JP2604583C - - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [Industrial application field] The present invention relates to a camera provided with a display device that externally displays an instruction or a warning of each operation when handling the camera. [Background of the Invention] Recent small-sized cameras are capable of performing a complicated shooting process sequence safely and reliably by a simple operation of a user by diversifying control by mounting a microcomputer and the like in addition to sophistication of a mechanism. Has become. In a camera with such advanced functions, in a case where the camera is not enough to perform its function, for example, when the power supply capacity is insufficient, or when film loading is incomplete, a subsequent sequence is performed. The operation is automatically stopped, but the replacement of the power supply or the reloading of the power to perform the sequence again is an operation which must be performed by the user. Therefore, in such a camera, an alarm device is provided at an appropriate place outside the camera, and in the case where the above-described conditions are inadequate, improper handling, etc., it is attempted to issue a warning to the user and take appropriate measures. However, for beginners, it may be confusing to judge what action the warning means specifically, so it is desirable to go one step further along with the warning and to visually display the method of the action. It is rare. It is not convenient to disperse and arrange such warnings and displays outside the camera, and it is convenient for handling that the warnings and displays are concentrated and displayed at a specified place. [Problems to be Solved by the Invention] From such a demand, the present invention installs a display (display) unit using a liquid crystal panel or the like in a specific portion outside the camera, and controls various types of the above-described display panel on the display panel under the control of a microcomputer. A camera that can visually display the warning, operation, treatment, and other information such as the number of shots, the number of shots, and the range of flash photography that can be performed. Even those who are unfamiliar with the operation of the camera can operate according to the display. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a camera that can be operated more correctly. [Means for Solving the Problems] The object is to provide a plurality of operation members, which are provided at predetermined positions on the camera outer shape and require an operator's operation, in one form in which the outer shape of the camera is shown in a schematic pattern. In the outline shape, while showing in a schematic pattern provided in association with the predetermined position, in order to guide the camera operation, lighting or blinking a predetermined operation member shown in the schematic pattern This is achieved by a camera having an operation unit instruction display device configured to sequentially perform the operations in accordance with a camera sequence required for a preset operation. [Embodiment] An embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. The camera of the present embodiment can switch the focal length between two stages of 38 mm and 70 mm.
This is a compact camera that has a function of automatic exposure, automatic focus, automatic film winding and rewinding, a strobe light emitting device, and a self-timer. FIG. 1 shows its appearance. The left side of the main body is a grip 1 also serving as a battery compartment, as viewed from the front of the camera, and a shutter release button 2 is provided at an upper portion thereof, and a battery compartment lid 3 is provided at a lower portion thereof. ing. A display unit 4 is provided on the upper surface of the main body in contact with the grip 1, and a liquid crystal panel 5 and a self-timer button 6 are arranged on the display unit 4. A bifocal lens 7 for photographing is provided in the center of the main body, and a finder 8 for distance measurement and a visual field is provided above the main body, and a strobe light emitting unit 9 is disposed at the right end of the main body. Button 10 for switching the focal length, button 11 for opening and closing the lens cover (shell), a button 12 for opening the back cover on the right side of the main body, and a film rewind button 13 on the bottom
Are arranged respectively. As shown in FIG. 2, on the liquid crystal panel 5, a contour shape 20a and a rectangular contour shape 20b expressing the outline of the camera in a schematic pattern are fixedly displayed by printing. Each attached operation member and each electrode of an instruction pattern associated therewith are provided. The figure shows a case where all the electrodes are simultaneously visualized by energization.
