by the first conductive member and an electrode pattern grounded by the second conductive member formed on the same surface It is characterized by having.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an operation mechanism that can be reduced in size and reduced in cost while preventing wobbling and damage to the lower dial during the operation of the upper dial, and an electronic device including the same. .

1 is an external perspective view of a digital camera that is an example of an electronic apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a structural diagram of a two-stage dial unit. It is an exploded view of a two-stage dial unit. It is an assembly drawing of a two-stage dial unit. It is a figure of the conventional 2 step | paragraph dial unit.

  Hereinafter, a lens barrel as an example of an optical apparatus embodying the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In each figure, the same members are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

  FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a digital camera 1 which is an example of an electronic apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. (A) is the figure seen from the front, (b) is the figure seen from the back.

  A lens unit 2 for obtaining a photographed image is provided on the front surface of the digital camera 1. On the top surface is a shutter button 3 for starting shooting, an upper dial 4 for selecting shooting modes such as AV priority, TV priority and program during shooting operation, and a lower dial for setting exposure during shooting 5 is arranged. The housing cover 6 protects the internal structure, and the mark indicators 6a and 6b are indicators for indicating their positions when the upper dial 4 and the lower dial 5 are rotated. In addition, on the back side, an operation member 7 capable of inputting various settings relating to photographing, changes in image display contents, and the like, and an image display unit 8 for displaying image information are provided. In the present embodiment, two dials are used as operation means that can be selected with respect to conditions and set values of the operation setting group, but more dials may be used.

  Next, the structure and configuration of the two-stage dial unit (operation mechanism) 9 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is a structural diagram of a two-stage dial unit. (A) is a top view, (b) is an AA sectional view of (a) passing through the respective rotation centers of the upper dial side contact base and the shaft gear, and (c) is the lower dial and upper dial side contact. It is BB sectional drawing of (a) which passes each rotation center of a piece base. FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the two-stage dial unit 9.

  The upper dial (first operation means) 4 is rotatable about a rotation shaft (first rotation shaft) 4c. An index 4a for each shooting mode is printed on the upper surface of the upper dial 4, and the upper dial 4 is rotated so that the index 4a that coincides with the mark index 6a of the housing cover 6 is set to the shooting mode at that time. Has been.

  The lower dial (second operating means) 5 is disposed on the lower side of the upper dial 4, and a bearing portion 12 c of the upper dial base 12 parallel to a rotating shaft 4 c described later is provided as a rotating shaft (second rotating shaft). ) Can be rotated. An exposure setting value 5 a is printed on the upper surface of the lower dial 5, and the lower dial 5 is operated to rotate, and the setting value 5 a that coincides with the mark index 6 b of the housing cover 6 becomes the exposure setting value at that time.

  When the upper dial 4 and the lower dial 5 are rotated, as will be described later, conductive contact pieces interlocking with the rotation of the respective dials are grounded to the electrode pattern provided on the flexible printed board. The rotational position of each dial can be detected by the electrode pattern grounded by the contact piece.

  The shaft-equipped gear (transmission member) 11 includes a gear portion 11 a and a shaft portion 11 b and transmits the rotation of the upper dial 4. The gear portion 4 e that is an internal gear formed on the upper dial 4 meshes with the gear portion 11 a, whereby the rotation of the upper dial 4 is transmitted to the shaft-equipped gear 11.

  The upper dial base (support member) 12 is directly below the upper dial 4 and supports the upper dial 4 by the receiving surface 12a. As for the portion notched by the lower dial 5, the bearing portion 12 c, which is a part of the upper dial base 12, functions as a bearing for the lower dial 5, and the tip abuts against the sheet metal member 22, whereby the receiving surface 12 a It plays a role as a support. The upper dial base 12 includes a bearing portion 12b of the upper dial 4 and a bearing portion 12d of the gear 11 with the shaft. With such a configuration, when the upper dial 4 is pushed from above, the upper dial 4 is not significantly deformed, and the bottom surface 4d of the upper dial 4 does not damage the upper surface 5c of the lower dial 5 when the upper dial 4 is rotated.

  The lower dial base (holding member) 13 is disposed directly below the lower dial 5, includes a bearing for the lower dial 5, and supports the lower dial 5.

