JP5932370B2 - Power auxiliary device and electronic device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic device and a power auxiliary device that can be attached to the electronic device.

  In recent years, in an imaging apparatus such as a digital camera, power consumption tends to increase due to higher functionality, and accordingly, the number of images that can be captured by operation of a battery that is normally loaded in the imaging apparatus is decreasing. Yes. In order to cope with this problem, an increasing number of users use a method in which an external power auxiliary device containing a battery is attached to a digital camera to greatly increase the number of images that can be taken.

  Further, an operation member for vertical position shooting (a grip for vertical position shooting) is prepared for a high-end digital camera. The battery is housed in a vertical position grip, and the vertical position grip is attached to the main body of the digital camera as a power auxiliary device. In these power auxiliary devices, generally, a configuration in which a battery is stored directly in a battery chamber is employed.

  On the other hand, in recent years, a configuration has been used in which a battery is housed in a battery chamber of an imaging device or a power auxiliary device after the battery is housed in the battery holder. By using such a battery holder, it becomes possible to appropriately select and store a primary battery such as a dry battery or a secondary battery such as a rechargeable battery in the battery holder by changing the internal configuration of the battery holder. The selectivity of a battery that can be used in the imaging device or the power auxiliary device can be increased.

  In particular, in recent years, battery packs of various standards that can store secondary batteries have been provided, and the usability is improved by using both battery packs and dry batteries (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Moreover, in patent document 1, the attachment / detachment workability | operativity of the battery holder with respect to a battery chamber is provided by providing the guide rail and groove | channel for assisting attachment / detachment (insertion / extraction) operation in each of the housing | casing and battery holder which form a battery chamber. To make it comfortable.

  By the way, in recent years, there has been a strong demand for electronic devices such as an imaging device to realize a structure capable of arranging a new operation member while realizing a reduction in size. There is a demand for space saving battery rooms. In addition, there is a strong demand for miniaturization of power auxiliary devices used in electronic devices from the viewpoint of improving convenience of carrying. In view of this, a technique has been proposed that saves battery space by devising the arrangement of batteries (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

JP 2008-257944 A JP 2006-220759 A

  However, when space is saved in the battery compartment and battery holder of the electronic device or the power auxiliary device, a guide rail or the like as described in Patent Document 1 is used to secure the position of the operation member. In some cases, it is not possible to secure a sufficient space for placement. FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of the structure of the battery chamber and the battery holder in which no guide rail is provided.

  A power auxiliary device 900 shown in FIG. 9 is a vertical position photographing grip that can be attached to and detached from the imaging device. A battery holder 950 that houses the battery 951 is detachable from the battery chamber 901 formed in the power auxiliary device 900. When the battery holder 950 is attached to or detached from the battery chamber 901 and a force is applied to the battery holder 950 in the direction of arrow F to tilt the battery holder 950, the battery 951 and the battery chamber 301 are formed in the opening E of the battery chamber 901. The frame rubs. At this time, since a metal member having high strength and hardness is generally used for the frame forming the battery chamber 301, the low-hardness resin sheathing that covers the battery 951 is damaged by the frame forming the battery chamber 301. Resulting in.

  The present invention provides a technique capable of preventing damage to the battery surface with a simple structure when the battery holder is attached to and detached from the battery chamber while meeting the demand for space saving of the battery chamber and the battery holder. With the goal.

Auxiliary power unit according to the present invention, there is provided a power assist device comprising a main body portion, and a battery holder to be inserted before Symbol body portion to hold the armored battery cover member having a battery accommodating portion, the body portion includes a ceiling portion facing the battery held in the battery holder when the battery holder is inserted into the main body, the frame in which the bottom portion facing the ceiling, is formed If, at the opening of the battery container has a, a protruding member attached to the ceiling portion so as to protrude toward the bottom portion, of the frame, at least said ceiling portion is formed of a metal material, said protruding member is characterized that you have been formed of a resin material having a hardness less than a hardness of the covering member of the battery.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, while being able to prevent the damage of the battery surface at the time of inserting / removing a battery holder with respect to the battery chamber of an imaging device or a power supply auxiliary device with a simple structure, space saving and small size of a battery chamber can be prevented. Can be realized.

