JP2518975Y2 - Electronic imager - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic image pickup device, and more particularly to a structure of an electronic image pickup device such as an electronic still camera, and more particularly to a structure of an optical system structure.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An electronic still camera in which a thin magnetic disk having flexibility as a recording medium is removably mounted is known from Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-81093. Also, in recent years, a type of video camera, such as a pair of binoculars, which holds a camera body with both hands and performs photographing while looking through a finder is known from Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 62-2848.

[0003]

By the way, the electronic image pickup apparatus such as the electronic still camera described above has many mechanical parts and electronic parts to be built in, and inevitably has a drawback that its external shape becomes bulky. Therefore, there is a demand for downsizing of this type of device. However, in order to reduce the size of the apparatus, it is necessary to arrange the operation member at a position where the imaging operation can be easily performed and to arrange the main components in a well-balanced manner without hindering stable holding of the camera body. In other words, in order to miniaturize the device body and hold it stably, the shape of the exterior body forming the device body and the arrangement of the internal components housed in the exterior body, especially the taking lens, AF (autofocus) The arrangement of the optical system structure including the imaging optical system including the lens section, the zooming / diaphragm section, and the finder optical system including the finder eyepiece section restricts the location of the heavy internal components such as the power supply battery, and the electronic parts. However, since this also affects the size and number of boards on which this electronic component is mounted, it is necessary to consider other built-in components when mounting this electronic component. Also, in mounting this optical system structure, it is desirable that the optical system optical axis is properly regulated in the front, rear, left, right, and top in the exterior body forming the apparatus main body, and is easily incorporated.

The object of the present invention has been made in view of such a point, and when the electronic image pickup apparatus is downsized, the external shape of the apparatus is made into a flat rectangular parallelepiped shape. Another object of the present invention is to provide an electronic imaging device in which an optical system structure housed inside can be extremely easily and regularly incorporated at a predetermined position.

[0005]

The electronic image pickup device according to the present invention is an electronic image pickup device having a main body shape such as a flat and substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and the circumference of an optical system structure incorporated in the main body. It is characterized in that it is formed in a shape having two plane portions in which a part of the surfaces are orthogonal to each other.

[0006]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to the illustrated embodiments. FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention,
1 is an external perspective view of an electronic still camera as an electronic image pickup device to which the present invention is applied. FIG. 1 illustrates the electronic still camera as viewed from above on the rear side.

The overall shape of the main body 12 of the electronic still camera 11, that is, the shape of the exterior body has a dimension in the vertical (height) direction as compared with dimensions in the front-back (vertical) direction and the left-right (horizontal) direction. It is formed so as to have a short shape, that is, a flat, substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape with a reduced thickness dimension. Inside the camera body 12, an optical system structure to be described later is arranged so as to pass through a part slightly rightward from the center part in the front-rear direction, and the taking lens 13 of this optical system structure is exposed on the front surface of the camera. The finder eyepiece portion 14 is exposed and arranged at the position of the back surface opposed to this.

Further, in the above optical system structure, a cover for covering the upper part thereof is exposed on the upper surface of the camera body 12, and the exposed portion 15 is a finger-holding portion of the right finger for holding the camera body 12. That is, when the right edge of the camera body 12 is gripped by the right hand, the tip of the gripping finger applied to the upper surface of the camera body 12 reaches the exposed portion 15 sufficiently. The left and right upper surfaces of the exposing section 15 of the camera body 12 are
The inclined surfaces are respectively inclined toward the left and right side edge portions so that the user can easily hold them with both hands. A grip strap 16 is provided on the right edge of the camera body 12 to enable stable holding of the camera body 12 with only one hand when the camera body 12 is gripped with the right hand.

In the exposing section 15, a push button type release switch 17 is provided at a position closer to the rear than the middle thereof, and a slide type power switch 18 is provided behind the switch 17. When the right edge of the camera body 12 is gripped by the right hand, for example, the middle finger is located on the release switch 17 and the index finger is located on the power switch 18.

Further, on the inclined surface on the left side of the exposing section 15, push-button type zoom switches 19 and 20 are arranged in the front-rear direction at a position near the left edge portion.
The zoom switch 19 is a switch for zooming in the direction from wide to tele, and the zoom switch 20 is a switch for zooming in the direction from tele to wide. When the left edge of the camera body 12 is held by the left hand, for example, the middle switch and the index finger of the zoom switches 19 and 20 are respectively positioned.

Further, on the left side surface of the camera body 12, a magnetic disk package 28 which is a recording medium is mounted.
2, a slit-shaped insertion / removal opening (not shown) corresponding to an insertion / removal opening 36a (see FIG. 2) of the recording medium drive unit 36 to be described later is formed horizontally. The reason why the insertion opening is provided on the left side surface of the camera body 12 is that the camera body 12 is mainly held at the right edge as a grip portion. While holding the main body 12 with the right hand, the eject button (not shown) is pressed with the left hand without any hindrance to this state, and the magnetic disk package 28 loaded in the recording medium drive unit 36 is easily taken out. 28 can be easily loaded into the recording medium drive unit 36.

