JPH01248769A - Electronic image pickup device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To ensure locking at pickup by providing a locking means disabling the removal of a recording medium loaded when the device takes a 1st shape. CONSTITUTION:When a 2nd unit part 1B is turned to the 1st unit part 1A while an IC card 3 is loaded to a card load part, since a pin 15 incorporated to a hinge 2 is turned, the pin 15 turns a contact spring seat 22 clockwise against the restriction by a torsional spring 28. With the contact spring seat 22 driven clockwise, a stopper 22a is descended and approaches a slide plate 19 and when the 2nd unit 1B reaches the turning position to keep the vertical state, the stopper 22a is engaged with the slide plate 19. Thus, since the slide plate 19 cannot be moved toward the direction against the elastic behavior by the spring 18, an IC card 3 is locked in the card loading part because its tail end cannot be escaped from an end 4' of a notch 4. Thus, the necessity of intended operation of the user is eliminated at pickup and sure lock is attained.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an electronic imaging device, and more particularly to an electronic imaging device that records and/or reproduces a subject using a recording medium such as an IC card.

[Prior Art] A photoelectric conversion element converts a subject image formed by a photographic lens into an electrical signal, and sends this electrical signal to a storage section removably attached to the camera body, where it is stored in a solid-state memory or the like. Electronic still cameras that record on a medium are known (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 17275/1983).

This camera is provided with a locking means to prevent the storage section from being accidentally removed from the camera body during the photographing operation.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Incidentally, the conventional camera described above has a configuration in which the camera body can be separated into an imaging section and a storage section. However, since there is no need to separate the two except when exchanging the storage medium, the two are usually used in the same combined form regardless of the photographing state or non-photographing state.

For this reason, after detecting and amplifying the electrical signal in the shooting state,
It has a complex structure that converts this into mechanical movement to operate the locking means. If all of this were to be achieved with a mechanical configuration, the locking mechanism would have to be activated manually during shooting, and with such a configuration,
There is a risk of forgetting the lock.

In view of these points, the present invention provides an electronic imaging device in which the shape of the main body of the device changes between when shooting and when not shooting, and in which a storage medium loaded in the main body is locked in accordance with the change in form. An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic imaging device that can be unlocked and unlocked.

[Means and Effects for Solving the Problems] The electronic imaging device of the present invention has at least one main body that can selectively take on a first form for performing a shooting operation and a second form when not shooting. An electronic imaging device configured to be able to change the relative position of a predetermined first unit part and a predetermined second unit part, the electronic imaging device comprising: In conjunction with this, the locking means operates, and when the main body assumes the first form, the loaded recording medium cannot be removed.

[Example] Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

The appearance of an embodiment of an electronic still camera to which the present invention is applied is shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. The state shown in FIG. 2 is the state when this camera is not photographing, and the state shown in FIG. 3 is the state when photographing.

The camera body 1 consists of a first unit part IA and a second unit part IB, which have approximately the same external size. In the non-photographing state, the two unit parts IA and IB overlap each other as shown in FIG. It has a compact rectangular parallelepiped shape for convenience. From the non-photographing configuration shown in FIG. 1, both unit parts IA and IB are rotated around the hinge 2 connecting both unit parts IA and IB,
When opened to positions perpendicular to each other, the photographing configuration shown in FIG. 3 is obtained. An IC card 3, which is a storage medium, is loaded into the first unit part IA that forms the lower body frame in the shooting mode. A large notch 4 is formed on the outer surface of the first unit part IA, which serves as the bottom surface of the camera body 1 when photographing, and most of the surface of the loaded IC card 3 is in the notch 4.
It is more exposed (see Figure 2). As shown in FIG. 4(A), this IC card 3 has a display section 5 formed on its surface using a liquid crystal 8 photochromic, magnetic display element, etc., for displaying the number of unrecorded and recorded frames. The unrecorded areas are not displayed, and the low recorded areas are displayed in black. ). Therefore, when the IC card 3 is loaded in the first unit IA, the display section 5 on the front surface is also exposed through the cutout section 4, so that the remaining number of photographic frames can be seen at a glance from the outside. On the back side of the IC card 3, as shown in FIG. 4(B), a group of contacts 6 is provided at the end on the insertion side with respect to the camera body 1. The length ρ1 of the notch 4 in the longitudinal direction is shorter than the length tl in the vertical direction in which the IC card 3 is inserted, and the width g2 of the notch 4 is equal to the length t2 of the IC card 3 in the width direction. They are formed approximately equally.

On the end surface of the first unit part IA opposite to the side where the hinge 2 is provided, an ejection lower part for the user to insert his/her finger to take out the IC card 3 is formed by being cut out and continuous with the above-mentioned notch part 4. ing. Also, the hinge 2 of the second unit part IB
A shirt button 8 and an opening/closing member 9 are provided on the end surface opposite to the side having the button. The opening/closing member 9 is made movable by making a cut in a part of the main body 1 by utilizing the flexibility of the main body 1, and has a locking pawl 9a formed in the part facing the first unit part IA. There is.

