JP2019087951A - Imaging apparatus and control method - Google Patents

Abstract

To increase operable time of an imaging apparatus when power supply is performed from both of a battery and a USB.SOLUTION: The imaging apparatus, having a USB terminal, includes: determination means for determining power supply capacity of an external apparatus connected with the USB; change means for changing an operation prohibition voltage of the imaging apparatus used when the imaging apparatus is driven by power supply from both of a battery and the USB based on the determined power supply capacity.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to an imaging device capable of changing the operation inhibition voltage and a control method thereof.

  There are electronic devices in which a prohibited voltage is set. The prohibited voltage is a setting value indicating how much the battery capacity may be used when the battery is inserted into the device, and “The image pickup device may not complete the normal operation when the battery voltage falls below this value” voltage Set above.

  Apart from the above-described normal inhibit voltage, there are also devices that provide an operation inhibit voltage that is assumed and set in advance when a specific operation continues. This is set so that sufficient operation time can be maintained until the battery voltage reaches the normal inhibition voltage and the operation of the imaging device is stopped even when a specific operation is continuously operated for a long time. Therefore, the operation inhibition voltage is set to a voltage higher than the normal operation inhibition voltage.

  On the other hand, in recent years, a USB power feeding technology for supplying power for operating a device from a USB (Universal Serial Bus) has been known.

  Patent Document 1 describes a method of reducing the current consumption of a battery by operating some blocks of the device with the bus power when there is USB bus power and operating the other blocks with the battery.

  According to Patent Document 2, when both the battery and the external power supply are supplied simultaneously, the device is operated in the first operation mode with both power supplies when the battery remaining amount is sufficient, but the battery remaining amount is small. A method is described in which the device is operated in the second operation mode with only the external power supply when charging is performed, and the battery is charged.

JP, 2006-60497, A JP, 2013-110823, A

  There is a difference between the set values of the operation inhibition voltage and the normal inhibition voltage. Therefore, when viewed from the user, for example, "in-body development and direct printing can not be performed although still image shooting is possible" There is an inconvenient side when a condition such as "can't shoot with bulb" is generated.

  In the method described in Patent Document 1, since the prohibited voltage is not changed, when using a battery in a state where the specific operation can not be performed because the remaining amount is reduced, the device does not operate even if the USB is connected. .

  In the method described in Patent Document 2, the prohibited voltage is not changed even when supplied from both the battery and the external power supply, so the battery capacity may not be utilized to the full.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to make it possible to extend the operable time of the imaging device when power is supplied from both the battery and the USB.

  An imaging apparatus according to the present invention is an imaging apparatus having a USB terminal, wherein the imaging apparatus is a battery according to a determination unit that determines a power feeding capability of an external device connected by USB and the determined feeding capability. And changing means for changing the operation prohibiting voltage of the image pickup apparatus used when driven by power supply from both of USB.

  A control method according to the present invention is a control method of an imaging apparatus having a USB terminal, and the imaging apparatus according to the determination step of determining the feeding capability of an external device connected by USB, and the determined feeding capability. And changing the operation prohibiting voltage of the image pickup apparatus used when driving by power supply from both the battery and the USB.

  According to the present invention, when power is supplied from both the battery and the USB, the operable time of the imaging device can be extended.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram for explaining components of the imaging device 100 according to the first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a flowchart for describing a method of changing the operation prohibition voltage of the imaging device 100. FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating an example of the relationship between the residual amount of the battery 30, and an operation prohibition voltage change.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments.

Embodiment 1
FIG. 1 is a block diagram for explaining components of the imaging device 100 according to the first embodiment.

  The lens unit 150 can communicate with the imaging device 100 and can be removed from the imaging device 100. The communication terminal 6 is a communication terminal for the lens unit 150 to communicate with the imaging device 100, and the communication terminal 10 is a communication terminal for the imaging device 100 to communicate with the lens unit 150. The lens unit 150 communicates with the system control unit 50 via the communication terminals 6 and 10, and controls the diaphragm 1 via the diaphragm drive circuit 2 by the lens system control circuit 4 inside, and via the AF drive circuit 3 Focusing is performed by displacing the position of the lens 103.

  The AE sensor 17 measures the brightness of the subject passing through the lens unit 150. The focus detection unit 11 outputs the defocus amount information to the system control unit 50. The system control unit 50 controls the lens unit 150 based on that, and performs phase difference AF.

