JPH04256289A - Controller for electronic device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent malfunction or runaway of a microcomputer and to smooth and ensure the control by implementing communication of a data with the camera microcomputer when there is no change in the operating state of an external connection device. CONSTITUTION:The controller is provided with a means receiving and decoding control information sent from a peripheral equipment so as to control the electric device and a means outputting stop information to stop the operation of the system of the peripheral equipment when control information from the peripheral equipment is not received for a prescribed time or over. Thus, even when plural peripheral connection devices are simultaneously controlled, various data are surely sent to a system control circuit such as a camera microcomputer 101 and the control is implemented without causing malfunction.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a control device for electronic equipment, and more particularly to an improvement in system control of electronic equipment such as an electronic camera and its peripheral devices.

0002

[Background Art] In recent years, in the field of cameras, electronic cameras such as still video cameras (hereinafter referred to as SV cameras) have become rapidly popular. It is characterized by being able to be recorded on magnetic recording media such as video floppies, and the captured image information can be immediately played back on a television monitor (TV monitor), etc., and is becoming popular in all fields. be.

Specifications of this type of SV camera include a fixed-focus photographic lens, an external finder, a built-in strobe, and a close-up function, but the close-up function is especially useful when photographing paper surfaces such as documents. It's convenient.

[0004] Furthermore, since the SV camera can immediately reproduce the captured image information on a display such as a television monitor, its convenience and ease of operation have made it suitable for use in various presentations instead of conventional slides, etc. It is widely used in silon etc.

By the way, since conventional slides use positive film, it is necessary to take pictures using positive film in advance, or to convert negative film to positive film, so it is difficult to create film for slides. is extremely troublesome.

[0006] In this regard, it seems possible to solve these operability problems by using a video camera, performing image processing using electrical signals, and displaying the image on a monitor display or the like.

[0007] An SV camera that records still images on a video floppy and plays them back is likely to be applicable to such applications.

[0008] However, the current SV camera cannot be applied to such uses, and although devices for taking film images and outputting them on a monitor display have been proposed, there are only large-scale dedicated devices. It is desired to develop a device that can easily take film pictures using an SV camera.

[0009] Therefore, in order to make it possible to take negative and positive films by using the SV camera as is,
We have developed an adapter-type film photographing device that can be connected to an SV camera to take film photographs.

[0010] Furthermore, along with the above-mentioned multi-functionality, it has become possible to use a remote control in consideration of operability.

[0011]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, when using peripheral devices such as the above-mentioned film adapter and remote control, various control information must be transmitted to the system control circuit for reliably controlling the system. At the same time, it is necessary to take measures to prevent confusion in the processing of various data in the system control circuit and the system control circuit.

Normally, in data processing between various peripheral devices and the system control circuit, status data is sent once to the system control circuit only when a change in the status of a switch or the like occurs in the peripheral device. If the data cannot be reliably received on the camera side, there is a risk of malfunction, which is a big problem.

[0013]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention has been made for the purpose of solving the above-mentioned problems, and its feature is that the present invention is based on control signals transmitted from connected peripheral devices. The electronic device is controllable, and includes means for receiving and decoding control information transmitted from the peripheral device to control the electronic device; A control device for an electronic device is characterized in that it includes means for outputting stop information for stopping the operation of a system of the device.

Another feature of the present invention is a camera device to which an external control device can be connected, wherein the camera device has a camera device that controls the operation of each part based on control signals supplied from the external control device. and a second control means for turning off the power of the system of the external control device when a control signal from the external connection device is not received for a predetermined time or more.
A camera device comprising a control means.

Another feature of the present invention is a control device for an electronic device that is connected to an electronic device and controls the electronic device according to the operation of the electronic device, wherein a control signal related to an operation state is received in the electronic device. and if the operating state changes before the control signal is received by the electronic device, transmitting a control signal based on the changed operating state to the electronic device. There is a control device for electronic equipment comprising means for controlling.

[0016]

[Operation] As a result, even if a plurality of peripheral connected devices are controlled simultaneously, various data are reliably transmitted to the system control circuit, and control can be performed without causing malfunction.

