JP4099015B2 - Cradle - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a cradle.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, in a digital camera, a cradle that can be used cordlessly with a wireless function has been proposed for connection with a personal computer or the like.
[0003]
However, as shown in FIG. 8, since the power supplied to the cradle 100 itself on which the camera 104 is mounted depends on the cable 102 such as an AC adapter or USB, the advantage that it can be used cordlessly obtained by installing a wireless function. The current situation is that it is lost and is very unusable.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In view of the above facts, an object of the present invention is to provide a cradle equipped with a wireless function capable of supplying power from an electronic device.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The cradle according to claim 1 has a wireless communication function, operates by power supply from an electronic device mounted thereon , and can be turned on / off by a switch provided on the electronic device side .
[0006]
In the present aspect, no power inside the cradle, receives power from the electronic apparatus side in a state of mounting the electronic device, by the power can ON / OFF switch provided in the electronic apparatus side, the power cord do not need. As a result, the cradle can be placed freely, and the wireless communication function can be utilized to the maximum.
[0007]
The cradle according to claim 2 has a function of charging the battery in the cradle from the camera side.
[0008]
In the invention with the above configuration, a rechargeable secondary battery is provided inside the cradle, and charging is possible from the camera side as necessary. Thereby, even if the voltage of the battery in the cradle is lowered, it can be charged from the camera side, so there is no need to connect the cradle with a cord such as an AC adapter.
[0009]
According to a third aspect of the present invention, the electronic device is a camera, and the switch is a release button of the camera .
[0010]
In the invention with the above configuration, turning the cradle on and off with the release button of the camera makes it easy to use even a cradle without a power source because it can use a pilot lamp display etc. by LED, and centralized control from the camera side, so operation mistakes Less.
[0011]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a cradle according to the first embodiment.
[0012]
As shown in FIG. 1, the cradle 10 has a camera 12 mounted thereon, and information such as image information can be exchanged between the camera 12 and the cradle 10 by connecting a connection terminal 16 on the cradle side and a connection terminal 18 on the camera side. It has a structure.
[0013]
At this time, the cradle 10 is provided with wireless communication means including an antenna 14, and can transmit information obtained from the camera 12 by wireless communication with a personal computer or the like to a personal computer or the like without connecting with a communication cable. it can.
[0014]
Further, since the power necessary to operate the cradle 10 is supplied from the camera 12 through the connection terminals 16 and 18, it is not necessary to supply power to the cradle 10 by an AC 100V power source or a USB cable from a personal computer. Since 10 can be used completely cordlessly, there is no fear that the cable will be in the way, and the installation location of the cradle 10 is very flexible.
[0015]
FIG. 2 shows a circuit diagram of the cradle and camera according to the first embodiment.
[0016]
The battery 20 built in the camera 12 is connected to the cradle side circuit via the camera side connection terminal 18 and the cradle side connection terminal 16.
[0017]
Thereby, power can be supplied from the battery 20 of the camera 12 to the cradle 10.
[0018]
FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of the cradle and camera according to the first embodiment.
[0019]
In the camera 12, the image photographed by the lens 30 is converted into an image / electric signal on the CCD 32, sent to the CPU 34 through the CDS / AD conversion 44, developed and processed on the memory 42, and then sent to the connection terminal 18. . The connection terminal 18 is connected to the connection terminal 16 on the cradle 10 side and sends a signal to the wireless communication interface 36, and the sent signal is sent to the personal computer 38 via the antenna 14.
[0020]
At this time, the battery 20 of the camera 12 supplies power to the cradle 10 via the connection terminals 18 and 16 in addition to supplying power to the camera 12 itself. As a result, even if the camera 12 and the cradle 10 are communicating with the personal computer 38, it is not necessary to connect all cables including the power cord, so that it can be used as a complete cordless device.
[0021]
FIG. 4 shows a circuit diagram of the cradle and camera according to the second embodiment.
[0022]
The cradle 10 has a built-in rechargeable battery 22 and operates by supplying power from the battery 22 during normal use.
[0023]
At this time, as shown in FIG. 5, the voltage V of the battery 22 decreases as the use time t increases. Assuming that the voltage for normally operating the cradle 10 is the specified voltage V1, the cradle 10 does not normally operate at time t1.
[0024]
Therefore, the charging control 24 in FIG. 4 monitors the voltage V of the battery 22 and closes the switch 26 when the voltage V of the battery 22 drops below the specified voltage V1.