  The quick return mirror 12 (hereinafter, the mirror 12) is instructed from the system control unit 50 at the time of exposure, live view shooting, and moving image shooting, and is moved up and down by an actuator (not shown). The mirror 12 is a mirror for switching the light flux incident from the lens 103 between the finder 16 side and the imaging unit 22 side. The mirror 12 is normally arranged to reflect light so as to guide the light flux to the finder 16, but in the case where imaging is performed or in live view display, the light flux is guided upward to the imaging unit 22. Stand up from the light flux (mirror up). The mirror 12 is a half mirror so that a central portion of the mirror 12 can transmit a part of light, and transmits a part of the light flux so as to be incident on a focus detection unit 11 for focus detection.

  By observing the focusing screen 13 through the pentaprism 14 and the finder 16, the user can confirm the focus and composition of the optical image of the subject obtained through the lens unit 150.

  The shutter 101 is a focal plane shutter that can freely control the exposure time of the imaging unit 22 under the control of the system control unit 50. The imaging unit 22 is an imaging device configured of a CCD, a CMOS device, or the like that converts an optical image into an electrical signal. The A / D converter 23 converts an analog signal into a digital signal. The A / D converter 23 is used to convert an analog signal output from the imaging unit 22 into a digital signal.

  The image processing unit 24 performs predetermined pixel interpolation, resizing processing such as reduction, and color conversion processing on data from the A / D converter 23 or data from the memory control unit 15. Further, in the image processing unit 24, predetermined arithmetic processing is performed using captured image data, and the system control unit 50 performs exposure control and distance measurement control based on the obtained calculation result. As a result, TTL (through-the-lens) AF (auto focus) processing, AE (automatic exposure) processing, and EF (flash pre-emission) processing are performed. The image processing unit 24 further performs predetermined arithmetic processing using captured image data, and also performs TTL AWB (auto white balance) processing based on the obtained arithmetic result.

  Output data from the A / D converter 23 is directly written to the memory 32 through the image processing unit 24 and the memory control unit 15 or through the memory control unit 15. The memory 32 stores image data obtained by the imaging unit 22 and converted into digital data by the A / D converter 23, and image data to be displayed on the display unit 28. The memory 32 has a sufficient storage capacity to store a predetermined number of still images and moving images and sounds for a predetermined time.

  The memory 32 also serves as a memory (video memory) for displaying an image. The D / A converter 19 converts the image display data stored in the memory 32 into an analog signal and supplies the analog signal to the display unit 28. Thus, the display image data written in the memory 32 is displayed by the display unit 28 through the D / A converter 19. The display unit 28 performs display according to the analog signal from the D / A converter 19 on a display such as an LCD. As an electronic view finder, the digital signal once A / D converted by A / D converter 23 and stored in memory 32 is analog converted in D / A converter 19 and sequentially transferred to display unit 28 for display. It functions and can perform through image display (live view display).

  The in-finder liquid crystal display unit 41 displays, via the in-finder display unit drive circuit 42, a frame (AF frame) indicating the distance measuring point currently being autofocused, an icon indicating the setting state of the camera, etc. Be done. On the out-of-finder liquid crystal display unit 43, various setting values of the camera including the shutter speed and the aperture are displayed via the out-of-finder display unit drive circuit 44.

  The non-volatile memory 56 is an electrically erasable / recordable memory, and for example, an EEPROM or the like is used. In the non-volatile memory 56, constants, programs and the like for operation of the system control unit 50 are stored. The program referred to here is a program for executing various flowcharts described later in the first embodiment.

  The system control unit 50 controls each component of the imaging device 100. By executing the program stored in the non-volatile memory 56 described above, each process described later is realized. 52 is a system memory, and a RAM is used. In the system memory 52, constants and variables for the operation of the system control unit 50, programs read out from the non-volatile memory 56, etc. are expanded. The system control unit 50 also performs display control by controlling the memory 32, the D / A converter 19, the display unit 28, and the like. The system timer 53 is a clock unit that measures the time used for various controls and the time of the built-in clock.

  The mode changeover switch 60, the first shutter switch 62, the second shutter switch 64, and the operation unit 70 are operation means for inputting various operation instructions to the system control unit 50. The mode switching switch 60 switches the operation mode of the system control unit 50 to any one of a still image recording mode, a moving image imaging mode, a reproduction mode, and the like. As modes included in the still image recording mode, there are an auto imaging mode, an auto scene determination mode, a manual mode, an aperture priority mode (Av mode), and a shutter speed priority mode (Tv mode).

  Further, there are various scene modes, program AE modes, custom modes, and the like, which are imaging settings for each imaging scene. The mode switching switch 60 directly switches to any of these modes included in the menu button. Alternatively, after switching to the menu button once by the mode switching switch 60, another operation member may be used to switch to any of these modes included in the menu button. Similarly, a plurality of moving image capturing modes may be included.

