JP4385840B2 - Imaging device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an imaging device in which a substantially circular lens opening is provided in an exterior case, and more particularly, to an imaging device in which the lens opening is opened and closed by a relative rotation operation of two blades. Is.

  As a conventional imaging apparatus of this type, there is an apparatus described in Patent Document 1, for example. Patent Document 1 describes a mechanism for switching between energization and shut-off of a power supply to a camera and a lens cover mechanism that is attached to the camera so as to be freely opened and closed and protects the lens. The lens cover mechanism of this camera protects the lens by providing a rotatable operation plate (3) for turning on and off the switch (SW1) that energizes the camera body in the camera body (1) having the lens. A plurality of cover plates (7) and (8) are pivotally supported (53) (54) on the camera body so that they can be opened and closed. In the lens cover mechanism that rotates in the same direction between the cover and the closed position, each cover plate is pivotally supported by the shaft (53) (54) on the camera body and rotated in conjunction with the operation plate. The support piece (4) covering the base end portion of the cover plate is pivotally supported (55), and the pivot support portion, the pivot support portion of the cover plate, and the pivot support portion of the cover plate are provided so as to be offset from each other. From the protrusions (40) and (41) that contact the side surfaces of the cover plate on the rotation advance side and return side, respectively. And the protrusion pushes and rotates the cover plate with the rotation of the holding piece. Both protrusions approach or abut the side surface of the cover plate, and the cover plate is not biased by the spring. The cover plate is rotated to the open position and the close position while the inadvertent rotation is restricted.

  According to the lens cover mechanism of the camera having such a configuration, when the ring lid (2) is rotated to expose the viewing window (12) from the opening (20), the operation plate (3) is switched to the switch (SW1). Turn on the west and turn on the camera body (1). That is, if the viewing window is exposed at the time of shooting, the power is automatically turned on, which improves usability and protrudes from the holding piece (4) on the side of the cover plates (7) and (8). Since the protrusions (40) and (41) are in contact, even if an impact is applied to the camera body, inadvertent rotation of the cover plate is prevented by the protrusions. Therefore, it is expected that the cover plate can be prevented from inadvertently rotating without using a torsion spring as in the prior art.

  Further, as another example of the conventional imaging apparatus, there is one described in Patent Document 2, for example. Patent Document 2 describes a lens cover of a camera built-in type that opens and closes the front surface of a lens such as a video camera. In this lens cover, two semi-circular lens cover bodies are rotatably supported by a support shaft, and the two lens cover bodies close the front surface of the lens in a substantially circular shape. And the lens front surface is opened in the overlapped state.

According to the lens cover having such a configuration, when the front surface of the lens is opened, the two lens cover bodies having a semicircular shape are overlaid, so that the lens cover storage space when the lens is opened is the lens. The space of the half of the cover is sufficient, and the effect that the volume of the camera body is small and the camera can be miniaturized is expected.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-293340 JP-A-6-38082

  However, in the conventional imaging apparatus as described above, in the former case described in Patent Document 1, the two cover blades are configured to be stored in an overlapping manner. A number of protrusions and shafts were provided for individual rotation. And it was the structure which rotates two cover blade | wings with these many protrusions and shafts, or regulates the rotation. For this reason, a mechanism for rotating the two cover blades becomes complicated, and there is a problem that the reliability of the opening / closing operation of the two cover blades is low.

  In the latter case described in Patent Document 2 described above, the first lens cover body and the second lens cover body initially rotate integrally, and the first lens cover body is the lens. When it comes to a position completely removed from the front surface and stops, only the second lens cover body is further rotated and completely removed from the front surface of the lens, and the two lens cover bodies are opened and closed in two stages. It was. And since the components which comprise these were small, there existed a subject that it was difficult to manufacture these components accurately.

  The problem to be solved is that in the conventional imaging device, the mechanism for operating the two cover blades that open and close the front surface of the lens is relatively complicated, and the reliability of the opening and closing operation of the two cover blades is reliable. It is difficult to manufacture component parts with high accuracy.

  The imaging device according to claim 1 of the present invention is an imaging device having first and second cover blades in which a closed state covering the front surface of the lens and an open state opening the front surface of the lens are reversibly operated. The two cover blades are pivotally connected by a pivot while being overlapped, and are urged away from each other by an elastic body, and the first cover blade is fixed to the main body side in the vicinity of the pivot. The second cover blade is rotated by an operation pin provided on a member fixed to the main body side, and is rotated by a rotation shaft provided on the member to rotate the first cover blade. Thus, the most important feature is that the front surface of the lens can be freely opened and closed by interlocking the second cover blades.

