JPH01131540A - Data imprinting device for camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable sharp and easily visible imprinting by constituting the title device of a liquid crystal cell having the display part of the transparency higher than the transparency of a non-display part and mounting an illuminating device and illumination reflecting member to the rear side of the cell in such a manner that said device and member can be attached and detached by an opaque cover member, then disposing and constituting the front side of the liquid crystal cell so as to be approximate to the rear face of a photosensitive material. CONSTITUTION:A reflecting plate 11 consisting of a photoconductive member and illuminating member 12 such as lamp are disposed on the rear face side of the liquid crystal cell 10 and are so mounted to the liquid crystal cell 10 that said plate and member are held and covered by the cover member 13 consisting of the opaque member and can be attached and detached to and from the cell by said member. The liquid crystal cell 10 is constituted by coupling an electrode part 10a of the cell 10 and an electrode part 5a of a flexible substrate 5 and further coupling the lamp 12 to the electrode part 5b. The liquid crystal cell 10 displays data by receiving an electric signal for driving and the lamp 12 is lighted. The lamp light is guided and reflected to and on the reflecting plate 11 and is transmitted as the more uniformized indirect illumination light through the display part of the liquid crystal cell 10 to a film 6 to imprint the data on the film. The stable imprinting is thereby executed without being affected by the color tones and brightness of the ground to photographed. The sharp and easily visible imprinting is thus executed.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] The present invention uses a data imprinting camera to imprint data display characters more clearly, in a small space, and without damaging the image of the photograph, and also simplifies the data imprinting device. The purpose is to provide better products by making the product smaller, using only one battery, making it more compact, and prolonging the life of the battery.

Conventional data imprinting uses light emitting diodes (hereinafter referred to as LEDs) to illuminate and display data in synchronization with shutter operation and imprint the data onto film.

If you explain along the drawings, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, the LED
a, lb, lc, ld, le, If are fixed to the LED board 2, and wires 3 (plurality) are used to connect the LEDs la, lb, lc.
, ld, le, and If, and the electrodes 2a (plurality) of the LED board 2 are wire-bonded and molded with a transparent molding agent 4 to form an LED.
The LED block is soldered to the board 5 and electrically connected to the control circuit. Data displayed by light emission is imprinted on a film 6 disposed close to the LED block. However, in the case of data imprinting using LEDs, the imprint quality was poor (the equipment cost and maintenance costs were high, and the miniaturization and thinning of the camera were impaired. If the color of the background photographed with color film and the emitted light color of the LED are similar, the photographed object or background may be bright and the LED display color will be pale.Depending on the sensitivity of the film, Even if the brightness of the LED is adjusted, the brightness and color tone of the photographed object and background must be detected and more detailed brightness adjustments can be made to make a major improvement, and the equipment will become expensive.Next. If the brightness adjustment described above is not appropriate and the driving current of the LED flows too much, the displayed characters may be enlarged due to the lens effect of the molding agent 4, and the film 6 and the LED 1a may be blurred. lb.

This is because there is no slit between lc, ld, le, and if. In addition, the display character spacing is wide and the imprinting is not consistent, and this is unavoidable because there is a limit to the miniaturization of the LED and as mentioned above, to secure space for wire bonding. This spoils the image of the photo you are trying to imprint with data.

The cost and maintenance cost of the second device is high.
As many as six LED blocks are required to display the first day of the month, and the number of man-hours required for mounting the LED blocks is high, resulting in high costs. In addition, the LEDIJJ operation requires a 3V drive with two batteries connected in series, and in order to enable quick shooting,
It is necessary to imprint data within a time of 10 ms e c, so the drive current for the LED must be increased, which means that the battery life is limited and two need to be replaced. It costs money. Regarding the third problem, which impairs the miniaturization and thinning of the i, see L above.
This is because it is structurally difficult to make the ED block small and thin, and it also requires space since it uses two batteries.

The present invention attempts to compensate for the above-mentioned defects by increasing the transparency of the data character area displayed on the liquid crystal cell and other non-display areas, and transmitting lamp light etc. through these areas to imprint the data on the film. As shown in FIG. 3, an object 7 is imprinted on a film 6 by a lens 8, and a data imprinting device 9 is placed close to the back of the film 6 to record the image on the film. Imprint the data on 6. As shown in FIG. 4, FIG. 5, and FIG. 6, the data imprinting device 9 has a structure in which a reflection plate 11 made of a light guide member and an illumination member 12 such as a lamp are arranged on the back side of a liquid crystal cell 10, and an opaque It is held and covered by a cover member 13 made of a material, and is removably attached to the liquid crystal cell 10. The electrode portion 10a of the liquid crystal cell 10 and the electrode portion 5a of the flexible substrate 5 are combined, and the lamp 12 is further connected to the electrode portion 5b. Receiving a driving electric signal from the front substrate 5, the liquid crystal cell 10 displays data, the lamp 12 is turned on, and the lamp light is transmitted to the reflection plate 1.
The reflector plate 11 is guided and reflected by the reflector plate 11, and is transmitted through the display section of the liquid crystal cell 10 as more uniform indirect illumination light to the film 6, where data is imprinted.
The reflection efficiency is increased by using two surfaces other than the light-receiving and light-emitting surfaces for scattering light.

