JP3478261B2 - Information equipment - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information device capable of detachably holding a card.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Information equipment, such as a digital camera, having a structure in which a card such as a memory card can be detachably held, is
In order to check whether or not the attached card is broken, a process for obtaining the card information is performed.

[0003]

However, in the above information equipment, it takes a certain amount of time to acquire the card information at the time of activation, so that quick activation is difficult.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an information device that can be quickly activated.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention of claim 1 is an information device for selectively switching between start and stop by a switching means, wherein (a) a card is removable. Holding means for holding; (b) detection means for constantly feeding power from a predetermined power source to detect attachment / detachment of the card in the holding means; and (c) detection results by the detection means.
Based, even in the stopped state of the information device performing Kadochi E Tsu <br/> click processing and storage means for storing card information relates card mounted upon activation, in the storage means The activation process is performed using the stored card information.

Further, the invention of claim 2 is an information device for selectively switching between start and stop by a switching means,
(A) Retaining means for removably holding the card, and (b)
A detection unit that is constantly supplied with power from a predetermined power source and detects information relating to the attribute of the card in the holding unit,
(C) irrespective of the activation state of the information device and a stopped state, and storage means for storing and holding the information detected by the detecting means, in the start-up process, the storage Hand
Reading the information that is remembers the stage as an attribute of the card, it is characterized in that use.

The invention according to claim 3 is an information device which selectively switches start and stop by a switching means,
(A) Retaining means for removably holding the card, and (b)
Comprising a detection means for detecting the detachment of the card in Oite said holding means in a stopped state, and storage means for storing and holding the detection result by the detection means in (c) stopped,
At startup, by reference to the result of the detection to be stored in the storage hand stage, if it is determined that there is no detachment of the card in a stopped state, the omission of the card check process of the card held in the holding means Then, the startup process is performed.

According to a fourth aspect of the invention, in the information equipment according to any one of the first to third aspects, the information equipment is a digital camera.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION <First Embodiment><Structure of Main Part of Digital Camera> FIGS. 1 to 4 are views showing a structure of a main part of a digital camera 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Is a front view, FIG. 2 is a rear view, FIG. 3 is a side view, and FIG. 4 is a bottom view. These drawings are not necessarily based on the trigonometry, and the main purpose is to conceptually exemplify the main configuration of the digital camera 1.

The digital camera 1, as shown in FIG.
The camera body 2 has a box shape and the image pickup section 3 has a rectangular parallelepiped shape (shown by a thick line), and functions as an information device having excellent portability. The image pickup unit 3 is provided with a CCD (Charge Co
upled Device) An image pickup circuit including a color area sensor is provided. Further, similar to the silver halide lens shutter camera, a dimming circuit having a dimming sensor 305 that receives reflected light of the flash light from the subject at a proper position in the image pickup unit 3, and also for measuring the distance to the subject. Distance measuring sensor A
F and an optical finder 31 are provided.

On the other hand, inside the main body 3 of the image pickup section,
A zoom motor M1 for changing the zoom ratio of the lens 301 and moving the lens between the accommodation position and the imaging position and a motor M2 for focusing are provided.

On the front surface of the camera body 2, a grip portion 4 is provided at a proper position on the left end, a built-in flash 5 is provided at a proper position on an upper part of the central portion, and a shutter button 9 is provided on an upper surface of the camera body 2. There is.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG.
On the back side of the LCD, a liquid crystal display (LCD: Liquid Crystal Displ) for displaying the captured image on the monitor (corresponding to a viewfinder) and reproducing the recorded image is displayed in the approximate center.
ay) 10 is provided. In addition, a key switch group 26 for operating the digital camera is provided below the LCD 10.
And a power switch 27 that functions as a switching unit that selectively switches between start and stop of the digital camera 1. At the left end of the power switch 27, an LED 281 that lights up when the power is on, and an LED 282 that displays a status of accessing the memory card are provided.

