JP2647800B2 - Camera with built-in flash device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a camera incorporating a flash device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Heretofore, there has been known a camera having a built-in flash device having a mechanism for raising and lowering a flash light emitting portion by rotation of a motor. Further, there has been known a flash device which can be attached to and detached from a camera, in which an irradiation angle is adjusted according to rotation of a motor.

[0003]

However, if a conventional flash device capable of adjusting the irradiation angle is built in the camera and the flash device is moved up and down, a motor for adjusting the irradiation angle is required. Since a motor for raising and lowering the flash device is required, there is a problem that the cost is high and the size of the camera is increased.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a low-cost, small-sized camera with a built-in flash device that automatically raises and lowers a light emitting unit and adjusts an irradiation angle. Aim.

[0005]

[MEANS FOR SOLVING THE PROBLEMS] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, in a camera having a flash light emitting portion mounted on a camera main body so as to be able to move up and down, the motor and the driving force of the motor are used to raise the flash light emitting portion. Drive means for lowering, position detection means for detecting that the flash light emitting section is in an up state, focal length information output means for outputting information relating to the focal length of a photographing lens, and flash light emission by the driving force of the motor. Adjusting means for adjusting the irradiation angle of the section,
Control means for causing the adjusting means to adjust the irradiation angle based on the output focal length information after the position detecting means detects that the flash light emitting unit has been brought up by the driving means. I was prepared.

[0006]

According to the present invention, it is possible to adjust the flashing unit up and down and adjust the irradiation angle with a single motor, and to adjust the irradiation angle based on the focal length of the photographing lens after the flashing unit is raised. The number of camera parts can be reduced.

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a drive mechanism of a single-lens reflex camera to which the present invention is applied. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a bayonet mount for mounting an interchangeable lens, and 2 denotes a pentaprism. Reference numeral 3 denotes a flash case in which a light emitting unit of the flash device is housed, and an arc tube 4 is disposed inside the flash case.

Reference numeral 5 denotes a substrate for holding the flash case 3, which is provided rotatably with respect to the camera body by a shaft 36. The shaft 36 is also provided coaxially on the opposite side 5c of the substrate 5 (not shown). The substrate 5 is urged clockwise in the figure by a spring 34 hung on a pin 35 implanted in the camera body. A shaft 6 is fitted into a part 3 b of the flash case 3, and the flash case 3 is guided by the shaft 6 and is movable in the axial direction of the shaft 6. The shaft 6 is fixed at both ends by arm portions 5a and 5b of the substrate 5. A compression spring 7 is provided between the arm 5a and a part 3b of the flash case, and urges the flash case 3 toward the right side in the figure with respect to the substrate 5.

A diffusion plate (not shown) for diffusing irradiation light from the arc tube 4 is fixed to the substrate 5 in front of the flash case 3. Therefore, as described above, the flash case 3
Is moved in the axial direction of the shaft 6, the distance between the arc tube 4 and the diffusion plate is changed, thereby achieving a so-called zoom flash function of changing the flash irradiation angle. A motor 10 is provided in front of the film rewinding section (lower right in the figure) of the camera.
The output is transmitted from the pinion gear 11 to the gear 15 that rotates integrally with the gear 14 via the reduction gear trains 12, 13, and 14. The gear 15 transmits the rotation of the gear 14 and is movable up and down.
With this movement, the rotation is transmitted to the gear 18 when the gear 15 is at the lower position, and to the gear 40 when the gear 15 is at the upper position.

The gear 15 is a substrate 1 fixed to the camera body.
6 is urged upward by a compression spring 17 provided on the upper surface. In the state shown in FIG. 1, the upper surface of the carrier 15 abuts on a cam surface 42a provided on the lower surface of the operation member 42, which will be described later, and the gear 15 is at the lower side, that is, at the position where it meshes with the gear 18. The rotation transmitted to the gear 18 is further transmitted to the gear 1
9, from a bevel gear 20 provided integrally with the gear 19, transmitted to a gear 24 via a bevel gear 21, and gears 22 and 23.
A gear 27 is integrated with a gear 25 provided integrally with the gear 24, and the gears 25, 27 and the arm 26 constitute a planetary gear mechanism as switching means. The shafts of the gears 12 to 15 and 18 to 25 described above are all fixed on the camera body or on a substrate provided integrally with the camera body. The shaft of the gear 27 is fixed to the arm 26.

