JPH0660828U - Imaging device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] To propose an imaging device in which mechanical mechanisms such as an aperture and a shutter can be reduced in size and weight. [Structure] In the camera 1, the shutter 10 has a structure in which a substantially circular liquid crystal panel 11 is installed at a position where the light 3 passing through the center of the lens 2 can be blocked. Aperture 20
Also, a substantially circular liquid crystal panel 21 is installed at a position where the amount of light 3 passing through the center of the lens 2 can be adjusted. As described above, the shutter and the diaphragm, which are conventionally realized by using the mechanical mechanism, are realized by using the liquid crystal panel.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to a shutter and a diaphragm of a photographing device such as a camera.

[0002]

[Prior art]

 In the past, most shutters and diaphragms of photographing devices such as cameras were manually operated by mechanical mechanisms. In recent years, the focus, diaphragm, etc. are all automatically controlled by a micromotor provided inside the camera, and many shutters are also driven by the micromotor inside the camera by pressing a switch. There is. Furthermore, as the size and performance of cameras have become smaller due to the application of microcomputers, the volume occupied by mechanical mechanisms such as the aperture and shutter inside the camera has been gradually narrowed, and complex mechanisms have been created in small areas. There are a lot of things stored.

[0003]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 Further miniaturization and higher performance of imaging devices such as cameras are being considered, and it is also required that the weight is light. Furthermore, there are many issues that are demanded of the imaging device, such as high reliability and low cost. Mechanical mechanisms such as diaphragms and shutters require a certain level of strength in order to ensure high reliability, and a mechanism that fulfills complex functions is also required to capture high-quality images. It Therefore, even if the size is reduced, it is difficult to reduce the weight, the structure becomes more complicated, and it becomes an expensive camera component.

In view of the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide an image capturing apparatus in which mechanical mechanisms such as a diaphragm and a shutter can be reduced in size and weight.

[0005]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 In order to solve the above problems, in the present invention, the shutter and the diaphragm are configured by using a liquid crystal. That is, the photographing device having the shutter means according to the present invention is characterized in that the shutter means is provided with a liquid crystal part capable of controlling transparent and opaque. By controlling the voltage applied to the liquid crystal, it is possible to control the transmittance between 0 and 100%, and it can function as a shutter that controls the rays of light from the lens of the photographing device to the film. You can Therefore, by using the shutter means provided with the liquid crystal part, the shutter can be directly electrically controlled without using a conventional mechanical mechanism, and the micro motor and the mechanical mechanism can be omitted, and the size can be reduced. It is possible to realize a lightweight and highly functional imaging device.

Further, in the image pickup apparatus having the diaphragm means, it is desirable that the diaphragm means includes a liquid crystal part capable of controlling the area of the transparent region. By controlling the area of the transparent region of the liquid crystal part, the aperture area through which light is transmitted can be controlled, and the function of the diaphragm can be electrically controlled. Therefore, it is possible to omit a complicated mechanism like the shutter means, and it is possible to realize a small-sized, lightweight and highly functional photographing device.

Further, in an image pickup apparatus having a shutter means having a liquid crystal part capable of controlling transparency and opacity, the area of the transparent region of the liquid crystal part can be controlled, so that the shutter and the diaphragm can be controlled. It is possible to combine the functions of (1) and (2) in one liquid crystal unit, and it is possible to further reduce the size and weight. As a method for controlling the transparent area, a static control method in which the control area of the liquid crystal is fixed or a dynamic control method in which the liquid crystal is controlled as dots may be used.

[0008]

【Example】

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

FIG. 1 schematically shows a shutter 10 and a diaphragm 20 of a camera 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the camera 1, light 3 is made incident through the objective lens 2, a film (not shown) inside the main body 5 of the camera 1 is exposed, and an image is taken. The timing and time at which the light 3 is incident are controlled by the shutter 10 set between the objective lens 2 and the main body 5. The amount of light applied to the film is controlled by the diaphragm 20 set between the shutter 10 and the main body 5. In the camera 1 of this example as described above, a point to be noted is that the shutter 10 and the aperture 20 are configured by using the liquid crystal panels 11 and 21.

In the shutter 10, a substantially circular liquid crystal panel 11 is installed at a position where the light 3 passing through the center of the lens 2 can be blocked. The shutter control voltage applied to the liquid crystal panel 11 is supplied from the control unit 30 installed inside the main body 5. For example, when a TN mode liquid crystal panel is adopted, the transmittance becomes 100% when the shutter control voltage is low level, and the transmittance becomes 0% when the shutter control voltage is high level. Therefore, it is possible to take a picture by setting the shutter control voltage to a low level for a time commensurate with the shutter speed at a timing at which the light 3 is desired to be transmitted.