Further, on the back surface of the camera body 2, there is provided a shooting / playback mode setting switch 14 for switching and setting the "shooting mode" and the "playback mode". The photographing mode is a mode for taking a picture, and the reproduction mode is a mode for reproducing and displaying the photographed image recorded in the memory card 81 on the LCD 10. The shooting / playback mode setting switch 14 is composed of a three-contact slide switch. For example, when set to the bottom, the shooting mode is set;

A quad switch 28 is provided on the right side of the rear surface of the camera. By pressing buttons 281, 282, zoom motor M1 is driven to perform zooming, and by pressing buttons 283, 284. Exposure compensation is performed by.

[0016] Now, in FIG. 2, on the rear side of the imaging unit 3, and the LCD button 32. Used to off provided the LCD display, the on-off state of the LCD display every press this LCD button 32 Switch. For example, when shooting using only the optical viewfinder 31, the LCD display is turned off for the purpose of power saving.
At the time of macro photography, by pressing the macro button 33, the focus motor M2 is driven and the lens 301 is ready for macro photography.

As shown in the side view of FIG. 3, a DC input terminal 29 is provided on the side surface of the digital camera 1.

As shown in FIG. 4, a battery charging chamber 18 and a card charging chamber 17 are provided on the bottom surface of the camera body 2. The card filling chamber 17 is closed by a clamshell type lid 15a and is configured to be capable of detachably holding a memory card 81 or a modem card 82 which will be described in detail later. The lid 15a is provided with an opening so that even if the connector portion of the card is exposed to the outside, the lid 15a can be connected to an external device with the lid 15a closed.

In the digital camera 1, four AA dry batteries are filled in the battery filling chamber 18 to connect them in series, and the power supply battery 236 (see FIG. 5) is used as a drive source. Of course, it is also possible to supply power from the adapter from the DC input terminal 29 shown in FIG. 4 for use.

<Functional Block of Digital Camera 1> FIG.
FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of the digital camera 1.

First, the internal block of the image pickup section 3 will be described.

The CCD 303 converts the optical image of the subject formed by the lens 301 into R (red), G (green) and B (blue).
Image signal of the color component (a signal consisting of a signal sequence of pixel signals received by each pixel) is photoelectrically converted and output.

Since the diaphragm is fixed, the exposure control in the image pickup section 3 is performed by adjusting the exposure amount of the CCD 303, that is, the charge accumulation time of the CCD 303 corresponding to the shutter speed. If the proper shutter speed cannot be set when the subject brightness is low, the CCD
By adjusting the level of the image signal output from 303, the improper exposure due to insufficient exposure is corrected. That is, at low brightness, exposure control is performed by combining shutter speed and gain adjustment. The level adjustment of the image signal is performed in the gain adjustment of the AGC circuit 313b in the signal processing circuit 313.

Timing generator (TG) 314
Is to generate a drive control signal for the CCD 303 based on the reference clock transmitted from the timing control circuit 202. The timing generator 314 is, for example,
Timing signal of integration start / end (exposure start / end),
Generates a clock signal such as a read control signal (horizontal synchronizing signal, vertical synchronizing signal, transfer signal, etc.) of the light receiving signal of each pixel, and C
Output to CD303.

The signal processing circuit 313 performs a predetermined analog signal processing on the image signal (analog signal) output from the CCD 303. The signal processing circuit 313 is C
DS (correlated double sampling) circuit 313a and AGC
(Automatic gain control) circuit 313b,
The CDS circuit 313a reduces noise in the image signal, and the AGC circuit 313b adjusts the gain to adjust the level of the image signal.

The dimming circuit 304 controls the light emission amount of the built-in flash 5 during flash photography to a predetermined light emission amount set by the overall control unit 211. In flash photography, the reflected light of the flash light from the subject is received by the light control sensor 305 at the same time when the exposure is started, and when the received light amount reaches a predetermined light emission amount, the light control circuit 3
From 04, the FL control circuit provided in the control unit outputs the light emission stop signal STP. Flash control circuit 217
The light emission of the built-in flash 5 is forcibly stopped in response to the light emission stop signal STP, whereby the light emission amount of the built-in flash 5 is controlled to a predetermined light emission amount.

Next, the internal blocks of the camera body 2 will be described.

