JPH0458696A - Transmitter for optical remote controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make the transmitter available to be operated at a short distance even after a battery is worn by providing a voltage detection means for a main capacitor, a notice means and a notice control means so as to prevent a fault in the transmission around a maximum transmission available distance. CONSTITUTION:The above transmitter is provided with a booster means 102 boosting a power voltage to store an illuminance energy into a main capacitor 101 and a transmission control means 104 lighting a flash discharge tube 103 with the illuminance energy stored in the main capacitor 101 and outputting a optical transmission signal in response to the transmission operation and the outputted optical transmission signal activates a device to be driven. When a voltage of the main capacitor reaches a prescribed voltage within a prescribed time from the start of boosting by the booster means 102, that is, the battery capacity is enough, a notice means 106 makes 1st notice and the optical transmission signal is immediately outputted. When the voltage of the main capacitor does not reach the prescribed voltage, a 2nd notice is implemented and the optical transmission signal is outputted after lapse of a prescribed time.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION A. Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a transmitter for an optical remote control device that outputs an optical transmission signal for remote control using flash light emission from a xenon discharge tube or the like.

B. Conventional technology Optical remote control devices include a transmitter that can transmit multiple types of optical transmission signals by modulating the flash light emission of a xenon discharge tube, and a transmitter that can transmit multiple types of optical transmission signals, and a device that receives the transmitted optical transmission signals and transmits them to a camera, etc. and a receiver for actuating the driven device. That is, the transmitter includes a booster circuit that boosts the power supply voltage and stores light emission energy for flash light emission in the main capacitor, and a light emission control circuit that modulates the xenon discharge tube to emit light using the light emission energy stored in the main capacitor. ing.

Similar devices are known, such as remote control devices for televisions and videos, that use infrared LEDs as light emitting elements for transmission. Since it can receive a power supply, stable transmission is possible at any time, but because it cannot extract large amounts of energy instantaneously, its use is limited to relatively short-distance communication such as within a typical home. On the other hand, as mentioned above, transmitters that modulate the flash of a flash discharge tube (for example, called Lumicon) emit the energy stored in the main capacitor as instantaneous modulated light, so they transmit with strong energy. , and long-distance communication is possible.

The modulation of flash light emission referred to here refers to pulse modulation. For example, as shown in Figure 4, several flashes are emitted at intervals of several milliseconds (111, Q
2. (13) and transmits information according to the time interval. With one light emission, the light emission energy of the main capacitor decreases as shown in the figure, and its voltage drops. Further comparing the individual light emission waveforms in FIG. 5 shows that the light intensity changes depending on the voltage of the main capacitor, and as the voltage decreases, the light intensity also decreases. This is the same phenomenon as with a shooting flash, where there is a difference between the guide number immediately after the ready light is turned on and the guide number after the flash is fully charged.

C6 Problems to be Solved by the Invention Generally, an optical remote control device that emits flash light as described above lights up a neon tube or LED (hereinafter referred to as ready light) when the voltage of the main capacitor exceeds a predetermined voltage. It shows that it can be sent.

However, if the distance from the transmitter to the receiver (camera body) is close to the maximum receivable distance, communication will be successful if the main capacitor is fully charged, but even if the ready light is on, the main capacitor is still When the voltage of the battery is lower than the fully charged state, there is a risk of communication failure. This is because, as mentioned above, there are differences in light intensity depending on the charging status of the main capacitor.

To be more specific, let's say that the driven device is a camera, and the camera starts to release the shirt upon receiving the first optical transmission signal, and then releases the shirt until it receives the second transmission signal. It is assumed that a continuous release (continuous shooting) mode in which shirt release is performed continuously can be set.

In this case, because the time interval between the first signal transmission (shooting start) and the second signal transmission (shooting stop) is relatively short, even if the first communication is successful, the second signal transmission is Communication may fail if the battery is not charged in time.

In such a case, even if continuous shooting has started, it is impossible to stop it, and a very serious problem arises in that the film is used up unnecessarily.

Therefore, if the voltage of the main capacitor is lower than a predetermined voltage (voltage close to full charge), transmission is prohibited, and when the voltage reaches the predetermined voltage, the ready light is turned on and transmission is allowed, and the maximum transmission distance can be reached. However, it is possible to ensure successful communication.

If one transmission is performed, it is necessary to wait until the voltage of the main capacitor reaches a predetermined voltage, which again poses a problem when stopping the continuous photographing described above. Furthermore, if the battery is exhausted and the main capacitor cannot be charged to a predetermined voltage, it becomes unusable even though it can be used at short distances.