1 is an external perspective view of a power auxiliary device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is the external appearance perspective view which looked at the power auxiliary device of FIG. 1 from the direction different from FIG. It is a front view which shows the state in which the power auxiliary device of FIG. 1 was attached to the digital camera. It is an external appearance perspective view of the battery holder attached to and detached from the main body part and the main body part that constitute the power auxiliary device of FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the main-body part shown in FIG. 4, and a battery holder. It is sectional drawing of the power auxiliary device of FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the aspect at the time of the attachment or detachment of the battery holder with respect to the main-body part shown in FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the power auxiliary device which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention, and sectional drawing which shows the aspect at the time of the attachment or detachment of the battery holder with respect to the main-body part of a power auxiliary device. It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the battery chamber which concerns on a prior art example, and a battery holder.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Here, a vertical position shooting grip, which is an operation member for vertical position shooting that can be attached to a single-lens reflex digital camera that is an example of an imaging apparatus, is taken up as a power auxiliary device. However, the power auxiliary device according to the present invention is not limited to this.

<First Embodiment>
FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a power auxiliary device 10 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of the power auxiliary device 10 viewed from a direction different from that in FIG. FIG. 3 is a front view showing a state where the power auxiliary device 10 is attached to the digital camera 20.

  FIG. 1 shows a state in which a battery holder 200 described with reference to FIG. 4 and the like to be described later is housed in a battery chamber (not shown) provided in the main body portion 100 of the power auxiliary device 10. The battery holder 200 includes a lid portion 205 that constitutes the exterior of the power auxiliary device 10 in a state of being housed in the main body portion 100, and operates an operation member (lever) 204 provided on the lid portion 205 to operate the battery. The holder 200 is extracted from the main body 100.

  When the battery holder 200 is housed in the main body 100, the operation member 204 is locked with a lock mechanism (not shown) provided in the main body 100, so that the battery holder 200 is prevented from jumping out from the main body 100. Is done.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the power auxiliary device 10 includes a tripod screw portion 104 and a rotation operation member 103 that rotates the tripod screw portion 104. By rotating the rotation operation member 103 and screwing the tripod screw portion 104 into a tripod mounting screw portion (not shown) provided in the digital camera 20, as shown in FIG. 20 is attached.

  When the power auxiliary device 10 is attached to the digital camera 20 by the tripod screw portion 104, the power connection portion 101 erected with respect to the main body portion 100 is inserted into a battery chamber (not shown) provided in the digital camera 20. The As a result, the connection terminal 102 provided in the power supply connection unit 101 is electrically connected to a power supply contact (not shown) provided in the battery chamber of the digital camera 20, and power is supplied from the power supply auxiliary device 10 to the digital camera 20. And control communication.

  The change-over switch 113 shown in FIG. 2 enables / disables operation of various operation members such as the release button 111 provided in the power auxiliary device 10 in a state where the power auxiliary device 10 is mounted on the digital camera 20. Switch. When the changeover switch 113 is set at a usable position, it is possible to perform photographing by operating various operation members provided in the power auxiliary device 10. On the other hand, when performing shooting by operating an operation member provided in the main body of the digital camera 20, the changeover switch 113 is set to an unusable position. Power supply from the power auxiliary device 10 to the digital camera 20 is performed regardless of the position of the changeover switch 113.

  In the power auxiliary device 10, a release button 111 and an electronic dial 112 are provided at a position on the front side (subject side) when attached to the digital camera 20. On the other hand, a multi-function key 114, a distance measuring button 115, an AE lock button 116, and an AF operation button 117 are provided at a position on the back side (photographer side). These are provided on the side of the grip portion 25 of the digital camera 20 so that an operation can be easily performed when the digital camera 20 is held in a vertical position as shown in FIG.

  In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the user operates the power auxiliary device 10 with the right hand while being mounted on the digital camera 20. On the bottom surface of the power auxiliary device 10, a strap portion 118 through which the strap string is passed and a tripod screw hole 119 for attaching to a tripod are provided.

  Various operation members such as the release button 111 provided in the power auxiliary device 10 are not limited to the above-described operation members, and operation members in charge of other functions may be arranged, or the above-described operation members May not be provided.

