JP2016085243A - Camera and accessory device of camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a small-sized attachment structure having high strength of an accessory device that is attached/removed to/from an accessory shoe and a connection connector installed side by side thereto.SOLUTION: An accessory device for mounting onto an accessory shoe having an engaging rail groove includes: an engaging member having a connection terminal section protruding in a direction orthogonal to the surface of the accessory shoe, a wall surface circumscribed about the accessory shoe at a front and a rear end surfaces in a groove direction, and an engaging pawl and advances and retreats in the rail groove in the groove direction; energization means for energizing the engaging member in a predetermined direction; and an operation member for performing operation to move the engaging member in other direction.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

  The present invention relates to an accessory device that is attached to and detached from an accessory shoe of a camera and a camera that includes the accessory shoe.

  Some cameras include an accessory shoe for attaching accessories such as an external flash. The accessory shoe may be provided with a synchro contact for controlling the light emission timing of the external flash and some contacts for exchanging other control signals.

  In recent years, various accessory devices for digital cameras have been proposed, but there are cases where the conventional accessory shoe lacks electrical contacts.

  For example, there is a proposal to reduce the size of the camera body by eliminating the viewfinder from the camera body and making the electronic viewfinder device detachable from the accessory shoe instead. Since it is necessary to transmit the monitor image of the subject from the camera body to the electronic viewfinder, a large number of contacts are required to transmit a particularly high-definition image. Conventionally, a video terminal provided at a location different from the accessory shoe is connected to the electronic viewfinder device using a cable.

  To eliminate the hassle of connecting cables as described above, an electronic viewfinder connection terminal is provided near the accessory shoe so that the connection terminal can be connected at the same time as the attachment to the accessory shoe. A camera system that can attach and detach the viewfinder has been proposed.

JP 2008-199318 A

  Patent Document 1 discloses a structure in which an external device (such as an electronic viewfinder device) is attached and detached in a direction perpendicular to the accessory shoe portion. It is described that a connector is arranged in the accessory shoe portion in the vertical direction, and the engagement protrusion of the external device is engaged and coupled with the rail of the accessory shoe along with the insertion / extraction.

  Now, the external device attached to the camera is expected to have a strength that allows the engagement with the camera body to be maintained without any problem with respect to the external force and impact at a level that is normally considered. In particular, a highly reliable mechanical coupling structure is required so as not to cause a failure in the connector portion of the electrical signal.

  According to the arrangement of the connector shown in Patent Document 1 above, the engagement of the external device with the camera body is only a protrusion elastically biased to the rail of the accessory shoe, so that by the external force applied to the external device, There is a concern that a strong bending force is applied to the connector.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a small and high-strength mounting structure for an accessory device that can be attached to and detached from an accessory shoe and a connection connector provided therewith.

  In order to achieve the above object, an accessory device for a camera according to the present invention is attached to an accessory shoe having an engaging rail groove, and protrudes in a direction perpendicular to the engaging rail surface. A wall surface circumscribing at the end surface, an engaging member having an engaging claw and moving forward and backward in the groove direction in the rail groove, an urging means for urging the engaging member in a predetermined direction, and an operation for moving the engaging member in the other direction And an operation member to be performed.

  In particular, the operation member is movable in a direction orthogonal to the advancing / retreating direction of the engaging member, has a cam shape for engaging the engaging member, and switches the component force direction of the urging force by the urging means according to the cam shape. A bending point is provided, and the direction in which the operating member is biased and held is switched at the boundary of the bending point, and the forward / backward position of the engaging member is switched.

  Alternatively, it includes first and second engaging members that have engaging claws that move forward and backward in the groove direction in the rail groove, and the first and second engaging members are attached in a direction in which the interval between the engaging claws is narrowed. An operation member is provided that is energized by the energizing means and moves in a direction in which the interval between the engaging claws is increased.