Also in the diaphragm 20, a substantially circular liquid crystal panel 21 is installed at a position where the amount of light 3 passing through the center of the lens 2 can be adjusted. The liquid crystal panel 21 has a plurality of liquid crystal parts 21.1 to 21. n are arranged concentrically, and each of the liquid crystal parts 21.1 to 21. A diaphragm control voltage can be applied to n from the control unit 30. Therefore, when the TN mode liquid crystal panel is adopted like the shutter 10, the liquid crystal units 21.1 to 21. A low-level signal is applied to the liquid crystal part 21. m + 1 to 21. By applying a high level signal to n, the transparent region can be freely controlled. Therefore, the liquid crystal parts 21.1 to 21. By changing the area of n, it is possible to control the amount of light transmitted through the diaphragm 20.

As described above, in the camera 1 of this example, the shutter and the diaphragm, which are conventionally realized by using the mechanical mechanism, are realized by using the liquid crystal panel. Therefore, the micromotor and the mechanism driven by it can be omitted, and the shutter and diaphragm mechanisms can be made very simple. Therefore, it is possible to make the camera small and lightweight. Also, since there is no mechanical drive part, there is no operating noise when the shutter is on or off, or when the aperture is adjusted, so it is extremely quiet. Therefore, even when taking pictures during a meeting, it is possible to take pictures without worrying about the shutter sound. In addition, since it has no mechanical drive parts, it is highly reliable and has a long life. Furthermore, since it is not necessary to store a complicated mechanism in a small area, the cost required to configure the shutter and diaphragm can be greatly reduced. Further, as compared with the electric power required to drive the micromotor or the like, the electric power required to drive the liquid crystal is small, so that it is possible to operate for a long time.

Further, since the liquid crystal panel can be electrically controlled and its response speed is very fast, it is possible to obtain accurate and fast shutter timing, speed, and an appropriate aperture amount, and to achieve high performance. Camera can be realized. Special shooting such as continuous shooting and fragmentation shooting can be easily handled because the shutter and diaphragm can be controlled directly from the control unit such as a microcomputer.

Further, in the shutter and the diaphragm, conventionally, an area for accommodating a blocking member for mechanically blocking light is required, and in order to use the full aperture of the lens as a transmission area, the aperture of the lens is required. A shutter and aperture of the above size were required. However, in the camera of this example that uses a liquid crystal, since it is possible to control the shielding and the transparency of the entire liquid crystal panel, it is not necessary to have a size larger than the lens aperture, and the camera can be easily miniaturized. .

In this example, the liquid crystal panel is used for each of the shutter and the diaphragm, but it is of course possible to use both the shutter and the diaphragm with one liquid crystal panel. As a method of controlling the liquid crystal panel with the diaphragm or the shutter, the liquid crystal panel may be turned on / off by a static method as described above, or may be divided into dots to be transparent by dynamic control. Of course, the timing, time and area may be controlled.

[0016]

[Effect of device]

 As described above, in the photographing apparatus according to the present invention, the shutter and the diaphragm are configured by using the liquid crystal, and the mechanical mechanism that has been conventionally used for realizing these functions is used. It is possible to realize a compact, lightweight, high-performance, inexpensive imaging device by omitting it.

Furthermore, by configuring the shutter or diaphragm using liquid crystal, these functions can be controlled only by electrical control, so that the reliability is high and the operation noise can be eliminated, and the operation can be suppressed. It is also possible to reduce power consumption. Further, complicated control of these functions can be easily performed. There is also an effect that the diameter of the lens can be effectively used.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of a camera of an embodiment according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1. ・ Camera 2 ・ ・ Objective lens 3 ・ ・ Light 5 ・ ・ Camera body 10 ・ ・ Shutter 11 ・ ・ Shutter liquid crystal panel 20 ・ ・ Aperture 21 ・ ・ Aperture liquid crystal panel 30 ・ ・ Control unit

Claims (3)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A photographing apparatus having a shutter means, wherein the shutter means is provided with a liquid crystal part capable of controlling transparency and opacity. 2. A photographing apparatus having a diaphragm means, wherein the diaphragm means is provided with a liquid crystal part capable of controlling an area of a transparent region. 3. A photographing device having a shutter means having a liquid crystal part capable of controlling transparency and opacity,
The liquid crystal unit is capable of controlling an area of a transparent region, and an imaging apparatus.