JPH07134320A - Camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a compact camera having a simple-structure dial operating member without impairing operability or function as a camera having a rotary type dial operating member for switching a photographing mode. CONSTITUTION:This camera is equipped with a lock releasing button 1 being a pressing member sharing a rotary shaft with a photographing mode switching dial 3 and capable of moving with respect to the dial, a lock pin being the lock releasing member permitting the rotation of the dial 3 and rotating with the dial 3 at the time when the button 1 is pressed, the groove parts 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d and 6e of a supporting base being a 1st groove part provided on an upper surface cover 4 and preventing the lock pin 2 from turning at the time when the button 1 is not pressed, and the slit 3a of the dial 3 being a 2nd groove part which is provided under the groove part and where the lock pin 2 is turned at the time when the button 1 is pressed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a camera, and more particularly to a camera having a rotary dial operation member for switching the camera to a desired photographing mode at the time of photographing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in single-lens reflex cameras and the like, cameras having an automatic exposure (AE) function, which automatically adjusts an aperture and a shutter speed and so on to take an image with a proper exposure, have become widespread. is doing. In a camera equipped with such an automatic exposure (AE) function, a plurality of shooting modes such as a program AE mode, an aperture priority AE mode, a shutter speed priority AE mode, and a manual mode are selected according to the shooting application. A mode in which a photographer can arbitrarily switch to a desired photographing mode at the time of taking a photograph and perform photographing is widely used. A mechanism using a rotary dial operation member has been conventionally proposed as a mechanism for arbitrarily switching these various photographing modes at the time of photographing.

For example, a shutter speed switching dial applied to a camera device disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-52539 has a lock release button at the center of rotation to set the shutter speed and each photographing mode. It is designed so that it can be performed by an operation dial on the same axis. This is because the shooting mode setting position of the program AE mode and the aperture priority AE mode is provided on the shutter speed switching dial, and when each shooting mode is set, the operation dial is locked and its rotating operation is blocked. In addition, you can set each shooting mode and change the shutter speed by rotating the operation dial while pressing the lock release button provided at the center of rotation of the dial. It was made possible.

[0004]

However, the means disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 52539/1987 has a complicated structure and requires many parts. There is a drawback in that the ratio of the members to the inside of the camera body becomes large, which is disadvantageous for downsizing the camera body.

Further, when assembling a camera having an operation dial having such a complicated structure, for example, the lock release button is complicatedly screwed while inserting a spring into a shaft inserted from the inside of the top cover of the camera body. Since the number of assembling steps is increased, the assembling efficiency is deteriorated. In addition, when assembling external parts such as the lock release button, it is necessary to take care not to damage the parts during assembly, so it takes time and labor to assemble, and cost is also expensive. There are also problems.

An object of the present invention is to provide a camera having a rotary dial operating member for switching various shooting modes at the time of taking a picture, and a compact dial operating member having a simple structure without impairing its operability and function. To provide a camera.

[0007]

The camera according to the present invention comprises:
In a camera having a rotary dial operation member that switches to a desired shooting mode by rotating with respect to the camera exterior part, it is possible to move with respect to the dial operation member by sharing a rotary shaft with the dial operation member. A pressing member provided, a lock release member that permits rotation of the dial operating member when the pressing member is pressed toward the camera exterior portion, and that rotates with the rotation of the dial operating member, and the exterior portion. A first groove portion that is provided and that prevents the lock release member from rotating when the pressing member is not pressed; and a first groove portion that is provided below the first groove portion of the exterior portion and that presses the pressing member. A second groove for rotating the lock releasing member when the lock releasing member is rotated.

[0008]

When the lock release button, which is the pressing member, is pressed toward the top cover, which is the camera exterior, the lock pin, which is the lock release member, allows the shooting mode switching dial, which is the dial operation member, to rotate. At the same time, it rotates together with the shooting mode switching dial. On the other hand, when the lock release button is not pressed, the rotation of the shooting mode switching dial is blocked by the first groove portion provided on the back side of the support base, while when the lock release button is pressed, The lock pin and the shooting mode switching dial rotate together by the slit that is the second groove provided in the shooting mode switching dial.

[0009]

The present invention will be described below with reference to the illustrated embodiments. FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an entire camera showing an embodiment of the present invention. The camera of this embodiment is an example in which a rotary dial operation member is applied as a shooting mode switching dial of the camera.

