JP2829915B2 - Camera with built-in strobe device - Google Patents

Description

Description: FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a flash device including a pop-up device for operating a flash device from a stored state to a used state and an automatic zoom device for automatically adjusting an irradiation range of the flash device. It concerns the built-in camera.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION As a problem that occurs when the optical axis of a photographing lens of a camera is close to the optical axis of a strobe device, a so-called red-eye phenomenon occurs in which the eyes of a photographed person glow red. This development can be solved by separating the optical axis of the photographing lens from the optical axis of the strobe device.However, in a compact camera with a built-in strobe device, both optical axes are inevitably approaching. there were. In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, a camera with a built-in flash device having a so-called pop-up mechanism for keeping the flash device away from the optical axis of a photographic lens only during shooting has appeared.

Also, an auto-zoom technique for automatically adjusting the irradiation range of a strobe device in accordance with the focal length of a photographing lens in order to enlarge a photographing area is already known.

In recent years, it has been desired to incorporate the above two functions (a pop-up function for flash photography and an auto-zoom function) into a camera in order to increase the functionality of the camera. However, there is a drawback that the actuator becomes larger in size. In addition, since a strobe device equipped with a zoom adjustment actuator is large in both size and mass,
In order to make this pop up, a large amount of energy is required.

(Object of the Invention) An object of the present invention is to reduce the size and weight of a strobe device that pops up from a camera body and to provide a camera with a built-in strobe device that does not require a large driving force to pop up the strobe device. .

(Features of the Invention) In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, in a camera with a built-in flash device having a flash device that pops up from a camera body, a flash device is provided in the flash device that pops up from the camera body. In addition to providing a zoom drive mechanism that changes the irradiation range,
A zoom position control mechanism for detecting a zoom position of the strobe device and a zoom position control mechanism for controlling a desired zoom position are provided in the camera body.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in a camera with a built-in flash device having a flash device that pops up from a camera body and automatically adjusts a flash irradiation range, the flash device pops up from the camera body. A zoom drive mechanism for performing an automatic adjustment operation of a strobe irradiation range in conjunction with a pop-up operation of the device is provided, and a zoom position detection mechanism for detecting a zoom position of the strobe device and a desired zoom position are provided in the camera body. Characterized in that a zoom position control mechanism for performing the above control is provided.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the illustrated embodiments.

FIGS. 1 to 3 show an embodiment of the present invention. In these figures, reference numeral 1 denotes a locking lever for locking a pop-up mechanism of a strobe device 10, and a camera not shown by a shaft 1c. It is rotatably supported on the main body. Reference numeral 2 denotes a locking spring for urging the locking lever 1 to rotate clockwise, and 3 denotes a charge lever for returning the pop-up mechanism from a pop-up state to a stored state. Reference numeral 4 denotes a sector gear that holds the stored state by engaging with the locking lever 1, and is rotatably supported on the camera body by a shaft 4c. Numeral 5 is a pulse plate having a large number of holes of equal pitch on the entire circumference, and is rotatably supported on a shaft 5a integrally with a connecting gear 6 which meshes with a gear forming portion 4a of the sector gear 4. Reference numeral 7 denotes a photo reflector for detecting a pulse of the pulse plate 5. 8 is a sector gear 4
A return lever which is fixedly connected to the strobe device 10 with a pin 4d, contacts the pin 10a fixed on the strobe device 10, and rotates the strobe device 10 counterclockwise in a direction opposite to the biasing direction of the drive spring 16. . Reference numeral 9 denotes a stopper that regulates the counterclockwise rotation of the return lever 8, and is fixed to a camera body (not shown).

Reference numeral 10 denotes the above-described strobe device that pops up from the camera body, and is rotatably supported by the camera body on a shaft 10b so as to be able to pop up. Reference numeral 11 denotes a stopper of the flash device 10 fixed to the camera body. Reference numeral 12 denotes a strobe irradiation lens. Reference numeral 13 denotes a light emitting unit, and a strobe device 10
Sliding movement is possible by engagement between the two pins 10c fixed inside and the long groove 13a. 14 is a link lever,
The groove 14a and the pin 13b fixed to the light emitting unit 13 are engaged with each other while the arm 14b contacts the arm 17b of the zoom adjustment lever 17 described later. The lever 14 is rotatably supported by a shaft 10d fixed to the main body of the strobe device 10, and is urged to rotate counterclockwise by a return spring 15. Reference numeral 16 denotes a pop-up drive spring, one end of which is hung on the body of the strobe device 10 and the other end of which is hung on the stopper 11, and constantly urges the strobe device 10 and a series of members connected thereto in a clockwise direction. doing. Reference numeral 17 denotes a zoom adjustment lever, which is rotatably supported on a shaft 10b of the flash device 10 independently. Reference numeral 18 denotes a claw, and a saw tooth forming portion of the zoom adjustment lever 17
It is pivotally supported on a shaft 18c fixed to the camera body so as to jump into 17a. Reference numeral 19 denotes a magnet, which attracts the armature 18a of the claw 18 in an energized state. Reference numeral 21 denotes a return spring, which is hung between the pin 20 fixed to the camera body and the pin 18d fixed on the claw 18, and
It has a biasing force in the direction to separate it from 9.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention.
101 is a focal length information generation circuit for generating focal length information of the photographing lens, 102 is a comparison circuit, and 103 is a photo reflector 7
A pulse counting circuit 104 for counting the number of pulses is a magnet drive circuit for driving the magnet 19.

 Next, the operation in the above configuration will be described.

FIG. 1 is a view showing a state in which the strobe device 10 is housed in the camera body (hereinafter referred to as a charged state). In this figure, first, the locking lever 1 is spring-loaded by initial movement of release means (not shown). 2 is pushed up in the direction of A in the figure,
Since the engagement with the sector gear 4 is released, the drive spring 16 is in a free state, and the sector gear 4 starts rotating counterclockwise. The connection gear 6 and the pulse plate 5 are connected to the sector gear 4
Rotates clockwise with the rotation of. Further, in accordance with the bias of the drive spring 16, the strobe device 10 rotates around the shaft 10b while applying a rotational force to the return lever 8. That is, this rotational movement is a pop-up operation.

Now when the flash unit 10 starts pop-up operation,
The strobe irradiation lens 12, the light emitting unit 13, the linking lever 14, the return spring 15, and the zoom adjustment lever 17, which is coaxially supported with the device 10, are arranged inside the strobe device 10. And rotates integrally around the shaft 10b. The amount of rotation is detected as the number of pulses by the photo reflector 7 as the amount of rotation of the pulse plate 5.

The pulse output generated by the photo reflector 7 is input to a pulse counting circuit 103 shown in FIG. The pulse signal counted here is compared with the pulse signal from the focus detection information generation circuit 101 corresponding to the focal length information from the photographing lens (not shown) by the comparison circuit 102, and the number of pulses corresponding to the focal length information is generated. Zoom adjustment lever that rotates integrally with the flash unit 10
The magnet drive circuit 104 is driven when the motor 17 has rotated to a predetermined position (a position corresponding to the focal length information at that time). As a result, the magnet 19 is energized and the armature
18a is attracted by the magnet 19, and the tip 18b of the claw 18 jumps into the saw tooth forming portion 17a of the adjusting lever 17, and the adjusting lever 1
7 is locked to the camera body. FIG. 2 shows this state. However, since the pop-up drive spring 16 has a sufficiently strong urging force as compared with the return spring 15, the strobe device 10 continues to rotate further with the zoom adjustment lever 17 left. At this time, since the strobe device 10 and the zoom adjustment lever 17 are in a relative rotational motion state, the link lever 14 continues to rotate clockwise about the axis 10d. Therefore, since the groove 14a of the linking lever 14 and the pin 13b of the light emitting unit 13 are connected, the light emitting unit 13 slides in a direction away from the closest state to the strobe irradiation lens 12. Then, the wall 10f of the strobe device 10 is
It rotates until it collides with 1a, and at the same time when the pop-up operation is completed, the zoom adjustment operation is also completed, and the light emitting unit 13 is set at a desired distance from the lens 12. FIG. 3 shows this state. Next, when returning from the pop-up state (the state shown in FIG. 3) to the charge state (the state shown in FIG. 1), the charge lever 3 is moved in the direction B in FIG.
The pin 4d fixed to the sector gear 4 receives the pressing force of the engaging portion 3a, and the sector gear 4 rotates clockwise, and the strobe device 10 pops up. It is housed in a counterclockwise rotation about the shaft 10b. The slide movement of the charge lever 3 may be performed manually, or may be linked with film feeding or the like.

In addition, regarding actual shooting, a shutter switch (not shown) may be operated by providing a switch for detecting a pop-up operation end state or a timer corresponding to the time required for the pop-up operation. Since it is not mentioned, further details are omitted.

According to the present embodiment, the zoom position detection unit and the zoom position control unit for adjusting the irradiation range of the strobe device are arranged on the camera body side, and only the zoom drive unit is arranged on the strobe device 10 side. Thus, the strobe device 10 is small and lightweight, and the energy for the hop-up operation can be reduced. Further, since the zoom position adjustment of the strobe device 10 is started in conjunction with the pop-up operation and the adjustment is completed during the pop-up operation, there is no need to provide independent actuators, and the strobe device 10 itself is not required. Can be simplified, that is, downsizing can be achieved.

(Correspondence between the Invention and the Embodiment) In the embodiment, the zoom adjustment is a mechanism for moving the light emitting unit 13 in the optical axis direction, in which the strobe device 10 corresponds to the strobe device of the present invention that pops up from the camera body. The lever 17, the link lever 14, and the return spring 15 correspond to the zoom drive mechanism of the present invention. Further, the pulse plate 5, the connecting gear 6, and the photoreflector 7 correspond to a zoom position detecting mechanism of the present invention, and the pawl 18, the magnet 19, and the return spring 21 correspond to a zoom position controlling mechanism of the present invention.

(Effect of the Invention) As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, in a camera with a built-in flash device having a flash device that pops up from the camera body, a flash device is provided in the flash device that pops up from the camera body. In addition to providing a zoom drive mechanism that changes the irradiation range,
In the camera body, by providing a zoom position detection mechanism for detecting the zoom position of the strobe device and a zoom position control mechanism for controlling to a desired zoom position,
The strobe device that pops up from the camera body can be reduced in size and weight, so that a large driving force is not required for popping up.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in a flash device built-in flash device having a flash device that automatically adjusts a flash irradiation range while popping up from a camera body, the flash device pops up from the camera body. A zoom drive mechanism for performing an automatic adjustment operation of a strobe irradiation range in conjunction with a pop-up operation of the strobe device is provided, and a zoom position detecting mechanism for detecting a zoom position of the strobe device and a desired zoom in the camera body. By providing the zoom position control mechanism for controlling the position, the strobe device popping up from the camera body can be reduced in size and weight, and as a result, a large driving force is not required for popping up.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a mechanism diagram when a strobe device is stored according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a mechanism diagram when a pop-up operation and a zoom position adjustment operation are started from the state of FIG. FIG. 4 is a mechanical diagram at the end of each operation, and FIG. 4 is an electric block diagram used when adjusting the zoom position. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Locking lever, 2 ... Locking spring, 4 ... Sector gear, 5 ... Pulse plate, 6 ... Connecting gear, 7 ... Photoreflector, 8 ... Return lever, 10a, 10c ... Pin, 11…
... Stopper, 13b ... Pin, 14 ... Linking lever, 15 ...
Return spring, 16: Drive spring, 18: Claw, 19: Magnet, 21: Return spring.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of front page (56) References JP-A-64-56427 (JP, A) JP-A-63-195637 (JP, A) JP-A-59-210426 (JP, A) JP-A-61-210 138242 (JP, A) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) G03B 15/05

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A strobe device built-in camera having a strobe device popping up from a camera body, wherein a zoom drive mechanism for changing a strobe irradiation range is provided in the strobe device popping up from the camera body. And a zoom position control mechanism for controlling a zoom position of the strobe device and a zoom position control mechanism for controlling a desired zoom position. 2. A strobe device built-in flash device having a strobe device for automatically adjusting a strobe irradiation range while popping up from a camera main body, wherein the strobe device pops up from the camera main body in conjunction with a pop-up operation of the strobe device. A zoom drive mechanism for automatically adjusting the strobe irradiation range, and a zoom position detection mechanism for detecting a zoom position of the strobe device and a zoom position for controlling a desired zoom position in the camera body. A camera with a built-in strobe device, comprising a control mechanism.