  In the imaging device according to claim 2 of the present invention, the first cover blade is provided with an elongated hole having the same radius of curvature around the rotation axis, and an operation pin is slidably inserted into the elongated hole. In addition, the second cover blade is brought into contact with the operation pin by being biased by the spring force of the elastic body.

  The imaging apparatus according to claim 3 of the present invention is characterized in that the elongated hole is disposed between the pivot shaft and the pivot shaft.

  The imaging apparatus according to claim 4 of the present invention is characterized in that one end of an operating lever for rotating the first cover blade is rotatably connected in the vicinity of the pivot axis of the first cover blade. Yes.

  In the imaging device according to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the elastic body has the coil portion mounted on the pivot, the one elastic piece is locked to the first cover blade, and the other elastic piece is the second. It is characterized by being a torsion spring locked to the cover blade.

According to the imaging apparatus of the first aspect of the present invention, when the first cover blade is rotated in the opening direction with the rotation shaft as the rotation center, the first operation is performed based on the relative movement of the operation pin with respect to the first cover blade. The two cover blades are pressed by the operation pins. As a result, the first cover blade rotates in a direction to open the lens front surface, and the second cover blade interlocks with the first cover blade in a direction to open the lens front surface with the pivot as the rotation center. Rotate. As a result, by rotating the first cover blade, the second cover blade is rotated by the pressing force of the operation pin against the spring force of the torsion spring, and the front surface of the lens is opened. The
On the other hand, when the first cover blade is rotated in the closing direction, the second cover blade biased by the spring force of the torsion spring based on the relative movement of the operation pin with respect to the first cover blade is also rotated in the closing direction. Moved. As a result, the first cover blade and the second cover blade return to their original positions, and the front surface of the lens is closed by both cover blades.

  According to the imaging device of the second aspect of the present invention, the elongated hole into which the operation pin is inserted is provided in the first cover blade so as to be continuous with the same radius of curvature around the rotation axis. The second cover blade supported by the first cover blade by the pivot is urged by the spring force of the elastic body to the operation pin. Since the contact is made, the front surface of the lens can be opened and closed by rotating the second cover blade in conjunction with the rotation of the first cover blade.

  According to the imaging device of the third aspect of the present invention, the first and second cover blades can be made as small as possible by arranging the elongated hole between the pivot shaft and the pivot shaft, and the simplest It can be set as a simple structure.

  According to the imaging apparatus of the fourth aspect of the present invention, the first cover blade can be smoothly rotated by connecting the operation lever in the vicinity of the pivot axis of the first cover blade.

  According to the imaging device of the fifth aspect of the present invention, the elastic body is a torsion spring, the coil portion is mounted on the pivot, one elastic piece is locked to the first cover blade, and the other elastic piece is By engaging with the second cover blade, it is possible to reliably generate an urging force in a direction away from each other between the first cover blade and the second cover blade, although the structure is extremely simple. it can.

  By moving one cover blade of the two cover blades that cover the front of the lens, the other cover blade can be interlocked to open and close the lens front, miniaturizing the components as much as possible and reducing the space required. An apparatus that can be housed and that can reduce the size and weight of the imaging apparatus is realized with a simple configuration.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 to 8 illustrate an embodiment of an imaging apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a lens front surface of the imaging apparatus in a closed state, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an imaging apparatus in front of a lens front surface. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the lens device and two cover blades, FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the two cover blades in a closed state, FIG. 5 is a front view of the same, and FIG. 6 is an opening / closing operation of the two cover blades. FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an open state of two cover blades, and FIG. 8 is a front view of the same.

  The imaging apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is an electronic still camera 1 shown as an embodiment of the imaging apparatus of the present invention. The electronic still camera 1 includes an exterior case 2 made of a horizontally long casing. The exterior case 2 is configured as a grip portion 3 that has one side in the longitudinal direction that is easily held by causing the front surface to bulge slightly forward. The other side in the longitudinal direction of the exterior case 2 is formed in a semicircular shape by rounding the upper and lower corners, and the lens device 5 is accommodated in the semicircular portion 4. A lens opening 6 for projecting the tip of the lens device 5 is provided on the front surface of the outer case 2 on the semicircular portion 4 side.