  In particular, the operation member is movable in a direction perpendicular to the advancing and retreating direction of the engaging member, has an inclined portion that is in sliding contact with each of the first and second engaging members, and is biased in one direction by the reaction force of the sliding contact portion. It is characterized by being.

  The interval between the engaging claws is larger than the length of the accessory shoe by operating the operating member, and is smaller than the length of the accessory shoe when the operating member is not operated.

  According to the present invention, a small and high-strength mounting structure can be realized with respect to an accessory device mounting structure that uses both an accessory shoe and a connection connector.

  In particular, in a structure in which the connector is arranged in the vertical direction of the accessory shoe and the accessory device is attached and detached in the vertical direction, a highly reliable machine that does not cause a failure in the connector portion while using the conventional accessory shoe. A static coupling structure is realized.

1 is an external view of a digital camera and a viewfinder device according to a first embodiment. It is a block diagram of a digital camera and a finder device in the first embodiment. It is an external view of the finder apparatus attachment part in 1st embodiment. It is an external view explaining the attachment method of an accessory. It is sectional drawing of the digital camera explaining arrangement | positioning of a connection connector. It is an external view of the finder apparatus in 1st embodiment. It is a disassembled perspective view of the finder apparatus in 1st embodiment. It is sectional drawing of the finder apparatus in 1st embodiment. It is a figure explaining operation | movement of the locking mechanism of the finder apparatus in 1st embodiment. It is a figure explaining the attachment state of the finder apparatus in 1st embodiment. It is a side view explaining the attachment state of the finder apparatus in 1st embodiment. It is an external view of the digital camera and finder apparatus in 2nd embodiment. It is an external view of the finder apparatus attachment part in 2nd embodiment. It is an external view of the finder apparatus in 2nd embodiment. It is a disassembled perspective view of the finder apparatus in 2nd embodiment. It is sectional drawing of the finder apparatus in 2nd embodiment. It is a figure explaining operation | movement of the locking mechanism of the finder apparatus in 2nd embodiment. It is a figure explaining the attachment state of the finder apparatus in 2nd embodiment. It is a side view explaining the attachment state of the finder apparatus in 2nd embodiment.

  DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

<First Embodiment>
FIG. 1 shows the external appearance of a digital camera 100 and a detachable electronic viewfinder device 101 (hereinafter referred to as a finder device 101) described later in the present embodiment.

  The digital camera 100 shown in the present embodiment is an interchangeable lens camera in which a lens 201 can be attached and detached, and FIG. 1 shows a state in which the lens 201 is attached. FIG. 1A is a bird's-eye view from the front, and shows the state in which the viewfinder device 101 is mounted on the digital camera 100. FIG. 1B is an overhead view from the back, and the viewfinder device 101 is separated from the digital camera 100. As will be described later, the finder device 201 can adjust the tilt angle of the eyepiece tube portion by a hinge mechanism, and can be tilted and used as desired as shown in FIG. 1A.

  In addition, the finder device 101 performs electrical connection by connecting the connection connector 221B of the finder device 101 to the connection connector 221A on the digital camera 100 main body side.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the system configuration of the digital camera 100 and the viewfinder device 101. The configuration of the digital camera 100 and the viewfinder device 101 will be described with reference to FIGS.

  The digital camera 100 according to the present embodiment enters a shooting standby state when the power button 212 is operated to turn on the power. First, a subject optical image that has passed through the lens 201 is converted into an electrical signal (imaging signal) by the imaging element 203 and sent to the image processing unit 204. The shutter 202 adjusts the exposure time of the image sensor 203 by opening and closing the shielding curtain, but the shutter 202 is opened in the shooting standby state. The image processing unit 204 performs predetermined development processing on the imaging signal and sends it to the monitor signal generation unit 205.

  The monitor signal generated by the monitor signal generation unit 205 is transmitted to the monitor image generation unit 207 of the digital camera 100 main body and the monitor image generation unit 208 of the viewfinder device 101. Monitor image generation units 207 and 208 convert the monitor signal and generate signals that can be displayed on the LCDs 210 and 211, respectively. By the operation of the changeover switch 209 by the user, either the LCD 210 of the digital camera 100 main body or the LCD 211 of the viewfinder device 101 is selectively driven to display an image.

