JPH04245240A - Remote control device for camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a remote control device capable of installing a reception section at a free attitude with respect to a transmission section. CONSTITUTION:A transmitting unit 1 and the reception section 8 of a camera 2 are connected via an optical fiber 6 as shown in the figure. The reception section 8 can be installed regardless of the directivity of the transmitted signal in this remote control device by eliminating such a drawback in a conventional wireless type remote control device of a camera that the direction of the transmission section and the reception section is limited in a very narrow range due to the directivity of the transmitted signal.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a camera remote control device for remotely controlling a camera.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art Conventional camera remote control devices have the following two configurations. The first one has a configuration in which the wiring of the operating means for releasing the camera is directly extended. The second one is composed of a transmitting section and a receiving section, and when the input member of the transmitting section is operated, an infrared signal is output, and the receiving section detects the signal to perform a release operation.

0003

In the device of the first configuration described above, a long cable is connected to the camera circuit, and this portion serves as an antenna, which has the disadvantage of causing a problem of unnecessary radiation.

[0004] In the device of the second configuration, the above problem does not occur, but when communicating signals using light such as infrared rays,
Since the receiving section and the transmitting section have directivity, there is a drawback that communication cannot be performed unless the transmitting section is oriented at the correct position relative to the receiving section. In particular, when the camera is fixed on a tripod and the user attempts to use the remote control to perform the release operation while looking through the viewfinder, the operability is extremely poor.

[0005] Also, reasons for hindering the reliability of operation include:
Conventionally, in this type of remote control device, the receiving circuit amplifies the signal as much as possible so that it can operate over a long distance, but for this reason, when transmitting from a very close distance,
Sometimes the signal became saturated and could not be received.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a remote control device that eliminates the drawbacks of the prior art devices mentioned above.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems] A remote control device of the present invention connects a transmitting section and a receiving section via an optical waveguide such as an optical fiber, and transmits a signal transmitted from the transmitting section to the receiving section. The present invention is characterized in that reception can be reliably received at the receiving section regardless of the posture or orientation of the camera or the transmitting section.

[0008]

[Operation] The remote control device according to the present invention is configured so that the transmitted signal passes through an optical waveguide such as an optical fiber cable and is received at the receiving section, so the signal can be reliably received regardless of the orientation of the camera or the transmitting section. Furthermore, the risk of noise entering the transmission system is extremely small.

[0009]

Embodiments Below, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 and 2 are external views of embodiments of the remote control device and camera of the present invention, in which 1 is a transmitting unit;
2 is a camera incorporating a receiving section, 5 is a transmission button, and 6 is an optical fiber, which is detachably coupled to the transmitting unit 1 at a coupling section 3 and detachably coupled to the camera 2 at a coupling section 4. 7 is a filter for adjusting the amount of light.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the structure of the coupling parts 3 and 4 between the optical fiber 6 and the transmitting unit 1 and the receiving part 8 of the camera 2, and 11 is an infrared light emitting diode (IRED).
, 21 is a silicon photodiode (SPD), 17 is a condenser lens, and 40 is a mirror.

FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram showing an example of the electrical configuration of the transmitting unit 1 and the receiving section 8 of the camera 2.

In FIG. 4, reference numeral 15 denotes a 38 KHz oscillation circuit, and its output, a clock pulse, is connected to an OR circuit 14. 13 is a frequency dividing circuit, which outputs a clock pulse CL.
The clock pulse CLK is divided by 8, 16, and 3 to each output terminal of Q4, Q5, Q6, and Q7, respectively.
It is designed to output the frequency divided by 2 or 64. Furthermore, by setting the output level of the (bar) CLR terminal to the "L" level, all frequency division stages are reset. (bar) The CLR terminal is connected to the switch 5A of the send button 5. The output of the OR circuit 14 is connected to the CLK terminal of the frequency dividing circuit 13, and the output Q7 of the frequency dividing circuit 13 is connected to the CLK terminal of the frequency dividing circuit 13.
is connected to one input of the OR circuit 14. The output Q5 of the frequency dividing circuit 13 and the output of the OR circuit 14 are AND circuit 1
The output of the AND circuit 12 is connected to the base of the transistor 10. transistor 10
IRED11 (infrared light emitting diode) is installed in the collector of
is connected. A battery 16 is a power source for the transmitting unit 1.