  FIG. 4 is an external perspective view of the main body 100 constituting the power auxiliary device 10 and the battery holder 200 attached to and detached from the main body 100. The battery holder 200 can be inserted into and removed from the main body 100 of the power auxiliary device 10 in the A direction, which is the longitudinal direction of the main body 100. The battery holder 200 holds the batteries 201 and 202 having the same shape so that the longitudinal direction of the batteries 201 and 202 is substantially coincident with the longitudinal direction of the main body 100. As the batteries 201 and 202, for example, a secondary battery such as a lithium ion battery can be used.

  A terminal connection portion 203 is formed in the battery holder 200. The terminal connection portion 203 is electrically connected to a connection terminal (not shown) formed inside the power auxiliary device 10 when the battery holder 200 is attached to the power auxiliary device 10. Thus, power is supplied from the batteries 201 and 202 to the digital camera 20 through the terminal connection unit 203 and the connection terminal 102 provided in the power supply connection unit 101 of the power auxiliary device 10.

  FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of the main body 100 and the battery holder 200 of the power auxiliary device 10. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the power auxiliary device 10. 6 is a cross-sectional view orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the main body 100 in a state where the battery holder 200 is mounted on the main body 100 of the power supply assisting device 10 as seen from the tip wall 206 side. . The tip wall portion 206 is a wall portion provided on the side facing the lid portion 205 in the longitudinal direction of the battery holder 200, and is a wall portion serving as a tip when the battery holder 200 is inserted into the battery chamber 301. .

  A battery chamber 301 that houses the battery holder 200 is formed in the main body 100, and a frame (housing) that forms the battery chamber 301 is formed of a metal material. In FIG. 5, a bottom plate 304 and a ceiling plate 305 that constitute a frame body that forms the battery chamber 301 are illustrated.

  In the vicinity of the opening of the battery chamber 301, a contact type battery chamber open / close detection unit 302 whose exterior portion is made of a resin member is disposed in order to detect the mounting state of the battery holder 200 with respect to the battery chamber 301. Yes. The battery chamber open / close detection unit 302 is installed so as to slightly protrude from the ceiling plate 305 forming the battery chamber 301 toward the bottom plate 304 side (inside the battery chamber 301) constituting the battery chamber. .

  When the battery holder 200 is inserted to a predetermined position in the battery chamber 301 and the opening of the battery chamber 301 is closed by the lid portion 205 of the battery holder 200, a part of the lid portion 205 is part of the battery chamber opening / closing detection unit 302. It touches the detection switch (not shown). At this time, the battery chamber open / close detection unit 302 detects that the battery chamber 301 is closed and locked by the lid 205.

  In general, in the power auxiliary device, in order to prevent data damage due to sudden power off, it is detected to detect whether the battery holder is inserted to a predetermined position or to detect the opening / closing of the battery cover. Means are disposed in the opening of the battery chamber.

  In this embodiment, the battery chamber opening / closing detection unit 302 has a structure in which the bottom surface of the battery chamber opening / closing detection unit 302 is used as a simple guide when the battery holder 200 is attached / detached in addition to such general functions. As a result, the power auxiliary device 10 is reduced in size (space saving), and at the same time, the cost is reduced by reducing the number of parts.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the height from the bottom plate 304 to the ceiling plate 305 of the battery chamber 301 is H1, and the height from the bottom plate 304 to the bottom surface of the battery chamber open / close detection unit 302 (that is, the bottom surface of the resin member). Let the height be H2. Further, in the battery holder 200, the height from the surface in contact with the bottom plate 304 of the battery chamber 301 to the upper end of the tip wall 206 is H3, and the top surface of the batteries 201 and 202 from the surface in contact with the bottom plate 304 of the battery chamber 301. The height up to is H4.

  At this time, in this embodiment, the shapes of the battery chamber 301 and the battery holder 200 are set so that the relationship of “H1> H2> H3 ≧ H4” is satisfied. At the same time, the resin member of the battery chamber open / close detection unit 302 is made of a resin having a hardness equal to or lower than the hardness of the covering member that forms the exterior of the batteries 201 and 202.

  FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing an aspect when the battery holder 200 is attached to and detached from the main body 100 of the power auxiliary device 10, and schematically shows the effects obtained by this embodiment.

