JP4333227B2 - Electronic device and impact mitigation method for electronic device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an electronic device and an electronic device impact mitigation method which are designed to mitigate an impact applied to an electronic device such as a portable recording / reproducing device, an imaging device, and a digital camera.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in electronic devices such as portable digital cameras, a recording medium drive unit (hard disk drive unit: hereinafter referred to as HDD) and a flexible disk drive unit (FDD) for recording / reproducing hard disks have been used as recording / reproducing recording media. A built-in one has been proposed. Since these electronic devices are portable, there are many opportunities to receive external forces such as vibrations and shocks. For example, in HDDs, when external forces such as impacts are applied to the housing, the recording head is displaced.
[0003]
In order to eliminate such an adverse effect caused by the track deviation, the recording of data on the disk-shaped recording medium in which the acceleration greater than a predetermined value is detected by the acceleration sensor for detecting the impact received by the housing is stopped. A data recording device and a camera device configured as described above are disclosed in Patent Document 1.
[0004]
Also, electronic devices such as VTRs can be placed vertically or horizontally, and when the detection signal of the gravity sensor that detects the direction of gravity falls below a predetermined value, the HDD head is moved to the inner circumference side of the disk. Patent Document 2 discloses an electronic device that is moved so as to be retracted or automatically changes the vertical direction of display on a display means (LCD) provided in a casing of the electronic device.
[0005]
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-340522 (Claim 2)
[Patent Document 2]
JP 2002-134932 A (paragraph number 0022, claim 4)
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
As described above, when a portable electronic device or the like with a built-in HDD unit that drives a hard disk or the like as a recording / reproducing medium is subjected to vibration or external force of shock, it is buffered in a normal recording / reproducing state in order to dump the vibration. A damping member having a damping rate that does not give a predetermined vibration to the HDD unit placed on the member is selected. Therefore, when a portable electronic device is placed in a car seat or the like in a car or the like, a steep vibration is transmitted to the electronic device, and the HDD unit is exposed to an external force such as an impact.
[0007]
The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and the problem to be solved by the present invention is to fix the HDD unit on the housing side in a state where the HDD unit is placed on the shock-absorbing member with respect to vibration. The vibration unit dumps the vibration and releases the rigid state by an acceleration detection means such as an acceleration sensor disposed in the housing against steep vibrations and shocks so that the HDD unit is held only by the buffer member. It is an object of the present invention to obtain an electronic device and an electronic device impact mitigation method capable of sufficiently mitigating vibrations and shocks.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
An electronic device and an impact mitigation method for an electronic device according to the present invention include fixing a recording medium driving unit for recording / reproducing a recording medium such as an HDD unit in a housing to the housing via a buffer member, and applying an abrupt impact to an acceleration sensor or the like. When the acceleration detection means detects, the fixed state is released, and the HDD unit is held only by the buffer member so as to dump the vibration.
[0009]
The electronic device according to the present invention is an electronic device in which a recording medium driving unit for recording / reproducing a recording medium is disposed in a housing via a buffer member, and the lock piece disposed in the recording medium driving unit and the lock A locking means having a locking member engaged with the piece and movably supporting the recording medium driving unit with respect to the casing; and the locking member fixed to the casing to drive the locking member; a lock drive means for the state engaged state or the locking member is disengaged from the lock piece, an acceleration detecting means for detecting an acceleration applied to the electronic device, when the predetermined acceleration is detected by the acceleration detecting means, lock drive by driving the means Remove the locking member from the locking piece, in which and a control means for holding the recording medium drive unit only in the cushioning member. Also, with this configuration, for example, when an electronic device has been dropped, the falling acceleration is sensed and the locking means is released (the locking member is removed from the locking piece), so that the next impact Can be provided.
[0010]
Cushioning method for an electronic apparatus of the present invention, in the shock absorbing method of an electronic device which is arranged in the housing of the recording medium drive unit via a buffer member for recording and reproducing the recording medium, provided to the electronic device acceleration and detecting the acceleration detecting means, when the predetermined acceleration is detected by the acceleration detection means, to drive the lock drive means which is fixed to the housing, the locking piece of the locking means is disposed on the recording medium drive unit engaged, release the locking member for movably supporting the recording medium drive unit with respect to the housing from the locking piece, a step of Ru is holding the recording medium drive unit only in the cushioning member, then to drive the lock drive means And a step of engaging the lock member with the lock piece and fixing the recording medium driving unit to the housing side.
[0011]
Thus, according to the present invention, an electronic device that can satisfy both of the vibration resistance and the shock resistance required in a portable electronic device and a method for mitigating the impact of the electronic device are obtained. It is done.
[0012]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, as an electronic apparatus of the present invention, a recording medium driving unit (HDD, FDD, optical pickup driving unit, etc.) for recording / reproducing a recording medium and an electronic apparatus provided with a camera in an enclosure as an imaging means such as a CCD will be described in detail. .