The light emitted by the IRED 11 reaches an SPD 21 (silicon photodiode) via an optical fiber 6 and a mirror 40, as shown in FIG.

22 is a detection circuit, and 38 is connected to the input terminal IN.
If there is an input modulated by a KHz clock pulse, only that frequency component is amplified and an "H" level is output to the output terminal during that time. Reference numerals 23, 24, and 25 are D flip-flops, each of which has its output Q connected to the input D of the next stage, forming a 3-bit shift register.

This D flip-flop (hereinafter referred to as D-F
The reset terminal (abbreviated as F) is the output (bar) of latch 31.
Connected to Q. 27 is the same 38KHz oscillator as 15, and its output clock pulse CLK is 13
It becomes the CLK input of the same frequency divider circuit 28. Frequency dividing circuit 28
The (bar) CLR terminal of is connected to the output Q of the latch 31. The frequency division output Q4 of the frequency division circuit 28 is the D-FF23
, D-FF24, and D-FF25.

The set input S and reset input R of the latch 31 are connected to the outputs of AND circuits 30 and 31, respectively, and the output (bar) Q of the latch 31 and the output of the detection circuit 22 are connected to the input of the AND circuit 30. , the input of the latch 31 is the output Q of the latch 31 and the divided output Q of the frequency dividing circuit 28.
7 is connected.

The AND circuit 26 includes D-FFs 23 and 25.
The Q output of the D-FF 24 is connected to the (bar) Q output of the D-FF 24, and the camera is released when the output of the AND circuit 26 is at the "H" level.

In the above configuration, before the switch 5 is pressed, the (bar) CLR terminal of the frequency dividing circuit 13 is “L”.
" level, and all the frequency division outputs are at the "L" level. Also, since the latch 31 is in the reset state in the initial state, the shift register consisting of the D-FFs 23 to 25 and the frequency division circuit 28 are reset. .

When the switch 5A of the transmit button 5 is turned on, the (bar) CLR terminal of the frequency dividing circuit 13 goes to "H" level, and since Q7 is still at "L" level at this time, the OR circuit 14
The 38 KHz pulse is output as is, and the frequency is divided by the frequency dividing circuit 13.

As shown in the timing chart of FIG.
While the output is at “H” level, the output of the AND circuit 12 is 38K.
A Hz oscillation output is output. In other words, as shown by (IRED) in the timing chart, IRED 11 is lit by the output obtained by modulating the Q5 output with a 38 KHz pulse.

[0021] Here, when the Q7 output becomes "H" level,
The output of the OR circuit 14 remains at "H" level, CLK is no longer input to the frequency divider circuit 13, and the frequency divider circuit 13
The output will remain unchanged. In other words, I.R.
ED11 is output corresponding to the two outputs of Q5, and is not output thereafter.

The emitted light travels while being reflected from the inner surface of the optical fiber 6, as shown in FIG. Even if the fiber 6 is bent at this time, if total reflection is achieved, the light will be reflected within the optical fiber 6 and transmitted. The light that has passed through the optical fiber 6 is reflected by the mirror 40 and enters the SPD 21.