  FIG. 7A shows a state in which the battery holder 200 is tilted in the direction of the arrow D1 with respect to the main body 100 during the insertion / extraction of the battery holder 200 with respect to the battery chamber 301. In the present embodiment, since the upper surface of the battery 201 and the resin member constituting the battery chamber open / close detection unit 302 are in contact with each other at the contact portion S1, the battery 201 and the metal ceiling plate 305 that forms the battery chamber 301 are in contact with each other. Can be prevented. At this time, since the hardness of the resin member of the battery chamber opening / closing detection unit 302 is equal to or lower than the hardness of the covering member of the battery 201, wear and damage of the covering member of the battery 201 can be prevented. Even if the battery 202 comes into contact with the resin member of the battery chamber open / close detection unit 302, it is possible to prevent the covering member of the battery 202 from being worn or damaged for the same reason.

  FIG. 7B shows a state in which the battery holder 200 is inclined in the direction of the arrow D <b> 2 with respect to the main body 100 during the insertion / extraction of the battery holder 200 with respect to the battery chamber 301. In the present embodiment, in the contact portion S2, the front wall 206 of the battery holder 200 contacts the ceiling plate 305 before the battery 201 contacts the metal ceiling plate 305 forming the battery chamber 301. And the ceiling plate 305 can be prevented from contacting each other. Even when the battery chamber open / close detection unit 302 and the battery 201 are in contact with each other, the hardness of the resin member of the battery chamber open / close detection unit 302 is equal to or less than the hardness of the cover member of the battery 201, so And damage can be prevented. Even if the battery 202 comes into contact with the resin member of the battery chamber open / close detection unit 302, it is possible to prevent the covering member of the battery 202 from being worn or damaged for the same reason.

  As shown in FIG. 6, a protrusion 207 is partially formed at the upper end of the tip wall portion 206 of the battery holder 200. The height H3 is a height from the surface of the battery holder 200 that contacts the bottom plate 304 of the battery chamber 301 to the upper end of the protrusion 207. By providing such a protrusion 207, it is possible to increase the dimensional accuracy of the height H3 much more easily than making the height of the tip wall portion 206 uniform.

Second Embodiment
As shown in the first embodiment, in the power auxiliary device 10, it may be impossible to arrange the battery chamber open / close detection unit 302 near the opening of the battery chamber 301 due to space. The second embodiment corresponds to such a situation.

  FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of the power auxiliary device 50 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8A shows the structure of the main body 100 and the battery holder 200 of the power auxiliary device 50, as in FIG. 5. The basic structure of the main body 100 that constitutes the power auxiliary device 50 is the same as the structure of the main body 100 that constitutes the power auxiliary device 10 according to the first embodiment.

  In the power auxiliary device 10 according to the first embodiment, the battery chamber open / close detection unit 302 is installed near the opening of the battery chamber 301. On the other hand, in the power auxiliary device 50 according to the second embodiment, a sheet-like member is provided on the ceiling plate 305 that is a part of the frame constituting the battery chamber 301 in the vicinity of the opening of the battery chamber 301. (Hereinafter referred to as “sheet member”) 303 is attached.

  The sheet member 303 is disposed so as to slightly protrude from the ceiling plate 305 to the bottom plate 304 side (battery chamber 301 side). Further, the sheet member 303 is made of an elastic member such as a resin, and can be attached by a simple assembling operation such as sticking to the ceiling board 305 with an adhesive or a double-sided tape.

  Heights H1, H3, and H4 shown in FIG. 8A are the same as the heights H1, H3, and H4 shown in FIG. 5 for the first embodiment. In the second embodiment, assuming that the height from the bottom plate 304 to the lower surface of the sheet member 303 is H2a, the heights H1, H2a, H3, and H4 satisfy the relationship of “H1> H2a> H3 ≧ H4”. The shapes of the battery chamber 301 and the battery holder 200 are designed. For the sheet member 303, a material having a hardness equal to or lower than the hardness of the covering member that forms the exterior of the batteries 201 and 202 is used.

  FIG. 8B shows a state in which the battery holder 200 is tilted with respect to the main body 100 in the direction of the arrow D1 while the battery holder 200 is being inserted into and removed from the battery chamber 301 of the power auxiliary device 50, as in FIG. 7A. Is shown. As shown in FIG. 8B, when the battery holder 200 is tilted in the direction of the arrow D1 with respect to the main body 100, the upper surface of the battery 201 and the sheet member 303 are in contact with each other at the contact portion S3. The contact with the metal ceiling plate 305 constituting 301 can be prevented. At this time, since the hardness of the sheet member 303 is equal to or less than the hardness of the covering member of the battery 201, wear and damage of the covering member of the battery 201 can be prevented. Even if the battery 202 comes into contact with the sheet member 303, the covering member of the battery 202 can be prevented from being worn or damaged for the same reason.