As shown in FIG. 1, a photographing mode switching dial 3 which is a dial operating member is provided on the upper side of an upper cover 4 which is an exterior part of the camera body 20. The shooting mode switching dial 3 is composed of a rotary dial for setting various shooting modes and a lock release button 1 which is a pressing member arranged at the center of rotation. Further, in order to instruct the scale of the selected shooting mode of the shooting mode switching dial 3, the top cover 4 is
Is provided with an index 4a.

In this embodiment, the shooting modes that can be set by the shooting mode switching dial 3 are aperture priority automatic exposure (Av), shutter speed priority automatic exposure (Tv), program automatic exposure (P), and manual. Five kinds of photographing modes of exposure (M) and bulb (B) are prepared, and the characters in the parentheses for each of these five kinds of photographing modes are displayed on the upper surface of the photographing mode switching dial 3. Then, the top cover 4 is placed so as to face a part of the outer peripheral surface of the photographing mode switching dial 3.
The shooting mode of the character in the parenthesis, which is the scale on the shooting mode switching dial 3 designated by the index 4a described above, becomes the shooting mode of the set camera.

That is, for example, in order to set the aperture-priority automatic exposure (Av) mode, the photographing mode switching dial 3 is rotated counterclockwise in FIG. At the click stop position where the scale character (Av) on the switching dial 3 coincides with the index 4a on the upper cover 4, the hand is released and the rotation of the shooting mode switching dial 3 is stopped. Can be set to.

In this dial operation, even if only the photographing mode switching dial 3 is rotated without pushing the lock release button 1, the rotation of the photographing mode switching dial 3 will be described later. Since it is locked by a pin, the shooting mode switching dial 3
It is designed so that it cannot rotate only. This has the same structure even when the setting is changed to another shooting mode. The configuration and operation of the photographing mode switching dial 3 of such a camera will be described in detail below.

2 to 6 are views showing the construction of the photographing mode switching dial 3 of the camera of the above embodiment, and FIGS. 2, 5 and 6 are enlarged views of the essential parts of the photographing mode switching dial 3. FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view, FIG. 3 is a plan view and a bottom view of a support base 5 described later, and FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the photographing mode switching dial 3.

As shown in FIG. 2, the photographing mode switching dial 3 is provided on the upper surface of the upper cover 4 which is the exterior of the camera body.
A support base 5 as a receiving member for the is attached by a mounting screw 7. The support base 5 is formed of a hollow short tubular body having a relatively thick wall, and has a plan view of FIG.
As shown in the bottom view of (B), a through hole 5c located at the center thereof and a step portion 5d having a diameter slightly larger than that of the through hole 5c are formed on the upper surface side. And, in the middle of the outer circumference, there is an angle of 1 with each other.
Through holes 5a, 5a for screwing and fixing the support base 5 to the screw holes provided on the upper surface cover 4 by the mounting screws 7 are provided at symmetrical positions separated by 80 degrees. . A step portion having a diameter slightly larger than the diameter of the head of the mounting screw 7 is provided in the through holes 5a, 5a so that the head of the mounting screw 7 does not protrude from the upper surface of the support base 5 when the mounting screw 7 is inserted. Has been. A coil spring 10 and a click stop ball 11 (see FIG. 2) provided for a positioning click stop, which will be described later, are housed and held at positions on the same circumference as the through holes 5a, 5a. A holder hole 5b is provided.

On the other hand, the central portion of the lower surface side of the support base 5 is the same as the upper surface side, and the protruding step portion 5 having a diameter larger than that of the through hole 5c.
e is formed so as to project downward, and this large-diameter step portion 5 is formed.
The lock pin 2 (see FIGS.
(See), one end of which is fitted to prevent rotation of the photographing mode switching dial 3 as groove portions 6a, 6b, which are first groove portions.
6c, 6d, 6e are provided. At least one of the five groove portions 6a to 6e, for example, the groove portion 6c, is provided so as to penetrate from the upper surface side to the lower surface side of the support base 5.

A photographing mode switching dial 3 is provided so as to cover the support base 5 screwed to the upper cover 4 with a mounting screw 7 from the upper surface. The photographing mode switching dial 3 has a flange-shaped upper surface and inner and outer double cylinders 3b and 3c formed on the lower surface thereof. As shown in FIG. 4, the shooting-mode switching dial 3 is a pressing member for the through hole 3d at the center thereof. An unlock button 1 is inserted. When the lock release button 1 is inserted into the center of the shooting mode switching dial 3, the lock release button 1 is inserted by inserting a coil spring 8 for biasing the lock release button 1 in the protruding direction. Shooting mode switching dial 3
Unlock button 1 to prevent getting out of
The slit 3a, which is the second groove for inserting the lock pin 2 into the through hole 1a formed in the direction orthogonal to the lower end of the lower central axis of the, is the inner cylinder 3c of the photographing mode switching dial 3.
Is provided along the central axis. This slit 3a
The slit width is provided so as to be slightly wider than the lock pin 2.