  When the viewfinder device 101 is not attached to the digital camera 100 as shown in FIG. 1B, the LCD 210 of the digital camera 100 body is driven to display an image regardless of the operation of the changeover switch 209.

  On the other hand, in parallel with the series of operations described above, the focus driving unit 214 is feedback-controlled by the TVAF method, and the focused state is maintained with respect to the subject.

  In this way, the display image on the LCD 210 or 211 is updated at a predetermined interval, so that the user can observe the subject image.

  When the user operates the release button 213 in the shooting standby state, the digital camera 100 executes a still image shooting operation.

  When the release button 213 is turned on, the focus driving unit 214 is driven to fix the lens at the in-focus position, and the exposure is determined by measuring the brightness of the subject. Next, the shutter 202 is closed. After resetting the image sensor 203, the shutter 202 is opened to start exposure of the image sensor 203. After a predetermined time, the shutter 202 is closed again to complete the exposure. In this way, the subject image is picked up as a still image by the image pickup device 203 and sent to the image processing unit 204 as an image pickup signal.

  The time for which the shutter 202 is opened is a value calculated by the automatic exposure by the control unit 215 or a value selected by a user operation. The image processing unit 204 converts the image pickup signal into a predetermined still image file format such as JPEG, and records it in the memory card 217 via the memory control unit 216.

  Further, the imaging signal is sent to the monitor signal generation unit 205 and finally displayed as a still image on the LCD 210 or 211 as described above. After confirming the photographing result, the display on the LCD 210 or 211 is reset after a predetermined time or by the user's operation, and the above-described photographing standby state is set.

  The control unit 215 controls the operation of each unit of the digital camera 100, but also communicates with the control unit 218 of the finder device 101 via the connection connector 221 to issue a necessary command. The power control unit 219 supplies power to each part of the digital camera 100 and also supplies power to the finder device 101 through the connection connector 221. The power control unit 220 of the finder apparatus 101 performs power management of each part of the finder apparatus 101.

  The digital camera 100 includes an accessory shoe 222 as well as a connection connector 221 for detachably connecting the finder device 101.

  FIG. 3 shows a viewfinder device 101 mounting portion of the digital camera 100. The viewfinder device 101 mounting portion is composed of an accessory shoe 222 and a connection connector 221A.

  The accessory shoe 222 includes a shoe fitting 301 that forms a pair of rail shapes for engaging an accessory such as a flash device. In addition, a sync contact 302 for communicating when the flash device is mounted and a control terminal 303 for exchanging other control signals are arranged, and each is connected to the control unit 215 of the digital camera 100.

  The shoe fitting 301 is formed by bending a sheet metal to form a rail shape so as to face each other, and has an open end of the rail on the front and rear surface side in the digital camera 100. On the front side of the digital camera 100, there are provided a locking piece 304 for restricting the attachment position of the accessory and an exterior 305 for forming the appearance surface. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the accessory is inserted into the rail of the shoe fitting 301 from the rear surface side to the front side of the digital camera 100. The insertion depth of the accessory is regulated by the locking piece 304. In the case of the flash device, the sync contact 302 and the control contact 303 are electrically connected to a corresponding terminal (not shown) on the accessory side and can be used at the insertion end.

  Further, an engaging portion 306 that engages a finder device 101 described later is provided on the front side of the accessory shoe 222 (FIG. 3).

  FIG. 5 shows a cross-sectional view of the digital camera 100, and the arrangement of the connection connectors 221A will be described. FIG. 5 shows a state in which the lens 201 is removed from the digital camera 100 main body.