The gear 28 meshable with the gear 27 is a gear 2
The gear 29 is provided on the substrate 5 so as to rotate integrally with the gear 9, and the gear 29 further transmits the rotation to the gear 31 via the gear 30. These gears 30 and 31 are also rotatably fitted on a shaft (not shown) provided on the substrate 5.
A pin 31a described below is implanted on the gear 31.
The flash case 3 can be engaged with a collar 3a provided at one end. The rotational position of the gear 31 can be detected by the electrical connection between the position detection pattern 31 b provided on the gear 31 and the brush 8 provided on the substrate 5. The pattern 31b and the brush 8 constitute the position detecting means 51.

A gear 32 which is engaged when the gear 27 is at the position indicated by (27) in the drawing is rotatably supported by the camera body, and has an arm portion of the substrate 5 on one surface. 5
A pin 32a engageable with d is implanted. In addition, a position detection pattern 32b is provided on the other surface,
Brush 33 provided on the camera body and the pattern 32b
The rotational position of the gear 32 can be detected by the electrical connection state with the gear. The pattern 32b and the brush 33 constitute a position detecting means 52.

Reference numeral 37 denotes a cover for covering the substrate 5, one end of which is pivotally supported by the camera main body by a shaft 37a, and the other end of which pops up (separates) from the camera main body so that a flash can be used (separation position). ) And a pop-down (proximity position) where the other end is close to the camera body and the flash cannot be used. The cover 37 is provided with a pin 3 provided on the camera body.
9 is urged in a counterclockwise direction in the figure, that is, in a direction to close the cover. The cover 37
Is provided with a convex portion 37b described later.

Reference numeral 42 denotes an operation switch provided on the outer surface of the camera for rewinding the film. The operation switch 42 switches the index 42b to the indices 43 and 44 on the outer surface of the camera to switch the rewind operation. As described above, in the state of FIG. 1 in which the index 42b corresponds to the index 43,
A cam surface 42 a provided on the lower surface of the operation switch 42 pushes the gear 15 downward and meshes with the gear 18. When the index 42b is adjusted to the index 44, the switch 45 is turned on, the engagement between the cam surface 42a and the upper surface of the gear 15 is released, and the gear 15 moves upward by the action of the spring 17 and meshes with the gear 40. The gear 40 further meshes with the gear 41 to rotate a fork portion 41 a provided on the gear 41. The fork 41a engages with a hub at the end of the spool in the 35 mm film cartridge, and rewinds the film into the cartridge at the end of photographing. Reference numeral 46 denotes a switch that is turned on when the above-described substrate 5 approaches (pops down).

Next, the operation of each mechanism of the embodiment of FIG. 1 will be described individually. FIG. 1 shows a state in which the flash case 3 pops up, that is, a state in which the cover 37 is separated from the camera body and the flash can be used. When the motor 10 is first rotated counterclockwise in this state, the rotation rotates the gear 25 clockwise via the gears 11 to 15 and 18 to 24. Along with this, the arm 26 also rotates clockwise coaxially with the axis of the gear 25, and the gears 27 and 28 mesh with each other so that the gear 28 rotates clockwise. Therefore, the gear 29 also rotates clockwise via the clockwise gear 30.

When the motor 10 rotates clockwise, the gear 25 similarly makes a counterclockwise rotation, whereby the arm 26
And the gears 27 and 28 are disengaged from each other and the gear 27 meshes with the gear 32. Therefore, the gear 32 rotates left. Next, the relationship between the flash case 3 and the gear 31 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 2, 3, and 4 show the movement of the flash case 3 as the gear 31 rotates. Since the reference numerals in the figure correspond to those in FIG. 1, the description is omitted. Here, 50 indicates a diffusion plate.

In FIG. 2, the gear 31 is driven clockwise by the motor 10. Pin 3 implanted by this
1a also moves in the circumferential direction. First, the state of FIG.
1a is located farthest from the diffusion plate 50. At this time, since the flash case 3 is urged rightward by the spring 7, the flange 3a abuts on the pin 31a to determine its position. In this state, the position of the arc tube 4 is farthest from the diffusion plate 50, and the irradiation angle of the flash becomes narrow. This is called a tele-zoom state. At this time, a signal indicating the tele-zoom state (tentatively called a tele-signal) is output from the position detecting means 51.

Next, FIG. 3 shows a state in which the gear 31 is turned clockwise by about 90 °. With the clockwise rotation of the gear 31, the pin 31a
Pushes the collar 3a to the left, and moves the flash case 3 to the left against the urging force of the spring 7. The position shown in FIG. 3 corresponds to a substantially intermediate position between the tele-zoom state and the later-described wide-zoom state, and is called a normal zoom state. At this time, a normal signal is output from the position detecting means 51 described above.