[0017]

[Example] The control device for electronic equipment according to the present invention will be described below.
A still video system comprising a still video camera, a film adapter that enables film photography by attaching the still video camera, and a remote control will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 6 and 7 are system configuration diagrams of a camera and a film photographing adapter device according to the present invention.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a camera body, with a photographing lens 1a arranged on the front side and a viewfinder 1 on the rear side.
A battery mounting portion 1c for mounting a battery and a power battery is provided.

By attaching a battery attachment 64 equipped with a remote control light receiving unit as described later to this battery attachment portion, it becomes possible to supply power from the outside and to use a remote control.

Reference numeral 2 denotes a film photographing adapter device main body (hereinafter referred to as a film adapter), which holds the camera body 1 from above and enables film photographing; 2a, 2;
b denotes a film insertion slit for inserting a film holder FH containing a film F to be photographed into the film photographing adapter device, and is configured such that the film can be inserted from two directions orthogonal to each other depending on the length and width of the film. ing.

Reference numeral 2c denotes a camera holder portion that holds the camera relative to the film adapter 2, and has an opening for mounting the camera at the top. The camera body is held so that it is accurately positioned at a preset constant close-up distance.

Further, an opening 2d for checking the film is formed so that the film on the film mounting surface can be visually checked directly from the outside.

Further, on the front surface below the opening 2d,
Each operation switch is arranged, 2e is a release switch, 2f is an erase switch to cancel the shot image, 2g is a negative/positive changeover switch to switch between negative and positive depending on the type of film to be taken, and 2h 2i is a display unit such as an LED that displays the operating status, and a power switch.

The electrical connection with the camera body will be described later, but by turning on the power switch 2i, the camera automatically enters the film shooting mode, and by operating the release switch 2e on the film adapter side, shooting starts. A film image in the area is recorded.

That is, by attaching the camera to the film adapter 2 and making the necessary wiring connections, the release switch on the camera side is disabled, and the release switch on the film photographing device side, which is highly stable in installation, can be used without directly touching the camera. −
Since film images can be taken with the switch, camera shake is less likely to occur and stable shooting can be performed.

The erase switch 2f is used to erase a recorded image by operating it in a so-called retrieving operation state in which the recorded image is immediately played back on the camera side. You can immediately play back the image, check its recording status, and choose whether to cancel it or keep it as a recorded image.

3 is an AC power adapter (or DC) for converting alternating current (AC) power supplied from a power line (not shown) via cable 3b into direct current (DC) power for driving this system. 4 is a monitor display for monitoring images taken with the camera; 5 is a connection and relay between the camera 1, film adapter 2, AC power adapter 3, and monitor display 4;
This is a control coupler for controlling.

The control coupler 5 is fixed to the AC power adapter 3 by a fixing screw 5a, and is electrically connected to the power connectors 5b and 3a to serve as a power supply interface for the system.

The control coupler 5 also connects the film adapter 2
The cable 2j is connected by the connector 2k at the tip of the cable 2j and the connector 5c, and by connecting the camera control cable 5d to the camera body 1, the connection to the camera body 1 and the film adapter 2 is made. It supplies power, inputs and outputs control signals, and receives image signals reproduced from the imaging system of the camera body 1 or the video floppy.

Connection with the camera side is made using the camera's battery storage part 1c, which has the same shape as the camera battery and has a power supply contact (see Fig. (not shown) and a connector 6a connected to the signal input/output connector 1d arranged in the battery storage part 1c. The connection with the camera is then completed.

As a result, power is supplied via the power line within the cable 5d, and the cable 5d
The camera can be operated according to the operation status of the release switch 2e, negative/positive changeover switch 2g, erase switch 2f, and power switch 2i on the film adapter 2 side using the control signal line inside and the control signal terminals of the connectors 6a and 1d. It is also possible to control the image signal taken on the camera side, and furthermore, it is possible to control the image signal taken on the camera side.
It is possible to receive an image signal from the camera body using the image signal line in the bull 5d and the image signal output terminals of the connectors 6a and 1d.