Further, FIGS. 5 and 6 show a means for increasing the reflection efficiency by including a lamp 12 in the reflection plate 11.

For data imprinting, either a method is adopted in which the liquid crystal cell 10 is always displayed and the lamp 12 is controlled to turn on during projection, or a method in which the liquid crystal cell 10 and the lamp 12 are controlled in synchronization. FIG. 7 shows an example in which a self-luminous member such as a tritium lamp 14 is used as an illumination member.The liquid crystal cell 10 is controlled to display only when photographing, and the display part is made to transmit the light emitted from the tritium lamp 14. It shows the means to imprint on the image. As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the liquid crystal cell 10 has, for example, a twisted nematic liquid crystal agent 17 sealed in a gap between transparent members 15 and 16 such as glass with a sealant 18, and the transparent member 15, 16 is sealed with a sealant 18. 15. Polarizing plate 19a so that the polarization axis is parallel to 16,
The liquid crystal molecules of the display portions 20a (plurality) to which voltage is applied to the liquid crystal agent 17 are different, and the display portions 20a are transparent and other portions are displayed black. The patterns 15a (plurality) drawn out from the display portion 20a are gathered on both sides to form an electrode portion 10a coupled to the electrode portion 5a of the substrate 5. Note that the liquid crystal is driven by a multiplex driving method, and the electrode portion 10a of the liquid crystal cell 10 is
It is also possible to make it unidirectional, and FIG. 10 shows an example of this. Furthermore, using the guest host liquid crystal 20 in which dye is mixed into the liquid crystal, the liquid crystal is driven as described above,
It is also possible to change the direction of the liquid crystal molecules in the voltage application part to be perpendicular to the voltage application electrode, so that the molecular arrangement of the dye is also perpendicular to the dye, thereby removing the blocking of light by the dye and allowing the lamp light to pass through. be. In this case, by adjusting the amount of the dye to allow the lamp light to pass through areas other than the data display area, the imprinted data can be made to stand out and be easily seen, and by selecting an appropriate dye tone, it can be applied to chromatic or achromatic backgrounds. It is now possible to make the white data characters stand out, further enhancing the effect. Figure 11 shows an overview of photographs taken using this method. As shown in FIG. 12, the guest-host liquid crystal 20 itself, which contains sufficient dye, blocks light, eliminating the need for polarizing plates 19a and 19b as in the twisted nematic liquid crystal cell 10 described above, resulting in lower cost and thinner design. It makes it possible to

Further, as shown in FIG. 13, the operation of the data imprinting device 9 is controlled by, for example, a clock circuit 21 as a counting device.
The clock circuit 21 is controlled by an exposure control circuit 23 that is linked to the operation of the shutter 22.

As described above, according to the present invention, characters etc. for data imprinting are not affected by the color tone or brightness of the background where the data is imprinted, and the illumination member is included in the illumination reflection member, so that the data imprinting can be made uniform. Stable imprinting can be achieved using indirect illumination light, and the imprinted area can be made to stand out using a guest-host liquid crystal display or the like, and brightness can be easily adjusted. Furthermore, since the liquid crystal cell close to the film also serves as a slit for the lamp light, it is possible to imprint bright and unblemished lamp light in a clear and easy-to-see manner. Furthermore, the characters displayed on the liquid crystal cell can be made much smaller than on LEDs, and because the characters can be spaced at appropriate intervals, the imprinted area is well-organized and does not spoil the image of the photograph, increasing practicality. It can also be applied to film imprinting. Next, liquid crystal cells have low raw material costs and can be mass-produced as only one cell is needed, and lamps are also cheaper than LEDs and require less man-hours for mounting, making it possible to reduce costs.
Furthermore, since the driving voltage of the lamp is lower than that of an LED, and the current consumption is also lower, only one battery is required, and the service life can be extended, maintenance costs can be reduced, and the display device, the lighting device, etc. can be easily attached and detached. Therefore, maintenance is easy and maintenance costs can be reduced. Further, the data imprinting device of the present invention has the advantage that it can be structurally smaller and thinner, and only one battery is required, contributing to the miniaturization of cameras. Of course, it is also possible to color the imprint data by colorizing the lamp or polarizing plate, etc., depending on the application. Furthermore, if a self-luminous member such as the tritium lamp described above is used to make a lamp, it is effective in terms of energy and circuit configuration.