FIG. 4 shows a state in which the gear 31 is turned clockwise and the pin 31a is closest to the diffusion plate 50. At this time,
The position of the arc tube 4 and the diffusion plate 50 is closest to each other, and the irradiation angle of the flash is widened. This is called a wide zoom state.
At this time, a wide signal is output from the position detecting means 51 described above. When the gear 31 further turns clockwise, the flash case 3 moves rightward by the force of the spring 7, and returns to the state of FIG. That is, one rotation of the gear 31 causes the flash case 3 to reciprocate between the tele-zoom position and the wide-zoom position. In this process, pin 3
When 1a is at the upper end in FIG. 2, the flash case 3 is at the same position as in FIG. 3, but at this time, no signal is output from the position detecting means 51 described above.

Next, the overall operation will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6, the motor 1 in FIG.
The transmission system from 0 to the gear 24 is omitted. First, FIG.
Indicates that the flash case 3 has popped up. At this time, the pin 32a implanted in the gear 32 is at the position shown in the figure as described later. In the figure, 47 is an upper cover of the camera, 48 is an accessory shoe for mounting when using another flash device, and 49 is a pin implanted in the camera body.

In the state shown in FIG. 5, the substrate 5 is urged clockwise around the shaft 36 by the action of the spring 34 shown in FIG. The swing caused by the bias is regulated by the one end 5d of the substrate 5 being brought into contact with the pin 49 implanted in the camera body, and the pop-up state shown in the drawing is formed. At this time, the lower surface 37c of the cover 37 is lifted by the upper portion 5e of the substrate 5,
As shown in the drawing, the tip 37d is turned clockwise about the axis 37a and moved to a position shifted from the end 5f of the substrate 5 by L. This distance L is substantially the same as the movement amount L 'of the flash case 3 from the tele-zoom state to the wide-zoom state, so that when the flash case 3 is popped up, the substrate 5 is moved as shown in FIG. A space where the flash case 3 can move to the tele-zoom state is formed between the flash case 3 and the convex portion 37b of the cover 37. Here, the spring for urging the cover 37 in the counterclockwise direction shown as 38 in FIG. 1 is sufficiently weaker than the spring 34 for urging the substrate 5 in the clockwise direction, and does not hinder the clockwise rotation of the substrate 5. . In this pop-up state, the switch 46 is off. In this state, a signal (up signal) indicating a pop-up is output from the position detecting means 52 in FIG.

Now, when the gear 25 is turned clockwise by the motor 10, the arm 26 is also turned clockwise as described above so that the gears 27 and 28 mesh with each other. Then, when the gear 28 turns clockwise, the flash case 3 moves rightward in the drawing, and zooming is performed. Here, zooming is in the wide state,
That is, consider the case where the motor 10 is reversed (clockwise) in the state indicated by 3 in FIG. With the reversal (clockwise rotation) of the motor 10, the gear 25 rotates counterclockwise, whereby the arm 26 also rotates counterclockwise to disengage the gears 27 and 28. At this time, since the center of the gear 31 and the center of the pin 31a and the contact point P between the pin 31a and the flange 3a of the flash case 3 are on a straight line as shown in FIG. Cannot be moved, and the flash case 3 is kept in the wide zoom state.

When the arm 26 keeps turning left, the gear 2
7 meshes with the gear 32 to rotate the gear 32 counterclockwise. Therefore, the pin 32a implanted in the gear 32 also moves, contacts the one end 5d of the substrate 5, and presses the one end 5d rightward in FIG. Due to this pressing, the substrate 5 starts to rotate counterclockwise around the shaft 36 against the spring 34 of FIG. 1, and reaches the state of FIG. 6, ie, the pop-down state.

In this process, the cover 37 is rotated leftward about the shaft 37a by the action of the spring 38 shown in FIG. 1, and its end 37d substantially coincides with the end 5f of the substrate 5 in the pop-down state. This is a result of the difference between the swing center 36 of the substrate 5 and the swing center 37a of the cover, which has the effect of reducing the outer shape of the camera in the pop-down state.

In the pop-down state shown in FIG.
Is turned on, and a signal (down signal) indicating pop-down is output from the position detecting means 52 in FIG. After this,
When the motor 10 is turned clockwise, the gear 32 is similarly turned counterclockwise, and with the movement of the pin 32a, the board 5 is turned clockwise by the action of the spring 34, and again shifts to the pop-up state in FIG. That is, when the gear 32 makes one rotation, the cover 3
7 reciprocates between the pop-up position and the pop-down position.