[0013]
FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional side view showing an electronic device and a method of mitigating the impact of the electronic device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing an arrangement state of HDD units of the electronic device, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of the electronic device of the present invention, FIG. 5 is a system diagram of the entire electronic device, and FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a storage state of the electronic device of the present invention. .
[0014]
Before explaining the above-described FIGS. 1 to 3 of the present invention, the overall configuration of the electronic apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
[0015]
FIG. 4 shows the configuration of an electronic apparatus according to the present invention. Signals are exchanged between the electronic apparatus and a computer (hereinafter referred to as CPU) via a cradle 2.
[0016]
4A and 4B, reference numeral 1 denotes an electronic device having a built-in HDD unit, and 2 denotes a mounting base for transmitting and receiving image data and the like captured by the electronic device 1 to and from the CPU. It is a cradle consisting of.
[0017]
The electronic device 1 is composed of a camera unit 5 pivotally attached to a pivot 4 disposed on the lower end side of a casing serving as a main body 3. As shown in FIG. 4C, the camera unit 5 can rotate about 180 degrees with respect to the main body 3 around the pivot 4, and the lens 6 can be set at a predetermined position up to the front side or the back side.
[0018]
A display unit 7 such as an LCD and various operation button groups 8 are disposed on the front side of the main body 3, and a thin HDD unit (not shown) is disposed so as to be substantially parallel to the display unit 7. On the left side of the group 8, an HDD access LED 12 and the like are arranged, and the access state of the HDD unit can be monitored from the outside of the main body 3.
[0019]
Further, as shown in FIG. 4C, the semicircular portion 9 of the main body 3 is fitted into the semicircular concave portion 10 of the cradle 2 to establish an electrical connection, and the video terminal, audio terminal, USB ( Input / output to / from the CPU, CRT, etc. via a Universal Serial Bas) terminal (see FIG. 5). The cradle 2 also has a built-in charging circuit, can also be used as a charging device, and can be arranged inclined with respect to the mounting surface via the stand 11.
[0020]
FIG. 5 is an overall system diagram of the electronic apparatus according to the present invention, and the same reference numerals are given to portions corresponding to those in FIG.
[0021]
In the camera unit 5 of the electronic device 1, a subject image captured through the optical system of the lens 6 is projected onto an image sensor such as a CCD 13, and a video signal converted into an electrical signal by the CCD 13 and a sound collected by a microphone are collected. Signals and the like are supplied to a bus line 18 connected to a control circuit 36 constituted by a main computer via a preamplifier circuit 14 and a camera signal processing circuit 15.
[0022]
An HDD (recording medium drive unit) 19, a buffer memory 21, and a memory card 23 are connected to the bus line 18 through interfaces 20, 22, and 24, and video signals stored in the buffer memory 21 and the HDD 19 through a control circuit 36. The audio signal data is displayed on the display unit 7 such as an LCD for monitoring via the monitor driving circuit 16 and the audio signal is emitted via the speaker driving circuit 27 and the speaker 28, if necessary. The video signal, the audio signal, and the USB signal are output to the outside through the video signal processing circuit 31, the audio signal processing circuit 32, and the interface 33 in the cradle 2.
[0023]
The cradle 2 performs AC-DC conversion of an AC external power supply 34 through a plug 35 by a power supply circuit 30 and is supplied to a power supply circuit 25 disposed in the main body 3 of the electronic apparatus 1, and serves as a voltage source for the above-described circuits. It is operating.
[0024]
The CPU 36 is connected to acceleration detecting means 29 such as an acceleration sensor, and the operation button group 8 is connected to the CPU 36. The interface 20 is connected to the plunger 26 and the LED 12 for displaying the access status of the HDD unit 19.
[0025]
An impact mitigating method for the HDD unit 19 disposed in the main body 3 of the electronic apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIGS.
[0026]
2, the housing 37 constituting the main body 3 of the electronic device 1 has a substantially flat rectangular parallelepiped shape, and the HDD unit 19 swings with respect to the housing 37 via a buffer member 38 such as rubber or a coil spring. It is made freely.
[0027]
The HDD unit 19 includes a turntable on which a hard disk can be placed, a head for recording and reproducing data on the hard disk, a motor for rotating the turntable, and the like in a substantially flat rectangular casing 39, and is compactly configured. Yes.
[0028]
On the casing 39 of the HDD unit 19, a lock piece 40 made of a substantially cross-sectional L-shaped plate material that constitutes a locking means, as shown in FIG. It is fixed at a position equidistant from the cross. A through hole 42 is formed in a surface orthogonal to the bottom surface of the lock piece 40 made of an L-shaped plate material.
[0029]
The plunger 26 described in FIG. 5 is fixed to the housing 37 side of the main body 3. 1 and 2, the casing 39 is fixed to the back surface on the upper surface side by an appropriate method.