  A light emitting unit 7 of a flash device for illumination photography is disposed on the front side of the exterior case 2 on the lens opening 6 side. Further, a shutter button 8 for still photography is arranged on the grip 3 side of the upper surface of the exterior case 2. A liquid crystal panel 9 forming a display unit of an electronic viewfinder is disposed on the back surface of the outer case 2. The lens device 5 disposed inside the lens opening 6 of the outer case 2 is a so-called retractable lens in which the objective lens 11 side can be moved back and forth within a predetermined range.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the lens device 5 of the retractable lens is directly attached to the outer case 2 or a member fixed to the main body side fixed to the outer case (hereinafter referred to as “main body side member”). ) Attached to the fixed lens barrel 12, a movable lens barrel 13 that can be moved forward and backward within a predetermined range with respect to the fixed lens barrel 12, and the fixed lens barrel 12 and the movable lens barrel 13. An objective lens 11 that is configured by a lens group including a combination of a plurality of lenses and is positioned at the tip of the lens group is opposed to the subject.

  The lens front opening / closing mechanism 15 disposed on the lens front surface of the lens device 5 includes two cover blades 16 and 17 and a torsion spring 18 showing a specific example of an elastic body. The 1st cover blade | wing 16 consists of a thin board | plate body which has a shape with the pointed tip like a nail | claw. A shaft hole 21 through which the rotation shaft 20 is rotatably inserted is provided at one corner of the base portion of the first cover blade 16. A connection pin 23 to which the operation lever 22 is rotatably connected is provided at the other corner of the base portion of the first cover blade 16 so as to protrude from the upper surface on one side. Further, a pivot 24 that protrudes in the same direction as the connecting pin 23 is provided at a portion of the first cover blade 16 that is close to the toe near the connecting pin 23.

  Further, a spring receiving piece 25 for locking one elastic piece 18 b of the torsion spring 18 is provided at a portion of the first cover blade 16 near the pivot 24 near the pivot 24. In addition, a long hole 26 that is continuous in an arc shape is provided in the middle of the line connecting the pivot 24 and the shaft hole 21. The center of the long hole 26 is an arc groove formed with the same radius of curvature with the shaft hole 21 as the center of the radius of curvature. An operation pin 28 provided on the main body side member is slidably inserted into the elongated hole 26.

  The second cover blade 17 is superimposed on the surface of the first cover blade 16 on the side where the pivot 24 and the like protrude. The 2nd cover blade | wing 17 consists of a thin board which has the shape where the front-end | tip was sharp like a leaf and the middle part swelled. By overlapping the second cover blade 17 and the first cover blade 16 in a fixed posture, the lens opening 6 facing the circular lens front surface 29 is completely closed by the cover blades 16 and 17. It is made into a shape.

  A shaft hole 30 into which the pivot shaft 24 is rotatably fitted is provided at the base of the second cover blade 17. In the vicinity of the shaft hole 30 of the second cover blade 17, a spring receiving projection 31 for locking the other elastic piece 18 c of the torsion spring 18 is provided. Furthermore, an attitude control unit 32 that protrudes outward is provided in the middle of the longitudinal direction of the second cover blade 17 (the direction extending from the base toward the tip). The attitude control unit 32 of the second cover blade 17 is in contact with an operation pin 28 that is urged by the spring force of the torsion spring 18 and is inserted into the elongated hole 26.

  The lens front opening / closing mechanism 15 having such a configuration can be assembled as follows, for example. First, the shaft hole 30 of the second cover blade 17 is fitted to the pivot 24 of the first cover blade 16, and the central coil portion 18 a of the torsion spring 18 is attached to the pivot 24. One elastic piece 18 b of the torsion spring 18 is locked to the spring receiving piece 25 of the first cover blade 16, and the other elastic piece 18 c is locked to the spring receiving protrusion 31 of the second cover blade 17.

  Thereafter, the rotary shaft 20 provided in the body side member (not shown) is fitted into the shaft hole 21 of the first cover blade 16 and is also provided in the long hole 26 of the first cover blade 16 in the body side member. The operating pin 28 is inserted. Thereby, the attitude control unit 32 of the second cover blade 17 is brought into contact with the operation pin 28 by the spring force of the torsion spring 18. Further, an insertion hole provided at one end of the operation lever 22 is rotatably fitted to the connecting pin 23 of the first cover blade 16. A drive device (not shown) is connected to the other end of the operation lever 22. By driving this driving device, the operation lever 22 is advanced and retracted, and the first cover blade 16 is rotated about the rotation shaft 20.