FIG. 7 is a rear view of a camera to which the present invention is applied. In the drawing, 37, 42, 47, and 48 are the members already described, and the description is omitted. Reference numeral 60 denotes a release button. When pressed, the first switch is turned on in the middle of the stroke (this is called a half-press switch), and when further pressed, the second switch is turned on (this is called a release switch). An external display member 61 using a liquid crystal or the like is provided on the upper surface of the camera. The display member 61 displays a shutter speed, an aperture value, a state display of a flash device described later, and the like. Reference numeral 62 denotes a finder observation window, in which a display device is provided. Reference numeral 63 denotes a button for selecting a flash photography mode, which will be described later in detail.

FIGS. 8A to 8F are views showing the display forms of the above-mentioned display members. 8A to 8F, the upper part shows the external display member 61, and the lower part shows the display form of the display member in the finder. First, the meaning of each display will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8A shows a case where all the flash-related display segments are output for the sake of explanation, which is different from the display in the actual use state. In FIG. 8, other indications not directly related to the present invention, such as the shutter speed, are omitted.

First, in FIG. 8A, reference numeral 70 denotes a segment indicating that the flash shooting mode is in an "auto" state, which will be described later, and the display disappears in modes other than the auto mode. The segments 71 and 72 indicate whether or not flash emission is to be performed. When only 71 is displayed and 72 is off, flash emission is performed. 7
When both 1 and 72 are displayed, the flash is not emitted. Reference numerals 71 and 72 are displayed on both the external display and the viewfinder display. Reference numeral 73 denotes a segment indicating the charging state of the flash device. In this state, the flash is fired, that is, the display 71 is displayed and the display 72 is turned off. When the display 73 is displayed, the charging is completed. When 73 is not displayed, it indicates that charging is in progress. As described later, a flashing display 73 may be performed in a state where no flash light emission is performed.
This is a display recommending that the photographer use a flash (the blinking display is indicated by a broken line in FIG. 8). FIG. 8B
The display states shown in (f) to (f) will be described later.

Next, an electric circuit block of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 9, hoisting control circuits and the like not directly related to the present invention are omitted. In FIG. 9, reference numeral 100 denotes a microcomputer. The microcomputer 100 includes the switches 45, 46, 63 and the position detecting means 51, 5 described above.
2. The half-press switch 101 and the release switch 102 are connected. The timer 103 provided between the half-press switch 101 and the microcomputer 100 has a half-press switch
This is to form a so-called half-press timer in which the power of the camera is kept ON for a certain period of time even after the FF. This timer 1
Reference numeral 03 denotes a line 1 for inputting a signal indicating release completion output from the microcomputer together with the half-press switch 101 described above.
11 is also connected.

The operation of the timer 103 will be described. First, when the release button (60 in FIG. 7) of the camera is half-pressed to turn on the half-press switch 101, the timer 103 is reset and an H-level signal is output to the line 113.
The microcomputer 100 turns on the half-press timer when the line 113 is at the H level and turns off the half-press timer when the line 113 is at the L level.
Recognize as F. Turn on the release switch 102 as it is
When the half-press switch 101 is turned off without performing the operation (that is, when the finger is released from the release button), the switch is turned off.
Line 11 for several seconds (for example, about 7 seconds)
3 is kept at the H level and then dropped to the L level.

When the release switch 102 is turned on and the photographing operation of the camera is performed, a signal output to 111 when the photographing operation is completed is received. The line 113 is held at the H level for about one second from the time when the signal is received from the signal 111, and then dropped to the L level. When the half-press switch 101 is ON at the time when the signal is received from 111,
As described above, the line 113 becomes the L level in about 7 seconds after the half-press switch is turned off.

Reference numeral 104 denotes a display drive circuit which drives the above-described external display device 61 and the display device 105 in the finder in response to a command from the microcomputer. A mode drive circuit 106 drives the above-described motor 10 based on a command from a microcomputer. The finder control circuit 107 is a circuit for controlling light emission of the flash light emitting unit 4 described above, and a signal for starting charging and the like is sent from the microcomputer to the flash control circuit. A signal indicating the completion of charging is sent from the flash control circuit to the microcomputer.