The battery attachment 6 is also provided with a remote control light receiving unit 6b that receives optical control information transmitted from an infrared remote control transmitter (not shown) and converts it into an electrical signal.
By attaching the camera, it not only becomes possible to supply power from the outside, but also to enable remote control using a remote control, which is effective in preventing camera shake and the like.

The control information signal output from the remote control light receiving unit 6b is transmitted into the camera body 1 via the connector 1d, and is also supplied to the control coupler 5 via the cable 5d to control the film adapter 2. can do.

The control coupler 5 also connects the monitor display 4
The image signal output from the camera body can be transmitted to the monitor display 4 and reproduced.

Note that 5e, 5f, and 5g are video output terminals corresponding to the type of monitor display to be connected, respectively.

Next, the circuit configuration of the above system is shown in FIG.
This will be explained using the block diagram shown in FIG.

In the figure, 1 is a camera body, 2 is a film adapter, 3 is an AC power adapter, 4 is a monitor display circuit block, 5 is a control coupler, and 6 is a battery attachment with a built-in remote control light receiving unit. It is something.

Inside the camera body 1, 101 is a microcomputer (hereinafter referred to as camera microcomputer) constituting a control system control circuit, and 102 is a battery attachment 6 with a built-in remote control light receiving unit, which will be described later.
A control microcomputer (hereinafter referred to as a coupler microcomputer) 601 in the camera converts various control data serially communicated via a cable 5d into parallel data and supplies it to the camera microcomputer 101, thereby starting the data communication. A serial-to-parallel conversion circuit (SIP) 103 is used to perform processing such as image pickup by the image sensor 11, camera process processing, image recording on a recording medium, negative/positive reversal during recording, and reproduction of recorded images on the recording medium. In the signal processing block that performs this, the imaging signal output from the imaging system is converted into a standardized video signal through a camera process, and is recorded on or reproduced from a video floppy (not shown). Further, the video signal is outputted from the camera as a Y+S signal and a C signal.

104 and 105 are camera microcomputers 101;
Regulators 105 have different output voltages for supplying stable voltages to the signal processing block 103, and 105 switches between the regulators 103 and 104 according to the operating mode of the device, that is, high-speed and low-speed operating modes, and supplies the voltage to the camera microcomputer 101. A switching circuit 107 is a character generator for displaying character data representing various control information on the monitor display 4.

Also, inside the film adapter 2, the above-mentioned release switch 2e, negative/positive changeover switch 2g,
The coupler microcomputer 6 in the coupler is turned on and off in conjunction with the erase switch 2f, power switch 2i, and power switch 2i to control the power state, that is, the lighting state of the light source 2l.
Switch 2i' that supplies light to 01, fluorescent light source 2
1 are respectively arranged and connected to the control coupler 5 by a cable 2j.

Looking inside the control coupler 5, DC power is supplied from the AC power adapter 3 to the power line VB, and the film photographing device 2 is connected to the power line VB via the power line VB.
Power is supplied to each circuit including the light source 2l within the camera body 1, and power is also supplied to regulators 104 and 105 within the camera body 1 via a cable 5d.

Also, a mixing circuit 501 is arranged which adds video signals consisting of Y+S signals and C signals transmitted from the camera body 1 via the battery attachment 6 and the cable 5d and outputs the sum to the monitor display 4. has been done.

Looking inside the battery attachment 6, there is a coupler that performs control communication with the camera microcomputer 101 in the camera body 1 via the connector 1d based on signals indicating the operation status of various switches received from the film adapter 2. A microcomputer 601 and a regulator 602 for stabilizing the voltage supplied from the power line VB and supplying the stabilized voltage to the coupler microcomputer 601 are arranged.

Note that this regulator 602 is controlled by a control signal CPUON from the camera microcomputer 101, and when CPUON becomes LOW, the regulator is enabled and the coupler microcomputer 6
01 is configured to start operation.

The remote control light receiving unit 6 includes a light receiving sensor that receives infrared light emitted from the remote control transmitter, converts it into an electrical signal, and supplies it to the coupler microcomputer 601.
b is arranged.