  Such a drive device can be constituted by, for example, a drive motor and a crank mechanism that can take out the rotational motion of the drive motor as a reciprocating motion. In this case, by controlling the rotation direction of the drive motor, the crank mechanism can be advanced and retracted according to the rotation direction. For example, the operation lever 22 can be pulled by rotating the drive motor in one direction and can be pushed out by rotating in the other direction. Although not shown, the operation button for operating the drive motor is provided on the outer surface of the outer case 2 (for example, it can be installed at an arbitrary position such as the back surface, the upper surface, or the side surface of the outer case 2). .

  According to the electronic still camera 1 including the lens front surface opening / closing mechanism 15 having such a configuration, for example, the lens opening 6 of the lens front surface 29 can be opened and closed as follows. 4 and 5 show a state in which the lens opening 6 is closed by the two cover blades 16 and 17. In this state, the first cover blade 16 is in its closed position by the operation lever 22, and the second cover blade 17 is in its closed position by the spring force of the torsion spring 18. Therefore, the lens opening 6 is completely closed by the two cover blades 16 and 17. At this time, the attitude control unit 32 of the second cover blade 17 is in contact with the operation pin 28 by the spring force of the torsion spring 18.

  From this state, when an operation button (not shown) of the lens front opening / closing mechanism 15 is operated to the open side, the operation lever 22 is pulled through the operation of the drive motor and moves to the left in FIG. Accordingly, the first cover blade 16 is rotated clockwise in FIG. 5 with the rotation shaft 20 as the rotation center. At this time, although the operation pin 28 is inserted into the first cover blade 16, the operation pin 28 is movably inserted into the elongated hole 26, and the elongated hole 26 passes through the rotating shaft 20. It is formed in an arc shape with the same radius of curvature as the center. Therefore, the operation pin 28 can be smoothly rotated without obstructing the rotation operation of the first cover blade 16.

  On the other hand, since the second cover blade 17 is mounted on the first cover blade 16 and is rotatably supported by the pivot 24, the support portion rotates integrally with the first cover blade 16. However, the posture control unit 32 is in contact with the operation pin 28. At this time, since the operation pin 28 is fixed to the main body side member and its position does not move, the second cover blade 17 resists the spring force of the torsion spring 18 by the reaction force from the operation pin 28. Is pivoted clockwise in FIG. 5 with the pivot 24 as the pivot center. Thereby, the attitude | position of the two cover blades 16 and 17 changes to a state as shown in FIG.

  When the operation lever 22 further moves leftward from the state shown in FIG. 6 and reaches a predetermined position, the state shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 is reached, and the lens opening 6 is completely opened. In this case, the operation pin 28 moves relatively from one end to the other end of the long hole 26 according to the rotation amount of the first cover blade 16, and always presses the attitude control unit 32 of the second cover blade 17. . As a result, the second cover blade 17 is rotated clockwise from the posture raised almost right above the closed state shown in FIG. After that, the posture is changed to a posture inclined obliquely downward as shown in FIG. The posture change of the second cover blade 17 is performed in conjunction with the posture change of the first cover blade 16.

  Due to such a change in the posture of the two cover blades 16 and 17, the lens opening 6 is completely closed by the two cover blades 16 and 17 as shown in FIG. Then, as shown in FIG. 8, the lens opening 6 changes to a state where it is completely opened from the two cover blades 16 and 17.

  In this case, in the state shown in FIG. 5, since the lens opening 6 is completely closed by the two cover blades 16 and 17, the lens front surface 29 is reliably protected by the two cover blades 16 and 17, It is possible to prevent the lens front surface 29 from being exposed and damaged. On the other hand, in the state shown in FIG. 8, since the lens opening 6 is completely opened from the two cover blades 16 and 17, the movable lens portion of the lens device 5 can be projected forward. As a result, as shown in FIG. 2, the movable lens barrel 13 of the lens device 5 penetrates the lens opening 6 and protrudes to the front of the exterior case 2, so that camera photography is possible.

  The operation of closing the lens opening 6 is executed by an operation opposite to the above-described opening operation. That is, when the operation switch is operated in the closing direction, first, the lens device 5 is operated, and the movable barrel 13 is retracted and stored in the lens opening 6.