  The connection connector 221 </ b> A is arranged with its opening facing the upper surface of the digital camera 100. The accessory shoe 222 is disposed immediately above the main frame 502 that holds the lens mount 501 and the image sensor 203 and is fixed to the main frame 502 by fastening means (not shown). The connector 221 </ b> A is mounted on the small board 504 and is disposed together with the main board 503 between the image sensor 203 and the LCD 210. That is, the connection connector 221 </ b> A is arranged on the rear side of the accessory shoe 222. The connection connector 221A is connected to the main board 503 through a small board 504 using a flexible board (not shown).

  In particular, the opening surface of the connection connector 221 </ b> A is disposed so as to be lower than the contact surface 505 of the accessory shoe 222. In FIG. 5, a surface height difference is provided as indicated by H. Accordingly, a sufficient clearance is provided at the time of attachment / detachment operation of the accessory as shown in FIG. 4, and the occurrence of a failure in the connection connector 221 </ b> A caused by an impact or stress such as a collision of the accessory is avoided.

  FIG. 6 shows the appearance of the viewfinder device 101. 6A and 6B are overhead views of the front and rear of the finder device 101, respectively. The viewfinder device 101 has a structure in which an attachment base 601 for attachment to the digital camera 100 and a lens barrel 602 containing an eyepiece optical system including the LCD 211 are connected via a hinge mechanism 608. That is, for example, the lens barrel 602 can be used by tilting it at a desired angle in the range of 0 ° to 90 °.

  6C and 6D are overhead views of the lower surface of the mounting base 601, that is, the bonding surface with the digital camera 100. The attachment base 601 is provided with a lock mechanism (to be described later) for engaging and fixing the finder device 101 to the accessory shoe 222, and a connection connector 221B that can be electrically connected to the connection connector 221A. The connection connector 221B protrudes downward from the attachment base 601. On the other hand, the connection connector 221A of the digital camera 100 main body opens upward. In other words, the viewfinder device 101 is to attach the connecting connector 221 to the upper surface of the digital camera 100 from the vertical direction.

  The engagement claws 603 that engage with the accessory shoe 222 appear and disappear from the attachment base 601 at four locations in accordance with the operation of the operation knobs 604 and 605. FIG. 6C shows a state in which the engaging claw 603 is immersed, and this is a lock mechanism retracted state (hereinafter, unlocked state) in which the viewfinder device 101 can be detached from the digital camera 100. On the other hand, FIG. 6D shows a state in which the engaging claw 603 is extended, which is a locked state (hereinafter, a locked state) in which the finder device 101 is engaged with the digital camera 100 with the engaging claw 603. The unlocked state and the locked state will be described later with reference to FIGS.

  Further, a positioning pin 606 for determining the position of the attachment base 601 with respect to the accessory shoe 222 and a shoe fitting 301 contact surface 607 described later are provided.

  Now, the detailed structure of the mounting base 601 will be described. FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of the mounting base 601. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the mounting base 601 similarly.

  The engaging claw 603 is a sheet metal part including a spring receiving surface 701 with which the biasing spring 703 abuts and a sliding surface 702 of the operation plate 704. A sliding pin 705 is erected on the sliding surface 702, while a cam groove 706 corresponding to the sliding pin 705 is provided on the operation plate 704. Operation knobs 604 and 605 are screwed to both ends of the operation plate 704. The other end of the urging spring 703 comes into contact with a rib 710 erected on the lower case 707, so that the engaging claw 603 is urged in the immersion direction with respect to the lower case 707 as shown in FIG. 8. Further, the engaging claw 603 is slidably held by the lower case 707 and the spacer 709. The connection connector 221 </ b> B is mounted on a flexible substrate and is held by the lower case 707 via a flexible holding member 711. Finally, the attachment mechanism 601 is configured by fixing the hinge mechanism 608 and the upper case 708 to the lower case 707 with screws.

