JP4948313B2 - Electronics - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic apparatus having an operation member.

  Conventionally, in an electronic device such as a digital camera or a mobile phone, an operation switch including a cross operation member that can be pressed in four directions, front, rear, left, and right, is used (for example, see Patent Document 1).

  This cross operation member moves the cursor on the display screen (LCD etc.) that moves according to the pressed switch by pressing the desired switch, and scrolls the data displayed on the screen. You can enter commands such as

  In a digital camera or the like, the cross operation member is usually disposed on the side of the LCD, and a plurality of operation buttons having other functions are disposed around the cross operation member.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an internal structure of a digital camera using a conventional operation button structure as viewed from the front side.

  As shown in FIG. 10, in this digital camera, an annular cross operation member 30 is arranged on the side of the LCD, and a plurality of operation buttons 31 having other functions are arranged around the cross operation member 30. Has been.

  The cross operation member 30 is formed with notches 30b at four locations, front, rear, left and right (up, down, left and right in the figure). The notches 30b are formed on the rib 33b formed on the back cover 33 in four directions, front, rear, left and right. It is fitted and held so that it can swing. On the upper surface (front surface in the figure) of the cross operation member 30, a hole 31c formed in the operation button 31 is held by a boss 33a formed in the back cover 33 by a locking means such as adhesion.

  Also, a boss 30a formed on the cross operation member 30 and a hole 31b of the arm portion 31a formed on the operation button 31 are slidably fitted and locked at four positions, respectively.

The arm portion 31a also serves as a spring for holding the cross operation member 30. After the cross operation member 30 is pressed forward, for example, the cross operation member 30 is returned to the original horizontal state by the elasticity of the arm portion 31a. To do. Conventionally, in order to make the operation feeling of the cross operation member 30 front, back, left and right uniform, the arm portions 31a that also serve as springs for holding the cross operation member 30 are arranged so as to be even in four directions. .
JP 2006-11052 A

  In the above-described conventional operation button structure, in order to make the operation feeling of the cross operation member 30 front, back, left and right uniform, the arm portions 31a that also serve as a spring for holding the cross operation member 30 are arranged so as to be even in four directions. Therefore, the space of the arm part 31a becomes wide.

  Therefore, there is not enough space for the arm portion that also serves as a spring for holding the operation button 31, the arm portion is thinned and shortened, and the handing shape and length of the arm portion are subtly different for each operation button 31. It ’s different. For this reason, the operation feeling of each operation button 31 tends to be different. Further, since the arm portion is thin, the arm portion is easily deformed at the time of molding, and there is also a problem that the operation button 31 is easily eccentric with respect to an exterior hole of an electronic device such as a camera.

  In recent years, digital cameras and mobile phones are often equipped with large-screen LCDs, etc., and the space for the operation buttons 31 is difficult to take, so the diameter of the operation buttons 31 is reduced overall. Therefore, it is difficult to press at the time of operation, and the operation feeling is likely to deteriorate.

  Furthermore, camera functions have been increasing recently, and the function button function display print must be printed on the camera casing, which limits the design shape and operation button layout, resulting in space. There is a problem that the efficiency is lowered and the camera is enlarged.

  Therefore, the present invention can realize the downsizing of the electronic apparatus by arranging the swing operation member and the operation member disposed around the swing operation member in a relatively narrow space, An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic apparatus capable of obtaining a uniform operational feeling of members.

  In order to achieve the above object, an electronic apparatus according to the present invention includes a fixing member, an operation member that is swingably supported by fixing an arm portion to the fixing member, and the operation member swings. The electronic device includes a switch that outputs a signal when pressed, and the operation member is operated with a first operation position where the arm portion receives a force in a bending direction when operated. And a second operation position at which the arm receives a force in the torsional direction, and a stroke that turns on the switch when the first operation position is operated when the second operation position is operated. The stroke is shorter than the stroke at which the switch is turned on.