Therefore, the input signal is input to the IN terminal of the detection circuit 22 at the same timing as the light emitted by the IRED 11. Here, the detection circuit 22 detects continuous pulses of 38 KHz and shapes the waveform, and outputs the waveform shown at OUT in FIG. At this time, the latch 13 has been reset and its Q output is at Hi level, so the inputs of the AND circuit 30 are both at Hi level, so the output of the AND circuit 30 is also Hi, and the latch 31 is set. Therefore, the (bar) CLR input of the frequency dividing circuit 28 is also Hi.
level, and the output pulse of the oscillation circuit 27 is frequency-divided as shown in the timing chart of FIG. At this time, the reset of the shift register is also released by the setting of the latch 31, so the shift register is shifted by 1 bit each time the Q4 output of the frequency dividing circuit 28 rises, and the Q output is Q(1), Q in FIG. (2) and Q(3). Here, Q(1), Q(2), Q(3) are D-FF2
3, 24, and 25, respectively.

When the shift register shifts three times, D-
(bar) Q output of FF23, D-Q output of FF24, D
Since the Q outputs of the -FFs 25 each go to the "H" level, all the inputs to the AND circuit 26 go to the Hi level, and its output also goes to the "H" level.

When the Q7 output of the frequency dividing circuit 28 becomes "H", the inputs of the AND circuit 29 both become high level, so the latch 31 is reset, and the frequency dividing circuit 28 and shift register are reset again to their original state. Return to initial state.

Therefore, each time the switch 5A is pressed, a one-pulse camera control signal is generated, and this signal releases the camera. In this embodiment, only one camera unit receives the light, but the light may be divided to operate two or more cameras at the same time.

Furthermore, although an optical fiber was used as the waveguide in this embodiment, it does not necessarily have to be a fiber.
For example, it may be a combination of multiple mirrors whose angles can be changed arbitrarily. Although only one type of optical signal is used in this embodiment, it goes without saying that a plurality of optical signals may be prepared to control various cameras.

Further, in this embodiment, the filter 7 is used to attenuate the amount of light, but attenuation by the waveguide itself may also be used.

[0029] With this, similar effects can be obtained without increasing costs.

[0030]

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, the remote control device of the present invention performs a release operation using an optical signal,
Since the transmitter and receiver are connected by optical fiber, a remote control device with less unnecessary radiation (radiation noise) and good operability can be realized.

Furthermore, malfunctions can be reduced even when the same remote control device is used at a plurality of different timings.

Furthermore, even when external light is strong and an optical signal cannot be detected, the influence of external light can be reduced, so that reliable operation can be achieved.

[0033] Furthermore, compared to the case where the connection is electrical, communication is possible even if there is some dust or the like, so there is also the effect that reliability is improved.

A further great effect of the present invention is that when the waveguide is not used, it can be used as a normal remote control device without changing the camera and transmitter side, as shown in FIG.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a case where remote photographing is performed using a remote control device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a case where an optical fiber is removed from the remote control device of the present invention and remote photography is performed using a non-wired remote control method.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a coupling section between a transmitting section and an optical fiber and a coupling section between a receiving section and an optical fiber in the remote control device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a transmitting side circuit and a receiving side circuit of the remote control device of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a timing chart of input and output in each part of the circuit shown in FIG. 4;

[Explanation of symbols]

1: Transmission unit 2: Camera 3,
4: Joining section 5: Send button 6
:Optical fiber 7:Filter 8
: Receiving section 10: Transistor 11: Infrared light emitting diode 15: Oscillator circuit 13: Frequency dividing circuit 22: Detection circuits 23 to 25: D flip-flop (shift register) 3
1: Latch 28: Frequency divider circuit 27: Oscillator circuit

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A transmitting means for generating an optical signal with a specific pattern, a receiving means for detecting the pattern and performing a specific control, and an optical waveguide coupled to the transmitting means and the receiving means. Camera remote control device with. 2. A first coupling means for detachably coupling the optical waveguide and the transmitting means, and a second coupling means for detachably coupling the optical waveguide and the receiving means. A camera remote control device according to claim 1, characterized in that: 3. The camera remote control device according to claim 1, wherein the receiving means includes an amplifier circuit, and the optical waveguide has an optical signal attenuation function.