The connection line between the camera microcomputer 101 and the coupler microcomputer 601 is connected to the aforementioned CPUON signal, various data signals, a clock (CLK) signal, and a BUSY signal.
signal, GND (ground).

The camera system according to the present invention has the above-mentioned configuration, and in actual use, the control coupler 5 is connected to the AC power adapter 3 and fixed with the screw 5a, and then the cable 5d, Connect the battery attachment 6 to the camera body, and then attach the film shooting adapter device 2.
The monitor display 4 is connected to one of the video output terminals 5e to 5g of the control coupler via a cable 7.

As a result, the connections shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 6, and 7 are established, and power can be supplied to each of the camera body 1 and the film connection adapter device 2, and the remote control can be used.

The operation status of the various operation switches on the film photography adapter device 2 side is determined by the battery attachment 6.
When the power switch 2i in the film photography adapter 2 is turned on, the operating state is transmitted to the coupler microcomputer 601 by the interlocking switch 2i', and the operating state is transmitted to the coupler microcomputer 601.
The camera microcomputer 101 is controlled by the command, and thereafter the camera microcomputer 101 is controlled by the operation of the film adapter 2 to enter the film shooting mode. That is, in response to turning on the power of the film adapter 2 (turning on the light source), the film photography mode is set.

In this state, priority is given to the operation of the film photographing adapter device, and when the power switch 2i of the film photographing adapter device is turned off, the camera side is also controlled to be unable to record, and the operation of the film adapter 2 is disabled. When the power is turned on and the light source 2l is turned on, the camera can take a film.

Insert the film or film holder through the film insertion slit 2a or 2b of the film photographing adapter device 2 depending on the photographing state of the film,
By visually observing the film surface through the opening 2d of the camera holder 2c, moving the desired film to the photographing area on the film mounting surface, and pressing the release switch 2e,
Film photography becomes possible.

Note that when the camera body 1 and the film shooting adapter device 20 are in the connection relationship as described above, the camera automatically enters the film shooting mode.
The release switch on the camera side is disabled.

[0054] Also, the release on the film photography adapter device side
When the switch 2e is turned on and a photograph is taken, if the negative/positive changeover switch 2g of the film photographing adapter device 20 is switched to the positive position, the camera will record the image as it is, and will not switch to the negative position. If so, the negative/positive inversion circuit built in the camera side signal processing block 103 is operated to perform negative/positive inversion, and then recording is performed on the video floppy.

When recording is performed, the currently recorded image information is played back on the screen of the monitor display 4 (so-called rectangle review mode), and in this operating state, film shooting is When the erase switch 2f on the adapter device 2 side is turned on, the recorded image can be erased by controlling the camera microcomputer 101 on the camera side in accordance with the operation.

[0056] Therefore, if the image that has just been recorded is incorrect or the recording condition is not good, the operator should
Immediately erase the recorded image from the video floppy,
Recording can be performed again.

As described above, by attaching the camera to the film adapter 2, the mode is automatically switched to a mode exclusively for film shooting, and the camera can be controlled from the film shooting adapter device, unlike the conventional mode. You can easily shoot film, record it on a video floppy, edit it, and display it on a monitor without relying on any other equipment. Next, the control operation of the coupler microcomputer 601 in the battery attachment 6 in the above system will be explained in detail using the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 3 and 4.

In the figure, when the camera microcomputer 101 sets its control signal CPUON to Low (S1), the regulator 602 in the battery attachment 6 is turned on, and power is supplied to the receiving circuit section including the remote control sensor. (S2), the coupler microcomputer 601 starts operating.

When the coupler microcomputer starts operating, it performs initial settings such as clearing the RAM inside the microcomputer, setting the stack pointer, and storing data in the memory when each switch of the film adapter 2 is in the OFF state (S3).
).