Incidentally, by arranging the data imprinting device 9 on the back side of the Huhelm 6 as in the present invention, the tight space on the lens 8 side can be alleviated, which of course contributes to making the camera smaller and thinner. It is.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 and 2 show an LED block portion of a conventional camera data imprinting device, FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an outline of the present invention, and FIGS. 4 and 5. 6 and 7 are sectional views showing the data imprinting device of the present invention, and FIGS. 8, 9, and 10. FIG. 12 is a plan view and a sectional view showing a liquid crystal cell for data imprinting, FIG. 11 shows an outline of a photograph taken with data imprinting according to the present invention, and FIG. 13 shows a data imprinting device of the present invention. This is a diagram showing a driving and controlling circuit. la~1f...LED 2......LED board 5...
・・・・・・・・・・・・Substrate 6・・・・・・・・・
・・・・・・Film 9・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・
・Data imprinting device 10...Liquid crystal cell 11...Reflector plate 12...Lamp, 13...
......Cover member 14...
・Tritium lamp 15. 16... Transparent member F... Liquid crystal 19a, 19b Old... Polarizing plate 20... Town... Guest host liquid crystal and above applications Person Seiko Epson Co., Ltd. Patent Attorney Kizobe Suzuki and 1 other person 2a Fig. 1 Fig. 2 Fig. 3 Fig. 4 Fig. 5 Fig. 8 Fig. 9 Fig. 11 Fig. 12 Fig. 13 Procedural amendment (voluntary) September 19, 1988 Director General of the Japan Patent Office Yoshi 1) Indication of Moon Tsuyoshi 16 case Patent application filed on August 19, 1988 (5) 2, Name of invention Data imprint for camera Equipment Representative Director Tsuneya Nakamura Drawing (Figure 13) Procedural amendment 1. The scope of claims is amended as shown in the attached sheet. 2. In the last line of page 2 of the specification, the words "Komi wo" should be corrected to "Komi wa". 3. In the 4th line of page 4 of the specification tube, the words ``large width'' should be corrected to ``large width''. 4. In the fifth line of the sixth line of the specification, the phrase "to be installed." should be corrected to "to be installed. Here, the lamp 12 serves as a light source." 5. The statement ``As stated above, of course'' from the third line on page 9 to the last line on page 10 of the specification shall be corrected as follows. ``As described above, according to the present invention, a liquid crystal cell in which the part to which a voltage is applied is in a transmissive state is used as a data imprinting device, a light source and a reflecting plate are used as an illumination device, and the light emitted from the light source is reflected by a reflecting film. Since the light is refracted to illuminate the entire liquid crystal cell, the light emitted from the point light source can be irradiated almost uniformly over the entire liquid crystal cell with a simple configuration, and a data imprinting device with no unevenness in imprint display can be provided.Also. Since there is no need to use a complicated and large optical device such as a lens for data imprinting, the data imprinting device can be stored compactly inside the camera back lid without significantly changing the shape of the camera. In the present invention, by using a guest-host liquid crystal in the liquid crystal cell, the guest-host liquid crystal increases the contrast between the transparent part and the non-transparent part, and the uniform illumination from the reflector plate provides clear and uniform data imprint. In the present invention, since the light source and the reflector are arranged side by side on the back side of the liquid crystal cell, the entire device can be made thinner, and it provides an imprinting device that can be compactly stored in the back cover of a camera.In particular, it is an object of the present invention to provide an imprinting device that can be stored compactly in the back cover of a camera. Since the device is placed between the film and the back cover of the camera, the thin data imprinting device of the present invention has the advantage of being easily applicable to small portable cameras that are convenient to carry. 1
Figure 3 is corrected as shown in the attached sheet. that's all

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A camera having an exposure control circuit, a data imprinting device including a display device and lighting device controlled by the exposure control circuit, a lighting reflecting member, a cover member, etc., a counting device, a power source, etc. In the cover device, the display portion is composed of a liquid crystal cell whose transparency is higher than the non-display portion, and the illumination device and the illumination reflecting member are removably attached to the back side of the cell with the opaque cover member. A data imprinting device for a camera, characterized in that the front surface side of the liquid crystal cell is arranged and configured so as to be close to the back surface of the photosensitive material. 2. The data imprinting device for a camera according to claim 1, wherein the reflecting member includes an illumination member. 3. The data imprinting device for a camera according to claim 1, wherein the illumination member is a lamp or a member having self-luminous properties. 4. The data imprinting device for a camera according to claim 1, wherein the display device other than the display forming portion is achromatic or chromatic. 5. The data imprinting device for a camera according to claim 4, wherein the non-display portion of the display device uses a liquid crystal containing a dye to allow the illumination light from the illumination device to pass therethrough.