In the camera body 2, the A / D converter 205 converts each pixel signal of the image signal into a 10-bit digital signal. The A / D conversion unit 205
Each pixel signal (analog signal) is set to 1 based on the A / D conversion clock input from the timing control circuit 202.
Convert to a 0-bit digital signal.

A timing control circuit 202 for generating a reference clock, a timing generator 314, and a clock for the A / D converter 205 is provided in the camera body 2. The timing control circuit 202 is controlled by the overall control unit 211.

The black level correction circuit 206 corrects the A / D converted pixel signal (hereinafter, pixel data) to a reference black level. Further, the WB circuit 207 adjusts R, so that the white balance is also adjusted after the γ correction.
The level conversion of the pixel data of each color component of G and B is performed. The WB circuit 207 converts the level of the pixel data of each of the R, G, and B color components using the level conversion table input from the overall control unit 211. The conversion coefficient (characteristic inclination) of each color component of the level conversion table is set by the overall control unit 211 for each captured pixel.

The γ correction circuit 208 corrects the γ characteristic of pixel data. The image memory 209 is a memory that stores the pixel data output from the γ correction circuit 208. The image memory 209 has a storage capacity for one frame. That is, the image memory 209 is the CCD 3
When 03 has pixels of m rows and n columns, it has a storage capacity of pixel data of m × n pixels, and each pixel data is stored at a corresponding pixel position.

The VRAM 210 is a buffer memory for image data reproduced and displayed on the LCD 10. VRAM2
Reference numeral 10 has a storage capacity of image data corresponding to the number of pixels of the LCD 10.

In the photographing mode, in the photographing standby state, each pixel data of the image picked up by the image pickup unit 3 at predetermined intervals is subjected to predetermined signal processing by the A / D converter 205 to the γ correction circuit 208. After that, the VRA is stored in the image memory 209 and is also transmitted via the overall control unit 211.
It is transferred to M210 and displayed on the LCD 10 (live view display). As a result, the photographer can visually recognize the subject image from the image displayed on the LCD 10. In the reproduction mode, the image read from the memory card 81 is transferred to the VRAM 210 after being subjected to predetermined signal processing by the overall control unit 211, and reproduced and displayed on the LCD 10.

The card I / F 212 is a memory card 81.
An interface for writing image data to and reading image data from.

The flash control circuit 217 is a circuit for controlling the light emission of the built-in flash 5. The flash control circuit 217 controls the presence / absence of light emission, the amount of light emission, the light emission timing, etc. of the built-in flash 5 based on the control signal of the overall control unit 211, and based on the light emission stop signal STP input from the dimming circuit 304, the built-in flash. The amount of light emission of No. 5 is controlled.

The RTC 219 is a clock circuit for managing the shooting date and time. It is driven by another power source (not shown).

The operation section 250 is provided with the above-mentioned various switches and buttons.

The shutter button 9 is a two-step switch capable of detecting a half-pressed state (S1) and a depressed state (S2) as employed in a silver halide camera.
When the shutter button 9 is pressed halfway (S1) in the standby state, the distance information is input to the overall control unit 211 by the distance measurement information from the distance measurement sensor. According to an instruction from the overall control unit 211, the AF motor M2 is driven to move the lens 301 to the in-focus position.

The overall control unit 211 is composed of a CPU, and organically controls the driving of each member in the image pickup unit 3 and the camera body unit 2 described above to totally control the photographing operation of the digital camera 1. . It should be noted that in the figure, dotted arrows are shown for the sake of convenience to show the flow of image data, and in reality, the image data is sent to each block via the overall control unit 211, and therefore It has a work memory 211a made of DRAM and a flash ROM 211b for storing programs.

The overall control unit 211 also includes a brightness determination unit for setting an exposure control value (shutter speed (SS)) and a shutter speed setting unit. The brightness determination unit determines the brightness of the subject by using the image captured by the CCD 303 every 1/30 (second) in the shooting standby state. That is, the brightness determination unit determines the brightness of the subject using the image data that is updated and stored in the image memory 209.