[0030]
The plunger 26 used here is, for example, a self-holding type keep solenoid type, and has a permanent magnet inside, and when the polarity of the solenoid is changed and driven, the attracting position and the pushing position of the movable iron core 43 are used. The structure is held by the permanent magnet.
[0031]
The movable iron core 43 of the plunger 26 can be fitted into the through hole 42 of the lock piece 40 as shown in FIG. 2 so that the HDD unit 19 is in a rigid state on the buffer member 38 with respect to the housing 37. As shown in FIG. 1, the movable iron core 43 of the plunger 26 has an engaging portion 44 of a lock member 45 formed in a substantially L shape having an engaging portion 44 fitted to the through hole 42 at the tip of the movable iron core 43. In the state where the HDD unit 19 is fixed to the housing 37 by being press-fitted into the through-hole 42 of the lock piece 40 at the pressing position, moderate damping is performed by the buffer member 38 against normal external vibration. It is made.
[0032]
In the above-described configuration, the HDD unit 19 is rigidly mounted on the casing 37 using four plungers 26. However, the lock member 45 is attached to two or three lock pieces 40 using a single plunger 26. The HDD unit 19 may be rigidly inserted into the housing by being inserted into the housing, and the lock driving means is not limited to the plunger 26, but an actuator made of a shape memory alloy, a small motor, etc. Obviously, it may be used.
[0033]
In the above-described configuration, the shock mitigation method when the electronic device 1 is dropped or excessive vibration is applied to the main body 3 or the camera unit 5 of the electronic device 1 is shown in the flowchart of FIG. 3 and FIGS. 4 will be described.
[0034]
In the flowchart of FIG. 3, it is determined whether or not there has been a predetermined change in the gravitational acceleration value (hereinafter referred to as G value) of the acceleration detecting means 29 such as an acceleration sensor provided in the housing 37 of the electronic device body 3. The control circuit 36 makes a determination as in step 1 ST1. In “NO”, the head is returned to the head of the first step ST1, but in “YES”, the process proceeds to the second step ST2 to release the lock member 45 of the plunger 26 from the lock piece 40 (turn off the cannula mechanism). 26 is attracted to the solenoid coil side and is held by the permanent magnet in the solenoid at the attracting position, so that the engaging portion 44 of the lock member 45 is detached from the through hole 42 of the lock piece 40, The HDD unit 19 is disconnected from the rigid state of the housing 37 and becomes free on the buffer member 38, and vibration is absorbed at a value determined by the damping rate of the buffer member 38 so that the buffer member 38 works effectively. .
[0035]
In the next third step ST3, the movable iron core 43 of the plunger 26 is held in the extruded state as shown in FIG. It is made to make it rigid to the housing | casing 37 side.
[0036]
Here, when a change in the G value is detected, it is preferable to first cut off the load voltage applied to the head of the HDD unit 19 at least. This is to prevent the head from moving and erasing the already recorded portion if the head receives an impact while in the recording state mode.
[0037]
Regarding the change in the G value described above, when the electronic device 1 is dropped on the floor or the like, it is detected that the G value suddenly changes to the negative side, the lock is released, and the impact when the electronic device 1 collides with the floor or the like. However, as another example, when the electronic device 1 is placed on a car and runs on a bumpy road, when the electronic device is placed on a floor or the like in the vehicle, a steep vibration is transmitted to the electronic device 1 as it is. Therefore, even when such vibration is sensed, the present invention releases the lock driving means and turns off the power.
[0038]
Since the G value at the time of switching of such a lock driving means, that is, the plunger 26 generally does not exceed 2G in transportation of precision equipment, the lock driving means is released when vibration of 2G or more is detected. You may do it.
[0039]
The G value applied to the electronic device 1 is said to be 3G when the space shuttle is launched, and 4 to 5G with the roller coaster. However, when the G value exceeding the predetermined value is applied to the electronic device 1, the lock driving means is released. Also good. Further, for example, when taking a picture while riding on a vehicle in an amusement park, it may be configured to be switchable so that the unlocking means is not automatically released.
[0040]
Furthermore, since the acceleration changes suddenly when the electronic device is dropped, and the amusement park vehicle is more gradual than when it is dropped, this change in acceleration is detected. The driving means may be released.
[0041]
Furthermore, the acceleration sensor 29 used in the present invention can also be used as an acceleration sensor for preventing camera shake that is normally built in the imaging means.
[0042]
As described above, in the present invention, an electronic apparatus having a recording medium driving unit for recording / reproducing a recording medium such as an HDD unit and an imaging unit such as a digital camera has been described. For example, a digital camera, a portable telephone device, a portable recording -It can be used for electronic equipment such as a playback device, a portable imaging device, a portable terminal device (PDA), and the like, which can satisfy both vibration resistance and shock resistance performances.