  The electronic device according to the present invention outputs a signal when the fixing member, the operation member supported by the arm portion so as to be swingable by being fixed to the fixing member, and the operation member swinging and pushing. An electronic device having a switch, wherein the operating member is an operating member that can swing in two orthogonal directions, and the arm portion is formed in the same direction as one of the swinging directions of the operating member. As a result, the operation member swings in a direction orthogonal to the first operation position where the operation member swings in the direction in which the arm portion is formed and in the direction orthogonal to the direction in which the arm portion is formed. A second operating position that moves, and a stroke that turns on the switch when the first operating position is operated is more than a stroke that turns on the switch when the second operating position is operated. It is characterized by shortening.

  According to the present invention, since the swing operation member and the operation member disposed around the swing operation member can be disposed in a relatively narrow space, the electronic device can be downsized. A uniform operation feeling of each operation member can be obtained.

  Hereinafter, an example of an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a digital camera (electronic device) including an operation member which is an example of an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1A is a perspective view of the digital camera as viewed from the front side. ) Is a view of the digital camera as seen from the back side.

  As shown in FIG. 1A, this digital camera (electronic device) is provided with a lens barrel 2 constituting a photographing optical system on the front side of a camera housing 1. Above the lens barrel 2 in front of the camera housing 1, a finder 3 and a strobe 6 for observing a subject image at a predetermined position are arranged in conjunction with the photographing optical system of the lens barrel 2. . A power button 4, a release button 5, and a mode dial 8 for changing the shooting mode of the camera are disposed on the upper surface of the camera housing 1.

  On the other hand, a liquid crystal display (LCD) 7 is arranged on the back side of the camera housing 1 as shown in FIG. On the side of the liquid crystal display device 7 on the back of the camera housing 1, there are a mode lever 9 for switching between camera shooting and playback modes, a cross operation member (operation member) 10 for selecting a camera shooting function, and a camera shooting function. The assigned operation members 11 are respectively arranged.

  In the present embodiment, the cross operation member 10 has an annular shape, and is provided so as to be swingable according to the vertical, left, and right pressing operation positions. That is, it can swing in two directions orthogonal to each other. Four concave portions 10a, 10b, 10c, and 10d to which a function at the time of photographing of the camera is assigned are provided at intervals of 90 ° in the circumferential direction at the vertical and horizontal positions of the outer peripheral portion of the cross operation member 10.

  For example, every time the depression 10a is pressed, the strobe 6 is sequentially switched to automatic light emission, forced light emission, and light emission inhibition. Each time the depression 10b is pressed, the depression is switched to auto, ISO 200, ISO 400. Each time the depression 10c is pressed, the depression 10c is sequentially switched to normal, far, and macro by AF. The depression 10d is sequentially switched to single shooting, continuous shooting, self-timer 10 seconds, and self-timer 2 seconds each time it is pressed in the shooting mode and self-timer time.

  Further, the operation member 11 is provided with four operation buttons 11 d arranged around the cross operation member 10 and an operation button 11 c arranged in the center of the cross operation member 10. Other functions are assigned to the operation buttons 11d and 11c.

  For example, the operation button 11c is assigned a mechanism for determining exposure correction, photometric distribution, white balance, the number of recording pixels, and compression rate. These individual hierarchical function selection methods can be selected by pressing the cross operation member 10 up, down, left and right, and confirmed by pressing the operation button 11c.

  Further, during camera playback, every time the cross operation member 10 is pressed in the left-right direction, the captured image currently displayed on the liquid crystal display device 7 is sequentially switched to another captured image.

  Next, an operation button structure which is an example of an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  2 is a diagram showing the internal structure of the digital camera shown in FIG. 1 as viewed from the front side, FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the back cover of the digital camera shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is the internal structure of the back cover shown in FIG. It is a disassembled perspective view for demonstrating.

  First, referring to FIG. 4, holes 21 a, 21 b, 21 c formed in the rear chassis 21 are formed on the burrings 20 a, 20 b, 20 c formed in the front chassis 20 constituting the inside of the camera housing 1. It is held by the locking means. The front chassis 20 holds the lens barrel 2, finder 3 and strobe 6 with positioning means such as a boss (not shown) and locking means such as a screw (not shown).