Next, communication data is set as a countermeasure against runaway of the coupler microcomputer 601 (S4), and a timer in the microcomputer is set (S5). If this communication data does not receive control signals from a wireless remote control transmitter (not shown) or ON/OFF control signals for various switches from the film adapter 2 for a certain period of time, control will not be performed for a long period of time, causing the system to malfunction. This information is communicated to the camera microcomputer 101 to avoid any problems.

When the timer setting is completed in S5, the state of the BUSY line of the communication line with the camera microcomputer 101 is determined (S6), and if the BUSY line is at Hi level, the communication set in S4 is The data is communicated to the camera microcomputer 101 (S7) and the DATA line is set to Hi (S8). And the DATA line is H
When the time reaches i, the timer in the coupler microcomputer 601 is set again (S9).

Here, transmission of various information such as communication data, the output of the light receiving sensor 6b which has received the light emission signal of the remote control transmitter, and data of the film adapter is performed by the coupler microcomputer 60.
1 and a serial/parallel converter 102 inside the camera body 1
Each data is transmitted using the DATA line, CLK line, and BUSY line connected between the serial and parallel converter 102, and when the BUSY line from the serial/parallel converter 102 is Hi.

Furthermore, in S6 described above, if the BUSY line is Low, the microcomputer 601 cannot transmit, so a request is made to the camera microcomputer 101 by setting the DATA line to Low (S26).
The timer is counted and it is detected whether the count value has passed for a predetermined time or more (S27, S28), and until the predetermined time has elapsed, the process returns to S6 and repeatedly determines the state of the BUSY line. If the count exceeds the predetermined time without going Hi, set the DATA line to Hi and return to S4 (S29), set the communication data again, and then send it to the camera side when the BUSY line goes Hi. do.

[0064] Also, before counting the predetermined time in S28, B
When the USY line becomes Hi, this loop is exited and the process moves to S7.

In other words, the coupler microcomputer 601 transmits communication data at regular intervals even if there is no input from the remote control transmitter or changes in the various switches of the film adapter. By receiving the communication data, it can be confirmed that the coupler microcomputer 601 is operating normally.

[0066] In addition, when the timer is set in S9 described above and control is enabled, the remote control light receiving unit 6b determines whether or not control information is received from a remote control transmitter (not shown) (S10). When the reception of the control signal is confirmed by the unit, the code of the received control signal is decoded (S11), and after the process is finished, the state is determined whether the BUSY signal is Hi or not. It is determined (S12), and if it is Hi, the remote control data is transmitted to the camera microcomputer 101 (S13), then the process returns to S9, a timer is set, and the next remote control operation information is waited for.

The code received by the remote control light receiving section 6b is serially transmitted to the serial/parallel converter 102 in the same manner as the transmission of the communication command described above.

If the BUSY signal is Low in S12, it means that one communication has ended, and the DATA line is set Low (S14), and it is determined whether the remote control input is finished (S15). If the remote control input has not been completed, the process returns to S12 to check the BUSY line and continue communication.

Furthermore, if the remote control input has been completed, S8
Returns to , sets the DATA line to Hi, sets a timer, and waits for remote control input (S8 to S10). The camera microcomputer 101 in the camera body 1 reads the data from the serial/parallel converter 102 and converts the data into the camera body 1 based on the control information from the coupler microcomputer 601.
control.

In S10, if there is no input from the remote control and no remote control operation is being performed, the process advances to S16, where a control sequence for the film adapter 2 is performed.

In S16, the status of each operation switch of the film adapter 2 is read. Then, when the state of each operation switch of the film adapter 2 changes, data is transmitted (S17).

In this case, if the state of the BUSY line is Low from the output of the serial/parallel converter 102 (S18), the camera microcomputer sends a request to the camera side by setting the DATA line to Low, as described above. 101 (S21), holds the data of film adapter 2, and counts the timer (S22).
, continues sending until the BUSY line becomes Hi within a certain period of time (S23). In other words, in S23, the BUS
If the Y line does not become Hi, the process returns to S8, the DATA line is made Hi, and the data input operation is repeated.

If a certain period of time elapses without the BUSY line becoming Hi in S23, the process returns to S8 and reads the switch states of the remote control light receiving section 6b and film adapter 2. Since it is not sent to the converter 102, the result of comparison with the previous switch state data (S17) is different.
Continue sending data as described above.