Therefore, in the photographing mode switching dial 3, the coil spring 8 is dropped into the opening 3e at the center thereof, the lock release button 1 is inserted by sandwiching the coil spring 8, and the lock pin 2 is inserted into the slit 3a of the photographing mode switching dial 3. A direction in which the lock release button 1 is fixed to the rotation center of the photographing mode switching dial 3 by being fitted and inserted into the through hole 1a of the central axis of the lock release button 1 and projected by the coil spring 8. When the lock release button 1 is urged toward the upper surface of the camera and when the lock release button 1 is returned to the protruding direction by the coil spring 8, the lock pin 2 is moved to another position. It is configured to smoothly slide in the vertical direction without being caught by the member. Further, when the slit 3a and the lock pin 2 are in contact with each other, the photographing mode switching dial 3 and the lock pin 2 are integrally rotated.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2, a click stop plate 9 is adhered to the back side of the photographing mode switching dial 3. The click stop plate 9 is clicked by the coil spring 10 housed in the holder hole 5b of the support 5 so that the upper spherical surface of the click stop ball 11 pressed against the back surface of the photographing mode switching dial 3 enters. It is a plate member for forming a hole. When the shooting mode switching dial 3 is rotated, the click hole of the click stop plate 9 is aligned when the index 4a of the upper cover 4 and the scale characters of the shooting modes of the shooting mode switching dial 3 match. Is arranged at a position where the upper spherical surface of the click-stop ball 11 enters. Therefore, when the photographing mode switching dial 3 is rotated, a click stop operation is generated at each rotation angle at which the scale characters of the photographing mode of the photographing mode switching dial 3 match the index 4a. There is.

Here, with the coil spring 10 and the click stop ball 11 housed in the holder hole 5b of the support base 5, the photographing mode switching dial 3 is moved to the support base 5 described above.
Assemble by covering from above. At this time,
It is necessary to assemble the lock pins 2 so that the protrusions of the lock pins 2 and the grooves 6c of the support 5 have the same rotation angle. If the protrusion of the lock pin 2 and the groove 6c do not match, the protrusion of the lock pin 2 and the support 5
Since the stepped portion on the upper surface side interferes, the photographing mode switching dial 3 cannot be attached and assembled. The cross-sectional view shown in FIG.
The state of the lock release button 1, the lock pin 2, and the groove portion of the support base 5 at the time of assembly is shown, and the support base 5 at this time shows a cross section taken along the line A-0-C in FIG.

When the lock release button 1 is pressed in the state shown in FIG. 5, the state shown in FIG. 6 is obtained. That is,
The lock pin 2 comes off the groove 6c of the support base 5,
When the shooting mode switching dial 3 is rotated while the lock release button 1 is pressed, the click stop ball 11 is fitted into the click hole of the click stop plate 9 to perform the click stop operation. Therefore, when the finger pressure is released from the lock release button 1, the lock release button 1 projects from the upper surface of the photographing mode switching dial 3 and returns to the original position by the upward biasing force of the coil spring 8, as shown in FIG. The lock pin 2 fits in another groove portion of the support base 5, for example, the groove portion 6d in FIG. 2, and the photographing mode switching dial 3 is arranged so as not to rotate with respect to the support base 5. Become.

Next, the switch portion provided inside the camera body 20, that is, on the lower side with the top cover 4 of the photographing mode switching dial 3 interposed therebetween will be described. In FIG. 2, a base plate 12 is screwed to the inner surface side of the top cover 4 with screws (not shown), and a flexible substrate (FPC) having a conduction pattern (not shown) on the bottom surface side of the base plate 12. 13 is glued.

A stepped portion 14a is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the lower end portion of the inner cylinder 3c of the photographing mode switching dial 3 arranged so as to pass through the top cover 4 and have its tip portion directed downward inside the camera body 20. A contact piece holder 14 having a shape having a shape is fitted, and a wire contact type contact piece 15 is caulked on the upper surface side of the contact piece holder 14 around the step portion 14a. The contact piece holder 14 is sandwiched between the screw 16 screwed into the inner circumference of the lower end portion of the inner cylinder 3c and the main plate 12. Therefore, even when the shooting mode switching dial 3 is attached, the shooting mode switching dial 3 should be fixed from the lower side by the screw 16 even at the position where the through groove portion 6c of the support base 5 and the lock pin 2 match. Therefore, it will not come out and come off.