1 is a pattern indicating the capacity of the stored battery, 21a is an open battery compartment lid 3
And a display for instructing replacement of the battery. Similarly, 22 is a shutter release button, 22a is each pattern for instructing the operation, and 23 is a back cover opening button for opening the back cover in a state shown in a pattern 24. 23a is a back cover opening button. These are patterns for instructing the operation of the button 23. Reference numerals 25 and 26 denote segmented liquid crystal patterns each of which can indicate the focal length of the bifocal lens 7 and the number of film shots up to two digits, which are specified by the operation of the self-timer button 6. When the mode is switched to the self-photographing mode, the pattern 27 is displayed, and the display of the pattern 26 is switched from the display of the number of shots to the display of the time until the self-timer is activated, and is indicated together with the pattern 28 of the time symbol. It has become so. Numerals 29 and 30 indicate that the film is being fed in the direction of the arrow while the film is being fed, indicating that the film is being wound up and rewinded. Reference numeral 31 denotes a pattern for displaying a film rewinding operation after a predetermined number of images have been taken, and reference numeral 31a denotes a pattern for instructing operation of the film rewinding button 12. Further, reference numeral 32 denotes a pattern indicating a strobe shooting mode, and reference numeral 33 denotes a pattern indicating a reaching distance of strobe light corresponding to the distance scale 40 marked on the display unit 4. In other than the strobe shooting mode, the pattern 32 is used. Is not displayed, and the photographing distance at which the pattern 33 is measured is displayed. The display of the liquid crystal panel 5 having such functions of displaying each operation member and instructing the operation is driven by control of a microcomputer connected to each input terminal as shown in FIG. That is, the microcomputer starts inputting a signal indicating whether or not the lens cover is opened and the camera is ready for shooting, through the main switch SM, and performs a photometry operation, a distance measurement, and an exposure operation based on the stroke of the shutter release button 2. The process information is switched by switches SI and S2, the focal length switching operation of the bifocal lens 7 is switched by the switch SR, the set focal length value is switched by the switch SL, the switch to the self-timer mode is switched by the switch ST, and the presence or absence of the film is switched by the switch The SF and the back cover opening operation are input by the switch SB, and the microcomputer determines the sequence based on the information and instructs the display of the operation to be performed next and prompts the user to perform the operation. Also, various photographing conditions such as the focal length and the number of photographed images are displayed. When the motor is rotating and the film is being fed, or when the bifocal lens 7 is moving for switching the focal length, the microcomputer is irrelevant to the operation during the input of the switches SSP and SE. Function is stopped to prevent improper photographing, and other input information is blocked. Next, the contents of the display by the liquid crystal panel 5 will be specifically described. FIG. 4 shows a display when the main switch SM is input in a state where no film is loaded in the camera. The bifocal lens 7 is set to "35 mm" or "35 mm" as shown in FIGS. 70 mm ", and" 0 "is displayed for the number of shots. In this case, the power battery is in the battery chamber and its capacity is maintained at the specified voltage, and the pattern indicating the two divided battery capacities is indicated by lighting both of them. When a film is loaded into the camera in the state shown in FIG. 4A, the pattern 22 of the shutter release button 2 is lit as shown in FIG.
2a starts blinking. Then, when the shutter release button 2 is pressed, the patterns 22 and 22a disappear as shown in FIG. 5 (b), and the film winding starts for the film empty feeding operation, and the film feeding is started as shown in FIG. 5 (c). A pattern 29 indicating transmission is displayed, and a cycle of blinking the display as shown in FIGS. 5C and 5D is repeated three times as shown in FIGS. 5C and 5D each time one screen is transmitted, and then as shown in FIG. The pattern 26 indicates the number of shots “1”.
Is displayed to stop the winding and the film loading is completed. If a problem occurs in the loading in this process, the pattern 26 displays an error mark "E" in place of the number of shots as shown in FIG.
The pattern 23, the pattern 23a instructing the operation thereof, and the pattern 24 representing the back cover in the released state blink for 10 seconds to prompt reloading, and then the pattern 23 as shown in FIG. 5 (g). Only 23a keeps lighting and indicates that the loading is incomplete. During this time, the shutter release button is locked and photographing is prohibited. When the capacity of the battery is, for example, 2.6 V or more with respect to the rated voltage of 3 V, the sixth
As shown in FIG. 6A, both of the divided battery capacity patterns 21 are lit and displayed, but when the voltage is 2.6 V or less, only one of the patterns 21 is provided as shown in FIG. The display is turned on, and when the voltage is 2.4 V or less, both of them disappear and the pattern 21a indicating the lid 3 of the battery compartment is displayed to instruct the replacement of the battery. On the other hand, for example, when the shutter release button 2 is pressed (SI ON) in the state of the display of FIG. 7A in which the photographing of the seventh frame has been completed after loading the film, appropriate exposure control can be performed without using the strobe light from the photometry result. 7B, the pattern 32 indicating the strobe mode disappears and the photographing distance controlled by the distance measurement result is displayed by the number of spots of the pattern 33 as shown in FIG. 7B. In this case, the exposure is performed by the subsequent operation of the shutter release button 2 (S2 ON). However, if the distance measurement distance is smaller than the close distance of the photographing lens and the focus adjustment control is impossible, FIG. As shown in ()), the operation of the shutter release button 2 (S2 ON) is locked without displaying the distance measurement distance. In any case, when the shutter release button 2 is released (SI OFF), each display in FIGS. 7B and 7C returns to the initial display in FIG. 7A. After the exposure is completed by pressing the shutter release button 2 (S2 ON) in a state where the bifocal lens 7 in FIG. 8A is controlled to the distance measurement distance, the film winding is performed as shown in FIG. 8B. The upper part is started and a pattern 29 indicating the film feeding is displayed. 1
When the winding of the screen is completed, the above-described pattern 32 and pattern 33 indicating the strobe mode are displayed again as shown in FIG. 8 (c), and the number in which the number of shots has been increased by one is displayed. Stopped. When such film winding is repeated and "26" is displayed as the final number, for example, as shown in FIG. 8 (d), the operation of pressing the film rewinding operation pattern 31 and the rewind button 13 is performed. The display of the instructed pattern 31a is continued for 10 seconds, after which the display is continued by continuous lighting to prompt a rewind operation. On the other hand, when the self-timer button 6 is pressed, the display of FIG. 9A indicates the pattern 27 of the self-timer mode, the pattern 22 of the shutter release button 2 and the operation of the shutter release button 2 as shown in FIG. 9B. Simultaneously with the display of the pattern 22a, the pattern 26 for displaying the number of shots is switched to the display of the time until the self-timer is activated, and is indicated together with the pattern 28 of the time symbol. When the shutter release button 2 is pressed in this state, the above-mentioned patterns 22 and 22a disappear and the distance measurement distance is displayed as shown in FIG. 9 (c). When the value becomes "0", the shutter operates to perform exposure. When the rewind button 13 is pressed from the state where the rewind operation has been instructed, the display becomes the tenth.