On the rear surface of the viewfinder eyepiece 14, a connector 21 is provided below the eyepiece 14 and is a connector insertion port closed by a shield plate 21a.
Electrically on / off of the connector 21 and the shield plate 21 on the right side
A connector switch 22 for simultaneously switching the opening and closing of a is provided. The connector 21 is for connecting the electronic still camera 11 to an external device (not shown) or the like. When the connector switch 22 is operated in the arrow direction, the shield plate 21a opens and the connector pin 21b (see FIG. 4) is exposed. It is like this.

Further, on the left side of the rear surface of the camera body 12, there are provided a display 23 composed of a liquid crystal plate and operation buttons 24 to 27 for mode switches such as a strobe switch, a drive switch, a self-timer switch and a buzzer switch. Has been done.

2 to 4 are views showing a mounting state of main internal components arranged in an in-plane direction along the planar spread of the flat shape by removing the exterior body of the electronic still camera. is there. 2 is a front view of the camera, FIG. 3 is a front view of FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is a rear top view similar to FIG.

The taking lens 13 and the viewfinder eyepiece 1
The optical system structure 30 having 4 at both ends has an AF unit 31, a zooming / diaphragm unit 32, and an eyepiece unit 14 integrally formed on the front surface, which is formed in a cylindrical shape and integrally has the taking lens 13 on the front surface. The finder sections 33 that it has are arranged in order, and are integrally connected as a predetermined functional block. This functional block corresponds to the AF unit 31.
Also, the finder section 33 is formed in a cylindrical shape having a relatively small diameter, and the middle zooming / diaphragm section 32 is the AF section 3 described above.
1 and the finder portion 33 are formed of a rectangular tubular body having a larger diameter. By forming the rectangular cylindrical body having the two plane portions orthogonal to a part of the peripheral surface of the optical system structure 30 as described above, when the optical system structure is mounted in the exterior body forming the apparatus main body, this corner is formed. Since the two planes orthogonal to each other of the cylindrical body serve as the positioning portions, the optical system optical axis is correctly regulated in the front, rear, left, right, and top, and the optical system structure can be easily incorporated at a predetermined position, and its regular position Easy to support. Further, there is a space around the AF portion 31 and the finder portion 33, which are formed in a cylindrical shape having a small diameter. An image pickup device such as a CCD (not shown) is a zooming / diaphragm unit 32.
It is arranged inside. On the other hand, when viewed from the user side (that is, the rear side of the camera as in the case where FIG. 1 is described), the strobe unit 34 having a light emitting window 34a on the front side is arranged to the left of the AF unit 31 having the taking lens 13. ing.
The flash unit 34 has a built-in flash drive circuit. A DC / DC converter 35, which is a power supply circuit unit, is disposed behind the strobe unit 34, and further,
Behind the DC / DC converter 35, a recording medium drive unit 36 for driving recording / reproduction of the magnetic disk in the magnetic disk package 28 (see FIG. 1).
Is arranged. That is, in the front-back direction parallel to the optical axis of the optical system structure 30, the strobe unit 34,
The DC / DC converter 35 and the recording medium drive unit 36 are arranged in this order. The strobe unit 34, the DC / DC converter 35, and the recording medium drive unit 36 are all surrounded by a shield member made of a thin iron plate or the like. The insertion / removal opening 36a of the recording medium drive unit 36 for loading the magnetic disk package 28 (see FIG. 1) in the front loading type has a grip of the camera so as to coincide with the insertion / removal opening (not shown) of the exterior body as described above. It is located on the left side edge portion farthest from the right side edge portion, which is the open side, and opens toward the left side surface where the package 28 is most easily taken in and out.

A battery housing portion 37 is provided on the side facing the recording medium drive unit 36 with the optical axis of the optical system structure 30 interposed therebetween. The accommodating portion 37 of the power source battery 38 skillfully includes a space portion formed around the finder portion 33, in other words, a space portion secured in the vicinity of the finder portion 33 formed to have a small diameter. The battery accommodating portion 37 has a lower end opening as a battery insertion port, and the power supply battery 38 is inserted and arranged in the battery accommodating portion 37 as indicated by an arrow. The power supply battery 38 has a large weight among the components built in the electronic still camera 11, but since the recording medium drive unit 36 is also a mechanical structure, it has a relatively large weight, and both are arranged in this manner. As a result, the left and right weights are balanced with the finder portion 33 of the optical system structure 30 interposed therebetween. Moreover, as is apparent from the correspondence between FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 and FIG.
The portion on which the recording medium drive unit 36 is arranged is the grip portion on the right side, and the portion on which the recording medium drive unit 36 is arranged is the grip portion on the left side. That is, since the heavy members are arranged in a well-balanced manner at the left and right grips of the rear portion of the camera body 12, the camera body 1
2 is easily gripped, and the posture when the camera body 12 is held by both hands is stable.