An object of the present invention is to provide a transmitter for an optical remote control device that prevents transmission failures near the maximum transmittable distance as described above, and that can be used at short distances even after the battery is exhausted. be.

00 Means for Solving the Problems To explain with reference to FIG. 1, which is a diagram corresponding to the claims, the present invention includes a boosting means 102 that boosts the power supply voltage and stores luminous energy in the main capacitor 101, Transmission control means 104 for causing a flash discharge tube 103 to emit light using luminous energy stored in a main capacitor 101 to output an optical transmission signal, and for operating a driven device by the output optical transmission signal. Applies to machines. A detection means 105 detects whether the light emission energy of the main capacitor 101 is equal to or higher than a predetermined voltage, and a notification means 106 performs a first notification and a second notification in a manner different from the first notification. If the voltage of the main capacitor reaches a predetermined voltage within a predetermined time from the start of the step-up operation by the means 102, a first notification is made, and the main capacitor 10 reaches the predetermined voltage within a predetermined time.
Notification control means 107 that controls notification means 106 to perform a second notification when the first voltage does not reach a predetermined voltage.
The above problem is solved by configuring the transmission control means 104 as follows.

That is, the transmission control means 104 immediately allows the output of the optical transmission signal when the voltage of the main capacitor reaches a predetermined voltage within a predetermined time, and when the predetermined voltage does not reach the predetermined voltage within a predetermined time, the transmission control means 104 allows the output of the optical transmission signal immediately after the predetermined time has elapsed. Afterwards, the output of the optical transmission signal is allowed.

80 action When the voltage of the main capacitor reaches a predetermined voltage within a predetermined time from the start of the boosting operation by the boosting means 102, that is, when the battery capacity is sufficient, the notifying means 106 issues a first notification. , the output of the optical transmission signal is immediately permitted.

Furthermore, if the voltage of the main capacitor 101 does not reach the predetermined voltage within a predetermined time, that is, if the battery capacity is insufficient, a second notification is performed, and the output of the optical transmission signal is allowed after the predetermined time has elapsed. Ru.

F. Embodiment An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a transmitter of an optical remote control device for controlling a camera will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the control system of the transmitter of the optical remote control device according to the present invention. A control circuit (consisting of a microcomputer, etc.) 2 supplied with power by a power supply battery 1 includes a booster circuit 3, a main capacitor 4, and a light emission control circuit 5.
and voltage detection circuit 6 are connected, as well as a switch SWI and a display light emitting diode (hereinafter referred to as ready light LED) 7, and a xenon discharge tube Xe is connected to light emission control circuit 5.

The switch SW1 is turned on in conjunction with the operation of a transmission button (not shown) (transmission operation), and as the switch SW1 is turned on, the control circuit 2 outputs a predetermined transmission code to the TO terminal.

According to the transmission code output to the TG terminal, the light emission control circuit 5 modulates the xenon discharge tube Xe to emit light and transmits an optical transmission signal for remote control. This optical transmission signal is received by a receiver (not shown) attached to the camera body.

In the booster circuit 3, the OUT terminal of the control circuit 2 is active (
When the main capacitor 4 is asserted, the main capacitor 4 is charged by boosting the voltage using the battery 1 as a power source.

That is, the main capacitor 4 stores the light emission energy for light emission. Further, when the OUT terminal is inactive (negate), no boosting operation is performed.

The voltage detection circuit 6 detects that the output voltage V of the booster circuit 3 is a predetermined voltage v.
1, that is, when it is detected that the voltage is sufficient for the xenon discharge tube Xe to emit light, an active (assert) signal is input to the IN terminal of the control circuit 2.

Next, the control procedure by the control circuit 2 will be explained with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. Here, it is assumed that the control circuit 2 has a built-in timer (not shown).

When the battery 1 is loaded into the transmitter in step #100, this program is started, and the control circuit 2 first starts in step #1.
This initial setting is a process for setting the initial state of the optical remote control device, and at this time,
A blinking flag F, which will be described later, is set to OFF. Step #
At step 1o2, the output terminal to the ready-light LED 7 is made inactive to turn off the LED 7, and then, at step #103, the OUT terminal is made active to cause the booster circuit 3 to start the boosting operation. This allows the main capacitor 4
charging starts.

In step #104, the built-in timer is reset to start measuring time, and in step #105, the output of the voltage detection circuit 6, that is, the state of the IN terminal, is determined whether the voltage of the main capacitor 4 has reached the predetermined voltage v1. Judge from. If the IN terminal is active, it is determined that the light emission energy has reached the predetermined voltage v1, and the process proceeds to step #110. If the IN terminal is inactive, it is determined that the predetermined voltage v1 has not been reached, and the process proceeds to step #106. move on.