  Further, the burring 20d formed on the front chassis 20 and the burring 21d formed on the rear chassis 21 are respectively held in the holes 22a and 22b formed on the main board 22 to be operated by the camera by locking means such as screws. Is done. On the main board 22, an electrical element such as a semiconductor for image processing / system processing of the camera is mounted.

  Further, the burring 20e formed on the front chassis 20 and the burring 21e formed on the rear chassis 21 are respectively held in the holes 23a and 23b formed on the power source / operation board 23 by locking means such as screws. The On the power supply / operation board 23, an electrical element such as a semiconductor for camera power supply processing / operation SW is mounted.

  The main board 22 and the power supply / operation board 23 are connected to each other by a connector (not shown) mounted on each of them and a flexible board (FPC) (not shown) to be electrically connected.

  Next, referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, a shaft 10 a formed on the back cover 12 (fixing member) has holes 10 g formed in arms 10 e and 10 f (described later) of the cross operation member 10. They are fitted and fixed by locking means such as adhesion. In such a fixed state, the cross operation member 10 is swingably held in a hole 12d formed in the back cover 12 with an appropriate clearance maintained.

  Further, a hole 11a formed on the operation member 11 is fitted into the shaft 12b formed on the back cover 12, and is fixed by a locking means such as adhesion. In such a fixed state, the operation button 11d formed on the operation member 11 is swingably held in the hole 12e formed in the back cover 12 with an appropriate clearance maintained. Similarly, in the hole 10j formed in the cross operation member 10, the operation button 11c formed in the operation member 11 is held so as to be swingable in a state where an appropriate clearance is maintained.

  Further, in the hole 12c formed in the back cover 12, a claw 9a formed in the mode lever 9 is held so as to be clickable in the directions of arrows C and D (up and down directions) in FIG.

  An appropriate urging force is applied between the click mountain 11 b formed on the operation member 11 and the claw 9 a formed on the mode lever 9. For example, when the mode lever 9 is operated from the arrow D to the C direction, when the claw 9a of the mode lever 9 temporarily goes over the click mountain 11b of the operation member 11 and falls from the click mountain 11b, An appropriate biasing force is again applied between the claws 9a.

  In this embodiment, when the mode lever 9 is operated in the arrow C direction, the camera shooting mode is set, and when the mode lever 9 is operated in the arrow D direction, the playback mode is set.

  The back cover 12 configured as described above includes a front cover or a side cover (not shown), a burring portion (not shown) formed on the front chassis 20 or the rear chassis 21, or a lower member formed by a mold member (not shown). It is fixed to a hole or the like by a locking means such as a screw.

  Next, with reference to FIGS. 5 to 9, an example of the swing operation of the cross operation member 10 by the pressing operation of the cross operation member 10 will be described.

  5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 3 showing a state when the cross operation member is not operated, and FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 3 showing a state when the cross operation member is operated. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 3 showing a state when the cross operation member is not operated, FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. 3 showing a state when the cross operation member is operated, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line B-B in FIG. 3 showing a state when the cross operation member is operated.

  On the back side of the cross operation member 10, a position of a length X in both the left and right directions with respect to the swing center J of the cross operation member 10 when the cross operation member 10 is pressed in the left and right directions in FIGS. Pushers 10h (second protrusions) are respectively provided at the (second operation position). The stroke from when the pusher 10 h is pushed onto the tact switch 23 c mounted on the power source / operation board 23 until the switch 23 c is turned on is referred to as stroke E.

  Further, springs that support the cross operation member 10 are arranged on the back surface of the cross operation member 10 so as to face each other on a substantially straight line that extends in the vertical direction (the vertical direction in FIGS. 1 and 3) through the swing center J. A pair of arm portions 10e and 10f having the above functions are provided. As described above, each of the arms 10e and 10f has a hole 12a, and the hole 12a is fitted to the shaft 12a of the back cover 12 (fixing member).