As described in the description of FIG. 1, the release switch 17 and the power switch 18 are located on the upper part of the exterior body where the gripping finger held by the right hand is applied. Zoom switch 1 on site
Since the switches 9 and 20 are located, the operability of these switches is also good. In other words, these switches are pressed on the upper surface of the exterior body, and a force is applied downward. However, since there is a heavy built-in body at the lower position, the force is lower than the force supporting this built-in body. For example, the force for operating the switches is much smaller, and the operation of these switches is stable. In particular, the zoom switches 19 and 20 are frequently operated while looking into the viewfinder eyepiece section 14, but the heavy recording medium drive unit 36 is located below the zoom switches 19 and 20. The force for operating the zoom switches 19 and 20 may be sufficiently smaller than the force for supporting the left edge of the camera body 12 with the left hand, so that the operability is good and the posture of the camera body 12 is stable. Is maintained, and the finder field of view becomes stable.

Regarding the balance in the front-rear direction, since the AF portion 31 and the zooming / diaphragm portion 32 of the optical system structure 30 located in the front portion of the camera are also relatively heavy due to the built-in components such as the lens group, the camera. The rear part is not extremely heavy.

The strobe unit 34, DC /
An electric circuit board 41 is horizontally arranged below the DC converter 35, the recording medium drive unit 36, and the optical system structure 30. A shield member (not shown) is provided on the upper surface of the electric circuit board 41. An electric circuit board 42 is arranged above the strobe unit 34, the DC / DC converter 35 and the recording medium drive unit 36 in parallel with the board 41. This electric circuit board 42
An adjusting member such as a trimmer condenser or a trimmer resistor, which is not shown, is disposed on the upper surface of the electronic still camera 11 so that electrical adjustment can be easily performed with the exterior body including the main body 12 of the electronic still camera 11 removed. ing. The AF unit 31 and the zooming / diaphragm unit 3 of the optical system structure 30 are also provided.
2 and the right side of the strobe unit 34 and DC / D
An electric circuit board 43 is vertically arranged at a position facing the right side surface of the C converter 35. This electric circuit board 43
Since an image pickup system circuit including a synchronization signal generation circuit is arranged in the electric circuit board, noise may be generated from this electric circuit board 43 to other electric circuits.
A flash unit 34, a DC / DC converter 35, and an electric circuit board 4 are vertically arranged inside the right edge of the camera body 12 and have other electric circuits.
1, 42 and the like are present with the optical system structure 30 separated from each other, and therefore have an arrangement structure in which other electric circuits are not affected by noise or the like as much as possible. Further, the electric circuit board 43 is placed in a box-shaped shield member (not shown) so as to prevent noise. The two electric circuit boards 41 and 42 arranged horizontally above and below are electrically connected to the strobe unit 34, the DC / DC converter 35, and the recording medium drive unit 36 by unillustrated connectors, and vertically. The arranged electric circuit board 43 is also the other electric circuit boards 41, 4 described above.
2 are electrically connected to each other by unillustrated connectors. The DC / DC converter 35 serves to convert the power supply voltage from the battery 38 into a supply voltage of a level suitable for each electric circuit.
The supply voltage from the DC / DC converter 35 is sent to each electric circuit. Since the DC / DC converter 35 is arranged between the strobe unit 34 and the recording medium drive unit 36, the power supply path from the DC / DC converter 35 to the strobe unit 34 and the recording medium drive unit 36 is the shortest. ing.
Further, the power supply path from the DC / DC converter 35 to the upper and lower electric circuit boards 41 and 42 is also shortened. Therefore, there is no problem such as power loss and noise generation in the power supply path. In addition, the wiring for power supply may be short, which leads to cost reduction.

[0020]

As described above, according to the present invention, in order to miniaturize the electronic image pickup device, the main body of the electronic image pickup device is formed into a flat rectangular parallelepiped shape. Therefore, it is easy to mount, the number of substrates is reduced, the cost can be reduced, and moreover, the two flat surface portions in which a part of the peripheral surface of the optical system structure mounted in the main body are orthogonal to each other. Since it is formed to have the above-mentioned shape, a remarkable effect that the work for arranging the optical system in the camera body and the supporting method is simplified can be obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention, and is an external perspective view of an electronic still camera as an electronic imaging device to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the electronic still camera shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the electronic still camera shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the electronic still camera shown in FIG. 1 in a state where an exterior body is removed.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 ……………… Electronic still camera (electronic imaging device) 12 ……………… Camera body 13 ………… Shooting lens (optical system structure) 14 ……………… Eyepiece (optical system structure) 30 ……………… Optical system structure 31 ……………… AF section (optical system structure) 32 ……………… Zooming / diaphragm section (optical system structure) 33 …………… Finder section (optical system structure)

Claims (1)

(57) [Scope of utility model registration request] 1. An electronic image pickup device having a main body shape such as a flat and substantially rectangular parallelepiped, wherein the peripheral surface of an optical system structure incorporated in the main body has a shape having two plane portions orthogonal to each other. An electronic imaging device characterized by being made.