In reality, it takes some time for the voltage of the main capacitor 4 to reach the predetermined voltage 71 or higher after boosting is started in step #103, so immediately after moving from step #104 to step #105, step #106 often proceed to

In step #106, read the time measured by the timer,
It is determined whether a predetermined time Tl (for example, 1 second) has elapsed since the start of pressure increase. When step #106 is confirmed, the process proceeds to step tt107, and when it is denied, step #1o5
Return to Here, if the capacity of battery 1 is sufficient, charging completion is determined in step #105 before the timer counts the predetermined time, and in this case, step #1
Proceed to step 10.

In step #110, since it has already been determined that charging of the main capacitor 4 has been completed, the OUT terminal is immediately made inactive to stop boosting.

Next, in step #111, the flashing flag F is turned off, and the process proceeds to step #113, where the ready light LED 7 is turned on. This lets the user know that preparations for transmission are complete.

In step #114, the state of the transmission switch SWI is read, and as a result, if it is determined that transmission is necessary in step #115, the process proceeds to step #116, where:
Step #115 is affirmed if, for example, the transmission switch SWI is operated (on). In step #116, transmission processing is performed. That is, by causing the xenon discharge tube Xs to emit light a predetermined number of times at predetermined intervals via the light emission control circuit 5 (for example, as shown in FIG. 4), an optical transmission signal is transmitted. This optical transmission signal is received by a receiver attached to the camera body, and the receiver causes the camera body to perform a predetermined operation (for example, shirt release).

Since the main capacitor 4 is discharged by the transmission of the optical transmission signal, the process returns to step #102 and the above-described series of operations is repeated.

Also, if it is determined not to send in step #115 (
For example, if the transmission switch SWI is off), the process advances to step #108.

In step #108, if the booster circuit 3 has already stopped operating and the voltage of the main capacitor 4 has slightly decreased due to leakage, etc., a signal is sent from the voltage detection circuit 6 to the IN terminal of the control circuit 2. Since is inactive, the process proceeds from step #108 to step #109. In #109, the blinking flag F is checked, and if the blinking flag F is off, the process moves to #113 again, and the process is repeated thereafter.

Next, a description will be given of control when the voltage of the main capacitor 4 does not reach the predetermined voltage v1 until the time measured by the timer reaches the predetermined time T1.

If the capacity of the power supply battery 1 is low, it is determined in step #106 that the predetermined time T1 has elapsed before the voltage reaches the predetermined voltage v1, and in this case, step #10 is performed.
In step 7, the flashing flag F is turned on and the process proceeds to step #108. At this time, if it is determined in step #108 that the IN terminal of the control circuit 2 is inactive, the process proceeds to step #109. In step #109, the blinking flag F is checked, and if it is on, the process moves on to blinking the ready light LED 7 in step #112.

In this blinking process, for example, a timer (
If a certain bit (the above-mentioned timer) is 1, the ready light LED 7 is turned on, and if it is 0, it is turned off. Therefore, by repeatedly executing step #112, the certain bit of the timer is controlled. The ready light LED 7 will blink at the same frequency.

After step #112, the process advances to step #114.

According to the above embodiment, if the battery 1 is new and has a sufficiently large capacity, the voltage of the main capacitor 4 reaches the predetermined voltage v1 within the predetermined time T1 from the start of the boost operation by the booster circuit 3, so the battery is ready. Light LED 7 lights up (
At the same time as the first notification), the output of the optical transmission signal is allowed as the switch SWI is turned on. Here, the camera of this embodiment can be set to a continuous release (continuous shooting) mode, and starts the shirt release upon reception of the first optical transmission signal, and then shoots with the second transmission signal. shall be suspended.

In this case, the time interval between the first signal transmission and the second signal transmission is relatively short, but since the capacity of battery 1 is sufficiently large as described above, the The emission energy becomes equal to or higher than the predetermined value again. Therefore, even if the distance to the camera body is close to the maximum transmittable distance, the second communication, that is, stopping continuous shooting will not fail.

The photographer can know this by lighting the LED 7. That is, when the LED 7 switches from off to on without blinking.

It is safe to perform continuous shooting near the maximum transmittable distance.