  FIG. 9 is a view for explaining the operation of the lock mechanism. FIG. 9 shows the relationship between the engaging claw 603 and the operation plate 704 when the attachment base 601 is viewed from above. The upper side of FIG. 9 is the front side of the digital camera 100. Hereinafter, the operation of the locking mechanism will be described. 9A shows the unlocked state as in FIG. 6C, and FIG. 9C shows the locked state as in FIG. 6D. FIG. 9B shows the state of the switching point between the unlocked state and the locked state. Note that the operation plate 704 is restricted from moving in the vertical direction or the vertical direction in FIG. 9 by a guide rib provided on the lower case 707. That is, only movement in the left-right direction in FIG. 9 is possible. The guide ribs are omitted for the sake of simplicity.

  In FIG. 9A, the operation plate 704 is at the right end position of the operating range. Therefore, the operation knob 605 is immersed, and the other operation knob 604 is in a state of protruding. Since the engaging claw 603 is urged by the urging spring 703 in the immersion direction, that is, in the downward direction as viewed in FIG. 9, the component force of the sliding pin 705 slidingly contacting the cam groove 706 The position of the operation plate 704 is biased in the right direction and held.

  Next, when the operation knob 604 is pushed in against the sliding contact force of the sliding pin 705, the engaging claw 603 moves forward along the cam groove 706. At the switching point in FIG. 9B, the engaging claw 603 is in the most advanced position, and therefore the biasing spring 703 is in maximum compression. When the operation knob 604 is pushed beyond the switching point, the engagement claw 603 is slightly retracted following the cam groove 706 shape, and the sliding contact force of the sliding pin 705 biases the operation plate 704 leftward. To change. Until the switching point is exceeded, an urging force acts on the operation plate 704 in the right direction. Therefore, when the pushing operation of the operation knob 604 is stopped halfway, the operation plate 704 returns to the unlock position in FIG. 9A.

  When the switching point is exceeded, the operation plate 704 reaches the lock position shown in FIG. 9C by the urging force, and the position of the operation plate 704 is urged to the left and held by the sliding contact force of the sliding pin 705. At this time, the operation knob 605 protrudes and the other operation knob 604 is immersed. In this way, the locking operation is completed.

  Conversely, when the operation knob 605 is pushed against the sliding contact force of the sliding pin 705 from the locked state of FIG. 9C and the switching point in FIG. 9B is exceeded, the sliding contact force of the sliding pin 705 is changed to the operation plate 704. The operation plate 704 automatically returns to the unlock position in FIG. 9A. This is an unlock operation.

  FIGS. 10 and 11 are diagrams for explaining a state in which the mounting base 601 and the accessory shoe 222 are joined together. 10A and 11A are in the same unlocked state as shown in FIGS. 6C and 9A. On the other hand, FIGS. 10B and 11B show the same locked state as that shown in FIGS. 6D and 9C.

  As shown in FIG. 10A, when the locking mechanism is in the unlocked state, the engaging claw 603 is retracted from the shoe fitting 301 and the engaging portion 306, and the finder device 101 can be attached and detached in the vertical direction. When the finder device 101 is mounted, the connection connectors 221A and 221B can be engaged in the vertical direction as shown in FIG. 11A, and the contact surface 607 contacts the front and rear end surfaces of the shoe fitting 301. When the above-described locking operation is performed in a state where the top surface of the shoe metal fitting 301 is in contact with the lower surface 609 of the lower case 707, the locked state is obtained as shown in FIGS. 10B and 11B. The engagement claws 603 protruding from the lower case 707 engage with the engagement portion 306 provided on the rear end portion of the shoe fitting 301 and the exterior 305 at four positions to form a locked state.

  As shown in FIG. 11B, the finder device 101 is firmly fixed to the accessory shoe 222 by the contact surfaces 607 that are in contact with the front and rear end surfaces of the shoe fitting 301 and the four engaging portions, so that the connection connector 221 is stressed. And high reliability can be obtained.