  Then, when the right side (second operation position) of the cross operation member 10 is pressed in the arrow G direction in FIG. 6 from the state of FIG. 5, the arm portion 10e and the arm portion 10f are twisted in the arrow M direction. The pusher 10h moves to the stroke E while being torsionally deformed. As a result, the tact switch 23C is pushed by the pusher 10h, and a predetermined electrical signal output (for example, a pulse signal) is processed by the electrical continuity by a system processing circuit (not shown) to perform a switch operation (in this embodiment, ISO sensitivity).

  After releasing the pressing operation of the cross operation member 10, the cross operation member 10 returns to the original state by the repulsive force of the tact switch 23c and the elastic force of the arms 10e and 10f formed on the cross operation member 10.

  Referring to FIG. 7, on the back side of cross operation member 10, swing center K (axis of cross operation member 10 when pressing the upper side of cross operation member 10 in the vertical direction (the vertical direction in FIG. 3). A pusher 10i (first protrusion) is projected from a position (first operation position) having a length Y from 12a). The stroke from when the pusher 10 i presses the tact switch 23 c mounted on the power source / operation board 23 until the switch 23 c is turned on is referred to as a stroke F.

  Then, from the state of FIG. 7, when the upper side in the vertical direction (first operation position) of the cross operation member 10 is pressed in the direction of the arrow H in FIG. The pusher 10i moves to the stroke F while bending and deforming in the direction. As a result, the tact switch 23c is pushed by the pusher 10i, and a predetermined electrical signal output (for example, a pulse signal) is processed by the electrical continuity by a system processing circuit (not shown) to perform a switch operation (in this embodiment, a strobe). ).

  After releasing the pressing operation of the cross operation member 10, the cross operation member 10 returns to the original state by the repulsive force of the tact switch 23 c and the elastic force of the arm portion 10 e formed on the cross operation member 10.

  Similarly, at the position of the length Z from the swing center L (the shaft 12a) of the cross operation member 10 when the lower side of the cross operation member 10 is pressed (the vertical direction in FIGS. 1 and 3). A pusher 10i is provided. The stroke from when the pusher 10i presses the tact switch 23c mounted on the power source / operation board 23 until the switch 23c is turned on is referred to as a stroke F.

  7, when the rear side in the front-rear direction of the cross operation member 10 is pressed in the direction of arrow I in FIG. 9, the arm portion 10 f is bent in the direction of arrow N with the swing center L as a fulcrum. Accordingly, the pusher 10i moves to the stroke F while being bent and deformed. As a result, the tact switch 23C is pushed by the pusher 10i, and a predetermined electric signal output (for example, a pulse signal) is processed by the electrical continuity by a system processing circuit (not shown) to perform a switch operation (in this embodiment, AF ).

  After releasing the pressing operation of the cross operation member 10, the cross operation member 10 returns to the original state by the repulsive force of the tact switch 23 c and the elastic force of the arm portion 10 f formed on the cross operation member 10.

  Here, in this embodiment, the arm portions 10e and 10f are torsionally deformed when the cross operation member 10 is pressed in the left-right direction, and the arm portions 10e and 10f are bent and deformed when the cross-operation member 10 is pressed in the up-down direction. Stroke E and Stroke F are set so as to be substantially uniform.

  That is, the stroke from the stroke E according to the ratio of the length X from the swing fulcrum J to the pusher 10h and the length Y, Z from the swing fulcrum K, L to the pusher 10i (hereinafter referred to as lever ratio). F is set short. The height of the vertical pusher 10i is slightly higher than the horizontal pusher 10h. Thereby, the operation force at the front / rear and left / right positions of the cross operation member 10 can be made substantially equal.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the pair of arm portions 10e and 10f that support the cross operation member 10 are arranged in the vertical direction, which is the same direction as one of the swing directions of the cross operation member 10. For this reason, compared with the case where the arm part holding a cross operation member is arranged equally in four directions like before, the cross operation member 10 and the operation member 11 can be arranged in a relatively narrow space, Miniaturization of the camera can be realized.

  Further, since the height of the pusher 10i arranged in the front-rear direction of the cross operation member 10 and the height of the pusher 10h arranged in the left-right direction are made different depending on the lever ratio in the front-rear direction and the left-right direction, the cross operation member 10 The operating force at the pressing operation positions in the four directions can be made substantially equal.