On the other hand, when the capacity of the battery 1 is low, the predetermined time T
1, the voltage of the main capacitor 4 does not reach the predetermined voltage v1, so the ready light LED 7 blinks (second notification)
At the same time, the output of the optical transmission signal is allowed after the predetermined time T1 has elapsed. In this way, when the capacity of the battery 1 is low, it takes a long time for the voltage of the main capacitor 4 to reach the predetermined value again after the first transmission.
There is a possibility that the second transmission will fail. The photographer can know this fact by blinking the LED 7.

That is, when the LED 7 is switched from off to blinking, even if it is turned on afterwards, there is a risk of wasting film if continuous shooting is performed near the maximum transmittable distance.

Furthermore, since transmission is possible even when the LED 7 is blinking, the camera can be operated without failure in transmission if the distance to the camera body is short.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, even when the voltage of the main capacitor 4 does not reach the predetermined voltage v1 within the predetermined time T1 and the LED 7 blinks, it is switched to lighting when the predetermined voltage v1 is reached, so the lower the battery capacity, the more the LED 7 blinks. The switching from to lighting will be delayed.

Therefore, the photographer can grasp the battery capacity from this display, and can use this as a guide for battery replacement.

In the configuration of the above embodiment, the booster circuit 3 is the booster 1
02, the control circuit 2 and the light emission control circuit 5 constitute the transmission control means 104, the voltage detection circuit 6 constitutes the detection means 105, the ready light LED 7 constitutes the notification means 106, and the control circuit 2 constitutes the notification control means 107.

Note that the IN terminal is used as an interrupt terminal, and when the IN terminal is active, boosting is stopped with the highest priority.

The flashing flag F may be turned off and the ready light LED 7 may be turned on. Also, if main capacitor 4 needs to be recharged, prepare another interrupt timer.
Even after step group 110, the main capacitor 4 may be occasionally charged to maintain the voltage.

Furthermore, in the above description, the first notification is made by lighting the ready light LED 7, and the second notification is made by blinking, but the reverse may also be used. A second notification may be performed, or display means other than LEDs may be used. Furthermore, the notification means is not limited to display; for example, the first and second notifications may be made by voice, or a combination of display and voice may be used.

Moreover, although the transmitter of an optical remote control device for controlling a camera has been described above, the present invention can also be applied to a transmitter of an optical remote control device for driving other parked devices.

G0 Effects of the Invention According to the present invention, when the voltage of the main capacitor reaches a predetermined voltage within a predetermined time from the start of the boost operation, the first notification is made and the output of the optical transmission signal is immediately permitted,
If the voltage of the main capacitor does not reach a predetermined voltage within a predetermined time, a second notification is made and the output of the optical transmission signal is allowed after a predetermined time has elapsed. If the continuous transmission is definitely successful, the first notification will be made, and if there is a possibility of failure, the second notification will be made. Therefore, the photographer can avoid inconveniences such as wasting the use of film by avoiding use near the maximum transmittable distance when the second notification is made. Furthermore, since transmission is possible even when the second notification is being performed, it is possible to operate the driven device without failure in transmission when the distance is short.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a complaint correspondence diagram. 2 and 3 show one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the control system of the transmitter of the optical remote control device according to the present invention, FIG. 3 is a flowchart of the processing procedure, and FIG.
The figure is a time chart showing the emission waveform of the optical transmission signal and the displacement of the emission energy of the main capacitor, and FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the difference in light intensity during each emission. 1: Power supply battery 2: Control circuit 3: Boost circuit 4: Main capacitor 5: Light emission control circuit 6: Voltage detection circuit 7: Ready light LED 1o1: Main capacitor -02: Boost means 103:
Flash discharge tube 104: Transmission control means 105: Detection means 106: Notification means 107: Notification control means SWI: Transmission switch

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] Boosting means for boosting a power supply voltage to store luminous energy in a main capacitor; and in response to a transmission operation, causes a flash discharge tube to emit light using the luminous energy stored in the main capacitor to generate an optical transmission signal. A transmitter for an optical remote control device that operates a driven device by the outputted optical transmission signal, comprising: a detection means for detecting whether the voltage of the main capacitor is equal to or higher than a predetermined voltage; , the first notification and the second notification in a different manner from the first notification.
a notification means for giving a notification; and if the voltage of the main capacitor reaches the predetermined voltage within a predetermined time from the start of the boost operation by the booster, the first notification is made; notification control means for controlling the notification means to perform the second notification when the voltage of the main capacitor does not reach a predetermined voltage; If the voltage reaches a predetermined voltage, the output of the optical transmission signal is allowed immediately; if the voltage does not reach the predetermined voltage within the predetermined time, the output of the optical transmission signal is allowed after the predetermined time has elapsed. A transmitter for an optical remote control device.