[0043]
The above-described electronic device 1 of the present invention has a miniaturized configuration so that it is convenient for carrying. Therefore, the electronic device 1 is housed in a case and can be carried as shown in FIG. In order to prevent an impact such as a drop in the state, a buffer member 54 such as rubber or sponge-like foaming synthetic resin is adhered to the inner bottom surface of the case 50 as shown in FIG. .
[0044]
A brush 55 for cleaning the surface of the display unit of the electronic device 1 is attached to the upper end of the case 50 on the front side of the opening 56. This brush 55 uses a brush made of felt or soft fibers of the hair tip, and is configured to remove dust such as the LCD surface of the display unit 7 every time the electronic device 1 is put in and out of the case 50.
[0045]
In FIG. 6, 51 is a band, and 52 and 53 are surface fasteners for locking the cover 57 of the case 50 to the main body of the case 50.
[0046]
If the electronic device 1 is attached to the case 50 as described above, the electronic device 1 is attached directly to a bag or the like to prevent damage when another hard object touches the display surface. When the touch panel structure is used, malfunction can be prevented and the display surface can be cleaned according to the insertion / removal of the electronic device.
[0047]
Although not shown in FIG. 6, a transparent window that can be opened and closed or slid on the surface facing the display unit 7 in a state where the electronic device 1 is inserted into the case 50 is provided. You may comprise so that operation of the touchscreen surface formed in the display part 7 can be performed with mounting | wearing.
[0048]
【The invention's effect】
According to the electronic device and the shock mitigation method of the present invention, when the electronic device is subjected to a sudden change in acceleration or vibration and shock, the vibration dump is performed in a rigid state on the buffer member. The recording medium drive unit such as the HDD unit is released by a lock drive means such as a plunger, and the lock means (Kanuki mechanism) formed in a rigid state with the casing is unlocked, so that only the buffering force of the buffer member can be obtained. The HDD unit is protected from impact by a large dumping force. When the electronic device is carried, the HDD unit is held in a rigid state to perform damping, and when the impact force is applied, it is buffered as a free state from the housing. Since the HDD unit is damped only by the buffering force of the members, the electronic device and the electronic device which have both buffering effects against vibration and shock Relaxation method can be obtained.
[0049]
Further, since the buffer member is also inserted into the case that is carried in the form in which the electronic device is inserted, a safer electronic device and a shock mitigation method for the electronic device can be obtained against the impact.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of a housing showing one embodiment of an electronic apparatus according to the invention.
FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of a main part of a housing showing another embodiment of the electronic apparatus of the invention.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the electronic apparatus of the invention.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an electronic device main body and a cradle showing an embodiment of the electronic device applied to the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a system diagram showing one embodiment of an electronic apparatus applied to the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a case showing an embodiment of carrying the electronic device of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Electronic device, 2 ... Cradle, 3 ... Main body, 4 ... Axis, 5 ... Camera part, 7 ... Display part (LCD), 19 ... HDD unit, 26 ... Plunger, 37 ... Housing, 38 ... Buffer, 40 ... Lock piece, 42 ... Through-hole, 43 ... Movable iron core, 44 ... Engagement part, 45 ... Lock members

Claims (3)

In an electronic device in which a recording medium driving unit for recording / reproducing a recording medium is disposed in a housing via a buffer member,
Lock means having a lock piece disposed on the recording medium drive unit, and a lock member engaged with the lock piece and movably supporting the recording medium drive unit with respect to the housing;
Lock driving means fixed to the casing to drive the lock member, and the lock member is engaged with the lock piece or the lock member is disengaged from the lock piece ;
Acceleration detecting means for detecting acceleration applied to the electronic device;
When a predetermined acceleration is detected by said acceleration detecting means, by driving the lock drive means to the outside of the locking member from the locking piece, and a control means for holding the recording medium drive unit only in the above buffer member,
Electronic apparatus equipped with. A camera unit attached to the housing and provided with an optical system for capturing an image of a subject,
  The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the acceleration detection unit is also used to realize a camera shake prevention function of the camera unit. In an impact mitigation method for an electronic device in which a recording medium drive unit for recording / reproducing a recording medium is disposed in a housing via a buffer member,
A step of detecting the acceleration applied to the electronic device by the acceleration detecting means,
When a predetermined acceleration is detected by the acceleration detection means, to drive the lock drive means which is fixed to the housing, is engaged with the locking piece of the locking means is disposed on the recording medium drive unit, the housing a step of the recording medium locking member for movably supporting the drive unit removed from the lock piece, Ru said recording medium drive unit is held only by the cushioning member with respect,
Thereafter, driving the lock driving means, engaging the lock member with the lock piece, and fixing the recording medium drive unit to the housing side ;
A method for mitigating impact of an electronic device having

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