  During the operation of the shutter button 61 provided in the imaging device 100, the first shutter switch 62 is turned on by a so-called half press (imaging preparation instruction) to generate a first shutter switch signal SW1. The first shutter switch signal SW1 starts operations such as AF (auto focus) processing, AE (automatic exposure) processing, AWB (auto white balance) processing, and EF (flash pre-emission) processing.

  The second shutter switch 64 is turned on by completion of the operation of the shutter button 61, that is, full-press (image capture instruction), and generates a second shutter switch signal SW2. The system control unit 50 starts a series of imaging processing operations from reading of the signal from the imaging unit 22 to writing of the image data to the recording medium 200 by the second shutter switch signal SW2.

  Each operation member of the operation unit 70 is appropriately assigned a function for each scene by selecting and operating various function icons displayed on the display unit 28, and functions as various function buttons. The function buttons include an end button, a back button, an image feed button, a jump button, a narrowing button, an attribute change button, and the like. For example, when the menu button is pressed, various settable menu screens are displayed on the display unit 28. The user can intuitively perform various settings using the menu screen displayed on the display unit 28 and the four-direction button or the SET button on the top, bottom, left, and right.

  The operation unit 70 is various operation members as an input unit that receives an operation from a user. The operation unit 70 includes at least the following operation units. Shutter button 61, main electronic dial 71, power switch 72, sub electronic dial 73, cross key 74, SET button 75, LV button 76, enlargement button 77, reduction button 78, reproduction button 79.

  The power supply control unit 80 includes a battery detection circuit, a DC-DC converter, a switch circuit for switching a block to be energized, etc., detects the presence or absence of connection of the battery 30, detects the type of the battery 30, and detects the remaining amount of the battery 30. I do. Further, the power control unit 80 controls the DC-DC converter based on the detection result and an instruction of the system control unit 50, and supplies necessary voltages to the respective units including the recording medium 200 for a necessary period. Control is also performed on the usage distribution of the power supplied from the USB (Universal Serial Bus) and the power supplied from the battery 30. The power supply control unit 80 controls USB power feeding and USB communication conforming to the USB standard (USB 2.0, USB 3.0, USB 3.1, USB Type-C, etc.).

  The USB terminal 90 can be connected to an external device conforming to the USB standard (USB 2.0, USB 3.0, USB 3.1, USB Type-C, etc.) via a USB cable, and is received from the external device via USB The power is supplied to the power control unit 80.

  The battery 30 is a rechargeable battery (for example, a lithium ion battery), and is removable from the imaging device 100. The recording medium I / F 18 is an interface with the recording medium 200 such as a memory card or a hard disk. The recording medium 200 is a recording medium such as a memory card for recording a captured image, and includes a semiconductor memory, a magnetic disk, and the like.

  The communication unit 54 is connected by a wireless or wired cable to transmit and receive video signals and audio signals. The communication unit 54 can also connect to a wireless LAN (Local Area Network) or the Internet. The communication unit 54 can transmit an image (including a through image) captured by the imaging unit 22 and an image recorded on the recording medium 200, and can receive image data and other various information from an external device. it can.

  The posture detection unit 55 detects the posture of the imaging device 100 with respect to the direction of gravity. Based on the posture detected by the posture detection unit 55, whether the image captured by the imaging unit 22 is an image captured by holding the imaging device 100 sideways or an image captured by holding the image capturing device 100 vertically It can be determined. The system control unit 50 can add orientation information according to the posture detected by the posture detection unit 55 to the image file of the image captured by the imaging unit 22, or can rotate and record the image. is there. As the posture detection unit 55, an acceleration sensor, a gyro sensor, or the like can be used.

  The eyepiece detection unit 26 detects whether the user is looking into the finder of the imaging device 100. The system control unit 50 switches the information displayed on the display unit 28 or switches the operation of the imaging apparatus 100 according to the detected result. A proximity sensor or the like can be used as the eyepiece detection unit 26.

  Next, a method of changing the operation prohibition voltage of the imaging device 100 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In the following, for simplification of the description, it is assumed that the power supply capacity of the USB is three patterns.

  After the imaging apparatus 100 is activated and USB can be used, it is detected whether or not the USB cable is connected (S201).

  When the connection of the USB cable is detected in S201, the imaging apparatus 100 and the external device communicate with each other via the USB to check the power supply capability of the USB (S202).

  It is determined whether or not the confirmed power supply capacity is equal to or more than a first predetermined value (S203). If it is equal to or more than a first predetermined value, the operation prohibited voltage when both battery 30 and USB are supplied with power is It changes to a setting value (S207).

  When the power feeding capacity is lower than the first predetermined value and equal to or higher than the second predetermined value (S204), the operation inhibition voltage is changed to the second set value (S206). At this time, the change amount of the set value is set so that the second set value is smaller than the first set value.

  If the power supply capacity is lower than the second predetermined value (S204), the operation inhibition voltage is not changed (S205).

  Next, with reference to FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C, an example of the relationship between the remaining amount of the battery 30 and the change of the operation inhibition voltage will be described. Hereinafter, a method of changing the operation inhibition voltage at the time of in-body development will be described.

  The bar graph represents the remaining capacity of the battery 30, and the black part of the bar graph represents the amount already used.

  FIG. 3A shows a state in which the inhibition voltage (first operation inhibition voltage) used when the imaging device 100 is operated with only the battery 30 is applied. The first operation inhibition voltage is set to a voltage higher than the normal inhibition voltage so as to ensure a sufficient operation time until the in-body development operates for a long time until the normal inhibition voltage is stopped. In this state, the user can not perform in-body development because the remaining amount of the battery 30 is lower than the operation inhibition voltage.

  When the USB cable is connected from this state, the power control unit 80 determines the power feeding capability of the external device by USB communication, and then transitions to the state of FIG. 3B or 3C according to the determination result.

  FIG. 3B shows a state where the operation inhibition voltage is applied when it is determined in S204 that the USB power feeding capability is lower than the first predetermined value and is equal to or higher than the second predetermined value. Since power is supplied from the USB in addition to the battery 30, the current consumption of the battery 30 is reduced, and the operation prohibiting voltage can be lowered. As a result, since the remaining capacity of the battery 30 becomes higher than the operation inhibition voltage, the user can perform in-body development.

  FIG. 3C shows a state where the operation inhibition voltage is applied when it is determined in S203 that the USB power supply capability is higher than the first predetermined value. Since the USB power supply capability is high, the operation prohibit voltage is further lowered than in FIG. 3 (b). From the viewpoint of the user, although in-body development can be performed, it is the same as FIG. 3B, but in-body development becomes possible even when the remaining amount of the battery 30 is reduced. In addition, since the supply capability of the USB is higher than that of FIG. 3B, the consumption of the battery 30 is reduced accordingly, and the operable time can be extended.

  In addition, since the output voltage of the battery 30 also fluctuates when the temperature changes (generally, the output voltage of the battery 30 decreases when the temperature decreases), the setting value of the operation inhibition voltage according to the temperature even if the power supply capability of the external device is the same. Correct the change amount.

  Also, it is not clear when the USB cable will be removed from the imaging device 100. For example, when the USB cable is suddenly detached by hooking a hand on the USB cable, the imaging device 100 may become inoperable. Therefore, in the first embodiment, the operation prohibit voltage is not changed even if the USB is connected for firmware upgrade in the operation of the imaging device 100, and the same setting value as that at the time of battery driving is used.

  As described above, when power is supplied from both the battery 30 and the USB, the remaining capacity of the battery 30 is reduced to a level that the battery 30 does not operate by lowering the operation prohibition voltage according to the supply capability of the USB. Even by connecting USB, operation becomes possible. Further, by connecting the USB, the current consumption from the battery 30 is reduced, and the operable time can be lengthened as compared with the case where the battery 30 is driven only.

30 battery 90 USB terminal 100 imaging device

Claims (8)

An imaging device having a USB terminal,
A determination unit that determines the power supply capability of the external device connected by USB;
And changing means for changing an operation prohibition voltage of the imaging device used when the imaging device is driven by power supply from both the battery and the USB according to the determined supply capability. Imaging device.   The imaging device according to claim 1, wherein the change of the operation prohibition voltage of the imaging device is changed only in a direction in which the voltage is lowered.   The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the change of the operation prohibiting voltage of the image pickup apparatus corrects the change amount according to a temperature. The operation inhibition voltage of the imaging device is a voltage for determining whether or not a specific operation is performed,
The imaging apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the specific operation is an operation other than the firmware upgrade. A control method of an imaging device having a USB terminal, comprising:
A determination step of determining the power supply capability of the external device connected by USB;
Changing the operation prohibiting voltage of the image pickup apparatus used when the image pickup apparatus is driven by power supply from both the battery and the USB according to the determined supply capability. Control method.   The control method according to claim 5, wherein the change of the operation prohibition voltage of the imaging device is changed only in the direction of lowering the voltage.   The control method according to claim 5, wherein the change of the operation prohibition voltage of the imaging device is corrected by the change amount according to the temperature. The operation inhibition voltage of the imaging device is a voltage for determining whether or not a specific operation is performed,
The control method according to any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein the specific operation is an operation other than the firmware upgrade.