JPH07218799A - Lens barrel - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate a slack of FPC caused by zooming or collapsing operation. CONSTITUTION:This lens barrel is equipped with an external cylinder 7 which has an opening part 7c extending in the direction of the optical axis 20, an intermediate cylinder 6 which engages the inside of the external cylinder 7 and is moved to and away from the external cylinder 7 in the direction of the optical axis 20, an internal cylinder 5 which supports photography optical systems 1 and 2 and engages the inside of the intermediate cylinder 6, and is moved in the direction of the optical axis 20 relatively to the intermediate cylinder 6 and nearly equal in its relative movement quantity to the movement quantity of the intermediate cylinder 6 in the direction of the optical axis 20 about the intermediate cylinder 6, and an electric substrate 17 which connects the inside 3 of the internal cylinder 5 and the outside 18 of the external cylinder 7 and is extended nearby the end part 6d of the intermediate cylinder 6 on the image formation plane side and outside the external cylinder 7 corresponding to the periphery of the opening part 7c of the external cylinder 7 and the end part of the intermediate cylinder 6 on said image formation plane side at the time of the maximum projection.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a lens barrel in which electric parts on a movable barrel side and a fixed barrel side are electrically connected.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a lens barrel having a zoom function, a shutter unit is provided on a movable barrel side, while a control unit is provided on a fixed barrel side, and the shutter unit and the control unit are connected to an FPC (flexible). Printed circuit) is known to be connected. Since the moving barrel of the lens barrel is moved in the optical axis direction during zooming, the FPC is set to a length such that the shutter unit and the control unit do not stick together even when they are farthest apart (Tele end state). . Therefore, when the movable barrel is located on the Wide side, the FPC becomes slack. Therefore, a space for accommodating the slack FPC is provided.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional lens barrel, by providing a space for accommodating the slack FPC, the lens barrel and the camera become large, which hinders downsizing. Was becoming. In particular, the one having a wide range between Tele and Wide and the one having the collapsible function are all the more because the moving distance of the moving barrel in the optical axis direction becomes long. In addition, it is slack F
If the PC was not stored correctly, the FPC would be overloaded.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and in a lens barrel having a zoom function and a collapsible function, (1) slack occurs in an electric substrate due to zooming and collapsing operations. The lens barrel and the camera are made compact by eliminating the space for accommodating the slack electric board, and (2) the electric board is always placed at a predetermined position, and the electric board is overloaded. The purpose is to prevent this.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, a first solution means of a lens barrel according to the present invention is an outer cylinder (7) having an opening extending in an optical axis direction, and An intermediate cylinder (6) that is engaged with the inside of the outer cylinder and is moved in the optical axis direction with respect to the outer cylinder, and is engaged with the inside of the intermediate cylinder while supporting a photographing optical system. An inner cylinder (5) that is relatively moved in the optical axis direction with respect to the intermediate cylinder, and has a relative movement amount that is substantially the same as a movement amount of the intermediate cylinder in the optical axis direction with respect to the outer cylinder. And the inside of the inner cylinder and the outside of the outer cylinder are connected to each other, and the image is formed in the vicinity of an end of the intermediate cylinder on the image plane side, the opening of the outer cylinder, and the maximum projection of the intermediate cylinder. An electric board (17) passing through the outside of the outer cylinder corresponding to the vicinity of the end portion on the surface side is provided.

According to a second solution means, in the first solution means, the electric board is located outside the outer cylinder and at a position corresponding to the vicinity of the end portion on the image plane side at the maximum projection of the intermediate cylinder. Further, it is characterized in that it passes through at least a part of the image plane side.

According to a third solving means, in the second solving means, a guide portion (12b) is provided which faces the opening of the outer cylinder and forms a gap, and the electric board is
It is characterized by passing through the inside of the void.

A fourth solving means is the same as the third solving means, wherein the electric board passes through a position (12e) corresponding to the vicinity of the end portion of the outer cylinder on the image plane side of the outer cylinder. It is characterized by

A fifth solving means is characterized in that, in the first to fourth solving means, the electric board is connected to a control board (18) arranged outside the outer cylinder.