  When the click ball 14 shifts to each photographing mode by the turning operation of the upper dial 4, the urging force of the coil spring 15 is applied to the groove portions 4 b that are circumferentially arranged around the turning shaft 4 c of the upper dial 4. To be fitted. Accordingly, it is easy to stop the upper dial 4 at each shooting mode position while simultaneously informing the user of switching of the shooting mode by a generated click. The lower dial 5 has a similar configuration, and it is easy to generate a click when moving to each set value and stop at a predetermined rotation position.

  The contact piece base (second contact piece base) 17 holds a lower dial side contact piece (second conductive member) 16 for transmitting an electrical signal and is fixed to the shaft tip portion 5b of the lower dial 5. Has been.

  The geared piece base (first piece base) 19 holds an upper dial side piece (first conductive member) 18 for transmitting an electrical signal. A gear portion 19 a is formed on the outer periphery of the contact piece base 19 with gear. The connecting gear 20 is fixed by engaging with the shaft portion 11 b of the shaft-equipped gear 11. The connecting gear 20 is fastened to the lower end of the shaft-equipped gear 11, and meshes with the gear portion 19 a of the geared contact piece base 19 to rotate the upper dial 4 transmitted from the shaft-equipped gear 11. This is transmitted to the contact piece base 19. By making the number of teeth of the gear portion 11a of the shaft-equipped gear 11 and the number of teeth of the connecting gear 20, the number of teeth of the gear portion 4e of the upper dial 4 and the number of teeth of the gear portion 19a of the contact base 19 with gear, The upper dial 4 and the contact base 19 with gear rotate in the same phase. Therefore, even if the rotation operation continues to be operated in the same direction, the rotation position can be continuously detected.

  On the flexible printed circuit board 21, concentric electrode patterns 21 a and 21 b are drawn with a plurality of electrodes, each centering on the center of rotation of the upper dial side contact piece 18 and the lower dial side contact piece 16. The upper dial side contact piece 18 and the lower dial side contact piece 16 are in contact with the electrode patterns 21a and 21b, respectively, and detect the operation of each shooting mode and exposure setting value. The sheet metal member fixes the flexible printed circuit board 21.

  In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1A, the shaft-equipped gear 11 and the connecting gear 20 are arranged outside the outer shape of the lower dial 5. That is, the shaft-equipped gear 11 and the connecting gear 20 are located outside the projection surface of the lower dial 5 when viewed from the upper surface direction. Therefore, since the contact base 19 with gear can be disposed on the upper surface side of the flexible printed circuit board 21, the electrode pattern 21b on the upper dial side and the electrode pattern 21a on the lower dial side can be disposed on the same surface on the upper surface side. It becomes possible. Thereby, it is not necessary to fold the flexible printed circuit board 21 and bring the electrode pattern down to the lower surface side, so that the flexible printed circuit board 21 can be reduced in size, and the cost can be reduced and the number of assembling steps can be reduced.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the upper dial 4 is held by the geared contact base 19 by rotating the geared contact base 19 via the shaft gear 11 and the connecting gear 20. The upper dial side contact piece 18 is rotated. Therefore, even if the rotation axis of the upper dial 4 that has been a transmission path for the rotation of the upper dial side contact piece 18 is divided by the lower dial 5, the distance between the two dial axes can be reduced. . In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2A, the rotation shaft 4c of the upper dial 4 is located in the projection surface of the lower dial 5 when viewed from the upper surface direction, and the rotation shaft of the lower dial 5 is the upper surface. Two dials are arranged so as to be located in the projection plane of the upper dial 4 when viewed from the direction. By doing so, the distance between the axes of the two dials is reduced to be equal to or smaller than the outer radius of the lower dial 5. As a result, the miniaturization of the two-stage dial unit 9 and the miniaturization of the digital camera 1 are realized.

  Next, a method of assembling with the positional relationship between the upper dial 4 and the upper dial side contact piece 18 fixed in the assembly process will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 4 is an assembly diagram of the two-stage dial unit 9. (A) is a sectional view in the middle of assembly, (b) is a bottom perspective view in the middle of assembly, (c) is a view in which the lower dial base 13 and the connecting gear 20 are removed, and (d) is in a completed state. It is a bottom perspective view.