<Second Embodiment>
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 12 shows the external appearance of a digital camera 1200 and a detachable electronic viewfinder device 1201 (hereinafter referred to as a viewfinder device 1201) in the present embodiment. FIG. 12A is a bird's-eye view from the front, and is a view showing a state where the viewfinder device 1201 is mounted on the digital camera 1200. FIG. 12B is an overhead view from the back, and the viewfinder device 1201 is separated from the digital camera 1200. As in the first embodiment, the viewfinder device 1201 performs electrical connection by connecting the connection connector 221B to the connection connector 221A.

  The digital camera 1200 and the viewfinder device 1201 shown in the present embodiment are different from the digital camera 100 and the viewfinder device 101 described in the first embodiment in the structure of the mounting portion. Since the main configuration is the same as that of the first embodiment, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted here. In particular, since the system configuration is the same as that of the first embodiment, the following description will be given with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 13 shows a viewfinder device 1201 mounting portion of the digital camera 1200. As in the first embodiment, the viewfinder device 1201 mounting portion is composed of an accessory shoe 1202 and a connection connector 221A.

  The accessory shoe 1202 includes a shoe fitting 1301 having a pair of rail shapes for engaging the accessory. Further, a sync contact 302 for supplying power to the attached accessory and a control terminal 303 for exchanging control signals are arranged, and are connected to the power control unit 219 and the control unit 215 of the digital camera 1200, respectively.

  The shoe fitting 301 is formed by bending a sheet metal to form a rail shape so as to face each other, and has an open end of the rail on the front and rear surface side in the digital camera 1200.

  The accessory is inserted into the shoe fitting 1301 from the rear surface side of the digital camera 1200, as in FIG. The accessory is inserted until it abuts against the rear end of the shoe fitting 1301, and at the insertion position, the sync contact 302 and the control terminal 303 are electrically connected to a corresponding terminal (not shown) on the accessory side, and the accessory can be used.

  As shown in FIG. 13, the front side of the shoe fitting 1301 is open without providing a wall. Further, a connection connector 221A is arranged behind the accessory shoe 1202 as in the first embodiment. Further, as shown in FIG. 13, the opening surface of the connection connector 221 </ b> A is arranged with a height difference H with respect to the contact surface of the accessory shoe 1202.

  FIG. 14 shows the appearance of the viewfinder device 1201. 14A and 14B are overhead views of the front and rear of the viewfinder device 1201, respectively. The viewfinder device 1201 has a structure in which an attachment base 1401 for attachment to a digital camera 1200 and a lens barrel 1402 containing an eyepiece optical system including an LCD 211 are connected via a hinge mechanism 1403.

  14C and 14D are overhead views of the bottom surface of the mounting base 1401, that is, the joint surface with the digital camera 1200. The attachment base 1401 is provided with a lock mechanism (to be described later) for engaging and fixing the finder device 1201 to the accessory shoe 1202 and a connection connector 221B that can be electrically connected to the connection connector 221A. Similar to the first embodiment, the viewfinder device 1201 is configured to attach the connection connectors 221A and 221B to the upper surface of the digital camera 1200 from the vertical direction.

  The engaging claws 1404 and 1410 engaged with the shoe fitting 1301 are moved in parallel to the lower surface 1406 of the mounting base 1401 in the directions described later by operating the operation knob 1405. FIG. 14C shows a steady state in which the operation knob 1405 is not operated. At this time, the engaging claws 1404 and 1410 are in a position where they are engaged with the shoe fitting 1301 (hereinafter referred to as a locked state). FIG. 14D shows a state where the engagement claws 1404 and 1410 are moved and the engagement with the shoe fitting 1301 is released by operating the operation knob 1405 (hereinafter, “unlocked state”).

  Further, positioning pins 1407 and 1408 for determining the position of the mounting base 1401 and a contact surface 1409 to a shoe fitting 1301 described later are provided.

  Details of the structure of the mounting base 1401 will be described. FIG. 15A is an exploded perspective view of the mounting base 1401. FIG. 15B is a perspective view showing a configuration of the engaging claw portion. FIG. 16 is a sectional view of the mounting base 1401.