Reference numeral 109 denotes a flash use determination circuit.
A predetermined analysis is performed on the output from the photometry circuit 108 of the camera, it is determined whether or not a flash is necessary, and the result is sent to the microcomputer. A focal length information output circuit 110 provided in the interchangeable lens L sends an fmm signal indicating the focal length of the lens to the microcomputer via a line 114.

Next, the overall operation of the present embodiment controlled by the microcomputer 100 will be described in detail with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. First, half-press switch 1
When 01 is turned on, the operation is started from step S1 in FIG. In step S2, a charge start signal is output to the flash control circuit 107. The output of the charge completion signal is stopped when the charging is completed. Step S
In step 3, the current flash mode is confirmed. Then, in steps S4 and S5, a branch is made to a control routine corresponding to the current flash mode.

Here, the flash mode will be described. The camera according to the present embodiment has three modes, ie, auto, ON, and OFF, for emitting a flash. The auto mode is a mode in which the camera automatically determines whether or not to emit a flash according to, for example, the brightness of the subject. The ON mode is a mode in which the flash is forcibly emitted regardless of the brightness of the subject. And O
The FF mode is a mode in which flash emission is uniformly inhibited.

These modes are switched by a switch 63. When the switch 63 is turned on, the processing of the microcomputer shifts to a mode interrupt shown in FIG. In this routine, ON if the current flash mode is auto
To ON, OFF to OFF, and OFF to AUTO. That is, each time the switch 63 is pressed once, the flash mode is sequentially switched in the order of auto → on → off →. Thereafter, the process returns to the normal process in step S108.

The processing in the auto mode will be described below. FIG. 12 shows a process in the auto mode. In this auto mode, the light emitting unit pops up when the brightness of the subject is low, and once popped up, this state is maintained. When the process in the auto mode is started in step S6, it is determined in step S9 whether or not a flash is necessary based on an input from the flash use determination circuit 109. If the flash is not required, the process proceeds to step S10, and a light emission prohibition command is sent to the flash control circuit 107. Then, in step S11, display segments, that is, 70, 71, and 72 in FIG. 8A are displayed. FIG. 8C shows this state. After this, the process proceeds to step S
Return to 9.

If it is determined in step S9 that a flash is necessary, the state of the position detecting means 52 is read in step S12. Then, in step S13, it is determined whether the gear 32 is at the pop-up position. If the gear 32 is not in the up position, the process proceeds to step S14, and the motor 1
When 0 rotates clockwise, the gear 32 rotates as described above to raise the substrate 5. When the up is completed, the process proceeds to step S15, and a signal for permitting flash emission is sent to the flash control circuit 107.

Next, at step S16, the fmm signal indicating the focal length is read from the focal length information output circuit 110 in the lens L, and at step S17, the position of the flash case 3 is read from the position detecting means 51. Then, the two are compared in step S18. If the two do not match, the motor is turned left in step S19 to zoom the flash case 3 as described above.

If they match in step S18, it is determined in step S20 whether the flash control circuit 107 has output a signal indicating charging completion. If the charging is completed, the display segments 70, 71, 7 are displayed in step S21.
3 is displayed. This state is shown in FIG. If charging has not been completed, the process proceeds to step S22 where segment 73 is set.
Is turned off, and the process returns to step S9 in any of steps S21 and S22.

As described above, in the operation in the auto mode, the pop-up of the light-emitting unit is automatically performed only for a subject requiring a flash, and the zooming of the light-emitting unit is performed in accordance with the focal length of the mounted photographing lens. Is performed. In addition, even if the subject changes and it is determined that the flash is unnecessary after popping up once, the flash is required only because the flash is disabled and the pop-down is not performed. , Pop-down is not performed frequently.

Further, since whether or not to emit light is displayed to the photographer by a display member, the system is easy to use. Next, the ON mode processing will be described. FIG.
Indicates a process in the ON mode. In FIG. 13, the ON mode process is started in step S7, but steps S23 to S31 are the same as steps S12 to S20 in FIG. That is, in the ON mode, the pop-up
The light emitting section is zoomed and a flash is emitted for each release. FIG. 8D shows the display state of step S32. Step S32 or step S3
In the step following Step 3, the process returns to Step S27.

FIG. 20 shows an embodiment of the processing in the auto mode according to the present invention. In FIG. 20, it is determined in step S51 whether the half-press switch is ON. If the half-press switch is ON, step S5
Move to 2. The processing from step S52 to step S65 is the same as the processing from step S9 to step S22 in FIG. 12, and a description thereof will be omitted. If the half-press switch is off, the process is stopped, and the pop-up and pop-down of the light emitting unit and the irradiation angle position are maintained in the state immediately before the half-press switch is turned off.

