JPH057813Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Field of Application] The present invention relates to an iris lock device for cameras, particularly auto-iris type cameras such as video cameras and cine cameras.

[Summary of the idea]

The present invention provides a video camera, a cine camera, etc. that employs an auto-iris type lens mechanism, and is equipped with an iris lock member, which locks the iris by pressing and sliding an operating member that operates the iris locking member. This iris lock device has a locking mechanism that locks the iris in the moving state, and can maintain the iris lock state for a long time by locking the operating member in the pressing and sliding state.

[Conventional technology]

When shooting an open-field landscape with an auto-iris video camera, a portion of the screen is filled with sky, and the automatic aperture of the lens is controlled using this bright sky as a reference, darkening subjects such as people and crushing details. It will end up being put away.

To solve this problem, some cameras first close up a subject such as a person, set the appropriate aperture value, lock the iris in this state, and then zoom back so that the image can be photographed regardless of the brightness of the background.

The iris lock device installed in this conventional video camera locks the iris by pressing a lock member against the iris mechanism, and the iris is locked only while the iris lock button that operates this lock member is pressed. be.

Furthermore, some photographic cameras maintain the iris locked state for a long time by pulling up or pushing down the iris locking button.

[Problem that the invention attempts to solve]

This conventional video camera iris lock device has a structure in which the iris is locked only while the iris lock button is pressed, so it has the disadvantage of causing problems if it is necessary to maintain the locked state for a long time. The camera's iris lock device can maintain a locked state, but the mechanical click noise is loud when locking and unlocking, and when this iris lock device is applied to a video camera, the mechanical click sound is recorded by the built-in microphone. There is.

In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide an iris locking device for a video camera or the like, which can maintain the iris locked state for a long time and also allows locking and unlocking operations to be performed in a silent state.

[Means for solving problems]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, this invention
A video camera or the like employing an auto-iris type lens includes an iris lock member that locks by coming into contact with an iris operation ring of an iris mechanism, and an operation member that locks the iris lock member by pressing and sliding the iris lock member. The operating member is configured to be locked in a pressed and sliding state by a locking mechanism provided therein, and to hold the iris lock member in a locked state.

[Effect]

With the above-described configuration, when the operating member is pressed and slid, the iris locking member comes into contact with the iris operating ring to lock the iris, and by sliding and locking the operating member in this state, the iris lock state can be maintained for a long time. This allows photography to be performed with the iris in an unchanged state.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In the figure, 1 is an auto-iris mechanism built into the main lens barrel 2, which includes a plurality of iris blades 3, an iris operating ring 4 that opens and closes the aperture, and an iris operating ring 4 that operates according to the video signal output of the camera.
The iris blades 3 and the iris operating ring 4 are supported within a support frame 2a formed on the inner circumference of the main lens barrel 2 with a required gap therebetween. The auto iris mechanism 1 is configured to be arbitrarily locked by an iris lock device 6 and to be held locked.

The iris lock device 6 is composed of a locking member 7a and an operating member 7b, and will be explained in detail below.

The locking member 7a is slidably inserted in the axial direction of the lens barrel into a through hole 9 bored in the flange portion 8a of the intermediate lens barrel 8 connected to the main lens barrel 2, and its tip faces the iris operating ring 4. It consists of a lock shaft 10. This lock shaft 10 is always elastically biased forward, that is, in the direction of the iris operating ring.
1 and the flange portion 8a of the intermediate lens barrel 8, a compression coil spring as a lock spring 12 is inserted, and a cap 13 made of a material with elasticity and a large coefficient of friction, such as rubber, is fitted at the tip. It is worn.

An operating member 7b is disposed on the rear side of the lock member 7a constructed as described above, and this operating member 7b is constructed as follows.

That is, a lock lever 14 is disposed corresponding to the rear end of the lock shaft 10, and its intermediate portion is supported by a lock lever shaft 15 toward the camera body so as to be rotatable in the front-rear direction.
A bifurcated engaging portion 14a that diametrically holds the rear end of the lock shaft 10 is formed at one end of the lock shaft 10, and an abutting portion 14b is formed at the other end in an upwardly extending manner. This lock lever 14 is configured by inserting the rear end of the lock shaft 10 into the bifurcated engaging portion 14a and fitting the E-ring washer 16 to the protruding rear end of the lock lever 14, thereby locking the lock shaft 10 in the rearward rotation.
The lock lever 14 has a return spring 17 on the lock lever shaft 15 which has a larger elastic force than the lock spring 12 described above.
By winding a torsion spring and engaging its one end 17a with the lock lever side and the other end 17b with a protrusion 18 formed on the camera body side, the camera body is always rotated backwards and locked. The shaft 10 is slidably biased rearward against the biasing force of the lock spring 12 to separate its tip from the iris operating ring 4.