[0074] Here, the previous data is data that has been transmitted to the serial/parallel converter 102 (S19) and then stored in the memory within the coupler microcomputer 601 (S20).

If the switch state of the film adapter 22 changes before the output BUSY line from the serial/parallel converter 102 becomes Hi, after transmitting data or after a certain period of time has elapsed, the switch state of the film adapter 2 changes. In order to read the switch state (S16), data of the current switch state is transmitted, unlike the previous data. That is, regarding the switch status of the film adapter 2, the latest data is always transmitted.

[0076] Also, the communication lines, CLK lines, and DATA lines of the coupler microcomputer 601 in the battery attachment 2
The line is high impedance when not communicating.

Further, in S17, if the data is not new, the timer is counted, and if there is a remote control input within the preset time in S10, the flow from S11 onward is executed again, and if not, the process returns to S4.

[0078] Here, the above-mentioned battery attachment 6
The camera body 1 responds to the operation of the coupler microcomputer 601 in the camera body 1.
The control of the camera microcomputer 101 in the camera will be explained using the flowchart of FIG.

The camera microcomputer 101 starts the flow when the entire system starts operating, turns the CPU ON of the camera microcomputer 101 to Low (S101), and then sets the microcomputer's timer (S102).

Thereafter, it waits for data to be received from the coupler microcomputer 601 (S103), and when data is received, performs various data processing (S104),
Reset the timer of the CPUON line that controls the regulator 602 in the battery attachment 2 (
S105).

If no data is received, the controlling C
The PUON timer starts counting, and if data is received before reaching the preset timer count value, the timer is reset again (S103-105).
If the timer count value is exceeded without receiving any data, it is determined that the coupler microcomputer 601 is not operating normally, and the camera microcomputer 101 sets the control signal CPUON to Hi and sets the regulator 602 in the battery attachment 6. It is turned off, the power supply to the remote control receiving circuit is stopped, the process returns to S101, and the above-described operations are repeated.

[0082] As a result, the coupler microcomputer 601 returns to its initial state and returns to its normal operating state, making it possible to prevent runaway.

[0083]

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the system of the present application, even if peripheral devices such as a film adapter and control devices such as a remote control are used in parallel, there is no change in the operating status of these externally connected devices. By communicating data with the camera microcomputer when the camera microcomputer is not installed, it is possible to prevent malfunctions and runaways of the microcomputer that controls the remote control light receiving unit without using special hardware, and prevent any interference with each control. Control can be performed smoothly and reliably without causing problems.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the system configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the system configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a control operation by a microcomputer of an external control device in the system of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a control operation by a microcomputer of an external control device in the system of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of control operations by the camera microcomputer in the system of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a system configuration diagram in one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a system configuration diagram in one embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Camera 1a Photographing lens optical system 1b Finder 2 Film photography adapter device 2c Camera holder 2d Film viewing opening 2e Adapter side release switch 3 AC adapter 4 Monitor display 5 Control coupler 6 Batteria tatchment F Film

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An electronic device that can be controlled based on a control signal transmitted from a connected peripheral device, the electronic device receiving and decoding control information transmitted from the peripheral device. A control device for an electronic device, comprising: a control device; and a device for outputting stop information for stopping the operation of a system of the peripheral device when there is no control information from the peripheral device for a predetermined period of time or more. 2. A camera device to which an external control device can be connected, wherein the camera device includes a first camera device that controls the operation of each part based on a control signal supplied from the external control device.
and a second control means for turning off the power of the system of the external control device when a control signal from the external connection device is not received for a predetermined period of time or more. . 3. A control device for an electronic device that is connected to an electronic device and controls the electronic device according to an operation of the electronic device, the control device comprising: a means for continuing to transmit a control signal related to an operating state until the control signal is received by the electronic device; , when the operating state changes before the control signal is received by the electronic equipment, means for transmitting a control signal based on the changed operating state to the electronic equipment. control device.