[0010]

In the solution of the present invention, when the inner cylinder or the intermediate cylinder moves in the optical axis direction by zooming or collapsing operation,
The amount of movement of the intermediate cylinder with respect to the outer cylinder and the relative amount of movement of the inner cylinder with respect to the intermediate cylinder are substantially the same, and the length of the path of the electric board from the inside of the inner cylinder to the outside of the outer cylinder does not change. Further, the electric board is always arranged at a predetermined position.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the lens barrel according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a front view showing the configuration of a lens shutter camera to which a first embodiment of the lens barrel according to the present invention is applied. The camera of this embodiment is a retractable compact zoom camera. Also,
2 to 4 are the collapsed state of the camera of FIG. 1 and Te, respectively.
It is sectional drawing which shows a le end state and a Wide end state.

2 to 4, the lens barrel is a rear focus type second group lens type, which detects the position of the first group lens 1 and moves the second group lens 2 in accordance with it to perform zooming. It is something to do. Therefore,
The second group lens 2 has a dedicated drive motor (not shown).

The first group lens 1 is held by a first group holding frame 4. The shutter unit 3 is attached to the first group holding frame 4. The shutter unit 3 is for opening and closing the shutter blades 19.

The second group lens 2 is held by a second group holding frame 9. The second group holding frame 9 supports a feed screw (not shown) and a guide shaft (not shown) provided in the vicinity thereof in parallel with the optical axis 20. Inside the shutter unit 3, a male screw (not shown) screwed with the feed screw is provided. The rotation of the male screw moves the second lens group 2 in the direction of the optical axis 20.

The lens barrel has three barrel bodies, a lens holding barrel 5, an intermediate helicoid barrel 6 and a fixed barrel 7. The lens holding cylinder 5 holds the shutter unit 3,
A male helicoid 5b is provided on the outer peripheral portion thereof. The intermediate helicoid cylinder 6 has a female helicoid 6a provided on its inner circumference.
And a male helicoid 6b and a gear 6 provided on the outer periphery thereof
c and an edge portion 6d. The fixed barrel 7 includes a main body 12
And a female helicoid 7a provided on the inner periphery thereof and an escape portion 7b. The male helicoid 5b and the female helicoid 6a, and the male helicoid 6b and the female helicoid 7a are respectively helicoid-coupled. Further, the female helicoid 6a and the male helicoid 6b have substantially the same leads, and the lead angles of both have a positive and negative relationship.

The gear 6c of the intermediate helicoid cylinder 6 meshes with gears 8 formed along the lead of the male helicoid 6b at intervals of several rows. The gear 8 is attached to the fixed cylinder 7 or the main body 12. The edge portion 6d has a screw ring 1
1 and the straight-ahead key 10 are supported. The escape portion 7b of the fixed barrel 7 is provided so as not to interfere with the gear 6c. The straight advance key 10 is used for the intermediate helicoid cylinder 6.
The bent portion 10a is engaged with the guide key 12a protruding from the main body 12. The lens holding cylinder 5 is prohibited from rotating by engaging with the straight advance key 10.

An AF block 16 is provided above the fixed barrel 6.
And a control board 18 for controlling the shutter unit 3 and the like.
And are held by the main body 12. In FIG. 1, the AF block 16 includes an AE optical unit 16a and an AF light emitting / receiving unit 16
b and 16c.

The flexible board 17 electrically connects the shutter unit 3 and the control board 18, and the drive current of the shutter unit 3 and the control board 18 are provided.
The control signal of is relayed. The flexible substrate 17 is
In the lens holding cylinder 5, the shutter unit 3 passes through a through hole 5 a provided in the lens holding cylinder 5 and a through hole 10 b provided in the straight advance key 10. Then, the lens holding cylinder 5 and the intermediate helicoid cylinder 6 pass through the opening 7c provided in the fixed cylinder 7 from the vicinity of the image plane side (right side in the drawing) end. Further, in the retracted state of FIG. 1, in the passage 16d provided between the AE optical unit 16a and the AF light receiving unit 16b, along the flexible guide 12b, the tip portion 1 of the flexible guide 12b is formed.
2b-1 is folded back near the flexible guide 12b and A
It passes through the F block 16 and is connected to the control unit 18.

From this collapsed state, when the gear 8 is rotated clockwise by the motor of the drive means controlled by the control means having the photo interrupter, the intermediate helicoid cylinder 6 rotates and follows the lead of the fixed cylinder 7. Moved in the X direction. Further, the straight advance key 10 is slid in the direction of the optical axis 20 integrally with the intermediate helicoid cylinder 6. Further, since the lens holding cylinder 5 is prohibited from rotating by the guide key 12a and the straight-ahead key 10, the female helicoid 6
It is slid in the X direction along the lead a. When the first group lens 1 moves to the Wide position, the control unit stops the driving of the driving unit, and enters the Wide state shown in FIG.

Further, when the motor of the driving means rotates clockwise from the Wide state, the intermediate helicoid cylinder 6
Also, the lens holding barrel 5 moves further in the X direction, and enters the Tele state shown in FIG. In this Tele state, the positions of the tip portion 12b-1 of the flexible guide 12b and the through hole 10b of the straight-moving key 10 are substantially aligned in the direction of the optical axis 20.

As described above, from the retracted state to the Wide
In the state, and further in the Tele state, the distance between the shutter unit 3 and the through hole 10b of the straight advance key 10 increases. Here, the lead between the fixed barrel 7 and the intermediate helicoid barrel 6 and the lead between the intermediate helicoid barrel 6 and the lens holding barrel 5 are substantially the same, so in FIG. The movement amount D1 of the helicoid cylinder 6 and the relative movement amount D2 of the lens holding cylinder 5 with respect to the intermediate helicoid cylinder 6 are substantially the same.

Therefore, the distance between the tip portion 12b-1 of the flexible guide 12b and the through hole 10b of the straight advance key 10 is reduced by the amount that the distance between the shutter unit 3 and the through hole 10b of the straight advance key 10 is increased. Therefore, the length of the route of the flexible substrate 17 from the shutter unit 3 to the tip portion 12b-1 of the flexible guide 12b does not change in the collapsed state, the wide state, and the tele state. As a result, the flexible board 17 is not stretched or sagged in any state, and the flexible board 17 always has a sufficient length and is arranged at a fixed position.

When the motor of the driving means rotates counterclockwise, the tele state returns to the wide state and then to the collapsed state. At this time, the flexible substrate 17 operates in the opposite manner to the above-described operation, and the distance between the shutter unit 3 and the through hole 10b of the straight-ahead key 10 is reduced.
It is arranged between b-1 and the through hole 10b of the straight advance key 10.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing the structure of a lens shutter camera to which the second embodiment of the lens barrel according to the present invention is applied, showing a wide state. In the following embodiments, the description of the same parts as those in the first embodiment is omitted,
Only different parts will be described. Body 12 and flexible guide 1
A through hole 12e is formed between the flexible substrate 17 and the flexible guide 17b.
Reciprocating under the flexible guide 12b via b-1,
It is connected to the control board 18 through the through hole 12e.

FIGS. 6 and 7 are views showing the third and fourth embodiments of the lens barrel according to the present invention, in which (A) is a perspective view of the outer barrel and (B) is the lens mirror, respectively. Wide of the cylinder
A sectional view in the end state, (C) is a Tele of the lens barrel
It is sectional drawing in an end state. An opening 7c is formed in the outer cylinder 7A of FIG. 6 as in the first embodiment, and a flexible guide 12b is integrally formed so as to cover the opening 7c. Only the film surface side is opened between the outer cylinder 7A and the flexible guide 12b. The flexible board 17 is connected to the outer cylinder 7A via the opening 7c of the outer cylinder 7A.
It reciprocates in the gap between the outside of the flexible guide 12b and the outer side of the flexible guide 12b, and is connected to the control board 18 from between the outer cylinder 7A on the film surface side and the flexible guide 12b.