This locking pawl 9a engages with a locking groove 10 formed in the first unit portion IA when both unit portions IA and 1B are folded, thereby maintaining the non-photographing configuration. The end of a lens holding section 11 made of a short cylinder is provided in a protruding manner on the surface of the second unit section IB facing the first unit section IA. It is arranged to be expandable and contractible in the axial direction. A finder lens assembly 13 is disposed at a position adjacent to the lens holding portion 11 and closer to the opening/closing member 9.

and the second unit part IB of the first unit part IA.
A recess 14 for accommodating the lens holding portion 11 and the photographing lens assembly 12 in a contracted state is formed on the surface facing the lens holding portion 11 .

By the way, the IC card 3 is inserted and removed in a non-photographing mode in which both unit parts IA and IB of the camera body 1 are closed as shown in FIG. The IC card 3 loaded in a predetermined position of the camera body 1 is locked in the predetermined position in the photographing mode shown in FIG. 3 to prevent the IC card 3 from being accidentally removed. In this state, a pair of left and right pins 15 formed on a portion of the hinge 2 that moves together with the second unit part IB are in a position where the IC card 3 is locked, as will be described later. The second unit part IB is maintained in a position perpendicular to the first unit part IA by engaging with the extension part 22b of the contact spring base 22 that protrudes from the part IA.

Next, the configuration for loading and locking the IC card 3 will be explained in detail using FIGS. 1, 5 (A), (B), and 6 showing the internal structure of this electronic still camera. do.

At the actual location of the notch 4, a card loading section 16 for loading the IC card 3 is formed along the frame of the first unit IA. A spring rest holder 17 is fixedly installed at a position near the hinge 2 in the first unit part IA, and a slide connected by a return spring 18 is provided between the spring rest holder 17 and the card loading part 16. A plate 19 is arranged.

The sliding plate 19 is for pressing the tip of the IC card 3 to be loaded, and is made of a plate member with an L-shaped cross section, and as shown in FIG. A stopper member 20 is fitted into a long hole 19a formed along the length, and is configured to be slidable within a certain range. A support shaft 21 protrudes from both sides of the upper part of the spring stand holder 17.
A contact spring stand 22 is rotatably supported on this support shaft 21 .

This contact spring stand 22 is for holding the contact spring group 23 connected to the contact group 6 of the IC card 3 to be loaded.As shown in FIG.
3 is sandwiched and fixed between the contact spring base 22 and the contact spring base 22. The contact spring group 23 is connected to a process circuit (not shown) by a contact FPC (flexible printed circuit board) 25. The contact spring base 22 has a pair of left and right stopper parts 22a formed at its ends extending toward the card loading section 16 at both sides of the contact spring group 23, and a pair of left and right stopper parts 22a on the opposite side of the support shaft 21. The right and left portions extend obliquely upward toward the hinge 2, and the extending portions 22b are formed with four click portions 22c that can be engaged with the pin 15 integrated with the hinge 2. The tip of the extending portion 22b penetrates the notch hole 26 and projects outside the first unit portion IA, and when the second unit portion IB is folded over the first unit portion IA, the second unit portion IB It is inserted into the inside through the notch hole 27 (see FIG. 5(A), (13)). Further, this contact spring base 22 is always given the habit of rotating counterclockwise in the figure, that is, toward the hinge 2 side, by a torsion spring 28. In addition, Fig. 1 and Fig. 5 (A), (B)
As shown in FIG.
An image sensor 29 such as a CCD and a filter 30 are disposed inside.

Here, in the non-photographing mode shown in FIG. 5(A), the second
Pin 1 formed at 2° hinge integral with unit part IB
5 is located in the first unit part IA at a position away from the contact spring base 22. Therefore, the contact spring base 22 is in the state of being rotated to the maximum extent toward the hinge 2 due to its rotational behavior. The portion 22a is located at a position where it does not hinder the movement of the sliding plate 19.

Therefore, when loading the IC card 3, with the surface of the IC card 3 on which the display section 5 is formed facing toward you, insert the insertion side of the IC card 3 into the is inserted into one end of the card loading section 16 through the notch 4, and the sliding plate 19 is pushed back against the elasticity of the spring 18 with the tip of the IC card 3. Then, with the IC card 3 inserted to some extent in the direction of arrow a, if the IC card 3 is then rotated in the direction of arrow A using the inserted tip as a fulcrum, the IC card 3 will be inserted at the rear end. card loading section 1 without being obstructed by the end 4' of the notch 4.
When the IC card 3 is stored in the IC card 6 and then released, the resiliency of the return spring 18 pushes the IC card 3 back a certain amount, and the IC card 3 is loaded into a predetermined position as shown in FIG. 5 CB).

In addition, when removing the IC card 3, press the rear end of the IC card 3 exposed from the ejection lower part as shown in Fig. 5(B).
As shown in , the IC card 3 is slid in the direction of arrow a0 parallel to the wall surface of the card loading section 16 against the elasticity of the return spring 18, and the rear end of the IC card 3 is inserted into the notch 4.
When the IC card 3 reaches the position where it is no longer locked by the end 4', pull it toward you as indicated by the arrow C, which is opposite to the direction of the arrow S above, and the IC card 3 can be easily inserted in the same way as when loading the IC card 3. The card is then taken out from the card loading section 16. When loading and unloading the IC card 3, the contact group 6 of the IC card 3 does not slide against the contact spring group 23, making it extremely light to insert and remove the IC card 3, which reduces the lifespan of the contact group 6 and the contact spring group 23. becomes longer.