An iris lock plate 19 is disposed in correspondence with the contact portion 14b of the lock lever 14.
A contact edge 19a that contacts the contact portion 14b of the lock lever is formed on one side of the lock plate 19, i.e., on the inner side, and a lock button 20 is integrally provided on the other side, i.e., on the outer side. The lock plate 19 is reciprocally slidable in a direction perpendicular to the lock shaft 10, and has long hole portions (hereinafter referred to as orthogonal long hole portions) 21a, 22a in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction and long hole portions (hereinafter referred to as axial long hole portions) 21b, 22c in the same direction as the axial direction so that the lock plate 19 can reciprocally slide in the axial direction of the lock shaft 10 in one sliding state, for example, in a forward sliding state.
Two L-shaped guide holes 21, 22 consisting of a lens barrel cover 22b are spaced apart from each other and are engaged with engagement pins 23, 24 respectively projecting from the camera body, for example, from a lens barrel cover which will be described later.

By setting the positions of the engagement pins 23 and 24 so that the axial distance X and the distance Y in the direction perpendicular to the axial direction are set to be equal, the lock plate 19 can slide smoothly in each direction without rocking. It will be held in

The locking member 7a and the operating member 7b configured as described above are built into the lens barrel cover 32 of a camera, in this example, a camera-integrated video tape recorder (hereinafter referred to as the video camera body) 31 as shown in FIG. Lock button 20 of iris lock plate 19
protrudes from a window hole 33 formed in the upper side surface of the lens barrel cover 32 and long in the front-rear direction. In FIG. 2, 34 is a lens mechanism, 35 is an electronic viewfinder, and 36 is a battery storage section.

Next, the operation of the iris lock device constructed as described above will be explained.

First, when the iris lock device 6 is in a non-operating state, the lock lever 14 is rotationally biased backward by the biasing force of the return spring 17, as shown in FIG. Due to the engagement of the E-ring washer 16 with the lock spring 12, which has a smaller biasing force than the return spring 17, it is slid backward, and the tip is separated from the iris operation ring 4 of the auto iris mechanism 1, and the iris mechanism 1 is in the auto state. The iris blades 3 are automatically adjusted via the operating ring 4 by the drive of the iris drive motor 5, and the aperture of the lens is set to a required value.

In this state, the abutting portion 14b of the lock lever 14 is in contact with the inner abutting edge 19a of the iris lock plate 19 in a rotationally biased state, so that the iris lock plate 19 is slid outward and the engagement pin 2
3 and 24, one end of the L-shaped guide holes 21 and 22, that is, the end of the orthogonal long hole portions 21a and 22a, is engaged with the lock button 20, as shown in FIG. It is in a state where it protrudes for a long time from the window hole 33 of the cover 32.

In this way, in the auto state of the iris mechanism 1, when the lock button 20 is pushed into the window hole 33, the iris lock plate 19 locks the orthogonal elongated holes 21a, 22a of the guide holes 21, 22 into the engaging pins 23, 24.
, the lock lever 14 slides inward in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction, and the contact edge 19a on the inner side pushes against the contact portion 14b of the lock lever 14, so that the lock lever 14 The lock lever is rotated forward about the lever shaft 15 against the biasing force of the return spring 17. In this way, the iris lock plate 19 is located at the innermost side, that is, between the orthogonal elongated hole portions 21a and 22a of the guide holes 21 and 22 and the axial elongated hole portion 21.
When the connecting corners of b and 22b slide until they are engaged with the engagement pins 23 and 24, the lock lever 14 is rotated to the maximum and the engagement of the engagement portion 14a with the lock shaft 10 is released and the lock is locked. The shaft 10 is
It is slid forward by the biasing force of the lock spring 12, and its tip hits the iris operating ring 4 via the cap 13, and is further pressed to push the iris blade 3 against the inner surface of the support frame 2a of the main lens barrel 2. I will attach it. Therefore, the iris operating ring 4 cannot be rotated, and the iris blade 3 is locked in this position (see FIG. 3B). At this time, since the cap 13 with a large friction coefficient is brought into contact with the iris operating ring 4, its rotation is almost completely blocked, and the iris can be reliably locked.
If the inner surface of the lens is also formed into a friction surface, the iris lock will be more reliable.

In this state, the iris is only temporarily locked, and when you release the lock button 20, that is, release the push, the iris lock plate 19 becomes able to slide outward in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction, and the lock lever is released. 14 is rotated rearward again by the bias of the return spring 17, which causes the lock shaft 10 to slide rearward, the iris blade 3 is unlocked, and the iris mechanism 1 returns to the automatic state.