Therefore, in this embodiment, in the auto mode, the pop-up and pop-down of the light-emitting portion and zooming of the light-emitting portion are performed only when the half-press switch is ON, and the finger is released from the release button. In spite of this, since the power is turned on, pop-up and pop-down of the light emitting unit and zooming of the light emitting unit other than necessary are prevented.

Next, the processing in the OFF mode will be described. FIG. 14 shows a process in the OFF mode.
In step S8, processing in the OFF mode is started. First, in steps S34 and S35, it is determined whether the gear 32 is at the down position. If not in the down position, step S
At 36, the signal of the position detecting means 51 is read, and at step S37, it is determined whether or not the camera is at the wide zoom position.

If it is not in the wide zoom state, the motor rotates counterclockwise in step S38 to perform zooming of the flash case 3, and drive control to the wide zoom state is performed by a loop returning to step S36. This is a process for achieving compactness in the housed state. In the wide zoom state, the motor rotates clockwise in step S39, and the pop-down operation of the substrate 5 is performed as described above. Then, it is driven to the pop-down position by a loop returning to step S34. If it is determined in step S35 that the camera is at the pop-down position, in step S40 the flash control circuit 107 is instructed to prohibit flash emission, and in step S41, the display segments 71 and 72 are first displayed. Further, it is determined in step S42 whether or not flash emission is necessary. If so, a flash recommendation is displayed to the photographer in step S43. If not, step S4 is performed.
4 turns off the display of 73. FIG. 8E shows the display state in step S43, and FIG. 8 shows the display state in step S44.
(F). Thereafter, the process returns to step S42,
FIG. 8 shows whether the flash is necessary at that time.
Switching to one of (e) and (f).

As described above, in the processing in the OFF mode, if the light emitting section is popped up, it is first brought down. At this time, as described in FIGS. 5 and 6, since the flash case 3 is driven down after being driven to the wide position, a compact external shape is achieved in the down state. Further, after the light is down, the light emission is prohibited and a message to that effect is displayed. When the flash use determination circuit 109 determines that it is better to use the flash, the display segment 7 is displayed.
By blinking 3, the photographer is prompted to use the flash, so that a photographing mistake can be prevented.

The operation in each of the auto, ON, and OFF modes has been described above. When the release switch 102 is turned ON in each mode, the processing shifts to the release interrupt operation and the release operation is performed. The release interrupt may be prohibited when it is not appropriate to perform the release, for example, when charging is not completed in spite of the necessity of flashing while the motor 10 is being driven or in the auto mode or the ON mode.

Next, the operation when the timer 103 is turned off will be described. Half-press switch 10 as described above
The output 113 of the timer 103 switches from the H level to the L level seven seconds after the 1 is turned off or one second after the release operation is completed. In response, the microcomputer 100
Moves to the timer OFF interrupt shown in FIG. In step S111, a timer ON interrupt process is started. First, in steps S112 and S113, the current flash mode is confirmed. If the mode is not the auto mode, the process returns to the normal process. In the case of the ON mode, the light emitting unit remains popped up, and in the case of the OFF mode, the light emitting unit keeps popped down.

In the case of the auto mode, step S11
5. It is determined in step S116 whether or not it is at the pop-down position. Here, the processing returns to the normal state even when the pop-down position is reached. If it is not at the pop-down position, the process from step S117 to step S120 is performed.
From step S39, the operation of popping down the light emitting unit is performed. Step S120 to Step S
When the pop-down is completed by the step of returning to 115, the processing moves from step S116 to step S114, and returns to the normal processing.

The above processing indicates that when the light-emitting unit pops up in the auto mode, the pop-down operation is automatically performed when the half-press timer of the camera is turned off. Thereby, when the photographing is interrupted, the light emitting unit is housed and becomes compact, so that portability is improved. Further, when the flash mode is the ON mode, even if the half-press timer is turned off, the light-emitting unit does not pop down, so that the photographer can properly use the flash depending on his / her intention to use the flash.

This timer is used in common with the one used for powering the camera in this embodiment, but a timer dedicated to flash pop-down control may be provided. Although the operation time of the timer is set to 7 seconds after the half-press switch is turned off or 1 second from the completion of the release operation, this time may be arbitrarily set or may be variable according to the photographer's preference.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment when the light emitting unit is forcibly popped down by an external manual force when the light emitting unit is popping up in the auto mode or the ON mode will be described. FIG. 18 is a view of the pop-up state of FIG. 5 viewed from the back side. Gear 2
9, 30, and 31 are omitted.