  One end of the biasing spring 1501 is in contact with the spring receiving surface 1502 of the engaging claw 1404, and the other end is in contact with the spring receiving surface 1503 of the engaging claw 1410. The engaging claws 1404 and 1410 are arranged so as to overlap each other as shown in FIG. 15B, and are biased in the direction in which the distance L of the engaging portion engaged with the shoe fitting 1301 is narrowed by the biasing spring 1501 interposed. ing. The engaging claw 1410 is provided with a sliding surface 1505 on which the operation plate 1504 slides, and a sliding pin 1506 is erected on the sliding surface 1505. On the other hand, the operation plate 1504 is provided with a cam groove 1507 corresponding to the sliding pin 1506. An operation knob 1405 is screwed to one end of the operation plate 1504.

  As shown in FIG. 16, the engaging claws 1404 and 1410 are slidably held by the lower case 1509 and the spacer 1511. Further, by the spring force of the biasing spring 1501, the engaging claws 1404 and 1410 are held at positions where the spring receiving surface 1502 and the standing bent surface 1508 are in contact with the ribs 1510 erected on the lower case 1509, respectively. This is the state of the engaging claws 1404 and 1410 in the locked state shown in FIG. 14C.

  As in the first embodiment, the connection connector 221 </ b> B is mounted on a flexible substrate and is held by the lower case 1509 via the flexible holding member 711. Finally, the hinge mechanism 1403 and the upper case 1512 are fixed to the lower case 1509 with screws, and the mounting base 1401 is configured.

  FIG. 17 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the lock mechanism. FIG. 17 shows the relationship between the engaging claws 1404 and 1410 and the operation plate 1504 when the attachment base 1401 is viewed from above. The upper side of FIG. 18 is the front side of the digital camera 1200. Hereinafter, the operation of the locking mechanism will be described. As in the first embodiment, the operation plate 1504 can only be moved in the left-right direction in FIG. 17 by a guide rib provided on the lower case 1509. The guide ribs are omitted for the sake of simplicity.

  FIG. 17A shows the locked state as in FIGS. 14C and 16. FIG. 17B shows the unlocked state as in FIG. 14D. In FIG. 17A, the operation plate 1504 is at the right end position of the operating range, and the operation knob 1405 is protruding from the case. The engaging claws 1404 and 1410 are urged by the urging spring 1501 in the direction in which the distance L of the engaging portion is reduced, and as described above, the engaging claws 1404 and 1410 are in the locked position in contact with the rib 1510 and are engaged. The distance between the parts is L1. At this time, the operation plate 1504 is urged and held in the right direction by the component force of the sliding pin 1506 slidably contacting the cam groove 1507 and the spring force of the urging spring 1513.

  Next, when the operation knob 1405 is pushed in, the sliding pin 1506 follows the cam groove 1507, and the engaging claw 1410 is moved in the direction in which the distance L increases against the spring force of the urging spring 1501, that is, in FIG. Move in the direction. At the same time, the wedge-shaped portion 1701 provided on the operation plate 1504 pushes up the spring receiving surface 1502, and the engagement claw 1404 is opposed to the spring force of the urging spring 1501 in the direction in which the distance L increases, that is, upward in FIG. Move to.

  FIG. 17B shows a state in which the operation knob 1405 is fully pushed. At this time, the distance L of the engaging portion is the maximum L2, and the biasing springs 1501 and 1513 are both in the maximum compression state. This state is an unlocked state and is held while the operation knob 1405 is continuously pushed. When the finger is released from the operation knob 1405, the operation plate 1504 is pushed back to the locked position shown in FIG. 17A by the spring force of the biasing spring 1513 and the sliding contact force of the sliding pin 1506 and the wedge-shaped portion 1701. That is, unless the operation knob 1405 is operated, the locked state shown in FIG.

  FIG. 18 and FIG. 19 are diagrams for explaining a state where the mounting base 1401 and the shoe fitting 1301 described above are engaged. FIG. 18A shows the same locked state as that shown in FIGS. 14C and 17A. On the other hand, FIG. 18B shows the same unlocked state as that shown in FIGS. 14D and 17B.