As shown in FIG. 10 (a) to FIG. 10 (b), the operation instruction pattern 31a disappears and the pattern 30 indicating that the rewinding operation is being performed is indicated by an arrow indicating the film feeding direction. In one cycle of the blinking of the pattern 30, the number of shots is displayed as shown in FIG.
The number of shots is subtracted as shown in c), and finally the number of shots is “0” through FIG. 10D.
At this point, after the back cover release button 12 and the patterns 23 and 23a for instructing its operation and the pattern 24 indicating the back cover in the opened state continue to blink for 10 seconds as shown in FIG. 10 (e). Further, as shown in FIG. 10 (f), only the patterns 23 and 23a continue to be displayed to indicate that rewinding has been completed. When the back cover is opened from this stage, the film is taken out, and the back cover is closed again, the display returns to the initial state shown in FIG. 4 (a) or (b). The focal length of the bifocal lens 7 can be switched from the display of "38" shown in FIG. 11 (a) to the display of "70" through the state where the display has disappeared once by operating the focal length switching button 10. It is changing. Therefore, when the display is off, the shutter release button 2 is locked because no focal length is set. As a power source for driving the display of the liquid crystal panel, in addition to a normal battery whose voltage is displayed in the pattern 21 and a backup power source such as a lithium battery, the voltage of the displayed battery is reduced. Then, even at the stage where the exchange is instructed, each operation can be displayed and instructed in each of the above-described patterns, and the functions of the camera described above are always realized. The pattern 25 for displaying the focal length is replaced with a pattern for displaying the closed lens cover as shown in FIG.
A pattern for displaying 0 and a pattern for instructing the operation are added. In addition to the above description, the lens open / close button is also used as a power switch, and when the lens cover is closed, each of those patterns is displayed. Then, when the lens cover is opened by operating the lens cover opening / closing button 10 from this state, the display shown in FIG. 4 is displayed only when the lens cover is opened. Can be displayed so as to inform that the device can be used. When a zoom lens is mounted in place of the bifocal lens 7, the pattern 25 is composed of two digits of seven segments, and the number of the focal length that changes continuously by zooming is shown in FIG. 13 (a). As shown in FIGS. 13 (b) and 13 (c), they can be displayed continuously or intermittently as appropriate. [Effects of the Invention] The present invention is configured to visually display and warn the user of the points of handling and operation of the camera according to the camera sequence so that the operation can be performed accurately, and as a result, Even with a camera having the above function, a camera having an operation unit indicating device that can be operated properly by a person unfamiliar with the operation of the camera and exert the function sufficiently has been provided.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an external view of a camera according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a pattern diagram of a liquid crystal panel provided in the camera. FIG. 3 is a drive circuit diagram of the liquid crystal panel. 4 to 13 are explanatory diagrams of each display using the liquid crystal panel. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Grip 2 ... Shutter release button 3 ... Battery cover 4 ... Display part 5 ... Liquid crystal panel 6 ... Self-timer button 7 ... Bifocal lens 8 ... Viewfinder 9 ... Strobe light emission part 10 ... Focal length switching button 11 ... Lens cover open / close button 12 ... Back cover release button 13 ... Film rewind button

Claims (1)

Claims: (1) A plurality of operation members, which are provided at predetermined positions on the outer shape of a camera and need to be operated by an operator, are placed in one outline shape showing the outer shape of the camera in a schematic pattern. It is set in advance to indicate in a schematic pattern provided in association with the predetermined position, and to light or blink a predetermined operation member indicated in the schematic pattern in order to guide camera operation. A camera having an operation unit instruction display device configured to sequentially perform operations in accordance with a sequence of cameras required for operation. (2) The camera according to claim 1, wherein the pattern corresponding to the plurality of operation members is made of liquid crystal. (3) The camera further has a number of instruction display means corresponding to the pattern indicating the plurality of operation members, and the instruction display means is controlled to light or blink together with the corresponding operation members. 2. The camera according to claim 1, wherein: