JP3183538B2 - camera - 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, and more particularly to a camera having a lens barrel movable along an optical axis to a retracted position.
Further, the present invention relates to a camera having a displaceable protection cover for protecting the lens barrel in a collapsed state.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a camera having a lens barrel that can be extended and a displaceable protective cover for protecting the lens, that is, a barrier, when the barrier is opened, the lens barrel does not interfere with the barrier. It is paid out. In addition,
This position is called a photographing preparation position. Thereafter, when the shutter is released, the lens barrel is extended to a shooting position by focusing or the like, and shooting is performed. Then, the lens barrel is retracted again to the photographing preparation position.

Further, as a camera which has been previously proposed, a camera with a lens barrier disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-255839 has a barrier until the lens barrel is retracted to a position where it does not interfere with the barrier. It has a built-in mechanism that cannot be closed.

[0004]

However, in the former one of the above-mentioned prior arts, since the release operation is performed when the camera is at the photographing preparation position, the subsequent focusing flash is performed.
The trouble that the release time lag became longer due to the longer work time was unavoidable. Further, the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
In the camera with a lens barrier disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 255839, a mechanism that cannot close the barrier until the lens barrel described above is retracted to a position where it does not interfere with the barrier is very complicated. Therefore, there is a disadvantage that both the component cost and the number of assembly steps are disadvantageous.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a camera in which a lens barrel is extended to a photographing position by a photographing preparation operation so that a release time lag is reduced. And

[0006]

The camera according to the present invention comprises:
By sliding with respect to the camera body, a protective cover that is displaced at least to an open position exposing the photographing optical system and a closed position covering the same, and the protective cover is moved from the closed position
From the first state to the second state when displaced to the open position
Between the retracted position stored in the camera body and the protruding position protruding from the front of the camera and interfering with the sliding trajectory of the protective cover, along the optical axis of the photographing optical system. A possible lens barrel, a drive source for displacing the lens barrel, and when the protective cover is in the open position,
Photographing preparation detecting means for detecting that the photographer has performed an operation for photographing .
2. In the state of 2, the photographer is detected by the photographing preparation detecting means.
When it is detected that the camera has performed an action for shooting
Preferably , the lens barrel is displaced to the projecting position.

[0007]

[Operation] In the above configuration, the protective cover is closed.
From the first state to the second state when displaced from the
The switch that changes to the state described above is in the second state.
The photographer uses the photographing preparation detecting means to take a photograph.
When it is detected that the operation for
Displace to the projected position.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to the illustrated embodiments. FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a camera showing a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing each operation position of a lens barrel of the camera and a relative position of a barrier. As shown in FIG. 1, in this camera, a barrier 2 which is a protective cover is provided.
The claws 2a, 2b of the barrier 2 are slidably fitted in the guide grooves 1a, 1b of the front cover 1 of the camera in a direction orthogonal to the optical axis O. The lens barrel 3 including the photographing optical system is
The suspension shaft 4 is slidably supported in the optical axis O direction, and the suspension shaft 4 is supported by a camera body 10 fixed integrally with the front cover-1. The lens barrel 3 is extended and retracted by screwing a nut 6 fixed and supported in a state where rotation is prevented by the lens barrel 3 to a feed screw 5 rotatably supported by the main body 10. When the feed screw 5 is rotated, the feed screw 5 is extended and retracted. A gear 5a is fixed to the feed screw 5, and is driven by an output gear 7a of a drive motor 7 as a drive source via a gear train (not shown). Further, an eye sensor 13 of a photographing preparation detection switch provided in the finder eyepiece 12 of the rear lid 8 at the rear of the camera is provided.

Next, the positional relationship between the lens barrel 3 and the barrier 2 will be described. The lens barrel 3 is extended from the retracted position in FIG. 1 to a first photographing preparation position 3A as shown in FIG. In the state, the barrier 2 is in the barrier closed state, and the inner surface 2a is in a state of being extremely close to the entire surface of the lens barrel. In this state, even if you still open and close the barrier,
The barrier 2 and the lens barrel 3 do not interfere. Next, when the photographing lens 3 is further extended and extended to the second photographing preparation position 3B which is extremely close to the ∞ (infinity) photographing position 3C, the barrier 2 cannot be opened and closed here because it interferes with the barrier 2 here. Then, when a release signal is input, the image is further fed out to the above-mentioned shooting position 3C to perform shooting.

FIGS. 3 and 4 are a rear view of the camera showing the arrangement of the eye sensor 13 viewed from the rear lid 8 side and a side view of the camera at the time of viewfinder observation. As shown in FIG. 3, the eye sensor 13 is provided adjacent to the eyepiece 12 of the finder, and as shown in FIG.
Of the photographer or face is located in front of the photographer. On the other hand, the eye sensor 13 includes an LED 13a and a phototransistor 13b as shown in the circuit diagram of FIG. When the photographer's face 20 or the like is present in front of the subject, the reflected light of the light from the LED 13 a is
The light enters the transistor 13b. Therefore, it is possible to detect that the photographer is looking into the finder 12 for photographing and is in a photographing preparation state.

In the camera of the present embodiment having the above-described configuration, when the main switch is turned off in conjunction with the opening and closing of the barrier 3, the lens barrel 3 is in a collapsed state as shown in FIG. Then, when the barrier 2 is opened, the main switch is turned on, and the lens barrel 3 is extended to the first photographing preparation position 3A in FIG. In this state, the barrier 2 is still
Since it does not interfere with the lens barrel 3, it can be closed. When the photographer looks into the viewfinder eyepiece 12 to observe the viewfinder, the eye sensor 13 of the photographing preparation detection switch detects that the photographing is in the preparation state, and extends the lens barrel 3 to the second photography preparation position 3B. . In this state, the barrier 2 cannot be opened and closed, but there is no problem because the barrier 2 is in the ready state for release. Subsequently, the release switch of the first stage is turned on, and focusing is to be performed.
Since the camera is at the shooting preparation position, the time until focusing is shortened, and the time loss of the release is reduced. After the exposure, the lens barrel 3 is retracted to the first photographing preparation position, and then waits for photographing preparation. In this state, since the barrier 2 can be opened and closed freely, the main switch can be turned off by closing the barrier 2.

A series of operations of opening and closing the barrier 2 and photographing processing of the camera will be described with reference to a flowchart of FIG. First, the main switch is turned on by the opening operation of the barrier 2, and the processing in FIG. 8 starts. At that time,
If the photographer is not looking through the viewfinder, the photographing preparation detection switch (eye sensor 13) is off and the lens barrel 3 is extended to the first photographing preparation position 3A (see FIG. 2) (steps S01 and S03). Then, step S04
Proceed to. When the photographer looks into the finder and the photographing preparation detection switch (eye sensor 13) is turned on, the photographer advances to the second photographing preparation position 3B and proceeds to step S04 (step S02). In step S04, it is determined that the first stage of the release switch is ON , and step S0 is performed.
5,06 photometry and distance measurement are performed. However, when the first stage off of the release switch, the process proceeds to step S12, the main switch on, to determine the off and when on the process returns to step S01, in the case of off-the process proceeds to step S13, the lens barrel 3 The lens is retracted to the retracted state shown in FIG. 1, and the process is terminated.

After the photometry and the distance measurement, it is determined whether the second stage of the release switch is on or off. If the release switch is on, focusing is performed (step S08), and then automatic exposure is performed (step S09). In step S10, the lens barrel 3 is once retracted to the first shooting preparation position 3A, and the film is wound up (step S1).
1). Then, the process returns to step S01.

In the present embodiment, the second photographing preparation position 3B is a position slightly before the ∞ position photographing position, but is not necessarily limited to this position .
撮 影 It is also possible to set a shooting position such as a position or a closest position .

As described above, in the camera of the present embodiment, the photographing preparation state is detected by the eye sensor 13, so that in the photographing preparation state, the lens barrel 3 is set at the photographing position or very close to the photographing position. This makes it possible to prevent a time lag after release from increasing as in a conventional camera with a barrier.

Next, a camera according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The camera of the present embodiment is different from the camera of the first embodiment in the shooting preparation detection switch. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, a push-button switch 14, which is a photographing preparation detection switch, is provided on the release switch 11 side of the rear lid 8 as shown in FIG. When the photographer holds the grip on the release switch side, the user presses the push button switch 14 with the thumb of the held hand as shown in FIG. This is performed by notifying the camera that the camera is ready for shooting. The other configurations of the camera, the opening and closing of the barrier, the photographing processing operation, and the setting of the photographing preparation position of the lens barrel and the like are the same as those of the first embodiment.

The camera of the present embodiment is effective when the photographer does not need to look through the finder in preparation for shooting as in the case of the camera of the first embodiment and shoots without looking at the finder. Because it is a button switch, it has such features that switches and the like can be manufactured at low cost.

[0018]

As described above, according to the present invention, the protection is provided.
Cover to the open position (the position where the lens barrel is exposed)
With the camera moved, make sure that the camera's power switch is
And the photographer will take a picture from this state
Is not necessary to operate the protective cover.
In the same condition (without operating the shooting preparation detection means).
Mode), the user operates the release button, etc.
(See the flow of FIG. 8).
You get a camera that is strong
In addition, with the protective cover in the open position,
By operating the means, the lens barrel will be in the extended state.
Therefore, if you operate the release button etc. from this state,
It is clear that the release time lag can be reduced
Significant effects can be obtained .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a main part of a camera showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of an essential part showing a state in which a lens barrel of the camera shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a rear view of the camera shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a side view of the camera shown in FIG. 1 in a viewfinder observation state.

FIG. 5 is a main circuit diagram of the eye sensor of the camera of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a rear view of a camera according to a second embodiment of the present invention, as viewed from the rear lid side.

FIG. 7 is a rear view of the camera of FIG. 6 in a photographing preparation state viewed from the rear lid side.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a photographing process of the camera of FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

2 ... Barrier (protective cover) 3 ... Lens barrel (photographing optical system) 7 Drive motor (drive source) 13 ... …… Eye sensor (shooting preparation detecting means) 14 …………… Push button switch (shooting preparation detecting means)

Continued on the front page (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G02B ⁷ /02-7/105 G03B 11/00-11/06 G03B 17/04-17/17

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A protective cover which is displaced at least between an open position exposing an imaging optical system and a closed position covering the same by sliding with respect to a camera body, and wherein the protective cover is moved from the closed position to the open position. Displaced to
Switch that changes from a first state to a second state
A lens barrel displaceable along the optical axis of the photographing optical system between a retracted position stored in the camera body and a projected position protruding from the front of the camera and capable of interfering with the sliding trajectory of the protective cover. And a driving source for displacing the lens barrel, and photographing preparation detecting means for detecting that the photographer has performed an operation for photographing when the protective cover is at the open position. And the switch is in the second state,
Motion for the photographer to the photographed by the serial shooting preparation detection means
A camera characterized in that, when it is detected that the operation has been performed, the lens barrel is displaced to the projecting position.