  When the operation knob 1405 is pushed in, the engaging claws 1404 and 1410 move as described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 18B, the distance L2 is wider than the length Lk of the shoe fitting 1301 in the rail direction, and thus the attachment base 1401 can be attached to and detached from the shoe fitting 1301 in the vertical direction.

  A procedure for mounting the viewfinder device 1201 will be described. With the operation knob 1405 pushed in, the attachment base 1401 is placed on the shoe fitting 1301 while the connecting connectors 221A and 221B are engaged in the vertical direction as shown in FIG. In a state where the top surface of the shoe metal fitting 1301 and the lower surface 1406 of the lower case 1509 are in contact, the contact surface 1409 also makes contact with the front and rear end faces of the shoe metal fitting 1301. When the finger is released from the operation knob 1405 in this state, the engaging claws 1404 and 1410 are moved to the locked position as described in FIG. 17A, and the engaging claws 1404 and 1410 are engaged with the shoe fitting 1301 as shown in FIG. 18A. To do. That is, the distance L1 between the engaging portions is narrower than the length Lk of the shoe fitting.

  In order to remove the viewfinder device 1201, the shoe knob 1301 may be pulled out in the vertical direction while the operation knob 1405 is pushed in.

  As described above, the finder device 101 is firmly fixed to the shoe fitting 1301 by the contact surface 1409 that contacts the front and rear end surfaces of the shoe fitting 1301, the lower case lower surface 1406, and the engagement claws 1404 and 1410 described above. The connection connector 221 is not stressed and high reliability can be obtained.

  It should be noted that the mounting structure described in the first and second embodiments is not limited to the viewfinder devices 101 and 1201, but can be applied to various attachment / detachment devices such as an external microphone device and a wireless communication device. is there.

100, 1200 digital camera, 101, 1201 finder device,
101, 221 connector, 222, 1202 accessory shoe,
301,1301 shoe fittings, 301,603,1404,1410 engaging claws,
603, 604, 605, 1405 Operation knob

Claims (4)

An accessory device to be attached to an accessory shoe having an engaging rail groove,
A connection terminal portion protruding in a direction perpendicular to the engagement rail surface of the accessory shoe,
A wall surface circumscribing the accessory shoe at the front and rear end surfaces in the groove direction;
An engaging member having an engaging claw and moving forward and backward in the groove direction in the rail groove;
Biasing means for biasing the engaging member in a predetermined direction;
An operation member for performing an operation of moving the engagement member in the other direction;
A camera accessory device comprising: The operating member is
It is movable in a direction perpendicular to the advancing / retreating direction of the engaging member,
A cam shape for engaging the engaging member;
The cam shape has a bending point for switching the direction of component force of the urging force by the urging means,
While switching the direction of urging and holding the operating member at the bending point,
The accessory device according to claim 1, wherein the advance / retreat position of the engagement member is switched. First and second engaging members that have engaging claws and advance and retract in the rail groove direction in the rail groove;
Biasing means for biasing the first second engagement member in a direction in which the interval between the engagement claws is narrowed;
An operating member that is interposed between the first and second engaging members and moves in a direction in which the interval between the engaging claws widens;
The operation member is movable in a direction perpendicular to the advancing / retreating direction of the engagement member,
Each having a slope portion in sliding contact with the first second engaging member;
It is urged in one direction by the reaction force of the sliding contact part,
The interval between the engagement claws becomes wider than the length of the accessory shoe by the operation of the operation member,
The accessory device according to claim 1, wherein the accessory device is narrower than a length of the accessory shoe when the operation member is not operated. A camera body to which the accessory device according to any one of claims 1 to 3 is attached and detached,
The connection terminal portion is on the back side of the accessory shoe,
And the opening surface was formed in the position lower than the groove bottom face of the said rail groove | channel.