The shutter speed setting unit sets the shutter speed (the integration time of the CCD 303) based on the result of the brightness determination of the subject by the brightness determination unit.

Further, the overall control unit 211 is provided with a filter unit for performing a filtering process and a recording image generating unit for generating a thumbnail image and a compressed image in order to perform the recording process of the photographed image, and records it in the memory card 81. In order to reproduce the reproduced image on the LCD 10, a reproduction image generation unit that generates a reproduction image is provided.

The filter section corrects the high frequency component of the image to be recorded by the digital filter and corrects the image quality relating to the contour.

The recorded image generator reads pixel data from the image memory 209 and generates thumbnail images and compressed images to be recorded in the memory card 81. The recording image generation unit scans the image memory 209 in the raster scanning direction, reads pixel data for each 8 pixels in both the horizontal and vertical directions, and sequentially transfers the pixel data to the memory card 81, thereby generating thumbnail images. Is generated and recorded in the memory card 81.

When recording on the memory card 8, all pixel data are read out from the image memory 209, and these pixel data are subjected to JP such as two-dimensional DCT conversion and Huffman coding.
A predetermined compression process by the EG method is performed.

When the photographing is instructed by the shutter button 9 in the photographing mode, the general control section 211 displays the thumbnail image of the image captured in the image memory 209 after the photographing instruction and the compression rate set by the compression rate setting switch 12. To generate a compressed image compressed in JPEG format and tag information (frame number, exposure value, shutter speed, compression rate, shooting date, flash on / off data at the time of shooting, scene information, image determination) Both images are stored in the memory card 81 together with information such as results).

Electric power is supplied to the overall control unit 211 and each peripheral device by a power supply circuit 237, and the power supply circuit 237 is charged from an AC adapter via the DC input terminal 29 or in the battery charging chamber 18. Power supply battery 2
Power is supplied from 36.

Electric power is always supplied to the overall control unit 211 even when the power is off, but when the power is off, it is in a standby state (processing stopped state), and power consumption is extremely small.

The card information detection section 238 electrically connected to the power supply circuit 237 is a section for detecting information of the card inserted in the card filling chamber 17. In the card information detection unit 238, electric power is constantly supplied from the power supply circuit 237. Then, the detection result of the card information is recorded in the card information memory 239 having a non-volatile memory. The card information memory 239 functions as a storage unit that stores and holds the card information detected by the card information detection unit 238 regardless of whether the digital camera 1 is activated or stopped. As a result, even when the digital camera 1 is stopped, that is, when the main power is off, the card information loaded in the card filling chamber 17 can be detected and the result can be recorded in the card information memory 239.

The card information stored in the card information memory 239 is shown in Table 1 below.

[0051]

[Table 1]

As shown in Table 1, the card information memory 239 stores information regarding the presence / absence of a card in the card filling chamber 17, the type of the card, the presence / absence of an error, and the availability of an empty space. Regarding the free space, not only the presence or absence thereof but also the actual free space may be recorded.

Next, the memory card 81 and the modem card 82 which can be mounted in the card filling chamber 17 will be described.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an address map in the memory card 81.

The memory card 81 has a card type recording area 81a for recording card attributes, for example, card type.
And an image data recording area 81b in which image data taken by the digital camera 1 is recorded.

The card type recording area 81a is an area in which the card information detected by the card information detecting section 238 is recorded. Specifically, in addition to the memory card, the total storage capacity of the card is written.

The image data recording area 81b is a file information management area for managing in which area of the memory card 81 each photographed frame is recorded, and a data recording area for recording image data of each frame. It is composed of a completed area (parallel hatched area) and an empty area. Each frame is composed of a tag portion, high-resolution image data (1600 × 1200 pixels) compressed in JPEG format, and image data for thumbnail display (80 × 60 pixels). Also, a voice file can be recorded when the voice card is attached, and a link to the voice file is described in the tag of the image file.

Then, the shooting / playback mode setting switch 1
4 is set to the playback mode, the memory card 81
The image data with the largest frame number in the image is read out, the reproduced image generation unit in the overall control unit 211 decompresses the data, and the data is transferred to the VRAM 210.
On the CD 10, the image with the largest frame number, that is, the most recently captured image is displayed.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an address map in the modem card 82.