  As shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the pressing portion 13a of the lower dial base 13 presses the flange portion 20a of the connecting gear 20, and the shaft-equipped gear 11 is located on the upper side of FIG. 4A. Has been pushed up. And the convex part 11d provided in the front-end | tip of the gear 11 with a shaft is inserted in the recessed part 4f formed in the inner side of the upper dial 4, and the rotation direction of the upper dial 4 is controlled. The concave portion 4f and the convex portion 11d constitute a first engaging member. Further, when the flange portion 20a of the connecting gear 20 is fitted into the concave portion 19b formed in the geared contact piece base 19 shown in FIG. 4C, the rotation of the geared contact piece base 19 is restricted, and the gear portion. The position is accurately determined by the meshing of 19a and the connecting gear 20. The recessed portion 19b and the flange portion 20a constitute a second engaging member. Since the contact base 19 with gear and the upper dial side contact piece 18 are positioned and fixed, the positional relationship between the upper dial 4 and the upper dial side contact piece 18 is fixed in a predetermined position by the above configuration. When the lower dial base 13 is rotated and slid in the direction of arrow D in FIG. 4D around the rotation axis of the lower dial 5, the pressing of the pressing portion 13a to the flange portion 20a is released. The inclined surface 13b of the lower dial base 13 is brought into contact with the flange portion 20a of the connecting gear 20, whereby the shaft gear 11 and the connecting gear 20 are moved to the completed state, that is, the position shown in FIG. At this time, the engagement between the convex portion 11d and the concave portion 4f and the engagement between the concave portion 19b and the flange portion 20a are released. By doing so, the upper dial 4 and the upper dial side contact piece 18 are in a predetermined position, and the upper dial 4 can be rotated.

  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.

4 Upper dial 4c Rotating shaft (first rotating shaft)
5 Lower dial 9 Two-stage dial unit (operation mechanism)
11 Gear with shaft (Transmission mechanism)
11b Shaft 16 Lower dial side contact piece (second conductive member)
17 Contact base (second contact base)
18 Upper dial side contact piece (first conductive member)
19 Contact base with gear (1st contact base)
21 Flexible printed circuit board
21a, 21b Electrode pattern

Claims (6)

A first operating means rotatable about a first rotation axis;
The first rotation axis is parallel to the first rotation axis and is rotatable about a different second rotation axis, and the first rotation axis is in a direction parallel to the first and second rotation axes. A second operating means disposed below the first operating means so as to be located in the projection plane;
A shaft portion located outside the projection surface of the second operating means in a direction parallel to the first and second rotation axes, and parallel to the first and second rotation axes; A transmission member that rotates in accordance with the rotation of the one operation means;
A first contact provided with a first conductive member for transmitting the rotation of the first operation means as an electrical signal while transmitting the rotation of the first operation means via the transmission member. With one unit,
A second contact stand comprising a second conductive member for transmitting the rotation of the second operating means as an electrical signal;
An operating mechanism comprising: an electrode pattern grounded by the first conductive member; and a substrate on which the electrode pattern grounded by the second conductive member is formed on the same surface.   2. The operation mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the second rotation shaft is located within a projection plane of the first operation means in a direction parallel to the first and second rotation shafts. . The transmission member is provided with a gear portion that is provided at a first end of the shaft portion and meshes with the first operation means,
The operating mechanism according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first operating means is formed with an internal gear that meshes with the gear portion.   The operation mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a support member that supports the first operation means and includes a bearing portion of the second operation means. . A connecting gear provided at the second end of the shaft portion;
A holding member located at a first position for pressing the connection gear in the assembled state of the operating mechanism, and a second position for holding the second operating means in the completed state;
A first engaging member that engages the first operating means and the transmission member so that the first operating means does not rotate when the holding member is located at the first position;
When the holding member is located at the first position, the first contact block and the connection gear are arranged so that the first contact block does not move according to the rotation of the first operation means. And a second engaging member for engaging
When the holding member moves from the first position to the second position, the first operating member and the transmission member are engaged by the first engaging member and the second engaging is performed. The operation mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the engagement between the first contact piece base and the connection gear by a member is released. An electronic device having a plurality of operation means capable of selecting any one of a plurality of operation setting groups by a rotation operation,
An electronic apparatus comprising the operation mechanism according to claim 1.