JP7195601B2 - lens barrel - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a lens barrel having an aperture ring capable of switching between click feeling and non-clicking.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a lens barrel capable of adjusting an aperture value by rotating an aperture ring is known, and a lens barrel capable of switching between presence/absence of a click feeling associated with rotation of the aperture ring is known.

In Patent Document 1, an operation portion that can slide with respect to a fixed portion, a plurality of operation feeling generating members that generate different operational feelings with respect to the operation portion, and a plurality of operation feeling generating members are independently switched, An operation mechanism is disclosed that includes a switching portion that switches an operation feeling generating member that acts on the operation portion.

JP 2015-75912 A

In the invention disclosed in Patent Document 1, the click feeling is switched by retracting the ball in contact with the ring. However, in order to mount such a complicated mechanism, a large space is required in the radial direction of the lens barrel, resulting in an increase in the size of the product. Also, the holder, which is biased by a spring that produces a click feeling, is interlocked with the switching section. Here, if the amount of spring force is increased to improve the click feeling, on the other hand, there is a possibility that the feeling in operating the switching portion will deteriorate. In other words, there is a trade-off relationship between the click feeling and the operating feeling of the switch.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a lens barrel having an aperture click feeling switching mechanism that is simple in construction, yet space-saving in the radial direction, does not adversely affect the feeling of switching, and has an excellent appearance. aim.

In order to achieve the above object, the lens barrel of the present invention comprises a changeover switch, a switch base fixed to the changeover switch, a rotatable cylindrical ring member, and a holding spring fixed to the fixed barrel. and, the ring member has an uneven portion along the circumferential direction of the inner peripheral portion and a flat portion adjacent to the uneven portion, the switch base has a through hole, and the through hole has a is inserted a biasing member having one end in contact with the spherical member and the other end in contact with the holding spring, and one end of the spherical member is in contact with either the uneven portion or the flat portion .

According to the above invention, it is possible to provide a lens barrel having a mechanism for switching aperture click feeling that has a simple structure, saves space in the radial direction, does not adversely affect the feeling when switching, and has an excellent appearance. .

1 is a perspective view showing main constituent members of a lens barrel showing an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing main constituent members of a switching mechanism in the lens barrel showing one embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a second aperture ring in the lens barrel showing one embodiment of the present invention; 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a first state of a lens barrel showing an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a second state of the lens barrel showing one embodiment of the present invention; 1 is a perspective view showing main members in a first state of a lens barrel showing an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing main members in a second state of the lens barrel showing one embodiment of the present invention;

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the present invention is not limited by this embodiment.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing main constituent members of a lens barrel showing one embodiment of the present invention. Main members relating to the switching mechanism of the lens barrel will be described below with reference to FIG. Here, in this embodiment, the object side of the lens barrel is called the front, and the image side is called the rear.

A lens barrel is an interchangeable lens that can be attached to an imaging device, and has an optical axis at its center. The cover ring 10 is a cylindrical fixed barrel, and includes various members such as a fixed barrel (not shown) and a lens chamber. In addition, the cover ring 10 has a window frame 11 on its outer periphery, a changeover switch 40 is inserted through the window frame 11, and a protrusion (not shown) that engages with a switch click spring 43 is provided on its inner periphery. .

The first aperture ring 20 is a cylindrical member provided on the outer periphery of the cover ring 10 by the user, and can be rotated in the circumferential direction around the optical axis by the user.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the second aperture ring 30 in the lens barrel showing one embodiment of the present invention. The second aperture ring 30 is a cylindrical member that is adhered to the inner peripheral side of the first aperture ring 20 and rotates integrally with the first aperture ring 20 . The second aperture ring 30 has a flat portion 31 in the circumferential direction of the inner peripheral portion, and an uneven portion 32 in which concave grooves are arranged in a direction parallel to the optical axis. The flat portion 31 and the uneven portion 32 are arranged adjacent to each other in a direction parallel to the optical axis, with the flat portion 31 being arranged in front and the uneven portion 32 being arranged in the rear. Both ends of the flat portion 31 and the uneven portion 32 are referred to as a first end 35 and a second end 36, respectively.

A middle portion 33 and a single recess 34 are provided on the circumferential extension of the second end 36 . The single concave portion 34 has a shape in which one concave portion of the uneven portion 32 is extended to the flat portion 31 . Further, the cover ring 10 is provided with a detection member (not shown) to detect the amount and direction of rotation of the second aperture ring 30 . In the figure, arrow A indicates rotation in the forward direction, and arrow B indicates rotation in the reverse direction.