  Next, the drive motor of the lens front surface opening / closing mechanism 15 operates to move the operation lever 22 to the right side (in the direction of the arrow indicated by the broken line) in FIGS. Thus, the first cover blade 16 is rotated counterclockwise about the rotation shaft 20 as a rotation center, and changes to the state shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 through the state shown in FIG. At this time, the second cover blade 17 moves integrally with the first cover blade 16 and the operation pin 28 moves relatively to the opposite side (left side in FIG. 8 and the like). In order to follow the operation pin 28 by force, the pivot 24 is further independently rotated in the counterclockwise direction with the pivot 24 as the center of rotation. As a result, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the lens opening 6 is completely closed by the two cover blades 16 and 17, and the lens front surface 29 is completely covered by the two cover blades 16 and 17. .

  As described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. For example, in the above-described embodiment, an example in which the present invention is applied to an electronic still camera is described as an imaging device. Of course, the present invention can be applied not only to a normal still camera but also to digital and analog video cameras. Moreover, although the example which applied the torsion spring as an elastic body was demonstrated, a coil spring, a leaf | plate spring, a rubber-like elastic body, etc. can also be used.

  In the above embodiment, an example in which the drive motor and the link mechanism are used as the power source of the lens front opening / closing mechanism has been described. For example, the operation lever may be moved back and forth using a cylinder device. A configuration may be adopted in which the operating lever is directly advanced and retracted by the cylinder device. Further, the main body side member may be configured such that an exterior case is used to support the lens front opening / closing mechanism on the exterior case, and another member such as a frame is provided to support the lens front opening / closing mechanism. It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which the frame is fixed to an exterior case or the like. As described above, the present invention can be variously modified without departing from the scope of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a state in which an opening for a lens on a front surface of a lens is closed by two cover blades according to an embodiment of an imaging apparatus of the present invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of an imaging device according to the present invention, and is a perspective view of a state in which a lens opening on a front surface of a lens is opened and a movable portion of the lens device protrudes to the front surface. It is a perspective view which decomposes | disassembles and shows the lens apparatus and lens front opening / closing mechanism which concern on the imaging device of this invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a lens front opening / closing mechanism having two cover blades according to the present invention, in a state where a lens opening is completely closed. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a lens front opening / closing mechanism having two cover blades according to the present invention, and is an explanatory diagram in a state in which a lens opening is completely closed. It is explanatory drawing which shows the state in the middle of opening and closing of the lens opening part by the two cover blades of this invention. 1 is a perspective view of a lens front opening / closing mechanism having two cover blades according to the present invention in a state where a lens opening is completely opened. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a lens front opening / closing mechanism having two cover blades according to the present invention, and is an explanatory diagram in a state where a lens opening is completely opened.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Electronic still camera (imaging device), 2 ... Exterior case, 5 ... Lens device, 6 ... Lens opening, 11 ... Objective lens, 15 ... Lens front opening / closing mechanism, 16, 17 ... Cover blade, 18 ... Torsion spring (Elastic body), 20... Rotating shaft, 22 .. Control lever, 23... Connection pin, 24... Axis, 26.

Claims (5)

In an imaging apparatus having first and second cover blades in which a closed state covering the front surface of the lens and an open state opening the front surface of the lens are reversibly operated,
The two cover blades are pivotally connected by a pivot while being overlapped, and are urged away from each other by an elastic body, and the first cover blade is moved toward the main body in the vicinity of the pivot. The second cover blade is rotated by an operation pin provided on a member fixed to the main body side, and is rotatably supported by a rotation shaft provided on the fixed member.
An imaging apparatus characterized in that the front surface of the lens can be freely opened and closed by rotating the first cover blade to interlock the second cover blade.   The first cover blade is provided with an elongated hole having the same radius of curvature around the rotation axis, the operation pin is slidably inserted into the elongated hole, and the spring force of the elastic body is provided. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second cover blade is brought into contact with the operation pin by being urged by a force.   The imaging apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the elongated hole is disposed between the pivot shaft and the pivot shaft.   The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein one end of an operation lever for rotating the first cover blade is rotatably connected to the vicinity of the pivot of the first cover blade.   The elastic body is a torsion in which a coil portion is attached to the pivot, one elastic piece is locked to the first cover blade, and the other elastic piece is locked to the second cover blade. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the imaging apparatus is a spring.

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