In FIG. 18, reference numeral 71 denotes a shaft of the gear 27 implanted in the arm 26, and reference numeral 71a denotes its head. The outer periphery of the head 71a and the end 5g of the substrate 5 abut when the arm 26 is turned leftward in FIG. 18 and the gears 27 and 28 mesh with each other in FIG. 18, so that the center distance between the gears 27 and 28 is appropriate. Plays the function of keeping. This end 5g is gear 2
It is a circular arc centered on axis 8.

Now, consider a case where the case 37 is forcibly pushed down by an external force, that is, a case where the case 37 is turned clockwise about the axis 37a. With the clockwise rotation of the case 37, the case lower surface 37c pushes the upper part 5e of the substrate 5, and the substrate 5
Also turns clockwise around the axis 36 against the spring 34. Further, since the end 5 g pushes 71 a with the clockwise rotation of the substrate 5, the arm 26 rotates clockwise about the axis of the gear 25.

In the above process, when the flash case 3 is located at a position other than the wide zoom position, the convex portion 37b of the case 37 pushes the rear end of the flash case to push the flash case 3 against the spring 7. Move in the wide direction. FIG. 19 shows a state in which the camera is forcibly rotated to the pop-down position in this manner. Compared to the case where the light emitting unit is popped down by the motor 10 shown in FIG.
Are engaged with the gear 28. Even in the state shown in FIG. 19, the axle distance between the gears 27 and 28 is ensured by the contact between the ends 5g and 71a of the substrate 5, so that when the gear 25 is turned counterclockwise, the rotation is transmitted to the gear 28. obtain.

When the switch 46 is turned on in the state of FIG. 19, the processing of the microcomputer 100 shifts to the down interrupt processing shown in FIG. In this process, the pop-down of the light emitting unit is completed,
It does not matter whether the operation is performed by electric motor or manually from outside. That is, regardless of whether the light emitting unit is popped down by electric power or manually, this processing is performed when the pop down is completed.

In FIG. 16, a down interruption process is started in step S121. First, the state of the gear 32 is determined in steps S122 and S123. here,
When the gear 32 is in the down state, that is, in the position shown in FIG. 6, the flash emission is prohibited in step S124.
In step S125, the process returns to the normal processing. When the pop-down of the light emitting unit is performed by the motor, the process immediately returns to the normal process.

If it is not at the down position in step S123, that is, if the state is as shown in FIG.
At 126, first, the flash mode is uniformly set to the auto mode. Subsequently, the processing from step S127 to step S130 is performed, which is the same as the processing from step S36 to step S39 in FIG. In step S128, it is determined whether the light emitting unit is at the wide zoom position. If the light emitting unit is at the wide zoom position, the process proceeds to step S130 to perform a clockwise rotation of the motor. This is a process performed to align the position detecting means 52 with the substrate 5. If not at the wide zoom position, step S12
In step 9, the motor is rotated leftward. This is the position detecting means 5
This is a process performed to match the flash case 3 with the flash case 3. Thereafter, the process returns to step S127, and returns from step S130 to step S122, whereby the process finally shifts to step S125.

As described above, when the light emitting unit is first popped down by the motor 10 and the switch 46 is turned on, the process immediately proceeds from step S123 to step S124.
And exit from this interrupt processing. On the other hand, when the switch 46 is turned on by pop-down by an external manual force, the motor 10 operates to perform a normal pop-down operation. Therefore, when it is desired to pop down the flash from the pop-up state, the pop-down can be performed by pressing down the cover 37 without pressing the button 63 in FIG. 7 to change the mode, which is convenient.

When the cover 37 is pressed down from the pop-up state in the ON mode to the pop-down state, the flash mode automatically returns to the auto mode in step S126. Unnecessary flash emission due to forgetting to return to the auto mode can also be prevented. Further, since all the pop-down operations are performed by the motor 10, a locking member or the like for holding the substrate 5 at the down position is not required, and the cost can be reduced with a simple configuration.