  Furthermore, since the pair of arm portions 10e and 10f that support the cross operation member 10 are arranged in two directions in the front-rear direction, the arrangement space for the operation member 11 can be made wider than before. For this reason, it becomes easy to form a plurality of arm portions of the operation member 11 with the same lever ratio, the operation force of the operation buttons 11d and 11c can be made substantially equal, and the button diameters of the operation buttons 11d and 11c are also increased. Since it can be enlarged, operability can be improved.

  Furthermore, since the button diameters of the operation buttons 11d and 11c are increased, it is possible to print the function display of the button within the button diameter. For this reason, a space for printing the function display of the button on the camera housing 1 is not necessary, and the degree of freedom in the arrangement and design of the operation buttons can be improved.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to what was illustrated to the said embodiment, In the range which does not deviate from the summary of this invention, it can change suitably.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the pair of arm portions 10e and 10f supporting the cross operation member 10 is arranged in the vertical direction is illustrated, but the pair of arm portions 10e and 10f are arranged in the left-right direction and other directions. May be.

  Moreover, although the case where the tact switch 23c is mounted on the power / operation board 23 is illustrated in the above embodiment, a metal dome switch may be mounted on the flexible board (FPC).

  Furthermore, although the case where the present invention is applied to a digital camera is illustrated in the above embodiment, the present invention is applied to an imaging apparatus such as a single-lens reflex camera, a lens shutter camera, and a video camera, and an optical apparatus and an electronic apparatus other than the imaging apparatus. May be applied.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is a figure for demonstrating the digital camera provided with the operation button structure which is an example of embodiment of this invention, (a) is the perspective view which looked at the digital camera from the front side, (b) is the digital camera back side. It is the figure seen from. It is a figure which shows the internal structure seen from the front side of the digital camera shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the back cover of the digital camera shown in FIG. It is a disassembled perspective view for demonstrating the internal structure of the back cover shown in FIG. It is the sectional view on the AA line of FIG. 3 which shows the state at the time of the non-operation of a cross operation member. It is the sectional view on the AA line of FIG. 3 which shows the state at the time of operation of a cross operation member. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 3 illustrating a state when the cross operation member is not operated. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line B-B in FIG. 3 showing a state when the cross operation member is operated. It is a figure which shows the internal structure seen from the front side of the digital camera provided with the conventional operation button structure.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Camera housing 2 Lens barrel 3 Finder 4 Power button 5 Release button 6 Strobe 7 Liquid crystal display device 8 Mode dial 9 Mode lever 10 Cross operation member 10e Arm portion 10f Arm portion 10h Pusher 10i Pusher 11 Operation member 11c Operation button 11d Operation button 12 Rear cover 20 Front chassis 21 Rear chassis 22 Main board 23 Power supply / Operation board

Claims (3)

An electronic device having a fixing member, an operation member that is swingably supported by fixing an arm portion to the fixing member, and a switch that outputs a signal when the operation member swings and presses. There,
The operation member is set with a first operation position where the arm portion receives a force in the bending direction when operated, and a second operation position where the arm portion receives a force in the torsion direction when operated. In addition, the electronic device is characterized in that the stroke of turning on the switch when operating the first operating position is shorter than the stroke of turning on the switch when operating the second operating position. An electronic device having a fixing member, an operation member that is swingably supported by fixing an arm portion to the fixing member, and a switch that outputs a signal when the operation member swings and presses. There,
The operation member is an operation member that can swing in two orthogonal directions, and the arm portion is formed in the same direction as one of the swing directions of the operation member, and the arm portion is formed by being operated. A first operation position at which the operation member swings in a direction to be moved, and a second operation position at which the operation member swings in a direction orthogonal to a direction in which the arm portion is formed by being operated. In addition, the electronic device is characterized in that the stroke of turning on the switch when operating the first operating position is shorter than the stroke of turning on the switch when operating the second operating position.   The operation member includes a first protrusion that presses the switch when the first operation position is operated, and a second protrusion that presses the switch when the second operation position is operated. 3. The electronic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the height of the first protrusion is higher than the height of the second protrusion. 4.

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