The modem card 82 is the memory card 8 described above.
A card type recording area 82a is provided as in the case of 1, and a functional area 82b necessary for the original function of the modem card 82 is provided.

The card type recording area 82a is an area in which the card information detected by the card information detecting section 238 is recorded. Specifically, it is written that it is a modem card.

The functional area 82b is composed of an address (parallel hatched portion) assigned to hardware and an undefined area.

<Operation of Digital Camera 1> FIGS. 8 and 9 are flowcharts showing the basic operation of the digital camera 1. This operation is automatically executed by the overall control unit 211.

In the stopped state of the digital camera 1, it is detected whether the power switch 27 has been pressed, that is, whether there is a start instruction from the user (ST1). Here, if the power switch 27 is pressed, ST10 shown in FIG.
If not, the process proceeds to step ST2.

At step ST2, the card information detection unit 2
The change of the card state, that is, the insertion / removal (attachment / detachment) of the card is detected by 38. Here, even when the power of the digital camera 1 is turned off, the card information detection unit 238 supplied with power from the power supply circuit 237 detects a change in the card state, and the overall control unit 211 also returns from the standby state in response to the change. The processing shown in the flowchart is executed.
Here, if a change is detected, the process proceeds to step ST3, and if no change is detected, the process proceeds to step ST1.

In step ST3, it is determined whether or not there is a card in the card filling chamber 17. Here, if a card is loaded in the card filling chamber 17, step ST
4. If not attached, go to step ST5
Proceed to.

In step ST4, a card check process described later is performed. Here, by performing the processing that was performed when the power was started up in advance when the power was turned off, it is possible to contribute to shortening the startup time of the digital camera 1.

At step ST5, the card information detecting section 2
The detection result detected by 38, that is, the fact that the card is not attached is recorded in the card information memory 239 in the digital camera 1 as card information.

At step ST6, the detection result detected by the card information detection section 238 at step ST4 is recorded as card information in the card information memory 239 in the digital camera 1. After that, the overall control unit 211 returns to the standby state, so that power consumption does not become a problem.

In step ST 10, when the digital camera 1 is started, it is determined whether or not there is a card in the card filling chamber 17. Here, if there is a card, the process proceeds to step ST11, in the absence card, the process proceeds to step ST1 8.

At step ST11, the digital camera 1
It is determined whether card information such as the card type is recorded in the card information memory 239 therein. If recorded here. If it is not recorded, the process proceeds to step ST12.

At step ST12, the type of card stored in the card information in the card information memory 239 is determined. Here, the type of card is the memory card 81
If it is, the process proceeds to step ST14, and if it is the modem card 82, the process proceeds to step ST20.

In step ST13, a card check process described later is performed. This operation corresponds to the processing that is always performed when the conventional digital camera is started. In this embodiment, when the card information is recorded in advance, the card check process can be omitted.

At step ST14, it is determined whether or not an error message is recorded in the card information in the card information memory 239. If an error is recorded, the process proceeds to step ST15, and if no error is recorded, the process proceeds to step ST1.
Go to 6.

At step ST15, the memory card 81
The LCD 10 displays that there is an error (abnormality).

In step ST16, it is determined whether or not the free space OK (sufficient) is recorded in the card information in the card information memory 239. Where the free space O
If K is recorded, the process proceeds to step ST20, and if it is recorded that the free space is insufficient, step S20 is performed.
Proceed to T17.

In step ST17, the fact that the free space is insufficient is displayed on the LCD 10.

In step ST18, the card filling chamber 17
The fact that no card is attached is recorded in the card information memory 239 in the digital camera 1 as card information.

In step ST19, the card filling chamber 17
A warning is displayed on the LCD 10 to the effect that no card is installed in the.

At step ST20, camera processing, that is, general photographing, display and other processing of the digital camera 1 by the user is performed.

At step ST21, the digital camera 1
It is determined whether the power switch 27 has been pressed to stop the power supply. Here, if the power switch 27 is pressed, the process proceeds to step ST22, and if not, the process returns to step ST20.