  In addition, in the power supply auxiliary device 50, since the mode in the case where the battery holder 200 is tilted in the direction of the arrow D2 as shown in FIG. 7B conforms to the explanation of FIG. 7B, the explanation here is omitted. .

<Other embodiments>
Although the present invention has been described in detail based on preferred embodiments thereof, the present invention is not limited to these specific embodiments, and various forms within the scope of the present invention are also included in the present invention. included. Furthermore, each embodiment mentioned above shows only one embodiment of this invention, and it is also possible to combine each embodiment suitably.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, the power auxiliary device has been described. However, the power supply auxiliary device has a metal casing constituting the battery chamber, the battery holder is used for mounting the battery in the battery chamber, and the battery holder is attached to the battery chamber. The present invention can also be applied to an electronic device such as an imaging device having a configuration that is detachable. That is, the present invention is also applied to an electronic device having a battery chamber, the battery chamber having the same structure as the battery chamber 301 included in the power supply auxiliary devices 10 and 50 described above.

10,50 power assist device 20 the digital camera 100 main body 200 battery holder 201 battery 207 projections 302 batteries chamber closing detection unit 303 sheet member 305 ceiling plate

Claims (6)

A main body having a battery compartment ;
A battery holder to be inserted before Symbol body portion to hold the armored battery cover member, a power assist device comprising,
The main body is
Wherein a ceiling portion of the battery opposed held in the battery holder, and a bottom portion facing the ceiling, the frame member is formed when the battery holder to the main body portion is inserted,
Wherein the opening of the battery housing part has a, a protruding member attached to the ceiling portion so as to protrude toward the bottom portion,
Of the frame, at least the ceiling is formed of a metal material,
The projecting member, the power assist device characterized that you have been formed of a resin material having a hardness less than a hardness of the covering member of the battery. The battery holder has a tip portion that becomes a tip when the battery holder is inserted into the battery housing portion,
The height from the front Symbol bottom surface portion to the ceiling portion and H1,
The height of the lower surface of the projecting member with H 2 from the bottom portion,
In the battery holder, the height from the surface in contact with the bottom portion when it is inserted into the battery housing to the upper end of the previous end of the battery holder and H 3,
In the battery holder, when the height from the surface that contacts the bottom surface portion when inserted into the battery housing portion to the upper surface of the battery held by the battery holder is H4 ,
The power auxiliary device according to claim 1, wherein a relationship of H 1> H 2> H 3 ≧ H 4 is satisfied . The projecting member, the power assist device according to claim 1 or 2 that that form a part of the detection unit that detect the mounting state of the battery holder with respect to the battery compartment. A main body having a battery compartment;
A battery holder to be inserted before Symbol body portion to hold the armored battery cover member, an electronic device comprising,
The body part is
A frame formed with a ceiling portion facing the battery held by the battery holder when the battery holder is inserted into the main body portion, and a bottom surface portion facing the ceiling portion;
A projecting member attached to the ceiling so as to project toward the bottom surface at the opening of the battery housing;
Of the frame, at least the ceiling is formed of a metal material,
The projecting member, the electronic device characterized that you have been formed of an elastic material having a hardness less than a hardness of the covering member of the battery. The battery holder has a tip portion that becomes a tip when the battery holder is inserted into the battery housing portion,
The height from the front Symbol bottom surface portion to the ceiling portion and H1,
The height of the lower surface of the projecting member with H 2 from the bottom portion,
In the battery holder, the height from the surface in contact with the bottom portion when it is inserted into the battery housing to the upper end of the previous end of the battery holder and H 3,
In the battery holder, when the height from the surface that contacts the bottom surface portion when inserted into the battery housing portion to the upper surface of the battery held by the battery holder is H4 ,
The electronic device according to claim 4, characterized in that satisfy H 1>H2> relationship H3 ≧ H 4. The electronic device according to claim 4, wherein the protruding member is a sheet-like member attached to the ceiling portion.

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