However, when the iris blade 3 is locked, that is, the iris lock plate 19 is slid inward by pushing in the lock button 20, and the lock lever 14 is rotated, the iris lock plate 19 is moved backward while the lock button 20 is pushed in. When the iris lock plate 19 is pressed, the guide holes 21 and 22 engage the engagement pins 23 and 2.
4, the long hole portions 21a, 22a and 21b, 22
The axially elongated holes 21b and 22b move along the axially elongated holes 21b and 22b from the state where they are engaged at the connecting corner portion b, thereby sliding rearward. At this time, the iris lock plate 19 has an inner contact edge 19a that locks the lock lever 1.
Since the lock lever 11 slides while being in sliding contact with the contact portion 14b of 4, the lock lever 11 remains in the forward rotation state.
The lock shaft 10 is held in a pressed state against the iris operating ring 4.

When the iris lock plate 19 is slid to the rearmost position in this manner, as shown in FIG.
The ends of 22b are engaged with the engagement pins 23 and 24,
Therefore, even if the iris lock plate 19 releases the lock button 20 and the pressure is released, it cannot slide in the direction perpendicular to the axial direction, and the lock lever 14 remains rotated forward. The lock shaft 10 connects the iris mechanism 1 to the locking state, and the iris can be locked for a long time.

As described above, in this example, the auto iris mechanism 1 locks the iris lock plate 19 with the lock button 2.
It is locked by pressing 0 and sliding inward, and returning to the auto state by releasing the lock button 20. That is, the auto iris mechanism 1 is temporarily locked. Further, by pushing in the lock button 20 and then pushing it backward, the iris lock plate 19 is slid from the inside to the rear in an L-shape, and the auto iris mechanism 1 is held locked and the iris is locked for a long time.

In the embodiment described above, the auto iris mechanism 1 is held locked by sliding the iris lock plate 19 in an L-shape. First, the iris lock plate 19 is slid inward, and then, It may be configured to rotate and maintain the inward sliding state. In this case, one of the guide holes that engages with the engagement pins 23 and 24 of the iris lock plate 19 has an elongated hole in the direction perpendicular to the axial direction, and the other has an elongated hole parallel to the one elongated hole and this elongated hole. The hole is formed as a substantially L-shaped hole having an arcuate long hole portion extending in the axial direction from the outer end of the hole.

In addition to this, there is also an iris lock plate 19.
Any configuration may be used as long as it performs a two-step operation, that is, a pre-stage operation for rotating the lock lever 14 and a post-stage operation for holding the pre-stage operation. Also, a return spring 17 for rotationally biasing the lock lever 14
Not limited to torsion springs,
A tension coil spring can be used.

[Effect of idea]

As described above, according to the present invention, in a video camera etc. that employs an auto-iris type lens, the auto-iris mechanism is equipped with an iris lock member,
The operating member for operating this locking member is configured to slide in two stages, and the first stage sliding action locks the auto iris mechanism via the lock member only during this action, and the second stage sliding action locks the auto iris mechanism via the lock member. is configured to maintain the first stage operating state and connect the locked state of the auto iris mechanism.The auto iris mechanism can be locked temporarily as desired and can be left in the locked state for a long time, allowing various image quality settings. Since the iris locking operation is performed by the sliding movement of the operating member, it does not generate a large mechanical click sound and produces an extremely small scratching sound, which is recorded as noise by the camera's built-in microphone. This makes it possible to perform good simultaneous recording and photography without the risk of being damaged, and the effect is particularly great when applied to a camera-integrated videotape recorder.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an example of an iris lock device used in a video camera or the like according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a partially omitted perspective view of a camera-integrated video tape recorder using the iris lock device according to the present invention, and FIG. The figure is a schematic plan view illustrating the operation of the iris lock device according to the present invention. In the figure, 1 is an auto-iris mechanism, 3 is an iris blade, 4 is an iris operation ring, 7a is a lock member, 7b is an operating member, 10 is a lock shaft, 12 is a lock spring, 14 is a lock lever, 17 is a return spring, and 19 is a In the iris lock plate, 20 is a lock button, 21 and 22 are guide holes, and 23 and 24 are engagement pins.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] A video camera or the like that employs an auto-iris type lens mechanism is provided with an iris locking member, the iris locking member locks the iris by pressing and sliding an operating member that operates the iris, and the above-mentioned operating member is used in a video camera, etc., characterized in that it has a locking mechanism that locks in a pressed and sliding state, and the iris lock state can be maintained by locking the operating member in a pressed and slidable state. Iris lock device.