JPH06347886A - Multi-functional camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the degree of freedom of design by utilizing the camera with a radio function for various kinds of uses by means of a radio apparatus. CONSTITUTION:When a power supply switch 22 for a radio apparatus attached to the camera is turned on, a relay contact 27 is turned on and connected with power source 28 for the radio apparatus and moreover, when a battery 11 for the camera is degraded, a battery for the radio apparatus 21 having large capacitance can be substituted in such a manner that changeover switches 24, 25 and 26 are simultaneously, turned on. When the radio apparatus is separated from the camera, the remote control of the camera is attained. On the other hand, in a state where the power source 28 for the radio apparatus is connected, contact with the outside can be made through a microphone and when the microphone does not sound for a certain time or more, the power source for the radio apparatus 28 is automatically turned off.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a multifunctional camera having a radio camera built in a photographic camera.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a multifunction camera having a wireless function as an accessory to a photographic camera has been known. The camera equipped with a wireless device as the accessory has a function to control the shutter of the camera, so it can be operated remotely and is convenient for photographing animals such as birds. The role of the function is only transmission of shutter ON / OFF signals.

[0003]

By the way, it is attached to the conventional camera as a function satisfying the tendency of young people in the modern age, "I like being alone, but I hate being alone". There has been a demand for a wireless device that can communicate with the outside in addition to the purpose of remote control.

The present invention has been made in view of the functions used in the prior art described above, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a camera having multiple functions by allowing the radio to have various functions.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the multifunctional camera of the present invention has a radio unit coupled to the camera body, controls power supply to the radio unit, and selects an operating state. A selection switch is provided and operation is controlled by operating the selection switch. In addition, the selection switch is in a first state in which power is supplied to the camera,
It is possible to select a second state in which the power is supplied to the wireless device and a third state in which the power is supplied to both the camera and the wireless device. Further, it is preferable to have a circuit that automatically turns off when a certain amount of sound is not input to the microphone attached to the wireless device for a certain time in the second state of the selection switch.

The radio may be separable from the camera, and the camera may be remotely controlled by a microphone and keyboard input signal. Further, a signal from the camera control CPU is used as an input signal of the wireless device, and an output signal of the wireless device is received,
The actuator in the camera may be driven by the signal.

[0007]

With the multi-function camera having the above-described structure, the radio is activated by operating the selection switch, and when the power for the camera is consumed, the power for the radio is switched to the power for the camera. When using a wireless device for communication, the power can be automatically turned off to prevent forgetting to attach it when the voice does not enter the microphone for a predetermined time or longer. In addition, the wireless device is not only used as a camera that can communicate with the outside, but when it is used as a camera, the camera and the wireless device are separated, and the microphone input is used as an input signal of the wireless device. The camera can be operated remotely by skipping. When the camera and the wireless device are integrated, an operation command from a CPU inside the camera can be used as an input signal of the wireless device, and an actuator inside the camera can be driven by an output signal of the wireless device.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.
It will be described based on. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a multifunctional camera, FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a power supply circuit thereof, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an electric circuit on the radio side. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 is a camera unit, and 2 is a wireless device unit, which is attachable to and detachable from the camera unit 1. The camera unit 1 is provided with a shutter button 3, a photographing lens 4, an electronic flash unit 5 and the like, and the radio unit 2 is provided with an external antenna 6, a microphone / speaker 7 and the like.

Next, in FIG. 2, 11 is a camera battery,
12 is a camera power switch, 13 is a camera power DC
In the / DC converter, 14 is a backflow prevention diode connected to the output end of the digital power supply, 15 is a backflow prevention diode connected to the output end of the analog power supply, 16 is a backflow prevention connected to the output end of the power supply Reference numeral 17 denotes a power source for the camera, which includes a digital power source 18, an analog power source 19, and a power power source 20.

Reference numeral 21 is a battery for radio equipment, 22 is a power switch for radio equipment, 23 is a DC / DC converter for radio equipment, 2
Reference numerals 4, 25, and 26 are changeover switches. When the switch 24 is turned on while the wireless device power switch 22 is turned on, the digital power supply 18 on the camera side can be supplied, and when the switch 25 is turned on, the analog power supply 19 is also supplied. Similarly, when the switch 26 is turned on, the power system power source 20 can also be used. Further, the changeover switches 24, 25, and 26 are triple switches, and when the camera battery is deteriorated and the camera battery is deteriorated, the wireless device battery 21 having a large capacity can be substituted. The first that turned on this triple switch
In this state, the wireless device battery 21 is used as the power source for the camera.

Reference numeral 27 is a contact of a contact or non-contact relay, which is connected when the power switch 22 for the wireless device is turned on,
In this state, that is, the power supply 28 for the wireless device is supplied, but the microphone input is cut off if it is not input for a predetermined time for a predetermined size, thereby preventing wasteful use of the battery due to forgetting to turn off the switch. In addition, the wireless device power switch 22 is turned on, and the triple switches 24, 25, 26 are turned on.
In this state, the wireless device battery 21 is used as the power source for both the camera and the wireless device.

Next, FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a circuit for disconnecting the contact 27 and turning off the power supply 28 for the wireless device when the microphone input is not applied for a predetermined time or more for a predetermined size. A sensor circuit that generates a pulse when the machine power switch 22 is turned on, 30 is an inverter, 3
Reference numeral 1 is a flip-flop, 32 is a driver, 33 is a contactless or contactless relay, and as can be seen from the figure, when the wireless device power switch 22 is turned on, the relay 33 is turned on to connect the wireless device power supply 28. . A circuit including an amplifier 35 and a comparator 36 is connected to the microphone 7 attached to the radio unit 2 in order to determine whether the voice from the microphone 7 has a predetermined volume, and outputs a pulse when the level is equal to or higher than a predetermined level. . A one-shot oscillator 37 generates a predetermined pulse width by pulse input. Since the flip-flop 31 is not reset while this pulse is being output, the relay 33 continues to be in the ON state and the power supply 28
However, if the voice from the microphone 7 does not fall within this pulse width (timer), the flip-flop 3
1 is reset and the radio power is turned off.

FIG. 4 shows a block diagram for operating the multi-function camera of this embodiment. In the figure, 41 is an AE sensor, 42 is an input section for various information such as a shooting mode, and 43 is an AF.
Reference numeral 44 denotes a sensor, which is a CPU based on input signals from the AE sensor 41, various information input units 42, and AF sensor 43, serial data communication, sequence control, A / D conversion, switch input processing, AE / AF calculation, photometry. Performs arithmetic processing and the like. Reference numeral 45 is a power interface IC including a drive circuit for an actuator, to which a control signal from the CPU 44 is input, and an AF lens drive motor 46, a winding and rewinding motor 47, a zoom motor 48, a shutter front film control magnet 49, and a shutter rear film control. The magnets 50 are controlled to operate.

In addition to the antenna 6 and the microphone 7 used for wireless communication with the outside, the radio unit 2 has
The wireless unit 2 is separated from the camera unit 1 and has a keyboard 8 as an input device of an operation signal when operating the camera remotely and a switching operation unit 9 including the changeover switches 24, 25 and 26 shown in FIG. There is.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the operation of the multifunctional camera according to the second embodiment of the present invention. For simplification of description, the same parts as those in the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals, and only different points will be described. In this embodiment, the wireless function of the wireless communication unit 2 is expanded and used for signal transmission to the internal mechanism of the camera. In the figure, reference numeral 51 denotes an antenna for internal communication on the camera side, in which a signal from the CPU 44 is used as an output signal of the wireless device section 2 and the output of the wireless device is supplied to the inside of the camera. Reference numeral 52 denotes a receiving antenna that receives a signal from the wireless communication unit 2. Then, the signal received by the antenna 52 is reproduced and demodulated circuit 53, amplifier 54, filter 5
Decoding is performed by the decoder 56 via 5, and based on the decoding, the AF lens drive motor 46, the winding and rewinding motor 47, the zoom motor 48, the shutter front film control magnet 49, the shutter rear film control magnet 50, etc. are powered. The interface IC 45 controls the drive.

Depending on the positional relationship of the actuators, the receiving antenna 51, the reproduction / demodulation circuit 53, and the amplifier 5
4, the filter 55, the decoder 56, and the power interface IC 45 may be provided for each actuator.

[0017]

As described above, the present invention has a selection switch for connecting a wireless device to the camera body, controlling power supply to the wireless device, and selecting an operating state, as described above. The first state where power is only supplied to the camera,
By selecting the second state in which the power is only supplied to the wireless device and the third state in which the power is supplied to both the camera and the wireless device, it becomes possible to apply for various purposes and for the camera. When the battery is exhausted, it can be used by switching to the wireless battery. Further, when the microphone of the wireless device is not used in the second state, it is turned off, so that it is possible to reliably prevent forgetting to attach the microphone. Further, when the camera and the wireless device are separated, the remote device can be easily operated by the wireless device. Furthermore, when a wireless device is connected to the camera body, it is possible to transmit an operation command of the camera to an actuator inside the camera via the wireless device and drive the actuator.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a multifunctional camera according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the power supply circuit.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a circuit that controls the power supply on the radio side.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a circuit for operating the camera.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a circuit for operating a multifunctional camera according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Camera section, 2 ... Radio section, 6 ... External antenna, 7 ... Mic and speaker, 8 ... Keyboard, 9 ...
・ Switching operation unit, 11 ・ ・ Camera battery, 12 ・ ・ Camera power switch, 13 ・ ・ DC / DC converter,
17 ... Power supply for camera, 18 ... Digital power supply, 1
9-Analog power supply, 20-Power power supply, 21-
・ Radio power supply, 22 ... Radio switch, 23 ...
DC / DC converter, 24, 25, 26 ... Changeover switch, 27 ... Relay contact, 28 ... Radio power supply, 41 ... AE sensor, 42 ... Various information input, 43
..AF sensor, 44..CPU, 45..Power interface IC, 46..AF lens drive motor, 4
7 ... Winding and rewinding motor, 48 ... Zoom motor, 49 ... Shutter front film control magnet, 50 ... Shutter rear film control magnet, 51 ... Antenna, 52 ...
・ Reception antenna, 53 ・ ・ Reproduction and demodulation circuit, 54 ・ ・ Amplifier, 55 ・ ・ Filter, 56 ・ ・ Decoder.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A radio unit is connected to a camera body, and a selection switch for controlling power supply to the radio unit and for selecting an operation state is provided, and operation is controlled by operating the selection switch. Multi-function camera. 2. The selection switch has a first state in which power is supplied to the camera, a second state in which power is supplied to the wireless device, and the power is supplied to both the camera and the wireless device. 3. The third state is selected to be set.
Multi-function camera described. 3. A circuit for automatically turning off when a certain amount of voice is not input to the microphone attached to the radio for a certain time in the second state of the selection switch. The multifunctional camera according to claim 2. 4. The multi-function camera according to claim 1, wherein the wireless device is separable from the camera, and the camera can be remotely controlled by a microphone and keyboard input signal. 5. A signal from a camera control CPU is used as an input signal of the wireless device, an output signal of the wireless device is received, and an actuator in the camera is driven by the signal. Multifunction camera.