In step ST22, power supply termination processing is performed. In other words, the power supply to the main circuits other than the card information detection unit 238 that perform the original functions of the digital camera 1 is stopped, and the overall control unit 211 is set to the standby mode.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart for explaining the card check processing in steps ST4 and ST13 described above.

In step ST30, the card information detection section 238 detects the type of the card loaded in the card filling chamber 17. If the memory card 81 is installed, the process proceeds to step ST31. If the modem card 82 is installed, the process proceeds to step ST3.
Go to 8.

In step ST31, the card filling chamber 17
The fact that the card attached to the card is the memory card 81 is recorded in the card information memory 239 as card information.

At step ST32, the data of all addresses in the memory card 81 shown in FIG. 6 is checked.

In step ST33, step ST32
The check result in step 2 is collated with the file management information (see FIG. 6) in the memory card 81.

In step ST34, step ST33
It is determined whether or not the collation result in 1 is mismatched, that is, whether there is an error. Here, if there is an error, the process proceeds to step ST35, and if not, step S
Proceed to T36.

At step ST35, the memory card 81
The fact that there is an error is recorded in the card information memory 239 in the digital camera 1 as card information.

In step ST36, the memory card 81
It is judged whether the free capacity of is sufficient. If the free space is insufficient, the process proceeds to step ST37.

In step ST37, the memory card 81
Is recorded in the card information memory 239 as card information.

By the operation of the digital camera 1 described above, the card check process can be performed even in the stopped state, so that the card check process at the time of activation can be omitted and quick activation can be performed.

<Second Embodiment> The configuration of a digital camera 1A according to a second embodiment of the present invention is similar to that of the digital camera 1 described above, but the digital camera 1 described later is used.
A program for performing the operation related to A is stored in the flash ROM 211b of the overall control unit 211A shown in FIG.

<Operation of Digital Camera 1A> FIG.
It is a flow chart which shows the basic operation in digital camera 1A. Regarding this operation, the overall control unit 21
It is automatically executed in 1A.

At step ST50, the power switch 27
Determine if was pressed. Here, if the power switch 27 is pressed, the process proceeds to step ST51, and if not, the process proceeds to step ST59.

In step ST51, the card filling chamber 1
At 7, it is determined whether the card has been inserted or removed when the power was turned off. Whether the card insertion the (removable) determines in Step <br/> ST60 is indicating that a card is inserted in into the card information memory 239 whether it is recorded. here,
If the card has been inserted / removed, the process proceeds to step ST52, and if not, the process proceeds to step ST53.

At step ST52, the card check process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 10 is performed.

At step ST53, the digital camera 1
The card information stored in the card information memory 239 of A is read. As a result, the card check process at the time of startup can be omitted, which can contribute to quick startup.

At step ST54, camera processing, that is, general photographing of the digital camera 1A by the user,
Display and other processing are performed.

At step ST55, the power switch 27
Is pressed, that is, the digital camera 1 by the user
It is determined whether or not the stop instruction has been issued. If the power switch 27 is pressed, the process proceeds to step 56, and if not, the process returns to step ST54.

At step ST56, the card check process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 10 is performed.

In step ST57, step ST56
The card information checked in step 3 is recorded in the card information memory 239 of the digital camera 1A.

In step ST58, power supply termination processing is performed as in step ST22 shown in the flowchart of FIG.

In step ST59, the card information detection unit 238, which is supplied with power from the power supply circuit 237 even when the power is off, determines whether or not a card is inserted into or removed from the card filling chamber 17. Here, if the card is inserted or removed, the process proceeds to step ST60, and if it is not inserted, the process returns to step ST50.

At step ST60, the fact that the card has been inserted / removed is recorded in the card information memory 239.

By the above operation of the digital camera 1A,
If the card is not inserted / removed when the power is turned off, the startup process can be simplified to enable quick startup.