[0025]
When the switch 26 is closed, charging from the built-in battery 20 on the camera 12 side to the battery 22 of the cradle 10 is started. As a result, the voltage V of the battery 22 increases and the cradle 10 operates normally. If the camera 12 is mounted on the cradle 10 and connected to the cradle 10, and the voltage V of the battery 22 on the cradle 10 side is continuously monitored, the camera 12 and the cradle 10 are as long as the capacity of the battery 20 on the camera side permits. Can be operated normally.
[0026]
FIG. 6 shows a block diagram of the cradle and camera according to the second embodiment.
[0027]
In the camera 12, the image photographed by the lens 30 is converted into an image / electric signal on the CCD 32, sent to the CPU 34 through the CDS / AD conversion 44, developed and processed on the memory 42, and then sent to the connection terminal 18. . The connection terminal 18 is connected to the connection terminal 16 on the cradle 10 side and sends a signal to the wireless communication interface 36, and the sent signal is sent to the personal computer 38 via the antenna 14. At this time, the power of the cradle 10 including the wireless communication interface 36 is supplied by the battery 22 of the cradle 10, and the battery 20 of the camera 12 is not used.
[0028]
When the charging control 24 of the camera 12 monitors the voltage V of the battery 22 of the cradle 10 via the connection terminals 16 and 18, and the voltage V of the battery 22 falls below a specified voltage V1 that normally operates the cradle 10, The charge control 24 closes the switch 26 and connects the battery 20 of the camera 12 to the battery 22 of the cradle 10 via the connection terminals 16 and 18.
[0029]
As a result, the battery 22 of the cradle 10 is charged, and it is avoided that the cradle 10 cannot be operated or its performance is reduced due to the voltage V being lowered.
[0030]
FIG. 7 shows the operational relationship between the cradle and the camera according to the third embodiment.
[0031]
When there is no power source in the cradle 10, power is supplied from the battery 20 of the camera 12 while the cradle 10 is operating, even when the camera 12 is not operating. During this time, the cradle 10 continues to consume the battery 20 of the camera 12.
[0032]
However, providing a power switch on the cradle 10 that does not have a power source is inconvenient and difficult to use because the pilot lamp cannot be used and the power on / off state is difficult to understand. Therefore, since the power of the cradle 10 is supplied from the camera 12, as shown in FIG. 2, a switch 17 that can turn on / off the power of the cradle 10 from the camera 12 side is provided on the cradle 10.
[0033]
In addition, when the cradle 10 has a power supply, it is possible to connect and wait for the PC 38 before mounting the camera 12, so it is desirable to provide a power switch in the cradle 10. Even in this case, it is preferable to prioritize the power on / off of the cradle 10 by the operation on the camera 12 side so that the entire control can be performed on the camera 12 side.
[0034]
Taking a picture with the camera 12 mounted on the cradle 10 is sufficient except for a few exceptions such as using it as a WEB camera. In this embodiment, the release button 40 of the camera 12 is used as a power switch of the cradle. .
[0035]
As shown in FIG. 7, when the release button 40 is pressed once, the power of the cradle 10 is turned on, and when the release button 40 is pressed again, the power is turned off. 10 power supplies can be turned on and off.
[0036]
At this time, it is safe if the camera 12 is fixed in the playback mode while it is mounted on the cradle 10 so that the photographing operation is not mistakenly performed, and the operation status is also displayed on the cradle 10 side with LEDs or the like. Better.
[0037]
【The invention's effect】
Since the present invention has the above-described configuration, it is possible to provide a cradle equipped with a wireless function capable of supplying power from an electronic device.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cradle according to a first embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram of a cradle and a camera according to the first embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a cradle and a camera according to the first embodiment.
FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram of a cradle and a camera according to the second embodiment.
FIG. 5 is a relationship diagram between a battery voltage and a usage time of a cradle according to the second embodiment.
FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a cradle and a camera according to the second embodiment.
FIG. 7 is a table showing a relationship between a cradle power supply and a camera according to the third embodiment.
FIG. 8 is a view of a conventional cradle.
[Explanation of symbols]
10 Cradle 12 Camera 14 Antenna 16 Connection 18 Connection 20 Battery 22 Battery 38 PC 40 Release Button

Claims (3)

A cradle having a wireless communication function, wherein the cradle operates by supplying power from an electronic device to be mounted and can be turned on / off by a switch provided on the electronic device side .   The cradle according to claim 1, wherein the cradle has a charging function of charging power supplied from the electronic device. The cradle according to claim 1, wherein the electronic device is a camera, and the switch is a release button of the camera .

Images