Here, with the IC card 3 loaded in the card loading part 16 as shown in FIG. When the pin 15 is rotated relative to the first unit part IA, the pin 15 integrated with the hinge 2 rotates as the second unit part IB rotates, so that the pin 15 is attached to the extension part of the contact spring base 22. 22
After contacting b, twist this contact spring base 22 to release the spring 28.
It is rotated clockwise in the figure, against the rotational habit of . When the contact spring base 22 rotates clockwise, the spring base 2
The second stopper part 22a descends and approaches the sliding plate 19, and when the second unit part IB reaches the rotational position where it maintains a vertical state as shown in FIG. Oppose the rising edge of No. 19 with some gap between them. When the stopper portion 22a engages with the sliding plate 19, the sliding plate 19
cannot move in a direction that resists the resiliency of the return spring 18, so it becomes impossible to slide the IC card 3 in the card loading section 16 in the direction of the force indicated by the arrow ao, and the IC card 3 is the end 4 of the notch 4
', and is locked inside the card loading section 16. Also, when this IC card 3 is locked,
The contact spring 23 comes into contact with the contact group 6 of the IC card 3.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, when the second unit part IB reaches the rotational position where it maintains a vertical state, the tip of the pin 15 is exposed to the reaction force of the contact spring 23 in addition to the plate torsion spring 28. Since the contact spring base 22 is fitted into the click recess 22c of the extension 22b of the contact spring base 22, which is given a rotational force in the counterclockwise direction in the figure, the posture of the second unit part IB in this photographing mode is stabilized.

Then, in this shooting mode, the user selects the card loading unit 16
Since the display section 5 of the IC card 3 loaded in the camera can be directly viewed, the number of remaining frames can be confirmed each time a photograph is taken.

To release the locked state of this photography mode, when the second unit part IB is pushed towards the first unit part IA side with a slightly strong simultaneous force, the pin 15 comes out of the click recess 22c and the click stop mechanism is released. Therefore, after this, it is sufficient to simply rotate the second unit part IB to the non-photographing mode. That is, as the pin 15 linked to the second unit part IB rotates clockwise in the figure, the contact spring base 22 rotates counterclockwise in the figure due to the rotational behavior of the torsion spring 28. When the pin 15 continues to rotate and reaches a rotation position where it no longer engages with the contact spring base 22, the stopper portion 22a is separated from the sliding plate 19 and the locked state is released. After this, both units IA.

When the IB is completely folded, it assumes the non-photographing configuration shown in FIG. 5(B) described above.

The above electronic still camera is shown in Fig. 3 and Fig. 1 above.
In the photographing mode shown in the figure, as shown in FIG.
9, the control circuit 31 controls the image sensor 29 and the process circuit 32, and the photoelectric conversion output of the image sensor 29 undergoes signal processing in the process circuit 32 and is loaded into the card loading section 16. It is recorded on the IC card 3. Although the control circuit 31 and the process circuit 32 are not shown in FIG. 1 and FIGS. 5(A) and 5(B), they are arranged in an appropriate space within the first unit IA or the second unit IB. ing.

In the above-described embodiment, both the unit parts IA and IB are relatively rotated to be displaced between the photographing mode and the non-photographing mode, but the present invention is not limited to such a configuration. For example, the two unit parts may be slid to be displaced into a photographing mode and a non-photographing mode, and the locking means may be operated in accordance with the relative displacement caused by this sliding.

Further, the locking means may be of a mode in which an electromagnetic plunger mechanism is operated by a switch that responds to relative displacement of the two unit parts.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, the storage medium loaded in the main body can be locked and unlocked in response to the change in the form of the main body between shooting and non-shooting. Therefore, the user does not have to consciously operate the device and the operation is reliable, and since the configuration is simple, the main body can be made less expensive, smaller, and lighter.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of an embodiment of an electronic still camera to which the present invention is applied when the IC card is locked. FIG. 2 is an external perspective view showing the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 above when not photographing. , FIG. 3 is an external perspective view showing the photographing mode of the embodiment shown in FIG. Plan view, Figure 5 (A)
and (B) are longitudinal cross-sectional views of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 above, respectively, when the IC card is inserted and when the IC card loading is completed. FIG. 6 is a view of the locking mechanism of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 above. Exploded perspective view FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram of the recording system of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 above. 1A...First unit section 1B...Second unit section 3...IC card (recording medium) 15...
...Bin (locking means)

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) Relative position of at least a predetermined first unit part and a predetermined second unit part of the self in order to selectively take a first form for performing a photographing operation and a second form for non-photographing. an electronic imaging device configured to change the position of the first unit, the electronic imaging device operates in conjunction with a change in the relative position of the first unit section and the second unit section, and when the device assumes the first form; An electronic imaging device characterized by comprising a locking means that makes it impossible to remove a loaded recording medium.