In step ST51 described above,
First information regarding the type (attribute) of the card recorded in the card information memory 239, and the card information detection unit 238.
It is also possible to collate with the second information regarding the type of the card detected from the mounted card by, and to proceed to the card check process of step ST52 when the collation result does not match. As a result, when the first information and the second information match, the card mounted at the time of stop and the card mounted at the time of start can be regarded as the same, so the startup process can be simplified and quick startup can be performed. Becomes In this case, the operations of steps ST59 and ST60 can be omitted.

<Modification> ◎ The method of switching between start and stop is not limited to a method such as a power switch that requires user operation, but a method of receiving a start / stop signal from outside the information equipment or a timer. It may be started or stopped.

The card filling chamber in each of the above embodiments may have a structure in which another type of functional card such as a USB card can be mounted, and the present invention can be applied to this case as well.

The card information memory may be a volatile memory which is constantly supplied with power. Also in this case, the card information can be stored and held when the digital camera is stopped.

The present invention is not limited to portable devices such as digital cameras and mobile phones, but may be applied to stationary information devices such as personal computers having card slots.

[0112]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention , the information device is detected based on the detection result of the card attachment / detachment detected by the detection means which is constantly supplied with power from the predetermined power source.
Card check processing is performed even in the stopped state of the device, card information is stored in the storage means, and the startup processing is performed using the card information stored in the storage means for the card installed at startup. Done. As a result, the start-up process can be simplified and quick start-up can be performed.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the storage device is provided with the storage device for storing and holding the information related to the attribute of the card detected by the detection device which is constantly supplied with power from the predetermined power source .
Ri, is used to start the process reads the information stored in the storage hands stage as an attribute of the card. As a result, the start-up process can be simplified and quick start-up can be performed.

According to the invention of claim 3, the stop state is
In the state, the attachment / detachment of the card is detected, and the detection result is stored in the storage means. When it is determined that the card is not attached or detached in the stopped state by referring to the detection result stored in the storage unit at the time of activation, the card check process of the card is omitted and the activation process is performed. As a result, the start-up process can be simplified and quick start-up can be performed.

In particular, according to the invention of claim 4, since the information device is a digital camera, it is possible to quickly start up the digital camera, which generally takes a lot of time to start up, without missing a photo opportunity.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a main configuration of a digital camera 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a main configuration of a digital camera 1.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a main configuration of a digital camera 1.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a main configuration of a digital camera 1.

5 is a functional block diagram of the digital camera 1. FIG.

6 is a diagram showing an address map in the memory card 81. FIG.

7 is a diagram showing an address map in a modem card 82. FIG.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a basic operation of the digital camera 1.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a basic operation of the digital camera 1.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a card check process.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a basic operation of the digital camera 1A according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 digital camera 17 Card filling room 237 power supply circuit 238 Card information detector 239 card information memory

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Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. An information device for selectively switching between activation and deactivation by a switching means, comprising: (a) a holding means for holding a card in a removable manner, and (b) a holding means that is constantly supplied with power from a predetermined power source. Detecting means for detecting the attachment / detachment of the card, and (c) the information device based on the detection result by the detecting means.
Even in a stopped state of the vessel and a storage means for storing card information by the card check process relates card mounted upon activation, the storage means
An information device characterized by performing a start-up process using the card information stored in . 2. An information device for selectively switching between starting and stopping by a switching means, comprising: (a) a holding means for holding a card in a detachable manner, and (b) a power supply which is constantly supplied with power from a predetermined power source. Detecting means for detecting information related to the attribute of the card in the means, and (c) a storage means for storing and holding the information detected by the detecting means, regardless of whether the information device is in a startup state or a stopped state. And in the start-up process, the
Information equipment characterized by reading and using information as card attributes . 3. An information device for selectively activating and stopping by a switching means, comprising: (a) a holding means for detachably holding a card; and (b) the car in the holding means in a stopped state.
A detection means for detecting attachment / detachment of a card ; and (c) a storage means for storing and holding a detection result of the detection means in a stopped state, and refer to the detection result stored in the storage means at startup.
When it is determined that the card has not been attached or detached in a stopped state by taking a drink, the card check process of the card held in the holding means is omitted, and the activation process is performed. . 4. The information device according to claim 1, wherein the information device is a digital camera.