Rotation of the first aperture ring 20 is detected via the second aperture ring 30 and transmitted to a known aperture mechanism (not shown). As a result, the user can arbitrarily adjust the size of the aperture value in the lens barrel by rotating the first aperture ring 20 .

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing main constituent members of the switching mechanism in the lens barrel showing one embodiment of the present invention. The lens barrel in this embodiment can switch between presence and absence of a click feeling by a switching mechanism. The switching mechanism is composed of a changeover switch 40, a switch base 41, a switch click spring 43, an urging spring 44, a restraining spring 45, and a ball 46. First, the configuration of the switching mechanism will be described.

The changeover switch 40 is used by the user to switch between presence and absence of a click feeling when rotating the aperture ring. The changeover switch 40 is inserted through the window frame 11 of the cover ring 10 and exposed to the outside of the lens barrel.

The switch base 41 is fastened to the changeover switch 40 by a fastening member 47 and is a member that moves integrally with the changeover switch 40 . The switch base 41 also has a through hole 42 through which a biasing spring 44 is inserted.

The switch click spring 43 is a member fastened to the switch base 41 by a fastening member 47 . The switch click spring 43 is engaged with a protrusion provided on the inner peripheral portion of the cover ring 10, and bends during movement to produce a click feeling when the changeover switch 40 is operated.

The biasing spring 44 is a spring-like member inserted through the through hole 42 of the switch base 41 . The biasing spring 44 biases the ball 46 on one side and contacts the restraining spring 45 on the other side.

The ball 46 is a spherical member whose forward and rearward movement is restricted by the through hole 42 in the switch base 41 and is urged by the urging spring 44 to come into contact with the second aperture ring 30 . Since the ball 46 is restricted by the through hole 42 , it moves together with the switch base 41 .

The restraining spring 45 is a spring member that contacts and biases one side of the biasing spring 44 . The restraining spring 45 is fastened to the cover ring 10 by a fastening member 47 .

Next, the effect of the switching mechanism will be explained. FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing the first state of the lens barrel showing one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a second state of the lens barrel showing one embodiment of the present invention. Here, in this embodiment, a state in which a click feeling does not occur is called a first state, and a state in which a click feeling occurs is called a second state.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing main members in the first state of the lens barrel showing one embodiment of the present invention. In the first state, the change-over switch 40 abuts on the cover ring 10 at the front and is restricted from moving. A ball 46 in the switching mechanism is biased by a biasing spring 44 and pressed against the flat portion 31 of the second aperture ring 30 . When the first aperture ring 20 is rotated in the first state, the second aperture ring 30 rotates while the ball 46 and the flat portion 31 slide. In this case, since the sliding surface between the second aperture ring 30 and the ball 46 is always the flat portion 31, a click feeling does not occur when the first aperture ring 20 is rotated.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing main members in the second state of the lens barrel showing one embodiment of the present invention. In the second state, the change-over switch 40 abuts on the cover ring 10 at its rear end and is restricted from moving. A ball 46 in the switching mechanism is biased by a biasing spring 44 and is pressed against the uneven portion 32 of the second aperture ring 30 . When the first drawing ring 20 is rotated in the second state, the second drawing ring 30 rotates while the balls 46 are successively fitted into the concave portions of the concave-convex portion 32 . Since a certain amount of force is required when the balls 46 move from one concave portion to the adjacent concave portion, the balls 46 successively fit into the concave portions of the concave/convex portion 32, and a click feeling is generated when the first aperture ring 20 is rotated. It is configured to

The forward rotation of the second aperture ring 30 is restricted at the first end 35 . In addition, after the ball 46 hits the second end 36 once, the ball 46 rides on the intermediate portion 33 by further applying force and performing a rotating operation, and finally the ball 46 is fitted into the single concave portion 34 . , reverse rotation is restricted. In this embodiment, when the ball 46 is positioned in the single concave portion 34, it is possible to assign a special function other than the continuous change of the aperture value, such as setting the aperture value to the auto mode.

When switching from the first state to the second state or from the second state to the first state, the flat portion 31 and the uneven portion 32 are arranged adjacent to each other. This is done by moving the change-over switch 40 that moves integrally with the optical axis in the direction parallel to the optical axis. At this time, the switch click spring 43 and the protrusion generate a click feeling when the changeover switch 40 is operated. Also, regardless of the state of the switching mechanism, the biasing spring 44 and the restraining spring 45 are always in contact with each other.