On the other hand, the contact piece holder 14 has a sliding surface with respect to the base plate 12, and in the state of FIG. 2, the conductive pattern on the flexible substrate 13 and the contact piece 15 are brought into contact with each other with an appropriate pressure. It is supposed to do. The conductive pattern of the flexible substrate 13 has a contact piece 15 crimped to a contact piece holder 14 which is rotated integrally with the shooting mode switching dial 3 when the shooting mode switching dial 3 is set to each shooting mode position. It has a shape that can be conducted by. Then, this conduction pattern corresponds to the camera body 2
0 is connected to a resistor (not shown) disposed inside, so that the resistance value varies depending on the setting position of the photographing mode of the dial operation member. , Is connected to a discriminating circuit (not shown), and the setting of the photographing mode of the camera can be changed according to the resistance values set for each setting position of the photographing mode switching dial 3.

Although the electrically insulating base plate 12 is used in the above-described embodiment, the lower inner wall surface of the top cover 4 may be used instead of the base plate 12 without any problem. In other words, in this embodiment, the top cover 4 is assumed to be a metal stamping part, and the cross-sectional shape like the above-mentioned bottom plate 12 cannot be formed so that the bottom plate 12 is necessary. In the case of manufacturing by plastic molding or the like, there is no problem even without the base plate 12 as described above.

Further, although the support base 5 is used for mounting the photographing mode switching dial 3, the photographing mode switching dial 3 and the upper cover 4 are integrally formed in this portion, which is exactly the same. The effect can be obtained. With respect to the groove portion provided on the support base, only one portion is penetrated from the upper side to the lower side in this embodiment, but if there is at least one groove which is not penetrated, all other portions are penetrated. The same applies to grooves.

As described above, according to this embodiment, when assembling, the structure is simple and the members of the photographing mode switching dial 3 are concentrated on a part of the upper cover 4. Therefore, in order to confirm the function of the photographing mode switching dial 3, for example, it becomes easy to temporarily connect to a circuit for checking and check the operation, and to check without combining with the camera body 20. It is possible. Therefore,
Since the assembly is simple, the assembly time can be shortened and the assembly error can be reduced to reduce the cost, and the operation can be easily checked, so that the high quality can be achieved at the same time.

In the above embodiment, the rotary dial member is applied as a shooting mode switching dial for setting various shooting modes, but the invention is not limited to this, and other uses such as film winding mode setting. Of course, the target to be set is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment.

[0029]

As described above, according to the present invention, a dial operation having a simple structure is provided without impairing the operability and function of a camera having a rotary dial operation member for switching various shooting modes during photography. A small camera including a member can be provided.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a camera having a shooting mode switching dial according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view showing a main part of the embodiment shown in FIG.

3A and 3B are a plan view and a bottom view of a support base of the shooting mode switching dial of FIG.

4 is an exploded perspective view of essential parts of the shooting mode switching dial shown in FIG.

5 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of an essential part of the embodiment of FIG. 1, showing a state of assembling a lock release button, a lock pin, and a groove portion of a support base.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of an essential part of the embodiment of FIG. 1, showing a state in which a lock release button is pushed in.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Lock release button (pressing member) 2 ... Lock pin (lock releasing member) 3 ... Shooting mode switching dial (dial operating member) 3a ... Slit of shooting mode switching dial (second groove) 4 ... Top cover (exterior part) 5 ... Support base 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d, 6e ... Groove part of the support base (first
Groove part) 8 ......... Coil spring 9 ......... Click stop plate 10 ... Coil spring 11 ... Click stop ball 12 ... Base plate 13 ... Flexible (FPC) substrate 14 ... Contact holder 15 ... Contact piece 16: screw 20: camera body

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A camera having a rotary dial operation member for switching to a desired photographing mode by rotating with respect to a camera exterior part, wherein the dial operation member shares a rotating shaft with the dial operation member. A pressing member movably provided with respect to the locking member, and a lock releasing member that allows the dial operating member to rotate when the pressing member is pressed toward the camera exterior part and that rotates with the rotation of the dial operating member. A first groove portion that is provided in the exterior portion and that prevents the lock release member from rotating when the pressing member is not pressed; and a first groove portion that is provided below the first groove portion of the exterior portion, A second groove portion in which the lock releasing member rotates when the pressing member is pressed, and a camera.