Finally, the rewinding operation of the film in this embodiment will be described. When the lever 42 shown in FIG. 1 is slid so that the indices 42b and 44 match, the gears 15 and 18 are moved.
Is disengaged and the gear 15 meshes with the gear 40 as described above. At this time, the switch 45 is set to O
If N, the process of the microcomputer 100 shifts to a rewind interrupt process shown in FIG. In this interrupt processing, a rewind interrupt processing is started in step S131. And
In step S132, the motor 10 is turned clockwise to transmit the rotation to the fork portion 41a of the gear 41 to rewind the film. Then, it is determined in step S133 whether or not the completion of the rewind is detected by any method.
When the completion of the rewind is detected, step S132
The process returns to step S134 and returns to the normal process if detected. For detection of rewind completion, a switch to detect the loading state of the film is provided.
Since there are various well-known methods, a description thereof is omitted here.

As described above, according to this embodiment, both the conversion of the irradiation angle of the light-emitting portion and the pop-up and pop-down of the light-emitting portion do not directly drive the driven portion by the rotating force of the motor, but instead apply the urging force of the spring. I tried to use it,
A highly safe camera can be provided without imposing an unreasonable load on the transmission system even when the light-emitting unit that has been raised is pressed down by hand.

Further, in this embodiment, the flash case is caused to reciprocate once between the wide zoom position and the tele zoom position by rotating the motor in one direction, and the flash light emitting portion is moved to the pop-down position and the pop-up position by rotating the motor in the other direction. Is reciprocated once, so that, for example, when displacing the flash light emitting portion between the pop-down position and the pop-up position and then displacing the flash-emitting portion to the pop-down position again, another clutch is not required.

[0065]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to raise and lower the flash light emitting portion and adjust the irradiation angle with a single motor, and to perform irradiation based on the focal length of the photographing lens after the flash light emitting portion is raised. Since the angle can be adjusted, the number of camera parts can be reduced. Thereby, a small-sized camera can be provided at low cost. Further, it is possible to prevent the battery from being consumed due to useless operations such as adjusting the irradiation angle in a state where the flash light emitting unit is down, that is, in a position where the electronic flash device does not emit light.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a drive mechanism of a camera with a built-in flash device to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of an irradiation angle conversion drive system in a tele-zoom state.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of an irradiation angle conversion drive system at an intermediate position.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of an irradiation angle conversion drive system in a wide zoom state.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the light emitting unit drive system in a pop-up state.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the light emitting unit drive system in a pop-down state.

FIG. 7 is a rear view of the camera with a built-in flash device.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a display mode in a flash mode.

FIG. 9 is an electric block diagram.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a mode switching operation of the electronic flash device.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing an operation of a mode interruption process of the electronic flash device.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a process in an automatic mode of the electronic flash device.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a process in an ON mode of the electronic flash device.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing a process in an OFF mode of the electronic flash device.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing a timer OFF interrupt process of the electronic flash device.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing a light emitting unit pop-down interrupt process.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing a rewind interruption process.

FIG. 18 shows a light emitting unit driving system in a pop-up state in FIG.
FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view as viewed from the back side of FIG.

19 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the light-emitting unit drive system forcedly brought into a pop-down state by a hand or the like as viewed from the back side of FIG. 6;

FIG. 20 is a flowchart showing processing in an auto mode according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 3 flash case 4 flash light emitting portion 5 substrate 7 spring 10 motor 25, 27 gear 26 arm 31 gear 31 a pin 34 spring 37 cover 50 diffusion plate

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. A camera in which a flash light emitting portion is mounted on a camera body so as to be able to move up and down, a motor, driving means for raising and lowering the flash light emitting portion by a driving force of the motor, and the flash light emitting portion being in an up state. Position detecting means for detecting that there is, focal length information output means for outputting information on the focal length of the photographing lens, adjusting means for adjusting the irradiation angle of the flash light emitting portion by driving force of the motor, and the driving means And control means for causing the adjusting means to adjust the irradiation angle based on the output focal length information after the position detecting means detects that the flash light emitting unit is in the up state. A camera with a built-in flash device. 2. The control means adjusts the irradiation angle to an angle corresponding to the output focal length information after the position detection means detects that the flash light emitting unit has been turned up. The camera with a built-in flash device according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The driving unit sets the flash light emitting unit in an up state by using rotation of the motor in one direction, and the adjusting unit changes the irradiation angle of the flash light emitting unit by using rotation of the motor in another direction. The camera with a built-in flash device according to claim 1, wherein the camera is adjusted. 4. A operates according only one is one of the rotation of the motor of the adjusting means and said driving means, the flash device according to claim 1 and the other is characterized by operating in accordance with other rotation of the motor Built-in camera. 5. The camera is a single-lens reflex camera,
The camera with a built-in flash device according to claim 3, wherein the flash unit is disposed above a pentaprism of the single-lens reflex camera.