As described above, it is possible to switch the click feeling associated with the rotating operation of the aperture ring by operating the changeover switch 40 while suppressing an increase in the diameter of the lens barrel. In addition, it has a structure with excellent functionality while saving space.

Further, in this embodiment, the through hole 42 is the hole of the switch base 41 through which the biasing spring 44 that biases the ball 46 is inserted. Here, if the through hole 42 of the switch base 41 is a hole with a bottom that does not penetrate through, it is difficult for the changeover switch 40 to slide smoothly.

More specifically, in the case of a hole with a bottom, the switch base 41 directly receives the repulsive force of the biasing spring 44, so force is applied to the switch base 41 in a direction different from the moving direction. Therefore, the switch base 41 is tilted. As a result, the changeover switch 40 interlocked with the switch base 41 also collapses, increasing the resistance to the movement of the changeover switch 40 . In addition, since the switch base 41 is deformed by the repulsive force, the flatness of the sliding surface cannot be maintained, and the resistance applied to the movement of the changeover switch 40 increases.

As described above, if the hole portion has a bottom, it becomes difficult to smoothly slide the switch 40, which adversely affects the feel of the user's operation. In addition, if the changeover switch 40 is tilted, the appearance of the lens barrel is degraded.

However, in this embodiment, the above problem is solved by providing the through hole 42 in the switch base 41 . That is, in this embodiment, the repulsive force of the urging spring 44 is not directly received by the switch base 41 but is received by the restraining spring 45 through the through hole 42 . Since the restraining spring 45 is only fastened to the cover ring 10 , which is a fixed member, at its rear portion, it bends at the point of contact with the urging spring 44 floating in the air, and the repulsive force of the urging spring 44 is applied to the changeover switch 40 . It is possible to receive without influence. Therefore, the changeover switch 40 does not fall down, the switch base 41 does not deform, the operation feeling of the changeover switch 40 is not affected, and the appearance is excellent in quality.

In this embodiment, a mechanism for switching between two types of states, that is, whether or not there is a click feeling, is used, but the present invention is not limited to the above configuration. For example, by arranging the flat portion, the first concave-convex portion, and the second concave-convex portion obtained by thinning out half the concave portion from the first concave-convex portion, in the second aperture ring in a direction parallel to the optical axis, three types of states can be obtained. can be switched.

Further, in the present embodiment, a mechanism for switching between presence/absence of click feeling in the aperture ring is used, but the present invention is not limited to the above configuration. For example, it can be similarly applied as a switching mechanism in various members such as a tripod mount, zoom ring, manual ring, and control ring.

Also, the lens barrel according to the present invention is appropriately deformed and scaled according to the imaging device to which the present invention is applied. Also, if necessary, various modifications and alterations such as changes in appearance due to changes in the outer dimensions of the device, connection positions between members, etc. are possible, but all are within the equivalent scope of the present invention.

10 Cover ring 11 Window frame 20 First aperture ring 30 Second aperture ring 31 Flat portion 32 Concave and convex portion 33 Intermediate portion 34 Single concave portion 35 First end 36 Second end 40 Changeover switch 41 Switch base 42 Through hole 43 Switch click spring 44 Biasing spring 45 Retaining spring 46 Ball 47 Fastening member

Claims (5)

A changeover switch, a switch base fixed to the changeover switch, a rotatable cylindrical ring member, and a holding spring fixed to the fixed cylinder,
The ring member has an uneven portion along the circumferential direction of the inner peripheral portion and a flat portion adjacent to the uneven portion, the switch base has a through hole, and one end of the through hole is a spherical member. a biasing member having one end in contact with the restraining spring, and one end of the spherical member in contact with either the concave-convex portion or the flat portion . An operation member that rotates integrally with the ring member is provided, and by moving the change-over switch, a first biased state in which a click feeling is produced when the operation member is rotated, and a second biased state in which a click feeling is not produced. 2. The lens barrel according to claim 1, wherein the urging state can be switched between two urging states. 3. The spherical member according to claim 2, wherein the spherical member is pressed against the uneven portion in the first biased state, and the spherical member is pressed against the flat portion in the second biased state. lens barrel. 4. The lens barrel according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the ring member has a single concave portion on the circumferential extension of the uneven portion and the flat portion on the inner peripheral portion. 5. The lens barrel according to claim 2 , wherein said operation member is an aperture ring capable of adjusting a lens aperture value.

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