As in the case of FIG. 6, the outer guide 7B of FIG. 7 is integrally formed with a flexible guide 12b. Further, an opening 7B-1 is formed between the outer cylinder 7B on the subject side and the flexible guide 12b. The flexible substrate 17 has an opening 7B-through the opening 7c of the outer cylinder 7B.
1 to the outside of the flexible guide 12b and is connected to the control board 18. Even if it is formed as in the above second to fourth embodiments, the same effect as in the first embodiment can be obtained.

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment,
Various modifications are possible without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, although the lens barrel is applied to the collapsible compact zoom camera in the embodiment, it may be applied to an interchangeable lens of a single lens reflex camera. At this time, the flexible guide 12b and the control board 18 may be provided on a cover or the like provided on the outer side of the outer cylinder.

The passage 16d is illustrated in a greatly exaggerated space in order to make the path of the flexible substrate 17 easy to understand. However, if the flexible guide 12b is formed of a plate material or the like, this space will be further reduced. Moreover, if the flexible substrate 17 and the lower surface of the AF block 16 are adhered, the gap between the flexible guide 12b and the AF block 16 is substantially eliminated.

[0029]

According to the lens barrel of the present invention, the length of the path of the electric board from the inside of the inner cylinder to the outside of the outer cylinder does not change due to zooming or collapsing operations, so that a slack electric board can be accommodated. Eliminates the need for space.
As a result, the lens barrel or the camera can be made compact. Also, since the electric board is always arranged at a fixed position, in the wide state or the collapsed state,
It is possible to prevent the electrical board from being overloaded.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a configuration of a lens shutter camera to which a first embodiment of a lens barrel according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a retracted state of the camera of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a Tele end state of the camera of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a wide end state of the camera of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view in a Wide end state showing a configuration of a lens shutter camera to which a second embodiment of the lens barrel according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a third embodiment of the lens barrel according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a fourth embodiment of the lens barrel according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 1st group lens 2 2nd group lens 3 Shutter unit 5 Lens holding cylinder 6 Intermediate helicoid cylinder 7 Fixed cylinder 10 Straight-line key 12 Main body 12a Flexible guide 16 AF block 16d Passage 17 Flexible board 18 Control board 20 Optical axis

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An outer cylinder having an opening extending in the optical axis direction, an intermediate cylinder engaged with the inside of the outer cylinder and moved in the optical axis direction with respect to the outer cylinder, It is engaged with the inside of the intermediate cylinder supporting the photographing optical system, and is relatively moved in the optical axis direction with respect to the intermediate cylinder,
And the relative movement amount of the inner cylinder having a movement amount substantially the same as the movement amount of the intermediate cylinder with respect to the outer cylinder in the optical axis direction, and connecting the inner cylinder inside and the outer cylinder outside, An electric board passing through the outside of the outer cylinder corresponding to the vicinity of the end of the intermediate cylinder on the image plane side, the opening of the outer cylinder, and the vicinity of the end of the intermediate cylinder on the image plane side at the maximum projection time. And a lens barrel. 2. The electric board according to claim 1, wherein the electric board is located outside the outer cylinder, and is located on the image plane side with respect to a position corresponding to a vicinity of an end portion on the image plane side when the intermediate cylinder is maximally projected. A lens barrel characterized in that it goes through at least a part. 3. The lens according to claim 2, further comprising a guide portion facing the opening of the outer cylinder and forming a gap, wherein the electric substrate passes through the gap. Lens barrel. 4. The lens barrel according to claim 3, wherein the electric substrate passes through a position corresponding to a vicinity of an end portion of the outer cylinder on the image forming surface side of the guide portion. 5. The lens barrel according to claim 1, wherein the electric board is connected to a control board arranged outside the outer cylinder.